bangkokpost.com The government will send representatives to negotiate with Cambodia after Cambodian soldiers arrested seven Thais, including a Democrat MP and a yellow-shirt activist, Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said. Khun Kasit said the seven Thais travelled to inspect the disputed border area and were apprehended by the Cambodian military.

xinhua Thousands of passengers remain stranded in Moscow's major airports due to the icy rain that swept central Russia during the weekend. Local media said that hundreds of flights have been canceled and delayed as severe freezing rain caused serious power outages, with some 20,000 people affected by the weather.


A daily wrap of Thailand news, with a Phuket perspective, plus relevant reports from national and international media.

bangkokpost.com Tourism operators in southern provinces have urged the government to stress to travellers that they should believe in the tsunami warning system and not fortune tellers. Some travellers, mainly Thais, have cancelled package tours to the Similans and other nearby islands over the New Year because they fear a tsunami would hit the region on December 30 as predicted. Yanyong Khopeth, a Tourism Council of Thailand member, added: ''This message should be sent to our major tourism markets such as the United Kingdom, Sweden and Germany."

nationmultimedia.com Mark Zuckerberg, famous for founding the Facebook networking website, was spotted chilling out with mates at a Bangkok bar on Monday night. Zuckerberg came to Thailand to attend the wedding of Chris Cox, a vice president of Facebook and a long-time friend. Cox's wedding to a Thai woman will take place at a restaurant in the Sukhumvit area tonight.

Phuket Update Thongchai Permpoon, 39, has become the latest tuk-tuk driver to be acclaimed for returning an expensive camera to a Swedish couple staying in Kata who left it in the back of his vehicle on a shopping trip to Phuket City on Christmas Day.

reuters.com Thailand forced 166 men, women and children back into Burma Saturday even though they were fleeing fighting in their villages, prompting a reprimand from the UN refugee agency. Fifty women, 70 children and 46 men at Wa Lay site in Tak Province, were ordered to leave, the UNHCR said in a statement.

rian.ru A Thai prosecutor's office has dropped a child molestation charge against acclaimed Russian pianist and conductor Mikhail Pletnev, Pletnev's lawyer said. The Russian musician, who established the RNO in 1990, owns a small piece of property in Pattaya and spends several weeks there each year.

todayonline.com The boat that capsized on Sunday - leaving four Singaporeans dead and one missing - was inspected and declared seaworthy only a month before the mishap. Before that, in May, the 22-year-old boat's annual operating licence was renewed. It was set to expire in June next year, according to the Mersing Port Department.

mtv.com Christmas Day was more than just a festive holiday for Elton John, as he and his husband, David Furnish, welcomed their first child, Zachary Jackson Levon Furnish-John. The monumental occasion puts the iconic singer into a league of fellow gay celebrities who have ventured into the world of parenthood.

Press Association Neuroscientists are examining whether political allegiances are hard-wired into people after finding evidence that the brains of conservatives are a different shape to those of left-wingers.

bbc.co.uk Scottish Labor have called on local licensing boards to enforce the "tagging" of bottles of alcohol to help reduce under-age drinking. Under the scheme, off licences are given a unique code to mark bottles so they can be traced to a specific store.

xinhuanet.com The prices of most herbs used in traditional Chinese medicine rose by 30 percent this year in Singapore. Local herbs wholesalers contribute the price increase to the stronger Chinese currency and herbus supply shortages, local English daily the Straits Times reported.


December 29-January 1 Colorful Phuket Countdown 2011, Phuket City
December 30-January 1 2011 New Year Countdown, Patong
December 30-January 9 Phuket Red Cross Fair, Saphan Hin park, Phuket City


January 6-9 Pimex boat show, Royal Phuket Marina
January 22 QSI International fun run day at Bang Wad Dam, Kathu
January 23 Great Phuket Rubber Duck Race Day, Laguna Phuket
February 9-13 The Bay Regatta - Phuket, Phang Nga, Krabi
February 11 Phuket Chinese New Year Day
February 23-26 Phuket Gay Pride Festival, Patong
February Phuket International Blues and Rock Festival 2011
February 26-27 Phuket Spicy Soccer 7s, Phuket International Academy
March 14-19 ADFEST 2011 at Movenpick Resort, Phuket
March 27 Earth Hour commemoration on Phuket


Fourth Asia Beach Games, Phuket