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

english.chosun.com Koreans' most preferred honeymoon destination was Phuket in Thailand last year. According to Hana Tour 23.9 percent of newlyweds chose Phuket, followed by the Philippines (16.4 percent), Hawaii (7.4 percent), Bali (6.9 percent), and Western Europe (6.3 percent). Hana Tour attributed Phuket's popularity to a wide selection of flights and affordable accommodations.

bangkokpost.com The region's carriers including the likes of Thai Airways International and Singapore Airlines, carried 190 million passengers in 2011, up by 3.5% from 2010. This year's outlook for Asia-Pacific carriers, like that of their counterparts elsewhere in the world, looks cloudy.

reuters Starwood Hotels & Resorts - which runs chains such as Westin, Sheraton and Le Meridien - and Marriott International both said during the World Economic Forum in Davos they wanted to start running hotels in Burma (Myanmar), a country tightly controlled by the military for five decades until last year.

asiancorrespondent.com The fate of the Rohingya, described by Medicins Sans Frontieres as one of the world minority groups ''most in danger of extinction'', remains to be seen, but between the praise and condemnation of Burma's government by the international community, their names are not uttered. Weeding out such entrenched and vitriolic discrimination from Burmese society will be a very long, very painful process.

cnngo.com As Burma continues to make moves to step out from international isolation, travel companies are fast lining up to snag their share of the expected increase in tourism cash. Among these is Khiri Travel, which just launched a Millionaire's Tour. The four-day, three-night trip from Bangkok includes travel in a six-seat Cessna Citation CJ3 private jet.

scmp.com Extraordinary scenes marred national celebrations in Australia's capital when Prime Minister Julia Gillard was bundled out of a restaurant by security service agents after it was surrounded by furious Aboriginal rights protesters.

DPA Suicides are twice the national average, murders are six times as high and Aborigines are 11 times more likely to be imprisoned than other Australians. Most live on welfare and 60 percent of Aboriginal pupils do not finish high school and only 12 per cent go on to some form of higher education.

traveldailynews.com According to the data of Tourism Authority of Thailand, the tourist flow from Russia to Thailand increased by 57 percent in 2011. Thailand received 1,014,000 Russian citizens in 2011. Every 20th tourist was Russian in Thailand in 2011

eturbonews.com When Russians travel, they like to spend a lot of money, they like to stay in luxury accommodation, and they stay for awhile - generally two to three weeks at a stretch. Basically, they want to be pampered and enjoy themselves and are not afraid to pay in order to meet those ends.

romenews-tribune.com He took the initiative and sacrificed his liberty time to go to the Phuket (Thailand) airport on his day off to pick up, load, and transport more than 2000 pounds of long-awaited mail and Christmas packages for the crew. He worked long hours sorting and issuing mail so the crew could enjoy a gift from home. Trammell's exemplary performance led to his selection as USS John Paul Jones' Sea Warrior of the Week.

Associated Press Boliviana de Aviacion has abolished first class and sells all seats for the same low prices, marketing the flights with a socialist stamp in keeping with President Evo Morales' insistence that "all are equal".



smh.com.au Roger Federer sought to reclaim his ground and re-establish that he was back on even terms with Rafael Nadal. He fell short. Nadal 6-7 (5-7), 6-2, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4. He plays the winner of Novak Djokovic versus Andy Murray in the Australian Open final.



January 28-30 Old Phuket Town Festival

February 24-25 Phuket Blues Festival, Laguna Phuket

March 29-April 1 Phuket International Boat Show, Royal Phuket Marina

April Opening of Gardens by the Bay, Singapore, three waterfront gardens that will dwarf Kew in London and provide ''green lungs'' for the city.

May 26-June 5 National Youth Games, Phuket



November 14-21 Fourth Asia Beach Games, Phuket