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

TWIN DISASTERS this week show people on Pacific shores still lack basic protection from tsunamis, says the guardian.co.uk. This is of obvious importance to Phuket and the Andaman coast, where 5400 people died in 2004.
Richard Hamblyn echoes some of Phuketwan's concerns when he writes: ''The official responses to this week's double disasters again reveal worrying flaws in the early warning systems that are the first, and usually only, lines of defence against the natural hazards that regularly afflict the world's most seismically unstable regions.''
Hamblyn says that Tuesday's 8.3 magnitude undersea earthquake struck at 6.48am local time, 190km south of the Samoan islands, and was registered instantly at the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre in Hawai, which then issued tsunami warnings, including to New Zealand and Samoa.
''Once such warnings are received, it is up to local authorities to pass them on to their coastal inhabitants by whatever methods have been agreed, with instant automated text messaging among the most widely used techniques.
''Text messaging is of particular value in the event of locally generated tsunamis, when the window of warning is usually a matter of minutes, rather than hours. But those Samoans who felt Tuesday's tremor and waited for the text that would tell them whether to head inland waited in vain, for no message was sent out.''
Hamblyn adds that had anyone turned down the radio or television so as not to miss the incoming text alert, they would have missed the islands' only warning, given out on local radio just as the first of two giant waves began battering the islands' southern shores.
It may be that Samoa was close to the epicentre, and therefore more exposed. In this week's Andaman tsunami alert that rose to Level Two, Phuket at least had plenty of notice and specific arrival times for the tsunami. It was early evening. People began calling each other to find out what was happening. The island's Governor, Wichai Praisa-nob, headed for Patong to make sure everything was working. Then the warning was cancelled.
But what if a real tsunami comes at 3am . . . who wakes the Governor? Who wakes you? In a panic, will the telephone systems still be working? There are no guarantees and not enough general knowledge about what happens in a real tsunami Level Three alert.
And it all depends on the local warning system. The towers on the beaches are mostly useless in the middle of the night.
''On New Zealand's North Island,'' Hamblyn writes, ''several hundred people received their 'instant' text alert some three hours late, by which time the tsunami warning had already been cancelled. The messaging service has now been suspended, and an inquiry is already under way.''

Associated Press One quake survivor from Padang's Ambacang Hotel sent a text message to relatives Friday, saying he and some others are still alive. The relatives then informed the authorities, he said. Rescuers used earth-moving equipment, backhoes and drills to try and break a passage through thick slabs of concrete of the six-story hotel.

scmp.com/agencies Scientists have warned for years that Indonesia's Padang is a disaster waiting to happen because of strain on a nearby fault line, and they say worse is likely to come. Pressure on the fault means an 8.8-magnitude quake, with a five-metre wall of water, was a certainty in the coming decades, a Singapore-based geology professor said.

abc.net.au Australian aid and personnel have joined a steady flow of international help arriving on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, where at least 1100 people were killed in a big earthquake three days ago.

straitstimes.com The leader of Thailand's 'Yellow Shirt' protest movement, media mogul Sondhi Limthongkul, was handed a six-month jail sentence on Friday for defaming a former Thai foreign minister. But the court let him remain free on bail while he appeals against the verdict.

people.com David Letterman made a shocking personal confession on his CBS Late Show Thursday, admitting he was the victim of a $2 million extortion attempt and that he had had sexual relations with female members of staff. Letterman and longtime girlfriend (since 1986) Regina Lasko were married in March. They have one child, a son, Harry, born in 2003.

time.com Sometimes humorous, sometimes serious and occasionally showing flashes of nerves, Letterman explained that having received a threatening package in the back of his car early one morning, he and his lawyer had called in the Manhattan district attorney's office. The DA's office ascertained that the alleged blackmailer was serious, then arranged to have a fake check cut, handed it over and then arrested its recipient, whom CBS has identified as one of its employees.

latimes.com The blackmail scandal is already having a beneficial effect on David Letterman's ratings. On Thursday, numbers for 'Late Show with David Letterman' surged 22 percent based on preliminary estimates, according to the Nielsen Company.

ethicaltraveller.org The elephant and ivory trade in Thailand, Asia's largest illegal ivory market, has come under fire after a report published by wildlife monitoring network TRAFFIC highlighted how corruption, legal loopholes and a lack of law enforcement are contributing to the exploitation and dwindling population of the endangered Asian elephants in that country.

bernama.com Despite the current bumpy ride and uncertain outlook for the aviation industry globally, Malaysia Airlines aims to return to operational profitability next year. MAS will take delivery of six A380 aircraft beginning 2011 which will be utilised for high-density destinations like London, Sydney and Amsterdam.

mizzima.com A report released this week by Washington-based advocacy group Refugees International praised Thailand for its current refugee policy, but noted the need for progressive strategies going forward in order to deal with a possible large influx of refugees and a burgeoning number of internally displaced people should renewed fighting erupt between the Burmese junta and ethnic ceasefire groups.

usatoday.com Friday's decision by the International Olympic Committee to send the 2016 Summer Games to Rio was not a big surprise in itself, considering the Brazilian city's strong and passionate case for taking the Olympics to South America for the first time. Chicago had long been considered a front-runner, if not the favorite, to get the games.

sfgate.com Pop star Katy Perry is the latest beauty to fall for the charms of comic Russell Brand. She was reportedly whisked away on a romantic trip to Thailand with the British funnyman. Things heated up after Brand sent the singer a poem, and when asked to reply, Perry sent back a snap of her cleavage emblazoned with the word ''poem.''