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

afp Air India says it is investigating allegations of a mid-air brawl in which pilots and cabin crew were reported to have exchanged blows in front of startled passengers. The 'Times of India' reported that crew members threw punches and hurled abuse on the flight from Sharjah in the UAE to Delhi after a female attendant accused the pilots of sexually harassing her.

guardian.co.uk According to reports quoting the Delhi police, Commander Ranbeer Arora and Captain Aditya Chopra were accused of trying to ''molest'' a female flight attendant who resisted their advances and was then thrown out of the cockpit. In a statement to police, the woman alleged she was ''abused and pushed'' by the pilots inside the cockpit when she refused to grant ''personal favours.''

bbc.co.ukThe 'Times of India' said the pilots made a counter-claim, saying that the harassment claim was an attempt to divert attention from accusations of misconduct against a male flight attendant. Air India said it had ordered an inquiry into the incident, and had grounded all the staff involved.

smh.com.au Lindsay Murdoch writes that it was the middle of the night when 22 asylum seekers were told they had reached Australian territory and a new life. Indonesian people smugglers waved at them to go ashore. But the asylum seekers had been duped. They were dumped at the weekend on N'Dao, a tiny Indonesian island 50 kilometres from Australia's Ashmore Reef.

wsj.com The two earthquakes in Samoa and Sumatra last week have again focused the world's attention on Asia's disaster preparedness. This is the first time since 1993, when a tsunami struck at night in Okushiri, Japan, that so many people have died in a tidal wave caused primarily by an earthquake in the Pacific. It's important to take stock of the steps authorities are or aren't taking to reduce the human toll of such natural disasters.

Associated Press Samoa's tourism industry said it fears a ''second tsunami'' of vacation cancellations after deadly earthquake-triggered waves wiped out some of the South Pacific country's most idyllic white-sand beaches and resorts. Tourism is Samoa's largest industry, and travel industry representatives visiting the main island's wrecked southeast coast said about one-quarter of the tourist accommodations had been destroyed.

Agencies Whole villages in Indonesia's quake zone were found obliterated by landslides on Saturday, as rescuers searched desperately for people believed to be still trapped in rubble. The full extent of the damage from Wednesday's 7.6-magnitude earthquake emerged as attention turned to the hundreds of villages in the hills outside Padang, a devastated city of one million at the centre of rescue efforts.

Associated Press Search teams lost hope of finding any more survivors under the rubble as torrential rains on Sunday held up aid delivery in the remote hills of western Indonesia where several villages were wiped out.The government earlier said 715 were dead and 3000 were missing. But it revised the figure Sunday to 603 confirmed killed and 960 missing, presumably dead.

scmp.com Greg Torode writes: At times, Thailand's hard-won democracy has seemed under threat from all sides. Some anti-Thaksin figures have called for a new era of ''guided democracy'' under which the military would keep a measure of political power. Given the traditionally important strategic role Thailand has played for the US in maintaining its regional presence, even a slight tilt towards China in the years ahead would represent a considerable diplomatic victory. The cold war may be long dead, but a new Great Game is already under way.

scotsman.com Travel firm Hayes & Jarvis say US breaks are ''selling like hot cakes'' and that other popular long-haul destinations at present included Thailand, Mauritius, the Maldives and Antigua. The company's commercial director, Niel Alobaidi, said: "This does indicate that confidence is returning to the market and people are keen to take advantage of some quite lucrative early-booking incentives."

dailymail.co.uk Michal Husain writes: Understandably, the Thai tourism industry is keen to get back on track. The fundamentals are there: this is a country that's geared up to offer the best to its visitors, whatever their interests and budget - and that promise was enough to convince me and my husband Meekal to give Thailand a try.