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

bangkokpost.com A multi-billion-baht convention centre planned for Phuket has been stalled amid corruption allegations, according to Finance Ministry officials. Designers and architects bidding for the project have allegedly been asked for kickbacks as high as 41 percent from state officials. A total of 2.6 billion baht has been allocated to the project, with one educational institution awarded 100 million baht to develop designs for the new international centre.

austrianindependent.com Legal experts are at loggerheads over whether Austrian law can be applied in a legal battle after an Austrian was beaten up by a Briton on an Austrian Airlines plane. The Austrian launched legal action after he suffered broken ribs in the attack by the Briton on a flight from Thailand. The Pregarten resident claimed he was attacked by the man after he accidentally touched his sunburned skin. A first court case was abandoned after the Briton, who lives in Denmark, failed to turn up.

nytimes.com Singapore's government expects two new casino projects will create about 35,000 new jobs. For the gambling companies, the openings present a fresh chance to tap into Asia's booming economies at a time when growth and discretionary income in the US and Europe is lagging. But Singapore's tight restrictions on junket operators and high entry fees for local visitors could hurt business. Cost overruns have already put the two resorts deeper in the hole than planned.

afp Singapore's authorities issued a casino licence to neighboring Malaysia's Genting group on Saturday, allowing the company to add gaming to its ambitious development plans in the city-state. Resorts World Sentosa, built by Genting on a former British military outpost at a cost of 4.4 billion US dollars, opened four premium hotels last month in expectation of the licence. Singapore's casino regulator said the licence was issued on Saturday.

scmp.com A taxi group is pushing the government for the mass installation of closed-circuit television cameras in Hong Kong's cab fleet, a move it says will improve road safety and record bad behavior but which could come at the cost of passengers' privacy. The cameras, with ''black box'' data recorders, have already been fitted to two taxis for testing. They are placed next to the rear-view mirror, one to record what goes on in the cabin, the other to film what happens in front of the vehicle.

indiatimes.com An engineer by training, Lieutenant Farah al Habshi is the deputy weapons and electrical officer on the new Malaysian warship KD Perak. ''I have no problems serving on a warship with men,'' says Farah, in her early-20s. Her presence, and of some other women officers on board foreign warships during the multilateral Milan exercise, is a stark reminder that Indian armed forces are yet to shatter the glass ceiling for women. Indian women are not allowed on warships or to serve in combat arms.

theage.com.au Burma's secretive military rulers - suspected of pursuing a nuclear weapons program - want to join an Australian-led nuclear safety body. The move comes amid calls for greater scrutiny of Burma's nuclear activities and its links with equally secretive and nuclear-armed North Korea. Analysts say Burma's interest in joining the Asia/Pacific Safeguards Network, an international group chaired by Australia, could be a hint of tentative openness by the notoriously paranoid regime - or another smokescreen.

Dusit International We start 2010 with a positive outlook and an exciting expansion plan for the year. A new milestone will be marked in September, with the opening of our first hotel in the Indian subcontinent, Dusit Devarana New Delhi. In partnership with Bird Group, one of the largest and most diversified entities in the Indian travel industry, we are gearing up to open at least five hotels and resorts in India (New Delhi, Jaipur, Rishikesh and Goa) by 2013. The opening of our first hotel in this region will also debut Dusit's luxury brand - Dusit Devarana.

southalltravel.co.uk Anyone jetting off for holidays to Thailand may not necessarily associate the destination with luxury but they should reconsider their opinion, a travel expert has claimed. Joanna Cooke, UK and Ireland marketing manager for the Tourism Authority of Thailand, explained that the service levels in the country and the increasing number of boutique hotels add to its luxury appeal. ''With Thailand, the Thai hospitality and the service that you get there automatically adds an extra star where you are staying,'' she noted.

nationmultimedia.com Snoh Thienthong, leader of the opposition Pracharaj Party, said that he suspected the latest move against him was because Democrat chief adviser and ex-PM Chuan Leekpai held grudges for a censure debate regarding a land scandal in Phuket that led to the collapse of a Democrat-led government in 1995. He added that it could also be because he had been able to help the Chart Thai, New Aspiration and Thai Rak Thai parties to defeat the Democrat Party in three elections.

granitebaypt.com David Minter, a 22-year-old California kickboxer, awoke from a short coma with an unknown missionary beside his bed. Victim of a motorcycle accident on Phuket, his mother flew to his bedside last month. She says the missionaries ''have had such a profound impact on my son to where he has renewed his faith and wants to serve the Lord. This experience has strengthened my faith in God and my belief in hope and love.''

smh.com.au In the four months before Australian tourist David Wilson was kidnapped and later murdered in 1994, eight foreigners were kidnapped in Cambodia. Yet Australia's embassy in Phnom Penh did nothing to warn Australian travellers of the increased risk or to plan strategies to deal with any further kidnappings.

insideindonesia.org If decentralisation was going to work anywhere in Indonesia it should have worked in Kutai Kartanegara, in the northern part of East Kalimantann, a district rich in deposits of oil, gas and coal . Even with rich oil reserves and the presence of the big international companies, the infrastructure and living standards in the coastal sub-districts of Samboja and Sanga-Sanga has remained so limited that coastal elites have tried to secede from the district. Corruption has also had a huge impact on local politics, shaping election outcomes not only through the buying of individual votes, but by much more sophisticated strategies, like standing dummy candidates.

afp A 47-year-old tribesman gathering food in a north Malaysian forest armed only with a rock, fought off a tiger attack. The attack in the jungles of Perak state left Yok Meneh with a deep gash on his back and injuries to his hands and legs, the Sunday Star newspaper reported. Yok Meneh said: ''I was so engrossed in collecting petai (green beans) that I did not notice the tiger had crept up behind me.''

scmp Exactly how many lives have been saved as a result of revelations about the Thailand military's pushback of Rohingya boatpeople is impossible to say. But Farid Hossain, 23, a Rohingya living in Bangladesh, said he was sure that the route to Malaysia would reopen next winter, or maybe the one after that. When it does, he will be ready with his fare, and a heart full of hope for a better life.



Until February 14 Phuket OTOP (one village, one product) Fair at Saphan Hin public park in Phuket City. About 300 booths, nightly performances, local and national products, good food. Hundreds of visitors expected each evening.

February 13-19 Chalong Temple Fair.

February 14 Valentines Day, Chinese New Year.

February 19-21 Old Phuket Chinese New Year Festival, Old Phuket Town.

February 25-28 Phuket Gay Festival in Patong.

February 26-27 Phuket International Blues Rock Festival 2010 at the Hilton Phuket Arcadia Resort and Spa, Karon.

February 26-28 Phuket Spicy Soccer 7s at Fifa Phuket Tsunami Centre.

April 9-13 Phuket Bike Week, including tattoo competitions, island rides and the Miss Phuket Bike Week contest.

May31-June 5 Eight-nation football tournament for players over 55 at Surakul Stadium in Phuket City. Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Taiwan, Iran, Armenia competing.

May Date to be finalised for Muay Thai kickboxing competition at Laguna Phuket.

May 21-23 Paragliding on Phuket.

June 4-13 Phuket International Film Festival.

Planet Phuket: Clean Future Grows a Fan Club
News Analysis A meeting on Monday represents Phuket's best chance yet to change for the better. The island's governor will hear the views of international representatives for the first time.
Planet Phuket: Clean Future Grows a Fan Club

Secret Phuket: Lifting the Veil on Heavy Metal
Take the Tour One of Phuket's most surprising features is a hidden valley tin smelter and refinery where links with the island's mining past are forging an environmentally friendly future.
Secret Phuket: Lifting the Veil on Heavy Metal

Phuket's Record High Sets Pace for Global Upturn
Breaking News Figures for Phuket flight arrivals and departures in January produce record numbers as the island's ability to recover from natural and manmade disasters shines through.
Phuket's Record High Sets Pace for Global Upturn

Phuket Pushes for Special 4am Nightlife Zone
Breaking News Phuket's Governor has thrown his weight behind extending opening hours in Patong to 4am. He has also disclosed that he is seeking to extend his time as governor.
Phuket Pushes for Special 4am Nightlife Zone

Phuket Taxis: AoT Blamed for High Fares, Bad Service
Latest A high powered meeting has blamed Airports of Thailand for the excessive cost of airport taxis, and for shoddy service to tourists. Bangkok heavyweights listened to the crticism.
Phuket Taxis: AoT Blamed for High Fares, Bad Service