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

traveldailynews.com Phuket is already Thailand's most popular island destination. Soon, it could be giving Bangkok a run for its money as the top tourist draw in the entire country. At least among Australians. Statistics released by hotel booking website Wotif.com show that in 2004, the island was far down the list of preferred overseas destinations. Last year, it ranked ninth, ahead of Fiji, Paris, Dublin and Rome. Craig Fong, director of sales and marketing for Movenpick Resort & Spa Karon Beach Phuket, site of the inaugural Asia Connect Thailand regional hospitality conference, said: ''With direct service at the 'right' price point now too, Phuket is poised to realise big gains.''

jakartaglobe.com Malaysian and Thai PMs made a historic joint visit to Thailand's restive south, where a bloody separatist insurgency has killed more than 4000 people. Najib Razak and Abhisit Vejjajiva officially named a ''Friendship Bridge'' spanning their shared border and visited an Islamic school in one of Thailand's troubled Muslim-majority southern provinces.

cnn.com Thousands of protesters gathered in several cities in Indonesia to push the government to deal with rampant allegations of corruption. Demonstrators massed in Jakarta, Makassar, South Sulawesi, Bandung and West Java. Organisers planned the protests for International Anti-Corruption Day, which the UN had declared to raise awareness about efforts to combat graft. [We did not hear of any Anti-Corruption Day activities on Phuket.]

smh.com.au ''God bless Tiger,'' Yahoo chief executive Carol Bartz told a conference this week, adding that all of the main Yahoo news sections got a ''huge uplift'' from the story. ''It is better than Michael Jackson dying; it is kind of hard to put an ad next to a funeral.''

usatoday.com Christine Brennan writes: We are in the midst of something so jaw-dropping and out of the ordinary that were we to use a term to describe it from a now-suddenly distant, quickly fading past, we might call it Tigeresque. What Tiger Woods has caused to happen to himself and his image over the past two weeks is the sports world's most remarkable fall from grace, ever. No athlete has ever held a perch so high in our culture and fallen so far so fast.

scmp.com China has toughened its stance at the UN climate conference in Copenhagen, rounding on rich nations over their ''unambitious and deceptive'' carbon emissions targets. In a rare public display of anger, top Chinese negotiators accused developed nations of making ''empty promises'' and putting impossible demands on their developing counterparts, which they said would jeopardise hopes of an agreement.

gulf-daily-news.com Foreign embassies in Bahrain refused to be drawn into a row over whether tougher visa rules should be brought in for women from certain countries. It follows calls by a group of MPs for a clampdown on women coming in from Thailand, Ethiopia, Russia and China in a bid to tackle prostitution. The proposal was eventually put on hold.

bbc.co.uk Lindy Robertson, 59, told the inquest into her husband's death how she feared for her life when she was attacked and tied up on their yacht in March of the Andaman coast, south of Phuket. Malcolm Robertson, 64, of Hastings, was bludgeoned and thrown overboard. A coroner at Hastings Magistrates' Court recorded a verdict of unlawful killing.

dailymail.co.uk After the inquest, Mrs Robertson described how she managed to hold herself together during the 10-hour ordeal as a captive of her husband's Burmese killers. She said: '''You just think of your family, your loved ones and your grandchildren. I was just trying to block out everything that was happening and just concentrate on trying to survive for the sake of my family.'' The three young men are serving long prison terms.

etravelblackboardasia.com AirAsia is now the most popular airline in the world on giant social networking site Facebook, surpassing all other airlines. The achievement caps AirAsia's eighth year anniversary celebration and highlights the airline's innovative spirit that has led to its successful foray in new media and social networking. AirAsia leads over other airlines with a fan base of approximately 100,000.

Phuketwan Update Movenpick Resort and Spa Karon Beach Phuket hosts a fun-filled day charity on Saturday December 12 for around 70 local orphan and unprivileged children aged from seven years and above from the SOS Children's Village, Phuket. The event will be held at the resort's The Play Zone from 10am to 3pm. Donations of equipment, books and other necessities are welcome. Contact Khun Nanpaporn at 076 396 139.

latimes.com Five major publishers - Conde Nast Publications, Hearst Corp., Meredith Corp., News Corp. and Time Inc. - announced they will join forces to develop an online storefront to rival Amazon.com Inc. The companies, which publish such titles as Sports Illustrated, the Wall Street Journal, Better Homes and Gardens, Wired and Vanity Fair. said their venture would sell newspapers and magazines online but could also be used to sell digital comics and books.

news.com.au Australian prisoners like Schapelle Corby and the Bali Nine might need to serve at least three-quarters of their sentences in Indonesia before they would be allowed to return home under a prisoner transfer scheme. And such a scheme is, according to the Indonesian side, a very long way from becoming a reality.

channelnews.asia Experts say Singapore can take the lead in building a green economy and share its know-how with other countries. Singapore has pledged to cut emissions growth by 16 per cent below the projected 2020 level, as it moves towards a low-carbon economy. A small country with no natural resources, Singapore has also turned to reclaiming water to meet its water needs.

dailymail.co.uk Here are some of the things we loved about Six Senses Hideaway: discreet lighting on the paths, unfailingly courteous staff, immaculate beaches, a deli with home-made ice cream on tap, stupendous breakfasts, outdoor showers and sunken baths, the view and the silence at night. And the things we found disappointing? The music in the bar, uncomfortable chairs in public areas, garish chair and sofa covers, silly, slanting tall glasses, ugly tooth mugs used as water glasses in restaurants, the pillows and the constant reminders about how green everything is on this holy hill.