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

THAI kickboxing ( muay thai) on Phuket is moving upmarket. Laguna Phuket will be hosting a major competition on the island in May.
While the date has yet to be finalised, the Thailand Open Challenger series is recognition that the sport now has a vast international audience, and is attracting big money.
The Laguna event may have drawn inspiration from 'The Contender Muay Thai' television series.
As a self-defence and fitness regime, the sport now attracts men and an increasing number of women from all over the world to camps on Phuket and throughout Thailand.
National pride in muay thai now extends to Bangkok's hi-so set, with a Privy Councillor among the sport's influential fans.
For Laguna Phuket it's another major sports event for the annual calendar, the resort complex and the island, adding to its yearly marathon and triathlon, plus occasional top golf.
An A-level golf tournament is anticipated for May or June this year. Oh, and last year's first annual rubber duck race for charity shouldn't be overlooked, either.

smh.com.au The News of the World newspaper is reporting that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have signed an agreement to legally separate. The actors will share custody of the couple's six children, the tabloid paper reported on Sunday, but they have agreed that the children will live with Jolie.

smh.com.au Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are reportedly ''fine'' and not headed for splitsville, a US media report says. In what's shaping as the battle of the unnamed sources, people reportedly close to the Jolie-Pitt family have told People.com rumors of a relationship breakdown are ''totally false''.

bangkokpost.com The high-end property market on Phuket has shown signs of improvement, but the outlook this year remains hazy, says Amy Koh, Phuket sales manager for broker Double 8 Realty Co. '''Prices have stabilised and become more realistic after rising for many years,'' she said.

wired.com US filmmaker Dan Woolley was shooting a video about poverty in Haiti when the earthquake struck. After being crushed by a pile of rubble, Woolley took refuge in an elevator shaft, where he followed instructions from an iPhone first-aid app to fashion a bandage and tourniquet for his leg and to stop the bleeding from his head wound, according to an MSNBC story.

cna.com.tw Taiwanese telephone fraud rings have set up new ''call centers'' in Thailand to con people into transferring money to certain bank accounts. Liaison officers engaged in five joint operation projects in 2009 to bust crime rings in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Pattaya and Phuket, and arrested more than 200 people. Fraud rings hired young unemployed Taiwanese men to work in Thailand in the belief that Thai police would not be able to bust them.

timesonline.co.uk In the 1960s, even the most optimistic would have found it hard to imagine Asia's achievements of recent years. With average annual growth rate of nearly six percent in the past 10 years, Asia's share of the global economy has risen to a third. The debate of only two years ago about whether Asia is decoupled from the rest of the global economy is now academic.

brudirect.com Cruise tourism is set to make a breakthrough in the tourism industry in Asia. Soo Siew Keong, Director of International Group Singapore Tourism Board says: ''Cruise lines' feedback often says we are constantly using the same itinerary with the same ports around the area. The common ones are Singapore, Langkawi, Phuket and Vietnam. We need to encourage the development of ports."

bernama.com 'Railway tourism' is being looked into as a new integrated tourism product that will not only help boost tourism in Asean countries, but also open up economy for rural areas in the region. Malaysia's Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen said Malaysia presented the idea during the 13th Asean Tourism Ministers' meeting. ''Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar can all be linked by rail which will help connectivity between Asean countries,'' said Dr Ng.

macarthur-chronicle-wollondilly.whereilive.com.au A benefit night for Aimee Malonzo, widow of Michael Malonzo, who died in an accident on Phuket on January 15, is planned for Wests Leagues Club on Monday night. Mrs Malonzo is the owner and principal of Unique Dance Productions. The benefit night was organised by Jannique-Larae Fruean who sent Facebook invitations to 500 people.

voanews.com Burmese migrant workers in Thailand fear new immigration and work permit procedures will make life harder for them and their families back home. Thai authorities say the new procedures will curb illegal migration but rights activists say the measures threaten the migrants' security. Under the guidelines announced Tuesday, migrant workers must begin the new work permit procedures by February 28 or risk deportation.

theage.com.au Police have issued a warning about the hazards of swimming at unpatrolled beaches after a man drowned trying to save three boys, including his two sons, from a rip, police say. The incident follows the deaths of Joseph and Carole Sherry, who drowned at Ballina on the north coast on the Australian state of New South Wales while on holiday last week.

Phuketwan Update Cape Sienna Resort, the Phuketwan Phuket Resort of the Year 2009, is the only Phuket resort that figures in the global travellers' choice awards at the well-regarded traveladvisor.com online site. Cape Sienna comes fourth in the romantic category. Among the headlines for the comments about the resort are: ''Absolutely stunning views and excellent food,'' ''great hotel but no soul,'' ''Luxurious if a little pricey,'' ''Will be back soon,'' and ''Good-looking hotel, staff need A LOT of work.''

monstersandcritics Tourist arrivals to Burma jumped 25 per cent in 2009, despite the global recession and the economic sanctions imposed on the pyriah state. According to figures released by the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism, more than 227,400 tourists visited the country. Some 148,000 of Burma's visitors last year were from Asian countries, including 42,700 from Thailand and 23,634 from China.

radioaustralia.net.au Anthony Farrell, director of the Myanmar Travel Group in Sydney's north-west, has been arranging tours to Burma for three years: ''I think that the boycott is fairly stupid ... I think with the development of a lot more tourism going into that country you'll get a tricking down effect of money going into the country and it will start providing a middle class, which is what has happened in Thailand.''
Dr Myint Cho, spokesman for Burma Campaign Australia: ''Let me tell you one thing, somebody said that the tourism money will go to the grassroots people. Actually it's untrue because tourism in Burma is under the control of military regime or their business associates. So every dollars from the tourists will go to the pockets of the generals.''

cnn.com Several people, including one American, were wounded Sunday when a convoy belonging to a US mining company came under fire in the province of Papua, police said. The convoy of two buses and four cars was carrying employees of PT Freeport, the largest copper and gold mining company in the country's eastern-most province.

nytimes.com Next week, UN agencies plan to assess satellite imagery to ascertain the full extent of earthquake damage in Haiti and come up with an estimate of how much it will cost to replace lost homes and public buildings. Officials refuse to guess a dollar figure. To date, the 2004 tsunami-rebuilding effort is estimated to have cost more than $13 billion. The body toll in Haiti is now above 150,000.

afp Malaysian police in southern Malacca state said Sunday six people had been detained over the murder of an Indonesian maid. Nurul Aida, 31, is believed to have died at her employer's home last week. It is understood the employer ordered a woman from the agency that hired the maid to take the body away and provide a replacement.

brudirect.com All eyes are on Brunei and Asean as over 370 buyers from 52 countries enjoy a field day at the six-day Asean Travel Exchange, the market component of the Asean Tourism Forum 2010.Thailand occupies the biggest exhibition area with 108 booths, followed by Malaysia with 63, Indonesia with 52, Singapore with 23 and the Philippines with 20.

avherald.com An Air France Boeing 747-400 flying from Paris Charles de Gaulle (France) to Bangkok (Thailand), was climbing out of Paris when one of the engines failed. The crew dumped fuel and returned to Paris for a safe landing about 85 minutes after departure. The flight was postponed to the next day.

golf.com He'll come back when he has something to say about his marriage, that they're going to try to make it work, or that it's over. That's why I think Tiger Woods hasn't talked. He probably doesn't know the answer yet. Wife Elin's the most powerful person in sports right now.

nytimes.com The average young American now spends practically every waking minute, except for time in school, using a smart phone, computer, television or other electronic device, according to a new study from the Kaiser Family Foundation. Those aged 8 to 18 spend more than seven and a half hours a day with such devices, compared with less than six and a half hours five years ago, when the study was last conducted.

independent.co.uk Thailand's lush jungles are under daily attack by illegal loggers and poachers, but conservationists in the country's northeast are turning to an unlikely remedy - the common mushroom. A project that turns former wildlife criminals into funghi farmers is proving a surprising success, giving villagers a decent wage while helping to slow the destruction of forests in the Khao Yai National Park, a World Heritage Site. Organic oyster mushrooms have proved popular.

businessmirror.com.ph South Forbes's themed Residential Cluster provides a fusion of international design elements and Filipino sensibilities, Phuket Mansions incorporates the sophistication and allure of Thailand with the pleasures of contemporary island resort living. Miami is a vibrant community of posh Moderne homes. Sentosa Heights is an island enclave surrounded by nothing but the golf course. South Forbes Golf City was recently named Best Golf Community Development by the CNBC International Property Awards.



January 27 Opening of @Beach Food Loft at Ocean Plaza Patong, a rooftop food court with views across beach road to the foreshore and sea. Seats 160, said to offer reasonable prices, something rare for Patong.

January 29 Former Phuket Brewery dining-entertainment venue opposite Tesco-Lotus to reopen as Lang Lao Sang Chan (Whisky and Moonlight.)

January 30 Splash Jungle, Phuket's first theme park across 14 rai with slides to suit everyone, opens at West Sands Residences and Resort, Mai Khao.

January 31-February 4 Aircraft carrier USS Nimitz and other warships anchor off Phuket for shore leave.

February 2 Welcome by the Phuket Navy League for senior officers and crew from US vessels. 7pm-9pm, BBQ Hut Smokehouse, Rat-U-Thit Road, Patong (opposite the Mercure). Cost is 200 baht for members and 400 baht for visitors. E: info@navyleaguephuket.org

February 3-7 Phang Nga Bay Regatta. More than 60 yachts are expected to enter in six classes. More information: http://www.bayregatta.com

February 7 Wichit Municipality mini-marathon over 4.5 kilometres and 10.5 kilometres. For more information call 076-525100 or 080-6481363.

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

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.