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

cnn.com Japan's emperor addressed the nation Wednesday - a rare event that only occurs in times of war or national crisis. Emperor Akihito's speech underlined Prime Minister Naoto Kan's earlier assertion that the country was going through its worst crisis since World War II.

Latest: France increases travel alert and urges citizens to leave Japan's north. Other countries warn against non-essential travel to Japan.

bangkokpost.com "I don't want to press on with the nuclear plant construction plan as I don't want Thai people to risk their lives," Deputy PM Suthep Thaugsuban said, announcing a freeze today.

A FIVE-LINE call centre is to be established from today at Phuket Provincial Hall administrative centre in Phuket City to take donations for Japan disaster aid on behalf of the Phuket Japanese Association. The number for donations is 076 216333. Japan was among the largest donors to Phuket after the 2004 tsunami. Phuket has about 500 Japanese residents. Practical aid items can also be dropped at Bangkok Hospital Phuket in Phuket City.

scmp.com China became the first country to evacuate its citizens from Japan's worst affected areas as fears mount that experts will be unable to contain the growing nuclear crisis.

washingtonpost.com Torn up and terrified by a disaster that keeps on getting worse, Japan has transformed in just four days from one of the world's most comfortable countries into one of its most distressed. Since Friday, the country has been hit by a 9.0-magnitude earthquake, a shoreline-crushing tsunami and an evolving crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant.

smh.com.au As rescue workers search for survivors after a devastating earthquake and tsunami, and emergency crews and aid agencies try to cope with some half a million people left homeless, a group of engineers - the Fukushima 50 - are risking their lives to try to contain Japan's nuclear crisis.
Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan reportedly told the crew: "You are the only ones who can resolve the crisis. Retreat is unthinkable." Two are missing after explosions and fire.

latimes.com Another fire at Japan's stricken Fukushima Daiichi (No. 1) nuclear power complex broke out early Wednesday, compounding the spree of disasters expected to take historic peacetime tolls on the nation's people and economy.

cnn.com The Asian economic powerhouse reeled as the death toll spiked to 3373, the National Police Agency said, and the stock market plummeted for a second straight day - a 10 percent drop this time. At least 7558 people were still missing as of Wednesday morning.

afp Malaysia's main airport began screening passengers returning from Japan for radioactive contamination and South Korea said it was considering a similar measure.

reuters Tokyo residents are within the safe range for radiation exposure, US nuclear experts said.

businessweek.com There are just too many bodies. Hundreds of dead have washed ashore on Japan's devastated northeast coast since last week's earthquake and tsunami. Funeral homes and crematoriums are overwhelmed, and officials have run out of body bags and coffins.

theatlantic.com From the start of this calamity I have wanted to know, ''What is the worst that can happen at these nuclear sites? Suppose everything that could go wrong does go wrong: what then?'' I still don't know the answer.

scmp.com Customers in Hong Kong queued to buy Japanese milk formula and other food products in a rush to beat the potential effects of radiation contamination.

thailand-business-news.com Thailand's ministries of Public Health and Natural Resources and Environment will closely monitor and inspect food imported from Japan and Thailand's air quality to check radiation levels but downplayed any direct and immediate threat to the country.

bangkokpost.com About 70 percent of outbound package tours to Japan worth three billion baht for the summer season have been cancelled since the devastating earthquake and tsunami, according to the Thai Travel Agents Association. Normally, around 100,000 Thai people travel to Japan during the peak season from March to May.

bbc.co.uk Indonesia says it will go ahead with its plans to build a nuclear reactor. Jakarta's plans have already been changed once but officials insist the plant, set for Sumatra, will be safe. There are renewed concerns about the safety of nuclear energy in Indonesia which is on the Pacific Ring of Fire.

afp At least 200 people have been shot and wounded in a Shi'ite village south of the Bahraini capital, a medic says, as the king imposed a state of emergency after bringing in Saudi and Emirati troops to help quell anti-regime protests.

Phuket Update Phuket tax officers pounced on a van in Pa Klok at 11.30am yesterday and arrested local Ussaman Wangdee, 48, together with Yussari Yoonu, 28, and Padeemoh Yoonu, 27, from Pattani. The three were accused of smuggling 878 boxes of cigarettes and tobacco. The cigs were sold to small shops around Phuket, officers said.

nzherald.co.nz Sarah Carter's father, Richard, said that the news of a sixth mysterious death in Chiang Mai came as no surprise. "I've suspected all along that this spate of deaths may possibly uncover several others,'' he said.

jakartaglobe.com The Center for Orangutan Protection called on Indonesia's government to repatriate 12 primates smuggled into Thailand, citing concerns about their living conditions. ''We have information that they will be moved to the Samutprakarn Crocodile Farm and Zoo [near Bangkok], we need to stop it before it happens.'' Eleven of them were seized after a raid on a private zoo in Phuket and one from botanical gardens in Pattaya.

moodiereport.com SSP Thailand has clinched a five-year contract to operate four new outlets at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi International Airport's Domestic Terminal from the first week of April. There will be a Bill Bentley pub, also among the units at Phuket International Airport, and a fast-food brand Popeyes Chicken & Biscuits, which makes its debut in the Thai market, together with leading Japanese noodle brand Yamagoya, which has 200 outlets across Asia.

Media Release The Village Coconut Island has appointed the Absolute World Group as its premier sales and marketing agent for the second phase of development of two-bedroom private pool villas and Jacuzzi suites. On a coconut-fringed island less than four minutes by boat off the east coast of Phuket, this new phase will encompass 192 luxurious Jacuzzi suites and two bedroom private pool villas, complementing the existing 44 phase one villas.



Until March 19 Heroine's Monument Festival
Until March 19 ADFEST 2011 at Movenpick Resort, Phuket
March 26 St Patrick's Day Ball, Movenpick Resort and Spa, Karon. Details 081 3979809 or 086 9469232
March 27 Earth Hour commemoration on Phuket
April 8-10 Phuket Bike Week, Patong
April 13-15 Songkran Festival
May New PPAO Hospital to open, Phuket City
June 12 Laguna Phuket International Marathon
June 23-26 Phuket Fun Fly paragliding, Nai Harn


March 18-28 National Youth Games, Phuket

Fourth Asia Beach Games, Phuket