telegraph.co.uk Burma's junta is certain to release detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi in the next few days, officials in the military-ruled country said on Friday.


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

bangkokpost.com Foreign tourists are returning to Phuket in droves as the high season starts, and airport general manager Prathuang Sornkham said passenger throughput was projected to rise to 7.2 million for the fiscal year. That poses a big challenge for Phuket, which was designed to handle 6.5 million passengers a year. Mr Prathuang said that by the time the planned expansion is completed, passengers through Phuket may have already reached its new capacity of 12.5 million a year.

nationmultimedia.com The Central Wage Committee will today review a proposed increase in the minimum daily wage for workers. The proposal, prepared by a subcommittee on wage review, is seeking to award the biggest raise to workers in Phuket.

Phuketwan Update A 65-year-old British man and his wife went to bed on Wednesday night, leaving the keys to their new 800,000 baht four-door pickup on a coffee table at their home in Rawai, southern Phuket. In the morning, the keys were gone, apparently obtained by a thief who came through louvred windows, and so was the vehicle, through the remote-controlled gates. The couple has car insurance.

news.com.au A full list of the damage to the Qantas Airbus A380 has been revealed after it was nursed back to Singapore on three engines. When it touched down the fuel systems were failing, the forward spar supporting the left wing had been holed and one of the jet's two hydraulic systems was knocked out and totally drained of fluid.

smh.com.au The European Aviation Safety Agency said preliminary analysis of debris showed that an ''oil fire'' in the high- and intermediate-pressure section of QF32's second engine may have caused the failure.

afp As Japan hosts an Asia-Pacific summit this week, a women's underwear maker unveiled a bra that is meant to lift spirits as well as bust lines and support the country's tourism sector. Triumph Japan showcased its electronic bustier-style "Welcome to Japan! Bra" that it said was inspired by a tour guide's uniform. It can greet visitors in three languages.

usatoday.com Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi is due to complete her sentence on Saturday, nearly a week after the country held elections that excluded her and were widely criticised as a sham. The junta has not confirmed that she will be set free but government officials have quietly said they are making "necessary security preparations" for this weekend.

washintontimes.com Burma's pro-junta political party secured the majority of seats in both houses of Parliament, according to the latest official results from the country's first election in 20 years. The partial batch of results released Thursday confirms the victory of the Union Solidarity and Development Party in Sunday's vote, which critics say was marked by fraud and engineered to sustain the military's power.

nytimes.com They arrived at the dock just after 8am, hanging off the balconies at every level, clapping and cheering, looking something like a boatload of refugees eager to disembark in a prosperous land. Here, after all, they would be able to get hot showers, flushing toilets and fresh food. Passengers on Carnival???????????s Splendor cruise ship had been at sea for more than 72 hours without electricity, the result of a fire in the ships engine room early Monday morning.

bbc.co.uk Carnival Cruise Lines boss Gerry Cahill has said he is ''disappointed'' about ''ruining'' the vacations of 4500 passengers stranded off the Mexican coast by an engine-room fire on board the company's Splendor cruise ship.

guardian.co.uk Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi faced further pressure to quit after videos emerged showing miniskirt-clad young women being escorted to his home by an accused pimp, and his party was repeatedly outvoted in parliament.

news.sky.com Mosquitoes specially bred to pass a death gene to their offspring could wipe out one of the world's most debilitating diseases, according to British scientists. They believe that genetically modified insects could control wild populations of the Aedes aegypti species, which spreads dengue fever.

thestar.com.my The sustained recovery in the business and leisure tourism markets in Malaysia, on the back of improving global economic conditions, augurs well for the local hotel and resort operators. Industry observers told StarBiz in general, the number of international tourist arrivals in Malaysia was set to grow further, and local hotel and resort operators were well-positioned to benefit from this favorable trend.

independent.co.uk Singaporeans and Australians make up the majority of Indonesia's visitors, which are more often than not from the surrounding South East Asian regions, although the number of visitors from Europe has been growing steadily thanks to international promotion of the country as a tourism hotspot.



PHUKET is importing top international DJs for the first five-day Festival on the Sand as part of the Patong Carnival from December 15-20. Up to 10,000 party goers are expected on the beach.

November 12 IBAP meets at Thai Naan restaurant to hear Woody Leonard on what's best for Internet access on Phuket.
November 12-14 Krabi-Andaman Festival plus Krabi Food Festival, Krabi Town. Details: 075-623-966, 081-7874074.
November 13 Phuket International Women's Club ball, Hilton Phuket Arcadia Resort, Karon
November 19 AustCham at the new Westin Hotel at Koh Sireh from 3pm. E: harry@ladypie.com Tel: 081 2731740
November 21 Loy Kratong Festival
November 26-28 Phuket Honda Racing Fest at Saphan Hin, Phuket City
November 28 Laguna Phuket triathlon
December 4-11 Phuket King's Cup Regatta
December 5 Laguna Ironman title
December 3-5 North Phuket Culinary Arts Festival, Mai Khao resorts
December 15-20 Patong Carnival
December 16-18 2010 Asia Superyacht Rendezvous
December 17 US Consular outreach service on Phuket
December 30-January 9 Phuket Red Cross fair, Saphan Hin park, Phuket City
2011
January 6-9 PIMEX boat show, Royal Phuket Marina
January 22 QSI International fun run day at Bang Wad Dam, Kathu
January 23 The Great Phuket Rubber Duck Race Day, Laguna Phuket
February 9-13 The Bay Regatta - Phuket, Phang Nga, Krabi