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

GERMANY'S second largest airline is expanding its flights between Berlin-Tegel and Phuket from November 1. As well as Fridays and Sundays, airberlin will also fly on Tuesdays to the Thai resort island.

Phuket Update Phuket police pounce on porn purveyor: Patong officers arrested Purapatsorn Karavinpluk, 35, at her stall in Soi Bangla on Tuesday evening, confiscating 3000 sex CDs they say she had been selling under the counter to tourists at 200 baht each.

telegraph.co.uk Thailand set a new Guinness World Record for a water pistol fight as 3477 people in Bangkok drenched each other in a 10-minute Songkran shootout.

nationmultimedia.com Fewer fatalities and injuries in road accidents nationwide have been reported so far during Songkran, according to the Road Safety Centre's latest report. There were 59 deaths and 976 injuries in 893 road accidents for the first two days of the so-called ''seven dangerous days.'' [Songkran is usually one of the safest times of the year to be on Phuket roads.]

heraldsun.com.au Swarms of caterpillars that can cause skin rashes have invaded Bali. But officials say tourist areas have not been affected so far by the dark, wriggly insects. "Tourists need not be alarmed," a Bali senior official said.

newstalkzb.co.nz The Thailand Travel Tragedies website has just gone live. The website's aim is to alert travellers to the dangers they face in a country perceived as a tropical paradise, which has health and safety standards substantially below those of developed nations.

malaysia.msn.com More details have emerged about how those involved in the 9/11 attacks conducted ''dry runs'' in Malaysia, Thailand and Hong Kong to test aviation security ahead of the devastating strikes in New York and Washington. Previous reports have suggested that some of the planning for the 9/11 attacks took place in Malaysia and Thailand, but an indictment did not make clear if the surveillance attempts were timed with meetings in the two countries.

monstersandcritics.com The national 2011 election promises to be a showdown between the Democrats and the Puea Thai opposition party, whose de-facto leader is former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, the prime mover behind last year's protests. Whether the ruling Democrats' pro-poor policies are enough to win votes away from Puea Thai, basically a reincarnation of Thaksin's Thai Rak Thai, depends a lot on how the opposition plays its cards in the coming weeks.

bbc.co.uk The EU has relaxed some of its sanctions against members of Burma's government, signalling a more flexible approach by the West.

forbes.com A group of bloggers led by union organiser and journalist Jonathan Tasini filed a class-action suit against the Huffington Post, founder Arianna Huffington, and AOL, which acquired the news-and-blogs site in February. In 1999, two volunteers who served as chatroom moderators under its ''Community Leader'' program sued, saying they were essentially being used as workers in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. That suit was eventually resolved with a $15 million settlement.

slate.com An estimated 9000 unpaid contributors helped Arianna Huffington whitewash the HuffPo fence. The psychic rewards they reaped were so great that many of them returned to the site again and again to re-whitewash the fence for no payment, even though the profit-making ambitions of the site were self-evident.

the nelson mail Air New Zealand has dozens of pilots aged over 60, and some over 70, flying some of its biggest planes because they're making large amounts of money and refuse to quit. That's according to one pilot who has told the Nelson Mail their refusal to retire was hampering the career prospects of others and causing headaches for the airline.

southalltravel.co.uk BBC Radio 4 broadcaster Jenni Murray has recommended Thailand as her top holiday destination, naming the south-east Asian country as her personal favorite. In an interview with the Daily Telegraph, Ms Murray, best known for hosting Woman's Hour on BBC Radio 4, said she was glad she chose Bangkok.

channelnewsasia.com For Asia's growing ranks of the ultra-rich, a superyacht has become the ultimate status symbol, and manufacturers of luxury craft are setting course for a region which by one count now boasts more than 330 billionaires. Singapore's Arthur Tay, chairman of lifestyle products and services firm SUTL, said he takes his vessel out to sea three times a month on average with family and friends to nearby tourist hotspots like Phuket and Bali.

thedailystar.net A Bangladeshi port worker survived nine days trapped without food or water in a cargo container shipped to Singapore from Chittagong. His companion died. The two men had completed their cleaning chores at Chittagong Port when they popped into the empty container to take a nap, survivor Din Islam told Singapore police.




Until April 15 Songkran Festival, Phuket City, Patong celebrations
Until April 17 Phuket International Cricket Sixes, Karon
May New PPAO Hospital to open, Phuket City
June 12 Laguna Phuket International Marathon
June 23-26 Phuket Fun Fly paragliding, Nai Harn
July 3 Phuket Navy League US Independence Day fair at Headstart International School
July 20-24 Six Senses Phuket Raceweek
October Vegetarian Festival, Phuket
November 26-27 9th Phuket International Soccer 7s
November 27 Laguna Phuket Triathlon
December 3-4 6th Andaman International Soccer 7s
December 4 Ironman 70.3 Asia-Pacific Championship, Laguna


March 18-28 National Youth Games, Phuket

Fourth Asia Beach Games, Phuket