Songkran's ''sexy topless dancers'' went to police in Bangkok with their parents. The three girls, aged 14, 15 and 16, were each fined 500 baht for lewd behavior and undertook not to make a repeat performance.


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

telegraphindia.com Thai AirAsia announced plans to start a direct flight from Calcutta to Phuket, a popular tourist destination in Thailand, next year. The airline conducted a survey, which showed that 45 percent of its passengers to Bangkok from Calcutta flew to Phuket. ''This shows the destination's popularity,'' said Tassapon Bijleveld, CEO, Thai AirAsia.

nationmultimedia.com Thailand's tourism should rebound at a rapid clip in the second half because many travellers are expected to avoid going to high-risk countries, particularly Japan, New Zealand and those in the Middle East. Thailand is facing challenges because many rival nations are exerting aggressive marketing efforts to steal international visitors who are now revising their overseas trips.

bangkokpost.com Thai Airways International is facing a critical brain drain as its experienced pilots are being lured away by rich Middle Eastern carriers. Emirates, Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways have embarked on rapid large-scale expansion by adding hundreds of jets to their fleets.

moodiereport.com The Airports of Thailand network has posted a 12.7 percent rise in international passengers (embarking, disembarking, transit) to 3,842,476 for the month of March. Total passengers for the month (including domestic) amounted to 6,027,2182 - an increase of 10.82 percent.

dailymail.co.uk Two young British holidaymakers gunned down in Florida could have been lured into a deadly ambush, say US police. University friends James Cooper, 25, and James Kouzaris, 24, were murdered in a gang-ridden neighborhood in the city of Sarasota. The pair were fleeing for their lives when they were shot ''multiple times'' in the back with a handgun at 3am.

bangkokpost.com The Chinese will become the world's second largest outbound tourists and an average of 25 million Chinese will make their first trip abroad every year for the next 10 years, according to the report, Taking Off: Travel and Tourism in China and Beyond.

time.com More than 140,000 refugees will be forced back to war-torn Burma unless Thailand's Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva shows a rare bit of backbone in dealing with his country's increasingly powerful security forces. Last week, the nation's head of security announced its intention to close nine refugee camps along the Thai-Burma border.

nzherald.co.nz Ryan Kells, whose fiancee was one of two women who died suddenly after staying in adjoining rooms in Laleena guesthouse on Thailand's Phi Phi island in 2009, has given his support to thailandtraveltragedies.com, the website set up following the mystey deaths of New Zealand's Sarah Carter and six others in Chiang Mai. World Health Organisation-facilitated tests to confirm the cause of most of the deaths are continuing, but Thai authorities have labelled them a coincidence.

telegraph.co.uk Richard Carter, the father of Sarah Carter, said that he believes the deaths are linked and said the investigation had been "narrow-minded". A British couple were the latest people to die in mysterious circumstances, amid claims that the victims may have been poisoned by ''toxic seaweed''.

afp Malaysian police said they seized six grenades from a hotel in Kuala Lumpur and were investigating for possible links to terror groups. A string of arrests and detentions last year have highlighted the growing presence of radicals using Malaysia as a base to recruit supporters and plan attacks.

cnn.com The Italian and French governments were both trying to defuse an escalating diplomatic row after France refused entry to a train carrying North African migrants from Italy. The Tunisians had been issued resident permits by Italy, allowing them to travel freely in many European countries.

telegraph.co.uk Convicted racist Andrew Ryan, 32, who burned a Koran in front of British city centre shoppers has been jailed for 70 days after a judge described the act as "theatrical bigotry".

afp A US man has sued Japan Airlines, claiming it wrongfully helped his Japanese ex-wife leave the US with their son, despite court orders that the child remain in California. Scott Sawyer alleges the airline and a US travel agency agency knowingly assisted his ex-wife, Japanese national Kyoko Sawyer, take their son Wayne to Japan in December 2008 when the boy was two years old.

theage.com.au Denmark's Noma restaurant took out the coveted No.1 spot for the second year running on this year's S. Pellegrino World's 50 Best Restaurants list. Serving up Nordic specialities in a converted 18th-century shipping warehouse, Noma has become a favorite of gourmets worldwide for using seasonal and local ingredients.



April 24 Ao Chalong Yacht Club Open Day
April 24 Easter Family Day, Friendship Beach, Rawai
April 25 Anzac night for Aussies, Lady Pie, Cherng Talay
April 28 Pierre-Yves Cousteau dinner at IndoChine
May New PPAO Hospital to open, Phuket City
May 1 National Labor Day public holiday
May 5 Coronation Day public holiday
May 13 Royal Ploughing Day public holiday
May 17 Visakha Bucha Day public holiday
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 15 Asarnha Bucha Day public holiday
July 20-24 Six Senses Phuket Raceweek
August 12 HM The Queen's Birthday public holiday
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