sbwire.com Thailand is a 95 percent Buddhist country so Christmas is not a festival that officially appears in the Thai calendar, but with a large ex-pat community and Thais who love an excuse to have fun, Christmas is celebrated in fine spirit every year - especially in Phuket.


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

PHUKET gained yet another new road yesterday with the opening of the link between Sakdidet Road and Chao Fa East Road, attended by 500 people including Phuket Goveror Tri Augkaradacha and Anchalee Vanich Tephabutra, the Deputy Secretary of the Prime Minister's Department. Construction of Sai Phang Muang Kor Road began in August as one of former Phuket Governor Wichai Praisa-ngob's projects.

abc.net.au Heavy snowfalls and freezing temperatures across Europe and the United Kingdom are causing Christmas heartache for thousands of stranded travellers. Hundreds of flights were cancelled at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris. "I'm so tired that I no longer have the strength to be angry," French traveller Zoe Stephanou said.

guardian.co.uk Internet phone service Skype is facing criticism over its handling of a software failure that brought down connections for millions of consumers and businesses in the US, Europe and Asia. It claims 124 million monthly users as of June 2010, and half a billion registered users.

eweek.com Facing the wrath of its customer base following a massive service outage earlier this week, Skype said it would issue refunds to those unable to make calls during the 30-hour shut down.

guardian.co.uk The CIA has launched a taskforce to assess the impact of 250,000 leaked US diplomatic cables. Its name? WikiLeaks Task Force, or WTF for short.

bernama.com.my Thailand has been ranked fourth out of 11 countries in Asia by the Asian Corporate Governance Association for corporate governance. Thirachai Phuvanatnaranubala, Secretary-General to Thailand's Securities and Exchange Commission, said that the Asian Corporate Governance Association has moved Thailand's rank up to fourth out of 11, from eighth last year.

southalltravel.co.uk Thailand has seen a rise in tourist arrivals during 2010 as the country remains a popular destination. According to the Daily Mail, nearly 14 million people visited Thailand in the first 11 months of the year and this could increase to 15.8 million by the end of 2010. This is 12.6 percent more than in 2009.

channelnewsasia.com Corporate travel in Asia has increased by about 20 percent this year, compared with that of 2009. HRG Singapore, an international corporate travel management company, said this is due to an improved business environment.

Associated Press Thailand's National Film Board has rejected a movie about a transgender father struggling to raise two children, a ban that the director says highlights the conservative side of Thai society despite its freewheeling reputation. The board ruled this week that the film, 'Insects in the Backyard,' cannot not be shown in Thailand because it is immoral and pornographic.

sify.com Six years after the tsunami of December 2004, the set-up of the German-Indonesian Tsunami Early Warning System for the Indian Ocean has been completed. The project ends on March 31, after which Indonesia would accept the sole responsibility for the overall system.

pcmag.com Forget Mark Zuckerberg. For the Financial Times, Steve Jobs is the most fascinating public figure this year. The newspaper named the Apple chief executive its person of the year.

afp Venice should be able to introduce a "tourist ticket" on its roughly 20 million visitors a year in order to help the historic island city's finances, the city's mayor said.

slate.com Once in Thailand, Soe Naing joined 4000 foreign workers at a fish-canning factory in Bang Khun Thian. He works 13 hours a day, six days a week, gutting fish for 6000 Baht ($200) a month. "It's very hard work," he says. "It's extremely hot on the factory floor, and it's hard to breathe. Every day people faint and fall over. We often cut ourselves when we clean the fish, or we slip on the wet floor."

afp Procter and Gamble's Gillette brand will end its endorsement deal with golfer Tiger Woods when the current contract expires on December 31, a Gillette spokesman said. Once the consummate corporate pitchman, Woods saw his reputation tarnished by a sex scandal that ended his marriage in 2010.

salon.com Even compared to the manifest swindles and perversions of the past 20 years, we haven't seen anything like Fox News. People, we're in deep trouble.

smh.com.au Destination to watch: Madagascar. In about the same time it takes to get from Australia to Thailand (flying Air Austral via Reunion), you can find yourself in Africa.



PHUKET is to join in marking Earth Hour on March 27 at 8.30pm. The growing international gesture that emphasises energy conservation involves cities around the world switching off electric lighting for an hour.

PHUKET International Academy is to handle all Phuket Soccer 7s tournaments at their 11-a-side astroturf pitch for the next three years. The Phuket Spicy Soccer 7s will be held on February 26 and 27 with Open Age and Women's caregories.

December 25 Christmas Day
December 26 Tsunami sixth anniversary: Memorial commemorations at Patong, Kamala and Mai Khao. Others in Phang Nga.
December 30-January 9 Phuket Red Cross Fair, Saphan Hin park, Phuket City


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
February 26-27 Phuket Spicy Soccer 7s, Phuket International Academy
March 14-19 ADFEST 2011 at Movenpick Resort, Phuket
March 27 Earth Hour commemoration on Phuket


Fourth Asia Beach Games, Phuket