nme.com Bryan Ferry of Roxy Music was admitted to hospital last night and according to reports is "seriously ill."


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

upi.com Thailand's supreme military commander rejected widespread rumors that a coup by the armed forces was imminent. General Songkitti Jaggabatara was flanked by the commanders of the country's armed forces when he told a news conference that there would be "no coup" in Thailand, the Bangkok Post reported.

nationmultimedia.com More than a million people living on the slopes of hills nationwide are at great risk of landslides due to massive deforestation and torrential rains, the Mineral Resources Department warned.

bbc.co.uk Severe floods in southern Thailand have killed 53 people, officials say, as rains begin to ease after two weeks. The unseasonably wet weather has inundated 10 provinces, affecting two million people and forcing more than 40,000 to flee their homes.

Phuket Update Phuket officials are expected to announce new packages to attract tourists from Japan today. Phuket's six Rotary clubs collected funds for Japan aid in Patong last night.

Phuket Update Wednesday is a public holiday in Thailand, with FC Phuket's match tonight against Songkhla at home in Phuket City postponed because of flooding in the South. The weather on Phuket, however, remains bright and sunny.

dailymail.co.uk Sushi supplies in Japan could be at risk after radioactive fish were caught off its east coast. Officials in the tsunami-stricken nation said they had detected high levels of radioactive iodine and cesium in sand lace fish caught in the Pacific ocean near the troubled Fukushima nuclear power plant.

reuters.com The operator of Japan's crippled nuclear power plant said it had found water with five million times the legal limit of radioactivity inside a reactor as it struggles for a fourth week to contain the world's biggest nuclear disaster in quarter of a century.

newsandstar.co.uk Briton William Turnbull, 63, suffered a fatal heart attack on Samui last Wednesday. Known to many as ''Tunch,'' Mr Turnbull was a keen sportsman, who also enjoyed fishing with friends.

telegraph.co.uk Nato will ask the RAF to contribute more warplanes to step up ground strikes against Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's forces after the alliance said a third of the Libyan leader's forces had so far been destroyed.

ft.com British Airways has lifted the fuel surcharge on its business class flights to as much as 290 pounds sterling for a return ticket, its highest level in seven years, as it increases the fee for the third time in less than four months.

afp A Singaporean soldier who was photographed with a maid carrying his rucksack has undergone counselling and is "remorseful" over his behavior, the defence ministry said.

nationmultimedia.com The Phuket Wan Tourism News website cited [Canadian entrepreneur Daniel] McDaniel as saying that at the zoo, tourists would be able to swim with the animals, besides feeding them. He told the governor that Phuket needed wet-weather entertainment and a marine park of this kind.

bbc.co.uk The Australian government has said it plans to reject a bid for the country's bourse on national interest grounds. Last month, SGX, the Singapore stock exchange made a $8.3 billion bid for ASX, the firm that owns the Australian Stock Exchange. But the Australian Treasurer, Wayne Swan, has signalled he will block the deal due to "serious concerns about the proposal".

afp A drunk Briton on a flight about to leave London for Dubai sparked a major security alert by telling passengers "there is a bomb on this plane" and "we are going to blow up," a court heard. Ronald Fowles, 59, was sentenced to four months in prison.

scmp.com China Premier Wen Jiabao wants more transparent management of public finances and government tendering to fight corruption.

reuters.com China is Cambodia's biggest source of foreign direct investment. China plans to spend $8 billion in 360 projects in the first seven months of this year - the same amount it invested in the whole of Southeast Asia in 2008. Beijing is also Cambodia's largest source of foreign aid, providing about $600 million in 2007 and $260 million in 2008.

asiaone.com A 28-hour islandwide police operation saw 23 people arrested for suspected involvement in loansharking activities, the Singapore Police Force said.

abc.net.au More than 100 people have escaped from an immigration detention centre near Kuala Lumpur. The people are said to be illegal immigrants mainly from Burma and Iran. Malaysian officials say 109 escaped from a detention centre south of Kuala Lumpur after what police describe as a riot which was followed by a fire in an accommodation block.

aap Indonesia's parliament is expected to finally pass laws this week which will make people smuggling illegal, in a move seen as crucial to stemming the flow of asylum seekers to Australia.

Assoicated Press Malaysian police say they are searching for 100 live pigs stolen from a truck by armed robbers. Three men with machetes hijacked the truck. The driver was tied up and left by the roadside.



BIKE WEEK from April 8-11 is expected to draw thousands of visitors to Patong with highlights including a tree planting campaign, a tattoo contest, island rides and Miss Phuket Bike Week.

JAPAN and flood relief concerts April 9-10 in Queen Sirikit Park and a walking street fair in Thalang Road Phuket City hope to raise six million baht for quake and tsunami victims in Japan and flood victims in Thailand. From 5pm.

SARASIN Songkran. A first-time three-day fair and concerts from April 11-13 sees Phuket joining with neighboring Phang Nga to celebrate Thai new year on the obsolete Sarasin Bridge that links the provinces.

April 8 IBAP with Michael Ma at Indochine
April 9-10 Phuket 'mini concert' to aid Japan
April 8-10 Phuket Bike Week, Patong
April 11-13 Sarasin Songkran on the bridge between Phuket and Phang Nga
April 12-17 Phuket International Cricket Sixes
April 13-15 Songkran Festival, Phuket City, Patong celebrations
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 27 Laguna Phuket Triathlon
December 4 Ironman 70.3 Asia-Pacific Championship, Laguna


March 18-28 National Youth Games, Phuket

Fourth Asia Beach Games, Phuket