FC Phuket loses 1-2 to Bangkok United after an own goal.

monsters and critics.com Floods and mudslides have killed at least 35 people this week in southern Thailand, officials said.

Canadian Press A Canadian who is an avid traveller and keen photographer has been detained in Burma, but the man's sister says the family has few details. Ron Zakreski's sister Brenda confirms the 62-year-old has been held by police since March 24.


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

Associated Press Heavy rains have finally eased in southern Thailand, where flooding and mudslides over the past week killed 25 people. Flood relief centre official Vittayen Muttamara warned that residents in hillside areas must remain alert, because runoff from mountains could still inundate villages.

Phuket Update Football officials have postponed a match between FC Phuket and Songkhla scheduled for April 6 because of the floods in the south. The match is now scheduled for June 25. Bangkok United is ready for tonight's match against the Hulks in Bangkok tonight. Phuket sits atop Division One.

nationmultimedia.com The number of flood fatalities, according to a report by the government's adhoc relief centre, has increased to 25, including those in Khao Phanom district in Krabi where an entire village was swept away by a landslide.

bangkokpost.com The Siam Commercial Bank said the impact from flooding will be short-lived. In a worst case scenario, the tourism sector revenue would drop by about 10 billion baht and the GDP would be reduced by 0.1 percent, the bank said. About eight per cent of foreign tourists travel to the eight affected southern provinces.

cnn.com Twelve people were killed in an attack on a UN compound in northern Afghanistan that followed a demonstration against the reported burning last month of a Quran in Florida, authorities said. The fatalities comprised seven UN workers and five demonstrators, officials said.

Associated Press A key Libyan official involved in negotiations on the future of Muammar Gaddafi's regime says that Tripoli is attempting to hold talks with the US, Britain and France to find a mutual end to the crisis.

afp Security forces opened fire on protesters in Douma, near Damascus, killing at least four people and wounding dozens, a witness said, as thousands of Syrians staged demonstrations after Friday prayers.

theaustralian.com.au Alcohol is sold in buckets at the full moon party in Thailand. Joe Welch's death aged 19 on Phangan highlights the fault lines along an increasingly busy axis of extreme party tourism. Big money-spinners for local economies, it's no wonder neither Thailand nor Laos want to crack down on these tourist magnets. But there's growing agitation at the bucket culture they feed.

voanews.com Thai customs officials have seized more than two tons of African elephant tusks in the largest haul of smuggled ivory in recent history. The illegal ivory was the biggest smuggling bust by Thailand to date, worth an estimated $3.5 million and the first seized from a boat shipment.

todayonline.com Singapore is moving into an age where there is "more meaningful, constructive discussion" and Singaporeans can be engaged and encouraged to participate in the country's affairs, Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong said. He added: "We want people to do more and more for themselves, and depend less and less on us."

skyclub.com Air France is once again the only European airline to offer flights to Cambodia. The airline stopped flights to Cambodia 37 years ago, but after nearly four decades of absence, has launched three flights per week to Phnom Penh.

smh.com.au A young entrepreneur with big ambitions and jet fuel in his nostrils has launched an airline that he hopes will fill one of the few remaining niches in Australian air travel. A former airline worker who started as a check-in clerk at Ansett in Brisbane when he was 19, 34-year-old Michael James is in the process of turning Strategic Airlines into a scheduled carrier to Phuket, Bali and other destinations.

afp A top Islamic official in a Malaysian state has outlawed a popular line dance, claiming that it contained cult practices and elements of "Christian rituals" unacceptable to Muslims. Harussani Zakaria, mufti of the northern state of Perak, told AFP the "poco-poco" dance violated Islamic law.

thestar.com.my The 30,000 copies of bibles in Bahasa Malaysian remain uncollected in Kuching. The Bible Society of Malaysia said the copies could not be sold to Christian buyers after they had been defaced but would be ''preserved as museum pieces''.




IBAP with Indochine's Michael Ma as the guest speaker is at Indochine on April 8.

MORE than 5000 runners from around the world are expected to test their mettle in the Laguna Phuket International Marathon on June 12, with Thai-German star Mario Maurer and contestants from the latest season of 'The Biggest Loser Asia' taking part.

PHUKET Navy League is planning a free Independence Day event on Sunday July 3 from 10am to 7pm at Headstart International School, across the street from Makro, near Central Festival in Phuket City.

April 1 Turtle release, Banyan Tree seafront, Laguna Phuket
April 9-10 Phuket 'mini concert' to aid Japan
April 8-10 Phuket Bike Week, Patong
April 12-17 Phuket International Cricket Sixes
April 13-15 Songkran Festival
May New PPAO Hospital to open, Phuket City
June 12 Laguna Phuket International Marathon
June 23-26 Phuket Fun Fly paragliding, Nai Harn
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