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

bernama.com Thailand's Ministry of Public Health plans to launch a "100-percent-helmet-use" campaign next year, aimed at encouraging motorcyclists and pillion riders to put on helmets, reports Thai News Agency. Public Health will distribute 300,000 free helmets in Bangkok, Phuket and Nakhon Si Thammarat. [The campaign began in Phuket City earlier this year and goes Phuket-wide from January 1.]

bangkokpost.com Thailand and China have agreed in principle on a 250-billion-baht joint investment in a high-speed rail project linking Nong Khai in the Northeast with Bangkok and continuing to the southern border town of Padang Besar, a total of 1500 kilometres. Target speed is 200-250km/h.

bangkokpost.com China is pushing Thailand to give its quick approval for an Asian railway project linking the Lao border in the northeast with Malaysia in the south. Deputy PM Suthep Thaugsuban said after returning from China that the government hoped to complete the Thai section of the Asian railway in four years.

dailyexpress.co.uk Travel Counsellors reported a 20 percent increase in bookings since the first snow fell with a big rise in trips over the Christmas period and into January. Another firm, Holidays.com, said visitors to its site were up 60 percent.

telegraph.co.uk The Spanish islands, Mexico, Egypt and Thailand have all seen a spike in interest from British holidaymakers looking for a last-minute Christmas break or a January holiday away from the sub-zero temperatures that many fear will continue to hit Britain. The more favorable euro exchange rate and some cutting of prices has also encouraged people to look abroad.

straitstimes.com By 2015, Asia's cruise industry may well see seven million passengers a year, three times the number previously forecast. This growth wave was mentioned by Mr Soo Kok Leng, chairman of the Singapore Cruise Centre which hosted the first Asia Cruise Terminal Association meeting.

independent.ie A trawl of Bank of Ireland Red Cross accounts around the country led to the uncovering of 49 unreported accounts holding 214,000 euros, an internal review has found. And the investigation into how 162,000 euros of that money collected for the Asian tsunami lay untouched for over three years in a Tipperary bank account found that there were serious administrative failures in the management of some of the money collected for the disaster.

afp Girls and women acting out the sexual fantasies of online voyeurs from around the world are part of a worrying offshoot to the Philippines' booming outsourcing industry, authorities say.

guardian.co.uk Thailand's department of special investigation is refusing to release the full report on the death of Reuters cameraman Hiro Muramoto following a leak that he was killed by a Thai soldier. DSI chief Tharit Pengdit said the continuing investigation into the death of Muramoto during the Bangkok red-shirt protests in May could be affected by disclosure.

monstersandcritics.com Thailand's image as a stable, cohesive, easy-going and somewhat feudalistic Asian country that managed to avoid colonialism and deftly adapt to every global challenge thrown its way took a beating in 2010. After the quelling of the red shirts in May, Thailand has settled in to an ''eerie false calm,'' according to Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a political scientist at Chulalongkorn University.

nationmultimedia.com Torrential downpours surprised Bangkok commuters who found themselves stuck in traffic jams for hours. At least 284 road accidents were reported in the capital, killing three people and injuring 44.

scmp.com Shanghai-based Juneyao Airlines, which launches its first overseas flight on Friday to Hong Kong, plans to triple its fleet to more than 50 aircraft within five years, chairman Wang Junjin said.

cnn.com As people share more information about themselves online, the internet, in effect, has created a public transcript of consciousness - storing our thoughts, locations, social lives and memories in data warehouses all over the world. This has enabled technological advances and shaped our social interactions. It's also really freaked some people out.

aviationrecord.com Malaysian-based AirAsia X landed at Haneda International airport December 12, marking its first flight into Tokyo, Japan. AirAsia X will offer the people of Malaysia and Asean and its surrounding region three times weekly flights to Tokyo, Japan, the gateway to East Asia and beyond.

bangkokpost.com The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) will look more toward emerging markets next year, particularly Indonesia, Brazil and Argentina after seeing large potential in these countries. TAT governor Suraphon Svetasreni said emerging economies would expand more next year on the back of an expected slowdown in the European and US markets.

bloomberg.com Boeing will drop plans for a short-haul version of the 787 Dreamliner and will raise aircraft prices by about 5.2 percent, the first increase in two years.

afp Virgin boss Richard Branson will serve as a flight attendant on an AirAsia X flight in February next year after losing a cross-dressing bet to rival Tony Fernandes, officials said Sunday. The two men laid the wager over whose Formula One team would place higher in this year's rankings.

smh.com.au A German father was so angry his teenage daughter was dating a man 40 years older than her that he castrated the boyfriend with a bread knife, police say.



sportsfeatures.com The second edition of the Asian Beach Games got off to a sparkling start with an opening ceremony full of fireworks, music and dance showcasing Oman's history and cultural heritage. The relatively new event had hundreds of dignitaries from the Olympic Movement in attendance. [Phuket hosts the fourth Asia Beach Games in 2014.]

December 14 Night tsunami drill, Kamala
December 15-20 Patong Carnival
December 16-18 2010 Asia Superyacht Rendezvous
December 17-19 Phuket Street Show Festival, Old Phuket Town
December 17 US Consular outreach service on Phuket
December 22-24 Disaster warning drills
December 26 Tsunami sixth anniversary
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


Fourth Asia Beach Games, Phuket