bloomberg.com AirAsia said four passengers were treated at a hospital and released after an Airbus SAS A320 skidded off a runway in Sarawak state while landing in the rain. The passengers on flight AK5218 were taken in as a precautionary measure after the accident at Kuching International Airport late yesterday.

monstersandcritics.com Malaysian authorities shut down an international airport in the eastern state of Sarawak Tuesday when they were unable to remove an aircraft that had skidded off the runway. The accident occurred Monday during heavy rain. The Airbus A320 aircraft was carrying 124 passengers and six crew members.


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

nationmultimedia.com The Senate tourism committee has asked the Culture Ministry to push for listing the century-old Sino-Portuguese buildings in Phuket City as well as the resort island itself as UN World Heritage Sites. The Fine Arts Department has been asked to see whether old Phuket Town and Phuket match the selection criteria.

mcot.net Narathiwat has been declared a disaster zone as incessant rain triggered flooding over large parts of the province and has affected thousands of residents. The governor designated all 13 districts disaster areas.

sify.com Three children have drowned and about 3300 people have been displaced after their homes were inundated by floodwaters in northeastern Malaysia, a police spokesman said.

smh.com.au At least eight people have died in the latest wave of flooding in the Australian state of Queensland - described as an "inland tsunami" - and 72 more are missing. Others are stranded on rooftops waiting for rescues.

bloomberg.com The Bank of Thailand will probably increase borrowing costs for the fourth time in seven months as rising wages and oil prices threaten to stoke inflation. The central bank will raise its benchmark one-day bond repurchase rate by a quarter of a percentage point to 2.25 percent at its meeting tomorrow, according to 18 out of 21 economists surveyed by Bloomberg.

straitstimes.com World food prices have recently jumped to record highs, causing consternation among Asian countries already grappling with the rising inflation that comes with strong economic growth.

csmonitor.com Tens of thousands of red shirt protesters rallied in Bangkok Sunday in their largest show of force since Thai troops violently broke up protests last May. The boisterous rally, which drew at least 30,000 people, came as Thailand braces for an election that must be called by the end of this year and will be bitterly contested.

nationmultimedia.com An underage driver involved in a tollway crash last month which killed nine van passengers has been released without bail, because she turned herself in to police and had not been arrested - a condition for leniency under the juvenile procedural law.

dailymail.com The Football Association have shelved England's proposed friendly against Thailand this summer following the 2018 Fifa World Cup voting scandal and have agreed to play Ghana at Wembley in March. Fabio Capello was set to send a squad on a long-haul trip to Bangkok in June, engineered to secure the backing of Thailand's executive committee member, Worawi Makudi.

bangkokpost.com Airports of Thailand plans to close the domestic terminal at Don Mueang Airport and move flight operations to Terminal 1. Nok Airlines and Orient Thai Airlines, operating through the century-old airport, will move in April, paving the way for AoT to develop an aircraft maintenance centre.

scmp.com A pay dispute between Cathay Pacific flight attendants and management is headed for a showdown today with talks taking place under the threat of a possible work-to-rule action.

afp Hong Kong authorities say they have arrested eight people in the bizarre case of a Chinese man who flew to Canada last year disguised as an elderly caucasian male. A ground staff employee at Hong Kong's international airport, along with two former airport employees, were among the suspects arrested.

dailymail.com A 50-year-old Irish tourist was mauled to death in front of his girlfriend by two farm dogs on Penang. Maurice Sullivan died from severe injuries to his arm, thigh, chin and ears, which were both bitten off. His 28-year-old Polish girlfriend alerted villagers.

scmp.com Beijing will build a second international airport within five years, a senior economic planning official in the capital said.

wsj.com Caterpillar Inc. said it will open a plant in Thailand to produce underground mining equipment in the midst of increasing demand for mined commodities by developing countries.

voanews.com Burma's new parliament, elected last November, will hold its first session on January 31. The meeting will mark the first time a legislative body has met in the country since 1988. The military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party won about 80 percent of the elected parliamentary seats.

malaysiasun.com Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo said Singapore's diplomats will have to be more careful when talking with their counterparts from the US following the leak of diplomatic cables by whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks. ''The Wikileaks disclosures have been disastrous for US diplomacy," Yeo told parliament.

thestar.com.my A shortage of maids from Indonesia and Cambodia means Malaysian parents are sacrificing quality time with their children as weekends are used to complete household chores.

todayonline.com Foreign lawyers will soon be able to practise commercial areas of Singapore law through the establishment of the Foreign Practitioner Certificate. Currently, only foreign lawyers with degrees from universities that are approved by the Attorney-General can do so.



January 15-16 Phuket Air Park fly-in, Phuket
January 18 John Gray annual Phang Nga Bay cleanup
January 22 QSI International fun run day at Bang Wad Dam, Kathu
January 23 Great Phuket Rubber Duck Race Day, Laguna Phuket
February 3 Chinese New Year Festival, Phuket
February 8-10Old Phuket Town Festival, food and walking street fest
February 9-13 The Bay Regatta - Phuket, Phang Nga, Krabi
February 23-26 Phuket Gay Pride Festival, Patong
February 25-26 Phuket International Blues and Rock Festival 2011
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
April 13-15 Songkran Festival
May New PPAO Hospital to open, Phuket City


Fourth Asia Beach Games, Phuket