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

dailymail.co.uk Damage at the number two reactor at the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power complex is worse than thought, the Japanese government admitted, sparking fears for human health both in Japan and the US. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has admitted it is ''quite possible'' fallout could reach America.

abc.net.au With explosions at three of the plant's reactors, and now a fire in spent fuel at reactor number four, it's now a good deal worse than the 1979 Three Mile Island disaster.

theage.com.au Radiation around the Fukushima No 1 plant on the east coast had ''risen considerably,'' Prime Minister Naoto Kan said, and his chief spokesman announced the level was high enough to endanger human health.

cnn.com The death toll in Japan from a 9.0-magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami has risen to 2475, with at least 3118 people missing and 1889 injured.

smh.com.au PM Naoto Kan said on national broadcaster NHK that people beyond the evacuated 20 kilometres zone up to a 30-kilometre radius from the plant should stay indoors.

reuters Radiation levels in the air surrounding Japan's quake-stricken nuclear power plant have risen four-fold after a fresh explosion at the site on Tuesday, the plant operator said.

guardian.co.uk Ongoing rescue and relief operations in Japan have been hampered by continuous aftershocks, tsunami alerts and fires.

dailymail.co.uk Experts are now warning a second huge quake - almost as powerful as the first - could hit the country, triggering another tsunami.

cnn.com A man riding a bicycle told CNN he was looking for his wife. Her name was written on a sign attached to his bike, and he was carrying photos of her from place to place, showing them to everyone he met.

csmonitor.com The Japan nuclear crisis has ''consequences for the whole world,'' German Chancellor Angela Merkel said ahead of an emergency EU meeting on nuclear power.

bangkokpost.com The Office of Atoms for Peace which oversees the use of nuclear technology in Thailand has played down fears radioactive leakage at a nuclear power plant in Japan may spread to Thailand. Thailand is more than 4300 kilometres from Japan.


A FILM distributor has decided to stop showing Clint Eastwood's film 'Hereafter' in Japan because the terrifying tsunami scenes in the movie were "not appropriate" at this time. 'Hereafter' opened in Japan in late February at around 180 cinemas.
A second film based on the 2004 tsunami, 'The Impossible,' starring Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts, recently completed filming north of Phuket at Khao Lak, the region most severely struck by the Indian Ocean tsunami. About 5400 people died from the tsunami in Thailand, half of them international tourists.

telegraph.co.uk When Phuket in Thailand was hit by the 2004 tsunami, there really were a large number of religious nut-jobs - and not only in America - who were convinced that this was some kind of divine vengeance on that town for the alleged immorality of its residents and its reputation for sex tourism.

eturbonews.com Dr David Beirman: Japan's catastrophic tsunami should finally shock into action the legions of coastal hoteliers, resort owners, and the government authorities which determine building and zoning codes in the pleasure periphery globally. It is time to stop building and permitting the building of death traps.

bangkokpost.com The 45th ITB, the world's largest travel trade show, began on an euphoric note with prominent appearances by tourism authorities of Tunisia and Egypt, and ended on a depressing note with the devastating tsunami in Japan and the prospects of soaring energy prices as a result of a wider conflict in oil-rich Libya.

aljazeera.com Hundreds of Saudi troops have entered Bahrain to help protect government facilities there amid escalating protests against the government. Bahrain television broadcast images of troops in armored cars entering the Gulf state via the 26km causeway to Saudi Arabia.

wsj.com Forces loyal to Colonel Moammar Gadhafi pressed their offensive into eastern Libya, as an unraveling and demoralised rebel force fled the coastal oil town of Brega and began to lose its grip on power in its de facto capital city of Benghazi.

scmp.com The Hong Kong government's travel alert system has been criticised for encouraging people to risk personal safety to continue with their travel plans.

reuters Despite being annoying, uncomfortable and invasive, most travellers say security patdowns at airports are necessary, but not everyone is convinced they would be effective in deterring an attack.

afp Fifty-six pilots working for Indian airlines have failed alcohol tests in the last two years, according to a list issued by the civil aviation ministry. Ten pilots were fired after they failed tests, including one who was found over the limit on two occasions.

indianexpress.com Malaysia has been asked by a top human rights watchdog to halt the "torture and other ill-treatment" to thousands of refugees and migrants as the government disclosed that almost 30,000 foreigners had been caned in the last five years. "The government's figures confirm that Malaysia is subjecting thousands of people to torture and other ill-treatment each year," Asia Pacific director at Amnesty International Sam Zarifi said.

Phuket Update DETAILS of Phuket's annual Bike Week will be revealed today when organisers meet the media in Phuket City. On the podium will be Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha, Patong Mayor Pian Keesin, and Tourism of Thailand regional director Bangornrat Shinaprayoon. Oddly, although it's still designated Phuket Bike Week and always popular, the 2011 Bike Week is only scheduled to run from April 8-10.



LAST CHANCE tonight to catch the spectacular Heroines Festival show recreating Thalang's history, including the legend of the Phuket sisters who fought off the Burmese. The show begins at 7pm at the Thalang Victory Memorial Field, on Dom Tom Chao Road, in Thepkasattri subdistrict. The cast numbers about 1000 people.

Until March 19 Heroine's Monument Festival
Until March 19 ADFEST 2011 at Movenpick Resort, Phuket
March 26 St Patrick's Day Ball, Movenpick Resort and Spa, Karon. Details 081 3979809 or 086 9469232
March 27 Earth Hour commemoration on Phuket
April 8-10 Phuket Bike Week, Patong
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


March 18-28 National Youth Games, Phuket

Fourth Asia Beach Games, Phuket