independent.co.uk Heathrow's second runway reopened last night, raising hopes for the thousands of stranded air passengers - many of whom have spent uncomfortable nights in the terminals. Forecasters, meanwhile, said a thaw was unlikely in the coming days as cold weather continued.


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

bangkokpost.com Local and foreign businesses hailed the lifting of the eight-month-long state of emergency in Bangkok and three surrounding provinces. "It is a good decision, especially for the tourism industry," said Junichi Mizonoue, president of the Japanese Chamber of Commerce in Bangkok. "Japanese tourists will certainly come back to Thailand.''

smh.com.au Heathrow authorities have effectively cancelled the Christmas plans of hundreds of thousands of travellers as Britain's Transport Secretary admitted the chaos at Europe's busiest airport was ''not acceptable''. Amid mounting criticism of Heathrow's response to the icy conditions, airline passengers were told to expect delays and flight cancellations ''beyond Christmas Day''. Qantas said it cannot guarantee if passengers stranded in London will make it home for Christmas, saying it is ''at the mercy'' of Heathrow Airport.

todayonline.com At Changi Airport, some flights from Singapore to Heathrow continued to be delayed or were cancelled. Singapore Airlines has cleared most of its backlog of passengers while British Airways said it did not operate any flights from Singapore to London yesterday. One Qantas flight left Singapore with two services expected to arrive from London.

nationmultimedia.com Thai Airways International cancelled flights from Bangkok to London. It also announced it would increase domestic flights during the New Year season.

nationmultimedia.com Some Bangkok hotels are completely full due to the overflow of passengers waiting for return fights to Europe. In Phuket, hotels are expected to run at over 70 percent from now until the end of this year, similar to last year.

Phuket Update Pacific Blue was forced to ground flights between Australia and Bali after a volcano in Indonesia sent a large plume of ash into the sky. But AirAsia reported there had been no problems with its new four-times-weekly Phuket-Bali flights.

bangkokpost.com Thailand would do best to focus on further developing Suvarnabhumi Airport as its sole hub in the long run while maintaining the status quo of Don Mueang in the short to medium term to provide relief capacity. Officials hope the proposals will resolve the repeated state policy flip-flops over whether Bangkok should be served by one or two international airports.

nationmultimedia.com Thailand has sent an aircraft to bring back bodies of Thai tourists who were killed in a bus crash in Malaysia, Thai Foreign Ministry's deputy spokesman Thani Thongpakdi said Tuesday. The C-130 plane is scheduled to leave Bangkok for Malaysia on Wednesday. One relative of each passenger will be allowed to board the flight.

thestar.com.my The investigation paper on the double-decker express bus crash at KM15 of the Cameron Highlands-Simpang Pulai Road which killed 27 people, including 25 Thai tourists, is expected to be ready in two weeks.

afp A 5.7-magnitude earthquake struck off northern Indonesia's Sumatra island, the US Geological Survey said, placing its epicentre near the site of the devastating December 2004 quake. There was no immediate tsunami warning.

tourism-review.com Many tourism professionals believe announcements by fortune-tellers predicting another tsunami are very irresponsible and a negative impact on tourism is inevitable. Experts agree it is highly unlikely for a tsunami to reappear, yet warning towers are always at the ready and several tsunami drills are scheduled. Russian visitors are eager to come and local businesses need to adjust their offers to 3* packages.

property-report.com The Club Penthouse at Phuket's Kata Rocks condominium development was awarded Best Apartment in the World 2010 at the World Finals of the International Property Awards in London. The awards, sponsored by Bloomberg Television and Google, are independently judged by 54 international experts.

peopledaily.com.cn Hotels and private institutions of higher learning in Malaysia may be made compulsory to submit their lists of foreign guests and students to nearby police stations for monitoring purposes. Malaysian Deputy Home Affairs Minister Lee Chee Leong made the remarks at the Malaysian Parliament, adding that the initiative was aimed at combating crimes involving foreigners.

wsj.com German car maker Volkswagen AG signed a pact with Malaysia's DRB-Hicom Bhd. to assemble up to 50,000 vehicles a year in Malaysia. Earlier attempts to enter Southeast Asia's largest passenger car market failed.

scmp.com Russia, seeing India as a counterweight to China and a potential ally in Afghanistan, yesterday threw its weight behind India's quest for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council.

channelnewsasia.com Many shopping malls, especially those along Singapore's Orchard Road, saw Christmas sales increase 20 percent on year in the first half of December. The Singapore Retailers Association believes that growth last year was only about half as robust because of the uncertain economic conditions back then.

straitstimes.com A new company has started selling passes to Singapore attractions, offering savvy tourists savings of up to 40 percent if they plan their itineraries well. The new pass, called the See Singapore Attractions Pass, is the second to be launched in the past four months.



December 22-24 Disaster warning drills on Phuket
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
March 14-19 ADFEST 2011 at Movenpick Resort, Phuket


Fourth Asia Beach Games, Phuket