bbc.co.uk Prince William has been made the Duke of Cambridge and his wife will become Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Cambridge after their wedding, Buckingham Palace says.

THE FULL board of Airports of Thailand was meeting at a Patong resort today. Media were excluded. An update on the details of Phuket International Airport's expansion plan is expected after the meeting.


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

bangkokpost.com Tourists are being urged to help save the environment as about 500 tourist sites in Thailand are endangered and need to be improved, says the Tourism Authority of Thailand, announcing a campaign called ''Travel with a New Heart for Sustainable Thailand.'' The tourism industry needs to figure out how to balance generating big revenues with keeping the environment.

theage.com.au If anything, today will be a day in which the monarchy and its projected two billion-strong audience will indulge in mutual fantasy and allow ourselves to fall back in love with fairytales.

guardian.co.uk This is not a fairytale moment. Modern Britain is not fairyland. A Guardian/ICM opinion poll earlier this week found only one in five Britons admits to being strongly interested in today's events. So, have a wonderful day. But stay real about it too.

cn.com The ceremony will take place at 11am on April 29 2011 at Westminster Abbey in London, England. [Tune in at 5pm Phuket time. But the buildup will be on television much earlier than that.]

We can't tell you about The Dress but . . .

mirror.co.uk William will marry as a Colonel of the Irish Guards, his most senior honorary position in the military. He will wear the uniform of a Captain of the Household Cavalry . Wills's uniform features the Irish Guards' distinctive arrangement of buttons in groups of four and was fitted by military tailors Kashket & Partners.

Phuket Update Governor's officers arrested Theanchai Chiewchan, 27, as he alighted from a small bus in Phuket City on Wednesday carrying 2000 yah ba methamphetamine pills secreted in two milk boxes. He confessed he had made a similar trip from Surat Thani two days earlier with a similar load of illicit drugs, and that he was paid 5000 baht a trip. He could shed no light on the identity of his Phuket connections.

bbc.co.uk Thailand and Cambodia have reached a ceasefire after a week of fighting along a disputed border, officials say. Both countries said the truce was struck following talks between the two militaries. 15 people - including one civilian - have been killed in the battles, mainly around two ancient temples in jungle areas claimed by both countries.

afp A Marrakesh explosion branded as a "terrorist" attack by Morocco and France killed at least 14 people, including six French nationals.

smh.com.au Top CBS journalist Lara Logan has spoken for the first time about being attacked in Cairo more than two months ago, saying a mob of more than 200 men "raped me with their hands". South African-born Logan believed she was going to die. Logan said her clothes "were torn to pieces".

myrepublica.com A gang of thugs has swindled a huge amount of money from over two dozen jobless Nepali youths aspiring to work overseas. A conman left all the Nepali youths, who landed in Bangkok, to be arrested and harassed by Thai policemen.

scmp.com Just as the Chinese navy uses warships returning from anti-piracy patrols in the Indian Ocean to fly the flag in Southeast Asian ports, the Russian Pacific Fleet returns to Vietnam early next month to highlight one of the region's most intriguing - and enduring - strategic relationships.

smh.com.au China and Indonesia are expected to announce a raft of multibillion dollar business deals during the visit this week of the Chinese Premier, Wen Jiabao. Many Indonesians of Chinese heritage were killed in the anti-communist purge during the 1960s and it was forbidden to publicly display Chinese characters during the Suharto dictatorship.

independent.co.uk Of 213 ethnic Chinese billionaires worldwide, 35 are Hong Kong residents, 27 are from south-east Asia, 25 are from Taiwan, while seven live in the US. Meanwhile, all the billionaires in Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore and Indonesia are of Chinese origin.

scmp.com A senior US official says the human rights situation on mainland China has worsened, and dialogue between American and Chinese officials this week had not left him much more comforted.

cnn.com Former US President Jimmy Carter said that North Korean leader Kim Jong Il is ready for a summit with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak at any time. Seoul is currently declining official dialogue with North Korea until it takes responsibility for two fatal incidents last year.

thestar.com.my Tesco Stores has launched its Quick Q in all its 39 stores across Malaysia. It is an initiative to aggressively reduce queuing time for customers at its check-outs counters.

bangkokpost.com The seventh anniversary of the Krue Se massacre in Pattani province passed without major incident, though activists called for more help for the victims' families. On April 28, 2004, 106 Muslims died in clashes with security forces at 11 locations. They included 31 Muslims who were killed when security forces stormed the Krue Se mosque in Pattani.

todayonline.com After the financial crisis, and after the economic rebound, Singapore's People's Action Party leadership sees "dark clouds" ahead. In the PAP's first party political broadcast, for instance, PM Lee cited the challenge of an "ever-changing and uncertain" international environment.



PHUKET'S US Navy League is holding a welcome party Friday night for the crew of the USS Gridley at the new BBQ Hut in Patong, with check-in from 6pm. Cost: Navy League members 200 baht, visitors 400 baht. Another welcoming party is expected to be held Sunday night.

May 1 National Labor Day public holiday
May 5 Coronation Day public holiday
May 13 Royal Ploughing Day public holiday
May New PPAO Hospital to open, Phuket City
May 17 Visakha Bucha Day public holiday
June 12 Laguna Phuket International Marathon
June 17 Phuket Property Dot Com Pro Am Invitational, Laguna
June 23-26 Phuket Fun Fly paragliding, Nai Harn
July 3 Phuket Navy League US Independence Day fair at Headstart International School
July 15 Asarnha Bucha Day public holiday
July 20-24 Six Senses Phuket Raceweek
August 12 HM The Queen's Birthday public holiday
October Vegetarian Festival, Phuket
November 26-27 9th Phuket International Soccer 7s
November 27 Laguna Phuket Triathlon
December 3-4 6th Andaman International Soccer 7s
December 4 Ironman 70.3 Asia-Pacific Championship, Laguna


March 18-28 National Youth Games, Phuket

November 14-21 Fourth Asia Beach Games, Phuket