PHUKET is growing rapidly to the point where the island has three regular, frequent publications in English as well as several television and radio options for news and entertainment.

Phuketwan MEDIAWATCH provides a lively take on what's happening and is aimed at keeping island residents, visitors, would-be holidaymakers and advertisers in touch with Phuket's growing information world.

NEWSFRONT Latest: New Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat seems to be making progress in attempts to mediate the political turmoil. Neither side wants to be caught doing the kind of damage to Thailand's economy generated by the airport takeovers and the state of emergency. But the international travel warnings are still hurting.

The Phuket Gazette: (Weekly newspaper. Price 25 baht, 52 pages with events calendar insert) 'Motorbike taxi driver nabbed for murder' is this week's main front-page story, along with a photo marking the One-Two-Go air crash anniversary and an article saying 'Coral Reef Squadron project 'ready to go'. The page 3 lead is 'Chalong Circle finally removed.' Inside Story, normally based on current events, devotes two pages to a travel homestay on Koh Yao Noi. More low-season tourist information comes in an article about the Heroines, 'Monumental merit-making.' A meeting of a local wine club takes out a full page. An interview with a kickboxer takes out two more. Social events extend across two pages headed 'Lifestyle.' In a week of unprecedented chaos on Wall Street, the Business page covers events from much earlier this month, the saving of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and the continuing of the grounding order on One-Two-Go. The Governor's Letter is headed 'Restoring tourists' trust is key' and offers perhaps an overly optimistic view of Phuket's current situation.

The Phuket Post: (Fortnightly, Price 20 baht, 24 pages with eight-page Property Plus and four-page advertising supplement) 'Vegetarian Values' is the cover story of Issue 89, illustrated by the face of a pierced warrior. Inside, the page 2-3 spread is devoted to plans for Phuket's recovery headed the 'Airport Aftermath'. A News Focus report on Page 4 causes alarm about the dangerous box jellyfish without ever clearly distinguishing the Andaman Sea from the Gulf of Thailand. The cover story is headed 'Vivid Vegetarians,' and the Vital Signs column on Page 10 also deals with 'Particulars of Piercing.' The Post contains a full-page ad for Central Festival's fourth anniversary and another in-house full-page that offers 'Great new advertorial packages custom-made to suit your needs.' A prominent full-page also invites readers to celebrate the fourth birthday of Twin Palms Phuket with a free R&B concert at Catch Beach Club, Surin, on Saturday, October 4. Phuket's first Fringe Festival also opens on October 4, an interview reveals.

Innovation of the Week: One of the best guides to the Vegetarian Festival has been published by in4holiday.com, using stunning photographs from local snapper Sooppharoek Teepapan that avoid the pierced cheeks cliche and put viewers in the parade.

Island IT: Look out for Brad Pitt screensavers, Beyonce ringtones and Justin Timberlake downloads. They could be risky. The US-based McAfee internet security firm says fans searching for information and pictures of Pitt, or downloads, wallpaper and screen savers, have an 18 percent chance of having their PCs infected with a virus, spyware, spam, phishing and adware.

Coming Events: The Octoberfest runs from September 20 to October 5 at Movenpick Resort and Spa, Karon. Action centres on the Pacifica Restaurant. Wear your best lederhosen. Bangkok politics will hopefully stay cool, calm and collected this week.



Declaration of interest: Big Island Media, Phuketwan's parent print company, has a small stake in Pulse Media, which produces The Phuket Post, but no influence on the Post's content.