reuters Indonesia called off a search for an AirAsia plane with 162 people on board until first light. The pilots had been asked to change course to avoid bad weather during the flight from Surabaya to Singapore.

xinhua An evacuation operation was underway on Sunday in an Italian-flagged ferry with a total of 466 people on board which caught fire off the island of Corfu in western Greece.

reuters An AirAsia flight from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore lost contact with air traffic control on Sunday, Indonesian media said, citing a Transport Ministry official. Flight number QZ 8501 lost contact with Jakarta air traffic control at 6:17am.

straitstimes.com QZ 8501 took off from Surabaya at 5.20am with 162 on board and was scheduled to land at 8.30am, according to Metro TV.

nbcnews.com ''At the present time we unfortunately have no further information regarding the status of the passengers and crew members on board, but we will keep all parties informed as more information becomes available,'' the airline said.

independent.ie We learned there had been a tidal wave; that Phuket airport runways were covered in sand; that the bridges connecting the island to the mainland had been shut by the authorities; that we were, in essence, trapped on the island.
http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/news/people-screamed-tsunami-run-away-most-didnt-understand-the-meaning-30865533.html

The West Australian Official documents, including statements released by the Australian Government last week, list the Thai tsunami toll as about 8000. But Alan Morison, an Australian expat who edits a news website in Phuket, said a misunderstanding in the tragedy's aftermath wrongly inflated that number.
https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/25866355/candles-in-the-wind-for-tsunami-families/

news.sky.com Around 15,000 vehicles are stuck in the French Alps as heavy snow blankets roads leading to the region's popular ski resorts.


PHUKET: The daily wrap of Thailand news, with a Phuket perspective, plus relevant reports from national and international media. Beware of inconsistent imitations.



theage.com.au When Albert met Richard, he offered to buy him a gin and tonic. Homosexuality had been legal for almost a decade in Britain, and young men flocked to gay bars with a giddy ardor they were still reticent to display on the street. Later, while living in Australia, Albert had sex change surgery in Thailand.
http://www.watoday.com.au/victoria/when-albert-met-ann-ridiculous-marriage-laws-force-transgender-divorce-20141227-124b8q.html

bangkokpost.com At least eight people have died and two are missing due to flooding in southern Thailand, officials confirmed. Heavy rains have in the four southern-most provinces have affected more than 1415 villages, the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation said.

reuters The number of people evacuated due to Malaysia's worst-ever floods jumped to more than 160,000 as Prime Minister Najib Razak reached the worst-hit state after cutting short a holiday in the US.

cnn.com Even by Malaysian standards, this flooding is epic. Neighborhoods turned into islands surrounded by a sea of murky brown water. Streets doubled as rivers. Cars were swept away and toppled over.



dailysabah.com Diplomatic actions taken by Turkey and the UN will prevent some 300 Uighur refugees in Thailand from being sent to China. Seyit Tumturk, the vice president of the World Uighur Congress, told media that Turkey had taken the necessary steps to bring to Turkey the Uighurs, found at a human smuggling camp in Thailand earlier this year.



cbc.ca Crying onlookers took part in beachside memorials and religious services across Asia to mark the 10th anniversary of the Indian Ocean tsunami that left more than a quarter million people dead in one of modern history's worst natural disasters.

smh.com.au I got into Phuket on Sunday night, with a flight of inbound holidaymakers (told by their hotels all was well and they should still come) to find an airport crammed with foreigners, some roughly bandaged, all trying to go the other way. It was pandemonium.

afp Steve McQueenie's voice breaks as he remembers the ''selfless'' help of local Thais, aid that spurred the couple to raise $15,500 for ravaged communities around Khao Lak once they returned home: ''There's always going to be part of us that kind of belongs here.''

bbc.com When a Cardiff tourist on holiday in Thailand chose to sleep in on Boxing Day 2004, rather than get a sunbed on Karon beach, it was a decision which probably saved her life.

dailymail.co.uk Petra Pemcova lit a candle in Thailand to remember the victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami on the 10-year anniversary of the natural disaster. The 35-year-old model and philanthropist lost her fiance Simon Atlee in the tsunami and herself suffered a broken pelvis and serious internal injuries.

bangkokpost.com Prayer services were held for 722 victims at Lo Dalum Bay on Phi Phi in Krabi. Divers lay metal wreaths at an underwater tsunami memorial on the seabed in Tonsai Bay just off Phi Phi Don. At Ranong's Suk Samran beach, authorities organised merit making to remember 152 people killed when the wave hit the beach and nearby areas.

mirror.co.uk At a time when some seek to gain political advantage by dividing us because of our cultural or ethnic differences, how encouraging that most Brits still seem willing to help anyone - no matter who they are or where they come from.



bangkokpost.com As this year draws to a close and 2015 beckons, the Bangkok Post looks back at the people behind some of the top stories that took place in 2014.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general/452357/top-headline-makers-of-the-year

theage.com.au Holidaymakers have had travel plans thrown into disarray after budget airline AirAsia X cancelled direct flights from Melbourne to Bali with only days notice. The Malaysian budget airline was forced to cancel the flights after it failed to gain approval for the new route, which was due to start on December 26, from Australian and Indonesian aviation authorities.

news.com.au The news was broken to passengers via text message on Christmas Day, Fairfax reports. Instead of flying customers directly from Melbourne to Bali, the flights will instead go via Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia - adding at seven hours to the six-hour journey.

nationmultimedia.com Two foreigners have been arrested for alleged robberies worth about one million baht cash in various currencies from safe boxes at four Phuket hotels or guesthouses. The accused men - Iranian Shahram Ghorbaniafshar, 48, and Frenchman Stephane Emery, 42 - were arrested at a bungalow in the Patong area with some 800,000 baht in cash in various currencies,

reuters The man who tried to kill Pope John Paul II 33 years ago showed up at the Vatican to put white roses on his tomb and said he wanted to meet Pope Francis.

bbc.com Jayden Wilson, aged five, who became an internet star when ''Spider-Man'' paid him a surprise birthday visit has died after battling cancer. Michael Wilson, who was unmasked as Spider-Man, said his son died peacefully in his bed on Christmas Eve.

bangkokpost.com Authorities have seized 126,000 methamphetamine pills with a street value of up to 38 million baht in two separate cases in northern Thailand.



thejakakartapost.com Two security officers from state-owned airport operator PT Angkasa Pura II have been named as suspects in the alleged rape of a female Chinese tourist in a hotel room near Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Banten.

bbc.com Aung San Suu Kyi, the opposition leader in Myanmar (also known as Burma), has told the BBC that the international community must do more to aid reform.



independent.co.uk There is probably no good time to be sacked, but the timing of Neil Warnock's dismissal as manager of Crystal Palace seemed at first to be especially cruel, coming on the eve of the club's match at Queens Park Rangers, whom Warnock guided to promotion to the Premier League in 2011.

goal.com Chelsea have confirmed that striker Fernando Torres has been bought on a permanent basis by AC Milan, where he is currently on loan.



The ''Colorful Countdown Phuket 2015'' will usher in the New Year with light shows and live concerts at Sanam Chai Park, across the road from Phuket Provincial Hall, from December 29-31.

Phuket International Boat Show returns to southern Thailand's beach destination from January 8 to 11.

December 29-31 Colorful Countdown Phuket 2015 to New Year's Eve



January 6-11 Phuket International Boat Show

January 21 Australian embassy outreach to Phuket Call 02-3446300, e: consular.bangkok@dfat.gov.au

February 12-15 Phuket Yacht Show