Phuket Magazine Website- 1,000 plus pages of info on Phuket & the Andaman.

There will also be a beer garden as well as market stalls selling food, souvenirs and trinkets. On New Year's Eve, artists including boy bands B-Mix and Strikerz, girl popsters 001 and pop/rock artists Parn, James and Neo-X will take to the stage at the soccer field on Thaweewong Rd at 10 pm.

The highlight of the concert will be The Rock Stars - a combination of Thai rock legends, including Edward Vanco and Kaleidoscope. Stopping for a short intermission to count down to midnight - when 300 fireworks will light up the skies off Patong Beach - the artists will continue through to 1 am.

On January 1, the concert will be repeated, but will start at 8 pm with performances by Phuket FantaSea entertainers. The midnight fireworks display will involve a stunning 2,000 rockets. iTV will include footage from both nights in its coverage of New Year celebrations around the country in a broadcast starting at 10:30 pm on January 1 (the broadcast on New Year's Eve will be of the Bangkok celebrations).

Phuket Magazine Vol.19 No.1
Beautiful Women in a Beautiful Region Karin (Kim) Khamzin and Sergey Poddubny of Phuket Photo Projects snap photos of gorgeous Russian women donning Baru Fashion swim spparel while gracing the shores, resorts and yachts of the Andaman.
Chinese New Year and the Year of the Rat By Collin Piprell Many people don't realize that a large portion of Phuket's population is ethnic Chinese, so the Chinese New Year is their most important festival. If you were born in the Year of the Rat your element is water, and your lucky plants are coconuts. Find out all about rats and New Year's festivities in this astrological overview.
Three Zones of the Andaman By Collin Piprell So you've never dived before, much less consorted with whale sharks? Collin Piprell takes us on an exploratory tour of the extraordinary Andaman region from the epicenter of Phuket and unveils the incredible range of activities and adventures on offer.
Road Tripping the Region By John Everingham To really get a sense of what lurks beyond Phuket, it is necessary to rent a car and drive - something that is neither difficult nor dangerous, despite being in a foreign country. Once underway, it becomes surprisingly easy, and you need little more than a simple map, and a sense of adventure.
Andaman Discoveries Brings Hope and International Recognition to the North Andaman Coast by Baz Daniel Following the tragedy of the 2004 tsunami, a group of dedicated visionaries set up an organization to pioneer sustainable tourism, home stays and eco-adventures to provide an on-going source of income to poor Andaman coast villagers whose lives and livelihoods were shattered by the pounding waves.
"Phuket Will Not Be an Island in Thailand Any More" by Ian Jamieson In its first "Investment Network Gala Dinner" in Phuket, the Thai government invited VIP guests from China, Malaysia, Singapore and Dubai to appreciated the spectacular growth of the island paradise and to try and get them to join the Thai Elite membership programme.
Love is a Hawaiian Shirt by Fiona Stalker Love and lust are ever-present elements of the hedonistic chemistry of this romantic region. Once you get back home, unpack your Hawaiian shirts and focus once again on TV dinners and re-runs of "Neighbours", can your new holiday romance actually survice? Our resident femme fatale Fiona Stalker rides once more into the valley of pheromones to find out.
Grub's Up! by Baz Daniel The first time Baz Daniel ever saw a demure and petite Thai girl wolf down a locust at a street stall he knew he was watching a miracle of human chemistry in action. How could something as apparently "yucky" as a locust, a beetle or a tarantula be consumed then metabolized and transformed into something as elegant and beauteous as a Thai girl? This mystery led Baz Daniel into the fascinating world of bug consumption in Thailand. Here's his salivating report.
Yo Ho Ho and a Week of no Sleep by Molly F. McGill The annual Phuket King's Cup Regatta has secured itself a top spot on Phuketians' social calendar, drawing socialites and yachties from near and far to this weeklong sailing event with world-famous nightlife. Our resident nightlife correspondent Molly F McGill dons her party frock and recaps for us.
Expact Diary - The Pocket Wildlife Guide to Identifying Farangs and Thais from a Great Distance by Seth Bareiss The unbounded creative brain and cartooning pen of Seth Bareiss takes us on an amusing romp through the differences between the Thai ways of doing things and that of their increasing numbers of Farang visitors.

The company, whose interests in Thailand are held by AirAsia Aviation, will also introduce a Kuala Lumpur-Bangkok service on January 15, with seats costing as little as 990 baht. The largest shareholder in Air Asia Aviation is Shin Corp which is controlled by the family of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Air Asia Aviation is expecting stiff competition. Other airlines have already started to drop prices in response to the news. Thai Airways International is entering the low-cost airline market with its Sky Asia budget airline scheduled to take off in early April. Sky will be the third budget airline launched in Thailand in quick succession, with Orient Thai Airlines' One-Two-Go also starting services earlier this month.

AirAsia flights can be booked though any AIS (Advance Information Service) or Telewiz shop - also owned by Shin Corp.Brought to you by:The Phuket Gazette