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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.3 Current Issue
Strickland Underwater Mark Strickland, one of the world's great underwater photographers provides us with this spectacular photo essay. Mark, whose work can be found at www.oceanic-impressions.com, comes up with one stunning image after another of the creatures inhabiting the deep and colourful waters of the Andaman Sea.
Hot Season Treats Thailand's hot season can be scorching, but one of the saving graces is the wonderful selection of fruits on offer. Find out all about the mamuang, durian, mankoot, lychee, kha-noon and chompoo in this piece by Collin Piprell, who notes that these fruits are particularly delicious when consumed here, as many do not travel well.
Snapshots We provide you with collection of snippets based on interesting facts about life in the fascinating Andaman region, ranging from traditional plastic and medicine to seafood farming and colourful rites of passage.
Muslims in Mokenland By Thom Henely It had the potential to be a complete disaster based on a culture clash, when a north Andaman NGO took a group of Muslim children on an eco-adventure trip to meet the Moken people of the Surin Islands. But the worried organizers had underestimated the children's ability to empathize and respect each other's unique cultural approach to life. The upshot was a wonderful learning experience for all concerned.
A Man and His Blog by Hank Loinsmi Our blog-mesister extraordinaire trolls though the murky world of blogging and bloggers to unearth these stunning gems of misconception, ignorance and unintended humour. Reading what the blogosphere thinks about Phuket is a salutary lesson in checking your facts before you sound off about anything in a blog. The manic pen of Seth Bareiss provides the visuals.
Visual Pollution by Jeff Stewart How prophetic was Joni Mitchell back in 1980 when she sang, "they paved paradise to put up a parking lot"? Is the price of development and progress necessarily the spoiling of the environment? Sadly, in our corner of the world rigorous environmental and aesthetic standards very often take a back seat to the headlong rush for short-term profits. Jeff Steward, the CEO of an American corporation, was astounded when he visited and saw the abundant visual pollution.
Songkarn Songkarn started out as tradition by pouring water over the hands of monks and respected elders, while making merit and celebrating the Buddhist New Year. But now it's developed into the world's biggest water fight. Be warned: if you've never experienced a Thai Songkarn before, don't even think about staying dry, unless you stay cooped up in your room for the duration of the event.
Night Lifer Column - Northern Attraction by Molly F. McGill There's a strange divide between the north and south Phuket, so much so that southerners sometimes joke about needing to take their passports if they are heading north of Phuket Town. But our intrepid nightlifer Molly McGill threw caution to the wind, as she headed to the 360 Lounge at Phuket Pavillions in Cherngtalay to check out the cool sounds and their claim of having the most fabulous sunset view on the island.
Expat Diary - Full Metal Jacket by Baz Daniel Taking to the roads in Phuket is not for the faint hearted. Phuket Magazine's Managing Editor has now survived three years of road mayhem with only one fender bender to show for it (the motorcyclist who ran into him at 10am one morning was already drunk!), so he felt compelled to share his hard-earned lessons on what the weapons systems approaching you at over 100kph intend to do to you and the evasive action you can take to avoid disaster.

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