NEWS IN ENGLISH

My appetite for local news is usually filled by reading the weekly Phuket Gazette and various e-mailed updates.  However, I often long for television news in English as many times I will see something on the Thai news that I would like more information on; Tim is usually unable to explain much of what I'd like to know.  It can be a bit frustrating at times like when we were watching coverage of a Nok Air jet at the Phuket Airport with an engine fire; when I asked Tim what happened, the reply I received was "Plane no work."

This morning, I finally found a couple of news programs in English, broadcast by Phuket's own Channel 11.  First, we caught the tag end of "Morning Edition" where they were interviewing a member of His Majesty The King's own band (he's quite the accomplished composer and musician — worthy of at least one future blog entry).  This was followed by "Andaman News", a half-hour broadcast of local news and weather (daily airings from 8:30 to 9:00).  They had coverage of last night's arrival on Phuket by the King and Queen of Sweden, who will be staying here until June 20th (and celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary while on the island) as well as information about this morning's tsunami preparedness drill in Phang Nga and sailing-instruction activities of the Phuket Yacht Club (which is based at nearby Chalong Bay).

Now, if only I could find some international news in English — I get some information every once-in-a-while by reading The Nation or Bangkok Post but as far as television is concerned, cable isn't available in our area and UBC (the only satellite provider) is prohibitively expensive...