You may recall the story we ran about Women’s Will Power, a group of five 30-somethings living in Phuket who removed 90% of their clothing for a glamour calendar, which was then sold to raise money for charity.

The exercise, we’re happy to report, was a success, with the ladies recently visiting Phuket Sunshine Village (PSV), a shelter primarily for abused children but also for kids suffering in the aftermath of the 2004 Asian Tsunami.

The nuclear-powered US aircraft carrier Nimitz, with close to 6,000 crew on board, dropped anchor off Phuket yesterday (January 31) for a few days of R&R. It was accompanied by the guided missile frigate USS Rentz and the destroyer USS Pinckney.

The Mind Centre, due to open next year in Phuket, will offer meditation with practical aims – but it will be much, much more than that.

Phuket International Airport 5.8-billion-baht (US$175 million) plan to increase the airport’s capacity to 12.5 million passengers by 2018.

A few months ago, Patrick Cotter, Phuket’s “Mr Rugby” was bemoaning the lack of local official support for the game in Phuket. Today he’s beaming with delight after the signing of a memorandum of understanding that will see an international-standard rugby academy set up in Phuket and a world-class pitch made available for the game.

Phuket’s Thaisarco smelting company has bowed to pressure from action group Global Witness, announcing that it will no longer source ore from the violence-plagued Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

Phuket International Academy (PIA) now has its day school up and running, with 52 students having started lessons on September 2.

EXCLUSIVE: Phuket is to get three hydrofoils to whisk passengers out to Phi Phi, Krabi, Lanta or the Similans.

Phuket’s last vestige of heavy industry, the very-low-profile Thaisarco tin smelter on Cape Panwa, has been hurled into the limelight by a report from a major NGO accusing tin producers of buying ore from vicious military groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.