for the princess of wales who has revealed in a video message she is in the early stages of cancer treatment and she said the disease was discovered after she underwent abdominal surgery injanuary. and in the middle east, the un secretary—general course for an immediate ceasefire to allow aid into rafah. ! calls for. —— calls for. now on bbc news, the travel show: thailand: protecting paradise. thailand's landscapes are like something from a dream... ah! imean... i mean, look at this. this is absolutely stunning! ..from dazzling coastlines to lush countryside and wildlife that will take your breath away. visions of paradise that in normal times attract more than 30 million of us every year. but that weight of numbers isn't necessarily good news for this country's fragile natural heritage.

the boats are disturbing the sediment and that also harms a lot of the coral reef in this area. as far as caves go, this one is very impressive. oh, it's like paradise. there's so much to explore. we should preserve this. this week, i'm in thailand, one of asia's most visited destinations, to ask — might its staggering beauty be one of its biggest challenges? this is the andaman sea. it runs along thailand's west coast and i'm about an hour offshore, on the hunt for the perfect, perfect beach. if you're looking for somewhere picture—postcard pretty, you'll be wanting this

stretch of coastline. it's all the cliches — palm trees, emerald seas and lovely stretches of sand. this is the thailand i've been waiting for. this. click, click, click. i'm getting off at maya bay. it's famous for its attention—grabbing role in the hollywood movie, the beach, starring leonardo dicaprio. in it, the characters hear rumours of a totally secluded and unspoilt paradise. the movie's success brought sightseers in their thousands. so, i came here around 2015, so about eight years ago, and, honestly, all i can remember isjust seeing so many boats, just boats

upon boats, that really... you couldn't really see the water, you couldn't appreciate the colours. there were people, so many people, on the beach. there was quite a lot of rubbish as well. and ijust remember leaving, feeling quite deflated. in 2018, it all got too much and the bay was finally shut. there were four years of intensive conservation work and this january, it was reopened with new rules. boats are banned in the bay and swimming in the sea is strictly forbidden. blows whistle there's lots of rules and restrictions in place here. how did you feel about them when you discovered them? i understand it. i understand why there's, like, rules and why there's, like, a fee that you need to pay to maintain how beautiful this bay is. i totally understand that. just, i didn't expect a beach where you're not allowed to swim. water is actually greenish—blue. we have never seen this colour of water anywhere. and it's a good thing that you are trying to save that. you are not allowing swimming or any

such thing over here and trying to save the marine life. at the peak of its popularity, around 4,000 people a day would come to this beach, but all that activity killed off 90% of the coral and saw off the blacktip reef sharks that mate here. may has spent the last six months monitoring the shark populations to see what happens now tourists are allowed back. they are using this area to hide from the bigger ones that are like in the deeper area. yeah. so, that's why ask people not to swim, because then, the baby sharks have a safety area. we have seen a lot of them coming back, so we have counted, like, the highest number is 161 sharks. wow!

yeah, in november 2021. yeah, it's really nice. what was the problem with the tourists and the sharks? the boats are disturbing the sediment here and that also harms a lot of the coral reef in this area, so after the ecosystem kind of deteriorate... yes. ..the shark is not coming in because the fish is not here. the tech may uses is pretty simple — a bag of mashed—up fish and a camera attached to a metal frame. and then, it's just a case of finding a good spot. we are about to put the camera down to film the shark for one hour. so, we do this four times a day, so that we can get, like, a behaviour data and also photo identification. 0k. yeah. we want to get a good photo of the dorsal fin and also, we want to see what they're doing underwater.

yeah. so, are theyjust cruising around, like, passing by, or are they attracted to the bait, or are they start nibbling on the bait? oh, there we go. none of them are going for the food yet, though. is that because this isn't... you said they feed more at night, right? yeah. if it's night—time, they are really crazy. yeah. so, some of them take a long time to come close. and some of them are really fast. they each have different patterns on their dorsal fin which are like a fingerprint. we can see that each of them have personality and then, when we photo id them, different months, we can see if the same one comes back.

are you hoping that the strict regulations, they stay in place and they're enforced for the foreseeable future? yes. i really hope that. that would be for the greater good of the sharks and your research. and also for the harmony between people and nature. yeah. but despite what's happened here, thailand is hoping to double its visitor numbers in the next four years and i can't help but wonder how these beauty spots will cope. a good proportion of those new arrivals will pass, like me, through this place along the way. get out the road! yes! skipping traffic, that's what i like to see. it's no secret that the traffic here in bangkok has been awful for years and it's not that uncommon for drivers to be stuck in traffic or trapped for hours, as they crawl their way through the city and as a result, the pollution here can get quite bad. to encourage more people off the roads, the city's about to

expand its public transport system. work�*s beginning on new lines for the skytrain and on the edge of the city, a vast, newly—opened international railway station. i'm not actually surprised i'm lost because this is the biggest train station in southeast asia. as far as stations go, its huge, sterile, loads of air—con. right, platform four. where are you? billions of dollars is being spent on new rail links, primarily into china. but wherever you're going, a journey on the trains here represents value for money. so, a first class ticket will set you back 222 bahts. that's just under £5. and it's so cheap, considering you're getting around seven hours�* travel out of it. but there's no air—con and the seats are pretty hard, so you have been warned.

there are second class options, if you want a bit more comfort though. some of the more popular routes include chiang mai to bangkok and bangkok to the southern beach resorts. you can even go international. so, east to laos and cambodia, and even as far as malaysia and singapore. but i'm jumping off at a stop that will get me within easy reach of thailand's lush countryside. i've arrived in a province called surin, which, as you can probably tell, is pretty rural and remote, but it's also home to some pretty special residents. surin is the spiritual home of the mahouts, or elephant handlers. around a quarter of all the country's domesticated population are said to come from here. saeb used to work in the northern city of chiang mai, charging people for rides. hi, saeb!

i want the tour. you've got to show me around. so, what's this big fella's name, then? ekasit. and how old is he? 38. 38! is that quite old in elephant years? yeah, yeah. so, shall we get more food? he's running out.

wow! he's a big guy. eats a lot. during covid, when attractions shut, ekasit and saebjoined hundreds of others in making the long journey back to surin, where institutions have been set up to give mahouts a salary and free veterinary care. being very careful. so, what do you get from living here? in total, more than 3,000 elephants are put to work at tourist attractions around the country. charities say many are

routinely mistreated. here, there's more peace, space and support for saeb, but ekasit is still chained to the floor. saeb says that it's too dangerous to remove ekasit�*s chains, due to his sheer size. ekasit is happy? you know, he's in the same place for a long time, but is he a happy elephant? saeb seems like such a nice person, who clearly loves his elephant, but you know, so many people come here and pay to ride saeb seems like such a nice person, who clearly loves his elephant, but you know, so many people come here and pay to ride one through thejungle, or watch them paint, or even play football. now, many organisations warn against that, so the rule of thumb, they say, is to avoid any situation that involves an elephant performing

for a paying customer. saeb told me that one of the main reasons he came here was because he can get treatment for his elephant. it looks a bit like a garage for elephants! they exchange greetings so, which one of you is the vet? yeah. you're the vet. hi! nice to meet you. nice to meet you too. i'm lucy. i'm nat. great to meet you. i'm going to guess here. broken leg? yeah. yes. and how did he... how did that happen? and is it hard for him to walk now?

so, a lot of the elephants that came in during covid, you know, have come from quite busy tourist cities, you know, some of them in quite inhumane conditions. what were some of the problems that they had? just before i leave,

i wanted to go and see saeb bathe his elephant, a daily ritualfor him in his retirement. i can't help but feeljust a little conflicted. seeing them in chains really is quite hard to witness. some tour companies have stopped advertising trips involving interaction with elephants, saying the only ethical way to see them is in the wild. elephant rumbles i've never heard an elephant make that noise before! my final stop is almost as far north as you can go in thailand, just a couple of miles away from the border with myanmar. this range of hills is known as the sleeping princess because,

from distance, that's exactly what it looks like. i'm lucy. nice to meet you. really nice to meet you. so, where are you from? i'm from pyau. pyau. up until a few years ago, there was no tourist shuttle bus in operation here. and this remote part of the world wasn't even a part of backpackers�* trails. the industries here were all agricultural, so coffee, oranges, lychee, but things are changing. this summer, the tham luang cave system has been marking the fifth anniversary of a rescue that caught the world's attention. news report: 12 children - and their football coach who have been missing for ten days have been found alive in flooded caves. this is the biggest search and rescue operation in this country's history and i would imagine probably one of the biggest cave search and rescues there's ever been. the thai authorities are throwing everything at this.

in the end, it took 18 days to find the wild boars football team and bring them all successfully to the surface. pictures of the dramatic operation were beamed all over the world. and now, people are coming to see where it happened, not least to lay flowers at the poignant new statue to saman gunan, the thai navy seal who lost his life during the mission. there's also a new museum, a gift shop and, for local people, the opportunity to make a few baht. how are you? are you good? do you get lots of tourists here? yeah? quite a lot? busy? you are allowed to explore the cave yourself, to a certain point,

but i've asked two local caving guides to take me in a bit further. hi. hello. mario and taw worked here throughout the mission, installing the ropes and pulleys that winched the boys to safety. so, what's it like being back in the cave? feels good. it's nice to be back. i love this cave. yeah. it's a really...pretty cave. lots of nice formations and, yeah... yeah, it's gorgeous. it's very quiet at the moment. during the rescue, so many people in here. a lot of noise. you were hearing the pumps.

hearing people shouting around, carrying stuff in. yeah, i bet. oh, wow! this is where the medical team sat. medical team was over here, yes. the rescue was complex and dangerous. dive teams had to make their way through flooded tunnels, heavily sedate each boy one at a time to stop them panicking, and swim their unconscious bodies back through the system. so, tourists really aren't allowed through this part, if this gate is anything to go by. you only can pass this point with a guide and with special permission from the national park. so, is it normal for kids to use this as their playground? yeah, countryside. yeah. so, kids ride their bicycles, play football, come out, explore some caves. it's not the first time that they came in here. there were big pumps in here. yeah. to try to get the water out.

yeah. how deep did it go? 60, 70. ok, so up to your knees, maybe. wow, that really hammers it home, doesn't it? we're getting into chamber two right now. two. chamber two is where all the high lines are in. 0h, 0k, yes. taw�*s team built this high line, which helped rescuers winch the boys back through the cave. yeah, to build a high line, it's a little bit tricky to build the anchor system here because, er... ..the rock at some spots is not really good. and, yeah, the day that the... ..the kids here... ..i'm crying, actually. yeah, yeah. yeah. i'm getting the impression things are going to get a bit trickierfrom here on in. you got me, taw! thank you! all right! woo! it is getting progressively tighter.

and where i'm staring at right now, doesn't even look like people should go down there. but i think we're going to go down there! we call this one the keyhole. it looks like a keyhole over here. so, then, the team were over here, to where you're sitting right now and then it had to be tilted a little bit to the side, to get... navigate through that. ..with the patient, with the kid, through the keyhole over here. and what was it like, you know, that moment when the first kid came through and you saw that and you got the thumbs up that they were alive? yeah. again, still dead silent, people didn't know what was going on. is the kid still alive or not? and people were still facedown. yeah, once we got the

thumbs up, it was... yeah. ..feeling really good. as far as caves go, this one is very impressive. oh, it's like paradise. there's so many caves around. there's so much to explore. and we should preserve this one. yeah, absolutely. so, for us, it's very important that we leave no trace. everything we bring in, we bring out. we only leave footprints. and be respectful. be respectful, yeah. you know, i am genuinely blown away byjust how much respect these guys have for the nature here. and, you know, i think it's fair to say that thailand has quite a complicated relationship when it comes to its diverse landscapes and natural heritage, and, as a result, it has had to learn a few tough lessons along the way. and yet, there are efforts to persuade many more of us to come and see these wild spaces.

the tricky part will be allowing that to happen, without destroying the very thing that makes thailand's environment so special. and i'd like to hope they'll find a way to get it right. if you've already got your eyes on the easter weekend, you are wondering what the weather has in store so wondering what the weather has in stor ,., , .,, wondering what the weather has in stor ,., , ._ ., store so stay with me and i will let ou know store so stay with me and i will let you know what _ store so stay with me and i will let you know what we _ store so stay with me and i will let you know what we know _ store so stay with me and i will let you know what we know so - store so stay with me and i will let you know what we know so far - store so stay with me and i will let you know what we know so far but | you know what we know so far but what we have so far doesn't bode so well because change has been taking place and before we had temperatures of 18 or 19 degrees but we now find ourselves in some colder air with afternoon highs on saturday ofjust

around nine celsius with that colder air being brought down from the north and north—west and the winds are pretty strong, you can see from the blue colours on our air mass chart that those winds are bringing some colder air in our direction and also bringing plenty of showers, some of them quite widespread with heavy and funder and some of them wintry of the high ground in the north and a wisely windy day but for western and northern coasts, gusts of 15, 40 western and northern coasts, gusts of 15, a0 miles an hourand western and northern coasts, gusts of 15, a0 miles an hour and a western and northern coasts, gusts of 15, a0 miles an hourand a bit more than that in the north. temperatures down on where they have been, with eight or 9 degrees, nothing unusualfor the been, with eight or 9 degrees, nothing unusual for the time of year but cooler than it has been of late. when you factor in the strength of the winds, these are that fuels like temperatures, around five or 6 degrees in most locations. —— these are the feels like temperatures. this then starts to push your way eastwards, moving across eastern scotland and england where it will still be quite windy with some

showers and then there will be a slice a brighter weather and the frontal system starts to roll in from the west which will bring cloud and rain particularly into northern ireland by the end of sunday afternoon. but temperatures coming up afternoon. but temperatures coming up a little bit, 12 or 13 degrees, not as windy for many of us. as we get into monday, this area of low pressure looks like it'lljust dive its way southwards and his frontal system isjust its way southwards and his frontal system is just dealing its way southwards and his frontal system isjust dealing is its way southwards and his frontal system is just dealing is a its way southwards and his frontal system isjust dealing is a glancing blow it so there will be some cloud and outbreaks of rain but it looks like the main centre of that noble tent is away southwards and actually the further north you are more in the further north you are more in the way of dry weather. still have some quite cold air across scotland, just five or 6 degrees with some wintry showers here and actually a bit chilly further south, nine, ten or 11 degrees. into tuesday with that low still swelling a way southwards, most of us will be left on a largely dry note of a fair amount of cloud and some spells of sunshine and temperatures north to south between seven and 11 degrees, but you can see behind me are next weather system gathering, an area of

low pressure pushing its way towards us but this low will really become stuck out in the atlantic and it will drive the weather from there so swelling around that low we will see bands of rain and this one will move northwards and east was on wednesday and could bring some quite heavy rain and some winds, the details may change. winds started to come out from the self so damp it is coming up from the self so damp it is coming up a little bit but not particularly spectacular on the temperature front and as we head through the end of the week and into easter weekend, that bigelow look set to just sit in the atlantic, sending swelling rain nrl action. —— that vote. the source of that air nrl action. —— that vote. the source of thatair coming nrl action. —— that vote. the source of that air coming all around this low will be not particularly warm. —— that vote. at this stage, it's —— that vote. at this stage, its looks like there will be rain at times but probably not all the time.

that is all for me. bye for now. —— that big low.

live from london, this is bbc news. president putin says the attack is behind a mass shooting in moscow were arrested trying to flee to ukraine and promises they will be punished. russian officials say the death toll from the attack has risen to 133. the islamic state group says four of its fighters carried out the attack, releasing a photo of those it claims are responsible. messages of support and thanks from around the world or catherine, princess of wales, after she revealed yesterday that she is undergoing treatment for cancer. find undergoing treatment for cancer. and in the middle east, the un

secretary—general calls for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire to allow aids to cross the rafah crossing. —— aid. hello, i'm rich preston. welcome to the programme, good to have your company. we begin in russia. this is live in moscow — just gone 5pm — where it's being reported that 11 people suspected of involvement in an attack on one of moscow's biggest concert venues have been arrested, including four of the assailants. that's according to russia's internal security service, the fsb. the death toll has risen to 133 people. in a statement a short time ago, russia's president, vladimir putin, called the attack a "barbaric terrorist act".