Far East Diary.

Byline: By Luke Edwards 

Newcastle players were not the only footballers strolling around the duty free shops at Heathrow's Terminal Three on Sunday morning.

Also armed with their sizeable wage packets were the squads of West Ham and Tottenham.

As Jermain Defoe joked with his former Hammer team-mates and Michael Carrick mixed with the players of his home-town club, Stephen Carr was cornered by the travelling Tyneside Press pack as he tried to find something to keep him entertained on his own flight. The Republic of Ireland international is believed to be at the top of Sir Bobby Robson's wanted list.

But the Spurs skipper gave no clue as to whether he was on his way to the North-East.

He laughed off our questioning before making a sharp exit in the direction of his existing team-mates ( but without the reading material that he had originally been searching for.

JERMAINE Jenas (pictured left) may be a hugely talented young footballer, but he presumably didn't excel in geography at school. When discussing Newcastle's pre-season trip, the England international was heard to say: "So we're flying to Bangkok and then to Thailand to play in Hong Kong aren't we?" Erm, no Jermaine.

NEWCASTLE'S arrival in Bangkok has been greeted by locals keen to get a glimpse of players normally only seen in Premiership highlights.

But a group of pampered footballers are not the only visitors. Health experts from around the world are also in town for the World Aids Convention in a country tragically ravaged by the disease.