How do I configure MySQL '5.1.49-1ubuntu8' to show multibyte characters?
You may want to consider setting the database's default character for new tables going forward using ALTER DATABASE. Here is an example using MySQL 5.5.12 for Windows:

mysql&gt; show create database example;
+----------+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Database | Create Database                                                    |
+----------+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| example  | CREATE DATABASE `example` /*!40100 DEFAULT CHARACTER SET latin1 */ |
+----------+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)

mysql&gt; alter database example default character set utf8;
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.01 sec)

mysql&gt; show create database example;
+----------+------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Database | Create Database                                                  |
+----------+------------------------------------------------------------------+
| example  | CREATE DATABASE `example` /*!40100 DEFAULT CHARACTER SET utf8 */ |
+----------+------------------------------------------------------------------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)


Give it a Try !!!