Utf8 hassle

Ive developed a locales system for my site, but its not working the way it should.
Let me explain:
1) This file decides which lang file to use (engine_locales_core.php):

<?php session_start();
$locale = array();
$ename = $_COOKIE['user1'];
if(!isset($_COOKIE['user1'])){
	require_once "engine_locales_English.php";}
elseif(isset($_COOKIE['user1'])){
  require_once "globalconfig.php";
  $getlang = mysql_query("SELECT language FROM users WHERE ename = '$ename'")or die(mysql_error());
   while($info = mysql_fetch_array( $getlang )){
    require_once "engine_locales_".$info['language'].".php";}}
  ?>

Code (PHP):

2) And then i simply echo the sentences:
<?php require_once "engine_locales_core.php"; $locale = array(); ?>

<?php echo $locale['0021']; ?>

Code (PHP):

Looks just fine when i load the page: äöüõ.
But when i refresh it, these characters turn into: ????

Whats up with that?
Thanks for any help.

 

I too faced this hassle few days back. Here is the solution I found after googling. I have condensed it on my blog.
http://www.w3hobbyist.com/php-mysql...devanagiri-hindi-marathi-from-mysql-database/
[NOte: Ignore the language names part, concentrate on the technical part]

 

have you tried setting a content-type meta and header?

header('Content-Type:...');

also, i wouldn't trust data received from the user in the cookie. cookies can be changes. i wouldn't trust any input from the user. always validate.