Phuket News
Phuket news, politics, business, tourism, and nightlife—stay updated with breaking stories, events, and expat updates from Thailand’s top island destination. Get the latest from The Thaiger, your trusted Phuket news source.
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Swiss man “lost and found’ after two days
PHUKET: An elderly Swiss man who had wandered off from his Karon rental house two days ago was found in Thalang this morning. Rescue workers arrived at the scene after they received a call from locals regarding the man about 10am. “The man was found by locals sitting at a grocery store in Baan Lipon. When they couldn’t communicate with…
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Jail breaking teen finally arrested
PHUKET: A 19-year-old robbery suspect who escaped a police station while being interrogated for his crime was finally arrested yesterday in the northern province of Maha Sarakham. The suspect, named as Chaiwalan Pennuanong, was first arrested on December 13 of last year, after he and his accomplice stole a girl’s bag – the girl subsequently chased them down and crashed…
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One dead, one severely injured in Phuket truck crash
PHUKET: One man was killed and another seriously injured when a watermelon delivery truck crashed into the steel pillars surrounding the Heroines’ Monument early this morning. Police and rescue workers rushed to the scene about 5:45am. “The truck was stuck to the pillars, while pieces of broken fruit were strewn everywhere. Rescue workers had to separate the vehicle from the…
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Business: Thailand’s airports to get overhauls
PHUKET: As authorities anticipate 34 million foreign-tourist arrivals and 150 million domestic air travellers in 2017, major airports including Phuket International, Suvarnabhumi, Don Mueang International, U-tapao Rayong-Pattaya International, Krabi International and Chiang Rai Mae Fah Luang International are undergoing renovations or expansion. Meanwhile, there have been calls for some small airports upcountry, such as in Roi-et, Nakhon Ratchasima and Hua…
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Foreigners caught stealing motorbike on CCTV
PHUKET: Police are hunting for two foreigners who allegedly stole a motorbike in Patong last night. A Facebook user named ‘Tangchuemailaew Ngong Ah Di’ posted a CCTV video, at about 10:40am today, that showed the two unidentified foreign men watching a Thai man drive up and park his bike on the side of the road. The man opened the trunk…
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Four injured in another routine Patong Hill crash
PHUKET: Four people were injured when a six-wheeler crashed into the side of the road on Patong Hill early this morning. Rescue workers arrived at the scene a little after 1:30am to find the truck on its side, with the driver and passengers still stuck inside. “The truck was on it’s way from Patong to Phuket Town and had fallen…
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Severe weather warning issued for Phuket, southern provinces
PHUKET: The Phuket Marine Office (PMO) today issued a warning for all boats to proceed with caution and for small boats to not leave shore tomorrow or Saturday, due to large waves and predictions of heavy rain. The Thai Meteorological Department (TMD) issued a weather warning, titled ‘Heavy to Very Heavy Rain in Lower South and Strong Wind Waves in…
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“Seven days of danger’ ends with two deaths
PHUKET: The ‘Seven days of danger’ campaign in Phuket came to a close yesterday with a total of two deaths and 81 injuries. The campaign ran from December 29, 2016 to January 4, 2017. Both fatalities occurred on Sunday, day 4 of the campaign (story here). The following day, Phuket Vice Governor Teera Anantaseriwidhya visited four checkpoints on the island…
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Koh Racha ‘conservationists’ call for end to coral theft
PHUKET: Locals in Koh Racha are raising concerns about coral theft after an Asian tourist was caught taking a bag full of coral on a boat bound for Phuket earlier this week. “I was shocked and unhappy to see her carrying our precious coral in a plastic bag, so I tried to talk to her and asked her to return…
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Firefighters spend six hours battling Phuket hotel flames
PHUKET: Firefighters spent more than six hours putting out a blaze in a Patong hotel basement. It started last night and continued into the early hours of today. Guests dining at a restaurant adjacent to Beyond Hotel Patong, noticed smoke wafting out of it at about 8pm and alerted the hotel’s staff. Patong Police officers, rescue workers and firefighters arrived…
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Phuket cabaret employee caught stealing on video
PHUKET: A cabaret show employee was caught on video while expertly stealing a pair of sunglasses from a woman’s bag on Sunday night. The 32-second clip, which shows a uniformed employee of the Aphrodite Cabaret Show in Kathu pretending to pose with a tourist while digging his hand into her bag to extract the glasses, went viral on social media…
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Gang of seven rob undercover officers, charged with theft
PHUKET: A gang of seven was arrested for attacking and robbing two undercover police officers in Phuket Town on Sunday morning. The Phuket City Police officers went straight to their station to report the crime and worked together with Col Kamol Osiri in order to locate the suspects via CCTV footage. “The teens had robbed the officers of two guns,…
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Offenders’ heads shaved in lieu of criminal charges
PHUKET: Two Isaan men had their hair shaved off as punishment for fishing in a pond at a temple in Chalong on Sunday morning. Kunnakorn Srikoon, 29, and Wanit Panthina, 30, were caught with fishing equipment and a turtle inside Wat Ladthiwanaram (Wat Tai) where people release fish and turtles to make merit. Supawathakan Kunlauk of Chalong Municipality and Chalong…
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Shorter peak season expected in Phuket
PHUKET: Phuket is bound to experience a shorter peak season this year due to a change in the market, and it is a matter of concern for hospitality firms when it comes to the low season, says Bill Barnett, managing director of C9 Hotelworks. “In previous peak seasons, rates or surcharges had benefited many hotels in Phuket, but this year…
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Officials hunt for owner of illegal fishing boats
PHUKET: The Royal Thai Navy and the Illegal Fishing Suppression unit are trying to locate the owners of seven fishing vessels that faked nationality documents to enter Phuket in November last year. The vessels, with 10 crew members on board, were denied entry when officials checked the ownership documents stating Bolivian ownership that turned out to be forged (story here).…
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Two deaths on day 4 of “Seven Days of Danger’
PHUKET: After a three-day run with no road related fatalities, day 4 of the ‘Seven Days of Danger’ campaign saw two deaths in accidents on Phuket’s roads. The first incident occurred at 2:10am yesterday, when 24-year-old Patcharin Taosanit crashed her motorbike into a power pole in Rawai. The second incident occurred about 5pm when 26-year-old Chalermluck Ongwimonkarn crashed into a…
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No deaths on Day 2 of “Seven Days of Danger’
PHUKET: The 2nd day of the ‘Seven Days of Danger’ in Phuket ended with zero deaths and 9 injuries, according to official statistics provided by the Phuket office of the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM). The current road safety campaign, which is held nationwide during peak holiday seasons (only), runs from December 29, 2016 to January 4, 2017.…
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Phuket crocodile show goes wrong
PHUKET: A crocodile show in Chalong went wrong yesterday afternoon when one of the crocodiles attacked a performer. The reptile, measuring more than 6 feet in length, snapped its jaws around the wrist of the man and twisted its body. He, in turn, managed to spin in the same direction and saved his wrist from a possible fracture. He is…
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Paralympian visits Phuket during 10,000km journey
PHUKET: A Thai paralympic athlete stopped by Phuket on Wednesday as part of his mission to travel more than 10,000 kilometers over 74 provinces in his wheelchair in honor of the late Monarch, His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej. Phuyin Khumnaan, 41, scored a silver medal at the Asian Boat Race in China this year, along with his girlfriend ‘AJ’. He…
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Krabi officials, transport companies team up for holiday road safety
KRABI: A task force to check transport buses and their drivers has set up camp at the Krabi Bus Terminal during the long New Year weekend. The group, formed by the Krabi Department of Land Transport (DLT), has teamed up with 17 bus service companies to ensure that brakes on all buses and vans are operational. The drivers will also…
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Tourist found dead by Phuket hotel pool
PHUKET: A Chinese tourist died while swimming early this morning after a late night out in Kamala. Captain Prasert Thongprom of Kamala Police received the report about 3am and officers found 28-year-old Jian Dong’s body lying by the pool of the hotel where he was staying. Mr Dong was part of a Phuket tour group, and had gone out with…
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Similan coral defaced with Korean name
PHUKET: Dive company operators are urging officials to boost regulations after a piece of coral with a Korean name etched into it was discovered in the waters of Mu Koh Similan National Park last week. The photo was taken last Saturday by a diver from the Sign Scuba company at Turtle Rock, where there are plenty of corals, both dead…
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Phuket drug dealers busted with B1mn of meth
PHUKET: Four suspects, including a minor, were arrested in Rassada yesterday with more than 4,000 pills of ya bah (methamphetamine) and 200 grams of ya ice (crystal methamphetamine) worth about one million baht. “Our sources informed us that a drug shipment would be delivered from Bangkok to Phuket via a logistics company named Somchai Speed Transport Partnership. We went to…
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New Zealand man falls to his death in Phuket
PHUKET: A Patong Municipality trash collector discovered the body of a tourist at the foot of a Phuket hotel early this morning. The 55-year-old man from New Zealand is believed to have jumped off the balcony of his rented room at the Royal Paradise Hotel & Spa, which is located about 5 minutes from Patong Beach. He had checked in…
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Traffic held up for three hours after truck spills plywood load
PHUKET: Tah Chat Chai Police suspect the driver of an articulated truck that spilled its load of plywood sheets all over the road last night, bringing traffic to a standstill, lost control of his vehicle when he took a sharp bend at high speed in wet conditions. The Phuket-bound 18-wheeler spilled its entire load on the notoriously dangerous curve, a…
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Tsunami remembrance ceremony held on 12th anniversary of disaster
PHUKET: About 200 locals, tourists and provincial dignitaries gathered at Patong Beach yesterday evening to hold a candle-lit remembrance ceremony in front of Loma Park on the 12th anniversary of the deadly tsunami that struck the island on the morning of December 26, 2004. Official figures state that the tsunami killed 5,398 people and that more than 3,700 disappeared in…
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Microsoft aims to use IT to battle human trafficking
PHUKET: Microsoft Thailand last week organized a project to educate youth about computers and Information Technology to equip them with the knowledge and tools to fight human trafficking. The project was chaired by Phuket Vice Governor Teera Anantaseriwidhya, at Prince of Songkla University’s Phuket Campus. The campaign is being held at seven campuses throughout the country, including, in addition to…
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Island View: Unchecked road rage in Phuket
PHUKET: As far as road safety in Phuket goes, authorities always highlight ‘speeding’ and ‘helmetless riding’ as the major causes of the appalling number of ‘accidents’ and deaths on the road. However, a relatively overlooked area – in my opinion – is road rage. One recent incident involved a 21-year-old Thai man who threw a large rock at a passing…
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Tsunami memorial ceremonies held in Phuket
PHUKET: The 12-year anniversary for the victims of the devastating 2004 Tsunami was held this morning at several memorials on the island. The Tsunami pulverized the Andaman coast with waves up to 100 feet high. More than 5,000 people died and 3,700 remain unaccounted for to-date. At about 9am OrBorTor Mai Khao arranged Buddhist, Islamic and Christian rites’ services at…
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Phuket drug dealer arrested with B400k of ya bah pills
PHUKET: A drug dealer was arrested with about 2,000 ya bah (methamphetamine) pills at Phuket Bus Terminal 2 on Thepkrasattri Rd on Saturday evening. Sarawuth Koraneesak, 23, had bought the pills in Bangkok for delivery to a customer in Phuket. He was waiting for the customer to come and collect them when he was arrested. The pills were estimated to…
Phuket is a province in the south of Thailand. Phuket's beaches face the Andaman Sea allowing the west coast beaches fantastic sunsets right throughout the year. If you're looking for news in Phuket, go to thethaiger.com/phuket Or follow our instant news in our Facebook pages.
The good news is that Phuket is famous for its foodie scene with an enormously diverse range of local and international foods - Phuket and southern favorites, street food along with international choices catering for the 12 million visitors to the island each year. Thaiger follows Phuket news and information 24 hours a day with regular updates.
Phuket is only 'just' an island with a 300 metre bridge linking it to Thailand's mainland. We're always reporting in the news that the channel beneath is frequently dredged to maintain Phuket's status as an island. On the other side of Sarasin Bridge is the Province of Phang Nga.
Getting to Phuket is easy as the island has land, air and sea connections. Phuket is also used as a take-off point for local island trips as Thailand's largest island is surrounded by over 30 pristine islands. Koh Phi Phi and the famous Maya Bay are always in the news and would be the best known of the island's just off Phuket's shores.
Phuket is an island and a province. It's the largest island in Thailand – 48 km north to south, 21 km east to west.
It's about 20% smaller, in area, than Singapore but much less densely populated. Whilst the island nation of Singapore boasts a population of nearly 6 million, Phuket has a permanent population of around 400-450,000 (but varies a lot with the influx of tourists and a workforce that is always changing). Most of Phuket remains jungle and tropical rainforest despite an acceleration of development over the past 20 years.
Unlike some of Thailand's other popular islands (that are in the Gulf of Thailand), the news is that Phuket is located in the Andaman Sea.
Phuket is 878 km north of the equator.
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