Phuket News
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Minivans bound for nearby provinces back at Bus Terminal 1
PHUKET: Those catching minivans from Phuket to nearby provinces now need to go to Bus Terminal 1, the old bus terminal, the Phuket Gazette was told this week. The change took place on December 15, after the National Council of Peace and Order (NCPO) received complaints from Phuket passengers. “Customers said that because Bus Terminal 2 is situated outside of…
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Local president pleas for help, patience concerning filthy Phuket beach
PHUKET: The president of the Cherng Talay Tambon Administration Organization (OrBorTor) has made a plea for help concerning the piles of trash at Surin Beach and the untreated wastewater flowing into the swimming area there. “Although we have trash bins there, people don’t use them,” said Ma-ann Samran, president of the Cherng Talay OrBorTor. “There’s a lot of garbage strewn…
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Phuket driver’s licence tests start rolling toward privatization
PHUKET: The Department of Land Transport (DLT) has begun rolling out its campaign to privatize driving tests, with the goal of having private-company driving schools conduct all the practical and theory tests on the government’s behalf by 2017. People applying for their first driver’s licence will soon be able to watch the mandatory training video at a driving school instead…
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Video Report: Phuket International Hospital organizes charity run
PHUKET: Phuket International Hospital will hold its annual “Run for Health, Run for Charity Mini Marathon” this February 22, with the winners receiving trophies presented by Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn. “This is the third year that Phuket International Hospital has organized this event. It will be a great honor to have HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn taking…
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Phuket B12mn marina canal extension completed
PHUKET: The extension of the Koh Kaew canal, which leads to Royal Phuket Marina and Boat Lagoon, was completed on December 28, allowing easier passage for big boats and yachts to the area. “We no longer have to worry about big boats getting stuck in the canal. We can also better manage our boat departure and arrival schedules; it is…
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Video Report: Children’s Day kicks off in Phuket tomorrow
PHUKET: Put the youngsters to bed early tonight, because tomorrow is Children’s Day, which means Phuket will be aflutter with fun activities and entertainment. The first Children’s Day in Thailand was in 1956, since then, government leaders have annually branded the event with a slogan. This year, the slogan created by Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha is “knowledge and virtue…
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Phuket light rail is a game changer, says property expert [video]
PHUKET: The long-awaited project to build a “light rail” mass-transit system to ferry tourists and residents the length of the island passed its third and final public hearing on Tuesday, when it was revealed that construction is slated to begin in 2021. The 23.5-billion-baht project has been heralded as an enormous development for the island’s tourism and property industries, with…
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Vendors to be allowed back on three Phuket beaches
PHUKET: Three of Phuket’s most popular beaches, which have been given the green light for a three-month beach vendor trial period, were inspected by officials yesterday to establish vendor-friendly zones. The trial period was announced at a meeting in Provincial Hall last month by Governor Nisit Jansomwong, during which he laid down a stringent list of conditions under which vendors…
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Human traffickers claim B300k payoffs to clear police checkpoints
PHUKET: Corrupt Thai officials allegedly accepted bribes of about 300,000 baht per truckload of trafficked people in order to allow smugglers past checkpoints, it has been revealed. The revelation comes after police on Tuesday arrested two of three men who attempted to smuggle more than 50 Rohingya through Takuapa, Phang Nga, north of Phuket, to Malaysia on Monday (story here).…
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Police take DNA samples in karaoke waitress rape, murder case
PHUKET: Police investigating the rape and murder of a karaoke waitress in Phang Nga, north of Phuket, are collecting DNA samples from suspects in the hope of identifying the woman’s killer or killers. The manhunt began on Sunday after the body of Ploipailin Ketkeaw, 26, was found in a palm plantation just 300 meters from the Tiew Phai karaoke, where…
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Fighters arrive for Pencak Silat World Championships in Phuket
PHUKET: Fighters from 38 countries arrived in Phuket on Tuesday to take part in the 16th Pencak Silat World Championship, which will get under way at Saphan Hin this weekend. “There will be about 1,000 people, including athletes and support staff, coming to Phuket for the competition,” Nakrob Thongdaeng, deputy secretary general Pencak Silat Association of Thailand (PSAT), announced on…
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Phuket parasailer plunges from sky in free fall
PHUKET: Governor Nisit Jansomwong has vowed to order the Phuket Marine Office to investigate a parasailing accident that saw a staffer free fall from a parachute off Bang Tao Beach on New Year’s Eve. After losing his grip on the parachute ropes, he plunged about 30 meters into the water below. “I will have the Phuket Marine Office look into…
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Phuket closes Seven Days of Danger with 2 dead, 45 injured
PHUKET: The nationwide Seven Days of Danger safety campaign for the New Year holidays drew to a close at midnight last night, with Phuket recording two deaths and 45 people admitted to hospital for injuries in 44 accidents. The last day of the seven-day campaign, which began at midnight on December 30, recorded five accidents in Phuket in which five…
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Mass worker brawl delays Phuket airport expansion
PHUKET: Work on the Phuket International Airport expansion project was delayed yesterday due to a gang brawl between construction workers from Cambodia and another group from Myanmar on January 1. The fight took place in the workers’ camp, about 300 meters from the PTT aviation fuel warehouse, which is located about two kilometers from the airport. The melee left more…
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Frenchman escapes flaming car on Phuket hill [video]
PHUKET: A French tourist narrowly escaped injuries after his Thai girlfriend’s car erupted into flames on Patong Hill this afternoon. Bernard Louis Joseph Hazebrouco fled the Toyota Vios after a fire broke out in the engine and then quickly spread, Maj Teerasak Boonsang of the Patong Police told the Phuket Gazette today. “It took firefighters about 20 minutes to put…
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Phuket tourists stranded by Abu Dhabi sandstorm start heading home
PHUKET: About 100 of the 400-odd tourists stranded in Phuket are about to fly out today, after sandstorms and poor visibility in the United Arab Emirates forced Eithad Airways to cancel its flights to Abu Dhabi on Saturday. The airline transferred the affected passengers by shuttle bus to the Dara Hotel, the Chino Hotel and the Millennium Resort, while alternative…
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Three more teens surrender for New Year’s Eve gang slaying
PHUKET: Three more teenagers have surrendered to police for the gang slaying of a rival in Phuket Town on New Year’s Eve. Suppachai Atwicha, 19; Adisorn Laemka, 18; and a 17-year-old named by police with the pseudonym “Mr Bank” surrendered to officers at Phuket City Police Station at about 4pm yesterday. The three were among the six suspects wanted for…
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Phuket Red Cross Fair winner yet to claim Toyota Altis top prize
PHUKET: The winner of the grand prize in the annual Phuket Red Cross Fair lucky draw has yet to claim the brand-new Toyota Altis after the winning ticket was drawn last night. Phuket Governor Nisit Jansomwong led the lucky draw on the center stage at Saphan Hin at about 10:30pm. Joining Governor Nisit for the lucky draw was his wife,…
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Three human traffickers evade arrest, 50 Rohingya netted
PHUKET: Police are hunting three human traffickers who evaded arrest as they attempted to smuggle more than 50 Rohingya, including six children, through Thailand to Malaysia early this morning. The drivers loaded the refugees into three pick-up trucks in a rubber-tree plantation in Takuapa, north of Phuket, before attempting to evade police checkpoints on the main road. “We received a…
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Tourism, martial law: Looking back at Phuket in 2014
With 2014 behind us, it is time to reflect on 12 months – that is 365 days, or 8,765 hours – of news that transformed Phuket and deeply affected how the island is perceived by the outside world. Here, the Phuket Gazette‘s Somchai Huasaikul looks through our archives at the game-changing moments of 2014. PHUKET: The year that was 2014…
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Israeli tourist injured in Patong jet-ski accident, police call for care
PHUKET: In response to an Israeli man suffering injuries in a jet-ski accident at Patong Beach earlier this week, police have urged tourists to be more careful while riding the machines. However, no action will be taken to avoid a similar accident from occurring again at Patong, Phuket’s busiest tourist beach. Two Israeli brothers reportedly hired separate jet-skis at Patong…
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Phuket tyre blowout throws driver, flips truck and dumps load
PHUKET: A dirt delivery truck overturned on Sri Soonthorn Road, about 500 meters from the Heroines Monument, this morning after one of the vehicle’s right rear tyres exploded. The truck careened onto its side, spilling its load onto the road and smashing the windshield at about 11:30am. The driver, Ma-een Famangkorn, 49, suffered minor head injuries in the crash. “Mr…
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Traffic policeman added to Phuket’s New Year casualty list
PHUKET: A traffic policeman has been added to Phuket’s New Year casualty list during the nationwide Seven Days of Sanger safety campaign, which began at midnight on Tuesday. Cpl Thanan Paisornarong, 27, was run down while attempting to stop a motorcycle at a checkpoint in Phuket Town at 2:50pm yesterday. He was taken to the Phuket Provincial Administrative Organization Hospital…
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Baby boy of Phuket’s first gibbon twins found dead
PHUKET: One of the first set of gibbon twins to be born at the Gibbon Rehabilitation Project (GRP) in Phuket has died. Staffers at the center hope to return the surviving twin to her mother on Monday. “These are our first gibbon twins since the center was established in 1992. The twins are the son and daughter of mother Mee…
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Police nab armed thugs for Patong gang shootout
PHUKET: Police tracked down and arrested two men at a bus station in Phang Nga yesterday after one of the suspects shot a rival gang member in the face in a shootout on the streets of Patong just hours earlier. Staff at Patong Hospital notified the police of the shooting at 5am after Boonprom Chupeng, 18, was rushed to the…
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Woman, 23, jumps to her death before dawn on New Year’s Day
PHUKET: A 23-year-old woman jumped to her death from her second-floor apartment on Sainamyen Road in Patong before dawn on New Year’s Day. According to neighbors, Rattikorn Sunarak, 23, was feeling neglected as her boyfriend, as yet unnamed, had to work and could not attend 2015 New Year party countdown celebrations with her. The neighbors explained that the couple had…
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After Phuket New Year celebrations, man dodges Seven Days fatality list
PHUKET: A man walked away from a dramatic accident at Heroines Monument early this morning, leaving Phuket’s death toll during this year’s Seven Days of Danger safety campaign for the New Year at just one fatality. Police promptly arrived at the iconic roundabout in central Phuket at about 3:30am after Jamnian Sinthong, 55, called to report that a white Toyota…
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Woman dies from injuries after Russian tour bus crash
PHUKET: The driver of a car that crashed head-on into a tour bus carrying 37 Russian tourists on Tuesday has died from her injuries. Tantima Thaworn, 37, was pronounced dead at 11:35am yesterday, staff at Vachira Phuket Hospital in Phuket Town confirmed. However, the hospital staff declined to give further details. Ms Tantima is the sole fatality from the accident,…
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Crewman’s body washes ashore Phi Phi coast
PHUKET: Phi Phi locals yesterday discovered the body of a crewman who drowned after the cargo boat he was working on sank in heavy weather on Monday (story here). The body of the man, named by police only as “Mr Au”, was discovered at Ao Rantee on the Phi Phi coast at about 1pm. “Mr Au’s body washed up on…
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Myanmar rapist of girl, 14, sentenced to eight years in jail
PHUKET: The pedophile who confessed to raping a 14-year-old undocumented Myanmar migrant worker with the help of his wife in Khao Lak in August has been sentenced to eight years in jail. The wife, as an accomplice to the crime, was sentenced to three years in jail. The couple, named by police only as “Mr Ko Nai” and “Ms Ma…
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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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