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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Phuket Police: No foul play suspected in death of English-Thai toddler
PHUKET: Police do not suspect foul play in the death of a Phuket toddler who was found dead in a pool outside of his family’s house in Rawai on Friday. Marcus Pandragon Pearce, 16 months old, was discovered floating in the pool by his mother, Malida Pearce. “Mrs Pearce told us that her English husband, Jass Pearce, had gone out…
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Speed warning issued after Phuket cop crashes car
PHUKET: A rainy-weather driving-speed warning was issued today after a Phuket police officer flipped his car on the way to Phuket International Airport early yesterday morning. Lt Nikom Keawnu of the Cherng Talay Police and his female passenger both walked away unharmed from the accident on the new airport road. “The accident occurred when it was raining. We were on…
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Phuket motorcyclist killed in head-on collision
PHUKET: A motorcyclist was killed in a head-on collision with a pick-up truck that was trying to overtake a car in Phuket last night. Police and Ruam Jai Foundation rescue workers arrived on the scene, Thep Anusorn Road in Wichit, at about 9:30pm. In the middle of the road, they found the body of 27-year-old Jakkrapong Sungjang. “Witnesses told police…
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Egat ramps up push for Krabi coal-fired power plant
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Egat ramps up push for Krabi coal-fired power plant The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) is pushing ahead with its plans to build a coal-fired power plant in Krabi, across Phang Nga Bay from Phuket, by 2019. Despite public…
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NFL Week 14: Cowboys crush Bears, 41-28
PHUKET: Quarterback Tony Romo and his Dallas Cowboys blew out a hapless Chicago Bears team 41-28 at Soldier Field in Chicago on Thursday Night Football, the first game of Week 14 of the NFL season. The win raised the Cowboys’ record to 9-4, guaranteeing them their first winning season in five years following a string of three mediocre 8-8 seasons.…
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Opinion: Phuket umbrellas return to paradise
PHUKET: The recent lifting of the ban on tourists bringing umbrellas onto island beaches is a step in the right direction, one the Phuket Gazette hopes will eventually lead to a comprehensive and sustainable solution that meets tourists’ needs while continuing to protect our beaches from encroachment. However, Ma-ann Samran, president of the Cherng Talay Tambon Administration Organization (OrBorTor), made…
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Just 3 days to deadline for Phuket’s yellow pages
/PHUKET: Businesses wishing to appear in the 2015 Gazette Guide Business Directory, Phuket’s “yellow pages”, have until noon on Wednesday, December 10, to enter (or update) their listings. Businesses not listed by that date will not appear in the directory until 2016. The book for 2015, with details of about 2,500 businesses serving the international community on Phuket, will be…
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Fire breaks out on Phuket’s Soi Bangla
PHUKET: Firefighters have put out a fire that erupted at a tailor shop in Phuket’s famous nightlife district – Soi Bangla – this morning. No injuries or fatalities have been reported. Police were notified of the blaze by a tuk-tuk driver who saw smoke pouring out of the shop at about 10:30am. “The driver and a friend attempted to quell…
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Cobra caught by Phuket villagers during cleanup
PHUKET: A group of Phuket locals trapped a large cobra that they discovered while cleaning up their village in honor of HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s birthday yesterday. Kusoldharm Foundation rescue workers arrived at the scene in Rassada to find the more than 2-meter-long female cobra trapped inside a large basket. “We had to be careful when we caught her, because…
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Phuket driver survives brutal truck crash after falling asleep
PHUKET: A man had a lucky escape after he fell asleep at the wheel and slammed into a streetlamp on Phuket’s bypass road this morning. The metal streetlamp was sheered at the base from the impact of the crash. However, 29-year-old Samart Noonpakdee sustained only minor injuries in the collision. “He was heading home after leaving his job in Patong,…
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Phuket police foil armed man’s revenge plot
PHUKET: Police foiled an armed man’s plan for revenge by arresting him after he sped through a checkpoint in Phuket yesterday morning. Police chased down Vatcharin Chaisen, 26, at about 3am after he charged through the checkpoint in Karon to avoid being pulled over by officers. “After we stopped him, we found two homemade handguns, two rounds of ammunition and…
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Back to business amid good conditions at Phuket King’s Cup Regatta Day 4
PHUKET: Consistent winds made a very welcome return for Day Four of the Phuket King’s Cup Regatta yesterday. All classes sailed, with exceptionally tight action and some big winning margins. The King’s Cup this year has played host to an offering of IRC class racing, especially at the high-tech “Grand Prix” end of the classes such as in IRC0, where…
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Phuket blood center calls for donations in honor of HM The King
PHUKET: The Phuket Regional Blood Center (PRBC) has invited all qualified island residents to make a blood donation in honor of HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s 87th birthday today. Those wishing to honor HM The King in this way will have a chance to sign a get-well message for His Majesty, explained PRBC Acting Chief Pornthip Rattajak. “We currently have 700…
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Phuket joins nation to honor HM The King’s birthday
PHUKET: Although Phuket residents will not be able to welcome the Royal Family at Amarin Vinitchai Hall in the Grand Palace in Bangkok, they will no doubt be glued to their television screens as HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej appears for an audience this morning to mark His Majesty’s 87th birthday. Since yesterday evening, members of the public began gathering along…
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Phuket Police turn down bribe, arrest Aussies
PHUKET: Two Australian tourists were given a stern lecture and a second chance by Phuket police after the two allegedly tried to bribe police officers to drop theft charges against them. The Aussies, named by police only as 21-year-old Maurice and 25-year-old John Jo Han, were arrested early this morning for shoplifting 10 sport jerseys from a shop on Bangla…
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Phuket bar owners called to honor Father’s Day booze ban
PHUKET: Phuket Vice Governor Somkiet Sangkaosuttirak has signed a formal request to be issued to all bar owners, restaurateurs and other purveyors of alcohol throughout Phuket to refrain from selling booze tomorrow in honor of HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s 87th birthday. Vice Governor Somkiet told the Phuket Gazette that he understands there is no law to prohibit the sale of…
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Critical Phuket underpass intersection to close for three months
PHUKET: Phuket City Police have announced that the lanes of traffic flowing between Kathu and Samkong at the Samkong Intersection, the site of the Tesco underpass, will be closed from December 6 to March 1. During that time, motorists approaching the intersection from the east or the west will be forced to make a left turn, and then proceed to…
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Cambodian monks disrobed in Phuket, await deportation
PHUKET: A group of 19 Cambodian monks are awaiting deportation after they were arrested and disrobed for violating several rules of the Buddhist monkhood as practiced in Thailand. The monks were escorted by Wichit Police and Muang District officers to Wat Mongkol Nimit in Phuket Town to be stripped of their monkhood by Phra Kru Mettaphirom yesterday. The monks failed…
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No Phuket search for missing South African
PHUKET: Top island officers have yet to receive an official request to find a South African man who was last known to be in Phuket in June. Arayaphan Pukbuakao, a Phuket Provincial Police deputy commander, told the Phuket Gazette yesterday that he had not received a report about Ezra Jansen, 31, who is being treated by the South African Embassy…
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Pregnant mum survives horror Phuket crash
PHUKET: A five-month pregnant woman and five other people are in hospital after the pick-up truck they were travelling in crashed into a power pole on Thepkrasattri Road early this morning. Jantree Harnhong, 30, was on her way to Phuket with her 33-year-old partner Noppol Karnjanaburi and four others when the accident occurred in front of Muang Thalang School at…
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Live grenades found in Phuket residential area
PHUKET: A Burmese trash-burner discovered two live M26 hand grenades at a dump near a Phuket residential area in Rawai this afternoon. The man, named by police only as Mr A, identified the dangerous weapons of war and immediately informed his employer, who promptly reported the find. Phuket’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) unit arrived shortly thereafter. “The two standard M26…
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Phuket beach vendors protest with national anthem
PHUKET: Dozens of Phuket beach vendors gathered at the Patong Police Station and sang Thailand’s national anthem yesterday, after they were forced off the beach by police and municipality officers. “The Navy told us that we were allowed – that only umbrella vendors were prohibited,” one vendor told the Phuket Gazette. “We are just trying to make a living. Why…
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Father, son arrested for Phuket bag-snatch
PHUKET: Police arrested a father-and-son bag-snatching duo for robbing a woman in Phuket Town yesterday, allegedly in order to make payments for the motorbike used in the crime. Officers arrested Narongchai Aroonmek, 39, and his 15-year-old son at a rented room in Rassada at about 7pm. “We tracked them down after reviewing CCTV footage in the Vanich Road area of…
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One dead, three injured in family trip to Phuket
PHUKET: One woman died and a father and daughter were rushed to Vachira Phuket Hospital with critical injuries after their car crashed into a roadside canal yesterday in northern Phuket. Police and Kusoldharm Foundation rescue workers were called to the scene, on Thepkrasattri Road northbound, about 200 meters from the Hongyok Bumrung School in Baan Suan Maphrao, at about 5:15pm.…
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Australian terrorism warning for Phuket unfounded, say officials
PHUKET: Island officials yesterday denounced the Australian government’s warning of possible civil unrest and threat of a terrorist attack in Phuket. “We continue to advise Australians to exercise a high degree of caution in Thailand overall due to the possibility of civil unrest and the threat of terrorist attack, including Bangkok and Phuket,” said the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs…
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Phuket officials demand Uber vow against illegal taxi revival
PHUKET: Fears of technology company Uber, which provides an alternative way to catch a cab, thereby potentially allowing a resurgence in illegal taxi drivers operating in Bangkok and Phuket, led to the Department of Land Transportation (DLT) deeming the services illegal prior to a full investigation. The Phuket Land Transportation Office (PLTO) has suggested that Uber clarify its current role…
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Video Report: Swiss Olympian Reudi Wild wins Challenge Laguna Phuket
PHUKET: Swiss Olympian Ruedi Wild yesterday produced a clockwork performance once again at Laguna Phuket to secure his first half-distance win at 2014 Challenge Laguna Phuket (CLP) in 4:02:43. The win follows his debut title win at the 2012 Laguna Phuket Triathlon, which he successfully defended the next year. World champion Melissa Hauschildt of Australia defended her title in the…
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Father’s Day festivities kick off in Phuket
PHUKET: The first of a five-day Father’s Day celebration kicks off for Phuket residents and tourists tonight in Saphan Hin. Every year on December 5, Thai people nationwide celebrate the birthday of HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej. As HM The King is deeply respected and much loved as the father of Thailand, Thai people also use the day to celebrate their…
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Police suspect sex drug in death of Phuket man
PHUKET: Police believe a 72-year-old man who was found dead in a drive-in hotel yesterday morning may have died after taking a generic version of Viagra, an erectile dysfunction drug. Police were called to the scene on Komaraphat Road in Phuket Town and found the man, from Rawai, on the bed, and a shocked 44-year-old woman who said she had…
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Phuket King’s Cup Regatta: Youth dinghy racers lead the way
PHUKET: Promising young Thai sailors took to the waters in Optimist and Laser dinghies to mark the first competitive class racing action under the umbrella of this year’s Phuket King’s Cup Regatta, in the 5th Phuket Dinghy Series. Twelve back-to-back races ran in front of the Sailing Club at the Royal Thai Navy Third Naval Command at Cape Panwa, on…
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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