Phuket News
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Phuket’s new Airport Bus slated for July 1 launch
PHUKET: The Phuket transport authorities today verbally agreed to launch the new Phuket Airport Bus service on July 1.The provincial transportation committee will meet again next Tuesday to ratify the decision in writing, Phuket Vice Governor and committee chairman Chamroen Tipayapongtada confirmed.Of the 29 government officers, airport officials and tourism and hotel industry representatives present at the meeting today, not…
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Phuket tour company robbed after staffer makes bank withdrawal
PHUKET: Police are searching for a thief who robbed a small Phuket tour company of almost 70,000 baht this morning.“We questioned all four of the staff at Nonthasak Marine Co Ltd,” said Phuket Provincial Police Commander Choti Chavalviwat.Pornpirom Junthong, a human resources staffer at the company, told police she went to a bank with a friend to withdraw 69,239 baht…
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Phuket flood warning issued as Patong hospital, police station access hampered
PHUKET: The torrential rains across Phuket this morning caused more flooding in Patong, with access routes to the Patong Hospital and Patong Police Station under water. The downpours this morning saw 56.2mm of rainfall recorded within just three hours in Phuket Town, from 7am to 10am, while the weather monitoring station at Phuket Airport recorded 14.4mm from 4am to 7am…
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Phuket Police suspect arson in three-truck fire
PHUKET: Three pickup trucks burned early this morning in a fire police believe was caused by a faulty liquid gas tank (LPG) tank or arson.Police responded to a report just after 1am that a vehicle was ablaze at a commercial building near the entrance to Wat Manik in Srisoonthorn, Thalang.Firemen took 30 minutes to put out the fire, which appeared…
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Prison products to hit Phuket streets
PHUKET: The 10th annual Southern Prison Products Fair gets underway at Saphan Hin this evening and continues to June 17.The fair showcases products made by inmates in the 14 southern provinces.“There are many handmade products for sale at fair prices, including good quality furniture,” said Phuket Prison Chief Rapin Nichano.“The project is excellent for prisoners because 50 per cent of…
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Phuket Police find Swedish expat dead in Chalong
PHUKET: A Swedish expat was found dead in Chalong yesterday evening. The body of Aino Marianne Seppala, 57, was found lying on a couch in her living room. Ms Seppala’s right hand was heavily bandaged and a variety of medications were on the coffee table, said Wuttiwat Liang-boonjinda of the Chalong Police. There was no evidence of violence in the…
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Swedish domino effect nets another Phuket drug dealer
PHUKET: Two gun-stashing drug dealers were scooped up on Friday in the wake of a drug bust that netted a Swedish national in Karon last month. Hasachai Khaokhem and Suvimon Chaikhun were arrested on Friday when police recognized them from a description given last month by drug dealer Nattharin Dansathaporn, 29. Mr Nattharin was found based on information supplied by…
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Laguna Phuket International Marathon sees fun and fund-raising
PHUKET: Michael Page of the UK won the eighth Laguna Phuket International Marathon (LPIM) when the annual running festival took to the island’s roads over the weekend. More than 4,000 entrants of all ages and abilities from 45 countries competed on a variety of distance courses in an atmosphere of community fun and charity fund-raising. Page finished the 42 kilometer…
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V for Thailand unmasks Phuket unrest
PHUKET: Thousands of Phuket residents donned white Guy Fawkes masks and joined anti-government group “V for Thailand” to protest the current administration’s running of the country. “We are not a mob, we have gathered to let the government know that their management of Thailand has failed,” said a statement issued under the name of V-Phuket to the media during the…
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Rainstorm drowns out Phuket FC
PHUKET: The rainstorm that swept over the island last night forced officials to abandon the football match between Phuket FC and PTT Rayong; the decision was made more than halfway through the 0-0 deadlock at Surakul Stadium. Attending the half-match last night were several VIP guests of Phuket FC President Pamuke Achiriyachai, including Phuket Governor Maitri Inthusut, Mr Pedro Moreira,…
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Weather warning for Phuket, Andaman as Patong’s streets flooded
PHUKET: The flood waters from last night’s deluge have cleared from Patong’s streets, but the Thai Meteorological Department (TMD) has issued a weather warning for Phuket and the Andaman region forecasting more heavy rain until at least Friday. A two-hour torrential downpour last night flooded major streets in Patong, including the party district of Soi Bangla, to depths of half…
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UK’s Page wins Laguna Phuket Marathon
PHUKET: Michael Page of Great Britain won the Laguna Phuket International Marathon 2013 this morning, completing the 42km circuit in 2 hours 41 minutes and 2 seconds. Officials have yet to confirm the results, but according to the preliminary times posted by official timekeeper Championchip Thailand (click here), Page crossed the finish line 10 minutes ahead of Yasuhiro Saito of…
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British national busted for dealing heroin on Phuket
PHUKET: A Phuket Marine Police sting operation last night busted a British national with 6.1 grams of heroin smuggled onto Phuket from Koh Samui. John Robert George Cawley, 22, was caught in a Rassada rental room at about 11:30pm in possession of the category 1 drug stuffed into seven plastic bottles, said Phuket Marine Police Inspector Chatchai Sakdee. Marine Police,…
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Hundreds of Phuket residents come together for World Ocean Day 2013
PHUKET: Nearly 500 local students and other participants joined together at the Phuket Aquarium in celebration of World Ocean Day 2013 this morning. “For this special day we encourage people to become more aware of the problems facing our oceans, and the need for them to take action,” Sombat Poovachiranon of the Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC) said. The United…
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Phuket hotel manager, truck take 50-meter fall
PHUKET: A hotel manager lost control of his truck at the Khao Khad Viewpoint (map here), plummeting 50 meters down the treacherous hillside yesterday afternoon. Police received a report of the incident at about 4:50pm and rushed to the scene with Kusuldham Rescue workers to find Korean national Don Yeol Seo alive, but trapped in the overturned vehicle. “Mr Yeol…
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Video Report: Phuket slams the brakes on tour bus neglect
PHUKET: The dramatic crash of a tour bus that plowed into a home in Patong on Tuesday night has prompted the Phuket Land Transportation Office (PLTO) to warn that under new measures tour bus companies found to repeatedly fail safety requirements stand to have their commercial passenger permits revoked permanently. “This includes tour companies and independent operators hired by tour…
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Phuket Sports: Monaco, Montreal, modifications – F1
PHUKET: A crash laden Monaco was good for Mercedes; Nico Rosberg, now probably their number one driver, led from start to finish. This is not a harbinger of things to come in 2013; Monaco is a special race. Monaco, Spa and Suzuka are often quoted as the three tracks where driver skill can overcome technical differences between their cars. But…
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Phuket Football: Islanders face uphill battle
PHUKET: Phuket FC’s inconsistent start to the season continued after they beat their Phang Nga Bay rivals Krabi 2-0 on May 29 in front of a raucous crowd: The team then traveled to Saraburi and lost 1-0 after Mario Neto scored a late winner. The Islanders are in fifth place, three points behind Bangkok FC in the last automatic promotion…
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Phuket Health: Exploring island fitness
PHUKET: Thousands of long-distance runners are starting to get the butterflies ahead of the eighth annual Laguna Phuket International Marathon (LPIM), which takes place early tomorrow morning (click here for story) To help prepare, if not calm some nerves, fitness contributor, Hayden Rhodes, has provided some more training tips and advice in this article, which will elaborate on last week’s…
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Special Report: Breaching walls for Phuket tsunami safety
SPECIAL REPORT: Tsunami evacuation drills have become part of Phuket life since the devastating waves struck our shores in 2004. But has familiarity bred contempt for safety in the west coast village of Kamala? The Phuket Gazette reports. PHUKET: Phuket recently hosted a full-scale tsunami drill (story here), with rescue workers practicing the actions they would take should a wall…
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Mass Phuket protest demands Deputy PM step down
PHUKET: Ahead of the white-mask protest set for Sunday, hundreds of members of the “We Preserve Phuket Club” stormed Phuket Provincial Hall this morning demanding that Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra relieve Deputy Prime Minister Plodprasop Suraswadi of his position after he issued a thinly veiled threat to the people of Phuket concerning the cancelled International Convention and Exhibition Center project…
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Phuket Police: Mixed up shoes offer only lead to Cinderella snatch thief
PHUKET: Police barely have their shoe in the door for a case against a pair of snatch thieves after a botched attempt to grab an Irish woman’s purse led to a motorbike crash and a lost flip flop.Hannah Louise O’Hagan, 27, was driving a motorbike to her boyfriend’s place at Baan Term Fun Housing Estate yesterday evening after a trip…
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Two dead in bank conference room stabbing
PHUKET: A real estate loan gone sour ended in the stabbing deaths of the borrower and the lender in the conference room of a bank in Phuket Town early this afternoon. Police arrived at the scene to find both men dead from multiple stab wounds, one with the knife stuck in his chest.Phonthakorn Teerabenjakul, 51, had borrowed 30.8 million baht…
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Mosquito virus news buzz batted down by Phuket Public Officials
PHUKET: The news buzz across the Pacific that has worked its way back to Thailand after a Canadian woman was forced to turn to the American Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to identify a mysterious malady has been batted down by Phuket Public Officials.The 45-year-old Canadian tourist, who visited Bangkok and Phuket, was bitten repeatedly by mosquitoes, reported The Canadian…
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Phuket white mask protest to take place Sunday at Saphan Hin
PHUKET: The anti-Pheu Thai “V for Thailand” group who have been using the Guy Fawkes white mask to obscure the identity of their supporters across the Kingdom plan to stage a protest in Phuket on Sunday. The protest, slated for 5pm at the Milestone in Saphan Hin, is one of nine nationwide rallies the group has planned, extending from Chiang…
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Thailand Super Series at Sepang: Mission Accomplished
PHUKET: The new era of Thai motor sports is already a thriving reality as the drivers, teams, support personnel and racing cars have made their way back from Sepang, which hosted the first ever round of Thailand Super Series (TSS) from May 25-26. Not just a Super Car: Toyota’s 86 has arrived in Super 2000 One new race car that…
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Phuket Police hit “abductor’ taxi-driver with two more charges
PHUKET: Two more charges have been levied against the illegal taxi driver who denies having sexually assaulted a Chinese tourist after picking her up at Phuket International Airport on May 17 (story here). Already accused of deprivation of liberty for holding the 19-year-old woman captive in his vehicle for five hours, as well as sexual assault and being under the…
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Police pin down suspect in Phuket elephant smuggling ring
PHUKET: Police have identified a prime suspect in an illegal elephant smuggling ring that led to the recent DNA testing of two baby elephants in Phuket (story here). A Kamnan in Chaiyaphum province who police have yet to name will be charged with making and using fraudulent elephant certification documents, Col Watcharin Phusit, Superintendent of the Regional Natural Resources and…
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Phuket Red Cross makes urgent call for O-negative blood
PHUKET: The Phuket Regional Blood Center (PRBC), often called upon to save the lives of Thais and foreigners, has no reserves of O-negative type blood. “We try to maintain a daily minimum stock of 200 units of A, B and O blood types, and 20 units of Rhesus-negative blood,” said PRBC Acting Chief Pornthip Rattajak. “We need all types of…
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Russian tourists injured as Phuket tour bus slams into Patong house
PHUKET: Five Russian tourists were injured when the brakes failed on a Pegas Touristik bus while the vehicle was descending the steep hill into Phuket’s premier resort town of Patong at about 6pm this evening. The Bangkok-registered bus came to a thudding halt as it slammed into a house by the side of the road near Suwankiriwong Temple, known locally…
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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