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’s Triathlon double bill is not for the faint hearted
PHUKET: Numbers of entrants for Phuket’s 2011 triathlon double bill are showing massive international interest according to the events organizers. November 27 sees the 18th Laguna Phuket Triathlon (LPT) test the mettle of 700 triathletes from around the globe. Registration for LPT reached capacity within 40 days of opening, but a waiting list is now being prepared. On December 4,…
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Volunteers to help alien worker registration push in Phuket
PHUKET: About 150 Labor Ministry officials and volunteers joined a seminar in Phuket Town yesterday to learn about the alien worker registration process for 2011. The volunteers are expected to play a key role by informing employers who want to hire alien workers about the work permit application process. There are currently 10,700 employers hiring a total of 50,000 legal…
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Phuket to host regional seminar for the blind
PHUKET: Phuket Provincial Office has approved 100,000 baht in funding for a regional seminar on the topic of education and employment rights for the visually impaired. Somsak Samnhaw, Southern Region President of the Thai Association of the Blind, met Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha at Provincial Hall to outline the agenda of the seminar. About 60 blind and visually impaired delegates…
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Portrait FC wrap up Phuket’s AFL season seven
PHUKET: Season seven of Phuket’s Adult Futsal League (AFL) came to close last week with the final round of matches played out at Thanyapura Sports and Leisure Club (TSLC). Home side Thanyapura SLC played first against SGS. TSLC scored after just two minutes following a frantic start to the game. SGS equalized on 13 minutes when Surapong made no mistake…
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Drug task force to be posted at Phuket Airport
PHUKET: A special task force of drug enforcement officers from Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok will be stationed at Phuket International Airport to combat the rising incidence of drug trafficking. Maj Gen Puttachart Ekkachan, Commander of the Narcotics Control Board’s Region 4 detachment, today told Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha the news at a meeting at Provincial Hall to discuss strategies to…
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Blaze engulfs Phuket home
PHUKET: Damage caused by a fire that engulfed a wooden house in Phuket today is expected to be in the millions of baht. No deaths or injuries were reported to have occurred at the scene, in Chalong next to HomePro Village on Chao Fa West Road. The fire began just before noon and raged for more than an hour, consuming…
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More haze may be heading for Phuket
PHUKET: The haze creeping across Southern Thailand is blanketing the skies over Satun, Trang, Songkhla, Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat, but has yet to seriously affect Phuket. An advisory issued by state-run news agency MCOT reported a moderate-yet-thickening blanket of haze – believed to be the result of wild fires burning on Sumatra, Indonesia – has hovered over Thailand’s southernmost provinces…
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Phuket shock allegation: police pandering alien prostitutes
PHUKET: Phuket authorities are investigating a formal complaint that police officers are pandering illegal alien prostitutes to foreign tourists in the basement shop area of an upscale shopping mall in Patong. The investigation follows a recent complaint lodged with the Damrongtham Center at Phuket Provincial Hall by a person identified only as “a Patong Person”. The complaint alleges that members…
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Pathum Thani woman dies in Phuket crash
PHUKET: Three women rushing to catch a flight off Phuket last night crashed their rented car into a power pole, leaving one dead and the others injured. The crash occurred on Thepkrasattri Road northbound, near the Esso service station in Thepkrasattri subdistrict. Arriving at the scene with Kusoldharm volunteer rescue workers at about 8:30pm, Thalang Police found that a group…
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Phuket Live Wire:Where is True going with its Ultra hi-speed internet?
PHUKET: After looking at True’s new Cable TV-technology internet connections last week, this week True’s plans are becoming more clear, and the results are interesting – even exciting – if True ever gets the kinks worked out of its system. True is running cable, probably fiber, to various places on the island. The cable is attached to black box switches…
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Six of the best for Queensland
PHUKET: Australian rugby league fans in Phuket and especially those from Queensland were treated to a fantastic display of football skills in the State of Origin’s deciding game played in Brisbane yesterday. The end game and result were never much in doubt even with New South Wales (the Blues) winning the second encounter in Sydney two weeks ago. Queensland (the…
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Penalty miss could cost FC Phuket
PHUKET: FC Phuket squandered a golden opportunity to defeat Thai Premier League outfit Sri Racha Suzuki to gain an advantage in this last 16 round match of the Toyota League Cup at Surakul Stadium last night. Phuket started the game in lively fashion, but found Sri Racha difficult to break through. But a superb passage of play from Phuket on…
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Body of missing Aussie tourist found
PHUKET: A Phuket lifeguard this morning found the body of missing Australian tourist Jennifer Laidley. Uten Singsom, head of the Phuket Lifeguard Club contingent assigned to patrol Karon beach, said the discovery was made by fellow lifeguard Phachoke Jamjareonjan at about 8:15am today. The body, recovered about one kilometer offshore from Nong Harn Lagoon at the north end of the…
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Phuket man killed instantly in motorbike crash
PHUKET: A road sign intended to save lives became an instrument of death last night when a Phuket motorcycle rider crashed into it at high speed and was killed instantly. Thalang Police were informed of the death at 10:20pm. Arriving at the scene, on the southbound lane of Thepkrasattri Road near the Tha Reua Chinese Shrine, police found the body…
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Lomas make international rugby final
PHUKET: Youth rugby shone on the international stage recently when the Phuket Lomas took on teams from around the world and reached the final of Touraid’s UK tournament held in Manchester. The Lomas lived with appointed host families and during their stay they enjoyed academic and leisure activities at Wright Robinson Sports College and met with celebrities such as Chester…
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Scholes pans Arsenal
PHUKET: “They just flatter to deceive. It doesn’t irritate me that people say they’re the best footballing team because, while they’re doing that, we’re winning games.” Paul Scholes is tipping Chelsea to be Manchester United’s main contenders for next season’s Premiership title race and that Arsenal pose little or no threat. Scholes also admitted he’d never heard of Chelsea’s new…
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Phuket’s Paiboon presses Pheu Thai for progress
PHUKET: The president of the Phuket provincial council has wasted no time in appealing to Yingluck Shinawatra’s new Government now taking shape to tackle the problems from the rising cost of living as soon as possible. Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) President Paiboon Upatising made his appeal through the media yesterday. “I would like to ask the new Cabinet to…
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Phuket lifeguards continue search for missing Aussie tourist
PHUKET: The search for missing Australian tourist Jennifer Laidley, feared drowned, continued off Karon Beach today. Lifeguards searched throughout the day using their jet-skis to comb the waters of Karon Bay, said Uten Singsom, head of the Phuket Lifeguard Club contingent assigned to patrol Kata-Karon. He still holds on to a glimmer of hope she may be found alive, but…
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Phuket car thief hears “God’, surrenders to police
PHUKET: Overwhelmed by a guilty conscience, a woman with 14 outstanding arrest warrants for car theft surrendered herself to Phuket Police yesterday. The woman, 32-year-old Cherry Piwsa-ard (whose name translates as “Cherry Clean-skin”) told officers at Patong Police Station last night that “God” had appeared to her in a dream and ordered her to surrender herself to authorities. Police Duty…
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Aussie woman missing, feared drowned off Phuket
PHUKET: Rescue workers are searching for an Australian tourist reported missing at Karon Beach yesterday. Jennifer Laidley (initially named by police as “Jennifer May”), 44, was staying with a friend at the Phuket Orchid Resort at the south end of Karon Beach. The friend reported Ms Laidley missing after she lost sight of her at about 6pm. Karon Municipality rescue…
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Guns, fights and ganja – but no election violence: Police
PHUKET: The police crackdown in Phuket in the run-up to the July 3 election landed a bumper haul of guns, drugs and arrests – but resulted in no arrests for violence related to the election. A total of 45 factory-made and homemade guns were seized and 350 people were arrested for drugs since May 12, according to statistics issued today…
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Phuket Democrats line up parliamentary agenda
PHUKET: Raywat Areerob, the elected Democrat Phuket MP for the Phuket 2 constituency, this afternoon identified traffic, crime and drugs as voters’ three most-pressing issues that need to be addressed. “While I was campaigning, people told me that the top three problems they need us to urgently solve are traffic congestion, increasing crime and drugs, especially in Pa Khlok and…
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Mother’s Phuket plea for help in finding son Michael Carlberg
PHUKET: A Swedish mother has appealed for help in finding her adult son, who has not been in contact since arriving in Thailand two months ago. Writing from Sweden, Lise-Lott Carlberg informed the Gazette she had not heard from her 24-year-old son Michael since he landed in Bangkok on May 5. “We know that he has been located in Bangkok,…
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Election Thailand: Full count for Phuket is in
PHUKET: After a long day and night of work, the Phuket Election Commission has sent the following results to the Election Commission in Bangkok for final certification: Phuket 1 Constituency (Muang district, except Koh Kaew and Rassada subdistricts): Anchalee Vanich Thepabutr (Democrat Party): 52,921 votes. Wisit Jai-arj (Pheu Thai Party): 16,573 votes Weerasak Woranetiwong (Thaen Khun Phaendin Party): 281 votes…
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Wimbledon dream for Djokovic
PHUKET: “This is my favourite tournament, the tournament I always dreamed of winning, the first tournament I ever watched in my life. I think I’m still sleeping, I’m still having my dream.” Serbian Novak Djokovic claims the Wimbledon Men’s Singles Tennis title after a four set victory (6-4 6-1 1-6 6-3) over Spain’s Rafael Nadal in Sunday’s Final. By reaching…
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Election Thailand: Democrats win Phuket
PHUKET: While Pheu Thai will form the next Thai government after winning at least 262 seats in the general election, Phuket remained firmly Democrat with incumbent MPs Anchalee Vanich Thepabutra and Raywat Areerob retaining their seats by huge margins. Mrs Anchalee secured the Phuket 1 constituency by receiving 50,881 votes. Wisit Jai-arj of Pheu Thai secured 16,179 votes. Weerasak “Ko…
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Pheu Thai in potential landslide after half the votes are counted
PHUKET: No results have been announced for Phuket yet, but nationwide the votes have been counted to the extent of 48 per cent and the Pheu Thai Party appears to be well in the lead, having garnered 255 MPs. The Democrats came second with 164 MPs, according to the count by the Royal Thai Police and the Election Commission as…
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Election Day: Gov Tri urges Phuket voters to ignore rain
PHUKET: Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha this morning called on voters to ignore heavy rain across the island and turn up at polling stations to cast their ballots. “We had heavy rain last night and more rain is predicted all day today, which may deter some people from turning up to vote. “Please do not ignore your right to vote. Turn…
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Phuket politician cleared of vote-buying allegation
PHUKET: Five days after it was seized, over half a million baht has been returned to a former Phuket politician cleared of vote-buying allegations. Prasong Trairat, a former president of the Thepkrasattri Tambon Council, today went to Cherng Talay Police Station to collect 542,000 baht in assets taken from his home in Thepkrasattri by a provincial police anti-vote-buying task force.…
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World’s largest floating book fair heading back to Phuket
PHUKET: After six years since their last visit aboard the MV Doulos, the crew aboard the MV Logos Hope will be returning to Phuket, bringing with them more than 5,000 books as part of their “global mission to serve humanity”. The Logos Hope is twice as large as any previous vessel operated by German-based charity GBA Ships, including the Doulos,…
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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