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.
-
Sponsored 5 ways retirees in Thailand lose money (and how to stop it)
Retiring in Thailand can be affordable and enjoyable, but many retirees lose money due to common mistakes. High living costs, scams, and unexpected expenses can quickly drain savings. There are five ways that retirees in Thailand can lose money and...
-
Evolution Racing leads Phuket King’s Cup Regatta 2010
PHUKET: Defending Racing class champion Neil Pryde on HiFi started the first day of Phuket King’s Cup Regatta (KCR) 2010 today with a win, but it was Ray Roberts’ Evolution Racing who closed the day leading the class. After placing fourth in the first race this morning, Evolution recovered to win the next two races. “In the first race there…
-
Phuket ramps up Christmas blood drive
PHUKET: The Phuket Regional Blood Center is stepping up its blood donation campaign in the run-up to the”Seven Days of Danger”, when more supplies will be needed to meet an expected increase in road accidents over the holidays. The Phuket chapter of the Thai Red Cross Society has announced that the center’s mobile blood collection clinic will accept donations at…
-
Acrobuffos set to soak Old Phuket Town
PHUKET: Renowned street artists Seth Bloom and Christina Gelsone, better known as The Acrobuffos, are headlining the entertainment set to take over Old Phuket Town on December 17-19. The comic duo will be performing as part of the first-ever Phuket Street Show Festival, which coincides with the Patong Carnival this month. While the Acrobuffos bill themselves as “laughmakers, street players…
-
Anapat, 10, sails to Phuket dinghy race victory
PHUKET: Sailing sensation Anapat Ngarmdee, 10, proved to be one of the stars of the opening weekend of the King’s Cup Regatta by clinching first place in the inaugural Phuket King’s Cup Dinghy Series. The four-series event, featuring a total of 20 races, finished off Kata Beach yesterday. Anapat finished in the top spot, heading a field of 19 Optimist-class…
-
O’Donnell wins Phuket’s inaugural Ironman 70.3
PHUKET: Former US Navy lieutenant Tim O’Donnell today dominated the formidable 50-strong field of some 800 competitors to win the inaugural Ironman 70.3 Asia-Pacific Championship at Laguna Phuket in just under four hours. The American, whose impressive 2010 season included the Ironman 70.3 Florida title, was first out of the water from the 1.9km swim in 24 minutes 34 seconds.…
-
Phuket marks His Majesty’s birthday
PHUKET: As dawn broke over Phuket this morning, the island began its celebrations of HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s 83rd birthday. At the Rassada Municipality office and at Queen Sirikit Park on Dibuk Road in Phuket Town, people gathered at 7am to join in giving alms to Buddhist monks. At 9am, the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (PPAO) opened its doors for…
-
Top-class field set for Phuket’s Ironman 70.3
PHUKET: Reigning Ironman 70.3 world champion Michael Raelert of Germany will head a high-caliber field of international professional triathletes at the inaugural Ironman 70.3 Asia-Pacific Championship tomorrow. The race will also include a legend an Ironman legend, Ironman Craig Alexander from Australia. It will get underway with the first wave at 7am at Laguna Phuket resort. Ironman is triathlon’s ultimate…
-
New Pink Bus route announced
PHUKET: The award-winning Pink Buses in Phuket Town will ply a new route between Saphan Hin and Rassada early next year. Paiboon Upatising, president of the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (PPAO), told the Gazette that the new route will be serviced by eight new vehicles, known locally as po thong. It will be the third PPAO Pink Bus route to…
-
Phuket “night tsunami’ drill update
PHUKET: The center of operations for Phuket’s first “night tsunami” drill will be at the Rajaprachanukroh 36 School in Kamala. The drill, to be held on December 14, will begin at 8pm. The Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM) has confirmed that more than 200 volunteers will take part, and Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha will preside over the exercise.…
-
Phuket ‘mangrove road’ wins EIA approval
PHUKET: Construction of the Klong Koh Pee Road project moved a step closer to becoming a reality yesterday when Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha confirmed the Special Committee on Environment had given the plan the green light. Gov Tri received the news at a meeting with the special committee on Wednesday in Bangkok, which was also attended by Phuket MP Raewat…
-
Police arrest Phuket’s “midnight arsonist’
PHUKET: A homeless man living under a telephone exchange box near Phuket Town has confessed to setting ablaze five cars last month, say police. Presented to the press this morning was Sangworn Toe-udtha, 37, from Phang Nga, who is now facing charges of five counts of arson. Officers on patrol yesterday afternoon recognized Mr Sangworn, who was standing by the…
-
Phuket golf prodigy Pariwat drives on
PHUKET: Pariwat Pinsawat, Phuket’s top-flight 14-year-old golfer, was in devastating form last weekend at Phuket Country Club. The youngster finished top of the leader-board at the end of the two-day event to win the PCC-Mazda Championship Cup. Not only did he lift the prestigious Amateur Cup, he also went home with a brand-new Mazda2 car after firing a hole-in-one at…
-
Phuket police denied drug-testing center
PHUKET: THE Office of Forensic Science has denied Phuket police permission to set up its own Scientific Crime Detection Center. Phuket Police Commander Pekad Tantipong explained the request was turned down due to the lack of experienced officers to staff the center. “Urine tests [for drugs] must be overseen by experts. If the urine is not well kept and protected,…
-
Phuket to drill for “night tsunami’
PHUKET: Those hoping for a lie in on Phuket’s west coast yesterday were disappointed when the Thai national anthem was played at 8am on all 19 of the island’s tsunami warning towers. Meanwhile, it was also revealed that the island’s first “night tsunami” evacuation drill would take place in Kamala later this month. Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM)…
-
Phuket black spot claims another life
PHUKET: A woman was killed instantly on Tuesday night at the notorious entrance to the Anuphas Manorom housing estate, in front of Promphan supermarket on Chao Fa West Road. Witnesses told police that Nantawan Suebsa, 33, was waiting for traffic to clear before turning right into the estate when a Subaru sedan, driven by Niphon Itthipon, 37, crossed the center…
-
Mentally handicapped man found dead in Phuket Town well
PHUKET: A mother looking to transfer her 36-year-old mentally handicapped son to a mental hospital in Surat Thani yesterday arrived at his house in Phuket Town to discover his body at the bottom of a 15-meter-deep well. Kusoldham Foundation workers told the Gazette that the man, Yodchawan Puttarakma, was to be taken to Suan Saranrom Hospital in Surat Thani yesterday…
-
Phuket police seize 10,000 discs in pirate family raid
PHUKET: Police arrested six members of the same family and confiscated more than 10,000 CDs and DVDs in a pre-dawn raid north of Phuket Town yesterday. Phuket’s top-brass police led a sortie of 30 officers in the early-morning raid on three adjacent homes on Soi Han Farang in Koh Kaew. Inside the houses, police caught the family literally in the…
-
Jet-ski smash turns Phuket honeymoon into tragedy
PHUKET: A Chinese couple on their honeymoon died this morning after the jet-ski they were riding on slammed into a catamaran. Police confirmed to the Gazette that the accident occurred about 11am nearly a kilometer offshore from the bridge at the south end of Patong Beach. Zhao Qiang and his fiancee Chu Fang, both 28, suffered serious trauma to their…
-
Netherlands ambassador lauds honorary consuls
PHUKET: Netherlands Ambassador to Thailand Tjaco van den Hout last night praised the work of honorary consuls, saying it was a “thankless” job requiring the consuls to be available at all hours to attend to often “grisly” affairs. “I am so happy to have a consulate here to take care of an estimated 1,500 to 1,800 Dutch residents in this…
-
Phuket gets nearly Bt 1bn for Asian Beach Games
PHUKET: Tourism and Sports Minister Chumpol Silapa-archa on Monday had good news for sports development on the island. Phuket had applied for 700 million baht to develop and prepare the island to host the Asian Beach Games 2014. Instead, the central government has approved nearly a billion baht, he said. “Phuket will host the Asian Beach Games in 2014, and…
-
Foreigner appointed as advisor to Phuket Governor’s office
PHUKET: Who is that foreigner standing next to the governor welcoming HRH Princess Sirindorn to Phuket? There he is again, with the party greeting President Jimmy Carter. He can be seen quietly slipping in and out of meetings with the governor, vice governors and the many ambassadors and senior government officials who visit Phuket every year. Now, for the first…
-
Big bikes to roar into Phuket
PHUKET: More than 2,000 bikers from around Thailand and Southeast Asia are set to come roaring into Phuket next month for Southern Big Bike Party and Charity 2010. Organizer Kittiwong Jansattham met Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha at Provincial Hall last week to finalize arrangements for the event, activities for which will be centered at Saphan Hin Public Park December 17…
-
Phuket golf series heating up
PHUKET: The race to become Phuket’s top amateur golfer is beginning to heat up with five qualifying rounds of the Phuket-Times.Com Amateur Open already completed. There are eight events in total, culminating in the season-ending Master’s Final next year that will determine who will be crowned the island’s best amateur golfer. Laong Cameron is the current Order of Merit leader,…
-
New Phuket marina will not affect drug trade: poll
PHUKET: Phuket Gazette online readers are skeptical that the opening of the new Chalong Marina will have much of an impact on drug trafficking on the island, results of the latest readers’ poll reveal. The poll question asked readers: “Officials hope the opening of the new Chalong Marina, with improved Customs and Immigration controls, will lead to a decrease in…
-
BIS touch rugby tourney in Phuket open to all
PHUKET: British International School Phuket will host a “touch rugby” mini-tournament on Saturday. The tournament and post-event gathering at the Spice Island in the Boat Lagoon marina is open to everyone – no matter what gender, age or fitness level. Participants do not need to know the rules as they will be explained to you beforehand, and individuals will be…
-
Cigana, Granger reign supreme at Laguna Phuket Triathlon
PHUKET: It was a big day of former champions at the 2010 Laguna Phuket Triathlon yesterday, as Italian Massimo Cigana and Australian Belinda Granger took top honors. The pair were in dominant form in their respective races, crossing the finish line well ahead of the chasing pack, which included a host of top professional athletes and more than 800 amateurs…
-
Central Festival Phuket to get Bt.5bn upgrade
PHUKET: Central Retail Corporation (CRC) has announced a .5 billion baht facelift of the Central Festival Phuket shopping mall that will include the opening of its fourth floor.The renovation, the first since the complex opened in September 2004, will be completed by the beginning of next year. It is intended to cash in on the recovery of the Phuket tourism…
-
Phuket hails Rino’s recovery
RINO Mangon Vogt, a 10-year-old suffering from a rare and congenital heart condition known as Ebstein’s Anomaly, had his successful life-saving operation in Bangkok. The Phuket Gazette first ran the story on August 17, which was picked up by the ThaiVisa website and this media attention led to the generous donations needed to pay for expensive treatment, including 750,000 baht…
-
Phuket police seeking “white guy’ sneak thief
PHUKET: Police believe a Caucasian man carried out a burglary in Kalim around midnight Tuesday, while the Canadian homeowner and his wife were asleep in their bedroom. The Canadian, who asked to remain anonymous, said he discovered something was wrong only when he could not find his laptop computers around 9am the next day. In all, about US$ 5,000 dollars…
-
Illegal worker “sweep’ to target Phuket
PHUKET: A special task force of government officers will sweep through Phuket and arrest and likely deport any foreigners found working illegally, the Gazette has learned. The move follows the creation of a Phuket Provincial Employment Office (PPEO) task force set up to identify and arrest any foreigners found working without appropriate permits. Headed by PPEO chief Noppadol Ployudee, the…
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.
Don't forget to check out some other things to do in Thailand - get help starting a business or finding a job in Thailand, buy Thailand property, rent a yacht or book a medical procedure worldwide.