Phuket News
-
Sponsored Why retirees in Thailand are choosing long-term health insurance over quick fixes
Retirees in Thailand are increasingly seeing the importance of health insurance in protecting their well-being during retirement. With insurance requirements for retirement visas and rising healthcare costs, many are moving away from short-term plans and choosing long-term coverage. Long-term health...
-
Phuket gov warns businesses over trading in stolen goods
PHUKET: Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop on Wednesday took time out from his regular schedule to focus his attention on stolen goods being traded in Phuket. Addressing about 300 business operators at a special seminar held to brief shop owners on their legal obligations under the Auction Sale and Antique Sale Control Act BE 2474, Governor Wichai said, “If the [business] operators…
-
Phuket tsunami buoy found, recovery underway
PHUKET: After being adrift nearly a month and a half, Thailand’s tsunami direct detection buoy was discovered by Royal Thai Navy warship Bang Pakong 456 at about 6:30 this morning. Commodore Suchart Thammapitakwaech, Director of the Naval Civil Affairs Department at the Royal Thai Navy Third Naval Area Command at Cape Panwa, confirmed the buoy was located 194 nautical miles…
-
Phuket tsunami buoy: recovery mission launched today
PHUKET: Thailand’s early warning system for tsunamis has taken a big step backward with the revelation that its only tsunami direct detection buoy is not only inoperable, but adrift on the high seas. Royal Thai Navy warship Bang Pakong 456 was due to leave its port at Phang Nga Naval Base late this afternoon in a bid to locate the…
-
Oh my Buddha! Culture crackdown underway in Phuket
PHUKET: The Phuket office of the Ministry of Culture is on the lookout for the inappropriate use of Buddha images following the shocking revelation that one foreign restaurant owner modified a Buddha image to serve as a garden fountain – one that spouted water from the crown of its head. Phuket Culture Office director Tawichart Intorrarit said on Wednesday that…
-
Kusoldharm Phuket protest update
PHUKET: The Kusoldharm Foundation’s board met on Wednesday to address the recent protest by some of its volunteer rescue workers, but have yet to release any information about the meeting’s conclusions. Embattled Kusoldharm Foundation President Benjawan Tamphanuwat told the Gazette by telephone yesterday that she did not want to comment on the dispute at the time, but that the board…
-
Phuket Police take down another drug dealing ring
PHUKET: Phuket City Police have arrested a man and his pregnant girlfriend for drug dealing, seizing over 1,000 ya bah (methamphetamine pills) in the process. The arrests were announced at a press conference at Phuket City Police Station this morning. Presenting the suspects were Phuket Provincial Police Commandaer Pekad Tantipong and Phuket City Police Superintendant Wanchai Ekpornpit. The arrests resulted…
-
Phuket Aquarium work on schedule
PHUKET: Phuket Aquarium’s 2.2-million-baht renovation project is on schedule to finish this month, officers at the Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC) have confirmed. PMBC officer Surapong Banjongma-nee said Bangkok-based Aquatic Company began work repainting the facility walls on February 22. The work involved draining the large viewing tank with a glass walk-through viewing tunnel, as well as work on five…
-
Phuket teens at risk from illegal abortions
PHUKET: A warning issued by the head of the Phuket Public Health Office (PPHO) indicates that illegal abortions are quite common in Phuket. PPHO Director Narinrach Pichyakamin recently told the state-run Thai News Agency that many of the cases involved teenage girls who have abortions without their parents knowledge or permission. Women getting illegal abortions risk complications including hemorrhage, renal…
-
Phuket Immigration launches on-line alien tracking project
PHUKET: Phuket Immigration will conduct a training session for hotel staff and apartment owners taking part in an Internet-based tracking system of foreigners living in Phuket. Phuket Immigration Superintendent Panuwat Ruamrak said his office is already at work creating a database of accommodation establishments catering to foreigners. Owners of these establishments will then be able to more easily report the…
-
Murdered Wanphen cremated in Phuket
PHUKET: The body of slain bar hostess Wanphen Pienjai was cremated at a small ceremony at Wat Kitti Sangkaram (Wat Kata) at noon today. The simple ceremony was attended by about 10 friends and relatives of the deceased, whose remains were discovered stuffed into a suitcase in a remote area off Chao Fa Thani Rd in Wichit on the morning…
-
Kusoldharm Foundation Phuket in disarray
PHUKET: Kusoldharm Foundation top-level management are meeting this afternoon to negotiate a settlement to a nasty dispute over a number of issues facing the public-benefit foundation, the largest and most well-funded charity on the island. Relations between management and staff appear to have taken a turn for the worse three months ago following the re-installment of Benjawan Tamphanuwat as president.…
-
Ad Carabao, ‘Parn’ give free concert in Phuket today
PHUKET: Central Festival Phuket and HomeWorks are holding a free concert this afternoon featuring Ad Carabao and RS Promotions recording artist Thanaporn “Parn” Waekprayoon. The Ministry of Culture last July named Parn as Thailand’s best female singer. Mr Carabao’s musical achievements are the stuff of legend, but he is perhaps best known among foreign residents for the song “Welcome to…
-
Phuket packaged in smiles by Nok
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily digest of news from around the world compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community. PHUKET: Nok Air has relaunched its Smile Packages to Phuket, but this time they are grouped into categories — ‘Free and Easy’, Adventure’, ‘Discovery’ and ‘Sightseeing’. The promotion is valid until September 30. According to TTR Weekly, the packages…
-
Phuket Ironman scales Mont Blanc; then goes off to swim The Channel
PHUKET: Ironman athlete Les Bird made it safely to the 4,810 meter summit of Europe’s highest mountain, Mont Blanc, on Saturday. He spent the next two days getting back down. For our previous report click here: British-born Les and climbing partner Harry Taylor arrived back at their base camp in the Chamonix Valley on Monday. But before he could even…
-
Phuket Gov to lead delegation to Nice, France
PHUKET: Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop will lead a delegation of government officials and private sector representatives to Nice, France to discuss ways of improving links between the two locales, which have been “sister cities” for over two decades. The visit, scheduled to run from July 16 to 23, follows receipt on July 9 of an official letter of invitation issued by…
-
Old Phuket Town cable project: phase II starts in August
PHUKET: Having passed the public hearing process with almost unanimous approval, the second phase of the project to bury electric cables in Old Phuket Town will get underway in August, with scheduled completion in March 2011. The project contractor will have 240 days to complete the 57.4-million-baht job, which will cover: – 250 meters of Krabi Road, between Yaowarat and…
-
Phuket hotels urged to discount
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily digest of news from around the world compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community. PHUKET: The Thai Hotels Association (THA) will launch a Buy-One, Get-One-Free promotion this month to match the time frame of the Amazing Thailand Grand Sale 2010, TTR Weekly reports. Phuket hotels are being encouraged to participate in the promotion.…
-
Family file assault charges against Phuket policeman
PHUKET: The parents of a teenage boy are considering legal action against a Phuket policeman they allege assaulted their son outside a municipal school in Phuket Town. Anchada Tabkrai visited the Phuket Reporters’ Club office at Phuket Provincial Hall at about 2.30pm on Thursday to announce that her son, 15-year-old Atthaporn Tubklai, was hit on the head repeatedly by the…
-
Phuket Police nab thieving rapist
PHUKET: Phuket City Police held a press conference on Wednesday to announce the arrest of a Wichit man arrested for raping a young woman at gunpoint and then stealing her computer. The suspect was identified as Phuket resident Wuttikrai ‘Nueng’ Prasopsorn, aged 25. On the night of June 29, the victim reported that a man entered her rented room with…
-
FC Phuket beat Pattani FC, 3-1
PHUKET: FC Phuket came three points closer to their dream of promotion with a strong 3-1 win on the road at Pattani yesterday. The road win, the Southern Sea Kirin’s first this year, came as the second-place Satun United “Witch Doctors” were unable to work their magic against Surat Thani FC, going down 3-1 on the road. Surat Thani FC…
-
IP crackdown underway in Phuket
PHUKET: A Crime Suppression Division (CSD) intellectual property rights unit from Bangkok is leading local police in crackdowns on intellectual property (IP) violators in Phuket this weekend. Officers at Phuket City Police Station last night were busy counting up a large haul of counterfeit CDs, DVDs and music videos seized in a raid on four stalls at the Phuket Variety…
-
Phuket named best Asian yachting capital
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily digest of news from around the world compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community. World Cup? Get instantaneous scores and news updates right here on the Gazette Online (fed directly from FIFA). PHUKET: Phuket, voted as the Best Asian Maritime Capital 2010 in May, will bring in US$306 million in revenue from boating…
-
Phuket Raceweek Photo Contest: Deadline looms
PHUKET: As the island gears up for Six Senses Phuket Raceweek, to be held in and around Chalong Bay from July 21-25, the Phuket Gazette‘s Phuket Raceweek Amateur Photo Contest is offering budding photographers the chance to win a five-night stay at an exclusive Phuket resort – free of charge. But hurry; the deadline for entries is Thursday, July 15.…
-
World Cup: Phuket likes Spain over Holland
PHUKET: There was a lot of activity at the Phuket post offices this morning as people from all walks of life dropped off batches of postcards bearing their picks on who will win the World Cup 2010 final that kicks off in South Africa at 1:30am on Monday. A clear majority think Spain will win the match. The punters are…
-
Plant Fair underway in Phuket
PHUKET: The 18th annual Phuket Ornamental Plants & Flowers Fair got underway with an opening ceremony at 5pm today.Held at Saphan Hin, the event will run through July 18.Organized by the Phuket Provincial Agricultural Office, Phuket City Municipality and Phuket Provincial Administration Organization, this year’s fair will feature Phuket Pineapple exhibitions, pineapple peeling and processing competitions, and flower decoration contests.Various…
-
Phuket Ironman: ‘I’m alive!’
PHUKET: Friends and family of a Phuket Ironman athlete currently climbing Europe’s highest peak will be praying for his safe return after hearing that two climbers fell to their deaths in the same area earlier this week. Cherng Talay resident Les Bird, 59, is attempting to reach the 4,810-meter summit of Mont Blanc in the French-Italian Alps. He is climbing…
-
New Phuket Gazette launched today
PHUKET: Following months of intensive work with content and design editors, we are happy to launch today a whole new style for your Phuket Gazette. But the new format, type of paper and layout style are only a beginning. In the weeks ahead, you will find a ‘tighter’ newspaper with more news, more features, more photos, more letters and more…
-
Phuket to host Andaman Motor Expo
PHUKET: HomeWorks will host the first annual Andaman Motor Expo 2010 from August 6 to 12. Krishapanat Patwarasith, managing director of event organizers ND Productions, told a press conference yesterday that the car show will be the largest and most impressive ever held on the island, with automakers BMW, Volvo, Isuzu, Chevrolet and many others taking part. The goal is…
-
Islamic meetings underway in Phuket
PHUKET: Thailand’s top Muslim leaders assembled at the Royal Paradise Hotel in Phuket Town yesterday for the opening of three days of ‘Provincial Islamic Committee 2010’ meetings. Chaired by Deputy Interior Minister Thavorn Senniam, the opening ceremony was attended by Sheikhul Islam Aziz Phitakkhumphol, advisor to HM The King on Islamic affairs, as well as two representatives from Central Islamic…
-
Phuket punters mourn as World Cup favorites fall
PHUKET: Like the rest of Thailand, Phuket is prey to the quadrennial month-long madness known as ‘World Cup Fever’. This year, owing to the peculiar string of upsets resulting in early elimination of such favorites as France, England, Italy, Brazil, and Argentina, at least one bookie is reporting drastically reduced business.Sale of football jerseys, meanwhile, are up.The bookie says wagers…
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.