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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Swiss visitor murdered in hotel
PATONG: A 61-year-old Swiss tourist was found dead of head wounds in her room at the Horizon Beach Resort Hotel yesterday. Police are treating her death as murder.Staff of the luxury hotel, located on Soi Kebsap, called police at about 1 am yesterday to say that they had found the body of hotel guest Jeanette Sager lying face down in…
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Yo!, High Fidelity neck-and-neck
KATA: Gray skies and lighter winds marked the second day of the Phuket King’s Cup Regatta, but the fleet still found enough breeze for the Racing Class to complete three races, leaving Peter Ahern’s Yo! and Neil Pryde’s Hi Fidelity level on overall points, with eight apiece.Meanwhile, the Pla Loma crew member injured in yesterday’s race collision, Sandra Rosewane Lee,…
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Parliamentary candidate engaged
PHUKET: Dr Sriyada Palimapan, due to stand as the Thai Rak Thai (TRT) candidate for Phuket District 1 in next year’s general election, was quietly engaged to Saravuth Shinawatra last Friday in Chiang Mai, the Gazette has learned.Her fiancé – a businessman – is cousin to Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.Close friends and immediate family only were invited to the ceremony.…
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Phuket aims at world golf record
PHUKET: In an effort to raise international awareness of the island’s growing golf tourism industry, Phuket province is to try to get in the Guinness Book of World Records by hosting the world’s biggest golf tournament It is hoped that the “Phuket – Golf Paradise of Asia” golf tournament, on March 5, will attract at least 500 golfers from around…
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Drive to decrease holiday accidents
PHUKET CITY: The Phuket Office of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (ODPM) has launched a campaign to reduce the number of road accidents, injuries and fatalities in the period to the end of the New Year holiday.The ODPM is urging road users not to drink and drive and motorcyclists to wear helmets. It has also urged all drivers to carry their…
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Crash mars first race of regatta
PHUKET: Three people were rescued from the water and a woman has been hospitalized with a suspected broken hip after two yachts collided half a mile offshore in the first day of racing in the Phuket King’s Cup Regatta today.Simon James of the regatta’s race management committee, told the Gazette that Blue Juice and Pla Loma collided half a mile…
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Trouble in the market
PATONG: Mayor Pian Keesin on Friday morning led a squad of Kathu police and more than 30 municipal officers to the Ko Kaew Market, where he ordered the police to detain Ruantong “Da” Wareesri, who is leading the vendors’ fight to keep the market open. K. Da, a committee member of the 240-strong Ko Kaew Market Association, organized a meeting…
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Gov to push for expo center in Ao Phuket
PHUKET: Governor Udomsak Usawarangkura says he will ask the Cabinet later this month to approve plans for Phuket’s International Conference and Exhibition Center (ICEC) to be built in the proposed Ao Phuket development. “The estimated cost of reclaiming land in Ao Phuket is 1 million baht a rai, which is cheap compared with the price at which land in Phuket…
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Mobile minimarts launched
PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) yesterday unveiled some of the “mobile minimarts” which will sell “clean” food around the island in a 1.5-million-baht initiative to promote food hygiene among vendors and buyers.Phuket Technical College worked with the OrBorJor to design a stainless steel rust-free minimart attachment for motorbikes, at a cost of 23,000 baht each.OrBorJor President Anchalee Vanich-Thepabutr…
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Gov mediates in spa tax dispute
PHUKET: Phuket Governor Udomsak Usawarangkura has agreed to ask the Finance Ministry to review the controversial 10% excise tax on spas, following a meeting on the issue held at his office this morning. Gov Udomsak chaired the meeting, which was attended by Phuket Spa Business Club Chaiman Pakin Raktae-Ngam, who is leading the opposition to the tax, and Supatra Horsrisumpun,…
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Cleaning up Patong is my top priority – Pian
PATONG: Mayor Pian Keesin, in what appears to be, finally, a response to years of complaints by tourists and the tourism industry – has pledged to keep the streets of Patong clean and the roads surfaced, and to improve wastewater treatment.K. Pian, who was elected mayor for the second time in June – he lost the position in 2001 in…
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Phuket “should be special admin zone’ – NIDA
PHUKET: A group of researchers from the National Institute of Development Administration (Nida) today argued in favor of Phuket being turned into a special administrative zone with an elected Governor. At a seminar at the Phuket Merlin Hotel today, the Nida research team, led by Juree Vichit-Vadakan, said that results of a survey they conducted showed that 83% of 298…
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Three arrested over murder of laborer
PATONG: Police have arrested three men for the murder of Boonsong Sulaopa, a 31-year-old construction worker from Loei, whose body was found dumped in a ditch near Laem Daeng Beach, between Patong and Kamala, on November 24.Pol Capt Sophon Borirak, of Kathu Police Station, said that police had charged Pacheun Muangnontasri with murder, while his brother Boonjan and fellow laborer…
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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