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 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…
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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…
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Rino in need
PHUKET: Despite the initial success of last week’s life-saving heart surgery, one week on, 10-year-old Rino Mangon Vogt, who suffers from Ebstein’s anomaly, received two lots of bad news, the Gazette has learned. The first came when cardiologist Dr Poomiporn Katanyuwong turned off the external pacemaker used to regulate Rino’s heartbeat and the boy collapsed into slumber. “He passed out…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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Phuket joins online congratulations to HM The King
PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Statistical Office (PPSO) has launched an online “book” for well-wishers to post birthday messages for HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej. HM The King will celebrate his 83rd birthday this Sunday. The PPSO website is part of a nationwide project by the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology to gather 9,999,999 congratulatory messages by December 7. Praphat Pukngam,…
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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…
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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