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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Sponsored Bangtao, Phuket: The neighbourhood expats and investors are eyeing in 2025
Bangtao didn't become Phuket’s most talked-about neighbourhood overnight. For a long time, it was a quiet place on the island’s west coast where locals walked their dogs at sunrise and tourists flocked to sunbathe along its eight-kilometre stretch of beach....
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Fixing Phuket’s coral. Restoration projects around Phuket
For the past few years the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources – Phuket Office has been working on the construction and installation of artificial reefs around the island. Two main areas have been selected, Koh Racha Yai (Bay3) and Koh Mai Thon. The project consists of placing construction blocks on the seabed in order to provide ‘pads’ on which…
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THAIGER TODAY Tuesday, August 29
Interpol been alerted over arrest of Yingluck Shinawatra | Two tech colleges in Bangkok closed because of student attacks | Thailand’s cleanest beaches. Is Phuket on the list? | Interpol looking out for Boss, the Red Bull heir | Thepa power plant gets EIS go-ahead.
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Three metre crocodile spotted off Bang Tao beach
So this is how it happened… Phuket expat ‘Mike’, along with his wife, were walking their dogs along Bang Tao beach last Friday. They say they normally start their walk around 2 kilometres south of the small island adjacent to the beach near Layan. On this particular morning they decided to walk in the opposite direction to the south instead…
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Robber caught with a long list of items worth 400,000 Baht
This morning (August 29), a Ratchaburi man, Pinit ‘Nit’ Tuihun was arrested by Phuket police after robbing several houses in Thalang and the Phuket Town area. He was also found in possession of drugs. 52 items, worth about 400,000 Baht, stolen from houses across Phuket, were found inside Pinit’s house in Srisunthorn subdistrict, in Thalang, including 8 televisions, 5 notebook…
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Thailand’s Best Beaches 2017. How many are in Phuket?
The results are in for Thailand’s annual ‘beach star rating’ study by the Pollution Control Department. 13 beaches around Thailand have been awarded five-star ratings. Not a single one of them is in Phuket, not even close. According to the Pollution Control Department, this year’s beach evaluation was based on four important criteria. The Department studied water quality that included…
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Go Team Phuket! Blitzing the waves in Bangkok
The Phuket team blitzed the Asia Flow Tour 2017 in Bangkok over the weekend. Asia Flow Tour is an annual surfing contest series around Asian countries and had its second stop in Bangkok last Saturday, August 26. The small but tightly knit Asian flow board riding community got together for the event to decide who gets to represent Asia…
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Donations for 1,500 unprivileged locals during Por Tor festival
Kusoldharm Phuket Foundation has donated food to 1,500 underprivileged people for the Por Tor Festival. Yesterday (August 26), the foundation, with the help of Phuket’s Governor arranged a donation in front of the foundation building. The ceremony started with a worship to ancestral spirits, a rice donation for the lunch project for students then followed by donations for underprivileged people…
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Sunday drenching for Phuket
Consistent and heavy rains are drenching Phuket this morning as emergency services are stretched to assist drivers and motorcyclists who were stuck in flooded roads. Along Viset Road, Rawai, quite a few patches of the road were impassable with rain failing to run off into the roadside drains. Some short spurts around 7am turned into heavier rain as the morning…
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Emergency simulation at Phuket International Airport
Last night (August 25), Phuket International Airport conducted an Emergency Plan Exercise: PEMEX – a yearly full course safety measure rehearsal. Phuket Vice Governor, Sanit Srivihok, chaired the activity. The aim of the exercise was to facilitate the coordination and communication between different bodies, such as government officials, airport and airline staff and business operators in the event of an…
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Friday’s ‘THAIGER TODAY’
THAIGER TODAY Friday, August 25 Yingluck a no-show at the Supreme Court | Phuket Court case dropped against BBC’s Jonathan Head | World Bank upgrades Thai economy outlook | Patong hotel elevator accident was a ‘tragic mistake.
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Back in Bangkok after Phuket court case dropped
Jonathan Head is back in Bangkok following his two day visit to Phuket. His case came to an abrupt conclusion when the man suing him, Phuket lawyer Pratuan Thanarak withdrew the charges. He was suing Mr Head over a story that appeared on the BBC in 2015 where the lawyer claimed he was defamed. Jonathan Head investigated foreigners being scammed…
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Defamation case against BBC’s Jonathan Head has been dropped
The Phuket lawyer, Pratuan Thanarak, who brought defamation charges against BBC broadcaster Jonathan Head, has dropped his criminal defamation suit. Head investigated foreigners being scammed of their retirement homes in Phuket in a 2015 BBC report. Jonathan faced up to five years in jail over the charges. His report detailed how two foreign retirees had their properties ‘stolen’ from them by…
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Phuket’s main soi dog shelter in Thalang gets a make-over
Phuket authorities, led by Phuket Vice Governor, Siwaporn Chuasawat, visited the Phuket Stray Dog Shelter today (August 23) in the Suan Pa Bang Kanun man-made forest in Thalang for a big clean-up event. A one million Baht budget was approved to give the shelter a much-needed make-over. Currently, there are 460 stray dogs living in the 4-rai shelter with only…
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Phuket Town gambling raids – 4 dens and 30 gamblers
Last night (Tuesday), police arrested 30 gamblers in 4 football gambling dens in the Phuket Town area. They started with a bistro calleded Lucky on Takuapa Road where police received complaints from locals that there was football gambling going on inside. The front of the shop looked like a normal bistro selling food and beverages but walking further into the…
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Saphan Hin green upgrades and Old Phuket Town cabling goes underground
Phuket’s Mayor plans to make Saphan Hin Park the ‘lungs of Phuket’ and to put all the electric cables for the whole Phuket Old Town area underground. “Saphan Hin Park is a seaside public park that now needs renovation as it has been decayed because of the content exposure to salt water and the sea air damaging the stone retaining…
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‘Run 2 Gether Phuket Town’ heads to Old Phuket Town on October 1
The Phuket Disabled People’s Association, together with the Phuket Municipality, is holding a new event, “Run 2 Gether Phuket Town” on October 1. 600 runners are expected to join the charity event. “Run 2 Gether Phuket Town” aims to gather both disabled and able-bodied runners to run together to promote the importance of exercise. So far, more than 200 disabled…
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Ratsada drug purge continues
A 21 year old man from Ratsada sub-district, Wanchana Saelim, was arrested yesterday (August 19) with 589 amphetamine pills plus 50 grams of meth amphetamine. The arrest follows a report from an undercover officer in the Ratsada area who had followed Khun Wanchana for a while and discovered he was trafficking drugs to the locals on a regular basis; the…
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Baggage handler nabbed at Phuket Airport over thefts
Attachai Kaewduang, a 25 years old Baggage Handler working at Phuket Airport, was caught and arrested for stealing a mobile phone and other valuables. Police found that he had repeatedly stole belongings from passengers. Following a complains left on the AOT (Airports of Thailand) Facebook page by an Indian passenger who travelled to Dubai from Phuket International Airport on April…
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Chinese tourists get in trouble in strong Nai Thon surf
Lifeguards saved two Chinese swimmers at Nai Thon beach yesterday after they’d decided swimming in a red flag zone was a good idea. As the shore along Nai Thon has sudden drops off, the red flags were placed along the beach yesterday with quite heavy surf and strong onshore winds. Somporn Wareekul, Head of Nai Thon beach lifeguards, says there…
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Three metre python caught snacking on chickens
A 3 metre python weighing around 20 kilos has been caught in the act swallowing two small chickens near a salvage yard of Mr. Poonsap Sae Ngang at 8am. A Kusoldharm rescue team tried to catch it using a rope lasso but the snake headed for a nearby tree. After a few attempts the team finally got the snake with nobody…
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A tale of two drug hauls. Drugs found in Ratsada and Tha Chat Chai.
Police arrested 32 year Teerapong “Jane” Wonganansup with 522 pills of amphetamine, 42.47 grams of crystal meth, a 9 mm. semi-automatic pistol, a .22 semi-automatic pistol, 130 bullets and a digital scale. After a report from an undercover officer, police made a visit to Teerapong’s house in Soi Paniang, Ratsada. They initially found 50 pills of amphetamine and 2 grams…
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Fire in Patong Mexican restaurant
A Mexican restaurant, Coyote, caught fire late this morning. The restaurant owner, Matthew Warton, said the cause of the fire is believed to be an electric shortcircuit from the air-conditioning system. Fortunately, no injuries or casualties reported. The second storey of the 4-storey Mexican restaurant, located on Thaweewong Road in Patong could be seen on fire from the street. Fire…
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“It was a Barracuda”. Phuket Provincial Fisheries investigate the mystery bite of Japanese man.
Phuket’s Governor, with the help of a local specialist, says that the mystery fish attacking 36 year old Japanese man, Keira Kosigoe, while surfing 15 metres offshore in Kamala, wasn’t a shark but a barracuda. Following the incident yesterday (August 16), Governor Norapat Plodthong says that after asking the specialist from Phuket Provincial Fisheries Office to investigate the wound, the…
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Police arrest two men with a kilo of meth-amphetamine
Border Patrol Police are searching for a third man, named only as “Gong”, implicated by one of the two suspects, after the arrest of 23 year old Teerasak “Dome” Somwang and 33 year old Non Rittichai, a Nakohn Si Thammarat resident, with one kilogram of crystal meth valued at 2 million Baht. The arrests follow an investigation by an undercover…
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THAIGER TODAY @ Ao Sane Beach. Wednesday, August 16
We headed down to Ao Sane Beach today to check out the controversial villa | Red-light cameras are working TOO well | Security officers will be protecting Supreme Court Judges leading up to the Yingluck verdict.
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Rocks ain’t clams! Phuket man complains after finding stones in his seafood.
39 year old Kittiphon Chuensrinuan, from Phuket, headed to the Phuket Office of Consumer Protection Board (OCPB) yesterday to complain about overpriced clams sold in a seafood shop in front of the Rawai Sea Gypsy village. The display of clams also contained stones. He took photos and brought some of the stones as evidence. “First of all, the price at…
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Krabi snatch and run thief arrested in Phuket
Phuket police have managed to arrest 35 year old Panuwit Pakamas, a Krabi resident, after he snatched a bag with 10,000 Baht in cash and other valuables from a Chinese tourist and fled the scene. Pol. Lt. Col. Naruebadin Banglisen explained that 40 year old Ms. Yi Weihong reported to the police on August 12 that a Thai man on…
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Some changes for traffic flow at Phuket International Airport
Phuket International Airport is about to readjust the traffic flow in front of the domestic terminal as well as the pick-up point for arrivals. The readjustment aims to separate the arrivals and the departures of the domestic terminal and will start from August 19. The arrivals pick-up point will be moved to the elevated platform that has been recently renovated…
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THAIGER TODAY Tuesday, August 15
Soggy start to Tuesday | Government pushing ahead with media controls | Bombardier Monorail coming to BKK | Activists urging Government to come up with long-term flood solutions | Belgian couple accuse ‘police’ of scam.
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Patong and Rawai worst hit from floods
DATELINE: 1pm, August 15. The torrential rain in Phuket is affecting several at-risk areas including Patong and the Sea Gypsy Village in Rawai. Several hours of heavy rains have resulted in some parts of Patong to be underwater, especially on Rat-U-Thit 200 Pee Road where smaller vehicles and motorbikes could barely move through. More than a meter-high floods were a…
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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