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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Prison Products Fair returns to Phuket
PHUKET: The 11th Annual Prison Products Fair will get underway on Friday at Saphan Hin, on the outskirts of Phuket Town. “The fair is held to showcase the inmates’ hard work and offer their handmade products for people to buy,” said Phuket Provincial Prison Chief Rapin Nichanon. On display and for sale will be a wide range of products handcrafted…
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Video Report: Phuket light-rail garners support, residents query impact on Old Town
PHUKET: The effects Phuket’s long-awaited light-rail system will have on Phuket Old Town was a point of contention during the second public hearing for the project yesterday. Of the 370 Phuket residents in attendance, many voiced their support for the project, while others expressed their concern on how the tracks, which are planned to dominate some roadways through the heart…
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Phuket property and island promoter Graham Doven dies
PHUKET: Long-term Phuket expat and property guru Graham Doven, 62, died at Mission Hospital in Bangkok at 4pm today after a long illness. The Phuket Gazette has yet to be informed of arrangements to mark Graham’s passing, though a memorial ceremony is expected to be held on the island to honor a man who helped propel Phuket into the major…
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Lack of political violence gets Phuket an essential curfew pass
PHUKET: Phuket’s lack of history for political violence and the province’s heavy reliance on the tourism industry were cited as the key reasons for the island’s special treatment in the lifting of the curfew. “It’s great that the curfew was lifted in Phuket. There is no history of political violence here. Additionally, 70 per cent of the province’s revenue is…
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Emerald EPL Masters Tour comes to Phuket
PHUKET: They might be past their prime, but still have a lot to prove to themselves, their fellow footballers and the spectators. “Once you’re on the pitch, the fighting spirit kicks in and you give your best. These guys don’t want to make fools of themselves,” says Paul Parker, former Manchester United player, and member of England’s national football team,…
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Phuket Governor assures Patong that NCPO wants to get the party re-started
PHUKET: Governor Maitri Inthusut paid a visit to Phuket’s premier party town last night to personally receive a formal request from Patong nightlife venue operators for the curfew to be lifted, and assure them that progress was being made to further relax the curfew. The governor was greeted by hundreds of business operators at about 7pm, many of whom were…
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Phuket’s new top cop to arrive today
PHUKET: A deputy commander at the Royal Thai Police Region 8 headquarters in Surat Thani is to arrive in Phuket this morning to be installed as Phuket’s new top-ranking police officer later today. Maj Gen Krajang Suwannarat was officially promoted to the post of Phuket Provincial Police Commander in an order promulgated yesterday. “Maj Gen Krajang is to arrive in…
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Chelsea great Lampard ends 13-year spell at club
PHUKET: Chelsea’s all-time record goalscorer Frank Lampard announced on Monday he was leaving the Londoners after a 13-year spell with the Stamford Bridge club. The England World Cup midfielder, who joined the Premier League club from London rivals West Ham United in 2001 for a fee of 11 million pounds ($18.43 million), scored 209 goals in all competitions for Chelsea.…
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Cocaine blues: Phuket tourist busted with over 20g of “paradise white’
PHUKET: A Phuket sting operation netted two tourists in possession of more than 21 grams of cocaine last night. “An undercover officer met with the 46-year-old suspect, Nigerian tourist Colins Ifeanyi Ugwoeruchkwu, to buy drugs in Patong,” said Tourist Police Division 5 Superintendent Jirapop Phuridet. “When Mr Ugwoeruchkwu arrived on Soi Nanai 2, off Nanai Road, we searched him.” Officers…
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“I thought I saw MH370 on fire,’ says Phuket yachtie
PHUKET: A British sailor crossing the Indian Ocean en route to Phuket in March has stepped forward to file a report that she may have seen the missing Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370. Katherine Tee, 41, was sailing from Cochin, India to Phuket with her husband Marc Horn, 50, when she saw what looked like a plane on fire crossing the…
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Dazed and confused: Swedish tourist loses hotel, saved by police volunteers
PHUKET: A confused Swedish tourist located his guesthouse after two days of being lost in Patong thanks to the combined effort of the Tourist Police Volunteers and Region 8 Police Volunteers. Karl “Tommy” Berglund, 67, left his hotel shortly after checking in on Thursday night to go for a walk, taking just a little cash and leaving his room key…
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Phuket sailor breaks two records
PHUKET: “I’m hoping it will take me no more than 48 hours,” Yassine Darkaou told me when I met him in Ao Yon in Cape Panwa, on Wednesday May 28, minutes before he took off for his record breaking journey. A grueling 77 hours later he reached the shore again, with not one, but two records in his possession, neither…
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Phuket Governor prevents anti-curfew rally, whispers curfew repeal coming
PHUKET: Governor Maitri Inthusut has vowed to visit Soi Bangla in Patong tonight to personally receive a formal request by nightlife venue operators pleading for the curfew to be lifted. Governor Maitri announced the news after a closed-door meeting with Patong Entertainment Business Association President Weerawit Krueasombut this afternoon. The meeting lasted just a handful of minutes. Mr Weerawit had…
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Breaking News: Furious tour guides protest at Chalong Police Station over arrest
PHUKET: About 100 angry Phuket tour guides descended on Chalong Police Station today to protest the arrest of a legal tour guide. “Police arrested a legal tour guide. Why aren’t they looking for the illegal guides? Why are they targeting us?” asked protest leader Jaifu Sae-lee. An investigation into officers at the Chalong Police Station concluded earlier this year. Shortly…
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Phuket top cop flip-flop: Gen Ong-art gets his marching orders
PHUKET: Phuket’s top-ranking police officer, Maj Gen Ong-art Phiwruangnont, earlier this afternoon received his marching orders to report to the Royal Thai Police Region 8 headquarters in Surat Thani – effective immediately. The news comes just hours after Gen Ong-art publicly confirmed that he had not received any transfer orders (story here). However, Gen Ong-art told the Phuket Gazette that…
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Phuket’s top cop to stay – for now
PHUKET: Despite rumors that the island’s top-ranking police officer, Maj Gen Ong-art Phiwruangnont, had been ordered to leave his position as Phuket Provincial Police Commander, Gen Ong-art has confirmed that he has been ordered to stay. “I will remain here until I receive orders stating otherwise,” Gen Ong-art told the Phuket Gazette this morning. “It all depends on my superiors…
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Only seconds in it on final day of Samui Regatta
PHUKET: The sun and wind greeted sailors with equal measure on the morning of the last day of the Samui Regatta last Saturday, May 31. With the best pressure to the north, Principal Race Officer (PRO) Ross Chisholm headed out to lay a start line with two races planned for all – first a trapezoid course followed by a fast…
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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