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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Gov raids drug-dealing suspects
PHUKET TOWN: Police raided the houses of suspected drug dealers last night and seized pills and property valued at about 5 million baht. The raid, about 7:30 pm, was led by Pol Lt Col Paween Pongsirin, Superintendent of Phuket Town Police Station, and Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi. The Governor said today that he believes the alleged dealers, a married couple,…
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Gulf War of words ends in court
PHUKET TOWN: Around the world protestors are turning out in their thousands almost every day to protest the prospect of a US-generated war on Iraq. There was the protester at a recent international golf tournament who held up a sign saying “Make par, not war”, and a woman in a street demonstration who held a banner saying, “The only bush…
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Patong killing: police arrest two
PATONG: Police have arrested a man and charged him with strangling and killing another man in the shallows at Patong Beach early on Sunday. Suchart Torkratoke, 24, from Korat, a laborer working in Patong, was charged with the murder of Surasak Saensuwan, 42, from Chiang Mai, who worked as an accountant with a Phuket company. Suchart was arrested at his…
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Vendors caught with B500k in fakes
KARON: Police raided shops and stalls in Patong and Karon yesterday and seized 6,300 fake brand-name items with a street value of more than 500,000 baht. Seven vendors admitted selling imitation goods. The officers in the raid, from Chalong Police Station, were accompanied by Suparerk Tohwatcharakul and other officials from Bangkok, who were acting on behalf of Christian Dior and…
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Police arrest “Dr Feelgood’
PHUKET TOWN: Police arrested a doctor and three others in raids early yesterday that uncovered dealings in marijuana, the “love drug” ecstacy and cough syrup containing the opium derivative codeine. Dr Somchai Wongbanterng, 35, who has a clinic on Wichit Songkram Rd and lives at Joe Mansion, near the Phuket Hill Hotel in Mae Luan Rd, was due to face…
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Police call for officer to turn himself in
PHUKET TOWN: Phuket Town Police have filed murder charges against a Kathu Police Station officer for the murder of his wife. The officer is expected to turn himself in soon. The killing occurred on March 6, apparently following a dispute over underground lottery winnings. The victim, 49-year-old Bang-on Chookam of Surat Thani, had been living with her husband, Pol S/Sgt…
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Man strangled at Patong beach
PATONG: Police are seeking two men who were seen fleeing the spot where a body was found strangled and lying face-down in the shallows at Patong beach on Sunday morning. From what officers have been told by a motorcycle taxi rider, they believe the dead man was aged 35, was probably gay and probably worked in a karaoke in Soi…
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Security boost planned for Saphan Hin
PHUKET TOWN: Police are planning to increase their presence in Saphan Hin and a police box will be erected there following another gang murder at the now-notorious recreation area. After dark, the park transforms from a peaceful area for sports and picknickers into a dangerous playground for thrillseekers and ruffians. The latest killing took place on Wednesday (see “Murder on…
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Developer denies rumors of drug-dealing
PHUKET TOWN: Slamming rumors that his name might be included on the much-feared government “blacklist” of suspected drug dealers, Boonkeng “Ko-Keng” Srisaensuchart, owner of Srisuchart Transport Co and Srisuchart Grandview Projects, today emphatically denied any involvement in the illegal drugs trade, past or present. He blamed unnamed business rivals for the rumors, which, he said, “are a trick to destroy…
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Bottom-toucher hacked to death
PHUKET TOWN: A man who touched a karaoke girl on the bottom was hacked to death in a machete-swinging melée between two groups that followed the seemingly trivial incident early today. The girl’s boyfriend, who was outraged at the bottom-touching, is being sought over the killing and the wounding of two other men in a battle behind Tuenjai Apartment at…
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Murder on wheels: three held
PHUKET TOWN: Three teenagers were being held on murder charges today as police revealed details of a killing-on-wheels at Saphan Hin in which a shotgun was used to blow away a young rival. The three were arrested yesterday in Chalong and police confiscated two motorcycles and two shotguns allegedly used in the attack on 19-year-old Nikorn Onbutra at about 10…
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Arrest your friends, minister tells governors
BANGKOK: Interior Minister Wan Muhamad Nor Matha wants provincial governors to arrest any of their friends or relatives believed to be involved in the illicit drugs trade, the Bangkok Post reported today. Meeting governors yesterday, he said Bangkok wants them to focus on large-scale dealers rather than small ones. He also told them to seize all drug dealers’ assets, the…
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Warning on electricity bills
PHUKET TOWN: The Manager of the Phuket Provincial Electricity Authority (PPEA), Sornchai Uparamai, has warned users not to pay their bills to staff sent out to cut off their power for non-payment. The staff cutting off electricity were temporary employees, he said. People wishing to make sure their electricity is not cut off should pay at the PPEA’s temporary office…
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Stabbed man found in klong
PHUKET TOWN: Police are seeking to identify the body of a man found floating in a klong at the weekend, the apparent victim of a stabbing. A villager reported the body floating in Klong Bang Yai, on Rassada Rd, on Sunday. The body was dressed in a brown-and-white long-sleeved shirt over a blue long-sleeved shirt, and green tracksuit pants. The…
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Crackdown on kids in ‘net cafes
PHUKET TOWN: Children under 18 are banned from Internet cafes after 10 pm under a new national law – and parents have been told to keep a closer watch on their offspring. At the Governor’s regular media conference today, Sompong Tiranont, Chief of the Phuket Social Development and Welfare Office, said he had received complaints about children being allowed out…
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Stats show doubling of murder rate
PHUKET: Eight people were murdered in Phuket between February 1 and 24, more than double the monthly average, the latest police statistics reveal. Only two of those murders have been solved, reflecting the wider picture throughout Thailand, where the Government campaign against drug abuse has triggered a wave of professional killings. In the same period, 160 people were arrested for…
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Governor claims “success” in drugs war
PHUKET TOWN: Phuket’s campaign in the first month of the national war on drugs has been a “success”, Phuket Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi announced yesterday at the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization meeting hall. The Governor, the leader of the campaign in Phuket, said that 88 suspected drug dealers have been either arrested or killed between February 1 and 27. This…
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Prison numbers rise
PHUKET TOWN: Phuket Provincial Prison remains massively overcrowded, according to monthly statistics released by prison officials this week. And the Government’s war on drugs is likely to increase prison numbers, at least in the short term. The figures reveal that there are 1,035 men and 174 women incarcerated at the jail. This compares with 955 male and 204 female prisoners…
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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