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 Charity Event Sets Record
PHUKET: The Phuket Family & Gourmet Festival, held at Royal Phuket Marina on January 26, raised a whopping one million baht for children’s charities, it was announced this morning by the Bangkok-based food wholesaler Jagota Brothers, the creator and driving force behind the event. The record-breaking sum for a single-event fundraising effort on the island followed a cash donation of…
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Southern Resurgence: Drug cocktail 8×100 makes a comeback
PHUKET: The police crackdown on the indigenous plant kratom, a mild narcotic, is taking its toll, with youngsters now reportedly turning to longkong leaves in order to make a new version of the long-known drug cocktail “4×100”. The new recipe using longkong leaves even sports a new, improved nickname: “8×100”. “Kratom leaves are the main ingredient of the original “4×100″…
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Breaking News: Democrats win Bangkok election, Yingluck concedes defeat
PHUKET: Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has conceded defeat in the election today for Bangkok Governor, handing the election win over to Democrat candidate Sukhamband Parabitra.PM Yingluck publicly announced the defeat at 6:15pm after the ongoing count of votes at the polls showed that Sukhamband had amassed more than a million votes while leading Pheu Thai rival Pol Gen Pongsapat Pongcharoen…
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Under Investigation: Phuket villagers foraging for turtle eggs
PHUKET: The safety of turtle eggs in a protected nesting ground at the northern tip of Phuket is under investigation by the Mai Khao Marine Turtle Foundation. The Phuket Gazette contacted the foundation after a reader reported seeing turtle tracks and people probing for eggs in the area between Maikhao Dream Villa Resort and Spa and Maikhao Beach Bungalows (map…
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Pharmacy raid nets 24 youths in cough syrup blitz
PHUKET: A raid on a Phuket Town pharmacy early yesterday evening turned into a bumper haul for officers as they arrested a procession of youngsters turning up to buy cough syrup specifically to make the local drug cocktail “4×100”. Following an order by Muang District Chief Supachai Pochanukul, the 15 officers arrived at the Pharma Sure drug store on Si…
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Phuket Sports: TNT blown away in a flash by Gordon
PHUKET: In the first match of the second round, the Village took on the TNT at the Alan Cooke Ground (ACG) last Sunday. The Village, last season’s runners up, were desperate to record their first win of the season, while TNT were looking to progress further up the ladder to challenge the top teams of Patong Cricket Club and Laguna.In…
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Phuket Sports: Southern Sea Warriors reinforced ahead of season start
PHUKET: In their first fixture, Phuket FC, taking on the new nickname this year as the “Southern Sea Warriors” are set to play Big Bang Chula United (BBCU), a team relegated last year from the TPL. The match will kick off today at 6pm at the Army Stadium in Bangkok, BBCU’s home pitch. The Southern Sea Warriors’ first home match…
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DNP outlines conservation issues to be presented to CITES
PHUKET: In town yesterday for the investigation into encroachment on Phuket’s Sirinath National Park (story here), Manopat Huamuangkaew, the director-general of the National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department (DNP), took time to hand out pro-conservation pamphlets to tourists at Phuket International Airport. The pamphlets also advertise the 16th annual Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna…
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Phuket Police hunt continues for Jintana killers
PHUKET: Police are continuing to question individuals over the murder of Jintana Mahattanapak as they await the results of CCTV-footage analysis being conducted in Bangkok (story here). “Experts in Bangkok are still trying to extract information, that will lead to the arrests of the killers, from the CCTV footage we sent them. However, we have yet to be able to…
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DNP chief bolsters support for Phuket park probe
PHUKET: The recently installed Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) Director-General Manopat Huamuangkaew arrived in Phuket yesterday to hear firsthand the update on the investigation into 14 plots allegedly encroaching on Sirinat National Park on Phuket’s west coast. “So far we have investigated the land documents of 14 plots of land and found that all were issued…
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DSI launches fresh attack on illegally issued Phuket land title deeds
PHUKET: The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) stepped in last week to expedite the ongoing investigation of illegal land encroachment in Sirinart National Park. Acting on a complaint from The Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP), whose own investigation seemed to ground to a halt last year when an expected 366 investigators from Bangkok failed to arrive,…
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Thailand Futsal: Andaman Pearl clamp down on Killer Bees
PHUKET: The Andaman Pearl are floating high following back-to-back wins in the past week. Topping off Sunday’s away win to Samut Songkhram (2-6), Phuket’s latest victory was earned at home on Wednesday night against Nonthaburi FC (5-3). Played at Phuket’s Saphan Hin Indoor Sports Complex, the match was both sides’ 25th match of the 30-fixture GMM Sport Thailand Futsal Premier…
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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