Phuket News
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Government insists Phuket re-opening will go ahead as planned
The Thai government is adamant the planned re-opening of the southern island of Phuket to vaccinated foreign tourists will go ahead. However, with Covid-19 infections rising across the country, some tourism operators say they need more clarification on how. Commerce Minister Jurin Laksanawisit insists the “Phuket sandbox” model is on track for July 1. “We have neither cancelled nor changed…
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Phuket: even “problem foreigners” must mask up or 20k fine
Phuket government officials have threatened to strictly enforce the 20,000 baht face mask fine and contact consular officials for foreigners that refuse to mask up. The vice governor of Phuket has issued a stern warning that all people are required to wear face masks in public at all times. As Covid-19’s third wave sweeps the country, and Phuket has begun…
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Phuket finds 4 Covid infections from newly-mandated rapid antigen tests
Phuket is reporting 4 new Covid-19 infections from those arriving from red zone provinces on the first day of the new requirement for such travellers to undergo rapid antigen tests. As of Thursday, all people arriving from the 17 red zoned provinces must undergo the test if they can’t prove that they have been fully vaccinated or have received a…
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Phuket officials stick to their dual-pricing “covid test” guns
Following a few days of negative publicity over its dual-pricing policy for rapid Covid antigen test for passengers at the airport, or at Tha Chatchai checkpoint for people coming by road, you would have thought there’d been some “there’s been a misunderstanding” noises coming out of city hall. But no. In fact Phuket officials are doubling down on the controversy…
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Covid-19 screening kicks off at Phuket arrival points
Officials on the southern island of Phuket have begun an extensive screening process of all arrivals from elsewhere in the Kingdom. The new checks are aimed at curbing the spread of Covid-19 on the island, which has already recorded over 250 cases in the latest wave. The checks will be in place until at least the end of the month.…
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Expats condemn Phuket’s “xenophobic” rapid-test payment policy
Expats living in Thailand are up in arms after Phuket officials confirmed that foreigners arriving on the island would have to pay for a rapid Covid-19 test that is free for Thais. The testing requirement is part of new restrictions now in force to combat the spread of the virus. However, it is not the cost of the test –…
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Thailand’s covid vaccine passport – will it only be used for travel?
Hi. Im Tim Newton. Just upfront saying that these are my personal opinions and don’t necessarily reflect that of The Thaiger. So today the Thai Government now has officially announced vaccine passports. The documents are going to be the next big thing in the long and winding Covid road. Firstly, before some comments, the details that we actually know. This…
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Phuket requires Covid-19 vaccination or 72-hour test
To help wrangle the spread of the Covid-19 outbreak in Phuket, strict controls for everyone entering the island go into effect today until the end of April. The provincial communicable disease committee approved the measures in an effort to stop the proliferation of Covid-19 in the province. The new regulations state that only people who have received both doses of…
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Almost 100,000 Sinovac doses delivered to Phuket for second round of jabs
Phuket is receiving almost 100,000 Covid-19 Sinovac doses to administer second vaccine rounds to those who received their first jabs earlier this month. 99,480 doses were delivered yesterday at Vachira Phuket Hospital in Phuket Town. 30,000 doses will be delivered to Thalang Hospital, 20,000 to Patong Hospital and 10,000 to Chalong Hospital. Vachira hospital’s director posted last night detailing the vaccines’…
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Phuket requires Covid paperwork to enter from red zone provinces from Wednesday (April 21)
From this Wednesday Phuket joins other provinces after additional entry restrictions were announced today by the Phuket Governor. If you’re flying into Phuket you’ll need either a certificate of proof that you’ve had both doses of an approved Covid-19 vaccine, a Covid-19-free certificate, not older than 72 hours, or you’ll have to do a Rapid Covid Test at a cost of…
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Thailand’s 3rd wave wreaks havoc on the Tourism Restart Plan – where are we now?
OPINION by Andrew J Wood Thailand Ministers ponder the next steps to re-start it’s massive tourism industry, initially set for July 1, 2021 in Phuket. The plan may need to be overhauled as Phuket struggles to immunise the whole island in the wake of the third wave of hotspots. Phuket, prior to the third wave had already secured more than…
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Survey underway as experts attempt to save James Bond island from erosion
Thailand’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment is working with other environmental departments to determine how best to save a popular tourist attraction. Khao Ta Pu, commonly known as James Bond island, in the southern province of Phang Nga, is at risk of collapse, due to seawater erosion. The ministry is working with counterparts in the Department of Mineral Resources…
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Phuket begs Kolour attendees to come for Covid-19 testing
Health officials in Phuket put out a public statement this week compelling all foreigners who attended clubs and ‘Kolour’ events to report for Covid-19 testing. As many might expect, the response has been lacklustre at best. Spreading the message around the foreigner and expat community in Phuket, the message is aimed at the multitudes of people, mostly foreign who attended…
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Footbridges stop luxury yacht travelling from Phuket to Samui
Footbridges in Phuket stood in the way of a luxury yacht travelling from its home in Phuket to Koh Samui when the boat was too tall to pass. Police received a call around 8 pm last night from the truck driver after his trailer carrying the yacht had trouble getting under one of several bridges for walkers to pass over…
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Hotel blog suggests Phuket should push ahead with July reopening despite Covid surge
A hotel information blog is claiming that, despite growing Covid-19 numbers, Phuket should stick to its schedule in reopening to travellers without quarantine in July. That’s only 2 and a half months away. In an interview with the Director of Travel and Tourism Consulting at GlobalData, they stressed that while it is crucial to rein in the spread of Covid-19…
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Tourism officials slash Songkran travel expectations by half
The TAT, ever the optimists regarding anything tourism related, even domestic tourism, predict that the Bangkok clusters that have emerged in the week before the Songkran break could reduce traffic and spending by up to half. Today the CCSA is reporting 789 new infections and one additional death. 522 were local infections, mostly walk-ins to Bangkok hospitals, 259 were discovered through…
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16 more Covid infections reported today in Phuket
Phuket is reporting 16 more infections today. It follows visits from Bangkok and last weekend’s Kolour Beachside parties that have resulted in a number of new Covid infections. The number of new infections has reached 26. But deputy governor Vikrom Jakthee says the province has been successful in containing the new outbreak “due to its quick response measures which now include…
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UPDATE: Thai PM orders closure of bars and clubs in 41 provinces
UPDATE: The order to close bars and nightlife venues in 41 provinces will go into effect at midnight, the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration announced this afternoon. Under emergency measures, the local governments in the other 36 provinces have the power to set restrictions and close venues if needed to control the Covid-19 situation. Original story… The order to close…
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Phuket bars and nightclubs ordered to close for 10 days
Bars, pubs and nightlife venues in Phuket are ordered to close for the next 10 days while 3 venues on the island where Covid-19 has been reported are ordered to close for at least 14 days. The closure is ordered after the massive events hosted by Kolour where an attendee tested positive for Covid-19. All partygoers are asked to go…
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Phuket orders 10-day closure for entertainment venues
This morning the government of Phuket has ordered the closure of all entertainment venues, bars, and nightclubs on the island of Phuket for 10 days. This shutdown will effectively cancel the upcoming Songkran festival for the popular holiday destination. Three entertainment venues have been closed for 14 days starting tomorrow aside from the blanket closures, as these venues were previously…
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Phuket Covid infections reported as officials struggle with clusters in Bangkok entertainment venues
A week ago Phuketians were rallying behind the proposal to get the island open to tourists, quarantine-free, from July. The first tourists arrived from Germany and the local hotel industry were confident everything was heading in the right direction. That was until last weekend when the ‘Bangkok nightlife cluster’ came to town in the form of 3 big parties, the…
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Covid-19 update: Spike in cases linked to nightlife in Bangkok and Phuket
Bar and club hopping has led to numerous clusters of Covid-19 infections and a spike in the number of daily infections in Thailand. 334 new Covid-19 cases were reported today in the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration’s daily briefing. Most of the cases are in Bangkok. The steep rise in new infections comes just days before the mass migration of…
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Covid-19 patient in Phuket worked at Thong Lor nightlife venue
A Covid-19 patient in Phuket worked at an entertainment venue in Bangkok’s Thong Lor area where a cluster of coronavirus infections have been reported. The 29 year old woman worked as a receptionist at a venue on Thong Lor. Reports don’t say which bar she worked at, but dozens of Covid-19 cases are linked to bars and pubs in the…
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Phuket man shot by off-duty police officer now paralysed
A 25 year old Phuket man who was allegedly beaten and shot by an off-duty, drunken police officer, will never walk again as he remains paralysed in the hospital. The news, according to doctors at Vachira Phuket Hospital, comes after Aroon Thongplab, was shot from a close range, with the bullet hitting his spine. The man was a noodle vendor and…
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Another 50,000 Covid-19 vaccines arrive in Phuket
50,000 more doses of the Chinese Covid-19 vaccine are now in Phuket, arriving yesterday, bringing the total number of Sinovac jabs received to 100,000. This amount had been promised by Bangkok officials as part of the Thailand reopening plan that begins with Phuket reopening to international travellers on July 1st. In order to do this, 70% vaccination needs to be…
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Phuket hammering out Covid vaccines, beating out rest of Thailand | VIDEO
The tourism-heavy island of Phuket is ramping up its local vaccine roll out, beating out the rest of Thailand in an attempt to achieve a herd immunity before it is able to reopen to tourists. The island is holding vaccination drives, with 9 centres in place to handle the estimated amount of 460,000 residents who are scheduled to get jabs…
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Travellers around the world eager to return to Phuket
Travellers of 28 nationalities have indicated that they would like to come to Phuket after mandatory quarantine is done away with for those that have received their Covid-19 vaccination. This according to the Phuket Tourist Association. The popular destination for foreigners will be the first location in Thailand to remove quarantine restrictions in the government’s long-term plan to reopen the…
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16 German tourists kick off Phuket’s tentative re-opening plans
3 months away and Phuket will be Thailand’s first province to waive the mandatory quarantine stay for foreign travellers who have been vaccinated. Well, that remains the plan as Thailand starts to work through a 4-phase re-opening schedule which will take the rest of 2021 to roll out. The subjects of these re-opening experiments will be the expected tourists who,…
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Phuket Airport welcomes first 7 day quarantine travellers
In the early hours of Saturday, a flight arrived at Phuket International Airport welcoming the first travellers to benefit from the reduced mandatory quarantine launched on April 1. The reduction of the isolation period is part of the 4 stages of fully reopening Thailand to international tourism, planned to roll out over the next 8 months (and probably into early…
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Thailand News Today | Monk dies after C-19 vaccine, Phuket dusts off international airport | April 2
In today’s episode we look at…An elderly monk has died after being vaccinated for Covid-19, Phuket Airport’s international terminal is switching its light on for the first time in nearly a year, and an elaborate banquet set up in Chon Buri… but all the guest were dead. A 70 year old monk has died the day after he was injected…
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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