Phuket News
Discover the latest news and updates from Thailand’s most famous and beautiful island, The Thaiger’s hometown, having previously operated as the Phuket Gazette.
Our team brings you breaking news, in-depth analysis, and exclusive stories from Phuket, covering everything from local politics and business to lifestyle and tourism. Learn about the island’s stunning beaches, vibrant nightlife, and thriving expat community, as well as keeping updated on events, and attractions.
The Thaiger is your ultimate guide to staying connected with Phuket’s ever-evolving landscape. To keep up with the most reliable news source on the island, subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on social media.
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Sponsored Infinito helps hotels in Thailand with revenue management
Maximising revenue and profit–isn’t that the ultimate goal for every business in the hospitality industry? If you run a hotel, you might have heard that revenue management is an effective way to boost your top-line revenue. It involves using data...
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14 year old Phang Nga girl raped by 40 local men
On September 3, the mother of a 14 year-old girl from Takuatung, Phang Nga, reported to Kokloy Police that her daughter had been raped by 40 men from the same village – repeatedly from May to October last year. There are 3 men charged over the case so far. “We still can’t reveal the number of the criminals in this…
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THAIGER TODAY Monday, September 4
Nigerian charged over shooting/robbery but claims innocence | Phuket’s favorite crocodile not eating | Five provinces still inundated with floodwaters | The Cambodian Daily forced to close paper today | Dolphins sighted between Koh Racha and Coral Island.
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Captured Croc isn’t eating. BKK specialist on the way.
Fisheries officers are investigating whether the captured crocodile comes from nature or was owned by an individual. After catching the crocodile spotted at Bangtao Beach on August 25 and which came from a tin mine lake near Laypang Beach, Phuket’s Governor visited the crocodile at the rehabilitation pond in Thalang. The 200-kilogram reptile still hasn’t eaten any food provided by…
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Dolphins spotted between Koh Racha and Phuket
Dolphins have been spotted by tour groups heading to Koh Racha over the weekend. On September 2, at about midday, Surachet Mitsee and many other travellers spotted dolphins swimming alongside their boat between Koh Racha Island and Coral Island. They started to see a group of 7-8 grey dolphins at about 4 nautical miles from Chalong Pier. The dolphins consist…
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DSI assisting Rawai’s Sea Gypsies with land probe
A DSI (Department of Special Investigations) team led by Deputy Director of the DSI, Pol Lt Col Prawut Wongsinil, visited the village yesterday (August 31) drawing a crowd of approximately 100 villagers. “We visited the sea gypsies today to advise them on how to present their proof in Court efficiently. If they forget or leave out some details, it can…
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Tuk Tuk driver fined 500 Baht for threatening tourists
Following a video posted on the Facebook page “Spotlight Phuket”, showing a Tuk Tuk driver threatening tourists after failing to negotiate the fare, Patong police have fined the driver, 36 years old Pannawit Nakamin, 500 Baht. The incident took place in front of a massage shop in Soi Kebsup at about 5.00 am yesterday (August 31) after the Tuk Tuk…
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THAIGER TODAY Friday, September 1
Crocodile captured after two day hunt around Bang Tao beach | Songkhla’s much BIGGER croc problem | Huge individual drug haul in Krabi valued at 100 million Baht | 459 metre tower gets Government funding | Buddhist nationalists protesting Rohingya violence | Tricks from last week’s Flow Jam event in Bangkok.
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Crocodile being cared for after two day hunt
The crocodile captured in an old tin mine behind Bang Tao beach is now kept at the Phuket Coastal Aquatic Animals Development Centre. After a veterinary check, it was found to be healthy but quite exhausted after the two day hunt. It may take few days to recover. The Head of Phuket Fisheries Office, Paiboon Bunlipatanon, says the crocodile is…
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Bang Tao Croc Captured. Week-long search over.
That crocodile, that was first spotted swimming off Bang Tao beach and then making its way into an old tin mine lake, has been captured after two days and two nights of hunting. The 3 metre crocodile is a salt water crocodile, originally thought to be a fresh water croc. Headed by the Phuket Fisheries Office, croc experts and local…
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And you thought WE had problems with crocodiles!?
OK, so we have one elusive crocodile playing hide ‘n seek with a ‘consortium’ of crocodile hunters (we’ll admit we don’t know what the collective noun is for crocodile hunters). But Songkhla have a whole different croc problem. An unknown number of crocodiles have escaped from a farm in Songkhla’s Singhanakorn district after a wall at their enclosure collapsed on…
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Phuket drownings – The Facts
In the first eight months of 2017 there have been 294 rescues recorded around Phuket’s beaches patrolled with surf lifeguards on duty. Of these, 265 have been foreigners and the remainder Thai locals. The good news is that these numbers are trending a lot lower than 2016. Last year there were 761 rescues recorded in the full 12 months. In…
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Crocodile – 1. Crocodile Hunters – Nil.
This afternoon (August 31), the croc-hunting team corralled for the search failed to capture the rascally reptile. The team includes Fisheries Officers, crocodile catchers from Surat Thani and experienced staff from Phuket Crocodile World. The team brought 4 rafts to chase the crocodile to where the nets were placed. However, the team failed as the crocodile dived 8-9 meters deep…
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Progress on shooting/robbery of Russian woman in Rawai
Police report that they’ve learned that the two thieves used a car to commit the crime on Tuesday night. The car was parked 100 metres away from the house where they robbed and shot Russian expat, Elena Kharenko. However, the color, brand and plate number hasn’t yet been ascertained. The Chief of Region 8 Police, Maj. Gen. Pawat Prommakrit, has…
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THAIGER TODAY Thursday, August 31
Crocodile hunters on the trail | 43 year old from Phattalung arrested with drugs valued at 2 million Baht | DSI in town to check bonfides of Sor Koh 1 Title Deeds | 400,000 Rohingya in border camps as another 18,500 flee across Myanmar border | Phuket Hotels Association tackle mega beach clean.
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Phuket’s Croc Hunters
A hunting team spotted the crocodile in an old tin mine lake near Laypang Beach yesterday afternoon (August 30). The 50-rai lake is located about 300 meters from where the crocodile was spotted earlier. Initially, a team from Thalang District Office was placed to block the crocodile from swimming out of the lake. At about 8.00 pm, a “crocodile whisperer”…
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“It’s a freshwater crocodile”. The latest from the Fisheries Office Chief
Freshwater crocodile in Australia’s Northern Territory. Photo: abc.net.au Phuket’s Fisheries Office believes that the crocodile spotted in Bangtao Beach is a freshwater crocodile which can only live in salt water for a few days and they assume that it comes from a tin mine lake in the nearby area. Governor Plodthong, along with the Head of the Phuket Office of Fisheries, Paiboon Bunlipatanon,…
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THAIGER TODAY Wednesday, August 30
UK National Crime Authority under fire for leaking sensitive information during Koh Tao murder investigation | More about THAT crocodile | Thai PM doesn’t believe Yingluck is seeking asylum in the UK | Man caught with 400,000 Baht value of stolen goods in Thalang | Fake goods raid on beach road in Patong
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Russian Woman shot and robbed in Rawai
A 52 year-old Russian woman, Elena Ksarenko, was shot and robbed in her villa in Rawai. Police are on the lookout for the two thieves they believe are involved in the crime. Police found her bed and floor covered in blood at the scene. On the floor, police found .38 bullets and bloody footsteps around the bedroom. The shower’s glass…
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3,000 items snared in Patong counterfeit crackdown
A 33 year old Burmese man, Dam Bha Du and a 34 year old Vietnamese, Lam, have been arrested with a total of 3,000 counterfeit items from Patong. Following a report that a large number of counterfeit goods were being sold in Soi Kebsup on Taweewong Rd, a taskforce led by Phuket’s Governor, the ECD Police force and the Commander-in-Chief…
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Phuket Fisheries Department to survey crocodile location on Bang Tao
Thalang Fisheries Officers commented on the incident when two locals spotted a crocodile in the Bang Tao beach area, off the Movenpick Resort. He said the reptile are likely to have come from the neighbouring provinces as Phuket was never a natural breeding ground for crocodiles. Another similar reptile was spotted last year. “There was a report from a local…
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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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Immediate attention to Phuket’s worst flood areas
Patong’s Mayor has announced, what she hopes are, solutions to the recurrent floods and set a budget to solve the problems in the long term. As Patong is one of the areas that always suffers from the flood on the island, the Mayor, Chalermluck Kebsup, said that she has surveyed several spots in Patong and can now specify the actual…
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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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Would you pay One Million Baht for a number plate?
Phuket’s Land Transport Office released 301 new car license plate numbers for auction expecting a 22 million Baht windfall. The Director-General of the LTO, Sanit Promwong, chaired the event alongside the Phuket Governor and local authorities. A large crowd attended the auction and the highest bid was a whopping 1 million Baht for the plate number กล9999 (Gor Gai Lor…
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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…
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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