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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SATURDAY MORNING BRIEFING – All your news in 3 minutes
Saturday – Ahh, the weekend. Many things happening around the island. Tonight you have another Boat Lagoon Weekend night of music, crafts, food, entertainment and chilling. Starts at 6pm. Also the Kata Rocks Superyacht Rendezvous on today as the fleet makes its way from Kata Rocks to The Surin for a beach party – you’ll see some magnificent vessels making…
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DAY FOUR – Phuket King’s Cup. Wind softens but competition heats up.
It’s been a week of consistently excellent winds (and gusts which peaked at 25 knots at times), but lighter conditions appeared for Day Four. This had the potential to alter standings heading into today, as well as tomorrow’s final race. Today also marked the conclusion of a great week of racing across all of the Phuket King’s Cup Regatta Dinghy…
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Road closures for the Phukethon Marathon on Sunday
The upcoming Phukethon 2017, with the Marathon being run on December 10, will force some roads to be closed down for the duration of the running event. Drivers are invited to plan ahead to avoid the runners on this date. More than 10,000 runners are coming to Phuket this weekend for the Phukethon event. The marathon is scheduled to start…
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Better training. Better lifeguards. Two day training course completed at Patong.
Two days training for hotel staff, tour operators and budding beach lifeguards has been completed at Patong Beach. 98 people attended the two day training course. There’s also the Phuket Life Saving Championships 2017 at Lama Park on Patong Beach this Sunday, December 10. The competition will include iron-man beach sprints, board relay, a surf race, board rescue events and…
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FRIDAY NEWS BRIEFING – All your news in 3 minutes
PHOTO: A Province-wide drama unfolding in Nakhon Si Thammarat. Patong wakes up this morning to start mopping up the heavy flood waters from last night. Heavy rain pelted Phuket’s party town, and other parts of the island, from around 10pm for four hours. Yesterday morning Patong also had heavy floods leading to two electricity poles along the Patong – Karon…
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NLA visits Rawai sea gypsy village to check on environmental issues
The First Vice Presidnet of National Legislative Assembly of Thailand (NLA) and his team visited the Rawai sea gypsy village yesterday (December 6) following a complaint about a retention wall near the beach and natural waterway issues. Prior to the visit the team attended a meeting with Phuket authorities including the Phuket Governor, Phuket Land Office Chief, representative of Muang…
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Prachasamakkee villagers block land office from measuring land border
During a visit at the Prachasamakkee Community today (December 7), the team at the Phuket Provincial Land Office and the lawyer of the plaintiff against the villagers were not allowed to check the measurement of the village land to make a plan to file to the court. The villagers claim that the 77 defendants haven’t had any appointment for the…
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PHUKET KING’S CUP – Day Three report. Lay day today.
Perfect breezes at 12-15 knots on top of two whole days of strong wind had the swells riding higher today, and conditions that were way more “Rock ‘n’ Roll”. Kevin Whitcraft’s THA72 crew has a very credible early claim on regatta glory, as does Team Kata Rocks (Peter Dyer’s Madam Butterfly) in IRC2. Premier Class, IRC1, the one-design Pulse 600…
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Patong Tunnel update
Patong Mayor, Chalermluck Kebsup, has provided an update about progress on the long-mooted infrastructure project. She says the proposal has now passed the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) stage and will be considered by the main planning committee soon. “After we checked with the Expressway Authority of Thailand, who is responsible for the project, we found out that the tunnel project…
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Kamala vendors complain about illegal foreign vendors
30 local vendors of Kamala Beach led by Samran Kodsan headed to the Kamala Police Station yesterday (December 6) to complain about foreign vendors working illegally on Kamala Beach. The vendors say that the foreigners from Myanmar, Bangladesh and Vietnam have been working as vendors on the beach for a while and often try to pressure beachgoers to buy their…
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THURSDAY MORNING BRIEFING – All your news in 3 minutes
A lot of rain overnight so there has been some wet and slippery roads around the island this morning. Patong Police Station, as usual, suffers when there’s heavy rain. More racing down at Kata today for the Phuket King’s Cup. Nakhon Si Thammarat is really copping heavy rains and our Deputy PM is being asked ‘please explain’ about his ‘bling’.…
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Phuket Governor visits dog shelter to check on renovations
Phuket’s Governor, Norapat Plodthong, visited the Suan Pa Bang Kanun Dog Shelter yesterday (December 5) to check on the progress of its renovation. The renovations includes both exterior and interior work as well as management systems and infrastructure such as dog faeces management system, an animal clinic project, clinic building construction and the office and food donation centre. The renovations…
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THAIGER TODAY Wednesday, December 6
THAIGER TODAY. Wednesday, December 6. Heat on the Deputy PM to explain his expensive watch | Pattaya driver tests positive to drugs | Floods starting to abate | 2 missing after Nakhon Si Thammarat bus gets swept away | Big drug hauls in BKK and Songkhla.
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Car crash in Krabi kills six
A pickup truck traveling from Trang province to Krabi lost control and hit an electric pole, killing all 6 passengers last night (December 5). The pick up truck driven by a retired policeman, 61 year old Prayad Jongrak, with other 5 family members, was found crashed into the high-voltage electric pole on Petchakasem Road heading towards Krabi in Nuaklong district.…
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WEDNESDAY MORNING BRIEFING – All your news in 3 minutes
Day three of the Phuket King’s Cup today and fresh winds are waiting for the 83-strong fleet off Kata. Our Deputy PM has got into hot water over a flashy watch, a mother is being asked to explain why she chained up her daughter and a truck has fallen on a passenger van killing two in Chiang Mai. Welcome to…
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Phuket King’s Cup Regatta – Day Two. Perfect sailing weather.
Day Two kicked off as strongly as yesterday had ended with consistent, shifting and challenging winds. Race Director Simon James set the two courses around the southern end of the island. The fastest boats finished in around two and a half hours, up to five hours for the slower vessels. “We had gusts up to 18 knots and an average…
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7 year old girl chained up by her mother
After pictures of a 7 year old Myanmar girl chained went viral in social media, Phuket Social Development and Human Security officers visited the scene today (December 5), which is a room in an apartment in Phuket Town. The girl and her 9 year old brother are safe at Phuket Children and Family Shelter. “We got the report last night…
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Official opening of Wang Kee On Waterfall in Patong
At 9 am today (December 5), Patong Mayor, Chalermluck Kebsup, hosted the official opening of Wang Kee On Waterfall as the new attraction in Patong, even though it’s been there all the time. “As today is the birthday of The Late King Bhumibol Adulyadej, we agreed to officially open the waterfall to the public on this special day. Patong Municipality…
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THAIGER TODAY Tuesday, December 5
THAIGER TODAY. Tuesday, December 5. Tragic Pattaya road accidents prompts questions | Songkhla schools closed because of flooding | Wang Kee Aon waterfall re-opens in Patong | Fake bomb causes security alert at Myanmar Embassy | Toon meets the PM.
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TUESDAY MORNING BRIEFING – All your news in 3 minutes
It’s a public holiday today. It’s Father’s Day and National Day in Thailand, both proclaimed as celebrations of the birthday of the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej. It’s also the World Soil Day, named by the United Nations as a day to commemorate the late King’s work in the area of land conservation and crop development. All public offices are closed…
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Patong Municipality announces the reopening of the waterfall in the town’s heart
Patong Mayor, Chalermluck Kebsup, says that the Wang Kee Aon waterfall in the middle of Patong used to be the main attraction in Patong and HRH King Bhumibol Adulyadej 9 also paid a visit in 1959, which was an important early part of putting Patong on the domestic map for Thailand tourism. “However, later, when the land in front of the…
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New direct route to Phuket from Korat – NewGen Airways
Every week it seems that there are more and more direct flights to Phuket, both domestic and international. While it’s a by-product of the growing numbers of tourists coming to the island it also provides locals more chances to get off the ‘rock’ from time to time, flying direct to more places on the map. Now we can fly to…
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MONDAY MORNING BRIEFING – All your news in 3 minutes
First day of the Phuket King’s Cup at Kata today, the island’s most prestigious and popular yacht racing regatta. We wish all competitors fair winds and good sailing for the week. Winds are expected to be up to 20 knots from the ENE. Sure there will be plenty of ‘bubbly beverages’ flowing around Kata this week during the regatta. Not…
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Phuket King’s Cup kicks off today
(left to right) M.L. Tridhosyuth Devakul; Kevin Whitcraft, President of the Phuket King’s Cup Regatta Organizing Committee; Norapat Plodthong, Phuket Governor; Rear Admiral Arkom Tang-on, Deputy Commander, Third Naval Area Command, the Yacht Racing Association of Thailand representative and Chairman of Kata Group Resorts Pramookpisitt Achariyachai join the opening ceremony of the Phuket King’s Cup Regatta 31th at Beyond Resort…
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SUNDAY MORNING BRIEFING – All your news in 3 minutes
Welcome to your Sunday news briefing Phuket. Surrounding Phuket Province, many large areas in the south are mopping up serious flooding in the wake of heavy rains all last week – from Chumpon to Yala, mostly along the Gulf of Thailand coast. But Phuket’s been largely spared the extreme rains although it’s been mostly cloudy with moderate rain over the…
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SATURDAY MORNING BRIEFING – All your news in 3 minutes
Welcome to the weekend. As usual you can start your day with all the main local news stories from Phuket and Thailand. During the day we also have weather updates every 30 minutes on The Thaiger 102.75 FM (download the free App on your phone). Southern floods claim two, one missing A highly regarded nurse of 12 years service in…
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Upgrading Phuket’s stray dogs
At the Governor-Meets-Media conference today (December 1), the Governor announced a new management strategy for Phuket’s stray dogs, following the project “Disease-Free Animals, Rabies-Free Humans” of HRH Princess Chulabhorn. “There is an estimated total of 11,500 dogs in Phuket, of which a thousand of them are stray dogs that live in public and around tourism attractions and are at risk…
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Conference reports on Phuket’s drop in road death stats
In the decade previous, 1997-2006, Phuket was among Thailand’s five worst provinces in terms of death and injury resulting from road accidents. The dramatic reduction in accidents and casualties has been credited to a focus on accident-prone locations (where crashes were cut by 30 per cent), strict law enforcement using speed guns, breathalysers and cameras at intersections (leading to 10…
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More than 2,000 amphetamine tablets seized at Thachatchai Gateway
Two men from Trang province, 41 year old Uthai Chankarn and 20 year old Puwadol Pornsawangniwate, were arrested at 11pm last night (November 30) while trying to smuggle amphetamine pills onto the island. The two men travelled with a private van and arrived at the Thachatchai checkpoint around 11pm. Officers searched the vehicle and one of the officers, Private Manop…
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Eagle wood smugglers nabbed at Suan Pa Bang Kanun, Thalang
Royal Thai Navy officers along with Forestry officials have arrested Assanai Sato, from Prachinburi province, while he was trying to cut the restricted crop, eagle wood with an accomplice. The team led by Rear Admiral Uthai Thongdee from Royal Thai Navy and Chief of Suan Pa Bang Kanun, Sorakrissana Singkham, arrested Assanai in the National Preserved Forest, Suan Pa Bang…
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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