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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Phuket locals protest closure of access to Laem Singh Beach
PHUKET: Officials from the Ministry of Justice visited Laem Singh Beach this morning to follow up on a long-standing land dispute between the public, particularly local Thai people and thousands of foreign tourists, and an organization called ‘Bangkok Broadcasting & Television Co Ltd (BB&T)’. The company, which airs Thai national television Channel 7, has announced that starting April 17, they…
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Australian sentenced for girlfriend’s jet-ski death in Phuket
PHUKET: An Australian man, whose partner was killed in a tragic jet-ski accident in Phuket last month, is free to return home after his trial ended earlier today. Thomas Keating, 22, and Emily Jayne Collie, 20, came to Phuket for a holiday and had rented jet-skis to ride from Karon Beach to Kata Beach. They collided with one another, causing…
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Phuket Roads: Two more critically injured in five-vehicle crash
PHUKET: Two people were seriously injured after a speeding truck driver lost control and hit two parked vehicles, two motorbikes and a restaurant in Thalang again last night. “The accident occurred in the southbound lanes of Thepkrasattri Road in front of the Makamdeekwai restaurant. According to witnesses, an Isuzu pick-up, driven by Amorn Det-Aran, 29, was making a U-turn at…
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Large vessels banned from fishing during spawning season
PHUKET: Large fishing vessels will be banned from working in the southern Andaman Sea during the spawning season, from April 1 to June 30, the Fisheries Department announced yesterday. About 4,696 square kilometers of fishing space will be closed off in Phuket, Phang Nga, Krabi and Trang. “According to our research, most marine life in the Andaman breeds between April…
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Korean tourists and dive instructor ‘hunted’ for damaging coral off Phuket
PHUKET: A concerned diver captured pictures of Korean tourists and their Thai dive instructor stepping on coral while diving at Koh Racha Yai yesterday. The diver then shared the snaps with other divers and officials in the hopes of bringing the offenders to justice. A social media user who calls himself ‘Seaman Freeman’ shared the pictures of ‘Try Dive’ activities…
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Angsana to hold candlelight dinner for Earth Hour
PHUKET: The Bodega & Grill steakhouse at Angsana Laguna Phuket is holding a candlelight dinner to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the international energy-saving event ‘Earth Hour’ this Saturday. The event is being held in line with Banyan Tree Hotels & Resorts’ ‘Stay For Good’ philosophy “to build a better society by embracing the environment and empowering people”. The a…
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Defunct Phuket travel company sold out at auction
PHUKET: The Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO) has sold all of Tranlee Travel Co’s assets, 151 items in all, after four auctions yielded total revenue of only 204 million baht (approx US$6 million). The last auction was held yesterday at Phuket City Municipality (story here), where the company’s last 15 buses were sold off. Pawornan Thamanyatanan of the AMLO led the…
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Canadian tourist found dead in Phuket
PHUKET: A 49-year-old Canadian tourist was found dead in a condo in Kathu this morning. He is believed to have been dead for at least two days before his body was discovered. Police received a report of the incident at about 11am from ‘Plus Condo 1’. “We noticed a peculiar smell outside his room, which was on the 6th floor.…
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Wanted: Phuket gold thief robs two jewelry stores
PHUKET: Police are hunting for a suspect who stole gold from at least two jewelry stores in Wichit and Phuket Town last week. The woman’s face was captured by CCTV cameras at both stores. She is believed to be about 30 years old and 150cm tall. The footage was shared on various social media forums, including LINE groups, warning other…
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Troops of monkeys go swimming during heatwave
KRABI: At least a hundred monkeys climbed down a hill to cool off in a pool of water at Wat Tham Sue in Krabi yesterday. Krabi has not seen rain for about two months and this particular area has experienced a severe rise in temperature. “The monkeys climbed down into the pool, close to where tourists had come down for…
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Live coral planted at artificial reef off Phuket
PHUKET: More than 250 pieces of live natural coral (coralline algae) were added to an artificial coral reef in Koh Mai Thon by the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMCR) this past weekend. The event was chaired by Kasem Sukwaree, chief of the Phuket office of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MNRE). More than 150 people attended…
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Phuket partygoers injured in early morning crash
PHUKET: Yet another ‘drowsy’ driver and his two passengers were injured yesterday morning when their vehicle overturned near a Koh Kaew gas station. “We found an upside down Honda CRV stuck to a power pole near the PTT station on Thepkrasattri Road. All three occupants were trapped inside the car and rescue workers had to use Jaws of Life to…
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AMA, Xterra bring off road triathlon, trail run to Phuket [video]
PHUKET: Xterra Thailand and Active Management Asia (AMA) have partnered up to organize the ‘Xterra Off Road Triathlon and Trail Run’ on April 1 in Phuket. Following the success of Xterra Samui held last year, the company is now hosting its debut event in the ‘Xterra Asia Pacific and World Series 2017- Road to Hawaii’. The trail run event, part…
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Phuket, Nakhon Sri Thammarat seek mutual economic benefit
PHUKET: Phuket and Nakhon Sri Thammarat signed a Memorandum of Understanding yesterday, titled ‘Imagine Nakhon Sri Thammarat & Phuket 2017: A new Economic and Tourism Cooperation Development’. The MOU was signed at Phuket Provincial Hall by Phuket Governor Chokchai Dajamornthan and Nakhon Sri Thammarat Govenor Chamroen Tipayapongtada, with other relevant government officers and private sector officials in attendance. “The purpose…
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Phuket tourism operators display their wares in Berlin
PHUKET: At least 28 hotel and tourism operators from the Andaman region participated in the ‘International Tourism Bourse (ITB) 2017’ event held from March 1-12 in Berlin, Germany. Phuket Governor Chokchai Dejamornthan, Phuket Tourist Association (PTA) President Sathirapong Na Takuatoong, as well as officials from OrBorJor Phuket and Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) were among those present. Her Royal Highness…
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Shamed Phuket travel company’s assets to be auctioned
PHUKET: The Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO) is auctioning off 15 assets, worth about 15 million baht, of Tranlee Travel Co Ltd on Monday. Tranlee was an established, full-function tour service provider in Phuket until July last year, when police arrested a senior director and shareholder for allegedly faking two Thai national ID cards used to register the business (story here).…
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‘Slippery roads’ claim yet another victim in Phuket
PHUKET: An unidentified Thai man died after he fell from his bike and was hit by a van in Karon this afternoon. “The accident took place at about 2:10pm on the uphill road from Chalong to Karon. At the scene, we found a man aged 30-35 years, lying in the middle of the road, with no identification documents on him,”…
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Phuket locals, officials team up to clean up
PHUKET: Officials from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MNRE) joined hands with locals, students and sea gypsies in a trash collection effort at Koh Sireh this morning. A team of 150 people, including Phuket Vice Governor Sanith Sriwihok and Somchai Maisatian of the MNRE, gathered at Laem Tukkae Beach at about 10am. “The focus of this campaign is…
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Phuket marine expert says coral restoration ‘successful’
PHUKET: An expert from the Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC) has stated that a decades-long coral restoration project at Koh Mai Thon has yielded significant improvements in marine life in the area. More than 30 types of coral were grown when the project was first started in 1994, after a large number of reefs were damaged by a powerful storm…
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Phuket ‘snake master’ captures king cobra in minutes
PHUKET: Bang Tao locals were stunned when a local snake catcher managed to capture a three-meter-long king cobra with his bare hands in a matter of minutes yesterday evening. The incident occurred at a house in Bang Tao Soi 7 at about 5pm yesterday. A local woman, Kob, saw the snake making its way into her neighbor Surin Bilabdullah’s house,…
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Ladyboy injured after jumping off Phuket bridge
PHUKET: An unidentified ladyboy was seriously injured after jumping off a bridge in Rawai early this morning. “Locals reported the incident at about 1:30am. We found her lying unconscious on the ground under the bridge, without any identification documents on her person,” said Lt Col Kanaen Somrak of Chalong Police. Police told Phuket Gazette reporters that she looked to be…
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Three arrested for stealing from German tourist in Phuket
PHUKET: Three men were arrested this morning for stealing a German tourist’s bag containing a wallet, a cell phone and a hotel key card, at Loma Park in Patong yesterday. The victim, Herter Ekika, was relaxing at the beach when a Thai man came up to her and started talking. “The first suspect, Nattawat Sengpatom, engaged Ms Ekika in conversation,…
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Suspects hangs himself in Phuket holding cell
PHUKET: A man arrested for trespassing died after he hanged himself in a holding cell at Cherng Talay Police Station early this morning. The suspect, Rossaniyom Putdee, 29, made a noose out of his T-shirt and tied it to a bar inside his cell. His body was taken to Thalang Hospital for further examination. He had been arrested at about…
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Taxi flips on main Phuket thoroughfare
PHUKET: A taxi driver escaped with minor injuries after he flipped his vehicle on Thepkrasattri Road yesterday afternoon. “We found an upside-down green-plated Toyota Altis taxi in the middle of the southbound lane,” said Lt Suporn Muangkai of Thalang Police. The driver, Piyapat Sae-Ong, 47, experienced chest pains from the crash and was taken to Thalang Hospital for treatment. “He…
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Nation, Wall Street Journal in editorial revamp
PHUKET: Phuket Gazette national media partner The Nation has announced a global partnership, editorial and commercial, with the Wall Street Journal. In making the announcement yesterday, The Nation noted that rapid changes in technology and consumer behavior had deepened connections between its readers in Thailand and the world – particularly in technology, politics and business. Editorial content in The Nation,…
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Surin vendors upset over exclusion from 10-percent zone
PHUKET: A number of vendors working in the vicinity of Surin this morning submitted a letter to the Cherng Talay OrBorTor demanding a 10-percent zone to operate in, similar to the arrangement at other Phuket beaches (except Laem Sing which is now apparently private). Surin, which previously operated under the 10 percent rule, was converted to a ‘virgin beach’ in…
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Russian tourism to Phuket rising sharply
PHUKET: Last year, rebounding Russian tourism contributed an estimated 30 billion baht (approximately US$848 million) to Phuket’s economy, according to C9 Hotelworks‘ latest report on the segment. One clear-cut metric of the attraction of Phuket for Russians is that 51 per cent of the country’s travelers to Thailand now come here. Total 2016 Russian passenger arrivals on international flights to…
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Phuket cobra scare: one caught, one escapes
PHUKET: Rescue workers caught a 5-meter-long king cobra from a bamboo tree near a Rawai house on Saturday. “We found the 10kg snake at a soi in Baan Saiyuan. Ten Rawai Municipality Rescue workers took about two hours to catch it,” said one rescue worker. There were two of them up in a bamboo tree. The other managed to escape.…
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900kg of drugs nabbed at Phuket border
PHUKET: Police arrested a man with 900 kilograms of the illicit drug krathom, worth about 450,000 baht, at the Tah Chat Chai checkpoint on Saturday night. “We were conducting a random check following the policy of keeping an eye on every vehicle entering Phuket. So we stopped a pick-up truck and asked to search the vehicle,” said Tah Chat Chai…
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Mother of missing Russian tourist arrives on Koh Tao
KOH TAO: The mother of a missing Russian tourist has arrived on the resort island of Koh Tao, while DNA results on bones that were believed to belong to the woman have proved negative. Despite launching a full-scale land and sea search for Valentina Novozhyonova (story here), authorities have so far failed to find the 23-year-old tourist, who checked into…
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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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