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.
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30th King’s Cup Regatta sets sail under “Heritage of Passion’
PHUKET: Fair winds were afoot on Sunday for the launch of the 30th annual Phuket King’s Cup Regatta, which this year is under the theme ‘Heritage of Passion’, in memory of the late HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej and in honor of Thailand’s new monarch HM King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun. Held at the Kata Beach Resort December 3-10 under the auspices…
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High-surf, storm warnings issued for Phuket
PHUKET: A high-surf warning has been issued for Phuket beaches, particularly the West Coast ones, by the Surin-Bangtao Surf Lifesaving Club this morning. Starting Wednesday, an unusually powerful and extra-seasonal storm is predicted to affect Phuket and to continue over the next seven to ten days, the “Club” announced today. The beaches named in the advisory are Nai Harn, Kata…
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Polish tourists beaten, robbed by Phuket teenagers
PHUKET: Phuket police yesterday evening apprehended four teenagers who brutally attacked and robbed two Polish tourists at Karon viewpoint on Thursday night. Karon Police arrived at the scene of the crime to find the tourists injured and scared. The victims told police that four young boys came up behind them while they were walking. One of them smashed a glass…
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Homeless man blamed for Phuket Town fire
PHUKET: A mentally unstable homeless man is suspected to have started a fire that burnt down a house in Phuket Town about 5am today. The two-storey house located on Thepkrasattri Road, about 500 meters from Satree Phuket School, was enveloped by flames and smoke when firefighters and officials from the Phuket City Municipality Disaster Prevention (PMDP) Department arrived at the…
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Police officer unstable after crashing into Heroines’ Monument barrier
PHUKET: A police officer was seriously injured late last night when he crashed his car into one of the steel pillars around the Heroines’ Monument in Thalang. Thalang Police received a report of the crash just before midnight and arrived at the scene to find the driver, Pol Lance Corporal Thanakorn Jimjuan of Phuket City Police, lying on the sidewalk.…
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Unlicensed hotels given two months to register
PHUKET: Unlicensed hotels in Phuket have been given a two-month deadline to become legally registered or face consequences. Phuket Governor Chokchai Dejamornthan said on Thursday, after a meeting with provincial officials, that more than 1,300 establishments currently operating in the province as hotel-like accommodation had until January 31 next year to properly register as hotel accommodation; otherwise, legal action would…
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Immigration chief urges strict safety checks in Phuket
PHUKET: Officials are tightening security checks at Phuket immigration in preparation for the high season, in accordance with orders issued by the Immigration Commissioner yesterday. After meeting with officials to discuss safety initiatives, Lt Gen Nathathorn Prousoontorn visited the immigration offices in Phuket Town and at Phuket International Airport to review safety procedures and ensure readiness for the high season,…
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Phuket King’s Cup marks 30th anniversary
PHUKET: This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Phuket King’s Cup Regatta Under Royal Patronage since its inception in 1986. What has become one of Thailand’s most prestigious sailing events was launched after a number of the country’s yachting fraternity met to discuss what they could do as a special tribute for His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s forthcoming Fifth…
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Canadian tourist robbed of $4,000 by Bangla ‘companion’
PHUKET: A hapless Canadian tourist yesterday filed a complaint against a Thai woman, claiming that she made off with about 130,000 baht in cash from his hotel room. Alexander Ryan, 31, told police that he had met the woman on Bangla Road in Patong on Tuesday night, and then invited her back to his room at the Holiday Inn hotel…
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Facebook coral dealers arrested in Krabi
KRABI: Two women involved in the illegal sale of coral on Facebook were apprehended in Ao Luek yesterday evening. The arresting officers found more than 20 kilograms of coral in their possession. They had been dealing in coralline algae, sea pens and various other coral used in jewelry. A joint “task force” of 30 personnel [yes, thirty] comprising Krabi Marine…
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Two arrested for mobile snatching in Phuket
PHUKET: Two men were apprehended after they snatched an iPhone from two Chinese tourists in Patong last night. The suspects were named as Sarawuth Rattanaprasert, 21, and Thanawuth Hirankakorn, 19. “We received a report of a robbery on Sai Nam Yen Road about 7pm. Patrol officers in the area immediately took action when they saw the two victims chasing Mr…
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Motorcyclist’s death finally prompts action to fix airport road
PHUKET: Following the death of a 22-year-old motorcyclist who broke his neck Thursday night ramming into a concrete blockade on the road alongside the Phuket Airport runway, authorities have requested a 72 million baht budget to fix and widen the road. The road was blocked off with four heavy-duty blocks four months ago after heavy rains caused a landslide (story…
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Missing Russian turns up, can’t remember a thing
PHUKET: A Russian tourist who went missing after diving into the sea while drunk at Kamala Beach late Monday night resurfaced yesterday afternoon with no recollection of the incident. Officials and rescue workers spent several hours searching for Mikhail Korneev after he was reported missing by a friend early yesterday morning (story here). The search – which also involved local…
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Foreign fishing boats seized for faking nationality
PHUKET: The Royal Thai Navy yesterday afternoon seized seven tuna fishing boats at Tha Sri Thai pier in Rassada for faking nationality documents to enter Thailand. The investigations are being conducted by a joint task force of the Navy, Immigration, the Marine Office, the Employment Office, the Marine Police and other officers, and led by Vice Admiral Suraphol Kuptaphan, commander…
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Russian missing after drunken midnight plunge
PHUKET: Police are searching for a Russian tourist who reportedly went missing after diving into the sea in a drunken state at Kamala Beach late last night. The man was named as Mikhail Korneev, 39, by a friend who reported the incident to police a little after midnight, adding that Mr Mikhail had been drinking heavily that night. “The incident…
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Phuket tour guides, bus drivers demand action for lost jobs
PHUKET: A group of local tour guides and a group of local tour bus operators simultaneously submitted letters at Phuket Provincial Hall today demanding that action be taken against illegal tour guides and operations “stealing” their jobs. About 50 members of the Andaman Tour Guide Association (Phuket-Phang Nga-Krabi) led by Mr Krit Thepbamrung gathered at Provincial Hall at 9.30am to…
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Busload of Russians injured as ‘brakes fail’
PHUKET: Three Russian tourists were seriously injured, and 39 others less so, when the bus they were taking to Phuket ended up in a ditch in Phang Nga yesterday. Lt Thavorn Thongkam of Takuathung Police received reports of the incident from Kok Kloi District, Phang Nga at 2pm. The driver of the bus belonging to MKR Transport, Nithakorn Jamrasklang, 26,…
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Man on the run after shooting boss in the head
PHUKET: Police are searching for a man suspected of shooting his employer in the head in Koh Kaew early this morning. “We found Pisekpong Oonwan, 38, behind the Isuzu showroom in the area, bleeding profusely from a head wound. He had a .22mm bullet lodged inside his head,” confirmed Lt Col Naruebadin Pangleesen of Phuket City Police. “He was taken…
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Tim Reed triumphs in Phuket’s Foremost Ironman 70.3
PHUKET: Australian athlete Tim Reed was the overall winner of the Foremost Ironman 70.3 held at Bangtao Beach yesterday, crossing the finish line with a time of 3 hours 48 minutes and 33 seconds. The grueling course comprised a 1.9km swim, followed by a 90km bike race from the beach up to the Sarasin Bridge and back, and then a…
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Marine Office prepares to tackle Mai Khao encroachment
PHUKET: The Phuket Marine Office yesterday vowed to take action against a business owner who has allegedly constructed a building on public beach land in Mai Khao. Earlier this month, the building owner, Somboon Pakdee, was summoned for discussions to allow him to clarify his position. “Locals from Moo 5, Baan Laem La, filed a complaint that Mr Somboon had…
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Speedboat sinks longtail at Maya Bay
PHUKET: A minor was injured yesterday after a speedboat smashed into a longtail boat at Phi Phi Island’s Maya Bay. Krabi Marine officials say they “now” plan to boost safety standards in the area after two similar “incidents” over just the past two days, and at least ten such crashes, some of them fatal, at Phi Phi over the past…
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Freedom Beach land battle heats up
PHUKET: Department of Forestry officers yesterday morning checked up on land at Freedom Beach after some titles were revoked back in May, while the alleged owner threatened to sue them. Foresty and Navy personnel were led by Boonsueb Samakwet, director of Forestry Division 12, at about 11am at the site. These are the long-debated four-billion-baht titles covering 65 rai of…
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70-year-old mother ‘beaten by son’ attempts bridge jump
PHUKET: Police and volunteers persuaded a 70 year-old woman not to jump off a footbridge in a suicide attempt in Phuket Town on Thursday. The distraught pensioner said she’d had enough of being beaten by her son and wanted to end it all. The woman, whose name has been withheld, was perched atop the footbridge at Komaraphat Junction near the…
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Speeding biker breaks neck in barrier crash
PHUKET: A speeding motorcyclist broke his neck last night in a fatal high-speed crash with a concrete barrier placed across a back road near Phuket Airport. Witnesses told police that the rider was moving along the road extremely fast in the direction of the airport on a Honda Click motorbike. “It seems he didn’t know the barrier was there,” said…
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Motorcyclist killed in horrific rush-hour smash
PHUKET: A 68-year-old man on a motorcycle was killed instantly this morning in a horrific 4-vehicle collision at 7am in front of the SuperCheap store near the Heroine’s Monument on the four-lane road to Pa Khlok. According to police reports, witnesses said the motorcyclist swerved in front of a Subaru driven by Kornthip Kriangkra, 32, heading toward Pa Khlok. He…
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Isarn rice selling like hot cakes in Krabi
PHUKET: An additional 100 tons of rice was ordered from Isarn for Krabi consumers after two lots of 16 tonnes each were sold out last week. The Agricultural Marketing Co-operative and Krabi Provincial Co-operative offices jointly imported the rice from Sisaket to help farmers in that province sell their product directly to consumers, without having to pass through the pressures…
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Barriers erected to halt vendors at Patong Beach
PHUKET: About 15 stall holders at Loma Park on Patong Beach pleaded with the governor of Phuket to ask for help after Patong Municipality yesterday cordoned off the area with metal fences in an effort to oust the vendors. The move follows an ‘inconclusive’ meeting between the vendors and Phuket officials on November 1 (story here), during which the vendors…
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Thailand Yacht Show organizers push to make Thailand Asia’s marine hub
PHUKET: Organizers of the second edition of the Thailand Yacht Show (TYS) to be held December 15-18 at Phuket’s Ao Po Grand Marina aim to inject millions of dollars into the country’s economy as they steam ahead to make Thailand Asia’s marine hub of choice for superyacht owners and marine leisure enthusiasts. Held in partnership with the Thai government, TYS…
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Koh Lanta villagers cash in on seasonal shellfish
KOH LANTA: Enterprising villagers on Koh Lanta are earning up to 3,000 baht a week getting their hands dirty collecting shellfish. The coastal village entrepreneurs are making ends meet by digging in the wet sand at nearby beaches for ‘tapao’ shells – a type of edible clam-like mollusk that appears in the area at the end of the monsoon season…
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Divers sought for Phuket seahorse release
PHUKET: Phuket Aquarium is recruiting 20 volunteer divers to help release 989 seahorses into the Andaman Sea on December 5. The release of the aquarium-bred thorny seahorses, aged three months to one year old, is in dedication to His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej. The aquarium is based at the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources’ Andaman Marine and Coastal Resources…
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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