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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Samui suffering from serious drought
KOH SAMUI: Desperate drought-hit residents on Koh Samui are turning to spirits for help after receiving little assistance from local authorities. “There has been no help from the local government,” said Samui villager Sawat Limsuwan, 61, yesterday having prayed for the heavens to open at a makeshift shrine on his parched land early last month. Mr Sawat told the Phuket…
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Festival raids seize over 70k pills
PHUKET: Provincial police announced yesterday that they have seized nearly 72,000 methamphetamine pills, estimated to have a street value of 4 million baht, over the course of the past week. Phuket Provincial Police Commander Teeraphol Thipjaroen told the Phuket Gazette that the annual Vegetarian Festival brings with it a chance for dealers and suppliers to transfer drugs and cash in…
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Hotel owner faces forest encroachment charges
PHUKET: A team from the Royal Forestry Department (RFD) raided a hotel located on the Bypass Road this morning after locals complained that the establishment was encroaching on forest land. “We got a complaint in March that the Hilltop Hotel and Residence, located behind the Wang Mai wooden shop, was encroaching on forest land,” said RFD Deputy Director General Somchai…
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B3mn damages in Yamu speedboat blaze
PHUKET: Investigators confirmed today that an electrical short circuit was the cause of a speedboat blaze off Yamu Pier in Pa Khlok on September 24. Three crew members were injured in the fire, with one of them sustaining serious injuries including a broken leg and burns on 40-50 per cent of his body (story here). He is still under doctors’…
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Crane crash damages two vehicles at Krabi Hospital car park
KRABI: Two vehicles were damaged when a crane crashed into a covered garage in front of a residential building at Krabi Hospital this morning. The crane driver, Sompong Chinnawong, 60, claimed that he could not stop the crane, despite repeated attempts to brake. “I was trying to start the engine, but it would not start. Then, for some reason, it…
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Tourist bus crash causes pile-up on Patong hill
PHUKET: Yet another tour bus has crashed on Patong Hill. In the accident on Wednesday afternoon, the driver lost control and ploughed into three other vehicles, resulting in a Thai man being seriously injured and 11 others sustaining injuries. Witnesses told Patong Police that the bus crossed over into oncoming traffic while in a downhill turn, crashing into a pick-up…
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Krabi taxi drivers’ brawl goes viral
KRABI: Airport ‘Limousine’ drivers and metered taxi drivers came to blows when a heated argument about passengers escalated at Krabi International Airport on Tuesday. A video clip shot by a bystander was shared and widely criticized on social media. The caption of the video is “Krabi International Airport fight between green plate taxi and taxi meter [sic]. I don’t want…
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Man in ICU after drive-by road rage shooting
PHUKET: A 23-year-old Thai man is in intensive care after being shot in a drive-by road rage attack this morning. Thalang police told the Phuket Gazette they received an emergency call at about 6am, after Chayan Srinual was rushed to Thalang Hospital. “Mr Chayan was shot once in the left side of his back,” said Thalang police Captain Chatree Chuwichian.…
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Longtail passengers rescue fellow tourist
KRABI: A Chinese tourist was lucky that a Royal Thai Navy rescue team was on hand after she nearly drowned in the Andaman Sea on Saturday. Xiaochang Lai, 23, along with five other tourists, was touring the bay on a longtail boat and had stopped to snorkel around the coral reef at Koh Gai. Ms Lai became separated from her…
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New vice governors named
PHUKET: The Interior Ministry yesterday announced Phuket’s three new vice governors, who will be taking their posts on October 10. The vice governors were named as Sanit Sriwihok, previously the Surat Thani Provincial Chief Administrative Officer (Palad); Theera Anantasereewittaya, previously the Department of Local Administration inspector in Bangkok; and the second female vice governor for Phuket, Siwaporn Chuasawat, previously the…
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Festival firecrackers ignite Supercheap blaze
PHUKET: Police said they believe a fire that spread across Bang Tao’s Supercheap store yesterday was ignited by children’s firecrackers. Firefighters and personnel from the Cherngtalay Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM) office raced to the scene of the blaze yesterday afternoon. Firefighters reportedly battled the blaze for 20 minutes before it was extinguished. Goods inside the store were…
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Vegetable Frenzy brings economic boon
PHUKET: Phuket’s controversial Vegetarian Festival is expected to generate 3.4 billion baht in revenue for the local economy, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) claimed today. According to the TAT, during the closing days of the festival, hotel occupancy along the parade routes was up to 90 per cent. Additionally, officials said occupancy of beach hotels also increased during the…
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Cops nab racing teen riders
PHUKET: Traffic Police last night nabbed two teen motorbike riders who were allegedly racing with about 30 other riders along a stretch of road in Saphan Hin. Police received complaints at about 5:30pm that a group of more than 30 teenagers were racing motorbikes near the Vegetarian Festival celebrations. Responding officers were only able to catch the two teens. The…
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Phuket Vegetarian Festival in full swing
PHUKET: This year’s Vegetarian Festival in Phuket is fully underway, with processions of devotees marching to Chinese shrines across the island for the second day of rituals this week. Yesterday, devotees and festival participants gathered at Choor Su Gong Naka shrine for the first street procession of the festival. Crowds gathered at the Bang Ku shrine today for a second…
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U-turn flyovers delayed again after local protests
PHUKET: The country’s highest-ranking ombudsman met with local town planning and highways officers on Wednesday to discuss local protests causing delays in construction of two proposed u-turn flyovers along Thepkrasattri Road. Ombudsman Office Secretary-General Raksagecha Chaechai met with the local officials to discuss plans following public complaints over two proposed flyover projects aimed at reducing road accidents and fatalities at…
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Krabi vet asks for donations to feed baby elephant
KRABI: A vet in Krabi is appealing the public to help fund milk supplies for a newborn male elephant who was rejected by his mother and needs up to 20 liters of infant formula a day. The baby elephant was born on September 7 to a 20-year-old elephant named ‘Pang Rampai’. However, the mother is refusing to feed the young…
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Blind community offered boosted standards and legal venue registrations
PHUKET: The Thailand Association of the Blind (TAB) organized an informational discussion at the Bhukitta Hotel & Spa on Wednesday to boost the standard of blind massage parlors and tweak their registration process. The event was led by Phuket Vice Governor Chokdee Amornwat, alongside deputy director of the TAB Surat Puengsiriwathana, and Petrat Techatracha, head of The Blinds Vocational Promotion…
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Local artists protest coal plant
KRABI: Twenty artists gathered at Krabi Provincial Hall to stage a peaceful protest on Thursday morning against a coal power plant slated to be built in the Nua Khlong District. Vasan Sitthiket, an artist and activist who is part of the group, painted landscapes depicting how locals in the area would be affected by the plant. “We went to the…
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Cockfighting purse largest in Thai history
PHUKET: Two veteran roosters in Samui’s cockfighting ring drew the largest bets in Thailand’s history yesterday. Cockfighters from Chumporn, Ranong, Surat Thani, Nakhon Si Thammarat and Samui circled around the Baan Lipa Yai ring yesterday afternoon, cheering and placing more than 2 million baht in bets. The headlining fight, between an eight-month-old gamecock from Chumporn named Hua Pok, and a…
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New Phuket governor arrives
PHUKET: Newly appointed Phuket Governor Dr Chokchai Dejamornthan and his wife Raweewan Dejamornthan, who is the new president of the Phuket Red Cross, received a warm welcome on their arrival in Phuket this morning. About a hundred people from both government and the private sector showed up to welcome the couple at Phuket airport at 10:30am. In keeping with tradition,…
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Burmese dies from anal injuries
KOH SAMUI: A Myanmar man died Wednesday afternoon in Koh Samui, nine days after he was admitted to hospital with a torn anus, anal inflammation and a blood infection from a torn intestine. Capt Issaret Saneangwan of Samui Police received reports regarding the deceased from Samui Hospital. “Thirty-year-old Mueang Santoo had passed away about an hour before we arrived at…
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Phuket Airport Road: Landslide plan to be revealed next month
PHUKET: A plan to prevent landslides along the road running parallel to the runway at Phuket International Airport is expected to be completed by next month. The need for a plan came about when continuous rains on August 31 loosened the earth on the 141-meter-tall hill (Khao Bo Sai), and caused a landslide that spilled onto the road (story here).…
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Task force shuts down illegal gambling ring in Krabi
KRABI: A joint task force arrested 66 suspected gamblers and confiscated over half a million baht worth of gambling paraphernalia during a raid of a local gambling den in Krabi yesterday. More than 30 officials from Nua Khlong Police, along with 16 military personnel, marched into the middle of a rice field at Pakasai sub-district of Nua Khlong District, where…
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Patong Swimmer stung by Portuguese Man of War
PHUKET: Lifeguards at Patong Beach helped a swimmer on Monday who had been stung on one of her legs by a Portuguese Man-of-War. In a Facebook post on Tuesday, the lifeguards said they had helped remove the siphonophore from the victim after she was stung. The swimmer, who wished to remain anonymous, said the sting was small but painful. The…
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Man ‘bathes’ in pothole to push road repairs
PHUKET: A Krabi local ‘bathed’ in a pothole Tuesday morning as a sarcastic act of protest against the condition of the roads in the area. The man, who calls himself ‘Rosemary’, is 53-year-old Payong Noosiri. Several surprised locals watched as Mr Payong took pictures of himself bathing in a pothole in Krabi’s Baan Lamthap village. Mr Payong said he was…
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Arrest warrants issued for ATM hackers
PHUKET: Police issued two more arrest warrants on September 26 for Russian suspects wanted in connection with the nation-wide ATM fraud that ripped off over 12 million baht from Government Savings Bank (GSB) ATMs. The group of foreigners travelled around the country using specially-engineered credit cards to overcome safety precautions and empty ATMs in Phuket, Phang Nga, Surat Thani, Phretcha…
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Phuket Gazette Radio is here, launched at 0500 today
PHUKET: It’s here, and it’s on a mission with news all day. News remains the Gazette’s reason for being, just as it’s always been, since 1993. Our flagship show, ‘The News Room’, takes you deep inside the local news, issues and events that matter to Phuketians. Here you’ll also get the important regional and international stories that the island’s cosmopolitan…
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First wedding planner’s congress in Asia coming to Phuket
PHUKET: Wedding planners from across the world will descend on Phuket for a global conference this Spring, the Ministery of Tourism and Sports announced last week. The Destination Wedding Planners Congress (DWPC) is hosted by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) and is scheduled to be held at Laguna Golf Phuket in May of 2017. “Destination-themed weddings are a big…
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Body of Swedish man found hanged in Kamala hotel room
PHUKET: Staff at the Kamala Regent Resort found the body of a Swedish guest hanged by the neck in the bathroom of his hotel room yesterday afternoon. The 47-year-old Swede was wearing only a hotel bathrobe and found in a kneeling position, leaning forward, with a taut rope around his neck that was strung up on a part of the…
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Portuguese Man-of-War back at the beaches
PHUKET: Sirinath National Park chief Kitiphat Tharapiban said today that ‘water activities’ have been suspended at Phuket’s Nai Thon, Layan and Nai Yang beaches after blooms of Portuguese Man-of-War siphonophore were spotted in the national park area on Friday (September 23). “Stings from the Portuguese Man-of-War can be fatal so we have closed the beaches and posted warning notices where…
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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