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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Wichit marijuana dealer apprehended, bought stash through Facebook
PHUKET: Provincial police arrested a 28-year-old man yesterday after a raid of his home turned up 1.3 kilograms of marijuana. Nopparut Tongserikun was arrested after police found the category 5 drugs, along with drug paraphernalia at his house on Wirat Hong Yok Road in Wichit sub-district. Police received a tip from an informant that Mr Nopparut was allegedly selling marijuana…
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Police recover bomb remnants from scene of Krabi fire
KRABI: Police in Ao Nang recovered two devices yesterday that they suspect were part of the incendiary bombs used to set fire to a souvenir shop in the tourist destination on August 12. Forensic Police Region 8 Colonel Surapol Jaisan said Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) personnel assisted in examining the wreckage of the Ao Nang shop for evidence linking the…
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Police arrest six in another big krathom drug bust
PHANG NGA: Police arrested six members of an alleged krathom drug distribution network on Monday. The gang is charged with possession of 326 kilograms of the category 5 drug, which police estimate has a street value of 300,000 baht. A joint task force comprised of Thalang administrative officers, Khok Kloi police and civil defense volunteers reportedly detained two suspects after…
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Krabi man shot dead in palm plantation
KRABI: Police are looking for an unknown assailant who shot dead a man in a Krabi palm plantation yesterday. Krabi City Police received reports of the shooting in Thapprik sub-district at about 3:30pm. “At the scene, we found the body of 39-year-old Jaran Petchseewong lying face up in a pool of blood, with a bullet wound to the chest and…
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Bombings in Pattani kill one, injure several and damage hotel
PATTANI: Three bombs rocked the southern province of Pattani last night, killing one and injuring dozens. The first bomb exploded in a parking space behind a bar in Muang District around 11pm but did not result in any loss of life. The second bomb, hidden inside a vehicle, blew up a short time later in front of the Southern View…
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Bus driver flees after Chinese tourists injured in crash
PHUKET: More than 30 Chinese tourists were injured when their tour bus crashed into a temple at the bottom of Patong Hill last night. Police are hunting for the bus driver, who reportedly fled after ploughing into the wall of Wat Suwan Kiriwong, around 8:30pm. “There was a lot of broken glass all around. A car and a van were…
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Four bodies wash ashore in Krabi
KRABI: Four bodies that have washed ashore in Krabi over the past two days could be those of crew members who went missing when their fishing boat sank more than a week ago. Officials are awaiting DNA test results, but believe the bodies belong to the missing crew of the Bumroong Thai Nawa fishing vessel, which sank on August 15…
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20-year-old shot by boss after drinking kratom at work
KRABI: Police are hunting for the owner of a car body shop in Krabi, on the run after shooting dead an employee found drinking kratom juice at work on Saturday afternoon. Krabi City Police Major Supat Hemjinda said the shooting occurred at S&P Speed Shop, just 100 meters from a police box, on Phet Kasem Road in Krabi Town. “The…
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French tourist drowns at Nai Thon
PHUKET: A French woman drowned after swimming in a red-flag zone on Nai Thon Beach on Saturday afternoon. Anne Sophie Marie Torrijos-Faisant, 23, reportedly drowned as her friends looked on. They were unable to help as she was dragged out to sea by a rip current. “We were told that Ms Torrijos-Faisant was swimming with her friends when she was…
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Phuket Vegetarian Festival dates announced
PHUKET: Phuket Vice Governor Prajiad Aksornthammakul announced the dates of this year’s Vegetarian Festival, as well as a special prayer ceremony to honor HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej, earlier this week. The nine-day festival is slated to take place from October 1-9. The event attracts thousands of visitors to Phuket to witness the festivities, which include fire-walking, bladed-ladder climbing, hundreds of…
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Island-wide security center for foreign nationals promised
PHUKET: The Royal Thai Police announced yesterday morning that new safety measures will be taken by Provincial Police to boost tourist “confidence” in light of the August 12 bombings. At a meeting of local officials and consular representatives, the police responded positively to the requests of 15 consuls to assign officers to a contact and information center in case of…
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20kg Krabi python slithers in for a latte
KRABI: A three and a half meter long python slithered into a coffee shop in Krabi in search of sustenance yesterday morning. Panrin Kongprom, a staff member at the shop, said that the 20-kilogram python had stopped traffic near the Tesco Lotus Express to make its way across Maharat Road in Krabi Town and into Kunya Coffee Shop. Krabi Pitak…
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Four-year-old finds father hanging from tree
PHUKET: A four-year-old girl found her dead father hanging by his neck from a tree near the Tah Rua Temple this morning. The 43-year-old man, named Wirot Jadsang, used to work as a hotel cook. He reportedly died about two hours before his daughter found his body, on her way to school. Lt Col Sanich Nookon of Thalang Police arrived…
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Another car mysteriously bursts into flames
PHUKET: The driver of a Honda Accord had to make an emergency stop when his car burst into flames last night. The car’s owner, Nantapol Saelim, 34, was driving from his house in Koh Kaew and heading into town about 10pm, when he smelled burning and promptly pulled in to the Merlin Hotel car park on Yaowarat Road, police told…
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Phuket Town bars raided, managers charged
PHUKET: Proprietors of two bars in Phuket Town were charged yesterday morning for selling alcohol after-hours in raids conducted by police and public health officials. At 12:30am, the officers paid a visit to the venue Harem, located on Phang Nga Road in Talad Yai, where they found alcohol still being served to customers. Regulations allow entertainment venues to open until…
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Krabi faces 12-day blackout from August 20-31
KRABI: Hotel business operators in Krabi are preparing for blackouts scheduled from August 20-31 due to a halt in the gas supply used to generate electricity by the Malaysia-Thailand Joint Authority (JDA-A18). The interruption in supply is said to be due to annual maintenance. Business operators are checking the readiness of their own generators in order to combat the blackouts.…
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Israeli ambassador thanks gov for M’bala ban
PHUKET: Israeli Ambassador Simon Roded met with Phuket Governor Chamroen Tipayapongtada at Phuket Provincial Hall yesterday, where he thanked the governor for not allowing a controversial French comedian to take the stage in January this year. A performance by controversial comedian and hate-speech convict Dieudonne M’bala M’bala was scheduled to take place at the Illuzion night club in Phuket, but…
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Sinkhole threatens to swallow road in Krabi Village
KRABI: A sinkhole that appeared overnight in a village in Krabi is threatening to swallow up a road and nearby houses if it gets any larger. District officials went to inspect the 3.5-meter deep hole that opened up on a roadside yesterday in Lam Tab district after heavy rainfall. After climbing down into the 1.5-meter-wide hole, inspectors discovered that it…
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Thailand named ‘least miserable’ by Bloomberg
PHUKET: Thailand has been named the least miserable country in the world, according to the 2016 ‘Misery Index’ compiled by Bloomberg. A total of 74 countries were included in the survey. The index was first introduced in 1980 by American economist Arthur Okun and is determined by adding the inflation rate to the unemployment rate. Factors such as the strength…
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Governor Chamroen moved out
PHUKET: Phuket Governor Chamroen Tipayapongtada is being transferred to Nakhon Sri Thammarat effective October 1. Prime Minister’s Office spokesman Maj Gen Sansern Kaewkamnerd today announced the Cabinet’s decision to transfer 19 officers in the Ministry of Interior, including the Phuket governor, but did not specify the reasons behind the move. Governor Chamroen assumed his current position in Phuket on September…
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Five arrested with 400kg of kratom
PHUKET: Five suspects were arrested with 400 kilograms of kratom leaves during a raid in Rassada last night. Governor Chamroen Tippayapongtada revealed details of the arrests at a press conference held at the Phuket office of the Narcotics Control Board (NCB) this morning. The suspects were named as Sirichai Madlerdsak, 35, Chaisiri Sekpatan, 30, Usaman Mani, 25, Samlee Yapa, 25…
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Search continues for missing fishing crew
PHUKET: The Royal Thai Navy resumed their search this morning for five fishing boat crew members still missing after their boat sank off southern Phuket in stormy conditions on Sunday. Four men were found floating in the sea on Tuesday, including the stricken vessel’s captain, who was later pronounced dead (story here). A fifth crew member was rescued by a…
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Fifth missing crew member found
PHUKET: A fishing boat this morning picked up one of six crew members still lost at sea after their vessel sank off the south coast of Phuket yesterday. Four of the crew – comprising nine Burmese men and their Thai captain – were rescued by the Third Area Naval Command this morning (story here). The crew member was found floating…
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Another delay: Samkong Underpass completion pushed to end of August
PHUKET: The expected mid-August completion date of the Samkong Underpass has been pushed back yet again, this time until the end of this month. “The rain has made the process quite slow,” said Chalermpol Wongkiattikun, the project engineer from the Department of Highways. “The underpass is about 90 per cent complete and we expect the entire project to be completed…
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Mazda blows up in Krabi dentist’s driveway
KRABI: The driver of a Mazda 2 escaped serious injury last night when her three-year-old hatchback burst into flames as she pulled into her driveway. Nattira Phumchat, 27, a dentist at Krabi Hospital, was arriving home from the market in Krabi Town at around 8pm, when smoke began billowing out from under the car’s hood. “I stopped the car and…
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Rewards for would-be Patong bombing suspect
PHUKET: Another explosive device was found in Patong yesterday, police confirmed. A phone-based explosive device was found in China Town Plaza, near where a security guard recovered a similar device on August 10. The device’s recovery comes in the wake of bombings across Thailand’s south this weekend, that killed four and left more than 30 injured. Phuket Provincial Police released…
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Light rail plans approved for submission to ministry
PHUKET: Phuket Governor Chamroen Tipayapongtada met with private and public sector officials at Phuket Provincial Hall today, where the multi-billion-baht light rail project plans were finally agreed upon. The news comes in the wake of a push by Governor Chamroen earlier this month, when he called on the Office of Transport and Traffic Policy and Planning (OTP) in Bangkok to…
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Russian loses life in red flag swim at Karon Beach
PHUKET: A Russian man was pronounced dead shortly after lifeguards at Karon Beach pulled his unconscious body from the surf yesterday morning. Lifeguards reported that the 50-year-old man entered the water in the red flag (no-swimming) zone at the beach and disappeared in the surf about 11am. “It took awhile for the lifeguards to locate the man after he went…
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Thai tourism takes brief hit after bombings
PHUKET: Phuket hotel and tourism organizations issued a joint statement yesterday evening in the wake of a string of bombings across southern Thailand, including twin bombings in Patong yesterday (story here). The Phuket Tourist Association, Thai Hotel Association, Patong Hotel Association and the Kata Karon Hotel Business Association’s declaration stated that they expect the bombings to briefly affect the numbers…
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Update: Security stepped up nationwide after bombings
PHUKET: In a statement issued this morning, Phuket Governor Chamroen Tipayapongtada said has ordered additional security personnel to be deployed across the island, in the wake of two blasts in Patong this morning. The governor’s comments come after a meeting with military and police advisers at Phuket Provincial Hall. The province was put on ‘high alert’ yesterday, after a bomb…
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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