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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PM Prayuth set to visit Phuket
PHUKET: Prime Minister Gen Prayuth Chan-o-cha, who is scheduled to visit Phuket next Friday, has a number of items on his agenda, including the grand opening of the new airport terminal and the regional launch of Startup Thailand. The following is the itinerary for his visit (some details subject to change): 8:30-9:30am: Grand opening ceremony of the new terminal at…
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Tranlee asset auction hailed “success’ with B166mn in bids
PHUKET: The auctioning of assets seized from defunct Tranlee Travel Co by the Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO) raised more than 166 million baht, it was revealed today. AMLO Auctioneer Col Kovit Piromwong announced this afternoon that three days of auctions at Phuket City Hall from September 6 to 8 saw bidding on 34 boats and 83 tour buses for a…
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Born to be wild: Baby gibbons repopulating Phuket
PHUKET: “Gibbons released back into the wild several years ago have already begun to reproduce,” Wild Animal Rescue Foundation of Thailand (WARF) secretary-general Thanaphat Payakkaporn told the Phuket Gazette on Monday. “We released three gibbon couples into the wild several years ago but hadn’t seen them around for almost two years, so we were worried about them and wondered if…
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Video: Chao Fa black spot claims American motorcyclist
PHUKET: Chalong Municipality released video footage on Tuesday of collisions between cars and motorbikes at an accident black spot on Chao Fah East Road in Chalong, including that of a smash that killed an American motorcyclist on September 5. Municipality spokesperson Suphawattakan Kunlak said the footage of the fatal accident and other serious smashes involving motorcycles, where Soi Thanuthep opens…
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Vietjet launches new routes from Phuket to Bangkok, Chiang Rai
PHUKET: Vietnamese low-cost airline Vietjet announced its ‘domestic debut’ in Thailand on September 6 and the launch of new flight routes from Phuket to Bangkok and Chiang Rai this month. The ‘new-age’ airline already flies from Bangkok to Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi and operates 53 routes in Vietnam and to Thailand, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, China and Myanmar…
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Phuket Sea Gypsy sued again in new land dispute case
PHUKET: Rawai Sea Gypsies are facing yet another fight over their right to remain in their century-old village, which offers splendid views across the Andaman Sea. Rawai local Bancha Hatsaithong is being sued over allegedly encroaching on land owned by Jindarak Thammajak. This latest Sea Gypsy land dispute came to Phuket Provincial Court on Monday for its initial assessment, with…
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Boisterous bidding raises over B102.7mn at Tranlee auction
PHUKET: More than 150 assets seized from embattled Tranlee Travel Co fetched 102,742,000 baht at auction today. The auction to sell off boats, buses and other assets once owned by the now defunct travel company began at 10am today and is set to continue over the next few days until all of the assets have been sold off. The assets…
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Paralyzed American fall victim responsive after spine surgery
KRABI: An American teacher who was critically injured when she fell down a 45-meter-high cliff at Railay Bay in Krabi is conscious and responsive after being rescued on Friday, but still cannot move her legs. Hannah Michel Gavios, 23, is being treated at Bangkok Hospital Phuket after falling down the rock face while fleeing a would-be molester on Thursday night.…
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Underpass closure results in traffic nightmare
PHUKET: A five-car pile-up in the northbound lanes entering the Samkong Underpass around 10am today resulted in heavy traffic and long tailbacks. Traffic police responded by closing both the southbound and northbound lanes of the underpass in order to clear out the damaged vehicles. With the roads above the underpass closed to through traffic, the closure resulted in long tailbacks…
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Still no leads on fake bombs in Krabi
KRABI: Two devices, similar in design to the ones used in last month’s bombings (story here), were found in Krabi Town last week. Authorities believe that the devices, which consisted of wires connected to an electronic circuit board, were left to scare passersby and to test the emergency response capabilities of police. Police currently do not have any leads after…
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Tourists flee stinking trash on Koh Tao
KOH TAO: Tourists are checking out of their hotels on Koh Tao in droves – fleeing the stink of a 45,000-ton mountain of garbage that is growing by the day after the island’s incinerator broke down three weeks ago. With trash piling up at a rate of 30 to 40 tons a day on the island off Surat Thani, and…
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Phuket Old Town’s overhead power lines gone for good
PHUKET: The Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) announced on Saturday that it had finally completed a three-phase project to bury electric cables in the center of Phuket Town. The beautifying of Phuket Old Town by burying power cables began in 2010 along Thalang Road. The second phase saw the removal of overhead cables along parts of Dibuk Road, Krabi Road and…
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Saturday power cuts scheduled for Koh Kaew
PHUKET: Power is scheduled to be shut-off in Koh Kaew sub-district on Saturday, September 17 and Saturday September 24, the Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) has announced. The power outage is scheduled from 9am until 5pm on both days to facilitate construction work on the Ban Khu Underpass. The areas to be specifically affected by the power cut are Koh Kaew…
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Blaze guts Phuket Town home
PHUKET: It took five fire trucks about 40 minutes to extinguish a second-storey blaze in Phuket Town yesterday. Emergency services received a report of the house fire at 9:20am at number 44/2 on Patiphat Road. The second floor bedroom and prayer room in the two-storey house, named ‘Baan Thamrongpornsawat,’ were ablaze when firefighters arrived,” said Phuket City Police Lt Thaksin…
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Motorcyclist killed as CRV driver runs light
PHUKET: A motorcyclist was killed in Chalong on Saturday when a CRV driver ran a red light and crashed into him. CCTV footage from Chalong Municipality shows the CRV crashing into the motorbike at the T-junction in front of Baan Chalong School on Cha Fa West Road. The bike rider, Wattana Enkbuth, was thrown off and his head hit the…
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Phuket blood center needs AB supplies
PHUKET: The Phuket Regional Blood Center (PRBC) is holding blood donation sessions across Phuket throughout September to replenish blood stocks, especially AB blood types. Under the banner ‘Give Blood to Fellowmen’, the September blood donation drive is in honor of Her Majesty Queen Sirikit’s 84th birthday anniversary and His Majesty the King’s 70th anniversary of his accession to the throne.…
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2,700 tonnes of frozen fish moved off detained vessel
PHUKET: Officials from Department of Fisheries are removing about 2,700 tonnes of frozen tuna from two fishing vessels that were detained under suspicion of illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing seven months ago. The fish will be transferred from the Deep Sea Port, where the vessels are located, to cold storage at the Fish Marketing Organization in Rassada. The transfer…
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American woman falls off cliff while fleeing assaulter
PHUKET: An American tourist fell into a crevice off a 45-meter-high cliff at Railay Bay, Krabi while trying to save herself from sexual assault late Thursday night. The suspect, named Apai Ruangwong, 28, admitted to the attempted assault when police questioned him. He was also the one who notified the authorities for help. The 23-year-old woman, whose name is being…
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Medical schools join forensic probe into land suspect’s death
PHUKET: Forensic teams from medical schools have joined the investigation into the mysterious death of a former land department official – a major suspect in an illegal land-title registration case – while in police custody. Justice Minister General Paiboon Koomchaya said yesterday that to ensure transparency in the case, forensic teams from Chulalongkorn University, Ramathibodi Medical School, and Siriraj Medical…
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Municipality springs to action as social media complaint goes viral
PHUKET: A Phuket woman turned to social media for help after her complaints about an injury from a hanging wire allegedly went unheeded. Facebook user Fern A Romdee shared her complaints on a public Facebook group on Wednesday. She said the incident occurred as she was driving past Supercheap at Naka market. “At about 7pm on August 31, I was…
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Darasamuth Underpass southbound lane closed
PHUKET: The southbound lanes of the Darasamuth Underpass have been temporarily closed and the traffic light system shut down. “We found out about a problem with the lane indicators this afternoon so we shut down the lanes to prevent any confusion that could lead to accidents,” Patiwetwottisak Sookhii, director of the Phuket Highways Office, told the Phuket Gazette this afternoon.…
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Three foreign tour guides arrested
PHUKET: Three foreign nationals were arrested for working illegally as tour guides in Phuket yesterday. The arrests were made by a team of provincial officials on the lookout for illegal workers at the Asia Marina in Rassada. “The team spotted the three men working as guides for Chinese tourists at about 10am,” said Phuket Vice Governor Prajiad Aksornthammakul. The suspects…
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Volunteer diver hospitalized after being run over by speedboat
PHUKET: The driver of a speedboat is still at large, after running over a volunteer diver picking up trash yesterday. The diver, a fourth year student at Phuket’s Rajabhat University, is undergoing treatment at Vachira Phuket Hospital after having her right thumb amputated. Thirty-one year-old Patcharin Phetlorian was diving with fellow volunteers of the Phang Nga Provincial Natural Resource and…
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PEA holds bomb drill in Patong
PHUKET: Emergency services rolled into action at the Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) office in Patong in a simulated bomb incident yesterday. Fire fighters and medical personnel, along with police and a bomb disposal squad, evacuated crisis actors on stretchers for the annual drill as part of the PEA’s Incident Management Plan. The drill began at 9am and went on until…
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Koh Kaew construction delayed due to ‘mistake’
PHUKET: Construction work to widen a waterway and build a retaining wall along Soi Koh Kaew 33, behind the Isuzu showroom on Thepkrasattri Road, has been delayed due to a “mistake” in the setting the wall’s pilings. The 8.4-million-baht project to build a three-meter-high retaining wall along a 500 meter stretch of roadside was initially scheduled to be completed by…
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“Suicide’ of Land Department official now called into question
PHUKET: The autopsy on a former land department official who allegedly hanged himself in custody yesterday revealed that the man suffered an injured liver and internal bleeding, his brother said this afternoon. Tawatchai Anukul, a retired senior official of the Phang Nga Provincial Land Department, was found dead inside a detention room at the Department of Special Investigation yesterday (story…
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Landslide forces airport road closure
PHUKET: Motorists are being warned to stay off the small road that runs parallel to the runway at Phuket International Airport following a landslide. The slide occurred near the air traffic control tower and Aeronautical Radio of Thailand office there. “Continuous rain over the past few days loosened the earth on the 141-meter-tall hill (Khao Bo Sai) next to the…
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Former land official in Phuket DSI case found hanged in cell
PHUKET: A former land department official under investigation in Phuket land-title cases allegedly committed suicide while in official custody yesterday. Tawatchai Anukul, who was under investigation for illegal registration of land deeds for about 1,000 plots in Phuket and Phang Nga, allegedly took his own life. Custody officials said the suspect was found to have hung himself just hours before…
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Police blame Russian for theft of B3mn in ATM hacks
PHUKET: Police have asked for an international arrest warrant for a Russian national believed to be involved in the theft of more than 12 million baht from ATMs across Thailand, including Phuket. Chief investigator Panya Mamen said Rustam Shambasov, 29, was caught on surveillance video footage after stealing more than 3 million baht from over a dozen ATMs last month.…
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Phuket Town fruit vendors fed up with theft
PHUKET: Fruit vendors in Phuket Town are fed up with fruit from their stalls being stolen overnight and the lack of progress in apprehending the culprits, despite giving police CCTV footage showing teenagers pilfering the produce. Vipharat Na Kling, who owns one of the stalls along Srisana Road, said the thefts have cost her thousands of baht. “I reported the…
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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