Phuket News
Phuket news, politics, business, tourism, and nightlife—stay updated with breaking stories, events, and expat updates from Thailand’s top island destination. Get the latest from The Thaiger, your trusted Phuket news source.
-
Sponsored How to reduce out-of-pocket medical expenses in Thailand?
Managing medical expenses in Thailand is important as healthcare costs continue to rise. The country’s healthcare system includes both public and private options, but even with the Universal Coverage Scheme (UCS) for citizens, many still face high out-of-pocket medical expenses....
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
Songkhla to Phuket drug line busted
PHUKET: A joint task force charged a drug peddler on Monday after they seized 10,000 ya bah (methamphetamine) pills valued at 2 million baht at the Tah Chat Chai checkpoint on Saturday. The operation was led by Border Patrol Police Captain Aumpon Samorthai and Tah Chat Chai Police Lieutenant Pisithkorn Maswichien. “We received information early Saturday morning that a drug…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
Top officials discuss major Phuket woes
PHUKET: Five of Phuket’s most influential lawmen met at Phuket Provincial Hall this morning in order to discuss what they named as the top five issues plaguing the island. The officials included Phuket Governor Chokchai Dejamornthan; Vice Admiral Surapol Kuptaphan, commander of the Royal Thai Navy Third Area Command; Maj Gen Akom Pongprom, commander of the 41st Military Circle; Phuket…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
Safety First: Phuket Airport security meets international standards
PHUKET: News about the grand opening of the international terminal at Phuket International Airport (PIA) has littered the airwaves since its official ceremony in September. Like every new, large-scale project in Phuket, and indeed elsewhere in the world, the new terminal has had its fair share of teething problems – something the public has been quick to notice, criticize and…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
iStink telephone? Man steals mobile, sticks it in his underpants
PHUKET: A Thai man was arrested for stealing and hiding a hapless tourist’s telephone in his underpants at a Patong tour agency yesterday afternoon. Kuwaiti tourist Abdul Nabimh Redha, 38, filed a complaint at 2:30pm with Lt Col Somsak Thongkliang of Patong police station. “Mr Redha told us that he put his mobile on the counter at the ‘All in…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
Emergency landing at HKT, one passenger dead
PHUKET: Emirates Airlines pilots called in for an emergency landing at Phuket International Airport yesterday afternoon, after a passenger lost consciousness and required medical treatment. He was later pronounced dead at a Phuket hospital. The passenger, whose name is being withheld until his family has been notified, was reportedly feeling sick on board the aircraft and eventually passed out. It…
-
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 pensioner busted with illegal concoctions
PHUKET: A 74 year-old woman was arrested Sunday for ‘looking after’ more than 58 kilograms of kratom leaves and 45 bottles of cough syrup used to make concoctions of illegal sedatives. Acting on a tip-off, military officers led by the 41st Military Circle’s Major Sathit Naikoon arrested the pensioner at 10am yesterday at a house in Soi 6 of the…
-
Worker camp head orders hit, charged with murder
PHUKET: A Myanmar worker suspected of killing a colleague was apprehended within an hour by police Sunday night at a workers camp in Kamala. Lt Col Somnuek Damkaew of Kamala Police arrived at the scene after he received reports of the incident at about 11:50pm. The head of the workers, named as ‘Kyaw Sein Win @ Bun’, had reportedly had…
-
Motorcyclists injured in coach collision on Patong Hill
PHUKET: The driver of a coach carrying Chinese tourists says he ‘lost control’ of the vehicle when its ‘brakes failed’ on Patong Hill last night, resulting in serious injuries to the riders of a motorbike. The coach was heading down the hill into Patong at 10:23pm when driver Uayporn Rattanasaeng, 51, hit the bike and then slammed into a roadside…
-
Phuket man denies involvement in Thalang riot
PHUKET: A Phuket man has twice denied involvement in a riot last October in Thalang, during which the district’s police station was firebombed. The first denial came in September this year, after police finally hauled him in and charged him with various offenses related to the riot. The riot flared up on October 10 last year after two suspected drug…
-
Germany’s Michael Raeleart wins Laguna Phuket Triathlon
PHUKET: German athlete Michael Raelert finished first at the 23rd annual Laguna Phuket Triathlon yesterday, completing the 1.8km swim, 50km bike race and 12km run in 2 hours, 19 minutes and 13 seconds – beating his own record by 11 minutes, which he set when he won the contest last year. In second and third places in the men’s category…
-
Military removes stalls at Naithon Beach
PHUKET: Military officers removed 29 roadside vendors at Naithon Beach yesterday morning, demolishing makeshift stalls set up among trees lining the beachfront. About 50 Thalang and Sakoo district officers along with national park officers, civil defense volunteers and Navy personnel assembled at the beach at 10am and spent two hours assisting vendors taking down the snack stalls and massage beds…
-
Waterways lit with thousands of lanterns for Loy Krathong
PHUKET: Phuket Governor Chokchai Dejamornthan and all three vice governors arrived at Saphan Hin as honored guests to join the Loy Krathong festival on Monday. The event was organized by Phuket Municipality and led by Phuket City Mayor Somjai Suwansupana. Loy Krathong, the ‘Festival of Light’, is one of Thailand’s most significant holidays. The annual festival takes place on the…
-
Eight tonnes of rice sold in 3 hours through co-op initiative
KRABI: Eight tonnes of jasmine rice from Sisaket Province sold out in just three hours in Krabi yesterday in a government-led initiative to supply rice at a reduced price directly from farmers to consumers. The 2pm sell-off of rice stocks was jointly organized by the Krabi Provincial Co-operative Offices (KPCO) and the Sisaket Agricultural Marketing Co-operative (SAMC), with the aim…
-
Public warned of jellyfish dangers in Krabi
KRABI: National park officials yesterday installed warning signs on Koh Hong to educate and warn locals and tourists about jellyfish ahead of the high season. “The signs are in Thai and English, one featuring pictures of jellyfish to help identify which ones are venomous and which not. The other explains what to do if stung by a jellyfish,” said Jampen…
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.
Don't forget to check out some other things to do in Thailand - get help starting a business or finding a job in Thailand, buy Thailand property, rent a yacht or book a medical procedure worldwide.