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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Know Russia better with iPad app
PHUKET: Readers seeking a better understanding of modern day Russia know the importance of the English-language Russia Behind The Headlines (RBTH) journal, regularly found throughout Thailand in the Phuket Gazette and The Nation. Now, for those needing more information faster, the bounty of stories created by RBTH is available through a newly launched RBTH iPad app – available on the…
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Video Report: Truck caught dumping near Nai Harn Beach
PHUKET: Island officials are looking for the owner of a truck who was caught dumping rubbish near Nai Harn Beach on June 6. The hunt began after PGTV sent a video clip to Rawai Mayor Aroon Solos that showed men in a pick-up truck unloading construction site refuse into what has quickly developed into an illegal dumping ground just 100…
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Governor launches search for fake officers in Phuket
PHUKET: Phuket Governor Nisit Jansomwong vowed yesterday to look into a complaint filed about alleged fraudsters entering homes under the guise of anti-human-trafficking officers. Amnuayporn Samneang, village headman of Srisoonthorn Moo 6, filed a formal complaint to Governor Nisit yesterday evening. “Mr Amnuayporn told us that two ‘anti-trafficking officers’ arrived at his home on June 29 and refused to present…
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Phuket police confirm tinted helmets illegal
PHUKET: Recent heated discussion on social media has prompted Phuket police to confirm that it is in fact illegal for motorists to wear helmets with tinted visors in Thailand. The news follows Maj Gen Apisit Muangkasem, national Traffic Police commander, recently speaking to many Thai media outlets about which types of helmets are prohibited. The commander’s statements sparked an argument…
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Opinion: Fishing D-Day
PHUKET: It is too early to tell what the long-term ramifications of the recent crackdown on the Thai fishing industry will be, but there is no doubt that drastic change is needed to bring one of Thailand’s most notoriously rogue industries up to something approaching respectability by international standards. The fishing industry was overdue for an overhaul long before the…
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Pirated goods vendors flee Kata-Karon shops
PHUKET: A number of shops managed to close before a police raid on pirated goods hit Kata and Karon yesterday. However, police were able to seize about 1,400 items and arrest one suspect. “We received a complaint that there were a lot of fake name-brand goods being sold in the area, so we decided to investigate,” Lt Col Pratheep Choosri…
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Ao Nang erects multi-million-baht fish statue
PHUKET: A 5-million-baht bronze sculpture of a sailfish was erected at Ao Nang Beach on June 29. “We have been planning to build a sculpture in Ao Nang for about a decade, but could never find the funds in our budget to do so,” Ao Nang Tambon Administration Organization (OrBorTor) President Pankum Kittithonkul told the Phuket Gazette. “We searched for…
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Car flips inside Phuket underpass
PHUKET: A car flipped inside of the Darasamuth underpass near Central Festival last night, causing all lanes to be temporarily closed off to traffic. Based on the damage, police believe that an individual driving a Toyota Yaris struck the back corner of a Toyota Avanza, causing it to flip, explained Maj Narong Muangduang of the Wichit Police. Both drivers received…
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Family continues search for legally dead Dane in Phuket
PHUKET: Soren Baisgaard is legally dead. The Danish government laid him to rest after he went missing in Phuket in 1999. However, a single phone call in 2011 in response to a notice issued in the Phuket Gazette by the Danish government reignited the hopes of his deserted wife and two daughters that he was in fact still alive in…
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Two arrested for stealing 15,000 baht worth of liquor
PHUKET: Two men were arrested in Rassada last night for stealing more than 15,000 baht worth of liquor over the weekend. Puthipong Anuchon, 22, and Thawatchai Wongpiphan, 19, were caught after police used CCTV footage to locate the residence of the bike seen at the robbery. Thatirat Pongpan, 47, owner of Big One mini-mart near Karon beach, informed police on…
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Killer speedboat driver gets two years for two deaths
PHUKET: A speedboat driver who crashed into a fishing trawler, killing two Korean tourists last year, has been sentenced to two years’ imprisonment. “Surat Matosot was charged for reckless driving causing death and damage to property. He has been sentenced to two years in prison, with no option for the sentence to be suspended,” Maj Sopon Khongthong of the Krabi…
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SKAL denounces Phuket dolphinarium
PHUKET: SKAL International Phuket & Southern Thailand’s executive committee, along with SKAL members, lashed out at the island’s unopened dolphinarium as news broke that the facility had leaped through yet another bureaucratic ring (story here). “SKAL International Phuket & Southern Thailand wish to publicly condemn this project and protests ‘vividly’ against the opening of a dolphinarium in Phuket,” a statement…
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Speedboat lodges into Thalang traffic median
PHUKET: A speedboat disconnected from its trailer and became lodged in a traffic median while being driven through Thalang on Saturday evening. Kusoldharm Foundation rescuer workers were called to the scene, near Bang Duk Curve and Baan Markpork School, to help move the boat so as to avoid traffic congestion. “The driver told us that he was driving quite fast.…
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Police arrest bag-snatch suspect, accomplice at large
PHUKET: Police have arrested one of two suspects for a bag-snatch theft carried out on an American national in Rawai on Saturday. Supakon Yoosuk, 19, was apprehended at his home in Rawai just hours after the crime, once police were able to identify him from CCTV footage off Soi Samakee, where the robbery took place. “We received a call at…
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German tourist found hanging from tree on Phi Phi
PHUKET: The body of a German tourist was found hanging from a tree on Phi Phi Island yesterday. Katharina Rebacz, 26, was found on the secluded Ao Por Beach, on the southeastern tip of Phi Phi Don, at about 5pm by local fishermen, who then notified police. “Ms Rebacz had been dead for about one hour before she was found,”…
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Phang Nga police officer busted in Phuket gambling raid
PHUKET: A Phang Nga police officer and 12 others were caught and arrested for gambling on Friday. The arrest follows weeks of complaints from Kathu residents to Phuket Governor Nisit Jansomwong about loud noises coming from a house near the Ket-Ho police box, as well as many cars being parked haphazardly and blocking the road. The complaint was passed from…
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Officers have “beef’ with illegal meat from Malaysia
PHUKET: Police seized more than two tons of illegally imported beef at a warehouse in Phuket Town yesterday morning. Backed by Navy personnel and Phuket City Police, Kasichon Choungchot, veterinary inspector from the Department of Livestock Development in Bangkok, led the raid on the house on Soi Siang Tai. “We called the homeowner, but nobody answered. So, the Navy officers…
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DSI reveals new B14bn land encroachment case
PHUKET: The Department of Special Investigation revealed yesterday that about 200 rai of prime Phuket beach front property had allegedly been encroached on along Lephang and Layan Beach. “There were barriers constructed around about 200 rai of land along the beaches. We have estimated the loss of government land to be valued at about 14 billion baht,” said Department of…
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Test results negative for two quarantined for MERS
PHUKET: Test results came back negative today for the two people quarantined for showing symptoms of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-Coronavirus (Mers-CoV), confirmed the Phuket Provincial Health Office (PPHO) chief. Both patients were admitted to a private Phuket hospital on Thursday night (story here). “The 7-month-old Korean and the 30-year-old Thai woman both had negative test results,” PPHO chief Kajohnsak Kaewjarus…
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Officials celebrate successful earthquake drill
PHUKET: Officials celebrated a successful multi-day, full-scale earthquake drill this week, which was aimed at decreasing the loss of life should a powerful, damaging quake strike the island. “Many countries around the world face a number of natural disasters that have deep, troubling impacts on the nation. It can take a long time for a country to heal,” said Phuket…
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Ban Tha Rua students protest tyre burning
PHUKET: A group of about 200 students and three teachers from Ban Tha Rua school protested the burning of tyres next to their building, in front of the Yamaha showroom in Thalang Thursday morning. The protest follows more than four years of tyre burning near the school by the Yamaha showroom, which disrupts classes and is feared to be a…
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Two MERS suspects quarantined in Phuket
PHUKET: Two suspected Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-Coronavirus (Mers-CoV) patients are in quarantine after arriving at Phuket International Airport, confirmed the Phuket Provincial Health Office (PPHO) chief. “One of the patients is a 7-month-old Korean, who has a high fever and is being treated at one of Phuket’s private hospitals,” PPHO Chief Kajohnsak Kaewjarus told the Phuket Gazette today. “The other…
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Human trafficking charges dropped against three suspects
PHUKET: Human trafficking charges were dropped against three men who confessed to illegally smuggling 53 people from Myanmar to Thailand. The Takuapa Provincial Court judge said that the prosecution lacked sufficient evidence to prove that Phoowarin Boonlieng, 18, Prakob Mard-Ardum, 43, and Songphol Klaimee, 20, had used ‘means of the threat or use of force, abduction, fraud, deception, abuse of…
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Phuket tour company employing Nepalis shut down
PHUKET: A local tour company was shut down Wednesday night for hiring Nepali agents to sell tour packages at the company’s counter in Patong. Santi Pawai, director of the Ministry of Tourism and Sports (MOTS) Phuket office, told the Phuket Gazette that the company had ignored several warnings from the MOTS about their staff. “It had come to the point…
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Superyacht crew visas slated for November
PHUKET: Special visas for foreign-flagged superyacht crew is expected to be rolled out by November, confirmed the Tourism and Sports Minister Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul. The ‘new package’ for superyachts will include changes in law for visas, as well as tax exemptions, all timed to line up with an international superyacht show organized by the Ministry of Transport, explained Ms Kobkarn. “The…
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“Property security’ demands gypsies demolish ceremonial hall
PHUKET: Police intervened in order to neutralize tensions at the Rawai sea gypsy village after a group of 40 men demanded that the gypsies demolish their spiritual ceremony hall. Rawai Municipality received a report from sea gypsies at about 11am that a group of men, allegedly sent by private investors, had ordered the gypsies to demolish their ‘Sala Balai’, before…
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GM takes wheel at Cassia Phuket
PHUKET: Banyan Tree has appointed a new General Manager for the company’s most recent hotel residences, Cassia Phuket. Ilias Vamvakas will be taking the reins at this the third property in the company’s portfolio after having worked and led teams in various hotels around the world, including: Sandals Grande St Lucia Spa & Beach Resort and The Sealine Beach Resort…
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PM Prayut invokes Article 44 to sack PPAO President
PHUKET: Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha wielded Article 44 of the interim charter to temporarily suspend Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (PPAO) President Paiboon Upatising from his post without pay. The order signed today names a number of government officials throughout Thailand. Mr Paiboon was the only Phuket official on the list. “The reason the government has temporarily removed me from…
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Injured turtle found tangled in fishing net at Phuket beach
PHUKET: An injured sea turtle found trapped in a fishing net in front of JW Marriott Phuket Resort and Spa in Mai Khao was rescued Tuesday morning. Kusoldharm Foundation rescue workers were called to the scene by hotel security at about 7:30am. Hotel employees had already helped free the turtle from the net by the time rescue workers arrived. “The…
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Police launch murder investigation at Phuket pier
PHUKET: Police have launched a murder investigation after an unidentified man was found dead with a deep cut on his neck near Rassada Pier on Tuesday morning. Police and rescue workers went to the scene, on the road behind the office of the Phuket Fishing Market Organization, and found the shirtless body covered in a blanket and a towel. “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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