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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Half-buried body of British national found on Phuket beach
PHUKET: Locals discovered the half-buried body of a British national on Nai Yang Beach this morning. The fully clothed body of Simon Lian Hua Soh, 67, was still partially covered in sand when rescue workers and police arrived at the scene. “We believe that he died about 10 hours before he was discovered. There was no sign of a struggle,”…
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Expert fears Phuket touts feeding meth to slow lorises [video]
PHUKET: Police are looking into a wildlife expert’s concerns that slow lorises being touted in Phuket and other popular tourist destinations in Thailand are being drugged with methamphetamine or another stimulant. “My officers will be keeping an eye out for slow loris touts. After we make an arrest, we will be questioning them about whether or not they are drugging…
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Domestic tourist safe after longtail boat capsizes in Krabi
PHUKET: Five domestic tourists were safely rescued after their longtail boat capsized in Krabi yesterday afternoon. At about 3:40pm the longtail boat, Jaosapandaman, flipped over while taking the tourists from Koh Hong to Ao Nang. “Near the area of Saphanlek, close to Klong Muang Beach, the waves were too big. A wave broke the motor free from the boat, and…
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Drunk Australian perp caught pocketing prawns in Phuket
PHUKET: A drunk Australian tourist was arrested for stealing two tiger prawns from a seafood restaurant in Patong yesterday. “The man walked through our restaurant and took two prawns. Our staff asked him to put them back, but he refused, and then disappeared onto Soi Bangla,” 36-year-old Tropica restaurant manager, Aruni Mahasena, told the Patong Police. After receiving the report,…
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F1: Sepang Storms
PHUKET: Well, my forecast for the Australian GP was on the money: Mercedes, Mercedes, Sebastian Vettel. In Melbourne, the Mercedes were 30 seconds ahead of the best of the rest. The real problem is that I believe that their engines had been tuned-down, and that there was another 60 seconds in reserve. Now that is dominance – and it’s not…
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Phuket’s Eva Beach responds to probe into legality of beachfront resort
PHUKET: The management of The Eva Group has issued a statement in response to an inspection carried out earlier this year by a chief judge and a team of experts into an upscale property project under construction in Rawai. Tawatchai Sontiwanit, chief judge of the recently formed environmental division of the regional Administrative Court responsible for Phuket, led the inspection…
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Video Report: Phuket United unveil 2015 Futsal League lineup
PHUKET: The island’s sole team in the national Futsal League, Phuket United FC, unveiled their squad for 2015 Futsal League lineup, which gets underway on Saturday. The team, unveiled by Phuket Vice Governor Somkiet Sangkaosuttirak last weekend, includes two Brazilians: 26-year-old defender Francisco Da Silva Soares, and Jackson Santos, 29, who plays pivot. Headed by coach Chalermpong Saengdee, just 27…
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German tourist recovering after propeller slashes head
PHUKET: A German tourist who was struck in the head by the propeller of a longtail boat off Karon Beach on Wednesday (story here) is recovering well, a tourism official has confirmed to the Phuket Gazette. Santi Pawai, director of the Ministry of Tourism and Sports (MOTS) Phuket office, visited the injured tourist, 54-year-old Rudi Dann, at Bangkok Hospital Phuket…
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No Phuket tsunami warning after 4.9 earthquake off Sumatra
PHUKET: The National Disaster Warning Center has not issued a tsunami warning or alert after an earthquake measuring 4.9 in magnitude struck west of Sumatra this morning. “We are aware of the earthquake, and a tsunami warning has not been issued,” confirmed Trakul Thotham, director of the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM) Region 8 office, based in Phuket.…
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Phuket expat murder charge: Police to hand Pendlebury case to prosecutor in late April
PHUKET: Patong Police expect to hand over their case against Mark Pendlebury, a long-time expat accused of murdering a Thai nightclub bouncer on March 11 (story here), by the end of April. “I think I will be able to compile all evidence and complete the investigation by late April. Then, we will handle to case to public prosecutor,” Lt Col…
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Phuket police ordered to follow up on taxi mafia, billion-baht-beach scheme cases
PHUKET: A group of high-ranking police officers and island officials met with Phuket Public Prosecutor Pisitpol Phumsawat yesterday to follow up on the progress in the island’s high-profile taxi mafia and billion-baht-beach scheme cases. “I have been ordered by the Royal Thai Police and the National Council for Peace and Order to follow up on these cases, as they have…
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No lifeguards on Phuket beaches tomorrow
PHUKET: There will be no lifeguards on Phuket’s beaches starting tomorrow, as the annual government contract comes to an end. No party has come forward to bid on the 22-million-baht concession to sign the new contract – not even the Phuket Lifeguard Club (PLC), who have guarded the beaches for years. The Phuket Provincial Administrative Organization (PPAO) offered a concession…
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German tourist struck in the head by Phuket longtail propeller
PHUKET: A German tourist who was struck in the head by the propeller of a longtail boat off Karon Beach yesterday morning is now receiving treatment at Bangkok Hospital Phuket. Kata-Karon chief lifeguard Uten Singsom told the Phuket Gazette today that his staff rescued the tourist, who was swimming about 60 meters from shore. The man’s name and condition has…
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Two dead as ghost-driving pick-up slams head-on into six-wheeler
PHUKET: A ghost-driving pick-up truck driver travelling in the wrong direction on the one-way road leaving the island slammed into a six-wheeled cargo truck early this morning, killing himself and his passenger and injuring two others. Police were called to the scene at about 4am, where they found a white six-wheeled SuperCheap truck and a demolished pick-up truck on the…
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Phuket’s Kingdom crew fly high at Platu TransWorld
PHUKET: Phuket-based yachtsman Scott Duncanson and his crew Trent Pedersen, Alfie Rowson, Tony Harman and Paul Burke on Kingdom Property have won second place in the inaugural Platu TransWorld Invitational. The four-day international competition based at the Ocean Marina Yacht Club in Pattaya featured crews from Sweden, Russia, Singapore, Japan, Holland, the United Kingdom and Australia, but was ultimately won…
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Euro tour golfer Spilkova swings by Laguna
PHUKET: Ladies European Tour player Klara Spilkova recently visited Laguna Phuket Golf Club’s newly upgraded course, designed by renowned golf architect Paul Jansen, to practice ahead of her first event of the 2015 season. As part of her stay, Spilkova conducted a golf demonstration, showcasing her golf talents to Laguna Phuket Golf Club’s lucky lady members. “It was such a…
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Cricket: Patong CC take Thalang to town
PHUKET: Patong CC proved too hot to handle last Sunday with a clean defeat of visitors Thalang Cricket Team in the Phuket Cricket Group 40-over league competition. Hot, sunny conditions usual for this time of year prevailed, with a brown grassy outfield and the wicket still sporting surplus sand from a recent AFL match. Patong captain Seemant Raju won the…
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Phuket tour bus crash: 3 Chinese tourists dead, driver blames brake failure
PHUKET: Three Chinese tourists were killed and 15 others injured, three seriously, when the tour bus they were riding in tumbled off the road and rolled down Kata Hill on the way to Chalong this afternoon (story here). Initially, 11 of the injured tourists were taken to Vachira Phuket Hospital after the accident, and four were taken to Patong Hospital…
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Breaking News: Three dead in Phuket bus crash
PHUKET: Three people were killed after a Phuket tour bus crashed on Kata Hill as it headed toward Chalong Circle at about noon today. First reports at the accident site say that 18 tourists were on board the Morning Sun tour bus when it tumbled off the road and rolled down the hill. Concerns were raised in January last year…
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Eight netted in Phuket gambling, drug raid
PHUKET: Eight people were arrested for drug use and gambling following a joint police-navy raid in Phuket Town last night. “We received a report from neighbors that there was gambling and regular disturbances at the house,” Phuket City Police Deputy Superintendent Khunnadet Nanongkhai told the Phuket Gazette. “There were eight people, two women and six men, at the house on…
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Earthquake rattles Phuket
PHUKET: An earthquake measuring 3.8 in magnitude rattled the east coast of Phuket before dawn this morning. The Thai Meteorological Department reported the quake as striking at 5:32am, with its epicenter halfway between Phuket and Koh Yao Yai island in Phang Nga Bay (click here). The epicenter of the quake was centered in the same area where a 4.0 quake…
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Phuket park officials set “no go’ zone to protect new reef
PHUKET: Officers at Sirinath National Park yesterday began installing floating markers off Nai Yang Beach to protect a young reef system discovered only last month. The markers are to establish an exclusion zone preventing swimmers and boats from entering the area, explained deputy park chief Neramit Songsaeng. “Officers from the Phuket Marine National Parks and Protected Areas Innovation Center arrived…
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Phuket mega-party promoter, TV stars jailed for defamation
PHUKET: Two famous national television show hosts have been sentenced to one year in jail, with no suspended sentence and no option for parole, for defaming the organizer of the 2013 New Year mega-party held at Phuket’s Patong Beach. The Criminal Court in Bangkok yesterday sentenced Vuthithorn ‘Woody’ Milintachinda and Chaleumpol ‘Jack Fanchan’ Tikumpornteerawo, of the popular show ‘Chao Doo…
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Civil defence volunteer kills girlfriend in Kathu somtam shop
PHUKET: A civil defence volunteer has confessed to the shooting murder of his girlfriend inside a somtam shop in Phuket last night. Police were called to the scene on Wichit Songkram Road in Thung Thong at about 8:45pm, where they found the body of 46-year-old Yupin Somrak on the floor of the shop’s kitchen. “Ms Yupin suffered fatal gunshot wounds…
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No further safety measures at shooting range after tourist kills self
PHUKET: Officials have confirmed that no further safety measures are to be introduced at the Phuket shooting range where a British tourist took his own life on Saturday. Liam Colven, a 21-year-old from the Isle of Skye in Scotland, arrived at the Thalang Shooting Range on Saturday afternoon. During live-fire target practice, Mr Colven pointed the .11mm handgun he was…
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Trial for Tiger disco inferno to start April 23
PHUKET: The first witness testimony over the deaths of four people in Patong’s notorious Tiger Disco inferno is set for April 23, Public Prosecutor Vivath Kitjurak has confirmed to the Phuket Gazette. The trial will begin almost three years after the blaze claimed the lives of four people, including two tourists. The popular nightclub erupted into flames at about 4am…
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Satree Phuket strides for new sports facilities
PHUKET: Satree Phuket School will hold a mini-marathon this coming Sunday dedicated in honor of HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn’s 60th birthday on April 2. The event, held in association with the Sport Association of Phuket, will also serve as a fundraiser for the school’s new, high-standard sports facility, said Koson Saikao, principal of Satree Phuket School. “The new sports…
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British man, 21, kills self at Phuket gun range
PHUKET: A 21-year-old British man turned a gun on himself and committed suicide at a Phuket shooting range this afternoon. Staff and witnesses at the Thalang Shooting Range said the man arrived at the tourist attraction before 3pm. The man hired an 11mm pistol and emptied his magazine at the target, before asking for three more bullets. He then turned…
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Suspects yet to be charged for billion-baht illegal beach rental scheme
PHUKET: The public prosecutor has yet to press formal charges against the Kata-Karon mayor or any of the other suspects allegedly involved in the island’s billion-baht illegal beach rental scheme. At least 15 people, including Kata-Karon Mayor Tawee Thongcham, were accused at a press conference in September last year of illegally issuing permits for local beach vendors to use public…
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Police ramp up campaign against illegal ivory trade in Phuket
PHUKET: All people in Phuket trading in ivory have until April 21 to register with the Department of National Parks Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) or face legal action, police warned yesterday. The deadline was delivered by Phuket Provincial Police Deputy Commander Peerayuth Karajedee at an inspection of the Royal Paragon Phuket store in Chalong. “Several stores in Phuket sell…
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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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