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.
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Dengue fever spreads in Krabi, Phuket safe
PHUKET: More than 400 people have been diagnosed with dengue fever in Krabi since January as the mosquito-borne disease spreads in the coastal province east of Phuket. “There has been one fatal case in Krabi so far,” confirmed Phuket Provinical Health Office (PPHO) Chief Kajohnsak Kaewjarus. “However, everything is under control in Phuket.” Krabi is currently ranked among the top…
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Fake quake to strike Phuket next week
PHUKET: An imaginary earthquake will strike Phuket next week so that emergency-response personnel, island officials and locals can take part in a full-scale drill in preparation of the real thing. The exercises and subsequent discussions will take place from June 24 to 26 in Thalang, said Vice Governor Somkiet Sangkaosuttirak yesterday. “There will first be a simulation on June 24…
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Phuket tourism official pushes against foreign tour guide registration plan
PHUKET: The island’s top tourism and sports official will ask for Phuket to be excused from the Tourism Department’s plan to allow foreigners to work as ‘tourism coordinators’, if the move is approved. Tourism Department is planning to ask Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha to approve its plan to allow foreigners to work as tour guides under the position of…
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Phuket hit-and-runner surrenders
PHUKET: A Phuket hit-and-runner turned himself in to Chalong Police after leaving an unconscious teen motorbiker in his wake last night. Pick-up truck driver Thepsak Jinotan, 42, left Bussakorn Sengsuvann,16, unconscious with a broken leg and other injuries after they crashed on Chao Fa East Road in Chalong at about 7:30pm yesterday. Ms Bussakorn was rushed to Vachira Phuket Hospital…
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More pumps bound for underpass construction site
PHUKET: Flooding caused by routine seasonal rain at the construction site of Phuket’s second underpass this week forced officials to hold an emergency meeting at the Phuket Highways Office (PHO) on Tuesday. “We are planning to install more pumps at the Samkong Intersection site,” confirmed Samak Luedwonghad, director of the PHO. Two of the four pumps used to help clear…
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Officials threaten to close tour company for animal abuse
PHUKET: Officials are threatening to shut down a tour company if it is found allowing tourists to abuse marine animals – again. The news follows tour guide Akung Saewang being caught with a group of tourists who were holding a reef fish trapped in a plastic bag (story here). Mr Akung’s tour guide licence had been suspended pending a meeting…
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Royal Phuket Marina announces 5bn-baht investment plan
PHUKET: Royal Phuket Marina has announced a five billion baht investment plan for the next five years under the lifestyle destinations new campaign #DestinationRPM. “The 5bn baht planned investment over the next five years is part of my vision to make Royal Phuket Marina an iconic waterfront lifestyle destination,” said Gulu Lalvani, Chairman of Royal Phuket Marina. “Under our #DestinationRPM…
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Opinion: Phuket poised for superyacht glory
Andy Treadwell was the founder and CEO of Informa Plc’s Sports & Leisure Group (ISLG) and has been working with a number of the world’s most prestigious yachting and sporting industry events from 2007 until 2012. He is now based in Singapore, busy developing a portfolio of events specializing in the leisure marine sector, focusing on unlocking the huge potential…
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Light-rail public meeting set for Thursday
PHUKET: Island-dwellers can have their say about the light-rail project in a public hearing at Queen Sirikit Park in Phuket Town on Thursday. The news follows a meeting with Sirigate Apirat of the Office of Transport and Traffic Policy and Planning yesterday about the light rail. It was decided yesterday that there would be an extra stop added in Mai…
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DDPM queues up flash flood, landslide warning
PHUKET: The Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM) Phuket office will issue an official flash flood and landslide warning for Phuket residents today in preparation of worsening weather conditions this week. “According to the Thai Meteorological Department [TMD], we can expect increasingly heavy rains tomorrow, which will run through the weekend,” said Santhawat Riwleung, chief of the DDPM Phuket Office. “We…
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Thanyapura sings silver at SEA Games Singapore
PHUKET: Thanyapura’s top swimmers triumphed at the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, winning a bounty of silver medals and breaking three Thai National Records. Peerapat Lertsathapornsuk, Patarawadee Kittiya, Kornkanjana Sapianchai and Tanakrit Kittiya competed in ten races at the 28th SEA Games in Singapore earlier this month. Patarawadee and Kornkanjana returned home to Phuket with two silver medals each, after helping…
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Superyacht chartering licence meeting delayed
PHUKET: Phuket will hold another public hearing this Friday to standardize criteria for foreign-flagged superyacht chartering licences before the proposal is submitted to the Ministry of Transport. The meeting is set for 1:30pm and aims to move forward legislation to help ensure Thailand becomes the maritime hub for the region. The meeting will be at the Phuket-based Department of Disaster…
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Turkish couple rescued after spending hours lost in jungle
PHUKET: A Turkish couple was rescued after spending nearly nine hours on their own in the jungle in Khao Phra Thaew National Park on Saturday. Bulent and Pinar Burak, both 34, were on their way to the Wildlife Sanctuary when they got lost in the park. They then called Palm Beach Hotel in Patong, where they were staying, to ask…
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Phuket study to determine sun lounger fate
PHUKET: A twist of fate may be in the cards for Phuket’s abandoned sun loungers, with island officials aiming to decide by the end of July whether or not to allow them all back on the sands. Governor Nisit Jansomwong revealed to the Phuket Gazette last week that a beach management research team at Prince of Songkhla University (PSU) Phuket…
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Officials seize 100 rai of illegally possessed park land
PHUKET: About 100 rai of illegally possessed land in Sirinath National Park were seized by a team of park officials and Navy personnel on Friday. Seizure notices were posted on the five plots in Sakoo and Cherng Talay, which were being used for rubber plantations, after the owners were unable to present ownership documents for the land. “The owners are…
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Krabi waterspout excites tourists, fishermen
PHUKET: A waterspout put on a show for tourists and fishermen off Koh Pu in Krabi yesterday morning. “My friends and I were going fishing at Sri Boya Island when the waterspout emerged about 1 kilometer away from us,” said 50-year-old Samart Maikeaw, who was out on a fishing trip with friends. The spout caused sudden heavy rain, but no…
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Bangla bouncer files police brutality complaint
PHUKET: The alleged victim of a vicious attack by police in Patong filed a formal complaint against the officer and others in his party yesterday. The bouncer at Hollywood nightclub on the party town’s famed Soi Bangla, 29-year-old Kamolchai Singhakerd, told police that Patong Deputy Superintendent Sorapong Chukaew and a group of his officers attacked him at about 2am on…
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Navy continues Rohingya “helping on’ mission
PHUKET: The mission of ‘helping on’ Rohingya and Bengali migrants by providing medical services and translators, as well as food and water supplies will continue until further notice, confirmed the Royal Thai Navy. The mission was launched with a tentative two-week deadline last month (story here). “Our vessels, HTMS Saiburi and the HTMS Angthong, and aircraft are continuing to search…
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Stash of ID cards found in Kata
PHUKET: The Navy requested that the Karon Police investigate whether or not a bag of legal Thai National ID cards, dirver’s licences and ATM cards found in Kata yesterday had any links to criminal networks. The bag of cards was discovered by a local resident, who then informed the Navy of the find, confirmed Taksin Puklim of the Royal Thai…
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Jet-skis make waves at luxury resort off Phuket
PHUKET: The Naka Island, A Luxury Collection Resort and Spa, based on the small island off the east coast of Phuket, is battling against local jet-ski operators. “The jet-skies are dangerous. They are always coming too close to customers swimming at the beach,” said The Naka Island representative Sureeporn Roongreung. “They have yet to hurt anyone swimming or diving, and…
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Heavy rain floods underpass construction site
PHUKET: Heavy rain today caused the second flash flood this month at Samkong Intersection, the construction site of Phuket’s second underpass. Though the deep waters caused tailbacks in the afternoon, it has since drained, confirmed Chalermpol Wongkiattikun, project manager from the Department of Highways. “I had to order our staff out into the rain with a digger to start clearing…
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Phuket Governor praises English-language media
PHUKET: Phuket Governor Nisit Jansomwong praised the island’s foreign media yesterday during a public forum to raise awareness of the negative effects corruption has on society (story here). “I am glad that we have the media, especially the English-language media. They have a reporting style that is different from Thai media,” said Governor Nisit at the Royal Phuket City Hotel.…
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BISP strikes gold at SEA Games
PHUKET: It was an absolutely incredible night for British International School Phuket (BISP) in the pool on Sunday at the 28th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games. In one evening, the school’s student athletes – representing Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand – brought home one gold, one silver and one bronze medal, in intense competition against the finest swimmers in Southeast Asia. Year…
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OAG to tackle corruption in Phuket
PHUKET: The Office of the Auditor General’s (OAG) two-day public forum designed to raise the public’s awareness of the negative effects of corruption and what issues are faced in combating it started yesterday at the Royal Phuket City Hotel. “This is about raising people’s awareness of the need for anti-corruption efforts. People need to see why corruption is bad and…
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Boy crushed to death by cement truck
PHUKET: An 11-year-old boy was killed after he fell off the back of his mother’s motorbike and under the wheel of a cement truck yesterday. Rescue workers arrived at the scene at the traffic light in front of Makro in Kathu to find Thanaphat Songserm severely injured underneath the truck. Patchanee Songserm, 42, had just picked up her son from…
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Protesters demand high-voltage power line update
PHUKET: More than 100 locals from Thalang villages gathered at Phuket Provincial Hall yesterday looking for an update on a high-voltage power line project that is slated to run through their community. Protesters filed a complaint on May 20 over the potentially negative effects a high-voltage power line project could have on their lives (story here). The complaint was first…
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Hundreds protest alleged police brutality in Phuket, officer transferred
PHUKET: More than 100 Patong nightlife employees protested on Phuket’s famed party street, Soi Bangla, last night after a Hollywood Discotheque security guard was allegedly beaten by a Patong Police officer in the early hours of yesterday morning. The rally formed outside Hollywood Discotheque at about 8:30pm, drawing much attention from tourists and passersby, with protesters demanding justice from police…
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Phuket’s poor gather to receive food donations during annual alms festival
PHUKET: More than 1,500 of Phuket’s poorest people went to the Kusoldharm Foundation headquarters in Phuket Town on June 4 to receive donations of food as part of the annual Te Krajard merit-making ceremony. “This year, we also handed out 250 kilograms of rice to a total of 34 schools and 5kg packs of rice and foodstuffs to poor locals,”…
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Phuket resort sets up private life-saving team
PHUKET: Katathani Phuket Beach Resort is beefing up Kata Noi Beach security by providing its own privately funded safety and rescue team to patrol the small but popular stretch of sand. “This safety project is being launched in hopes of raising tourists’ confidence. We want all related businesses to join us and serve as examples for other beaches,” said Katathani…
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Pics of Phi Phi tourists allegedly huffing gas go viral
PHUKET: Pictures of tourists on Phi Phi Island ostensibly huffing ‘laughing gas’ out of balloons have gone viral on social media, prompting a police investigation and a health warning from Krabi officials. One of the photos shows three women lying on the ground, one with an empty balloon in her mouth and another who appears to be inhaling the gas…
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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