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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Video Report: Phuket fishing boats raided for human trafficking, IUUs
PHUKET: Governor Nisit Jansomwong yesterday joined a random inspection of three Phuket fishing boats near Rassada Pier as part of a nationwide crackdown on illegal trawlers and human-trafficking of migrant workers in the industry. The boarding party comprised officers from the Phuket Marine Police, Royal Thai Navy and other government agencies, accompanied Phuket Provincial Police Deputy Commander Pinit Sirichai. “The…
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Phuket immigration, government offices take four-day weekend
PHUKET: The Phuket Immigration Office, along with other government offices on the island, will be closed from Saturday through Tuesday, confirmed Phuket Immigration Chief Sunchai Chokkajaykij today. However, they will remain open for the Labor Day holiday tomorrow. “Our office and the Patong Immigration Office will be closed for four days, starting from Saturday May 2,” Col Sunchai told the…
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Cricket: Thalang surge to vie for place in semi-finals
PHUKET: Thalang (TCT) claimed an unlikely outright victory by an innings and 93 runs over a heavily depleted Village Cricket Team at the Alan Cooke Ground last Sunday. Both teams had multiple changes for their last match of the regular season. TCT regained their captain Bill Stahmer, opening bowler Barrie Buck and debutant Hossain Sylar. Village were without the ir…
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GPS tracker sparks Phuket hotel bomb scare
PHUKET: The provincial Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) unit cleared the car park at the Royal Phuket City Hotel in Phuket Town in response to a reported potential bomb threat this afternoon. The EOD unit arrived at about 2:10pm, after receiving a call from the Phuket City Police. “A security guard found an object in the open area of the car…
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Phuket donations roll in to aid Nepal earthquake victims
PHUKET: Donations for victims of the disastrous earthquake in Nepal continue to roll in, with more than 1 million baht already having been raised for the ‘Phuket Together For Nepal Disaster Victims’ fund. As of this morning, the devastating quake had claimed more than 4,400 lives. The fund’s donation total more than doubled after two donors handed over more than…
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Divers clear marine trash to protect new Phuket reef
PHUKET: More than 100 volunteer divers yesterday recovered more than 200 kilograms of trash from the waters off Nai Yang Beach in an underwater cleanup operation aimed at protecting a new reef system there. The divers hail from Phuket, Phang Nga, Krabi and Trang, explained Monrudee Gettuphan, director of Phuket International Airport. “Yesterday, the divers cleaned the area in front…
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Tour company pulls down Phuket “marine life abuse’ video
PHUKET: Intense public criticism has forced a Bangkok tour company to remove a video showing sea-walking tourists handling marine creatures at Coral Island, off Phuket’s southeastern coast, from its Facebook page. Gift Box Travel, which sells package tours to Phuket, posted the controversial video on its Facebook page (click here) last Friday. The video showed tourists on a sea-walking tour…
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Phuket scrambles to raise funds for Nepal
PHUKET: Donations to the ‘Phuket Together For Nepal Disaster Victims’ fund can now be made directly to a joint bank account held by the Phuket Governor and the President of the Phuket branch of the Thai-Nepalese Foundation. The Phuket branch of the Thai-Nepalese Foundation, officially called the Shree Bhagawat Dhaam Sanatan Mandir Foundation, has already raised more than 400,000 baht…
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Broken Phuket CCTV fail to capture footage of fatal hit-and-run suspect
PHUKET: The CCTV network at the Heroines’ Monument is undergoing maintenance following the failure to capture the licence plate number of a white pick-up truck that was involved in a fatal hit-and-run in Phuket on Saturday night. “The entire CCTV system there was broken, so we have no clues as to where the truck went or what its licence plate…
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Inside job: Police arrest Phuket spa robbers
PHUKET: Four suspects, including one spa employee, have been arrested for their involvement in the armed robbery of Imperial Spa earlier this month in Phuket Town. Two armed men stormed into the spa on April 5, robbing the staff at gunpoint and knifepoint of 500,000 baht before riding off on a motorbike with a third accomplice (story here). About 10…
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Phuket beachfront roadside vendors given eviction order
PHUKET: Vendors with stalls along the beachfront road at Nai Thon have been given two weeks to leave, or face legal action. The move follows Tah Chat Chai Police officers delivering verbal warnings yesterday. Formal eviction orders are expected to be issued today, Surachuai Sannoo, chief of Sirinath National Park, told the Phuket Gazette this morning. “Once they receive the…
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Phuket tourist dies in fall from hotel balcony
PHUKET: Police are investigating the death of a Chinese tourist who plunged from his fifth-floor hotel room balcony in Karon early yesterday morning. Wang Anjun, 41, died at Patong Hospital after succumbing to injuries sustained in the fall at Le Meridien Phuket Beach Resort, said Capt Channarong Prakongkua of the Karon Police. “Mr Wang was drinking beer with friends on…
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Rank canal water overflows onto Phuket beach
PHUKET: Officials are scrambling to minimize the damage of rank-smelling water from a blocked canal that is overflowing and seeping across Nai Yang Beach into the sea. “The locals say that the canal water has become foul because untreated wastewater was being discharged directly into the canal by business owners,” Thalang District chief Veera Kerdsirimongkol told the Phuket Gazette this…
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Catch and cull: Phuket taxi cheats under fire
PHUKET: The chief of the Phuket Land Transport Office (PLTO) is appealing for cheated or abused taxi passengers to file complaints. “Without a complaint, there is little we can do to ensure that passengers are being taken care of properly,” PLTO chief Terayout Prasertphol told the Phuket Gazette today. The call for complaints to be filed follows last Thursday’s announcement…
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Migrant workers injured as pick-up truck flips in Phuket
PHUKET: Six Myanmar workers were injured, one seriously, when the pick-up truck they were riding in the back of flipped on a curve at Cape Yamu, on Phuket’s east coast, yesterday. “One of the six was seriously injured, and could not talk or move,” said Lt Col Sanit Nukong of the Thalang Police. The pick-up truck was heading from the…
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Russian man survives crash in tree, garden wipeout
PHUKET: A Russian man survived crashing his car into a tree on Srisoonthorn Road while heading to Cherng Talay early this morning. When police arrived at the scene at about 3am, Kirill Abolemov, 27, had no visible injuries, but his white Toyota Fortuner had seriously damaged a tree and garden. “Mr Abolemov could not answer any questions at the scene.…
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Bomb squad diffuses cosmetics bag panic in Phuket Town
PHUKET: Fears that an abandoned bag might contain a bomb sent an Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) unit rushing to Patiphat Road near Jui Tui Shrine in Phuket Town last night. “Phuket City Police called us after they were notified by locals who found an abandoned bag that looked like it might contain a bomb, so we went immediately to the…
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Police hunting for suspect in shooting murder of 72-year-old Phuket man
PHUKET: Police are hunting for a suspect behind the murder of a 72-year-old man who was shot while riding home yesterday in Kalim. “Eet Chaisit was found still alive next to his fallen motorbike on the side of Phra Baramee Road in Kalim, about 200 meters away from his house, at about 2pm,” said Patong Police Superintendent Chaiwat Auikam. Patong…
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Phuket big bike rider killed in Chumphon crash
PHUKET: A big bike rider from Phuket was killed and his passenger seriously injured yesterday when he lost control of his motorcycle on a wet road and crashed into a tree in Chumphon province. Police arrived at the scene on Asia 41 Road in Lamae district to find Kathu resident Boonsong Witeewai, 52, dead on the ground and his 49-year-old…
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Phuket FC fired up for Ronin redemption
PHUKET: A disappointing 0-2 defeat to AIS Division 2 team Lampang FC bundled Phuket FC out of the 2015 Toyota League Cup last weekend. Lampang striker Jennarong Wongnoi opened the scoring in the 7th minute, and midfielder teammate Surapong Thongbua sealed the match with a goal just two minutes before the final whistle. The Ronins’ loss, however, is being used…
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Police, Navy teams end search for missing American
PHUKET: The Royal Thai Navy and Phuket Marine Police will no longer send out dedicated search teams to find the body of missing American Joshua Devine, who disappeared from a dive boat off the coast of Phuket on April 11 (story here), officers confirmed today. “We have searched for several days and have yet to find any sign of Mr…
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Phuket tour boats, ferries forced to install AIS locators
PHUKET: New regulations to come into effect from Sunday will require all boats and ferries in Phuket that are registered to carry 25 or more passengers to be fitted with an AIS locator device. The news was delivered at a meeting of marine officials with more than 220 Phuket boat operators at the Katina Hotel in Phuket Town yesterday. “Also,…
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Patong teens nabbed for exchange-booth robberies
PHUKET: Two teenagers were arrested in Patong on Wednesday, and police are searching for three more, for their involvement a series of currency-exchange booth robberies and motorbike thefts. The two, who cannot be named as they are minors, were caught on Wednesday night after police identified them in CCTV footage collected from a currency-exchange booth on Rat-U-Thit 200 Pi Road…
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Phuket officials contemplate Article 44 to clear Surin beach clubs
PHUKET: Local authorities are investigating whether or not they can use the internationally controversial Article 44 of the interim Charter to evict business operators still occupying venues along Surin Beach. Officials involved in the eviction of the beach clubs were slated to visit the business owners on Monday to confirm whether or not the appeals had been filed against eviction…
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No alcohol ban on Phuket passenger, tour boats
PHUKET: The Phuket marine chief will not order a ban on the sale or consumption of alcohol on any passenger or tour boats operating to or from Phuket. The decision was made at a meeting of marine officials and more than 220 Phuket boat operators at the Katina Hotel in Phuket Town yesterday. “At this stage, we will not ban…
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Phuket’s ACYC Open Day takes sailing back to its roots
PHUKET: Sailing gets back to its roots this weekend as Alfie Rowson of the reigning national champion Platu crew on Kingdom Property is set to lead free dinghy sailing lessons for kids and adults at the Ao Chalong Yacht Club (ACYC) Open Day tomorrow. Rowson, along with fellow Phuket-based sailor Scott Duncanson and Kingdom Property crewmates Trent Pedersen and Tony…
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Trial over lethal Phuket Tiger Disco inferno begins
PHUKET: The long-awaited manslaughter trial over the deaths of four people in Patong’s notorious Tiger Disco inferno began yesterday with the presentation of witness testimonies. The lethal blaze killed four people and injured 11 others after fire broke out in the busy nightclub on Soi Bangla in the early hours of August 17, 2012. The flames claimed the lives of…
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Phuket tsunami drill to be held away from tourist fleshpots
PHUKET: A full-scale tsunami evacuation and emergency-response drill will be held on Koh Sireh, on the east side of Phuket Town, on May 7. The full-scale annual drill was originally slated to be held on Christmas Day last year (story here), but was later postponed due to sensitivities over the exercise being held one day before the 10-year anniversary of…
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Patong book place in cricket league final
PHUKET: A dominant victory over Village CC by an innings and 257 runs at the Alan Cooke Ground (ACG) in Thalang last Sunday secured Patong CC the minor premiership and place in the league final, to be played on May17. Both teams were missing many of their regular players, who were busy with work, travel commitments or out with injuries,…
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Opinion: Stop paying the power bill, Phuket
PHUKET: It’s hard to argue with the objective of the Ministry of Energy’s campaign to reduce electric power consumption on the island by 10 per cent within six months, but the Gazette hopes that more energy will be saved in the effort than calories expended. As mentioned in an announcement by Ministry of Energy Inspector Pramoul Chanpong, primary targets include…
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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