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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Security concerns threaten Phuket concert for Myanmar nationals
PHUKET: The very first concert in Phuket dedicated to entertaining Myanmar nationals may yet be canceled for security reasons. Posters and billboards erected around Phuket Town promote the “Myanmar – Thai Cultural Relationship Concert” to be held in a field behind Bus Terminal 1 on Phang Nga Road on January 31. The event is to feature Myanmar celebrities R Zarni,…
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Phang Nga Bay Regatta calls for cruisers to take sail
PHUKET: The iconic Phang Nga Bay Regatta returns for its 18th edition this year, with a move to March and calls for cruisers to take sail on the bay. The annual regatta, informally dubbed “the party regatta” from its reputation in its founding years, has for more than a decade been held, or at least started, in February. This year,…
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Phuket, give blood out of love
PHUKET: The Phuket Regional Blood Center (PRBC) has invited all qualified island residents to make a blood donation in February – which holds Valentine’s Day dearly in its bosom. “We want people to donate their blood in this month of love, so that they can share their brotherly love for their fellow human beings,” said PRBC acting chief Pornthip Rattajak.…
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Housewife wins new car in Phuket Red Cross Fair lucky draw
PHUKET: Chalong housewife Sompit Khaopong claimed a brand-new Toyota Altis 1.6, valued at more than 800,000 baht, as the grand prize in the annual Phuket Red Cross Fair lucky draw. Governor Nisit Jansomwong and his wife Mrs Nutsaree, who is the president of the Phuket Red Cross, presented the car to Mrs Sompit at the Phuket Red Cross head office…
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Phuket Aussies unite to provide mobility scooter for disabled Bangla vendor
PHUKET: A group of Australians in Patong will hold a fund-raising event at the Kangaroo Bar on Soi Bangla Friday night in order to provide a mobility scooter for long-term street merchant Wilaiwan “Wan” Damnui. “Wan works in Patong, around the Bangla Road area, selling various wares. She’s been here as long as I can remember, which is more than…
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Phuket’s Munchy Machine almost totalled in hit-and-run [video]
PHUKET: The Munchy Machine, part of Phuket’s Tuk-Tuk Diner fleet (story here), was almost totalled in a hit-and-run accident near the TX Soccer Stadium in Samkong at about 4am yesterday. “We arrived at the scene and spoke to eye-witnesses, but nobody was able to describe the vehicle that slammed into the tuk-tuk before careening off into the support pole of…
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Man injured in Phuket teen drive-by shooting
PHUKET: Police are struggling to establish a motive in the drive-by shooting of a man in Thalang this morning, allegedly carried out by Phuket teenagers. Officers arrived at the scene, on the Baan Ya-Baan Don Road, at about 7am to find a motorbike parked in front of a resident’s house and a blood stain on the ground. “The 49-year-old victim,…
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Bryde’s whale spotted north of Phuket
PHUKET: The sighting of a Bryde’s whale by tourists in the Surin Islands National Park off the coast of Phang Nga, north of Phuket, has raised hopes that the marine environment off the Andaman coast is improving. The whale was spotted swimming alongside a boat operated by Kuraburi-based Sabina Tours. “The tourists, who came from Phuket and Phang Nga to…
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Sunloungers allowed during Patong Beach trial period
PHUKET: Though there will be no sunloungers available for rent in the special vendor zones on Patong Beach, beachgoers are allowed to bring their own, Patong Mayor Chalermluck Kebsup confirmed to the Phuket Gazette today. “Tourists are welcome to bring their own umbrellas, beach mats or sunloungers,” Ms Chalermluck said. “Or they can rent beach mats or umbrellas from vendors…
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Gov vows to make Phuket world-class yacht, cruise ship hub of SE Asia
PHUKET: Governor Nisit Jansomwong has vowed to make Phuket a world-class hub for yachts and cruise boats in Southeast Asia by putting his weight behind a multi-million-baht harbor expansion project at the island’s Deep Sea Port. The governor’s resolve follows a meeting on Tuesday headed by Minister of Transport Air Chief Marshall Prajin Janthong, who announced plans to make Phuket…
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10 per cent of Patong Beach not enough, says mayor
PHUKET: A three-month trial of a scheme to get beach vendors back to work in special zones along Patong Beach was launched on January 3, but the zones do not encompass enough space to cater to the volume of daily visitors, says the local mayor. The zones are roughly 100m-wide swaths of beach that extend down to about the waterline,…
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Dtac brings 4G to Phuket
PHUKET: Total Access Communication Public Company Limited, commonly known as dtac, on Thursday announced the roll out of 4G services in Phuket. Phuket is the first southern province to receive 4G service, after dtac launched in Bangkok. “In 2014, internet usage in Phuket [grew] by 150% compared to the previous year. The top five favorite applications used in the area…
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Phuket’s Grumpy Old Men to remember expat Little John
PHUKET: The island’s Grumpy Old Men Society (GOMS) will hold a memorial service in Rawai tomorrow in honor of a special request by Phuket expat John Devenport, who died last year (story here). The event at Gig’s Jam Club will start at about 8pm, with the Thai band Cold Chilli playing into the night. “John passed away in England and…
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NFL Conference Championships: Final four
PHUKET: There were some great games, along with a few surprises and questionable calls, in last weekend’s ‘divisional playoff’ round in the National Football League (NFL). When it was all over, the results only reinforced what most seasoned observers already knew: having an ‘elite’ quarterback is a key to playoff success. NFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME Green Bay Packers vs Seattle Seahawks…
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Thailand scores gold at Pencak Silat world titles in Phuket
PHUKET: Thailand has won three gold medals at the 16th Pencak Silat World Championships being contested at the Saphan Hin Indoor Sports Center in Phuket Town, with more up for grabs today. Pornthep Poonkaew won gold for Thailand in the men’s 60-65kg division and Napaporn Boonchuen won her gold medal in the women’s 45-50kg class. This morning, Surasak Dekli defeated…
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Phuket sailors ready for ACYC yacht race teaser this weekend (video)
PHUKET: The Ao Chalong Yacht Club (ACYC) will hold the first of three family fun day races on Sunday with a race around Koh Lone, off the east coast of Phuket. “All are welcome to join the ACYC Sunday sailing races. Breakfast is available at the club from 8am. Anybody wishing to sail but does not have a boat is…
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Euro PGA player Shiv rates Laguna Phuket’s new course “exceptional’
PHUKET: European Tour and Asian Tour player Shiv Kapur last Sunday rated the re-designed course at Laguna Phuket Golf Club as “an exceptional golf course” that maintained traditions of the game. “You walk off with a smile on your face,” he said at the inaugural tournament held to officially open the course. Kapur began the 76-player Scramble tourney with an…
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Bread crumbs no problem for coral reef, says Phuket official
PHUKET: Despite specialists’ worries, the director of the Ministry of Tourism and Sports (MOTS) Phuket office explained that feeding fish bread in small quantities is no cause for concern. “Officers from the Phuket Marine Biological Center [PMBC] say that feeding fish will change their natural habits. However, based on my experience, I do not think that it is wrong to…
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Even tourists don’t want jet-skis on Phuket beaches, says poll
PHUKET: A staggering 75% of all respondents – including tourists – have voted that jet-skis have no place anywhere on any Phuket beach. The poll, run for four weeks on the Phuket Gazette website, received 6,362 votes, with nearly 3,000 tourists making their voices heard concerning the simple question: “Should jet-ski operators be allowed to operate on Phuket’s beaches?” Only…
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Czech busker on Bangla reunited with his family
PHUKET: The Czech father who was busking on Soi Bangla for money while his 6-year-old daughter lay in hospital after being hit by a car has been reunited with his family. Phuket Tourist Police officers visited Lucas Matena and his family at Bangkok Hospital Phuket on Tuesday, where Mr Matena’s daughter Rebeka was recovering from a broken jaw. The officers…
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Yosemite climbers reach top of El Capitan in historic ascent
PHUKET: Two climbers completed a historic 19-day ascent to the summit of Yosemite National Park’s El Capitan in California on Wednesday after scaling the rock formation’s 3,000-foot (900-metre) sheer granite face without climbing tools, representatives said. Tommy Caldwell, 36, and Kevin Jorgeson, 30, made it to the top of El Capitan at 3:30 p.m. (2330 GMT), spokeswoman Jess Clayton of…
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Grenade lighter sparks bomb scare at Phuket health center
PHUKET: A cigarette lighter shaped like a grenade sent patients and medical staff scurrying for cover at a local health center in Phuket today. Phuket City Police Deputy Superintendent Chao Phomna called in the bomb squad at about 12:40pm after a patient reported seeing a grenade by the front door of the center, named as the Songserm Sukhapharp Hospital. “We…
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Vietnamese cargo ship rams, sinks Thai fishing boat off Phuket
PHUKET: Marine officials have detained a Vietnamese cargo ship in Phang Nga after the vessel struck and sank a Thai fishing boat off Phuket yesterday. “We were anchored about 10 nautical miles from Phuket Airport, when at about 8:40am a cargo ship named Phuong Nam 69 came from nowhere and rammed our bow hard,” Arom Sri-im, owner of the fishing…
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Police nail two drug dealers in Rassada
PHUKET: A team of Phuket City Police officers arrested two major drug dealers yesterday in possession of nearly 75 grams of ya ice (crystal methamphetamine) and more than 200 ya bah (methamphetamine) pills. Phuket City Police Deputy Superintendent Santi Chai-niramai and an anti-narcotics team, acting under nationwide orders from the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) and the Royal…
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Phuket’s top police get shake-up: eight transferred
PHUKET: A sweeping transfer of eight of the island’s 10 police superintendents comes with short notice as the Phuket high season charges into 2015. Public Affairs Division of the Royal Thai Police announced the orders this morning, though the transferees were officially confirmed by Region 8 Police Commissioner Decha Budnampeth on January 9. “I am surprised that so many of…
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Teen shooters arrested in Phuket
PHUKET: The drive-by shooting that left a 19-year-old dead on the streets of Phuket Town on December 29 was a mistaken hit, the shooters have confessed to police. Police arrested two teens, given the pseudonyms “Joey”, 15, and “James”, 16, in a house near Kathu Temple yesterday for the shooting death of Chalong Netphetdang, 19, originally named by police as…
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Legal Phuket jet-ski operators threaten to join illegal cowboys
PHUKET: Fed up with illegal jet-ski operators serving tourists at Bang Tao Beach, the local legal jet-ski brigade yesterday threatened to abandon all legalities and join the jet-ski cowboys. Unregistered and uninsured jet-skis and parasail boats returned to the beach in November, said Surachai Yomdee, head of the Bang Tao Jet-Ski Club. “The illegal jet-skis and parasail boats do not…
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Water tanker crushes pick-up truck in Kamala villa estate
PHUKET: A water tanker rolled backwards down a hill and crushed a pick-up truck outside a residence at Jomchang Villa in Kamala yesterday afternoon, only moments after the pick-up driver got out of her vehicle. Kamala Police officers called to the scene were told by witnesses that the pick-up driver, who declined to be named, had escaped almost certain death…
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Molly’s fatal road in Phuket fixed
PHUKET: Officials have fixed the rural road that claimed the life of 7-year-old Molly Anne Bailey after the truck she was travelling in plunged into a massive sinkhole. The sinkhole did not have any lights or obvious signs warning drivers of the hole. There was only a dark green plastic net with a sign that read “Road Cut Off”. The…
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Video Report: World Pencak Silat Championship biggest – ever, say officials
PHUKET: At the the opening ceremony on Saturday, officials marked the 16th World Pencak Silat Championship 2015 as the largest such event for the Indonesian martial art. “Under the campaign ‘Uniting Silat, Uniting the People’, we hope to raise the world’s awareness of this sport. We hope that all pencak silat member countries will be united and grow strong,” said…
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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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