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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Phuket hit-and-run kills one
PHUKET: Police are trying to track down a pick-up truck driver involved in a hit-and-run accident that left one man dead and another injured in northern Phuket last night. Police and Kusoldharm Foundation rescue workers rushed to the scene, near Phuket International Airport, at about 8:30pm and found 31-year-old Soonthorn Payabal dead on the ground next to a motorbike. “Sarawut…
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Down at the dojo: Phuket martial arts club finds a new home
PHUKET: The Phuket Martial Arts & Buerki Judo Club group has found a new home at the FunStart Family Sports and Leisure Club, and is calling on the island’s youngsters to put down the video games and pick up the powerful martial arts of judo, jujitsu, aikido and aikijitsu. The judo club has been established on the island for years,…
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Phuket police hunt for suspects in drive-by motorbike shooting
PHUKET: Police are searching for two male suspects involved in a drive-by motorbike shooting that left one Phuket construction worker dead late Wednesday night. Vuthisak Pungsombut, 19, was driving a motorbike with his coworker Pongsak Sukjam, 44, riding pillion, back to the workers’ camp where they live after watching a football match at a nearby shop in Srisoonthorn, Lt Col…
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Laguna Phuket launches initiative to help struggling beach vendors
PHUKET: Laguna Phuket has announced the launch of a beach vendor support center to assist those who lost their jobs as a result of the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) beach cleanup campaign earlier this year. The “Local Vendors Support Center” will comprise shops from which vendors and other service providers, including masseuse and tour-desk operators, can continue…
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Phuket’s Le Meridien plays down “private beach’ accusations by villagers
PHUKET: Le Meridien Phuket Beach Resort today denied accusations by local villagers that it is claiming the beach at Karon Noi Bay for itself, and explained that the sun-loungers and umbrellas on the beach in front of the resort are provided free for hotel guests. Local villagers led by Aroonsri Klanma, village chief of Karon Moo 1, filed a complaint…
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Phuket truck slams into Patong Hill power pole after brakes fail
PHUKET: A six-wheeled truck loaded with cinder blocks slammed into a Phuket power pole on Patong Hill after the vehicle’s brakes failed this morning. Police arrived at the scene at about 10am. No one was injured in the accident, police officers told the Phuket Gazette. The driver told police that he was delivering the cinder blocks from Phuket Ka Cement…
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Bus ban ignored: Phuket tour bus plunges down Patong Hill
PHUKET: A Phuket tour bus carrying Chinese tourists plunged down Patong Hill yesterday afternoon, obliterating a police box before crashing into a temple wall. The driver Pirom Joppromraj, 49, told police that the brakes failed as he descended the steep slope into Patong at about 5:15pm – during big vehicle restricted hours. A Patong Hill bus ban was put in…
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Video Report: Phuket’s HomeWorks re-opens amid promises of safe shelves
PHUKET: HomeWorks, the busy home-improvement store on Phuket’s bypass road, re-opened to shoppers today amid promises that the shelves had been inspected and were safe to use. A shelf collapse at the store on Sunday resulted in a family of three, including an 11-year-old girl, being rushed to hospital with injuries after they were pummeled by falling paint buckets (story…
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Phuket dope peddler nabbed in Patong sewing shop sting
PHUKET: Police arrested a 54-year-old man in Phuket yesterday for possession of 1.5 kilograms of kratom*, which he sold through his sewing shop on Nanai Road. Undercover officers entered the no-name shop in Patong at about 5:30pm and asked Prasert Chookong if he had any kratom for sale. Mr Prasert obliged, and was promptly arrested. “We bought 20 fresh kratom…
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PM Prayuth to lead tsunami memorial services
PHUKET: Prime Minister Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha will lead foreign envoys and relatives of the 2004 tsunami victims in a memorial marking the 10th anniversary of the disaster in Khao Lak, north of Phuket, on December 26. Sihasak Phuangketkeow, permanent secretary of the Foreign Ministry, announced yesterday that his office, the Interior Ministry’s Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department and the Thai…
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Phuket Beach Club owners face charges for blocking demolition
PHUKET: The owners of The Beach Club restaurant in Nai Yang are facing charges for obstructing officers after they tried to prevent the demolition of their building yesterday – deemed illegally built on public land last month. Owners Aroon Prewphanchoo and Sanya Trirongthong parked a 10-wheeled trailer and several cars in front of their restaurant before officials from the Sakoo…
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Social networks buzz with Phuket police brutality allegations
PHUKET: Social networks are buzzing with allegations of police brutality at a checkpoint in Phuket Town on Saturday night after video footage surfaced of rescue workers treating an injured man. The stir comes from the video footage in which Chaiyarong Trongtor, 25, asks rescue workers, “Why did you hit me with a baton?” “When I arrived, after my team, Mr…
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Girl remains in Phuket hospital after ‘hail’ of paint cans
PHUKET: An 11-year-old girl trapped under a rack of shelves at the HomeWorks home-improvement store yesterday afternoon will remain in hospital tonight under observation as a precaution only, the Phuket Gazette was told this afternoon. Eight racks of shelves reaching up to about three-meters tall collapsed at the store, inside Central Festival Phuket East, bringing down a hail of full…
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Video Report: Phuket police face probe for abuse of martial law
PHUKET: Hundreds of people turned out at Phuket Provincial Hall today to support a complaint against Cherng Talay Police allegedly abusing their position of power under martial law in a raid on a family home last week. Srisoonthorn Mayor Worrawut Songyot and his niece Hathairat Songyot today filed the complaint to Phuket Governor Nisit Jansomwong. The complaint states that a…
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Phuket coach conquers 10km keepie-uppie journey in honor of The King
PHUKET: A local football coach played keepie-uppie, the act of juggling a football without allowing the ball to hit the ground, for 10 kilometers along Phuket’s coast in honor of HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s 87th birthday on Friday. Praphan Khongmuean, coach at Republic Phuket and keepie-uppie marathoner, started juggling the ball at Kata Beach Resort and Spa at 7am and…
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Phuket Police: No foul play suspected in death of English-Thai toddler
PHUKET: Police do not suspect foul play in the death of a Phuket toddler who was found dead in a pool outside of his family’s house in Rawai on Friday. Marcus Pandragon Pearce, 16 months old, was discovered floating in the pool by his mother, Malida Pearce. “Mrs Pearce told us that her English husband, Jass Pearce, had gone out…
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Phuket motorcyclist killed in head-on collision
PHUKET: A motorcyclist was killed in a head-on collision with a pick-up truck that was trying to overtake a car in Phuket last night. Police and Ruam Jai Foundation rescue workers arrived on the scene, Thep Anusorn Road in Wichit, at about 9:30pm. In the middle of the road, they found the body of 27-year-old Jakkrapong Sungjang. “Witnesses told police…
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Egat ramps up push for Krabi coal-fired power plant
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Egat ramps up push for Krabi coal-fired power plant The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) is pushing ahead with its plans to build a coal-fired power plant in Krabi, across Phang Nga Bay from Phuket, by 2019. Despite public…
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Hong Kong teams dominate top classes at Phuket King’s Cup Regatta
PHUKET; The final day’s racing of the 28th King’s Cup Regatta was set up beautifully to host some epic, close-quarters King’s Cup clashes. Winds were good, crews were psyched, and the final day didn’t disappoint. Saturday saw all classes come to a close with a total of 123 keelboat races taking place during the week, in addition to 27 dinghy…
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NFL Week 14: Cowboys crush Bears, 41-28
PHUKET: Quarterback Tony Romo and his Dallas Cowboys blew out a hapless Chicago Bears team 41-28 at Soldier Field in Chicago on Thursday Night Football, the first game of Week 14 of the NFL season. The win raised the Cowboys’ record to 9-4, guaranteeing them their first winning season in five years following a string of three mediocre 8-8 seasons.…
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Just 3 days to deadline for Phuket’s yellow pages
/PHUKET: Businesses wishing to appear in the 2015 Gazette Guide Business Directory, Phuket’s “yellow pages”, have until noon on Wednesday, December 10, to enter (or update) their listings. Businesses not listed by that date will not appear in the directory until 2016. The book for 2015, with details of about 2,500 businesses serving the international community on Phuket, will be…
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Fire breaks out on Phuket’s Soi Bangla
PHUKET: Firefighters have put out a fire that erupted at a tailor shop in Phuket’s famous nightlife district – Soi Bangla – this morning. No injuries or fatalities have been reported. Police were notified of the blaze by a tuk-tuk driver who saw smoke pouring out of the shop at about 10:30am. “The driver and a friend attempted to quell…
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Phuket Gazette bumper issue packed with holiday gifts
PHUKET: The Phuket Gazette begins the annual festive-season early this week with a record-breaking feast of 124 pages of reading for your enjoyment. We’ve been busy with major foreign media leaders to bring you news supplements from the countries and the markets that matter most – now and in the future – to Phuket. Inside this week’s Gazette, on newsstands…
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Cobra caught by Phuket villagers during cleanup
PHUKET: A group of Phuket locals trapped a large cobra that they discovered while cleaning up their village in honor of HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s birthday yesterday. Kusoldharm Foundation rescue workers arrived at the scene in Rassada to find the more than 2-meter-long female cobra trapped inside a large basket. “We had to be careful when we caught her, because…
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Phuket police foil armed man’s revenge plot
PHUKET: Police foiled an armed man’s plan for revenge by arresting him after he sped through a checkpoint in Phuket yesterday morning. Police chased down Vatcharin Chaisen, 26, at about 3am after he charged through the checkpoint in Karon to avoid being pulled over by officers. “After we stopped him, we found two homemade handguns, two rounds of ammunition and…
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Back to business amid good conditions at Phuket King’s Cup Regatta Day 4
PHUKET: Consistent winds made a very welcome return for Day Four of the Phuket King’s Cup Regatta yesterday. All classes sailed, with exceptionally tight action and some big winning margins. The King’s Cup this year has played host to an offering of IRC class racing, especially at the high-tech “Grand Prix” end of the classes such as in IRC0, where…
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Phuket goes both ways with first underpass
PHUKET: The underpass near Central Festival Phuket is now open to two-way traffic, as officials scramble to complete the intersection. “We opened the underpass to northbound and southbound traffic on Wednesday,” explained Samak Luedwonghad, director of the Phuket Highways Office. “Meanwhile we will continue to work on the surface streets above it.” The 600-million-baht underpass was originally slated for completion…
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Phuket blood center calls for donations in honor of HM The King
PHUKET: The Phuket Regional Blood Center (PRBC) has invited all qualified island residents to make a blood donation in honor of HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s 87th birthday today. Those wishing to honor HM The King in this way will have a chance to sign a get-well message for His Majesty, explained PRBC Acting Chief Pornthip Rattajak. “We currently have 700…
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Phuket Police turn down bribe, arrest Aussies
PHUKET: Two Australian tourists were given a stern lecture and a second chance by Phuket police after the two allegedly tried to bribe police officers to drop theft charges against them. The Aussies, named by police only as 21-year-old Maurice and 25-year-old John Jo Han, were arrested early this morning for shoplifting 10 sport jerseys from a shop on Bangla…
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Phuket bar owners called to honor Father’s Day booze ban
PHUKET: Phuket Vice Governor Somkiet Sangkaosuttirak has signed a formal request to be issued to all bar owners, restaurateurs and other purveyors of alcohol throughout Phuket to refrain from selling booze tomorrow in honor of HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s 87th birthday. Vice Governor Somkiet told the Phuket Gazette that he understands there is no law to prohibit the sale of…
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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