Phuket News
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F1: Tilke, tyres, temperatures and tricks
PHUKET: Well, my Melbourne forecast was spot on, and my Sepang forecast was not. Ferrari, which I thought would have problems staying ahead of Williams, stayed ahead of the field. That raises a few questions. Has Ferrari sufficiently improved to take Mercedes to the checkered flag in Abu Dhabi? If it does, I intend to be there. However, I am…
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Phuket Police boost security following Koh Samui bombing
PHUKET: A Phuket top cop has confirmed that he will boost security measures on the island following a car bomb exploding on the resort island of Koh Samui last night. “In short, we will strengthen our security measures and keep a closer eye on tourist locations, as well as areas where the public generally gathers,” Phuket Provincial Police Deputy Commander…
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Video Report: Goldie, Eka take stage tonight for Music is My Life at Xana
PHUKET: World renowned, British DJ Goldie is joining forces with Number One Hit Canadian soul artist Eka for the charity jam ‘Music is My Life’ at Xana Beach Club on tonight, starting at 9pm and running late. The show is a tribute to passionate underground Phuket DJ Josh Ezelle, who died in a motorbike crash last year on his way…
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Pre-Songkran road-safety blitz nets bus driver on drugs
PHUKET: A bus driver was fined for driving under the influence today during a Songkran road-safety blitz at the bottom of Patong Hill in Kathu. Thung Thong Police and the Phuket Land Transport Office (PLTO) set up a checkpoint from 9am-11am to randomly check vehicles passing through, said Jaturong Kaewkasi, the chief policy adviser at PLTO. One bus driver, who…
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Survivors of Phuket ferry inferno start flying home
PHUKET: Ten of the tourists who survived the lethal ferry blaze that killed 12-year-old Israeli girl Shani Manil on Wednesday (story here) have flown home, police confirmed. “The 10 people who flew out of Phuket yesterday said that they needed to get back home,” said Phuket Provincial Police Deputy Commander Samarn Chainarong. “We have their statements already, so there was…
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Triathlon Superkidz take charge in Phuket
PHUKET: More than 180 kids took part in the Thanyapura Superkidz Triathlon 2015 event on April 4. The event pulled young athletes from around the world – Sweden, New Zealand, Netherland, American, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Australia, UK, Germany – as many of them prepare for the International Junior Challenge slated for later this year. The triathlon was broken…
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Phuket Bike Week riders mount up for charity (video)
PHUKET: Riders joining the Phuket Bike Week 2015 festivities, which get underway at Loma Park in Patong today have their hearts and their helmets set on doing more than just showing off the best motorbikes in the region. Among the activities this year is a mass release of sea animals at the Royal Thai Navy base at Cape Panwa to…
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Body of man found floating off Phuket
PHUKET: Police are attempting to identify a man whose body was found floating offshore from Layan Beach, on Phuket’s west coast, this morning. Passing fishermen spotted the body about 13 nautical miles from Koh Kata, the small island immediately offshore from Layan Beach, at about 9:30am. Rescue workers from the Kusoldharm Foundation and the Cherng Talay Administration Organization (OrBorTor) recovered…
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Shotgun, drugs seized in pre-Songkran raids
PHUKET: Patong Police arrested seven suspects in possession of an illegal weapon and drugs yesterday as part of a series of raids to be carried out through the Songkran holiday. Police first arrested Songchai Warisayakorn, 37, at his rental room in Patong, after being tipped off by nearby locals. “We found a Remington shotgun and a 9mm Glock pistol, as…
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Thalang stumps ICC in cricket face-off
PHUKET: The Thalang Cricket Team defeated Island Cricket Club in baking 35บC conditions at the Alan Cooke Ground in Thalang last weekend. Thalang entered the match without their captain Bill Stahmer and key run scorer Justin Thomatos, while the ICC were without medium pace bowler Pir Sami. TCT’s stand-in captain Andrew McMillan won the toss and chose to field first.…
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Hungarian dope smuggler arrested in Phuket
PHUKET: Hungarian national Kocsis Szabolcs Laszlo, 41, was presented to the press in Bangkok by Immigration Bureau commissioner Sakda Chuenpakdee yesterday after his arrest in Phuket on March 15. Mr Laszlo was wanted for allegedly smuggling 35 kilograms of marijuana from the Netherlands to Hungary on seven occasions, Lt Gen Sakda explained. The Immigration Commissioner said that police had arrested…
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Phuket’s “death lagoon’ roped off for Songkran safety
PHUKET: As the busy Thai New Year Songkran holidays approach this weekend, Rawai Municipality has installed floating markers to rope off the beach side of the sluice gate at Phuket’s Nai Harn Lagoon. The estuary is subject to strong tidal flows between the lagoon and the sea, which trapped and drowned 9-year-old Sarun Srisongkram on March 30 (story here). “Swimmers…
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Australian arrested for Phuket plantation scam
PHUKET: An Australian man and his alleged Thai accomplice have been arrested in Khon Kaen for allegedly swindling money out of many foreigners in Phuket. Shaun Michael Albert Maher, 41, and Rossarin Phowichai, 25, were arrested in Khon Kaen province on Tuesday. The arrests are related to complaints filed in Phuket province by many foreigners, who say the two suspects…
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Police recover body of Israeli girl, ferry fire victim Shani,12
PHUKET: The Krabi Marine Police have confirmed that they have recovered the body of Israeli girl, Sani Manil, 12. Shani was the sole victim in the fire that gutted and sank the Ao Nang Princess 5 ferry while en route from Krabi to Phuket on Wednesday (click here). Rescue workers recovered the girl’s remains from the sunken wreck at about…
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Israeli girl missing after tour boat catches fire and sinks near Krabi
FILE PHOTO: Identical vessel to the one that caught and sank yesterday A 12 year old Israeli girl remains missing from a tourist boat incident, whilst travelling to Phuket from Krabi. The boat caught fire and eventually sank yesterday afternoon (Monday) around 3.30pm. About 100 other foreign tourists were safely rescued. The ferry belongs to Ao Nang Travel Tour Company. The boat, named Ao Nang…
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Phuket gamers spared as car slams shopfront power pole
PHUKET: A woman has been charged for reckless driving after her car slammed into an SUV parked in front of an internet and online gaming cafe, then wiped out two motorcycles in Pa Khlok last night. The car, a Krabi-registered Toyota Vios, came to a stop only after hitting a power pole in front of the cafe, reported Lt Suporn…
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Customers flee as fire guts Phuket SuperCheap
PHUKET: Staff and customers fled for their lives early this morning as flames engulfed a SuperCheap mini-mart store in front of the Phuket Villa 5 housing estate on Chao Fa West Road. “One of the staffers said that there were about 10 customers in the shop when they noticed flames coming from a fridge,” said Lt Col Peerapan Meemak of…
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Umbrellas, sun loungers seized in Phuket beach raids
PHUKET: More than 100 pieces of beach furniture were seized in northern Phuket today, following complaints of beach encroachment being filed to the Thalang District Office. “This morning about 30 officers from the Thalang District Office and Cherng Talay Administration Organization (OrBorTor) took part in the raid on Lay Pang Beach and Surin Beach,” Thalang District Office Chief Administrative Officer…
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Phuket taxi drivers fight bus terminal eviction
PHUKET: A sortie of about 30 taxi drivers arrived at Provincial Hall today to plea for intervention into an eviction order forcing them to cease operations at Phuket’s main bus terminal in Rassada. The drivers, led by Yod Sae-Lee, carried banners saying: “We formed a legal taxi co-operative more than 10 years ago. We are forced to leave by Rassada…
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Phuket golfers set golf cart world record for charity
PHUKET: Avid Phuket golfers Mark Cameron and Graham Haslam have completed a world-record golf cart drive from Pattaya to Phuket, and are hoping to raise even more money for charity with an auction at the Hard Rock Cafe in Patong tomorrow night. “The cart will be up for auction at a starting bid of 200,000 baht, ‘slightly used’,” Mr Cameron…
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Efforts continue to re-float beached Phuket yacht
PHUKET: The salvage team attempting to re-float the yacht still stranded on the sand at Kata Beach will make another attempt today, nearly a week after the boat was beached by a passing storm. The Inisfail of the Isles of Scilly was beached on Wednesday after the boat drifted on her anchor. Attempts by the two Australian men on board…
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Alleged Phuket baby rapist, killer surrenders to police
PHUKET: A male nanny wanted for the alleged rape and killing of a 1-year-old boy in Phuket Town surrendered to police last night. However, the 38-year-old man has denied the allegations. Police launched a manhunt for Somsak Yakob after he called the child’s mother to tell her that her son had fallen to his death. He left the baby’s battered…
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Malaysian arrested for hacked credit cards in Phuket
PHUKET: Tourist Police arrested a Malaysian man at Phuket International Airport this weekend for having hacked credit cards in his possession. Mohd Jaris Tan Bin Abdullah, 50, was arrested shortly after landing on board AirAsia flight FD3017 at 5:05pm, said Phuket Tourist Police Chief Urumporn Koondejsumrit. The arrest followed a tip-off by Kasikornbank (Kbank). “When he arrived, we searched him…
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British tourist found dead in Patong hotel bathtub
PHUKET: Police believe that a combination of two common drugs, Alprazolam and Nytol, may have led to the death of a British man in the bathtub at his Patong hotel room last night. Hotel staffers at the Baan Yin Dee Boutique Resort on Muean Ngen Road found the body of Arif Abdul Khalid Ukaye, 33, in his guest room at…
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Former Miss Universe fights Phuket gibbon touts
PHUKET: Former Miss Universe Natalie Glebova visited Phuket today to raise public awareness about gibbons being illegally owned and used as props for photo opportunities. “As a celebrity, I can use my voice and my platform to spread awareness to other people, and say, ‘Hey, when you see gibbons, don’t take a picture with them’,” Ms Glebova said. The Russian-Canadian…
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#SaveVasilisa campaign launched for comatose 3-year-old girl
PHUKET: An online campaign is gaining momentum to raise funds for a 3-year-old Russian girl who lies comatose in hospital after falling unnoticed into a swimming pool at a Phuket resort. Vasilisa Sagunova arrived in Phuket with her parents on March 27. That same day she fell into a pool at the resort where they were staying, reports the Save…
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Phuket’s first underpass officially open to traffic
PHUKET: The island’s first underpass, dubbed ‘Darasamuth Underpass’, officially opens to traffic today, after two years in the making. The grand opening event has drawn high-ranking officials, both local and national, to the site of the 600-million-baht underpass. In attendance were both Minister of Transport Air Chief Marshal Prajin Juntong and Minister of Finance Sommai Pasri, as well as Phuket…
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Armed robbers knock over Phuket spa for B500k
PHUKET: Police are hunting five armed robbers after they held up a spa in Phuket Town and made off with 500,000 baht cash last night. The robbery took place at about 9:45pm at Imperial Spa, near Chaofa Variety market, in Wichit, said Phuket Provincial Police Deputy Commander Pinit Sirichai. There were about 10 Chinese customers present at the time, confirmed…
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Phuket thieves arrested on Koh Samui
PHUKET: Two men wanted for robbery in Phuket and believed to be holding fake Turkish passports were arrested in Koh Samui yesterday. Murad Mohammad Yahya, 37, and Wesam Kamal Murad, 27, are accused of stealing a Rolex watch, cash and other valuables worth more than one million baht, as well as illegally entering Thailand and presenting fake identification. Both men…
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Bangkok-Phuket bus flips in Krabi, 20 injured
PHUKET: A bus travelling from Bangkok to Phuket overturned in Krabi early this morning, leaving at least one woman seriously injured. Officers arrived at the scene of the crash, in the Khao To area in Krabi’s northernmost district Plai Praya, at about 6:30am. “The driver had fled the scene,” said Capt Prasert Jamsai of Plai Phraya Police. “The bus belongs…
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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