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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Bangkok lawyer drowns on holiday in Phuket
PHUKET: A Bangkok lawyer on holiday in Phuket died yesterday after being struck by a large wave and dragged out to sea at Nai Thon Beach. Teechalat Kapaeng, 46, originally from Chon Buri, and Natthachanok Inamnuaysri, 42, from Bangkok, waded into the sea at about 6:30pm to rinse sand off their bodies after lying on the beach. “We didn’t realize…
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British siblings “overwhelmed’ by Phuket reunion
PHUKET: Ben and Emily Willgrass have broken their silence to express gratitude to all Thai people for their kindness and generosity after an emotionally overwhelming reunion with their Phuket tsunami saviors last month. Nearly 10 years later and thanks to a successful call for help via Facebook (story here), the Willgrass siblings were able to track down Yupin Sengmuang and…
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No Phuket booze ban on Mother’s Day
PHUKET: There will be no ban on the sale of alcohol in Phuket as island residents join the nation in celebrating HM Queen Sirikit’s birthday and Mother’s Day tomorrow (story here). “Alcohol sales will not be banned,” Phuket Provincial Police Commander Peerayuth Karajedee confirmed to the Phuket Gazette. “However, taking this opportunity to honor your mother by taking her out…
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Phuket ready to celebrate HM Queen Sirikit’s birthday, Mother’s Day
PHUKET: A host of special ceremonies will be held throughout Phuket tomorrow to honor and celebrate HM Queen Sirikit’s 82nd birthday, as well as to celebrate Mother’s Day. All government offices will be closed, and activities on the island will be followed by a candlelight ceremony at about 7pm. A selection of the events to be held in Phuket are…
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Radwanska eases past Venus Williams to win Rogers Cup
PHUKET: Agnieszka Radwanska tamed Venus Williams 6-4 6-2 to win the Rogers Cup in Montreal on Sunday, the third seeded Pole setting herself up as a player to watch at the U.S. Open. The first win of the season for Radwanska, it provided a timely jolt of confidence going into Flushing Meadows and the year’s final grand slam with 11…
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McIlroy wins PGA Championship, claims fourth major
PHUKET: Pre-tournament favourite Rory McIlroy recovered from a stumbling start to overcome a series of challengers and clinch his fourth major title by a shot at the PGA Championship on Sunday. A stroke in front of the chasing pack overnight, the Northern Irish world number one lost the lead but regained control after the turn, signing off with a three-under-par…
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Phuket beach vendors to appeal to NCPO to return to the sands
PHUKET: More than 500 Phuket beach vendors put out of work by the massive beach cleanup campaign spoke up on Saturday about the importance of restarting their seaside businesses. The complaints and proposals were heard at a public forum led by a team of professors and researchers at the Prince of Songkla University (PSU) Phuket campus in Kathu. The meeting…
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Fire at Chinese shrine in Phuket Town
PHUKET: Four fire trucks were called to the Mae Ya Nang Shrine on Krabi Road in Phuket Town this morning after fire broke out in a storeroom stocked with firecrackers and prayer papers. Phuket City Police reported no injuries from the blaze. “Firefighters took about 30 minutes to control fire, which broke out at about 8:20am,” said Capt Weerachart Seera…
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Marine office to battle Phuket tar balls on beaches
PHUKET: Officials are set to re-launch a campaign to control used oil being dumped from boats off Phuket’s shore after balls of black tar appeared on the island’s beaches late last month (story here). “I have seen the photos of the substance myself, and can confirm that they are balls of tar,” Phuket Marine Office chief Phuriphat Theerakulpisut told the…
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Phuket’s road nightmare gets worse: Italian man dies in crash
PHUKET: The death of an Italian man in a Ducati motorbike accident in Karon before dawn today has brought the number of road fatalities in Phuket to six dead in less than 24 hours. The man, whose name is being withheld, lost control of his motorbike on a curve in the hills to north of Karon at about 5:30am. “He…
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Williams sisters renew sibling rivalry in Montreal
PHUKET: World number one Serena Williams and sister Venus will renew one of sport’s greatest sibling rivalries after posting quarter-final wins at the Rogers Cup on Friday to set up a milestone showdown on the Montreal hard courts. Serena kept her title defence on track, rallying for a 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 win over Caroline Wozniacki, while Venus booked her place…
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Myanmar fishing boat slaves freed north of Phuket, return home
PHUKET: Eighteen Myanmar victims of a human-trafficking group, including four children, have returned home, after being rescued by Thai authorities. Several of the now-freed slaves were sold to fishing boats off Kawthaung, the township across the water from Ranong, which for more than a decade has been a popular “visa run” destination for foreigners in Phuket. Saw Win Tin, 55,…
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Beach cleanup D-day set for Phuket, Andaman-coast provinces
PHUKET: Military leaders have launched a beach overhaul project with an August 14 deadline by which all remaining illegal structures must be removed from beaches in Phuket and five other Andaman-coast provinces. Owners who disobey will be fined and face encroachment charges. “We are following an official order handed down from the National Council for Peace and Order [NCPO]. We…
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Police to confirm Phuket caddy in fatal motorbike crash
PHUKET: Police are appealing for witnesses to come forward who may be able to confirm what occurred in a fatal motorbike accident this afternoon involving a pick-up truck driven by a 22-year-old man. Sakon Banchongkaeo, 34, was killed in the accident on the Koh Kaew – Nakok road, which is often used as a shortcut from Thepkrasattri Road in Koh…
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Phuket’s Club Med to cough up public land, but will stay
PHUKET: Negotiations between Club Med management and the Phuket Provincial Administrative Organization (PPAO), which owns the land the resort sits on, concluded late this afternoon with the news that the resort will stay. “Club Med has agreed to make three rai available as public land to be used as the local residents see fit, and with that we will renew…
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Landslide fears prompt stop-work order high in the Phuket hills
PHUKET: Work was ordered to stop at a construction site high on the hills overlooking Patong yesterday after it was found to be above the legal limit for building – and amid fears of a landslide smothering the residents below. Phuket Vice Governor Somkiet Sangkaosuttirak led an inspection of the site – eight rai of land with unobstructed views of…
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New-look Arsenal have the taste for trophies
PHUKET: Having finally treated their long-empty trophy cabinet to some FA Cup silverware last season, Arsenal have splashed the cash ahead of the new Premier League campaign to improve a squad that could now be capable of pushing for loftier titles. Rapid forward Alexis Sanchez, a 35 million pound signing from Barcelona, leads a band of new recruits that also…
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Djokovic falls while Federer pulls great escape
PHUKET: Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga handed world number one Novak Djokovic a 6-2 6-2 third round defeat on Thursday as the Rogers Cup was rocked by upsets. A day of high-drama began under a bright morning sun with South African Kevin Anderson startling third seeded Australian Open champion Stan Wawrinka 7-6 (8) 7-5 and ended in the late evening chill with…
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Phuket prison raid turns up box cutters, inmate tests drug positive
PHUKET: Despite an early morning search of Phuket Provincial Prison turning up a slew of contraband items and one inmate testing positive for drugs, the facility’s “White Prison” certification remains intact. “We have come out of many searches like this empty-handed. This is just one during which we found contraband items and only one inmate tested positive for drugs,” said…
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CAS start appeal into Suarez biting ban
PHUKET: The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) began its hearing on Friday into Uruguay forward Luis Suarez’s appeal against his ban for biting Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini in a World Cup match. Suarez, wearing a checked shirt, brushed aside photographers and refused to make any comment as he arrived by taxi at the CAS headquarters in a Lausanne suburb.…
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Katathani Phuket rocks eyed for encroachment
PHUKET: A team of officials descended on Kata Noi Bay late yesterday afternoon to inspect a battery of rocks in front of the Katathani Phuket Beach Resort that were alleged to be encroaching on public beach land. The inspection, led by Suthee Sirianan, the Chief Administrative Officer of Muang District Office, was launched after local villagers filed a complaint through…
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Williams shines at Rogers Cup
PHUKET: World number one Serena Williams cruised into the quarter-finals of the Rogers Cup with a 7-5 6-4 win over Lucie Safarova on Thursday but the Montreal tournament lost two of her potential title rivals when Maria Sharapova and Petra Kvitova were knocked out. Second seed Kvitova, playing her first event since winning her second Wimbledon title, could not find…
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Video Report: Phuket FC host Spaniards UD Almeria
Action from last night’s friendly match between Phuket FC and La Liga’s UD Almeria at Surakul Stadium. Video: PGTV PHUKET: Torrential downpours prior to and during the first half of the friendly match between UD Almeria and Phuket FC left the 3000 strong audience wondering if they had perhaps shown up at an international water polo tournament, rather than the…
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Deadly Phuket inferno inspires rethink of firefighting abilities
PHUKET: The deadly fire that claimed four lives, including a family of three, last Saturday has prompted the Phuket City mayor to re-evaluate the city’s firefighting capabilities and find a way to win back city residents’ confidence. Flames engulfed the Chokchai Furniture shop in Phuket Town at about 2am, trapping and killing the Rueanchai family of three and one woman…
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New Phuket underpass at Chalong Circle to cost up to B800mn
PHUKET: The final public hearing for the Chalong underpass was held yesterday as the pre-construction study drew to a close, revealing that an estimated budget of 750-800 million baht would be required for the project. Paisarn Suwannarak, specialist engineer from the Department of Highways, announced during the hearing at the Phuket Merlin Hotel that the project plans would be completed…
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Skimming: The new frontier for ATM fraud
SPECIAL REPORT BANKS are spending millions of baht upgrading ATMs throughout the country and hope to replace all ATM cards with more secure microchipped versions by the end of next year. The project aims to stem the rising tide of the world’s fastest-growing computer crime: skimming. But what are the best ways to protect yourself – and your money –…
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Honeymoon over as Djokovic works for win
PHUKET: Gale Monfils let Novak Djokovic know his honeymoon was over and it was time to get back to work by forcing the world number one to battle for a 6-2 6-7 (4) 7-6 (2) second round win at the Rogers Cup on Wednesday. Playing his first match as a married man, Djokovic, a three-time winner in Canada, needed two…
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Phuket Airport to launch “Lady Parking’ as multi-storey car park nears completion
PHUKET: Six parking bays at Phuket International Airport will be set aside for women only as part of the nation’s celebrations to honor the 82nd birthday of HM Queen Sirikit on August 12. The move follows Airports of Thailand (AoT) president Makin Petplai announcing yesterday that “Lady Parking” will be established at six airports in the country to mark the…
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Thai Police target source of human trafficking from Myanmar, but exclude Rohingya
PHUKET: The Royal Thai Police have asked their Myanmar counterparts to launch a public-awareness campaign to make Myanmar nationals aware of the dangers of slavery by accepting to work illegally in Thailand. Royal Thai Police Assistant Commissioner-General ML Pansak Kasemsant announced the news yesterday at the Thailand-Myanmar Bilateral Meeting on Strengthening Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Co-operation in Combating Trafficking…
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Phuket student faces charges for running down officer
PHUKET: A speeding student who ran down a Phuket police officer yesterday in an attempt to avoid a helmet check is facing two, possibly three, separate charges for his actions. The 17-year-old, whose name is being withheld, knocked Sen Sgt Maj Chakkapong Korsawat of the Phuket City Police unconscious on Nakhon Road, behind Phuket Wittayalai School, at about 7:35am (story…
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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