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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Cruise high over Phuket with the PIMEX lucky draws
PHUKET: Jump into a gorgeous new airplane and get high above Phuket with this year’s PIMEX (Phuket International Boat Show), which opens tomorrow at the Royal Phuket Marina (map here). The Phuket Gazette in conjunction with Phuket Airpark is offering all registered visitors the chance to win a scenic flight over the island. Each daily drawing, from January 9 to…
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PIMEX boat show primed and ready to launch this morning
PHUKET: The heat is on and all are getting ready for this week’s Phuket International Boat Show, which opens today at 11am at the Royal Phuket Marina (map here). All of the major Thai and regional boat dealers and brokers are busy juggling yachts into position for what promises to be an excellent in-water display. Two entries exceed the official…
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Chinese-speaking guides protest Phuket Town travel company
PHUKET: About 100 Chinese-speaking Phuket tour guides protested in front of a travel company yesterday, alleging that the company was hiring illegal Chinese guides. Chaifu Saelee, 43, led the protesters to Tranlee Travel Co Ltd in Phuket Town, where they met with Kritchakorn Roongmongkolnam, the Managing Director of the company. The protest follows the arrest of three Thai guides for…
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Phuket police consider sacking cop over killing
PHUKET: Phuket Police are considering discharging a police officer who shot dead a Soi Bangla bar worker on December 26. The 35-year-old Patong Police officer, Sgt Pongsakorn Treeyuth, was off duty and allegedly drunk when he held an 11mm handgun to the head of Sawitree Kaewin, 27 (story here). “We received an order from the Royal Thai Police in Bangkok…
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Thanyapura Phuket appoints new Sports Marketing Director
PHUKET: Continuing to gain momentum under new leadership (see story here), the island’s premier sports and wellness destination Thanyapura Phuket has made another key appointment in its quest to export its “active healthy lifestyle” concept globally. Debbie Dionysius, the key figure in transforming the Phuket Triathlon into Southeast Asia’s premier multi-sport event, has joined Thanyapura Phuket as its Director of…
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Phuket Red Cross winners yet to claim more than B1mn in gold
PHUKET: One lucky person has yet to learn that he has won the top prize of 750,000 baht in gold from the lucky draw at the annual Red Cross Fair, which drew to a close on Sunday night. Even the winner of the second prize has yet to step forward to claim 375,000 baht in gold bars, Sarawut Rukkaw of…
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Chinese tour guide war in Phuket turns violent
PHUKET: Scuffles broke out in front of Wichit Police Station yesterday as tensions boiled over between Chinese-speaking Thai tour guides and Chinese nationals who they accuse of taking their jobs. More than 100 Thai guides gathered at the station in support of Suraphol Saelub, 24; Somchai Saetung, 39; and Ja Saema, also 39, who all face charges of attacking Chinese…
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Marine Chief sinks Phuket sea taxi rumors
PHUKET: The Phuket Marine Office chief today trounced rumors that the 240-million-baht budget for an airport-to-Patong “sea taxi” had been approved. “I do not know how the rumor that it was already approved was spread,” Phuket Marine Office Chief Phuripat Theerakulpisut told the Phuket Gazette. Director of the Marine Office 5 Wichai Khamkong plans to raise the issue of the…
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National politics dry-docks PIMEX Coastal Waters Safety Summit
PHUKET: Political turmoil has forced Safer Phuket organizers to postpone the Coastal Waters Safety Summit, scheduled to be held at this year’s PIMEX boat show (story here). “We’ve made a huge amount of progress, but with the current political situation, the momentum was starting to dissipate. Everyone is in interim status at the moment,” Safer Phuket founder Duncan Stewart told…
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Phuket Central Festival legal taxi rank in slow lane
PHUKET: The restructuring of the Central Festival taxi rank into a co-operative, part of a campaign to rid Phuket of violent taxi groups, missed its deadline by over a month. However, the process of becoming a legal co-operative should be completed this week. “We’ve gotten certification from the Phuket Provincial Cooperative Office, now the documents just need to be approved…
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Tennis Tip: Taking advantage of the warm-up
PHUKET: When we get onto the tennis court to ready ourselves for a match there are bound to be some type of nerves flowing through our veins. That’s natural.As we hit the first few tennis balls in warm-up we begin to become consumed with how our forehand, our backhand and our serves, for example, are feeling at that moment. That’s…
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Taxi, tuk-tuk drivers save the day for forgetful tourists
PHUKET: A taxi driver and a tuk-tuk driver yesterday made two tourists very happy by returning over half a million baht and other belongings that had been left behind in their vehicles.Italian tourist Alfredo De Santi, 37, left a bag containing an iPad, passport, telephone and 500,000 baht in the taxi he took from the airport to his accommodation in…
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Phuket loses Sek’s appeal
PHUKET: Hundreds of angry anti-government protesters last night forced the organizers of the annual Phuket Red Cross Fair to cancel a live concert by Thai rock star Sek Loso, who was to perform the closing show at the fair. Sek “Seksan Sukpimai” Loso was one of many Thai celebrities who joined a publicity campaign calling on voters to cast their…
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Phuket prisoner electrified in jailbreak attempt
PHUKET: An attempted jailbreak from Phuket Prison came to a shocking halt at 12:30pm today when an inmate trying to escape was electrified by wires strung across the top of one of the perimeter walls. Alerted to the escape attempt, prison guards scrambled to the east wall, where they found Worawut Rordbhut, 45, unconscious, hanging upside down with his left…
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Family rescued from burning bedroom fire in Phuket Town
PHUKET: A family of three were rescued from a burning building after being trapped by an electrical fire in their bedroom above the family shop in Phuket Town late last night.Police and firefighters, along with three fire trucks, were called to the Modern PVC plumbing supplies store on Mae Luan Road at about 11:40pm.“When we arrived, we could see flames…
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Phuket Police aim to ID high-speed crash victim
PHUKET: Police are trying to identify a man who died in a high-speed motorbike accident in Koh Kaew, north of Phuket Town, early this morning. Police were called to the scene, near the entrance of the Inizio Koh Kaew housing estate (map here), after security guard Chamroen Pinamorn witnessed the accident at about 4am. “I saw a man speed by…
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Phuket speed cameras dish out tickets for holiday season
PHUKET: Ten motorists have been ticketed since Phuket’s four speed cameras became operational on December 25.“Anyone travelling over 90km/hr will be fined 500 baht each time they are caught on one of our cameras,” Lt Col Rungrit Rattanapagdee of the Phuket City Traffic Police Police told the Phuket Gazette today. According to Thai traffic law, 90km is the maximum speed…
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Special Report: A nation at the crossroads
Special Report PHUKET: As Thailand begins a new year, the country finds itself at a crossroads. What seems to be at stake is not only the future shape of democracy in this country, but whether it will even remain a democracy at all. This should worry all those who care about the future of Thailand and its people. The People’s…
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5 dead in Seven Days of Danger; Phuket officials declare success
PHUKET: The nationwide Seven Days of Danger road-safety campaign ended at midnight last night with a final tally of five deaths on Phuket’s roads. “Although we could not maintain zero deaths in Phuket during the Seven Days of Danger campaign, we are satisfied with the record for this year,” said Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation-Phuket (DDPM-Phuket) Chief San Jantharawong.…
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Phuket crane topples, downs power cables on bypass road
PHUKET: Officials have restored power supply along the bypass road, north of Phuket Town, after a crane toppled and brought down high-voltage power cables during peak hour traffic this morning.“We received a report of a crane falling over at 8:29am. We have yet to learn what caused it to fall,” Phuket Provincial Electricity Authority (PPEA) Operations Chief Yongyuth Podbutr told…
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Phuket police declare victory after Patong parking D-day
PHUKET: Patong police have declared success in dislodging taxis and tuk-tuks from parking spots on the Patong beach road. “We succeeded in our goal of freeing up space between Prachanukroh Road and Soi Bangla. Each of the seven taxi ranks there are now limited to five vehicles each,” Patong Police Deputy Superintendent Akanit Danpitaksat told the Phuket Gazette this afternoon.…
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Phuket Airport customs nab Vietnamese “monk’ drug mule
PHUKET: Customs officers at Phuket International Airport arrested a Vietnamese man dressed as a monk yesterday for attempting to smuggle more than 2kg of ya ice (crystal methamphetamine) into Thailand. The drugs had an estimated street value of about 8 million baht. “Officers arrested Nguyen Van Thiet, 64, at 1:50am after receiving a tip-off from undercover officers,” said Phuket Airport…
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Phuket ponders bus ban for lethal Patong Hill
PHUKET: The Phuket Land Transport Office (PLTO) has included a ban on buses travelling over Patong Hill on its list of nine suggestions to prevent more fatal accidents from occurring on the notorious incline. PLTO Chief Transport Technician Jaturong Kaewkasi presented the list of safety recommendations to Phuket Governor Maitri Inthusut yesterday. “Over the years, there have been many accidents…
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Phuket maintains zero road deaths in 2014
PHUKET: Two traffic accidents sent two people to the hospital yesterday, but Phuket has yet to record a road-fatality for 2014. The Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Phuket office (DDPM-Phuket) today confirmed their statistics for Phuket during the Seven Days of Danger national road-safety campaign as five dead and 32 injured in 27 accidents. “The accidents on January 1…
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Pakastani arrested for passing counterfeit notes in Phuket
PHUKET: A Pakistani accused of passing counterfeit notes in Phuket was arrested at Suvarnabhumi Airport yesterday after police identified him from CCTV images taken along the road from Karon to Patong.Imran Haider, 30, exchanged counterfeit notes representing 1,400 Kuwaiti dinar in return for 148,000 baht at a foreign currency exchange booth in Karon on December 28.“The staff at the booth…
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Phuket starts 2014 with zero road deaths
PHUKET: Although five road accidents sent five people to the hospital with injuries yesterday, Phuket has yet to record a single death for the new year. The Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM) today confirmed that one serious accident had been reported in Patong after midnight last night. “A motorbike crashed into a pickup truck near the mosque on…
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Phuket Police probe body washed up on Patong Beach
PHUKET: Police are investigating the cause of death of a man whose body was found washed up on Patong Beach this morning. Police were called to the beach in front of Loma Park (map here) at about 5:30am after passers-by noticed the body. “He had dark skin, was 150-160cm tall and appeared to be 30-35 years old,” said Maj Jakkrapong…
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Phuket offerings, blessings mark New Year 2014
PHUKET: About 1,000 people gathered at Queen Sirikit Park in Phuket Town this morning to join a mass alms-giving ceremony to bring good luck for the new year. All three Phuket Vice Governors attended the 7am ceremony in front of Queen Sirikit Park (map here), as did the Phuket City Mayor and other officials. After dry food offerings were presented…
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Teen sixth road death in Phuket ‘Days of Danger’ campaign
PHUKET: A teenager became the sixth person to die during Phuket’s 10 Days of Danger when he crashed his new motorcycle in Thalang last night. Thanawat Tohting, 19, was travelling at high speed northbound on Thepkrasattri Road when the traffic light at the intersection with the airport road changed to yellow, witnesses told police. Mr Thanawat increased his speed to…
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Safer Phuket launches marine safety petition
PHUKET: The Safer Phuket campaign (story here), designed to significantly improve marine safety on and around the island, launched a petition last week to build mass commitment to change, campaign leader Duncan Stewart told the Phuket Gazette today. “The campaign needs three ‘Ms’: message, momentum and mass – we’re at stage three now,” Mr Stewart said. “We need demonstrable mass…
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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