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 Tourist Court to open next Tuesday
PHUKET: Phuket’s Tourist Court is set to open on September 24 with a budget of 1.5 million baht. Phuket’s tourist court is the second such court to open in Thailand; the first opened in Pattaya on September 5. Five more courts will open across the country by year’s end, said Sitthisak Wanachakij, spokesman for the Court of Justice. The opening…
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Phuket dengue numbers critical, says public health chief
PHUKET: The chief of Phuket’s Public Health Office has admitted that the “333” anti-dengue campaign launched in April (story here) has failed and called for support to re-apply the program with more manpower after dengue cases in Phuket reached their highest number in 26 years. “Everyone needs to be concerned about this,” Dr Bancha Kakhong told a meeting held yesterday…
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Patong apartment security guard arrested on statutory rape warrant
PHUKET: Police yesterday arrested a security guard at a Patong apartment complex on an outstanding warrant for statutory rape in Samut Prakan, near Bangkok, eight years ago. Patong Police Superintendent Chiraphat Pochanaphan told the Phuket Gazette today that the man, 36, originally from Phetchabun, was wanted on an arrest warrant issued by Samut Prakan Provincial Court on July 4, 2005.…
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Rayong’s Wild Stallions prevail over Phuket FC
PHUKET: Allegations of match-fixing and crooked referees have become rampant in the Facebook fan club forums of many Thai football teams, including Phuket FC, as the Yamaha League One enters its final stretch of the 2013 season. Although no concrete ties have been made between match-fixing and the shooting earlier this month of controversial Thai referee, Thanom Barikut, there is…
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Uninvited little cobra evicted from Chalong residence
PHUKET: When a resident of Ban Maneekram, Chalong, realized he had unwittingly hosted a visiting 40-cm cobra for the weekend, he knew what to do. “When I noticed the juvenile cobra, I immediately remembered your article headlined, ‘Snakes in the house: who you gonna call?’ (story here) and remembered you suggested calling the number of the Kusoldharn Foundation. So this…
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Phuket gold thieves out of gas, out of luck
PHUKET: Thieves attempting to cut open a safe in a locked strong room at a gold store in Patong on Saturday night most likely ran out of gas for their blowtorch, forcing them to leave empty-handed, say police. Nuchapha Jetsadaruk, the 49-year-old sister of shop owner Sasithorn Jetsadaruk, arrived to open the Yaowarat Gold Shop 9 on Sainamyen Road (map…
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Depressed man carrying a knife coaxed off highway and into hospital
PHUKET: A severely depressed man found despondently wandering along Thepkrasattri Road carrying a knife was taken into the care of Thalang Hospital on Saturday. “When we arrived, we saw the man in front of Muang Thalang School, walking on the median of Thepkrasattri Road and then into an adjacent rubber plantation. He was holding a knife in his right hand…
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Phuket Tourist Court to open late this month
PHUKET: The Phuket Tourist Court will open late this month, while another five such courts will open across the country before year’s end, Court of Justice spokesman Sitthisak Wanachakij has announced. The specialized court, set up to expedite cases involving foreign holiday-makers – about 20 million tourists visit Thailand every year – will encourage negotiations between parties and will video…
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Phuket Magic Eyes relaunch sets sights on ‘Clean Up the World’
PHUKET: A series of cleanup events are to sweep the island this September as Phuket gears up to celebrate “Clean Up the World” as part of the relaunch of the Phuket Magic Eyes Organization. The Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (PPAO) is joining hands with the Phuket Magic Eyes Organization and the Society Environmental Economy Knowledge (SEEK) group to take part…
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Greek claims Thai girlfriend swindled him out of Phuket property, two million baht
PHUKET: A distraught Greek was found lying in the middle of the road in front of a property that he claimed his girlfriend had cheated him out of, along with about two million baht. When Konstantinos Vardas’s mid-road protest caused a traffic jam in the vicinity of Tha Reua Temple, Thalang Police and Kusoldham rescue workers were called to the…
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Thief snatches 5,000 baht from 7-Eleven cash till
PHUKET: Police are searching for a snatch thief who stole 5,000 baht from a cash till at a 7-Eleven in Wichit late last night. “The store’s staffers looked very frightened when we arrived, ” said Wichit Police Superintendent Chaowalit Petchsripia. “The thief was a dark-skinned man who looked about 20-to-30 years old. He was between 1.60 and 1.65 meters tall,…
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VIDEO REPORT: Phuket police stick it to luxury-car owners
PHUKET: Police dished-out parking tickets to about a dozen luxury cars that were illegally parked along Phuket Town’s Dibuk Road yesterday afternoon. A video of the mass-ticketing of the vehicles obstructing traffic flow was posted yesterday on Youtube and has already attracted over 10,000 hits. Many viewers commented to praise Phuket police for observing the same standard for both evidently…
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Phuket tourism court on hold
PHUKET: The opening of a new tourist court in Phuket has been delayed while a sortie of judges, Tourist Police and officers from the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) complete a 14-million-baht, two-week fact-finding trip to France. The fact-finding tour, which started September 7 and is scheduled to end September 19, is aimed at giving the experts a first-hand view…
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Single lingering regret for Phuket’s top cop as he prepares to retire
PHUKET: Phuket Provincial Police Commander Choti Chavalviwat is troubled by only a single lingering issue of unfinished business as he prepares for retirement at the end of this month – the much-needed high-resolution CCTVs he sought to bring to the island. Speaking to the Phuket Gazette, Maj Gen Choti lamented being unable to see the cameras fitted across the island.…
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Phuket Prison marks 113th anniversary with deity statue
PHUKET: A modest ceremony took place at Phuket Provincial Prison today to honor the installation of the Hindu God Chitragupta, who is deemed special by the Department of Corrections in Thailand. “Chitragupta is the Hindu god tasked with keeping fastidious records of all the actions of every human being. This is why he is held in high esteem by the…
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Staffer at Phuket Chevrolet dealership arrested after pocketing B1.2mn
PHUKET: Police arrested an employee of a Chevrolet dealership in Phuket after the man made off with more than 1.2 million baht of company cash. Somkit “Roon” Yukunthorn, a 27-year-old Phuket native, worked faithfully for about a year as a messenger for VST Autosales 2002 Co Ltd, the Chevrolet dealership on the bypass road. But last Friday he failed to…
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Thief says he needed money for sick son
PHUKET: A man caught stealing an air-conditioning compressor from a bus in Phuket Town yesterday morning told police that he needed money to pay for medical treatment for his son.Chaiwut Kongkhaoriab, 28, was caught in the act by mechanics at the garage where the bus was parked.Pramoun Jitpakdee, one of the mechanics, said he was fixing the bus when he…
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9 million baht Chalong Circle study underway
PHUKET: A 9-million baht pre-construction study on how to ease traffic congestion at Chalong Circle is underway, with companies considering seven options including several flyovers in addition to underpasses. The yearlong study will analyze traffic flow around Chalong Circle and potential effects of an underpass or flyover on the surrounding environment, said Director of the Phuket Highways Office Samak Luedwonghad.…
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Alleged extortionist re-elected to run Phuket taxi group
PHUKET: “Brother Pom” was re-elected to head the Central Festival Phuket taxi group yesterday, despite facing charges of extortion and using violence to force member-drivers to make payments. The election was part of a move to restructure the taxi rank at Central Festival, the latest step in a campaign to eradicate taxi mafia from Phuket which has the full support…
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Jaran’s hammer: 73-year-old beaten to death across the bay from Phuket
PHUKET: A man confessed to killing his wife with a hammer yesterday because she moved to Krabi to live with her daughter, leaving him alone in the Isarn province of Yasothon for about a year.Jaran Triphoom, 79, was found by police clutching a bouquet of flowers in a rubber plantation hours after the discovery of his wife’s body, said Adisak…
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Phuket flower-seller caught in drain
PHUKET: Heavy rains caused another accident yesterday when a Phuket flower vendor slipped on wet pavement and got his foot stuck in a drain.Unable to dislodge himself, Preecha Petpradab, 36, relied on rescue workers to free him.Mr Preecha was organizing the flowers in front of his shop on Pattana Thongtin Road in Wichit when he tumbled into the drain.Kusoldharm Rescue…
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Central Festival Phuket takes over taxi management
PHUKET: The campaign to eradicate taxi mafias from Phuket took another step yesterday as Central Festival Management agreed to take over the management of taxis at the shopping center. “We want Central Festival to be a model of taxi management for Phuket,” said Maj Natapol Ditsayatham, the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) Chief Investigator for Phuket. “We want every driver…
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Elephants rescue tourists stranded in Phang Nga jungle
PHUKET: A rescue party of four elephants was dispatched to safely recover 16 tourists stranded in the jungle north of Phuket yesterday after a landslide brought on by torrential rains cut off their return path and the elephants they were riding balked at taking another route.The tourists were on an elephant trek in the hills behind Baan Thung Kamin in…
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Phuket storm pulls down pine tree, power cables
PHUKET: Two women were injured when a pine tree toppled by high winds landed on them as they were riding a motorbike on the Phuket west coast road between Kamala and Cherng Talay yesterday.The tree took down a high-voltage cable as it fell, knocking out power to the nearby area but [the high-voltage cable did] not harming the women.Police responding…
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Phuket Police officer beaten in mass brawl as suspect resists arrest
PHUKET: Police in Cherng Talay are on the lookout for an unknown number of suspects after a senior officer was badly beaten and a squad of at least five other policemen suffered minor injuries while attempting to serve an arrest warrant on Monday. Cherng Talay Deputy Superintendent Sommai On-khum regained consciousness at Vachira Phuket Hospital in Phuket Town on Monday…
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Phuket taxi cartel head arrested, denies extortion charges
PHUKET: The head of the group of taxis operating out of Central Festival Phuket and his brother have denied using physical violence to extort money from fellow taxi drivers operating at the renowned shopping mall. Pom Sukkasam, 42, and his brother Sern Sukkasam, 52, were arrested by Crime Suppression Division (CSD) officers on Sunday and taken to Bangkok, where they…
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Corpse with distinctive tattoo washes up twice
PHUKET: The body of a man first spotted floating in the sea near Koh Taphao Yai on Sunday was recovered yesterday when it reappeared 25km away off Koh Racha Yai.Residents on Koh Taphao Island notified authorities when they saw the body, but after Marine Police arrived, they were unable to locate it. The body was seen again yesterday off the…
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Phuket staffer wanted for slashing manager at shopping mall
PHUKET: Chalong Police this morning are seeking an arrest warrant for a staffer at the popular expat shopping mall HomePro Village near Chalong Circle (map here) after he slashed his supervisor with a knife last night. The incident arose from an altercation between the employee and his supervisor at one of the stores in the mall, Chalong Police Lt Kraisorn…
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Si Racha’s Blue Marlins take a big bite out of Phuket FC
PHUKET: Every season since getting promoted to the Yamaha League One (YL1), Phuket FC has had a devastating off-day; in the 2011 season, it was their 7-0 away-loss to Buriram; last year, it happened twice on the road – in their 6-0 loss to PTT Rayong and 5-1 loss to Saraburi. Last Saturday the Islanders experienced another such day –…
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Phuket lifeguards ordered to pull down ‘unsightly’ beach station
PHUKET: Karon Municipality has decided to remove the Phuket lifeguard stand on Karon Beach on the grounds that it is unsightly and not fit for use.“Karon municipality officers led by Karon Deputy Mayor Ittiporn Singkaew have inspected the lifeguard station. It does not look nice and it is not well organized,” Karon Municipality Chief Administrative Officer (Palad) Weerasak Anekwongsawat explained.“We…
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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