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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Phuket 7-Eleven teenage shooter claims self-defense
PHUKET: Two teenagers charged yesterday with shooting dead an 18-year-old man outside of a 7-Eleven in Rawai claimed that the gun was fired out of self-defense. Korrawit Sriboonma, a waiter at the popular Sala Loi seafood restaurant on the Rawai beachfront, was gunned down with a homemade gun on the corner of Soi Laem Ka Yai at about 4am on…
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No justice served on Phuket Tourist Court’s opening day
PHUKET: The judge’s gavel will not fall at the Phuket Tourist Court’s official opening tomorrow, as no cases will be heard the day of the formal opening, revealed Phuket Court Chief Judge Parinya Chaowalittawin this afternoon.“Tomorrow we will only hold a ceremony to open our Tourist Protections Section [the official name of the tourist court], as we have yet to…
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Video Report: Phuket rescue worker shoots man over love triangle
PHUKET: A 24-year-old man was shot in Patong over a love-triangle dispute yesterday afternoon. The victim, Worrawut Thaweeapideeserm, was rushed to Patong Hospital with a bullet wound to his shoulder.“After initial treatment, he was transferred to Vachira Phuket Hospital to have the bullet removed,” said Pattapee Srichay of the Patong Police.Police named the shooter as Wanchit Sornsaree, also known as…
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Helmetless sidecar driver dies after big bike wipeout
PHUKET: A helmetless driver of a motorbike with sidecar died after a high-speed collision with a big bike travelling at high speed in Thalang on Saturday evening. Tah Chat Chai Police arrived at the u-turn south of Kor En curve, notoriously nicknamed by locals as “Death Curve”, on Thepkrasattri Road (map here) just after 5:30pm. In the middle of the…
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Chinese tourists and guide injured in speedboat collision
PHUKET: Four Chinese tourists and their Thai guide were injured yesterday afternoon when two speedboats collided in Phang Nga Bay off Khai Nok island. Witnesses from both boats told police that as the speedboat Nontasak, carrying 31 Chinese tourists, approached the beach at Koh Khai Nok, it was struck by another boat, Sasiyanon.The five people injured in the accident were…
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Phuket teen gang shoots man dead over insults
PHUKET: Police have arrested several youths after an 18-year-old was shot dead in front of a 7-Eleven store in Phuket’s Rawai Beach area early yesterday morning. Chalong Police received a report of the shooting at 4am, and soon arrived at the 7-Eleven store at the entrance to Laem Ka Yai Beach on Wiset Road (map here). Korrawit Sriboonma, originally from…
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Phuket FC in scoreless stalemate with Trat’s White Elephants
PHUKET: Some 1,653 fans who turned out for the Islanders’ Yamaha League One (YL1) match against Trat FC match on Saturday evening in Phuket Town, were given little to cheer about, the match ending in a 0-0 stalemate. Indeed, the crowd, representing Phuket FC’s poorest turn-out all season, found more entertainment in the pre-game cheerleader show, as well as the…
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Phuket man disabled by disease found hanged
PHUKET: A man who had been afflicted for 30 years by an autoimmune disease that left him unable to walk without a walker was found hanged in his room this morning.Police responded to a call from a local coffee shop in Baan Sapam behind which Anan Areerat, 60, lived with his family, and found him hanging from metal security bars…
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Phuket abuzz with Rihanna’s dirty loris talkin’
PHUKET: Social media networks are abuzz today after R’n’B celebrity Rihanna posted photos on Instagram showing herself posing on Phuket’s Soi Bangla in Patong last night. The photos show the stylish superstar feeding elephants, being welcomed to her Phuket resort and posing in front of stageshow ladyboys, called katoey in Thai, dressed in elaborate costumes (see here). One photo, posted…
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Who let the Phuket python out?
PHUKET: Man’s best friend – in the form of two pet dogs – last night alerted a Phuket resident that a three-meter python had slithered its way into his storage room in Thalang.“I was inside the house when I heard two of my dogs barking outside. I thought something might have happened, so I went outside to check,” said Somkiet…
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School bus flips in Krabi, injuring 13
PHUKET: A school bus carrying students home from a field trip flipped in Krabi yesterday, injuring 12 students and the driver, but causing no deaths. The busload of 49 students, all 13-year-old children, and their teachers had visited the popular Emerald Pool in Krabi and were heading home in a convoy of eight buses when the accident occurred. The group…
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British, Irish expats in Phuket arrested by Immigration
PHUKET: Three Phuket expats from Ireland and England will be deported from Thailand after being caught in Cherng Talay for overstaying. Officers moved in and arrested Alex Good, 27, from Ireland, at a restaurant near Cherng Talay Police Station at 3:30pm yesterday, said Lt Col Chidchanok Sakornyen of Phuket Immigration.“We had been following him for a while as we had…
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Phuket’s secret souvenir: The perfect pair
Breasts are big in Phuket. Big business, that is. In recent years, both Bangkok Hospital Phuket and Phuket International Hospital have seen dramatic increases in cosmetic breast surgeries, fueled by rising numbers of medical tourists. The Phuket Gazette’s Orawin Narabal reports on one of the island’s hottest tourist draws: The boob job.PHUKET: Together, Phuket International Hospital and Bangkok Hospital Phuket…
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Marine business operators readied for high season
PHUKET: Phuket marine-business operators yesterday were provided with a seminar to improve safety standards in preparation for high season. “We are endeavoring to reduce the number of accidents and fatalities this coming high season, and we also want to ensure tourist feel safer this year,” said Chatchai Sakdee of the Phuket Marine Office.Marine officers provided lessons concerning regulations; Tourism Authority…
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Phuket mobile phone operators vent over ‘overzealous’ consumer-protection policing
PHUKET: Mobile phone operators from Phuket’s major shopping malls protested this morning at Phuket Provincial Hall over what they see as an over-zealous interpretation of consumer protection laws. About 30 mobile shop operators from Big C, Central Festival and Jungceylon came to file a complaint to Phuket Governor Maitri Inthusut, incensed that Consumer Protection Police Division officers arrested two vendors…
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Phuket bus overturns in Surat Thani – one dead, 29 injured
PHUKET: One person is dead and 29 others injured after a bus from Phuket heading for the Northeastern province of Nong Khai overturned in Surat Thani province yesterday afternoon.“We took 12 passengers to Baan Takhun Hospital and 17 to Phanom Hospital,” said Sophol Rakthao of the Phanom Police.“The driver, Anuchit Thongnuapaed, 32, was pinned behind the wheel. Rescue workers managed…
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Myanmar national ignores warning flags, drowns at Karon Beach
PHUKET: A Myanmar teenager swimming in an area marked with red flags drowned at Karon Beach yesterday.Mr Pannyo, 17, had gone to the beach with two friends around 3pm, said Uten Singsom, head lifeguard at Kata-Karon beaches.“They were at the beach around low tide. Mr Pannyo’s friends stayed close to shore, but he swam out about 30 meters,” Mr Uten…
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Phuket Town holds age-old annual “Full Moon Party’
PHUKET: The annual celebration for the Moon Festival got underway in the heart of Phuket Town last night, with Governor Maitri Inthusut officiating at the ceremony to inaugurate this year’s Wai Phra Juntra festivities. Also at the event at Queen Sirikit Park (map here) was Phuket City Mayor Somjai Suwansupana, officers from the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Phuket Office…
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Nigerian tourist attacked and robbed of his rented motorbike
PHUKET: A Nigerian tourist was attacked and robbed at about 6pm yesterday by two men of Caucasian appearance. Police found Collins Ugwoeluchukwu, 26, with a bruised face near Phuket Fantasea in Kamala.Mr Ugwoeluchukwu was taken to the police station for further questioning and provided with first aid.He told police that while he was riding his motorbike, a pick-up truck cut…
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Phuket Governor proposes more tuk-tuks for the island
PHUKET: Phuket Governor Maitri Inthusut proposed an increase to the number of tuk-tuks legally operating in Phuket after he took a walking tour of Patong today. The number of tuk-tuks allowed to operate on Phuket was capped at 1,200 about 10 years ago. However, there are many illegal tuk-tuks operating on the island, which has caused Sakol Srisompoch to lead…
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Phuket wait for Australian Honorary Consul may take months
PHUKET: Phuket may be without an Australian Honorary Consul for months after the current consul, Larry Cunningham, retires from the post on September 30.“Applications have been received and the selection is currently in process,” Mr Cunningham told the Phuket Gazette this morning.“I don’t know how many people have applied. It’s being done through the embassy, not me,” he said.“It might…
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Phuket mystery clarified: Some to be up in the air
PHUKET: When Sir Winston said it was “a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma,” Phuket was not yet on the world stage for much of anything. There were no tuk-tuks, jet-skis or other such lifestyle attractions to put paradise in the headlines, but the thing that’s scheduled to occur here less than two months from now could have…
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Phuket Police praised for quick work in Brazilian snatch case
PHUKET: Phuket Police have been praised for their quick work in arresting two youths after a Brazilian tourist had her camera snatched in Kata early Monday morning. Officers led by Karon Police Deputy Superintendent Sophon Borirak arrested Karon resident Kanin Kongchana, 22, and a 15-year-old Myanmar national at a rented room in Patong at 7pm Tuesday. The pair were found…
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Man decapitated in Phuket hit-and-run
PHUKET: A man was decapitated in a hit-and-run accident on Thepkrasattri Road last night.Responding to the accident report at about 9:30pm, police found a crowd gathered around the body of Tin Ohn Thong, 44.The man’s body was lying near the median strip on the northbound side of the road in Srisoonthorn, near the Karn Keha housing estate.A damaged bicycle was…
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New threat claims from Central Festival Phuket taxi drivers, new denials
PHUKET: Five taxi drivers at Central Festival Phuket claim that they were threatened and suspended from working there by the leaders of the taxi organization that operates at the popular shopping mall. The witnesses said they were verbally threatened and forbidden from working in the Central taxi queue, reported Karn Doonyalit of the Department of Special Investigations (DSI) on September…
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Phuket lifeguards save drunk Singaporean from drowning
PHUKET: A Singaporean tourist who spent hours relaxing and drinking on the beach at Cherng Talay yesterday afternoon was rescued by Phuket lifeguards after he attempted to go for a swim.Lai Yeohchai, 23, was pulled from the water conscious, but drunk, at about 3:55pm, one of the lifeguards at Surin Beach told the Phuket Gazette.“He sat on the beach and…
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Phuket protest rails against bridge name, rubber rights
PHUKET: About 200 villagers rallied at Phuket Provincial Hall on Tuesday to push for a bridge name change that is already on its way and for the right to plant and farm rubber trees on land that is deemed to be within a protected forest. Protest leader Utai Suksirisampan of the Phuket and Phang Nga Co-operative Network handed the villagers’…
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Tourist Police roadshow swings by Phuket
PHUKET: The Thai Tourist Police Road Show arrived at Patong’s Soi Bangla on Saturday, as Tourist Police showed off facilities to help tourists gather information and enhance their safety. A trailer on site was stocked with brochures and digital facilities to provide tourists with information. Police were encouraging tourists to use the popular “Tourist Buddy” application, which allows users to…
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Motorbike dumped in pond mystifies park-goers
PHUKET: Police and local residents are scratching their heads over a motorcycle found dumped in a pond at Rama IX Park (King’s Park) in Phuket Town (map here) yesterday morning. The abandoned bike – apparently in good condition – was first noticed by park users doing their morning exercises. “The bike, with a Ratchaburi license plate, Kor Mor Ror 407,…
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Monk with Phuket mistress exposed by viral videos
PHUKET: The Buddhist monk exposed by two sensational videos last night – in which he was pictured naked with his Phuket mistress, who already has a husband – has left the monkhood. Phra Kru Boonyapinant, the former abbot of Wat Pamok in Kapong, Phang Nga, hung up his robes early this morning. “Ajarn Reet gave no reason for his behavior,”…
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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