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 cops bust ya bah dealers
PHUKET: Phuket police busted two ya bah (methamphetamine) dealers at a police checkpoint on Chao Fa East Road last night.The two men, Apichart Karaket, 26, and Surasak Tunyaudon, 22, confessed to police that they were paid between 3,000 and 4,000 baht to transfer the drugs from a dealer’s house in Thalang to another dealer’s house, Wichit Police Superintendent Chawalit Phetsipear…
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Brainstorming Phuket’s future – indoor soccer stadiums make the list
PHUKET: Participants from almost every segment of Phuket society gathered on July 17 to tell local government leaders what improvements they want to see on the island in the next two years. The ideas ranged from indoor football stadiums in every tambon to solving the island’s traffic problems.Phuket government representatives along with members of state enterprises, private businesses and ordinary…
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Phuket witnesses for Swede murder trial fail to show
PHUKET: The trial of Swede Tommy Soderlund, charged along with fellow countryman Johan Ljung for a murder in Phuket in 2011, did not progress yesterday, as witnesses failed to appear in court. Mr Soderlund and Mr Ljung are accused of stabbing to death Maksim Schantz and then stealing a motorbike in order to escape the scene. Mr Soderlund admits to…
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Phuket Governor denies foreign mafia’s presence in tourism industry
PHUKET: Phuket Governor Maitri Inthusut denied Tourism and Sports Minister Somsak Pureesrisak’s allegations that foreign mafias are operating in Phuket. The complaint of foreign mafia presence in Phuket was filed by Tourism and Sports Minister Somsak Pureesrisak to the DSI headquarters in Bangkok on July 10 (story here). “Phuket does not have any foreign mafia – just some groups of…
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Phuket supercars dodge second DSI bullet
PHUKET: A second round of the Department of Special Investigation’s (DSI) probe into supercar owners suspected of tax evasion did not turn up any cars registered in Phuket. The second batch of cars under investigation was composed of only about 60 vehicles. However, only 548 (less than 10%) of the 5,834 registered luxury cars suspected of having been issued papers…
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Winds, thrills pick up on Cape Panwa Phuket Raceweek 2013 day 2
PHUKET: The 37-strong fleet at the 10th Anniversary Cape Panwa Hotel Phuket Raceweek enjoyed some fast and furious racing yesterday off Phuket’s southeast coast. Winds exceeding 15 knots, combined with 2-3 meter swells, made for perfect Phuket sailing conditions on Day One of the award-winning regatta. Classic and IRC Cruising classes raced a single, long ’round-the-islands’ course, enjoying the strong…
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Phuket Islanders look to charge the Bangkok Bulls
PHUKET: Yamaha League One’s fifth placed team, Phuket FC got a boost of confidence on Wednesday, downing bay-neighbors from the second division, Phang Nga FC 3-1 in a friendly match at Thanyapura. Opening the scoring for the Southern friendly was the Islander’s Georgian striker, Giorgi who net the ball on 12 minutes. This was followed by a goal from Thai…
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Phuket Sports: Zack attack as clock is turned back
PHUKET: “It was when I got on the bike that the old racing instincts began to kick in and I got a little bit excited,” says Jürgen Zack, Thanyapura Senior Head Coach of Triathlon Academy and five times Roth winner. At this year’s international triathlon highlight, Zack, Thanyapura’s Triathlon Academy Senior Head Coach and legend of the sport, notched up…
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Construction starts for Region 8 Police headquarters in Phuket
PHUKET: A ground breaking ceremony was held today to mark the construction of the new Region 8 Police headquarters, as plans go forward to move the office from Surat Thani to opposite the Tah Chat Chai checkpoint in Phuket. The construction for the new building, expected to cost about 84 million baht, started on June 3 and is slated to…
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Phuket restaurant built illegally on beach, public land to face charges
PHUKET: Phuket officials were ordered to take action today against a restaurant found to be illegally built and encroaching on the beach south of Patong.“We ordered every relevant government organization to take action against the restaurant’s owner after we established that the restaurant was built on public property,” Chief of the Damrongtham Center Prapan Kanprasang told the Phuket Gazette.Acting on…
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Oi! and Katsu sail ahead early in Phuket Raceweek 2013
PHUKET: Peter Ahern’s TP52 Oi! out of Langkawi drew first blood in IRC Racing I class today in the opening race of the Phuket Raceweek 2013 regatta, this year celebrating its 10th anniversary. With Scott Bailey and Fergus Wilmer on board, Oi! finished the regatta opener on corrected time two minutes ahead of Ben Copley’s Katsu. Roles reversed in the…
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Burmese women rescued from prostitution in Phuket and Phang Nga
PHUKET: Raids by law enforcement officials rescued 12 Burmese women from forced prostitution in Phang Nga and Phuket on July 10.Three suspects were taken into custody for sex trafficking during the raids, and arrest warrants were issued for two others believed to be part of a human trafficking gang.Agents from the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) were tipped off by…
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Thai badminton players hungry for gold in North America
PHUKET: In last week’s 2013 US Open Badminton Championships contested in Los Angeles, California, Thai badminton player Sapsiri “Popo” Taerattanachai beat Japanese Yuka Kasunose for the event’s women’s singles title. It was the first time Popo, ranked 15th in the world, met the Japanese player ranked at 173rd. Popo’s victory in two sets secured a prize of US$9,000 USD (about…
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Russian arrested in Phuket for illegally hawking spa products
PHUKET: A 22-year-old Russian man was arrested by Immigration Police in Patong last night after he was caught attempting to sell spa products to a plainclothes officer.Immigration officers arrested Russian national Alexander Pushkarer at a shop on the Patong beach road at about 7pm.“We were informed by one of our officers that a foreigner was working illegally at a shop,”…
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Phuket father files assault charges against son’s teachers
PHUKET: A Phuket father has filed an assault complaint with police against two teachers at his 9-year-old son’s school. The father told Wichit Police on Tuesday afternoon that teachers at Wichitsongkram School had struck his son several times over the last month. “Mr Pichit told us that on June 14, that one teacher hit his son’s hand and made it…
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Phuket volunteers replant vandalized mangrove saplings to re-honor HM Queen Sirikit
PHUKET: In a joint effort to repair the work of vandals, Phuket Vice Governor Sommai Prijasilpa led 200 volunteers in planting mangrove saplings in the Klong Mudong area of Chalong yesterday. Some of the 24,000 mangrove saplings planted in the area last May 17 in honor of HM Queen Sirikit were destroyed on the night of July 11 by a…
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DSI called in to tackle taxis and raid foreign businesses
PHUKET: A Department of Special Investigation (DSI) task force will arrive in Phuket next week to carry out raids and arrest illegal taxi drivers and foreign business operators found breaking the law. The officers, expected to arrive on Thursday for a two-day campaign, will target taxi drivers at Phuket International Airport and businesses suspected of using Thai nominees. The news…
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Sumatra quake gives Phuket ‘a little shake’, nothing to fear
PHUKET: The earthquake off the northern tip of Sumatra this morning was felt in Phuket, but was no cause for alarm, the head of the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation, Phuket office (DDPM-Phuket), San Janthawong, told the Phuket Gazette this morning. No tsunami alert has been issued for Phuket or any other province along the Andaman Coast. “The earthquake…
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Phuket Gazette World Sports: England maybe next for self-employed builder as cricketing world buzzes
English club player hits 311 runs in 40 overs Phuket Gazette / Reuters PHUKET: A self-employed builder from Cornwall in south-west England hit 311 runs from 40 overs to help his club to a regional record scoreline yesterday, at a strike rate of 130. The BBC reported that Andrew Brenton lashed 53 boundaries, with 11 sixes, after coming in at…
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Phuket motorbike arson re-ignites, three bikes torched in Patong
PHUKET: Police suspect arson in the latest Phuket motorbike blaze in which one motorbike was destroyed and two others damaged in Patong early this morning. Officers were called to a five-storey apartment block in Soi Nanai 8, about 500 meters south of the Jungceylon shopping mall (map here), at 7:10 am. “We arrived to find three motorbikes on fire. Some…
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Phuket sea turtle on the hook – saved
PHUKET: The Phuket office of the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMCR) rescued an Olive Ridley sea turtle with a large fishing hook penetrating one of its flippers yesterday.“A fisherman near Lone Island notified us that there was an injured sea turtle that needed our help, as it had been pierced by a fishhook,” Phuket DMCR chief Thanate Mannoi…
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Phuket braces for more strong wind, heavy thundershowers
PHUKET: The erratic stormy weather across Phuket today, with heavy showers and gusts of wind reaching up to 35km/hr, is no cause for alarm, says the local weather office.However, islanders should prepare to hold onto their hats as the wind is expected to breach Force 6 on the Beaufort scale by Thursday.“So far no weather warning has been issued for…
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Chonburi draw in first match of world futsal club tourney
PHUKET: Sixteen of the world’s finest futsal clubs, including Thailand’s 5-a-side champions, have gathered in the heart of the Middle East since July 10 to contest the Kuwait Mini World Futsal Club Tournament. Playing in their opening match last Saturday, the winners of the 2012-2013 Thailand Futsal Premier League, Chonburi Blue Wave drew in their first of three scheduled group…
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Unable to escape Phuket checkpoint, man arrested with heroin
PHUKET: A man trying to avoid a police checkpoint in Chalong last night was caught by Phuket police and arrested for possession of heroin.“We were at a checkpoint at Soi Thanoothep on Chao Fa East Road,” said Chalong Police Lt Phansak Chaithong.“At 11:50pm, we signaled a man to pull over, but he turned his bike around and tried to ride…
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Phuket Pythons: “Magic’ baby snake appears in locked locker
PHUKET: A soybean milk vendor was given a fright today after a baby python pulled a Houdini and appeared in a her locked locker. Phuket Kusoldham Rescue Foundation workers, responding to the frightened woman’s emergency call, were able to wrangle the one-meter python from its new resting place. “The shop owner closed her shop normally last night, and there was…
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First cop to be charged with trafficking suspended from force
PHUKET: Sgt Maj Weerayuth Feuangfu, the Phang Nga policeman believed to be the first Royal Thai Police officer charged with human trafficking (story here), was indefinitely suspended from active duty last week. “He was suspended from the Royal Thai Police last week pending the outcome of the ongoing investigation,” Phang Nga Provincial Police Commander Chalit Kaewyarat told the Phuket Gazette…
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Phuket police net motorbike thieves
PHUKET: Police arrested three Phuket teenagers yesterday for stealing multiple motorbikes and selling the parts for pocket money. The teenagers were caught in possession of nine stolen bikes in good condition and one that had been dismantled, said Phuket City Police Deputy Superintendent Prawit Engchuan. The teenagers’ activities came to police attention on July 2 when a Mattayom 2 student…
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Bullets, but no guns: Phuket man charged for illegal possession
PHUKET: Police caught a Phuket man illegally in possession of over 50 rounds of ammunition for multiple types of handguns, but were unable to uncover any weapons during their raid yesterday morning. Phuket City Police secured a search warrant for the house of Suwat Saramas, 30, after receiving a tip-off that he was in illegal possession of firearms. “After we…
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VIDEO REPORT: Go Eco Phuket scrambles to remove fishing net at top dive site
PHUKET: Local marine conservation group Go Eco Phuket on Friday launched two dive boats in an emergency procedure to remove a fishing net at one of Phuket’s top dive destinations, Shark Point. At a Go Eco Phuket meeting last week, in preparation for the group’s annual massive reef and beach cleanup (story here), local dive company Sea Bees revealed video…
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Thai skipper sails Sansiri into the lead at TRANSPAC
PHUKET: The 2013 Transpacific Yacht Race (TRANSPAC) started in perfect Southern California conditions on Monday July 8 with Thai entry Sansiri in the first of three starts in a westerly breeze of 15 knots. Co-skippered by Michael Spies and Thai sailor Patinyakorn Bunranrom, the five-strong crew on Sansiri are the first ever Thai entry in a global Ocean Race and…
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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