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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Sponsored Infinito helps hotels in Thailand with revenue management
Maximising revenue and profit–isn’t that the ultimate goal for every business in the hospitality industry? If you run a hotel, you might have heard that revenue management is an effective way to boost your top-line revenue. It involves using data...
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Two Russians charged over beach assault; search on for two more suspects
PHUKET: Two out of the four Russian men who allegedly led an unprovoked attack on a well-known local couple at Catch Beach Club on Surin Beach have been charged with assault.Phuket Police are still searching for the two other men.Canadian Tom Travers, managing partner of Indigo Real Estate agency, was beaten unconscious and had his cheekbone broken in three places…
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Phuket Gazette Sports: Chelsea slump to shock home loss to Swansea in Cup
Swansea upset Chelsea in League Cup Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Swansea City inflicted the second shock home defeat in eight days on Chelsea, goals from Michu and Danny Graham giving the Welsh club a 2-0 win in their Capital One (League) Cup semi-final first leg last night. Michael Laudrup’s Swansea, playing in their first major semi-final for 49 years,…
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Live Wire – Help! my email is not sending
PHUKET: Reader ‘PS’ wrote in with an interesting question that frequently dogs local residents and visitors alike: “Hi Woody, I thought you might be interested in this, but knowing you, you already know about it! The problem I have been having is sending e-mails through True, because sometimes they will not go for a couple of days and other times…
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Migrant worker deportations still on hold: Phuket Employment chief
PHUKET: Migrant workers in Phuket still waiting to complete the nationality verification process, in order to become legally registered laborers, have at least a one-week reprieve from any deportation crackdown, the Phuket Provincial Employment Office (PPEO) chief Yawapa Pibulpol confirmed this morning. The news follows the Cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, not discussing the issue of whether or…
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Iranian tourist attacks Phuket parking attendant
PHUKET: Iranian tourist Khalili Sina today attacked a Phuket parking service operator who was trying to shift the tourist’s rented jeep.Khalili Sina allegedly smashed a broken beer bottle over the head of Muhammad Manoch, 21, and slashed his cheek.The incident happened on Rat-U-Thit 200 Pi Road in Patong at about 12:45am, Lt Col Jongserm Preecha of the Patong Police said.“Witnesses…
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Phuket Live Wire: Infections of epidemic proportions
PHUKET: My fellow editor at InfoWorld, Robert Lemos, published a story in eWeek last month that took Thailand to task for its incredibly lousy record with different kinds of malware. Quoting a study from antivirus company Sophos, Lemos says that Thailand is the third worst country in the world for PC infections. According to the eWeek report: “A user surfing…
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Police offer B100,000 reward for gun-point bank robber
PHUKET: Police have offered a 100,000 baht reward for any information leading to the arrest of a man who made a fast-cash “withdraw” of over a quarter million baht at gun point from a Phuket bank yesterday afternoon. The robbery, which took place at the Kasikornbank (KBank) branch at the Tesco Chao Fa Park shopping complex (map here)on Chao Fa…
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Two locals attacked by Russian men in Surin
PHUKET: An allegedly unprovoked attack by several Russian men at a Phuket beach club early this morning has left two well-known local residents in hospital awaiting surgery.Canadian Tom Travers, managing partner of Indigo Real Estate agency, was knocked unconscious and had his cheekbone broken in three places during the attack. His girlfriend Jen Khamsorn suffered a broken nose when she…
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UK, Canadian ambassadors put tourist safety on agenda
PHUKET: British Ambassador to Thailand Mark Kent and fellow ambassador Philip Calvert of Canada today placed their tourists’ safety squarely on their agenda with official visits to Phuket.This morning, Ambassador Kent and British Consul Michael Hancock focused their talks with Phuket Vice Governor Sommai Prijasilpa on what measures authorities have taken to help protect tourists on holiday in Phuket.“We are…
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Phuket Red Cross Fair lucky draw winner yet to claim B500k in gold
PHUKET: The lucky person who holds the winning ticket for the Red Cross Fair lucky draw top prize has yet to step forward and claim gold valued at nearly half a million baht. Phuket Governor Maitri Inthusut led the draw for the prize at 10:30pm on Saturday night at the central stage area at Saphan Hin (map here), where the…
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Phuket KBank robbed at gunpoint – again
PHUKET: An armed gunman entered the Kasikornbank (KBank) branch at the Tesco Chao Fa Park shopping complex on Chao Fao East Road at about 12:30pm today. He made off with an estimated 260,000 baht, police reported. The man entered the bank wearing a white-and-blue, full-face helmet. He pointed a gun at one of the cashiers and demanded that she place…
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Phuket United sink Royal Navy
PHUKET: Phuket United unveiled new Brazilian winger Marcos Vinicius De Mendonco before their GMM Thai Futsal Premier League (TFPL) home game against Royal Navy on January 5. Phuket United won their last home game 7-3 against Lampang United to move up to 7th in the league. The newly installed floor covering at Saphan Hin was looking a bit worse for…
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8 injured as Phuket pickup flips, rolls into field
PHUKET: Two youngsters, a 12-year-old boy and an 18-year-old woman, are in hospital with serious head injuries after the pickup truck they were travelling in flipped and rolled down an embankment while returning to Phuket from Krabi last night. Natchanon Kaewrua, 12, and Jinta Petchkrua, 18, were thrown out of the back of the pickup when driver Somchai Kaewrua, 48,…
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Russian tour counters closed in Phuket, pending probe
PHUKET: All Russian tour counters in the Kata-Karon beach areas have been ordered to close until further notice and the local Labor Office has been requested to investigate them for possible breach for foreign worker regulations. The news came at a meeting at Kata-Karon Municipality yesterday, held to resolve the ongoing dispute between local tuk-tuk and taxi drivers and Russian…
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Phuket tourism leaders lambast Sydictive new year party for noise, trash
PHUKET: Leading Phuket tourism and hotel figures yesterday personally brought forward a barrage of complaints to the Phuket Governor about the Sydictive Element new year party, citing complaints that noise forced guests to check out early and trash was left strewn along Patong Beach. The delegation filing the complaint comprised Phuket Tourist Association (PTA) President Ponganun Suwannakarn and PTA Vice…
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Phuket mangrove deforestation probe whittles down encroachment claim
PHUKET: The 70 rai of protected mangrove forests investigated on Phuket yesterday in fear it was being illegally encroached on was whittled down to only two rai after a followup probe this morning. “After I examined the Klong Mudong area in Chalong again today, I was able to determine that only about two rai of the land being reclaimed by…
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Marine police hook Phuket fish smuggler
PHUKET: A local resident in Rawai, at the southern end of Phuket, was arrested yesterday trying to smuggle more than 200 protected-species fish to Bangkok.Marine Police and Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMCR) Region 5 office in Phuket arrested Boonsuan Raknawa, 41, after officers received information about protected fish being smuggled to Bangkok via a public bus.“The suspect was…
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Anxiety key factor in Australian tourist death: Phuket hospital staff
PHUKET: While Phuket police continue their investigation into the death of 21-year-old Australian tourist Sebastian Eric Faulkner, staff at Patong Hospital have reported that the young man was showing signs of anxiety when he presented himself to the hospital just hours before his death.On recognizing the symptoms, doctors at Patong Hospital admitted him for minor depression.Mr Faulkner, from Melbourne, plunged…
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Phuket blockade wins tuk-tuk drivers reprieve from Russian operators
PHUKET: Tuk-tuk and taxi drivers who established a road blockade in Karon last night will take further action if a meeting at 2pm today does not resolve a dispute over Russian tour operators undercutting local prices, the Phuket Gazette was told. Karon Kamnan Winai Chidchiew broke the news after about 100 tuk-tuk and taxi drivers blockaded the Karon beachfront road…
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Phuket United beat Lampang United
PHUKET: Phuket United beat Lampang United 7-3 in their third home game of the Thai Futsal Premier League (TFPL) season on January 2.The match was played in front of 600 supporters at the 4,000-seat Indoor Sports Complex at Saphan Hin.Before the game, Phuket United’s head coach Suphol Senapeng told the Phuket Gazette: “Our main objective for this game is concentration…
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Phuket Opinion: Examine Phuket’s crackdown culture
PHUKET: The majority of readers who took part in the Phuket Gazette‘s recent online poll called for local authorities to strictly enforce existing laws in regards to illegal “black plate” taxis. Unfortunately, the inability or unwillingness of traffic police to consistently seek out and punish violators virtually guarantees no change in the status quo. Thus, recent efforts by the Phuket…
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Phuket suffers deadly “Seven Days of Danger’
PHUKET: The nationwide Seven Days of Danger road-safety campaign ended at midnight last night with three more deaths on Phuket’s roads than during last year’s safety efforts, but far fewer accidents reported. Nine deaths and 24 injuries in a total of 27 accidents were recorded by the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Phuket branch (DDPM-Phuket). Last year, six people…
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Phuket Police bust man with “Million-baht meth foot’
PHUKET: Phuket Police have busted a man with methamphetamine crystals and pills, worth an estimated street value of one million baht, taped to his foot while they were making routine stops at a road checkpoint. Narong Pongkornsopha, a 35-year-old resident in the neighboring area of Pa Klok, was stopped at the checkpoint to the south of the Heroines’ Monument at…
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Phuket Police closing in on Phi Phi speedboat driver’s killers
PHUKET: Police have made headway in identifying and capturing the murderers of a Phi Phi speedboat driver who was stabbed to death in Phuket Town just before dawn yesterday. Ronnachai Chayliang, 26, was found dead in front of Wat Wichit Sangkharam, on Narisorn Road, at about 5:20am. He had suffered knife wounds to his neck, chest and back. “The body…
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Phuket Rohingya repatriated to Myanmar
PHUKET: In a stunning development this morning, Phuket Governor Maitri Inthusut announced that the 71 Rohingya rescued from an open boat adrift off Phuket yesterday are en route to be repatriated to Myanmar. The move to repatriate the refugees, including women and children, came at the request of the refugees themselves, Gov Maitri said. Speaking at the monthly “Governor Meets…
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Krabi tourists roused by new year fire
PHUKET: Tourists on holiday in Ao Nang, Krabi, across the bay from Phuket, were roused from their new year slumber early yesterday morning as hotel staff ordered an emergency evacuation and firefighters attempted to douse a blaze in a room full of gas cylinders. Hundreds of tourists staying at the Ao Nang Buri Resort ran for the safety of Haad…
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Storm leaves 70 Rohingya adrift off Phuket
PHUKET: A boat carrying about 70 Rohingya fleeing persecution in their homeland in Myanmar were taken into custody by the Thai authorities off Phuket today.Local fisherman first sighted the boat off Bon Island, off Rawai Beach at the southern end of Phuket, and reported it to Rawai Municipality.“I was told by fishermen this morning that there was a suspicious-looking boat…
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Former NBT broadcaster Phuket’s first road death for the new year
PHUKET: A former broadcaster for the National Broadcasting Services of Thailand (NBT) has become the eighth person to die on Phuket’s roads since the Seven Days of Danger national new year road-safety campaign began last Thursday. Eak Eakwewchakul, 26, died when his Toyota sedan overshot a curve and hit a power pole near the Phuket Go-Kart track in Kathu on…
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Phuket 2012: Safety shaken, not stirred
PHUKET: The need for a quicker exit from Phuket’s nightlife capital of Patong was highlighted by the chaos on the road in the early hours of April 11, after a 7.3-magnitude, submarine earthquake, that struck off Sumatra, caused the National Disaster Warning Center to issue a tsunami “alert” (not a warning) that had coastal residents heading for the hills. A…
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Phuket’s deadly ‘Seven Days of Danger’ claims two more lives
PHUKET: Two men on a motorcycle on Thepkrasattri Road in Thalang were hit and crushed under a Phuket tour bus early this morning, bringing to seven the number of deaths in the ongoing “Seven Days of Danger” new year road-safety campaign. As is relatively standard practice in Phuket, the bus driver fled the scene and is being sought by the…
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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