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 on alert for H7N9 bird flu virus
PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Health Office (PPHO) has set up rapid-response teams and alerted all hospitals on the island to monitor patients for any signs of the H7N9 bird-flu virus. The move follows Chinese officials finding traces of the new strain of bird flu in more areas in Shanghai and in the nearby city of Hangzhou, as authorities slaughtered birds…
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DSI: Aerial photos may save Phuket sea gypsy village
PHUKET: The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) has obtained historical aerial photographs of the Rawai beachfront dating back as far back as 1950, which may prove to be the evidence needed to save the village from being plundered by private investors. Lt Col Prawuth Wongsinil, chief of the DSI’s Consumer and Environment Protection Office, inspected the village on Friday as…
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Theft at Phuket tax office not an inside job, police say
PHUKET: The burglary of the Phuket Ministry of Finance office on Narisorn Road yesterday was not likely an inside job because important documents were not taken, case investigator Siean Keawthong told the Phuket Gazette today.Finance Department officers who worked in the ransacked room and the cleaner who discovered the robbery told police the only thing missing was 2,000 baht.The thief…
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Battle lines drawn over new Phuket bus service
PHUKET: Tuk-tuk and taxi drivers in the southern beach resort areas of Kata and Karon yesterday vowed to stage protests if the new Phuket bus service from the airport is launched. Local police, however, said plainly that road blockades would not be tolerated. The news came at a two-hour meeting held to resolve the conflict between the local drivers and…
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Phuket FC takes aim at Thai Navy
PHUKET: Phuket FC’s Southern Sea Warriors will be hoping to keep their unbeaten start to the Yamaha League One season going when they face Royal Navy tomorrow at Surakul Stadium. In the two games the teams played against each other in the league last season, Phuket FC lost 2-0 at Royal Navy Stadium, Chonburi, and won 1-0 at Surakul Stadium.…
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Gazette office closed on April 6, Chakri Day
PHUKET: The Phuket Gazette would like to inform our readers and advertisers that our office in Koh Kaew will be closed tomorrow in observance of Chakri Day. Chakri Day commemorates the founding of the royal Chakri Dynasty of which the present Thai monarch, HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej, is the ninth king (Rama IX). As Chakri Day this year falls on…
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Phuket Governor to call in Bangkok crew to pave way for B450mn Provincial Hall
PHUKET: Phuket Governor Maitri Inthusut yesterday announced he would call in officers from Bangkok to help verify – or discredit – claims made by opponents to Phuket’s proposed new 450-million-baht Provincial Hall. The debate over whether or not the new five-story building should be built at Sanam Chai (map here) continued yesterday with hundreds of local residents turning out at…
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Phuket Gazette Sports: Grand National must stay unique
PHUKET: Safety and welfare should always be a priority in jumps racing but the Grand National must remain a test of horse and jockey and not lose its unique character, according to Aintree racecourse chief John Baker. The deaths of two horses during last year’s race and two in 2011 brought equine safety into focus and prompted an official inquiry…
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Phuket power to flow despite Myanmar shutdown
PHUKET: Phuket’s electrical supply will remain unaffected from today through April 14 while Myanmar shuts down its natural gas fields to fix drilling rigs, the chief of the Phuket Provincial Electricity Authority (PPEA) has assured. “Phuket uses about 380 Megawatts of electricity per day from the national grid. I have been approved a reserve of up to 400MW a day,…
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Royal flame at cremation to honor revered Phuket Abbot
PHUKET: The cremation of the former abbot of Wat Chalong, Phra Ajarn Udomwetchakit Uttamuyano, will take place on Sunday using a ceremonial lamp given by His Majesty the King, which will arrive by plane on Phuket.The funeral service, which began on Wednesday and culminates on Sunday, is being held at the special crematory in Wat Chalong and is open to…
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Phuket’s TSLC a swimming success
PHUKET: Thanyapura Sports and Leisure Club (TSLC) hosted some of Asia’s most prolific rising sport stars from Malaysia, the Philippines, Hong Kong and mainland China to compete alongside local swimmers in the 2013 Thanyapura Long Course Swim Championships, held March 30-31. With 17 teams and 215 competing athletes; this event, part of a Rocket Science Sports Swim Championship series of…
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Phuket Sports: AFF Suzuki Cup 2014 venue chosen
PHUKET: Singapore and Vietnam will jointly host the 2014 AFF Suzuki Cup, the ASEAN Football Federation said on Wednesday (April 3). Speaking at the press conference before the start of the 2013 AFF Awards in Pahang, Malaysia, Duli Yang Teramat Mulia Tengku Abdullah ibni Sultan Ahmad Shah, the deputy president of the Football Association of Malaysia and vice-president of the…
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Victim of vicious Phuket pit bull attack in fight to save leg
PHUKET: The Phuket resident savaged by a neighbor’s pit bull terriers in February – after he ran out of his house to help a woman who was being attacked by the dogs – is still in hospital fighting to save his right leg, which sustained a deep wound in the attack.Tiensak Aikpaiboon, 33, underwent another operation on his leg Wednesday…
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Villagers appeal to Prime Minister’s Office over Phuket land claim
PHUKET: Villagers fighting a land claim to 83 rai near an old tin mine in Chalong say they have turned to the Prime Minister’s Office to settle the dispute, in which they claim to have lived at the site for nearly a decade. The move to appeal to the Prime Minister’s Office follows more than 50 villagers turning out in…
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Phuket Immigration task force targetting foreigners nabs Russian
PHUKET: Phuket Immigration officers yesterday arrested a Russian woman caught without a passport and working illegally selling tours at a kiosk in Kata.Officers led by Capt Angkarn Yasanop arrested Natalia Nikiforova, 30, after an officer pretended to be interested in some of the tours on offer at the Rus Info tour counter on Kata Road.“She explained the tours to us…
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Phuket teacher sacked for performing Hajj reinstated
PHUKET: A Muslim teacher fired from Muslim Wittaya School for taking unapproved leave to join the Hajj has got his job back. Parinya Payadsub was fired after he went on the Hajj three times in five years, breaking a school rule that allows staff to join the Hajj once every five years. Following protests by teachers, students and community leaders…
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Phuket motorcyclist survives slide under chicken truck
PHUKET: A motorcyclist riding the wrong way on Thepkrasattri Road ended up under a pickup loaded with fresh chicken meat last night, bruised and scratched but without major injuries. Wang Promma, 38, was riding his motorcycle north in the southbound section of Thepkrasattri Road, about 500 meters north of the Heroines Monument (map here), said Capt Narong Muangdoung of the…
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Laguna return to form in Phuket cricket league
PHUKET: As Phuket’s Jones Lang LaSalle cricket league nears completion of its round robin matches, teams are still fighting for a finals spot. Laguna returned to the Alan Cooke Ground (ACG) after suffering a comprehensive defeat against league leaders Patong the previous week, hoping to get back on track against the Village, who were also defeated by Patong in their…
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Phuket Sports: Barton in trouble with ‘ladyboy’ tweet
PSG threaten action against Barton for ‘ladyboy’ tweets Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Paris St Germain (PSG) threatened action against Joey Barton yesterday after the Olympique Marseille midfielder likened Brazilian defender Thiago Silva to a transsexual and called him an “overweight ladyboy”. “These attacks are serious and go beyond a simple verbal clash,” the Ligue 1 leaders said in a…
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Phuket booze ban dampens Songkran revelry
PHUKET: Officials may have just thrown a wet blanket on party plans for Phuket residents and locals alike with the announcement that the sale, purchase and consumption of alcohol will be banned on Patong’s famous Soi Bangla on April 12 as part of a slew of new precautions to make Thai New Year festivities safer.Phuket officials today established six main…
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Famous boxer arrested in Phuket for dealing drugs
PHUKET: Karon Police yesterday arrested famous former Muay Thai boxer Sumonchai Mad-adam, better known to his boxing fans as Rungsaknoi Dejrit (“Powerfully Popular”), for dealing ya bah (methamphetamine) in the car park of a Phuket hotel. Maj Theeradet Jiraksa led fellow police officers in a sting operation, during which an undercover officer bought several pills from Sumonchai, 32, who was…
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Phuket Environment: Time for Racha to sink or swim?
SPECIAL REPORT PHUKET: With only two weeks remaining until the deadline set by Phuket Vice Governor Sommai Prijasilpa to have environmental protections in place on Racha Yai Island, questions are being asked about how much has been achieved and what remains to be done to protect the popular tourist island’s pristine environment. A campaign lasting nearly a year asking for…
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Phuket doctors unaffected by health care pay reform
PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Health Office (PPHO) today confirmed that the introduction of the new P4P “Pay for performance” system of calculating rural doctors’ remuneration will not affect any public health care services in Phuket.The news follows at least 146 doctors – among them 11 specialists –announcing they will resign their positions at public hospitals across the country in protest…
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Phuket Police stage riot control drills
PHUKET: More than 300 officers from every police station in Phuket have been rehearsing their riot control skills at the field behind Phuket City Police Station yesterday and today in preparation for a contest that will pit them against fellow police from throughout Upper Southern Thailand.“The objective is to maintain our preparedness for situations of civil unrest and to prepare…
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Phuket Sports: The rise of Thailand’s futsal team
PHUKET: Sitting on a weathered white couch in the VIP section of the Saphan Hin Indoor Sports Complex, Thailand’s national futsal coach, Vic Hermans looks like he’d rather be on the touchline at the Phuket United vs Surat Thani match instead of watching it from the stands. The Dutchman visited Phuket recently to check out a few members of the…
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Phuket British school issues statement over Russian motorbike crash victims
PHUKET: The British International School – Phuket (BIS), this morning issued a statement concerning the two teenage Russian students who are in hospital after a serious motorbike crash on the bypass road on Saturday (story here). Neil Richards MBE, headmaster at the school, wrote in the statement today: “On Saturday 30 March 2013, two students of Russian nationality, from the…
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Luckless fisherman lands crocodile in Phuket heartland
PHUKET: Decades since a freshwater crocodile was last spotted in the wild on Phuket, a local fisherman on Sunday accidentally landed a baby specimen while fishing in Srisoonthorn, in central Phuket.Khamchit Sangsuwan, 32, a resident in the neighboring district of Kathu, went fishing at Baan Bang Jo canal. After two hours of luckless angling, the end of his line suddenly…
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Phuket Gazette Sports: Liverpool FC to visit the ‘Big Mango’
PHUKET: Liverpool FC have announced the club will visit Thailand as part of their 2013-14 pre-season tour presented by Standard Chartered. The Reds, who last visited Thailand in 2009, will play a match at Bangkok’s Rajamangala National Stadium on Sunday, July 28. Liverpool FC are estimated to have over 14 million followers in Thailand and this summer’s visit will form…
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Phuket pond cleanup uncovers dumped motorbike
PHUKET: Police are looking into whether a motorbike found this morning dumped in a lagoon in Rawai was stolen or had been involved in a crime. Rawai Municipality officials found the red-and-black Yamaha Nouvo after they began dredging the Baan Sai Yuan public pond near the Rawai Palm Beach Resort at about 10am. “The pond was shallow because mud was…
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Phuket Gazette Sports: Murray’s win takes him to number 2 in world rankings; Serena sees off Sharapova
Murray goes to number two with Miami tie-break win over Ferrer Reuters/ Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Britain’s Andy Murray defeated Spain’s David Ferrer 2-6 6-4 7-6 in a grueling Sony Open final yesterday to move above Roger Federer to second in the world rankings. Murray was far from at his best against a dogged Ferrer but won the tie-break comfortably 7-1…
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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