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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Brazen Phuket snatch artist targets Russian tourist
PHUKET: A Russian tourist in Phuket Town became the latest victim of a snatch theft yesterday when an unidentified man stole her bag in broad daylight. Phuket City Police inspector Lt Col Yongyuth Krongmalai received a report of the snatch at about 3:30pm. Arriving at a retail store on Patipat Road, Col Yongyuth was confronted with the victim, a rather…
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Phuket Airport to suffer overcrowding during expansion project
PHUKET: Phuket International Airport director Prathuang Sornkham, speaking at the airport’s 24th anniversary yesterday, offered an advance apology for passenger delays anticipated while the complex undergoes expansion and renovation over the next three years. Mr Prathuang told the media that the already overcrowded airport would be even more jammed than usual as, adding to the 35 regular airlines and eight…
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New Phuket Police chief ramps up island security
PHUKET: Phuket Provincial Police Commander Choti Chavaviwat today announced that inspections of vehicles passing through the Tah Chat Chai police checkpoint – located on the only road linking Phuket with mainland Thailand – will be subjected to more stringent searches in order to boost security.“The Tah Chat Chai checkpoint is on the only road in and out of Phuket, so…
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Unfinished Bangkok arena forces FIFA to move Futsal World Cup
PHUKET: Organizers of the FIFA Futsal World Cup Thailand 2012 have announced a revision of the match schedule, citing severe weather conditions delaying the construction of the event’s main facility, the 12,000-seat Bangkok Futsal Arena (BFA). Five group matches – mostly involving Thailand’s Group A – initially scheduled to be played at the yet-to-be-completed facility, are now set to be…
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Rescued Phuket dolphin’s health improves
PHUKET: The condition of the injured Spinner dolphin rescued from Mai Khao Beach last month has improved, albeit slightly, thanks to the efforts of staff at the Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC). However, the one-year-old female dolphin still has only a 50:50 chance of surviving, said Dr Patcharaporn Gaewmong, a veterinarian at the PMBC’s Endangered Species Unit (ESU). “We have…
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Rare “hairy leg mountain crab’ spotted in Phuket
PHUKET: A rare type of crab, thought to be extinct on Phuket, was recently found on the island, years after any previous confirmed sightings were reported. An officer at the Phuket Marine National Park Research Center caught a “hairy leg mountain crab” in a mangrove forest at Tah Chat Chai, at the northern tip of Phuket, last Wednesday. “This kind…
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Fire damage to Phuket LPG cargo ship estimated at B400k
PHUKET: Damage to the liquid propane gas (LPG) cargo ship that caught fire off Phuket yesterday may reach up to 400,000 baht, the Phuket Gazette was told today.“The communications room was heavily damaged by the fire. We believe that’s where it started. The radio and radar systems were damaged, as were a storeroom and one room in the crew’s quarters,”…
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USS John C Stennis and USS Mobile Bay docked in Phuket until Thursday
PHUKET: THE USS John C Stennis and USS Mobile Bay have docked in Phuket to give their complement of 5,350 servicemen and women the chance to grab some ‘R and R’ before possibly being re-deployed in the Middle East. Sailors will be rotated off the ship daily in groups of 1,500 to 2,000. The Stennis is the seventh Nimitz-class nuclear-powered…
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Destination marketing: Heritage experts shed light on Phuket’s cultural identity
PHUKET: The American Chamber of Commerce teamed up with the Phuket PR Network last night to present a fascinating and most entertaining culture-preservation lesson at the Blue Elephant in the heart of Old Phuket Town.The event was headlined by two heritage preservation experts, who gave captivating lectures about the importance of Phuket’s cultural past, present and future.Dr Yongtanit Pimonsathean, a…
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Go Eco Phuket aims to maintain momentum
PHUKET: Go Eco Phuket, the local marine conservation group launched last weekend with the world’s biggest reef cleanup, is looking to maintain its momentum by joining the Royal Thai Navy in scuttling a ship to use as an artificial reef. Group members have already held discussions with local Naval officers about the project, which is expected to ease the pressure…
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Phuket locals taught to fight crime for tourist safety project
PHUKET: About 150 employees in Patong, including rental car operators, motorbike taxi drivers and beach masseuses, attended a seminar this week designed to train them as active members of the Patong Safety Zone project, which has already been hailed as a success by police.“The Patong Safety Zone project has been running for awhile, and we have already noticed a decrease…
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PSS show improvement at YFH Soccer Tournament
PHUKET: Phuket Soccer Schools (PSS) participated in the annual Youth Football Home (YFH) Soccer Tournament in Thalang last weekend. The tournament saw the finest juniors teams on the island compete in two age groups, with players represented at Under 11 (U11) and U13 levels. Each age group consisted of 10 teams in two groups of five. Saturday saw each team…
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Phuket village headmen rally against new election law
PHUKET: More than 200 subdistrict chiefs and village headmen gathered at Phuket Provincial Hall yesterday morning to protest the amendment of a law dictating the amount of time between their elections.Previously, the law allowed subdistrict chiefs and village headmen to maintain their position until they reached the age of 60. The new amendment changes the length of the “elected term”…
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Phuket worker’s family compensated after electrocution
PHUKET: The Arrow Media advertising company has agreed to pay 100,000 baht compensation to the family of one of its workers who was electrocuted by a bare high-voltage power line at the Darasamuth Intersection on September 28.Wai Hayoung, 32, was killed instantly after being electrocuted by a 115,000 volt (115kv) power line while climbing an advertising board to make repairs.An…
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Farewell to Phuket Governor Tri
SPECIAL REPORT: Letter from the GovernorPHUKET: Over the years, my top concerns for Phuket have been flooding, traffic and wastewater. Flooding and traffic are no longer grave concerns for me because many projects have already received funding and many are already underway.That said, with the new Phuket Governor due to arrive imminently, I would like him to rate traffic as…
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Outfall of tropical cyclone expected to hit Phuket
PHUKET: A “tropical cyclone” warning was issued by the Thai Meteorological Department this morning for “Gaemi” which is currently in the middle of the South China Sea, but expected to make landfall today. “Strengthening, it will make landfall over central Vietnam by October 6 [today], then downgrade and move pass the lower Northeast, the East and the Central of Thailand.…
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Police re-confirm no further investigation into Belanger sisters’ deaths
PHUKET: Krabi Police re-confirmed to the Phuket Gazette today that they have ceased any further investigation into the deaths of Canadian sisters Audrey and Noemi Belanger. No further investigation into the death of the sisters will be conducted, unless the Public Prosecutor or the Canadian Embassy orders that the police resume their work on the case, explained Lt Col Jongrak…
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Man with gibbon escapes Bangla loris raids
PHUKET: Environmental crime police and Phuket wildlife conservation officers are on the lookout for a man who escaped arrest with a gibbon last night after a raid on Patong’s Soi Bangla netted five touts charging tourists for taking photos with protected animals. A team of officers led by Awat Nitikul, chief of the Environmental Conservation Unit based at Phuket’s Khao…
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Phuket Sports: Turns, turncoats and turnups
PHUKET: The big news last week was that Lewis Hamilton jumped ship after fourteen years with McLaren. I said a few weeks ago that I would be surprised and disappointed if he did so. I’m disappointed, but was less surprised after watching, with a sense of awful foreboding, as his gearbox blew him from winner to DNF in Singapore. Hamilton…
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‘Phuket Today’ soars up to prime time on UBC/True Visions
PHUKET: ‘Phuket Today’, the island’s only national television show, has just been awarded a prime time slot on Thailand’s pre-eminent cable television provider, UBC/True Visions. The weekly half-hour show now kicks off at 7:10pm on Sundays, and is then re-run six times for a total of seven appearances every week. The prime time award comes just six weeks after the…
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Petrol retailers fight Phuket pump price rise
PHUKET: Operators of local gas stations are fighting to stave off a price rise at Phuket pumps following the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (PPAO) announcement of its intention to impose a local “maintenance tax” on fuel.The surcharge, which would raise costs for operators by no less than 3 satang per liter, was revealed to operators in a letter issued by…
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Phuket Police hunt serial masturbator
PHUKET: Phuket City Police are now searching for a man wanted for sexually harassing restaurant staff in Phuket Town after he exposed himself and masturbated in front of them four times in three days. “We launched a search for him last night, but we have yet to find him. Our officers have been alerted to the car’s license plate number…
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Phuket official attacked over alleged affair with man’s niece
PHUKET: An enraged man attacked Chalong Municipality’s Chief Administrative Officer (Palad) Wuthiphong Promtawee in Phuket yesterday over an alleged affair Mr Wuthiphong was having with the man’s niece. Arriving at the scene shortly after 10am, Phuket Police were met by a 20-strong-crowd of office employees who had caught the chief’s assailant. Chalong Police officer Lt Col Ekkasit Pinkaew questioned the…
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Brand Phuket: AMCHAM/PR Network to focus on culture, heritage at tomorrow’s event
PHUKET: The Phuket chapter of the American Chamber of Commerce, in collaboration with the Phuket PR Network, continues its ‘Brand Phuket’ series of public meetings tomorrow at the Blue Elephant. The event is designed to heighten awareness of Phuket’s diverse history, particularly its Paranakan roots and early ‘shophouse’ communities. With well over 100 bookings for the meeting, the organizers told…
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Phuket police seize heroin at Phuket checkpoint
PHUKET: Phuket police making a routine stop at a checkpoint in Thalang early yesterday morning seized 33 grams of heroin after searching a car that was not fitted with any license plates. Crime Suppression officers led by Inspector Prasarn Thoworn were on duty at a checkpoint in Baan Yamu, Paklok, when a white Kia sedan arrived at 1:30am. Noticing the…
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Life of Liberty, after the crash
PHUKET: On an island where almost any crash that isn’t fatal is missed in the news, countless personal struggles and victories of the victims of Phuket road accidents are overlooked. Liberty Jefferson had been an English-language teacher at Kanjonkietsuksa School for three and half years, before her was leg shattered in a motorbike crash. Heading north on Thepkrasattri Road from…
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Phuket Sports: Ironman Lieto “Fully Booked!” on double Laguna Phuket Mission
PHUKET: The reputed fastest cyclist in triathlon, Chris Lieto, is heading back to Phuket to compete in the Laguna Phuket Triathlon (LPT) and Ironman 70.3 this year. The American hopes to make up for the disappointment of his Phuket debut last year, when he crashed out on a rain-soaked 70.3 bike course. Renowned as the fastest American Ironman and one…
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Phuket Poll: Do record-breaking events really achieve their goals?
PHUKET: Following the Go Eco Phuket record-breaking Dive Against Debris reef cleanup operation, in which more than 500 participants in 14 boats collected an amazing 15 tons of debris, the Phuket Gazette asks its readers if they believe that such events have a deep impact on the issue at hand? To have your say in our latest poll, click here.…
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Phuket Sports: Pacquiao expected to sign contract to fight Thailand’s Buakaw
PHUKET: Emmanuel “Manny” Pacquiao (54-4-2, 38 KOs) is expected to sign a contract tomorrow agreeing to take on Thailand’s most famous fighter, Sombat Banchamek, commonly known as Buakaw, in a special fight planned for December 21. Narong Hengtrakul, one of Thailand’s most renowned international matchmakers for both conventional boxing and Muay Thai fights, will meet Pacquiao in Manila tomorrow to…
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Case closed on Belanger sisters’ deaths
PHUKET: Krabi Police have closed the case on the deaths of Canadian sisters Audrey and Noemi Belanger with no more investigations to be conducted. Audrey, 20, and Noemi, 25, from Quebec, were found dead in their hotel room on Phi Phi Island on June 15. Both had suffered a violent physical reaction to suspected poisoning. Autopsies conducted by forensic police…
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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