Phuket News
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Phuket blood bank launches March mobile donation drive
PHUKET: The Phuket Chapter of the Red Cross Society has announced its schedule of mobile donation clinics for the month of March. The Phuket Regional Blood Center (PRBC), often called upon to save the lives of Thais and foreigners, is low on stocks of blood type A. “We need to maintain a daily minimum stock of 200 units of A,…
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Phuket Charity Event Sets Record
PHUKET: The Phuket Family & Gourmet Festival, held at Royal Phuket Marina on January 26, raised a whopping one million baht for children’s charities, it was announced this morning by the Bangkok-based food wholesaler Jagota Brothers, the creator and driving force behind the event. The record-breaking sum for a single-event fundraising effort on the island followed a cash donation of…
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Southern Resurgence: Drug cocktail 8×100 makes a comeback
PHUKET: The police crackdown on the indigenous plant kratom, a mild narcotic, is taking its toll, with youngsters now reportedly turning to longkong leaves in order to make a new version of the long-known drug cocktail “4×100”. The new recipe using longkong leaves even sports a new, improved nickname: “8×100”. “Kratom leaves are the main ingredient of the original “4×100″…
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Breaking News: Democrats win Bangkok election, Yingluck concedes defeat
PHUKET: Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has conceded defeat in the election today for Bangkok Governor, handing the election win over to Democrat candidate Sukhamband Parabitra.PM Yingluck publicly announced the defeat at 6:15pm after the ongoing count of votes at the polls showed that Sukhamband had amassed more than a million votes while leading Pheu Thai rival Pol Gen Pongsapat Pongcharoen…
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World Sports: Review of Six Nations
PHUKET: Before the Six Nations began the pundits were, as usual, making their predictions about the destiny of the championship. After their stunning autumn victory over Australia, France was strongly fancied to win “Le Grand Slam”. Wales, despite being current Six Nations champions, had lost seven games on the bounce and seemed to be out of contention. Ireland, so strong…
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Pharmacy raid nets 24 youths in cough syrup blitz
PHUKET: A raid on a Phuket Town pharmacy early yesterday evening turned into a bumper haul for officers as they arrested a procession of youngsters turning up to buy cough syrup specifically to make the local drug cocktail “4×100”. Following an order by Muang District Chief Supachai Pochanukul, the 15 officers arrived at the Pharma Sure drug store on Si…
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Phuket Sports: TNT blown away in a flash by Gordon
PHUKET: In the first match of the second round, the Village took on the TNT at the Alan Cooke Ground (ACG) last Sunday. The Village, last season’s runners up, were desperate to record their first win of the season, while TNT were looking to progress further up the ladder to challenge the top teams of Patong Cricket Club and Laguna.In…
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Phuket Sports: Southern Sea Warriors reinforced ahead of season start
PHUKET: In their first fixture, Phuket FC, taking on the new nickname this year as the “Southern Sea Warriors” are set to play Big Bang Chula United (BBCU), a team relegated last year from the TPL. The match will kick off today at 6pm at the Army Stadium in Bangkok, BBCU’s home pitch. The Southern Sea Warriors’ first home match…
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Phuket Gazette Sports: Boas bounce back; Benitez’s plea; Giggs signs – again
Spurs driven by last season’s stumble, says Villas-Boas Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: One year after his axing by Chelsea left a dent in his ego, Andre Villas-Boas finds his reputation soaring again as high-flying Tottenham Hotspur prepare to host north London rivals Arsenal in a match of huge significance.Win it and Tottenham would move seven points clear of their arch-rivals…
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Phuket Police hunt continues for Jintana killers
PHUKET: Police are continuing to question individuals over the murder of Jintana Mahattanapak as they await the results of CCTV-footage analysis being conducted in Bangkok (story here). “Experts in Bangkok are still trying to extract information, that will lead to the arrests of the killers, from the CCTV footage we sent them. However, we have yet to be able to…
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DNP chief bolsters support for Phuket park probe
PHUKET: The recently installed Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) Director-General Manopat Huamuangkaew arrived in Phuket yesterday to hear firsthand the update on the investigation into 14 plots allegedly encroaching on Sirinat National Park on Phuket’s west coast. “So far we have investigated the land documents of 14 plots of land and found that all were issued…
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DSI launches fresh attack on illegally issued Phuket land title deeds
PHUKET: The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) stepped in last week to expedite the ongoing investigation of illegal land encroachment in Sirinart National Park. Acting on a complaint from The Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP), whose own investigation seemed to ground to a halt last year when an expected 366 investigators from Bangkok failed to arrive,…
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Mother of savaged pit bull victim presses criminal charges
PHUKET: Criminal negligence charges were filed this week against the owners of the three pit bull terriers that mauled a man outside his own Phuket home in early February. Tiansak Aikpaiboon, 33, was savaged by three of his neighbor’s five pit bulls right in front of his home in Suan Thai Village, behind Wichit Songkram School near Central Festival, at…
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Miss Universe smashes pirated products in Phuket
PHUKET: Miss Universe 2005 Natalie Glebova joined officials as they destroyed pirated goods worth about 216 million baht in a ceremony in Phuket today, which was held to demonstrate Thailand’s dedication to protecting intellectual property rights.“We are here to increase the awareness of consumers about counterfeit designer goods and to encourage them to say ‘no’ to pirated products. By completely…
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Phuket Gazette Sports: Swimming great wants life bans
Fraser wants life ban for Australian 4x100m swimmers Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Swimming great Dawn Fraser wants life bans imposed on members of the Australian men’s 4x100m freestyle relay squad who admitted using a banned sedative in a bonding session before last year’s London Olympics. James Magnussen and team mates Matt Targett, Eamon Sullivan, Cameron McEvoy and Tommaso DOrsogna…
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Man dies in second Phuket hit-and-run in two days
PHUKET: A 21-year-old security guard from Phattalung has died after the motorcycle he was riding was struck by a car on the road from the Heroines’ Monument (map here) to Pa Khlok late last night. He was the second person to be struck down in a hit-and-run in Phuket in two days (see story here). Thalang Police Duty Officer Chatree…
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DSI raids Phuket building supplies operator
PHUKET: Officers from the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) today raided a local construction supply company suspected of stealing sand from a National Forest to sell for use in Phuket’s booming property industry.The DSI made headlines last week for investigating illegal land title deeds in Sirinart National Park, on Phuket’s west coast.The raid started at 8am today when DSI chief…
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French family saved from speedboat adrift
PHUKET: A French man and his family were rescued on Tuesday night after their speedboat broke down about two nautical miles from Koh Sirae. Phuket Marine Police received a distress call from Patick Legros, 58, at about 8:30pm informing them that he, his wife and his 7-year-old daughter were in need of help. Chatchai Sakdee of the Marine Police led…
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All safe after Phuket tour boat hits mooring, sinks in Chalong Bay
PHUKET: A tour boat carrying 15 tourists collided with a concrete mooring and sank during its approach to Chalong Pier during low tide yesterday afternoon. All 15 tourists on board, and the skipper, were safely rescued. The accident occurred when the tourist boat Darunee, skippered by Suthip Kasathit, 50, was returning with about 15 passengers from a snorkeling trip to…
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Police suspect Chevy driver in Phuket hit-and-run
PHUKET: Police are searching for the driver of a Chevrolet vehicle believed to have been involved in a hit-and-run in Phuket Town last night. Phuket City Police duty officer Akaradech Phongprom received a report that a man riding a motorcycle had been struck down on Narisorn Road, near Phuket Provincial Hall (map here), at about 10:30pm. Officers arrived at the…
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2013 ACYC Keel Boat and Multihull Club Championship Race Series 2 announced
PHUKET: Ao Chalong Yacht Club (ACYC) has announced the 2013 ACYC Keel Boat and Multihull Club Championship Race Series 2 – FCI Watermaker Series. The first race will be on March 3. Eligibility and entry: The series is open to all keel yachts and multihulls with an overall length of greater than six meters. Eligible boats may enter by completing…
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Vicious Pit Bull Attack: Phuket mother files for compensation
PHUKET: A compensation complaint for a hospital bill totalling nearly 700,000 baht was filed with Wichit Police yesterday after a man was savaged in a vicious pit bull attack.Benjarat Ekpaiboon’s 33-year-old son, Tiensak Ekpaiboon, was attacked by three of their neighbor’s five pit bulls around 8am on February 6.“He’s been in hospital for almost three weeks now. Some of the…
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Phuket Live Wire: Anatomy of a land line meltdown
PHUKET: As I continued my pursuit of a decent internet connection in Phuket for the house I’m moving into, a funny thing happened. That’s funny as in strange, not funny as in hilarious. Depending on where you lived in Thailand, at about 2am on Friday morning, February 15, if you had internet service from TOT your line went down. Again,…
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Six injured on merit making trip to Phuket’s renowned Big Buddha image
PHUKET: A bus carrying 26 Burmese, en route to make merit at Phuket’s renowned Big Buddha image, swerved off the road yesterday injuring six passengers. The po thong, a six-wheeled “bus” with two planks for passenger seats, was driven by Abdollah Sairaya, 54. “I was contacted by the workers at about 5pm. They asked me to pick them up from…
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New multi-million baht Chalong dam plagued with problems
PHUKET: Construction issues plague the Klong Pee dam project in Chalong less than a year after it was completed at a cost of over 10 million baht.Villagers complained to the Irrigation Project of Phuket, but after nine months of silence have turned to the Phuket Governor and the Phuket Press Club for help.“On February 15 of this year, we filed…
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Three Phuket residents die on journey to make merit
PHUKET: Three Phuket residents died and two were injured on their way to make merit for Makha Bucha Day when their car went off the road and landed in a pond in Phang Nga today. One of the passengers, a five-year-old girl, was thrown from the car and was found dead in the pond water. “At about 8am this morning,…
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New Zealanders make Phuket flight despite multi-vehicle crash
PHUKET: Three tourists from New Zealand made their flight out of Phuket today despite a concrete truck hitting their limousine and sending it careening under the bed of a parked 10-wheeled truck on Thepkrasattri Road. “The limousine driver, Worrathat Chaikajorn, 47, had picked up the three tourists in Patong and was taking them to Phuket International Airport shortly before 11am…
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Bottlenose dolphin, rare in Phuket, found dead
PHUKET: A bottlenose dolphin was found dead on Bang Tao Beach this morning, the first to be found beached in Phuket in years. “The dolphin was a female bottlenose dolphin,” Dr Kongkiat Kittiwattanawong of the Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC) said. “They mostly live west of Maithon island in Phang Nga and in Ranong. This dolphin was about 2.2 meters…
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Phuket officials squelch Dengue fever rumors
PHUKET: Residents must do their part in controlling dengue fever by not allowing water to stand in containers around their homes, officials have told the Phuket Gazette as rumors started to grow last week of an outbreak in Karon. In response to a complaint from a reader living on Patak Road Soi 24 in Karon that at least nine people…
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Thailand Futsal: Phuket United back on track with away victory
PHUKET: Five different Phuket United players scored the goals that contributed to the team’s away-victory (2-6) against Samut Songkhram on Sunday afternoon in Bangkok. Played at Bangkok’s Fashion Island Futsal Arena, the match was both side’s 24th of the 30-fixture GMM Sport Thailand Futsal Premier League (TFPL) 2012-2013 season. Phuket United’s goals were scored by Brazilian Jardel, who scored both…
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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