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 expat Frenchman stands to lose B100mn home in national park land raid
PHUKET: A French businessman will have to suffer his 100-million-baht luxury villa in Phuket being demolished if the land it is on is ruled to be encroaching on national park land. The new chief of Sirinath National Park, Cheewapap Cheewatham, filed a complaint with police after a surprise raid on the property on Sunday. The raid was led by Sermyos…
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Phuket man dies of heroin overdose in gas station bathroom
PHUKET: A Phuket man died of an apparent heroin overdose in a gas station bathroom in Thalang yesterday. Staff at the Shell service station on Thepkrasattri Road southbound in Thepkrasattri Subdistrict notified Thalang Police of the death at 4:30pm. Arriving at the station with Phuket Kusoldharm Foundation workers, police found the body of a man slumped over in the middle…
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Officials launch drive to register illegal Phuket taxis
PHUKET: Illegal taxi drivers in key tourist areas in Phuket will have the chance to apply to become legal as part of the government’s campaign to resolve the decades-old problem of illegal drivers plying Phuket’s lucrative tourism trade. The news was announced yesterday by Provincial Land Transport Office (PLTO) chief Teerayut Prasertpol at a meeting of provincial officials, police and…
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Phuket police silent on top cop reshuffle
PHUKET: One of Phuket’s high-ranking police officers today said he was surprised by the announcement in a Thai-language newspaper that Phuket’s top-ranking police officer, Chonasit Wattanavrangkul, will be transferred out of Phuket. Speaking to the Phuket Gazette this morning, Phuket Provincial Police Deputy Commander Chalit Kaewyarat said, “I do not know where the list of transfers printed in the newspaper…
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Officers “defuse car bomb’ in emergency response exercise at Phuket Airport
PHUKET: Officers from a variety police stations across the island yesterday took part in a multi-agency exercise to counter the prospect of a car bomb being detected and another bomb actually detonating at Phuket International Airport. Police from Phuket City, Tah Chat Chai and Thalang police stations were joined by Thalang Hospital staff to take part in the exercise, which…
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Village people file complaint over Phuket pub noise
PHUKET: Villagers in Baan Tha Rua in Srisoonthorn, just north of Phuket’s famed Heroines’ Monument, yesterday filed a group complaint against one entertainment venue in the area for noise pollution and closing after the regulated trading hours. Village chief Chalermpol Gerdsub handed the complaint to Prapan Kanprasang, chief of the Damrongtham Center (ombudsman’s office) at Phuket Provincial Hall. The complaint…
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Tour company offers compensation for capsized speedboat ordeal
PHUKET: The Phuket-based company operating tours on board the speedboat that capsized off Phi Phi Island in rough seas yesterday has vowed to cover all medical expenses for those injured in the incident and to offer compensation for the emotional stress suffered. Pongsak Pachantabut, the manager of Phuket New Generation Travel Company, today confirmed to the Phuket Gazette that there…
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Khon Baan Rao slides into clear majority in Phuket election
PHUKET: The Khon Baan Rao Party won 13 of 24 seats in the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (PPAO) council election on Sunday, according to the preliminary vote count, giving the local “pink party” a clear majority.Khon Baan Rao, meaning “People from Our House” and led by PPAO President Paiboon Upatising, lost six of the 19 seats the party contested. The…
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All safe after Phuket speedboat capsizes in rough seas
PHUKET: The Phuket Marine Police have confirmed that none of the tourists or crew on board a speedboat that capsized in the heavy seas off the coast of Phi Phi Island are missing.The 24 Chinese tourists on board the boat, Luk Pradu 26, arrived at Chalong Pier late this afternoon.Seven of them had suffered minor injuries and were taken to…
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Turtle tangled in fishing net rescued from Phuket beach
PHUKET: An adult Ridley sea turtle, tangled up in a discarded fishing net, washed onto Karon Beach alive, but injured, yesterday afternoon. The female turtle, weighing about 40 kilograms was spotted by a tourist on the beach. A lifeguard, alerted to the situation, contacted the Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC) Endangered Species Unit. “The turtle was washed ashore with a…
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Phuket ‘false rape’ victim Bamford to reveal all on Australian prime time TV
PHUKET: Stevie Bamford, the 21-year-old Australian tourist who in June confessed to Thai police that she had filed a false rape claim in Phuket, steps onto the Australian prime-time television show Today Tonight to reveal the ‘truth’ about her sexual assault in Thailand. In her original report of the incident to Patong Police, Ms Bamford claimed she was attacked by…
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Heavy rain blamed for Phang Nga bus accident
PHUKET: Police assess that heavy rain caused a bus carrying 20 passengers from Haad Yai to Phuket to overturn on a curve in Phang Nga yesterday, injuring 16 people. Lt Col Sanae Aukod of Phang Nga Town Police received notice of the accident, at the Phu Nga Thani curve, in Takdad, Muang, Phang Nga, at about 6pm. Police accompanied by…
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Push for new Patong Road in protected Phuket forest gains ground
PHUKET: Officials are hoping to have enough public support by October to start the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) for a 100-million-baht road through protected Phuket forest connecting Patong and Chalong. The EIA will be a critical hurdle for the project as the proposed route will cut through at least one kilometer of protected national forest in the Nakkerd Hills. In…
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Phuket Sports: Dragons still on fire despite the rain
PHUKET: A single goal in the final minutes of the first half was enough for Thai Yamaha 1 runaway league leaders, Ratchaburi FC to prevail over Phuket FC last night. Played on a damp pitch under overcast skies at Surakul Stadium, the match was one of the first for Phuket FC this season to be broadcast live on national cable…
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Phuket FC ready for showdown with Ratchaburi
PHUKET: First-place Ratchaburi FC is in “fine form” and preparing to play attacking football in tonight’s highly-anticipated match against Phuket FC, the team’s coach told a pre-match press conference yesterday. Speaking in the Phuket FC office opposite Surakul Stadium, Ratchaburi Coach Somchai Maiwelai said, “Even though there is a considerable gap between our teams [26 points], we’re not going to…
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Phuket Police nab serial snatch bandit
PHUKET: Police on Wednesday arrested a serial snatch-and-run thief who allegedly committed at least 12 robberies in Phuket Town over the past month.The suspect was identified as 20-year-old Wuttipong Uonpong, listed as a resident of Ayutthaya.Lt Col Prawit Engchuan of the Phuket City Police told the Gazette that his office had received numerous theft reports from the Samkong area of…
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Thailand’s coral reefs 50% gone: Phuket marine biologist
PHUKET: With coral reef systems in Thai coastal waters at a “crisis” level, the director of the Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC) has vowed to step up his department’s efforts to mitigate the damage caused by the fishing industry and other human factors.“Currently, our natural coral reefs are not half of what they used to be – we are in…
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Families of Phuket disco fire accept Bt1mn compensation
PHUKET: Families of the two Thai victims killed in the Tiger Discotheque fire on August 17 accepted compensation cheques of 1 million baht each during a ceremony in Phuket yesterday. The handover ceremony at the Tiger Live Band venue in Patong, not far down Bangla Road from the gutted disco, was shown live on Thai TV Channel 7 as part…
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Phuket Sports: Rory roars to another Major
PHUKET: The last Major on this year’s PGA Tour golfing calendar, the PGA Championship, was played at the Ocean Course Kiawah Island South Carolina, one of the most difficult courses in the world. Before the tournament started, Kiawah Island had heavy thunder storms, similar to the weather in Phuket presently. As all the world’s top professionals gathered, including newly crowned…
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Poll: Should Phuket be exempted from election-day alcohol bans?
PHUKET: Alcohol sales will be banned island-wide this weekend due to the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization election on Sunday, while Patong will face two consecutive weekends of lost nightlife trade due to municipal council elections, due to take place there next weekend. The alcohol bans will be in effect from 6pm on Saturday through to midnight on Sunday. Retail outlets…
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PM Yingluck Shinawatra invited to speak at Phuket Halal Expo
PHUKET: The organizers of the annual Phuket Halal Expo, to take place early next month, have invited Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and Asean Secretary-General Dr Surin Pitsuwan to give speeches at the event, which will have special activities in Patong and Phuket Town. Officially entitled “Phuket Andaman Halal for Tourism 2012”, the expo is intended to showcase the island’s Muslim…
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Phuket taxi driver presents photo of Tiger Disco ‘ghost’
PHUKET: A Phuket motorcycle taxi driver who entered the charred remains of the Tiger Discotheque the day after the fatal fire claims that photographs he took inside bear images of the spirit of a woman who lost her life there. The motorcycle driver told the Phuket Gazette that he belonged to a group of motorcycle taxi drivers who pick up…
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Phuket Sport: International round up
PHUKET: The following is a round up of international sports news, compiled by the Phuket Gazette for the island’s international community. ATHLETICS: Yohan Blake did the unthinkable at the Lausanne Diamond League meeting: he managed to take the headlines away from Usain Bolt. Blake ran the third fastest 100-meter race of all time, clocking 9.69 seconds. Bolt holds the world…
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Tonight! Phuket Seafood Fiesta in Patong
PHUKET: The Phuket Seafood Fiesta casts its net today in an effort to draw more visitors to the island during the current low season for tourism. The Seafood Fiesta, held in conjunction with the Andaman Hoteliers 2012 event, runs from 3pm to 10pm today and tomorrow at the Jungceylon shopping complex in Patong. “At the festival you can experience all…
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Full-scale tsunami rescue drill “freaks out’ Phuket tourists
PHUKET: Two tourists on holiday from Vietnam panicked after witnessing the full-scale tsunami rescue drill being conducted off the east coast of Phuket this afternoon. “Oh my God! My friend and I thought it was some kind of terrorist attack or that a really big accident had happened. We had no clues it was a drill.” said Ms Julie as…
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Phuket Tiger Disco fire: Police identify two Thai women as victims
PHUKET: Forensics experts at the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Bangkok have officially announced the names of two more victims of the Tiger Discotheque fire in Phuket last Friday. Dr Bhawat Prateepvisrut, a forensic pathologist at the institute, confirmed to the Phuket Gazette today that two of the four bodies recovered from the scorched nightclub had been identified as those…
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Dinosaurs heading for Phuket holidays
PHUKET: Dinosaurs are taking a holiday in Phuket, along with all the other old bones on the island, in a travelling museum exhibition open from August 28 to September 16. The free-entry exhibition, with information in Thai and English about paleontological and geological discoveries in Thailand, will be open daily at the Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC) between 8:30am and…
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500 Phuket homes affected by floods
PHUKET: Tentative estimates by officials are that about 500 households were affected by the floods yesterday.The news follows Phuket City Mayor Somjai Suwansupana’s confirmation that despite more rain today, the floodwaters in Phuket Town have completely receded and the situation has returned to normal.“Our trucks had washed off all the mud from the main roads in Phuket Town by last…
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Four Tiger Disco victims found “one meter’ from fire exit: rescue workers
PHUKET: Rescue workers who recovered the bodies of the four people who died in the Tiger Discotheque inferno last Friday have revealed that all four bodies were found only “one to two meters” from a fire exit. “All four of the bodies were found in front of the restrooms on the second floor, only one to two meters from a…
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Phuket teenager confesses to slaying stepfather with axe
PHUKET: A 15-year-old boy who confessed to murdering his stepfather with an axe told police yesterday that the attack was motivated by the man’s abusive behavior to his mother. The murder was reported to Chalong Police at 9:30pm on Tuesday. Arriving at the scene, a modest home near the Baan Maneekram housing estate on Kwang Road, police found the body…
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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