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.

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  • Phuket, Krabi rocked by ‘sudden’ thunderstorms

    Phuket, Krabi rocked by ‘sudden’ thunderstorms

    PHUKET: Following a stretch of hot weather, greater Phuket Town was hit by thunderstorms and torrential rainfall late yesterday afternoon. At about the same time in Muang District Krabi, a fierce squall damaged homes and felled rubber trees in a surrounding plantation in Khao Khraam subdistrict.The squall hit the rubber-tapping community of Khao Khraam Village 5 at about 5pm, causing…

  • Phuket Live Wire looks at Windows 8: ‘You probably won’t like it’

    Phuket Live Wire looks at Windows 8: ‘You probably won’t like it’

    PHUKET: I have spent two of the past three Live Wire columns extolling the virtues of Apple products. A few of my friends were shocked. After all, I’m a dyed-in-the-wool PC user. I’ve written many dozens of books about Windows and Office, and thousands of articles. Windows is like an old security blanket to me. Sparring partner, too. And it’s…

  • Noppowon all set, Phuket’s De Cesare outgunned at ITF tournament

    Noppowon all set, Phuket’s De Cesare outgunned at ITF tournament

    PHUKET: Week two of the Phuket Chang ITF Women’s Pro Circuit tennis tournament opened today with six round one single’s matches and five in double’s competition at Thanyapura Sports and Leisure Club (TSLC).Phuket’s Helen De Cesare had earned a wild card entry, but found herself drawn against number two seed Kurumi Nara of Japan. The 17-year-old De Cesare couldn’t keep…

  • Phuket MP Anchalee rallies on Constitution change, red-shirt compensation

    Phuket MP Anchalee rallies on Constitution change, red-shirt compensation

    PHUKET: Less than a week after Prime Minister Yingluck Shinatwatra held her “mobile Cabinet meeting” on the island, Phuket Democrat Party MP Anchalee Vanich-Thepabutr yesterday raised a slew of concerns facing the national government. Among her “concerns” were the current redrafting of the Constitution, the multi-million-baht compensation to be paid to the families of red-shirt protesters killed in the May…

  • Man survives high-tension drama in Phuket

    Man survives high-tension drama in Phuket

    PHUKET: A man in search of food sent shivers up the spines of Phuket residents yesterday, when he began dangling from power cables strung up above a bus stop in Thalang District. Thalang Police were notified of the man’s strange behavior at about 4:30pm. Arriving at the site, in front of the TAT office opposite the municipal market on Ban…

  • Phuket Sports: Mydeen knocks first ACG ton

    Phuket Sports: Mydeen knocks first ACG ton

    PHUKET: Recovered from their recent defeat at the hands of the Laguna CC, the Village showed no mercy to Phuket’s youth development cricket team in dishing out a 235 run demolition of the Leopards. This season’s 15th match of the Island Furniture League became batting practice for several of the Village players while the Leopards were hoping to gain valuable…

  • Phuket Sports: She’s “Dear’ to the heart of Indigo Pearl

    Phuket Sports: She’s “Dear’ to the heart of Indigo Pearl

    PHUKET: Tennis played well at any level is an enviable pursuit. Those with the physical skill and coordination required to spot a ball traveling in excess of 100 miles per hour, then choose a shot before returning the two and a half inch diameter projectile over a three foot obstacle and land it accurately within a 27ft by 39ft area,…

  • Phuket Gazette ‘Green Report’: Regional mangrove restoration project receives green light

    Phuket Gazette ‘Green Report’: Regional mangrove restoration project receives green light

    PHUKET: Efforts to restore the lost mangrove forests of Thailand and other parts of Asia will receive a boost this week when international partners gather in Krabi province, across Phang Nga Bay from Phuket, to discuss the use of project funding received via Germany’s Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).The meeting, which is being coordinated by the Trang-based Southeast…

  • Phuket Sports: Pulsating play in round six of PSSL

    Phuket Sports: Pulsating play in round six of PSSL

    PHUKET: The Pita Bar Phuketeers and Eden FC got the ball rolling for round six of the Phuket Super Six League (PSSL) last Wednesday evening at Headstart’s Football Island. The Phuketeers grabbed an early 2-0 lead when Yannik Christll tapped in after Fabian Kleiner Scniedelmann’s shot was spilled by the goalkeeper. Christll doubled his team’s advantage with a fine solo…

  • Phuket elections: Phudit wins Rassada; Samran retains Chalong seat

    Phuket elections: Phudit wins Rassada; Samran retains Chalong seat

    PHUKET: Preliminary results of two local elections in Phuket yesterday indicate that Phudit “Ko Noi” Raksarat will take over administration of Rassada Municipality, while Somran Jindapol has been elected Mayor of Chalong Municipality. Before yesterday’s election, Mr Somran was incumbent president of the Chalong Tambon Administration Organization (OrBorTor), which was upgraded to municipal status on October 1 last year. In…

  • Phuket Gazette Special Report: Thai military unveils plan to stop Rohingya landings

    Phuket Gazette Special Report: Thai military unveils plan to stop Rohingya landings

    PHUKET: Region 4 of the Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC) has formulated a “Protecting the Andaman” strategy to prevent Rohingya boat people from illegally entering Thailand in Ranong, Phuket and other Andaman Coastal provinces. Maj Gen Manas Khongpanin, director of the ISOC region, revealed that the security plan is to stop the Rohingya from entering Thailand, especially along the coastline…

  • Poll: Which Cabinet-approved project will most help Phuket?

    Poll: Which Cabinet-approved project will most help Phuket?

    PHUKET: At this week’s highly-publicized ‘mobile Cabinet’ meeting in Phuket, a number of projects were approved for Phuket and other provinces in the Andaman economic development cluster. In the latest on-line Readers’ Poll, the Gazette asks which of six projects approved for Phuket will do the most to help the resort province? The candidates are: – ‘Monkey cheek’ Reservoirs to…

  • Tesco Lotus aerobics show in Phuket on Monday

    Tesco Lotus aerobics show in Phuket on Monday

    PHUKET: Tesco Lotus is bringing its popular ‘Get Healthy with Tesco Lotus’ exercise campaign to Phuket for the 6th year running ,with a road show at Tesco Lotus Thalang on Monday. Tesco Lotus Senior Corporate Affairs Manager Charkrit Direkwattanachai said 16 million people nationwide have taken part in the activities since the program started. “This year our target is to…

  • Phuket elections: no alcohol sales in Chalong, Rassada

    Phuket elections: no alcohol sales in Chalong, Rassada

    PHUKET: Alcohol sales will be banned in Chalong and Rassada from 6pm today till midnight on tomorrow due to local elections to be held tomorrow in those Phuket subdistricts. Phuket Election Commission Director Kittipong Thiengkunakrit told the Phuket Gazette that Chalong has two voting districts with 7,135 and 7,497 eligible voters, respectively. The mayoral candidates are Thanapong Koudom and Somran…

  • Phuket Gazette: Extra, Extra – Read all about it!

    Phuket Gazette: Extra, Extra – Read all about it!

    PHUKET: In this week’s Phuket Gazette, now on newsstands everywhere across the island, and tucked into the Nation newspaper for national distribution, we probe hard into the ongoing land investigations. We’ve also budgeted space for a financial breakdown of what recent Cabinet meetings have bestowed upon Phuket and the other important Andaman provinces. As always, we received our monthly letter…

  • Phuket ‘Mobile Cabinet’ budget breakdown, by province

    Phuket ‘Mobile Cabinet’ budget breakdown, by province

    PHUKET: Cabinet approved a total of 628 million baht for 23 provincial projects in the five Andaman Coast provinces during the mobile cabinet meeting held in Phuket earlier this week. In addition to the regional and Phuket-based projects already reported, the breakdown for funding for four other Andaman Coast provinces was announced as follows: Ranong1. Sustainable water management project: 42.26…

  • SPORTS NEWS FLASH: Noppowan secures Phuket ITF final berth

    SPORTS NEWS FLASH: Noppowan secures Phuket ITF final berth

    PHUKET: Thailand’s stellar tennis talent Noppowan Lertcheewakarn defeated number four seed Reka-Luca Jani of Hungary to continue her fantastic run of form at the Phuket Chang ITF Women’s Pro Circuit event being held at Thanyapura Sports and Leisure Club (TSLC). Having beaten the number one seed Erika Sema in the quarter final yesterday, and previously beaten the Hungarian, the 20-year-old…

  • FC Phuket fired up for first home game

    FC Phuket fired up for first home game

    PHUKET: Final preparations for FC Phuket’s first home game in their Thai Yamaha League Division One campaign are underway at Surakul Stadium. Kick off is scheduled for 4pm on Saturday against Rajpracha FC from Nakhon Pathom province, who finished one place ahead of Phuket in eighth spot at the end of last season. Controversy surrounded their first meeting in February…

  • Phuket limo driver found dead in rented room

    Phuket limo driver found dead in rented room

    PHUKET: An airport taxi driver and former volunteer member of the Phuket Kusoldharm Foundation was found dead in his rented room in Srisoonthorn subdistrict early yesterday evening. Thalang Police Duty Officer Somkhit Khaosang was notified of the death by neighbors at 7:20pm. At the scene, a rented room in Srisoonthorn Village 5, police found the body of 51-year-old Uthai Chuti-anan…

  • Phuket landlord takes life by hanging | Thaiger

    Phuket landlord takes life by hanging

    PHUKET: A wealthy Phuket landlord took his life by hanging yesterday while his two sons were asleep upstairs, according to a local news report. Thalang Police duty office Somkhit Khaosang was notified of the death by a neighbor in a row of townhouses near the Heroines’ Monument at about 4pm, according to Siangtai Daily. When officers, led by Thalang Police…

  • Noppowan powers into semi-final at Phuket ITF tourney

    Noppowan powers into semi-final at Phuket ITF tourney

    PHUKET: Thai tennis sensation Noppawan Lertcheewakarn upset the form books on Thursday by dismissing number one seed Erika Sema of Japan from the Chang ITF Women’s Pro Circuit event being held at Thanyapura Sports and Leisure Club on Phuket. Sema, ranked at 136 in the world, fought back in the quarter-final after losing the first set to the sixth-seeded, but…

  • Eerie silence cloaks the Phuket death of a Swedish tourist

    Eerie silence cloaks the Phuket death of a Swedish tourist

    PHUKET: The death of a 35-year-old Swedish tourist, whose body was discovered in his hotel room at Kata Beach, has quietly surfaced on Phuket. The resort involved, the Swedish embassy in Bangkok and police have all confirmed that James Karlsson was found dead in his room at the Serene Resort last Wednesday. However, they have all declined to offer any…

  • Fishermen found dead in Phuket estuary

    Fishermen found dead in Phuket estuary

    PHUKET: The body of a fisherman was found dead along the banks of a mangrove estuary on the west coast of Phuket yesterday. Cherng Talay Police were notified of the death by residents of Baan Layan at about 10am yesterday. At the scene, a muddy riverbank near the north end of Layan Beach, they found the body of 52-year-old Praphat…

  • Motorbike taxi driver dies in Phuket u-turn collision

    Motorbike taxi driver dies in Phuket u-turn collision

    PHUKET: A Phuket motorcycle taxi driver was killed instantly last night when he was hit full force by an oncoming car while trying to make a u-turn on Thepkrasattri Road. Thalang Police were notified of the accident at 9:20pm. Arriving at the scene, on Thepkrasattri Road southbound in front of the electricity substation in Ban Lipon, they found the body…

  • Budget breakdown; Phuket to get speed cameras, “monkey cheeks’

    Budget breakdown; Phuket to get speed cameras, “monkey cheeks’

    PHUKET: The mobile Cabinet meeting on Tuesday approved 23 projects worth 628 million baht that can be developed immediately in five provinces along the Andaman coast, including a network of speed cameras in Phuket. For the 23 projects slated for immediate start-up, the Cabinet ordered that plans be hurriedly drawn up and presented to the Budget Bureau within two weeks,…

  • Phuket Drama: Yingluck monitor lizard fiasco averted

    Phuket Drama: Yingluck monitor lizard fiasco averted

    PHUKET: The bloated carcass of a monitor lizard was hastily retrieved from a swamp at Klong Koh Pee in Phuket on Monday, just moments before the arrival of Thai premier Yingluck Shinawatra, it can now be revealed. Prime Minister Yingluck and her entourage were scheduled to arrive at the Saphan Hin side of the proposed Klong Koh Pee elevated road…

  • Special Report: Will more power solve Patong’s woes?

    Special Report: Will more power solve Patong’s woes?

    PHUKET: Mayor Pian Keesin has publicly declared his stand on the need for Patong to become a Special Administrative Zone (click here). His call for the administrative change received a great deal of support at a public meeting held recently to present and explain the concept to local residents and business people. The meeting was coordinated through Patong Municipality and…

  • Cabinet closes with Southern protest

    Cabinet closes with Southern protest

    PHUKET: The mobile Cabinet meeting headed by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra drew to a close yesterday to the sound of another protest. Under the banner of the “Southern Network”, the protesters gathered outside the meeting venue at the Prince of Songkla University (PSU) Phuket Campus in Kathu. The group had traveled from Satun, Songkhla and Chumphon provinces to call for…

  • Phuket to receive lion’s share of Cabinet’s Andaman budget

    Phuket to receive lion’s share of Cabinet’s Andaman budget

    PHUKET: The Cabinet provisionally agreed to fund 117 of the projects proposed at the Cabinet meeting, at a total cost of about 84 billion baht, Deputy Government spokesman Chalitrat Chantarubeksa announced today.“Ten of the projects are Andaman-wide projects at a cost of 24.8bn baht. The remaining 107 projects are from the individual Andaman provinces,” Mr Chalitrat said. With 67 projects…

  • “Naughty’ clouded leopard caught, set free north of Phuket

    “Naughty’ clouded leopard caught, set free north of Phuket

    PHUKET: A clouded leopard was captured over the weekend after a dip into the poultry-house on Thanyamundra’s organic farm in Phang Nga, which produces much of the chemical-free produce served in Phuket.Security guard Surasit Wangphakam was responsible for the capture. Hearing chickens “clucking loudly” inside the poultry-house, he looked inside to discover a female cloud leopard “playing” with the chickens.Fifteen…

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.

Don't forget to check out some other things to do in Thailand - get help starting a business or finding a job in Thailand, buy Thailand property, rent a yacht or book a medical procedure worldwide.