Phuket News
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More Rohingya refugees found adrift off Thailand’s coast
PHUKET: Another group of desperate Rohingya refugees found shelter along the Khura Buri coast north of Phuket yesterday after 25 days at sea, making them the third group to land along Thailand’s Andaman coast this month. The 96 refugees shared the same harrowing story as the 179 who came ashore on January 23: days at sea surviving on scant rations…
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Phuket Islamic Council calls for desperately needed essentials for Rohingya refugees
PHUKET: The Phuket Islamic Council is collecting donations at their office in Koh Kaew for the hundreds of Rohingya refugees being held in detention centers across Southern Thailand. The Islamic Council is asking for blankets, dried food and toiletries. Kitti Islam, a member of the Phuket Islamic Council, told the Phuket Gazette yesterday that the council has already received a…
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Phuket job fair opens
PHUKET: The annual Phuket Provincial Employment Office (PPEO) job fair began today at the Central Festival East shopping complex on the bypass road, with 3,538 jobs available for job-seekers. Phuket Vice Governor Sommai Prijasilpa declared the event open at 11am, and was accompanied by Phuket Democrat MP Raywat Areerob, Phuket Provincial Police Deputy Commander Arayapan Pukbuakao and PPEO chief Yawapa…
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Phuket charity drive cooks up a family-fun entertainment extravaganza
PHUKET: Tomorrow, Saturday January 26, the Royal Phuket Marina will be the place to be in Phuket for fabulous food, fun and games for the kids and superb live music. The first-of-its-kind Phuket Family & Gourmet Festival, a charity event, is being staged by Jagota Foods to raise valuable funds for the Andaman region’s less fortunate kids. From 10:30am to…
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New Zealand expat sailor drowns in Phuket boating mishap
PHUKET: Popular Phuket sailor Richard Spraggs, from New Zealand, drowned in an early morning boating accident today. Mr Spraggs, 59, was re-anchoring his boat La Zingara at about 5am after an overnight storm had pushed another boat too close to his, Capt Chianchai Duangsuwan of the Chalong Police reported. Mr Spraggs was trying to push the boats apart when he…
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Football: Phuket FC defeat Dredger’s Army in friendly
The Islanders continued their pre-season preparation ahead of the upcoming 2013 Yamaha League 1 season by playing PhangNga FC in a friendly at Surakul Stadium last night. The match gave Phuket’s new signings the chance to get to know each other in a match situation, and with unlimited subs and three 35-minute period, instead of the standard two 45-minute halves,…
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Phuket Police search for drive-by target “Dannie’ Knudsen
PHUKET: Patong Police are searching for Danish national Dennis Mark Knudsen, 24, the intended target in the drive-by shooting in Patong on Tuesday night that saw two German tourists accidentally wounded (story here). The news follows Australians John Cohen, 32, and Adam Shea, 26, opening fire in Soi Sansabai, near the tourist-popular Soi Bangla. Their intended target was a man…
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Phang Nga immigration overloaded, Rohingya relocated to centers across Southern Thailand
PHUKET: The 179 Rohingya refugees who arrived in Khura Buri District, north of Phuket, on January 23 have taken the Phang Nga Immigration facilities past breaking point, forcing authorities to relocate hundreds of Rohingya already being held at the Phang Nga detention center to immigration centers elsewhere in Southern Thailand. “Yesterday, we brought 179 Rohingya from Khura Buri police station…
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Swiss student tourist Janisch out on bail
PHUKET: A Swiss national held by Ranong Immigration since December 25 on charges of stealing an officer’s camera was released on bail yesterday after her mother appeared in Ranong Court to post 130,000-baht bail bond. Unaware that her daughter, Tscherina Nora Janisch, was being held in a Thai prison north of Phuket, Elizabeth Maria Janisch initially reported Tscherina as missing…
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Man tortured, murdered in mangrove forest near Phuket Town
PHUKET: Phuket Police found the bloodied body of an unidentified man who appeared to have been tortured before being murdered in a mangrove forest near Rassada Port, on the east side of Phuket Town (map here) early this morning. Pieces of a broken beer bottle and a bloodied piece of wood believed to be the murder weapons were found nearby.…
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Rohingya: Only 4 meals in 16 days at sea
PHUKET: The 179 Rohingya taken into custody north of Phuket yesterday survived on four meals of uncooked rice in their 16 days at sea, one of the survivors told officials. Local fishermen spotted the refugees – fleeing escalating ethnic violence in their native Rakhine State in Myanmar – off the Phang Nga coast at about 11am. About 30 officers from…
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Phuket United lose FA Cup match, Islanders to play Phangnga FC
PHUKET: The island’s pro futsal team Phuket United had their Thailand FA Cup dream shattered this afternoon, losing 2-3 to Lampang United in a close match up in Bangkok. The match was the fifth FA Cup round-of-16 match to be contested at Fashion Island futsal arena on the north side of the capital today and yesterday. In addition to Lampang,…
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Police charge “real driver’ over lethal tour van crash
PHUKET: Police confirmed this week that they have charged the “real driver” of the Phuket tour van involved in the accident on November 29 that claimed the life of 9-year-old schoolgirl Kunnarree Lattuada-Lancini (story here). “Makeesan Samae has been charged with gross negligence causing death under Section 290 of the Criminal Code and with reckless driving under Section 43 of…
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Missing Swiss student tourist alive and well, in Thai prison
PHUKET: A 22-year-old Swiss student tourist reported missing while on holiday in Thailand has been found alive and well. She’s being detained in Ranong Prison for allegedly stealing a camera belonging to an immigration officer. The search for Tscherina Nora Janisch, a foreign-exchange student studying at the National University of Singapore, began on January 15 when her mother, Elizabeth, posted…
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Australians charged with attempted murder: miss “mafia’ target, shoot German tourists
PHUKET: Two Australian tattoo parlor owners have been charged with attempted murder after opening fire with an unregistered firearm in the heart of Phuket’s party town, Patong, yesterday evening. John Cohen, 32, and Adam Shea, 26, shot two German bystanders in their attempt to “strike first” against an alleged Danish mafioso, named by police only as “Dannie”. “This is not…
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Phuket Gazette Sports: Tough times for EPL’s poor relations
Premier League’s poor relation seeking new backers Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: While the Premier League generates recession-busting revenue increases, times are tougher for the 72 football clubs outside the elite as they battle for media exposure and commercial deals. Those clubs comprise the three-tier Football League, which features such illustrious names as former champions Nottingham Forest and Leeds United…
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Pork lady wins half million baht of gold from Red Cross Lucky Draw
PHUKET: A grilled pork vendor claimed this year’s Red Cross Fair “Lucky Draw” grand prize of more than 500,000 baht’s worth of gold with her ticket number 59319 yesterday.Atcharaporn Weerakarn, 47, was delighted as she received the hefty amount of gold from Phuket Governor Maitri Inthusut.“I bought only one ticket and I am very lucky to have won. This prize…
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Phuket Sports: Buakaw draws thousands to Patong fight
PHUKET: Buakaw ‘Dam Dot Com’ performed an artistic demonstration of ancient Muay Thai against two opponents at once, at the Patong Boxing Stadium recently, in front of thousands of cheering fans.Buakaw’s demonstration began at 10:45pm, after a number of opening fights featuring local fighters. Formerly known as ‘Buakaw Por Pramuk’, before a longstanding dispute with his former gym forced his…
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Live Wire: Making the right connections
PHUKET: In last week’s Live Wire, I stepped you through an exhaustive list of the internet packages available in Phuket. I say “exhaustive” because, at this point, the only way to get a list of all of the internet packages is to physically schlep to all of the internet service providers’ offices, pick up brochures, and grill the staff on…
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Phuket Gazette World Sports: Sven wants Becks
Eriksson agrees Al Nasr deal, eyes Beckham Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Sven-Goran Eriksson will try to convince former England captain David Beckham to join him at Al Nasr after the experienced Swedish coach signed an 18-month contract as a technical advisor of the United Arab Emirates club.“If he wants to come I’m sure they would open the gates for him,”…
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Phuket Police now suspect motorbike assassins in Jintana execution
PHUKET: Phuket Police on the hunt for the killers of Jintana Mahattanapak now have a description of the gunman and his driver accomplice, as well as the motorbike the killers were riding. Contrary to earlier reports, in which police announced they were searching for a black Mitsubishi Triton pickup truck and a white sedan (story here), Phuket Provincial Police Commander…
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Phuket Gazette World Sports: 49ers crunch the numbers to meet Ravens in Superbowl
Brilliant brothers set up unique Super Bowl showdown Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: The San Francisco 49ers and the Baltimore Ravens won their National Football League championships in stunning fashion to set up an extraordinary sibling rivalry in next month’s 47th Super Bowl.The 49ers, coached by Jim Harbaugh, overturned a 17 point deficit to beat the Atlanta falcons 28-24 in the…
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Phuket Police alerted over triple-homicide killer
PHUKET: Phuket Police are on the lookout for a man wanted for triple homicide in Phang Nga. The news follows the Takuapa District Court issuing an arrest warrant for Somsak Wongsri, who according to an eyewitness executed three people on December 22. The three men allegedly shot dead by Somsak were Prajuab Choojit, 24; Sarawut Boonklin, 31; and Somboon Kimtin,…
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Rising number of Rohingya crossing borders north of Phuket to flee persecution
PHUKET: Increased violence in Myanmar’s volatile Rakhine State has already forced an “abnormal number” of Rohingya refugees across the Thai border in hopes of finding better lives, said Major General Manas Kongpan of Thailand’s Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC) at an emergency meeting on Saturday. Nearly 3,000 Rohingya have been caught entering Thailand as they take advantage of the calmer…
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Phuket Police investigate “work conflict’ as motive for Jintana murder
PHUKET: Police are pursuing the possibility that Phuket mother-of-two Jintana Mahattanapak, may have been murdered over a conflict at work. Mrs Jintana was executed with a single gunshot to head while waiting at traffic lights on Chao Fa West Road last night (story here). She was the Human Resources director at the Hilton Arcadia Phuket Resort & Spa at Karon…
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Influx of Rohingya straining Phang Nga Immigration facilities
PHUKET: The mass influx of Rohingya refugees – 400 within four days – landing in Phang Nga, north of Phuket, this week is straining the capacity of immigration detention centers in the province, said Phang Nga Governor Thamrong Charoenkul. The news follows an initial 171 Rohingya refugees, fleeing persecution in their homeland in Myanmar, being taken into custody in Phang…
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New Phuket bus plan breaks “transport barrier’
PHUKET: After decades in the planning, a new bus service will launch on the island in March. The new route will travel between Phuket International Airport and the popular tourist beaches of Patong, Karon, and Kata via Tesco Lotus on the bypass road (click here to see map of the new bus route). For safety reasons, Phuket Land Transportation Office…
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Phuket woman executed was beloved mother, wife, friend
PHUKET: The life of a beloved mother, wife and friend was taken away by a killer on Chao Fa West Road, south of Phuket Town, last night. Police have identified Mrs Jintana ‘Nong’ Mahattanapak, 42, a resident of Yaowarat Road in Phuket Town, as the victim of the execution-style slaying (story here). Mrs Jintana was director of Human Resources at…
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Phuket Sports: Expecting the unexpected – NFL
PHUKET: After a regular season filled with the unforeseen, I decided to expect the unexpected while watching the Division Playoffs – and that’s exactly what I got. Predicting exactly how it would play out was not part of the equation, foreseeing that I would continue to bare witness to the amazement of the NFL’s 2012 season was a guarantee. Baltimore…
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Phuket Sports: Six of the best at Soccer Island
PHUKET: Season four of the Super Six League started last week at Soccer Island at Phuket’s HeadStart School, and the popularity of the league means there will be three divisions this season. Division 1 continues to exude a high level of performance; the first week’s results from Division 2 indicate that it could be a very tight league and Division…
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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