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 tin smelter Thaisarco under probe
PHUKET: Phuket Vice Governor Somkiet Sangkaosutthirak today led a team of local officials to investigate claims that the Thaisarco tin smelter at Cape Panwa was releasing contaminants into the air, causing lung cancer and other health issues among local residents. Prapan Kanprasang, head of the Damrongtham Center, which acts as the provincial ombudsman’s office, said his office received a letter…
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Phuket alcohol ban for Makha Bucha Day
PHUKET: Phuket Police have confirmed that a 24-hour ban on selling alcohol will come into effect from midnight tonight in respect of tomorrow being the Buddhist holiday Makha Bucha Day. Lt Col Pisit Chuenpetch, Deputy Superintendent of Phuket City Police Station, confirmed to the Phuket Gazette this afternoon that the ban will be enforced across Phuket. “This a nationwide ban…
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Laguna Phuket denies ‘wrongdoing’ in baby elephant trade
PHUKET: Laguna Phuket today issued a public statement in response to a two-year-old baby elephant being seized at the elephant camp at the resort complex late last month. The statement, marked as attributable to Mark Breit, Regional Director, Laguna Tours & Quest, read: “Laguna Phuket houses and employs domesticated Asian elephants, which, due to habitat loss and poaching, have no…
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Paiboon alone in start of Phuket election campaigning
PHUKET: On the first morning of enrollment for candidates for the position of Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) president, former president Paiboon Upatising was the first and so far only candidate to show his hand today. All other potential candidates have until Friday to register. Mr Paiboon, running for his second term as Phuket’s highest-ranking elected government official, arrived at…
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Pla-Wan attack: “Eight is enough’, say Phuket police
PHUKET: Phuket City Police are not pursuing their investigation into whether any more suspects are to be arrested in connection with the attack on Vorasit “Pla-wan” Issara. Mr Vorasit is the general manager of the Sri Panwa resort. He was brutally attacked by staff at the Rachada pub in Phuket Town in December. Phuket City Police Superintendent Chote Chidchai today…
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Phuket Customs officers seize crystal meth in Thai Post parcel
PHUKET: Customs officers seized a parcel containing ya ice (crystal methamphetamine) last week from a transportation company in Rassada, north of Phuket Town. The drugs had an estimated a street value of more than 150,000 baht. Officers from the Royal Thai Customs Investigation and Suppression Bureau (ISB) were conducting a search of the transportation company’s premises when the Thai Post…
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Phuket Live Wire: Shutter island
PHUKET: I’m going to change topic a bit. At the Computer Clinics we used to talk about all sorts of technology, including TVs, tablet computers, cameras and phones – much to the chagrin of several Windows die-hards. The simple fact is that all of the technology is converging, with more-powerful and more-mobile computer chips making all sorts of magic possible.…
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Phuket sports: Morning Star shines bright
PHUKET: The first game of Phuket Soccer Six League’s (PSSL) round three at Headstart International’s Football Island saw The Lounge face Morning Star. Following two quick goals by Karl Ward, it seemed Morning Star would make light work of their opposition, but The Lounge emerged from their slumber and fought back to bring themselves to within a goal at 4-3.…
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Phuket sports: Believe to achieve
PHUKET: It wasn’t difficult to identify professional golfer Lindsay Renolds on entering Laguna Golf Club recently. Standing near the entrance was a young man surrounded by staff members, who at first glance seemed to be getting advice from the Phuket pro, but in fact were catching up on how he performed at his latest tournament played in India. Obviously popular…
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Phuket woman dies in motorbike accident
PHUKET: A motorbike passenger was killed last night when her driver swerved to avoid a fallen branch, putting the vehicle in the path of a fast-moving pick-up truck in the north of Phuket. Tah Chat Chai Police were notified of the accident on Thepkrasattri Road southbound at 9:25pm. Arriving a the scene, just 50 meters from the Thepkrasattri Bridge off-ramp,…
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Four dead, five injured as pickup truck slams into Phuket tourist van
PHUKET: Four tourists are dead and five injured after a pickup truck loaded with fish and a van filled with tourists heading for Phuket collided in Tai Muang, Phang Nga, yesterday evening.Tai Muang Police received a report of the accident, on the Mae Yey Bridge on Petchkasem Road between Tai Muang and Takuapa Moo 1 in Thung Maphrao, Tai Muang…
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Phuket Heroines Memorial Fair underway
PHUKET: The Phuket Cultural Office has a fun-packed range of activities lined up for this year’s Heroines Memorial Fair, which started on Friday in Thalang.Among the attractions taking place to honor Jan and Mook, the famous heroines who led Siamese forces in repelling an invasion by the Burmese in 1785, are group weddings, traditional dance performances and spectacular light and…
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Swede falls victim to Russian snatch thieves in Phuket
PHUKET; A Swedish tourist in Phuket had his gold chain and other valuables snatched by a pair of women he claims were Russian, according to a local media report. Swedish tourist Peter Wentzel, 40, was walking along the Karon beach road at 11:30pm last night when two foreign women pulled up in front of him on a motorbike and asked…
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Phuket sports: Chevrolet throttle TSLC’s title hopes
PHUKET: The Adult Futsal League (AFL) saw Portrait FC edge a little closer to the Premiership title while Thanyapura lost an opportunity to put more daylight between their pursuers. In second spot before the game, Thanachart Bank faced Portrait FC in a crunch tie that would influence any possibility of catching the league leaders. In a similar start to their…
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Phuket sports: Lizards chase the Tiger’s tail
PHUKET: Unlucky for some, the 13th match of the Island Furniture League saw a battle between league newcomers the Thanyapura Tigers and former champions the Liquid Lounge Lizards (LLL), at the ACG last Sunday.Both sides were in desperate need of a win to advance up the table and boost their title hopes. In a closely fought match, the Tigers eventually…
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Phuket sports: The boys from Brazil
PHUKET: For the second week in succession Phuket’s Fair Play League (FPL) used two different locations for their weekend fixtures with Youth Football Home hosting U14 matches and Quality Schools International (QSI) the venue for U11 matches. Four of the six teams competing in the U14 Division have a real chance of taking the title which makes winning remaining matches…
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Phuket’s Lomas impress at Bangkok 10s
PHUKET: The Phuket Lomas recently participated in the two-day Bangkok Youth Rugby 10s tournament at Pattana International School with great performances from both the U12 and U16 teams in their respective divisions. On the first day of competition the Lomas U16s faced cup favourites CIMB Cobra from Malaysia. It was a tense battle in which the Lomas matched their opposition…
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Dokset blames jealousy: Phuket Police
PHUKET: Stein Dokset, the long-term Phuket expat Norwegian charged with the murder of his ex-girlfriend Rungnapa Suktong, has told police that he accidentally killed his girlfriend in a jealousy-fueled rage, police said today. Mr Dokset was arrested on Tuesday after police found the acid-burnt decaying remains of a human body in his basement bathroom. He later confessed that the remains…
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Phuket goes to the polls March 25, April 7
PHUKET: An island-wide ban on the sale of alcohol will go into effect from 6pm on April 6 through to midnight of April 7 so island residents can vote in the upcoming Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) presidential election. Residents living in Chalong and Rassada municipal areas will be subject to a similar ban for elections to select councilors for…
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Phuket PSU chosen for Thai Cabinet meeting
PHUKET: The Phuket campus of the Prince of Songkla University (PSU) yesterday was selected as the venue for the upcoming Thai Cabinet meeting on March 19-20. Sombat Wattanapanich, Cabinet Secretary and Adviser to Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, was accompanied on a tour of the potential venues on the island. Leading the entourage was Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha, Phuket Vice Governor…
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Hookah bars targeting Phuket youth
PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Office is planning to crack down on hookah bars and other businesses catering to a growing demand among island youths to smoke flavored tobacco known as shisha. The proliferation of venues offering shisha to youths has risen dramatically over the past year and the situation must be quickly addressed, a provincial panel heard recently. New Phuket…
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Phuket sports: Former FC Phuket player netted in Immigration raid
PHUKET: Former FC Phuket midfielder Abdoul Coulibaly was among 27 Africans arrested on Wednesday during an Immigration Police crackdown in Bangkok. The arrests were first reported on sport.mthai.com, a Thai-language website. According to the report, 25-year-old Abdoul was detained for not having proof of compliance with a requirement by Immigration that all foreigners residing in the Kingdom report their address…
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Phuket Business Directory 2012 is on sale now
PHUKET: The Gazette Guide for 2012 is now available at vendors throughout Phuket and the Andaman region, and, being eight times the size of other business directories on or off line, is the most comprehensive index to help find the service you need. With contact details of thousands of businesses classified into 142 different categories, the 362-page book is priced…
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Rally round Phuket
PHUKET: Following the very successful Grumpy Old Men’s Club (GOMS) rally and car treasure hunt last year, the organizers this year have invited a number of Phuket’s foremost business, social and community organizations to join a great family day out and raise funds for their organization’s ongoing projects. The now-renamed Phuket Invitational Car Rally (PICR), to be held on March…
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A brave young man
PHUKET: “My dad always said to me that if you do your best it’s enough, and I think you lot did your best tonight.” Ed Speed, the 14-year-old son of Gary Speed, gave a lifting speech to the Wales national football team after their defeat by Colombia on Wednesday night. The match was organized as a memorial to Gary who…
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Phuket Police probe land titles as Norwegian Dokset’s motive for murder
PHUKET: Murder suspect Stein Havard Dokset today re-enacted his actions from nearly three years ago to show Phuket police the sequence of events that led to the death of Rungnapa Suktong. Arrested on Tuesday after a police raid discovered decaying human remains in a plastic trash can his basement bathroom, Mr Dokset today denied all but one member of the…
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Phuket murder suspect Stein Dokset already on trial for fraud
PHUKET: Norwegian expat Stein Havard Dokset, who this afternoon was charged with the murder of his ex-girlfriend Rungnapa Suktong, is already on trial for defrauding a Swedish man of more than 800,000 baht, the Phuket Gazette has learned. Lt Col Boonlert Onklang, Deputy Superintendent at Chalong Police, told the Gazette that a formal complaint was filed with Chalong Police on…
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Swedish man’s fall “accidental’, say witnesses
PHUKET: The Swedish tourist who died in hospital after falling from a third-floor hotel balcony last Friday night likely fell by accident, witnesses have told the Phuket Gazette. Matthias Andersson, who was in his 30s, had gone out to a nearby bar for 15 minutes before returning to his room, hotel staff at the Welcome Inn told the Gazette. Channisa…
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Ahoy Phuket! Ao Chalong Yacht Club calls for assistance to get ship shape
PHUKET: The Ao Chalong Yacht Club is calling for volunteers to lend a hand at a “working bee” on Saturday, March 3 – and is putting on free beer and a sausage sizzle for those who turn out to help. “Some of the jetty floats need replacing urgently because they are sinking. Floats that are being used to jack up…
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Phuket sports: Weekly round-up by The Golf Guru
PHUKET: The World Golf Championship (WGC) was played this week in the US. In fact 66 per cent of the World Championships have been played in the States which seems strange as it’s meant to be the World championships. I won’t go on about the old chestnut of the World Series baseball being for only American teams! The 2012 World…
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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