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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FC Phuket host Saraburi FC today
PHUKET: FC Phuket will be seeking their first home win of the season when they kick off against Saraburi FC “Warlords” at Surakul Stadium this afternoon. The Southern Sea Kirin, now 15th in the table with 7 points, will be hoping to collect all three points against Saraburi, who are still winless on the road after seven matches and sit…
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Austria-Phuket Community Center burns again
PHUKET: Another fire broke out at the Austria-Phuket Community Center in Phuket Town last night, the second blaze there in less than 24 hours. Police once again suspect teenagers, who probably broke into the building to take drugs, were responsible. Phuket City Police at 9:10pm received a report of the fire from local residents in the densely-populated area, on the…
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PHUKET ALERT: Monsoon comes, Patong Hill road goes
PHUKET: The monsoon season has officially arrived in Phuket and is already taking its toll, causing a landslide along a stretch of Patong Hill road that the Highways Department was hoping to shore up by year’s end. Sampawat Wannasangkam of the Patong Municipality Department of Disaster Mitigation and Prevention said his office received a report of the slide at around…
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Taxi, tuk-tuk co-ops blame “unfair rules’ for problems
PHUKET: Groups of tuk-tuk and taxi operators in Phuket blame “unfair regulations” as the underlying cause of most problems faced by tourists who use Phuket’s public transport services. The accusations were made during a meeting of senior government officials, including Government Spokesperson Prompong Nopparit, at Phuket Provincial Hall on April 27. Tuk-tuk representative Darun Suksai, the “president” of a consortium…
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Phuket police officer held for off-duty killing
PHUKET: A Phuket police officer and his brother are being detained at Phuket Provincial Court tonight after both were charged with accessory to murder over a fatal shooting in Phuket Town’s red-light district early this morning. Phuket City Police Deputy Superintendent Jamroon Plaiduang told the Phuket Gazette that the shooting occurred at about 2:30am in Phuket Town’s infamous Phun Phol…
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Phuket teenage drug addicts blamed for community center fire
PHUKET: Phuket City Police believe that a fire at the Austria-Phuket Community Center in Rassada in the early hours of this morning was started by a group of teenage drug addicts known to frequent the area. It was the second time the center had been set on fire within a month. Phuket City Police received a report at 1:10am from…
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Phuket sea gypsies celebrate their heritage
PHUKET: Preparations for the first of the twice-yearly sea gypsy Loy Reua festival are underway at Laem Tukkae on Koh Sireh, on the east side of Phuket Town. The festival is renowned as a celebration of local culture during which sea gypsies build a boat by hand and adorn it with garlands, then place inside it personal items and set…
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No lifeguards on beaches as Phuket enters surf danger season
PHUKET: As the southwest monsoon sets in and Phuket enters the most dangerous period for beach swimmers, the Phuket lifeguards have yet to return to their towers at popular tourist beaches along the west coast. The news comes as the Phuket Gazette today received confirmation that not a single company or organization bid for the government contract to provide lifeguard…
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Phuket United gets Gov Tri’s backing
PHUKET: Last year’s CAT Regional Futsal Tournament champions Phuket United have been assured financial support from “Phuket’s father”, in a gesture that will ensure the team can compete in the prestigious Thailand Futsal League (TFL) for the upcoming season. Club administrators met with Phuket Governor Tri Augaradacha at his office on Tuesday. Their first agenda was to appoint the governor…
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Speed radar project most helpful: Phuket poll
PHUKET: Phuket Gazette readers overwhelmingly think the installation of radar speed cameras to monitor road traffic and automatically fine violators will be the most helpful of six projects recently approved for Phuket by Cabinet, according to our most recent online poll. In the poll launched March 23, readers were asked which of six projects approved by Cabinet during the “Mobile…
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Xayaburi Dam protesters in Phuket maintain threat of closing Thai-Laos Friendship Bridge
PHUKET: Residents of eight Thai provinces along the Mekong River traveled to Phuket to protest construction of the Xayaburi Dam in Laos during a three-day meeting of the Mekong River Commission (MRC) that ends today in Phuket. The protesters gathered on Tuesday morning at the Movenpick Resort, which is hosting the “Mekong 2 Rio” conference of high-level delegates from Mekong…
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Laguna Phuket Marathon to take “Chi Running’ in its stride
PHUKET: The revolutionary “Chi Running” technique will be showcased at the forthcoming Laguna Phuket International Marathon in a workshop led by one of Asia’s leading exponents of the method that has taken the running world by storm. Lit Onrubia of the Philippines, a US-certified Chi Running instructor, will lead the workshop at Laguna Phuket on June 9, the day before…
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Phuket Police blame “business conflict’ for snake show arson attack
PHUKET: Phuket’s top police officer said a business conflict was the most likely motive for last week’s arson attack on a health store and snake show complex that left one security guard comatose in hospital. Phuket Provincial Police Commander Chonasit Wattanavrangkul on Tuesday announced the news while inspecting the scene, at the Phuket Healthy Nutriment and Snake Show on Soi…
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Phuket sports: The Golf Guru’s weekly round-up
PHUKET: This week was the turn of players coming through their respective mini-tours, the Challenge for Europe and Nationwide for America. They use this as a stomping ground to see if they are good enough to play on their main tours both had graduated from there as winners could they now bring it to the big show. The players use…
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Phuket Red Cross pumps up blood donation campaign
PHUKET: The Phuket Regional Blood Center (RBC) has stepped up it mobile blood collection campaign as blood stocks are dangerously low following the annual Songkran Festival last month, which resulted in a surge in road accidents in the region. The Phuket RBC, run by the Thai Red Cross Society, is responsible for collection of blood stocks in Phang Nga, Krabi,…
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Express mail truck flips in Phuket, no injuries
PHUKET: The driver of an express mail service truck will be charged with negligent driving and property damage after his delivery truck crossed over a median strip and overturned on Phuket’s main road from Phuket Town to the airport on Tuesday afternoon. Thalang Police were notified of the accident, at the u-turn on Thepkrasattri Road near the Kan Keha public…
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Phuket police confirm DNA report “just a formality’ in Dokset murder case
PHUKET: Chalong Police today confirmed to the Phuket Gazette that investigators are still waiting for written confirmation that the DNA tests of the human remains found in the basement of Norwegian expat Stein Dokset’s luxury villa in Kata are those of his ex-girlfriend Rungnapa Suktong. “We were informed by a phone call a few days ago that the remains are…
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Phuket sports: Siraracha reel in Southern Sea Kirin
FC Phuket were taken for an unpleasant ride by the Sriracha Suzuki FC “Blue Marlin”, with the “Southern Sea Kirin” succumbing 4-2 in a grueling away match on last Sunday evening in Chonburi. The fixture was played in front of about 1,000 fans at Suzuki Stadium, situated some 20 kilometers north of Pattaya. Among spectators were a few loyal “Hulk”…
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Phuket property developer agrees to pay back buyers after tax protest
PHUKET: After staging a successful protest in front of the office of a local property development firm yesterday, residents of the Chao Fa Garden Home 3 housing estate in Phuket will get back taxes they claim they were duped into paying by the home builder. About 100 residents of the sprawling estate, located off Thepkrasattri Road in Koh Kaew, gathered…
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Phuket neighborly dispute ends in fatal stabbing
PHUKET: Thung Thong Police today held a re-enactment of the assault that resulted in the death of Kamonchai Suwanin, 38, from Nakhon Sri Thammarat, on Sunday evening. The suspect, Arak Kraisap, 38, from Nonthaburi, confessed to police that following many arguments he stabbed Mr Kamonchai in the throat outside their apartments, opposite the 7-Eleven store on Wichit Songkhram Road near…
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Phuket currency exchange robbery key witness refutes prime suspect
PHUKET: A key witness in the investigation into the 48,000-baht robbery of a Phuket currency exchange kiosk on Saturday night today told police that their prime suspect was not the man who committed the robbery. Chalong Police had named Nathee Srisawang, 28, from Prachuap Khiri Khan, as their prime suspect. Mr Nathee was named in a complaint filed by a…
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A Phuket Star is born
PHUKET: Phuket-born Jaruwat “Dome” Cheawaram has won the eighth season of the nationally televised singing talent quest The Star. The 21-year-old law student at Thammasat University, Thailand’s premier law school, was a surprise win in the show’s season finale held at the Impact Muang Thong Thani stadium, better known simply as the “Impact Arena”, on the outskirts of Bangkok last…
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Phuket ‘lucky license plate’ auction raises over B30mn
PHUKET: The “Lucky License Plate Action” held by the Phuket Land Transport Office (PLTO) at The Metropole Hotel in Phuket Town on April 28 to 29 raised more than 30 million baht. The money raised from the auction, close to 30.5 million baht, will go to the Road Safety Fund, which provides assistance to road-accident victims and conducts road-safety campaigns…
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Phuket Events: Large crowds expected for Sunday’s trail runs
The Columbia Trailmasters 2012 Phuket Edition will add yet another stunning sport event to the Phuket calendar when it gets underway this Sunday (May 6) at the Thanyapura Sports and Leisure Club. The competitions, comprising a 21.5km Off Road Half Marathon; a 10km Trail Run; and a Fun Run for kids and adults less athletically inclined, look set to see…
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Race to repair Patong Hill road
PHUKET: The Highways Department hopes to begin shoring up one landslide-prone section of the road over Patong Hill in June, but work on another section of the same road will have to wait until at least next year.Sathaporn Sornchana, deputy director of the Highways Department office in Phuket, told the Phuket Gazette that the plan to reinforce a section of…
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Red light confuses alleged drunk driver into taking out Phuket power poles
PHUKET: An alleged drunk driver took down a power pole and damaged two Phuket homes and after mistaking a flashing light on the road for a police checkpoint over the weekend.Thung Thong Police were notified of the accident at 12:45am on Saturday.At the scene, a densely populated area along Wichit Songkram Road near the Kathu Chinese Shrine, police found a…
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Phuket moves to set up Andaman-wide integrated disaster-response IT system
PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Health Office (PPHO) is spearheading a project to set up an integrated information system to better coordinate emergency response efforts throughout the Andaman coast provinces in disaster situations. Disaster Medical Assistance Teams (DMAT), rescue personnel, communications experts, police and local administration organization officials met in Phuket Thursday last week to provide input into what the system…
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Live Wire: Google Street View has Phuket all mapped out
Google announced recently that it had released Google Street View for Phuket, Bangkok and environs, and Chiang Mai. Many of you read about the new service but have you had a chance to look at it? Mind boggling. The Nation quoted Pornthip Kongchun, head of marketing for Google Thailand, as saying, “In Asia-Pacific, Google Street View is available in Japan,…
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FC Phuket hoping for a big catch in Sri Racha
PHUKET: FC Phuket are in Chonburi province set to play Sriracha Suzuki FC this evening for the Thai Yamaha 1 (TD1) 2012 season’s seventh fixture. Kickoff for the match, to played at Suzuki Stadium, located about 20 kilometers north of Pattaya, will be at 6:30pm. Now in 11th place of the 18-team TD1, with a win, four draws and two…
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Phuket rolls on into ‘Doomsday Saturday’
PHUKET: The mass exodus from Phuket predicated by some failed to materialize today as police at the Tah Chat Chai checkpoint reported normal Saturday morning traffic on Srisoonthorn Bridge, which links outbound traffic to the mainland.Meanwhile, as part of the Provincial government’s efforts to boost confidence that today will not be a one of calamity, as rumors have predicted, a…
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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