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 Doomsday: Rumors of seismic proportions
PHUKET: RUMORS that the Pearl of the Andaman will be destroyed in a cataclysmic natural disaster on April 28 have spread like wildfire, and local officials have responded in classic Phuket style: by planning a number of events and parties on that date. The Phuket Gazette’s Chutharat Plerin and Kritsada Mueanhawong report on how it all got this crazy. SPECIAL…
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High-speed pile-up brings Phuket traffic to standstill
PHUKET: A pickup truck slid out of control on Chao Fa West Road in Wichit this morning, slamming head-on into another pickup truck and causing a multi-car pile-up on one of Phuket’s busy main roads to the south of the island. Eye-witness Teerachai Waiyakarn told the Phuket Gazette that at about 9:30am a white Isuzu D-Max pickup truck with Songkhla…
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Phuket Governor eyes interest in beach town beautification project
PHUKET: Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha yesterday confirmed that he would follow up on proposals made by an international consortium of urban architects on how to improve the aesthetics of the tourist-popular Kata-Karon beachfront areas. The news came at a meeting of urban planning academics from Technische Universitat (TU) Kaiserslautern in Germany, headed by Professor Dr Wolfgang Bohm. His research team…
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Phuket sports: All change again in Bahrain
PHUKET: This season seems to be a battle of the pit-lanes, with McLaren leading the pit-boo-boo stakes, but several other teams are trying hard for this inglorious title. However, McLaren kept ahead in Bahrain. The wear on tyres was anticipated, though some teams, and in particular Mercedes, did better than expected. That is something to watch during the rest of…
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Phuket Grand Dame Cape Panwa Hotel wins rights to Raceweek regatta venue
PHUKET: The organizers of the Phuket Raceweek 2012 today announced that the host venue of the annual regatta this year will be the Phuket’s “Grande Dame” the Cape Panwa Hotel and sister property the Kantary Bay Hotel. “Cape Panwa Hotel and its sister property, Kantary Bay Hotel, on the tip of Cape Panwa in the southeast of the island, will…
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Phuket hosts international conference on disaster nursing
PHUKET: More than 100 registered nurses from around the world are in Phuket for a three-day seminar on emergency nursing, including how to respond to disaster situations. The conference, organized by the Faculty of Nursing, Prince of Songkhla University, is focused on “Trends in Emergency, Trauma and Disaster Nursing: Using Evidence to Guide Decision-Making and Improve Nursing Care” and being…
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Paiboon launches new Phuket CCTV control center
PHUKET: With the Thailand National Youth Games in Phuket just around the corner, local authorities yesterday checked the readiness of the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) closed-circuit television (CCTV) control room. Paiboon Upatising, as one of his first official acts since being re-elected OrBorJor president in the election on April 8, led authorities on an inspection of the control center,…
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Phuket Rush Hour: Car flips over on bypass road
PHUKET: A car ended up on its roof in the central ditch on Phuket’s bypass road this morning when the possibly drunk driver of a saleng (motorcycle with side car) cut in front of the vehicle. The motorbike driver and the driver of the car both escaped injury, but the car’s only passenger, the driver’s 20-year-old son, sustained minor injuries.…
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Phuket sports: Masters of the trail
PHUKET: Young athletes on Phuket are being given a golden opportunity to take part in a brand new event coming to the island next month in the form of trail running. Following the recent announcement that Phuket will host episode two of the 2012 Thailand Trail Running Championship at the Thanyapura Sports and Leisure Club (TSLC) on May 6, organizers…
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“Phuket Lovers’ to rally on Doomsday Saturday
PHUKET: Phuket Provincial Office will hold several special events this Saturday, April 28, to restore confidence among residents and tourists alike and to quash rumors that the island will sink into the sea. Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha admitted that recent seismic activity following the initial 4.3 Richter earthquake on April 16 had stirred a sense of apprehension among tourists and…
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Officials to light up notorious Phuket road
PHUKET: Following the high-speed crash on April 13 that killed two local residents on the main road through Pa Khlok, officials are now looking to add street lights along the notorious stretch of dark road, and to add “reflective road studs” to help drivers stay on the road. Theera Prugsanan, chief of the Thalang Electricity Authority Office, told a meeting…
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Phuket residents panic over fish fright
PHUKET: Reports of Phuket Town residents panicking yesterday, fearing that the dead fish found in canal were an omen of an impending tsunami strike, prompted officials to investigate. The brackish water of the mostly dry Klong Saensuk canal, which runs past the Seahorse Circle at the east end of Ong Sim Phai Road, had about 10 kilograms of dead freshwater…
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Phuket Sports: Buriram Utd cling on for AFC title
PHUKET: Thai Premiere League champions Buriram United still have a fighting chance to advance from the group stages of the 2012 AFC Champions League, despite back-to-back losses this month to Korean league champions Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors. Now level with the Koreans on six points in Group H – the pot of death, Buriram’s good start in March was highlighted by…
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Phuket Sports: Cricket sixes ends with new champions
PHUKET: MG7 from Kuwait were crowned Cup champions for the first time of the 9th annual Phuket International Cricket Sixes following their victory in the Cup final over compatriots the Skylarks. Finals day of the 9th Phuket International Cricket Sixes was played under glorious sunshine at the Kata Group Sports Ground in Chalong, Phuket. The twenty-four teams competing in the…
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Phuket tourists, jet-ski operator scramble to stave off dolphin beaching
PHUKET: A pair of dolphins came dangerously close to beaching themselves on Patong Beach, on Phuket’s west coast, yesterday morning, but were successfully herded back out to deeper water. However, biologists from the Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC) still fear for their safety. The dolphins were first spotted in shallow waters opposite the Patong Beach Resort at about 9am. Initial…
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Disaster insurance to cover Phuket quakes, floods, landslides
PHUKET: Insurance coverage for homes and businesses damaged by natural disasters, including floods, storms, landslides, earthquakes and even tumbling boulders is now available in Phuket and the rest of Thailand again following the government’s creation of the National Catastrophe Insurance Fund (NCIF). The fund, launched on March 28 with a government budget of 5 billion baht, offers coverage through a…
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Phuket Raceweek 2012 regatta dates announced
PHUKET: The organizers of the Phuket Raceweek 2012 regatta have confirmed that this year’s event will go ahead, specifically from July 18-22. However, a “home venue” has yet to be confirmed for the annual yachting event, which was voted “Best Asian Regatta of the Year” at the Asia Boating Awards 2011. The five-star Evason Phuket & Six Senses Spa in…
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Phuket boy, 12, home alone escapes as blaze engulfs slum
PHUKET: A 12-year-old boy home alone had a lucky escape from his house on Tuesday morning, as fire broke out in the poor Soi Kingkaew community in Rassada, north of Phuket Town, destroying two homes. Suriya Inkaew was home alone while his mother, 56-year-old Gaysorn Yungyeun, was out collecting recyclables from trash to make a living. “I woke up to…
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Phuket guard in coma after arson attack
PHUKET: A security guard at ‘Phuket Healthy Nutriment and Snake Show’ remains unconscious in hospital after being knocked out by attackers and having his workplace being set afire early Monday morning. Anuchit Chaithongngarm, 25, is currently in a coma at Vachira Hospital Phuket after being hit on the back of the head with a heavy object, said Kongpol Phanuek, chief…
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Architect to deliver free Phuket seminar on “Seismic Design & Building’
PHUKET: Dr Amorn Pimanmas, Chairman of the Project Committee at the Engineering Institute of Thailand (EIT) and alumnus of the University of Tokyo, will lead a free seminar on “Seismic Design & Building” at the Boat Lagoon Resort in Koh Kaew this afternoon. Jointly organized by the Phuket Architectural Society and the Phuket Real Estate Association, the seminar, to be…
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Failed Phuket tsunami warning towers spark full test
PHUKET: After two weeks of waiting for official requests to inspect tsunami warning towers that failed to sound the alarm on April 11, Chutichart Boonchuwit will bypass the bureaucratic hurdle and go ahead and have the towers tested anyway. Mr Chutichart, who is the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Ministry representative tasked with ensuring that the tsunami warning towers in…
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Expert calls for NDWC to revise tsunami warning protocol
PHUKET: Lertsin Raksaskulwong, director of the Environmental Geology and Geohazard Bureau under the Department of Mineral Resources, yesterday called for the National Disaster Warning Center (NDWC) to revise its procedure for issuing tsunami warnings. Speaking at a meeting at Provincial Hall held to review Phuket’s tsunami-response procedures, Mr Lertsin said, “The events of April 11 were chaos. It seemed they…
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Phuket Gazette Reader’s Poll: How tolerant is Phuket to gay tourists?
PHUKET: A week-long Phuket Pride Festival that officially began yesterday is expected to attract thousands of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) tourists from around the region. In the latest Phuket Gazette online readers poll, we ask how tolerant is Phuket society of LGBT lifestyles compared with other places readers have lived in or visited? To have your say vote…
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Phuket Bike Week rolls to a close
PHUKET: After being moved forward a few weeks, the 18th Annual Phuket Bike Week was a success over the weekend, despite heavy rains that threatened to wash out festivities. Among those in attendance were Patong Deputy Mayor Chairat Sukbal, Royal Thai Navy officials and representatives of sponsor Chang beer. As in years past, most activities took place along the beach…
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Phuket officials threaten to swoop down on illegal swiftlet barn owners
PHUKET: Phuket Vice Governor Somkiet Sangkaosuttirak has warned local authorities that they will suffer written warnings if they do not file updated reports on any swiftlet barns in their respective areas. Speaking at a meeting of high-ranking local officials at Phuket Provincial Hall on Thursday, Vice Governor Somkiet said officers had confirmed there are at least five swiftlet barns in…
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Airlines voice confidence in Phuket Airport emergency evacuation measures
PHUKET: Following the evacuation of Phuket International Airport after the 8.6-Richter earthquake on April 11, several airlines on Friday expressed their confidence in how officials handle the emergency exercise. At a press conference at the airport chaired by Airport Director Prathuang Sornkham, Thai Airways representative Jittrapong Narongwanich said all airlines that use Phuket Airport remain confident in the evacuation procedures…
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FC Phuket 0 – 0 Suphanburi FC
PHUKET: FC Phuket played Suphanburi FC to a scoreless draw on soggy pitch at Surakul Stadium yesterday afternoon. Just over 1,700 turned up for the match, including a busload of orange-clad Suphanburi supporers who turned up for the match. FC Phuket’s best chance of the match came at 13 minutes, when Suphanburi keeper Prasit Nuamsala dived to his right to…
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Buses roll out of Phuket Bus Terminal 2
PHUKET: The Phuket Bus Terminal 2 finally went into operation this morning – more than 28 months after the completion of the structure. “I think the first day has gone well so far,” said Phuket Land Transport Office (PLTO) chief Teerayut Prasertpol. Mr Teerayut estimated that about 70 per cent of the public is already aware that almost all inter-provincial…
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FC Phuket ready for Suphanburi elephant charge
PHUKET: FC Phuket are back into action with a tough match against Suphanburi FC this afternoon at Surakul Stadium. The field should be sloppy, as the stadium was hit with heavy rains last night and again this afternoon. Coming into the sixth fixture for the 2012 Thai Yamaha 1 league, Phuket are in 10th place with a win, three draws…
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Phuket pickup crash: Thalang trembles
PHUKET: A speeding pickup truck crashed into a pedestrian footbridge in Phuket last night, spreading fear of yet another earthquake tremor and causing a one-hour traffic tailback. Thalang Police were notified of the crash in front of the Muang Thalang School on Thepkrasattri Road northbound at 5:45pm yesterday. Arriving at the scene, Phuket Kusoldharm Foundation rescue workers found the wreckage…
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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