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 “Meth blue’ users at risk
PHUKET: Health officials in Phuket have issued a warning to students not to take the chemical “Methylene blue” in an attempt to hide methamphetamine use from authorities in drug testing. Muang district chief Supachai Pochanakul recently described the trend of growing drug abuse by schoolchildren in Muang district as “very worrying”. The statement followed a recent round-up of 19 truant…
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Tough love: Valentine’s crackdown underway on Phuket youth
PHUKET: The Phuket authorities are cracking down hard on the island’s teenagers in advance of Valentine’s Day, with 16 young people recently detained and tested for drug use. The crackdown comes amid the traditional moral panic over the behavior of Thai youth that accompanies the romantic holiday in the country each year. Of the 16 boys and girls who were…
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BREAKING NEWS: Phuket Beach body thought to be Mark Robson’s
PHUKET: A body found strangled in Phuket late last month is almost certainly that of missing English teacher Mark Robson, who was reported missing by his parents recently. The break in the case came yesterday when Phuket Tourist Police Foreign Volunteers Group Leader Frank Tomenson provided the media an updated photo of Mark sent to him by Keith Robson, Mark’s…
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Phuket’s baby elephants under investigation
PHUKET: Three elephant camps in Phuket are being investigated after concerns were raised about the origins of the baby elephants in their possession. Officers of Central Investigation Bureau of the Royal Thai Police in Bangkok investigated Phuthai Souvenir Market in Chalong, ATV Elephant Camp near the Big Buddha image in Karon and Sheraton Camp in Cheng Talay to determine if…
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Dr Smith warns of tsunami risk in Phuket, Andaman region
PHUKET: The man whose warnings of a possible tsunami disaster along Thailand’s Andaman coast went unheeded years before the 2004 calamity struck was in Phuket recently, urging a national assembly of school administrators to be prepared for more possible disasters in 2012. Dr Smith Dharmasaroja, former Director of the National Disaster Warning Center (NDWC), was guest speaker for a gathering…
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Phuket Civil Defense Volunteer dead at the wheel
PHUKET: A Phuket City Civil Defense Volunteer died at the wheel of his car yesterday, possibly even before he crashed the car into a metalworks shop in Chalong at 3am. Police at the scene suspect the driver, Apinun “Nun” Chaibandit, 48, suffered a heart attack just before the crash. The shop workers escaped harm by jumping out of the way…
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‘Ae Inside’ murder suspect prepared to surrender: Phuket Police
PHUKET: Police are in telephone negotiations with murder suspect Atsadakorn “Pod” Seedokbuab, a Phuket businessman they believe was the mastermind behind the shocking assassination of Phuket newsman Wisut “Ae Inside” Tangwitthayaporn early last month. Mr Atsadakorn, owner of KPP Cable TV and a vice president of the Phuket Chamber of Commerce, is demanding immediate bail release in return for his…
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Weekend weather forecast for Phuket
PHUKET: The weekend weather forecast for Phuket calls for good beach weather, with partly-cloudy skies, calm seas and a only a small chance of showers. According to Thai Meteorological Department, there is a chance of widely scattered thundershowers over 10% of the island for today, rising to 20% coverage tomorrow and 30% on Sunday. Seas should be calm, with easterly…
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Former monk arrested for drugs in Phuket
PHUKET: A former monk was one of six suspects arrested in drug raids in Kathu, Phuket earlier this week. Following a tip-off that a man living in a hut had been selling drugs to local youths, a Thung Thong Police drug suppression unit on Sunday raided the dwelling, located in a rubber plantation near Bang Wad Reservoir in Kathu. They…
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English teacher reported missing in Phuket
PHUKET: The mother Mark Robson, a 27-year-old with British and South African nationality, is seeking help to find her son who went missing in Phuket last month. Mr Robson arrived in Thailand from Durban on December 5. After short stays in Bangkok, Koh Phangan and Koh Samui in mid-December, he stayed in Phuket. He was in regular email contact with…
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Rooney votes Redknapp
PHUKET: “Gutted Capello has quit. Good guy and top coach. Got to be English to replace him. Harry Redknapp for me.” Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney expressed his opinion on Twitter yesterday about the resignation of Fabio Capello as England’s football coach and said that Spurs boss Redknapp is his choice to take over the role. Capello quit on Thursday…
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Surprise tuna catch off Phuket, Krabi
PHUKET: Fisherman have been catching unusually large longtail tuna in the waters south of Phuket recently, experts say. One of the fish, so large it was originally thought to be a “little tunny” or “false albacore”, was brought for examination to the Andaman Sea Fisheries Management Center Krabi on Tuesday. The specimen, weighing in at 5kg, is a good sign…
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Crime and Phuket Tourism: Getting it into context
PHUKET: In an editorial in August last year, the Phuket Gazette asked readers to consider whether or not our island’s tourism industry would die from all the deaths. The deaths referred not only to violent crime but also to more ‘natural’ events such as drowning and road fatalities. But crime was of course the focus amid a wave of murders…
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Phuket update: Volunteers continue sea search for missing Aussie
PHUKET: Friends of an Australian woman who fell overboard from a yacht sailing to Phuket late last week are not giving up hope that she may still be alive and are calling on volunteers to continue the search off the coast of Trang. Australian national Carmel Brooks is known to have fallen overboard from the sailboat Moondancer last Thursday night…
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Contador is beaten by meat
PHUKET: “The simple fact is that anyone who has a prohibited substance in their system is a cheat.” John Fahey, president of the World Anti-Doping Agency, said that champion Spanish cyclist Alberto Contador should now be considered a “cheat” after being found guilty of doping, having tested positive for clenbuterol during the 2010 Tour de France. The Spaniard was handed…
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Phuket tour buses: Two hurt in yet another crash
PHUKET: Another Phuket tour bus, this time carrying a group of Chinese tourists, crashed at the base of Patong Hill last night, injuring two people and causing extensive property damage. The single deck bus was carrying about 18 tourists when its braking system failed coming down Phra Barami Road, near Suwankiriwong Temple, at about 7pm. The bus continued straight along…
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Phuket Update: Sea search called off for missing Australian
PHUKET: A sea search for an Australian woman reported to have fallen overboard from a yacht sailing to Phuket late last week was called off today. News that a search was underway for Carmel Brookes, an Australian-born resident of Langkawi Island in Malaysia, was first reported to the Phuket Gazette by her close friend Michelle Black yesterday. Ms Black was…
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Bob Brindley passes away in Phuket
PHUKET: Friends and family of Bob Brindley are mourning his passing in Phuket on Sunday. Grenville Fordham, commodore of the Ao Chalong Yacht Club (ACYC), informed members of the club of Mr Brindley’s passing with the following announcement: “It is with great regret that I have to inform you that one of ACYC’s staunchest supporters and valued members, Bob Brindley,…
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Search for missing Phuket girl hits two-month mark
PHUKET: The mother of a Phuket girl who went missing after a Facebook session over two months ago continues to devote all her energies to locating her child. Samruay Saenthaweesuk, mother of 12-year-old Samudchaya “Nong Pin” Yanpunya, spoke with the Gazette yesterday. “I went to Bangkok for help. I went to The Mirror Foundation, Pavena Foundation for Children and Women…
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Aussie woman falls overboard from yacht near Phuket
PHUKET: Friends of an Australian woman who fell overboard from a yacht on its way to Phuket last Thursday, and who is still missing, are puzzled as to how such an accident could have occurred. Michelle Black, a friend of the woman, said Dr Gerald Goeden and his partner Carmel Brookes were sailing from Lankawai Island to Phuket aboard the…
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Civil servant seeks missing mom in Phuket
PHUKET: A civil servant in Nakhon Ratchasima is appealing to the public for help in finding his mother, last seen in Phuket in early June last year. Kriengsak Muangkod, the Director of Bureau of Rural Roads Region 5 Office in Nakhon Ratchasima, said his 65-year-old mother Boonna Muangkod was last seen at his niece’s home in Karon on June 3…
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Alleged “call center’ gang of expats busted in Phuket
PHUKET: Phuket Tourist Police arrested three Filipino members of an alleged ‘call center’ gang for fraud, but the alleged mastermind, a Briton, remains at large. Nakkaphan Phota of the regional Tourist Police office in Phuket Town told the Gazette yesterday that all of the suspects were foreigners. Following a tip-off from the Crime Suppression Division in Bangkok, three suspects were…
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Phuket ‘White Prison’ raid reveals rectal stashing of telephones
PHUKET: More than 200 officers conducted a surprise inspection at Phuket Provincial Prison yesterday as part of an effort to gain “White Prison” status, said Phuket Prison Chief Rapin Nichanon. The search for drugs was carried out at 5am by officers drawn from all units of the Phuket police, who also targeted mobile telephones, some of which had been smuggled…
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Swedish tourist drowns across the bay from Phuket
PHUKET: An elderly Swedish woman was found dead in the waters off Ao Nang in Krabi yesterday, one of many recent drownings in Phuket and Krabi.The unnamed 68-year-old, was found face down 10 meters off of Long Beach in Ao Nang at about 1:00pm, said Muang Krabi Police Lt Niwat Timket.“Our tentative investigation revealed that she had been staying in…
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Phuket Live Wire: Why are we being throttled?
PHUKET: Continuing my series of articles answering questions that I hear most often… the next question has to do with internet speeds here in Phuket, as measured on the Phuket Internet Speed reporting site phuketinternetspeed.com: “Woody, I’ve read your articles in the Phuket Gazette. I understand why we’re measuring international download speeds – for most farang and many Thais, international…
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Phuket Sports: King’s Cup bolsters Thai sailing interest
PHUKET: The Phuket King’s Cup Regatta (PKCR) attracts more and more Thai sailors each year and the 2011 event saw Thai sailors taking podium places throughout the series. There were 74 Thai sailors who took part in the competition, making Thailand the fourth most highly represented nation in the whole regatta. The Royal Thai Navy entered two boats into the…
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Phuket Sports: Portrait hit six
PHUKET: Round two of the Phuket Adult Futsal League season nine, presented by Thanachart Bank, played out under the floodlights of Thanyapura Sports and Leisure Club’s (TSLC) full-sized synthetic pitch on January 26. First on the Premier Division pitch were Jitjongrut opening their campaign against Portrait FC. Fast flowing and attacking football from Portrait resulted in a commanding 5-1 lead…
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Phuket Sports: Diving on a single breath
PHUKET: Freediving. It’s different than scuba diving. There is a quietness underwater. Not a silence, but a quietness. There is the sound of shifting sand and parrot fish chewing on coral. These are the sounds of life that don’t exist for scuba divers bubbling away on their regulators. It is one of the beauties of diving on a single breath.Freediving…
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QSI Phuket welcomes grrrrrrreat new Tiger Turf
PHUKET: Team Tigers of Quality Schools International (QSI) Phuket are getting ready to unveil their new and improved sports den. The US$120,000 (just over 3.7 million baht) new facilities include a multi-purpose basketball court, a football field enveloped by a 100-meter running track and a new garden and waterfall. In a fitting tribute to the home side, their new football…
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Russian tourists stranded including 340 in Phuket
PHUKET: The bankruptcy of one of the largest tour operators in Russia has left thousands of Russian tourists stranded around the globe, including 340 in Phuket. Soopakij Chearavanont, Russian Honorary Consul for Greater Phuket, said the sudden bankruptcy of Lanta Tour Voyage has cost Phuket resorts from tens to hundreds of thousands of baht. Most of the Russians stranded bought…
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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