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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Sponsored Infinito helps hotels in Thailand with revenue management
Maximising revenue and profit–isn’t that the ultimate goal for every business in the hospitality industry? If you run a hotel, you might have heard that revenue management is an effective way to boost your top-line revenue. It involves using data...
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SME reps raise alarm over minimum wage rise
PHUKET: The new government’s policy to instantly raise the national minimum wage to 300 baht per day will have dire implications for small businesses in Phuket and across the country, industry leaders warned today. “Wage rates in Phuket are already quite high. This is leading a lot of people to believe that raising the minimum wage to 300 baht across…
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Phuket police blitz bags more than B5mn in drugs
PHUKET: A spate of arrests by Phuket police in the past 24 hours has led to drugs with a street value of more than five million baht being seized. Chuleekorn “Korn” Saithong, 34, from Nakhon Pathom, was arrested in Phuket Town yesterday afternoon with 1,940 ya bah (methamphetamine) pills valued at 400,000 baht and 266.2 grams of ya Ice (crystal…
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Phuket crackdown on motorbike sidecars
PHUKET: Riders of motorcycles with sidecars (salaeng) will be prosecuted if they use the sidecar to carry passengers, the chief of the Phuket Land Transport Office (PTLO) has announced. PTLO Chief Teerayout Prasertphol said that drivers who use salaeng for passenger transport do so illegally and present a danger to passengers and other road users. Legally-registered salaeng can only be…
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Ten arrested in Phuket drug busts
PHUKET: A drug dealer presented at a police conference in Phuket yesterday admitted that he was acting under orders from a prison inmate. The suspect was one of 10 presented to the press in the meeting room at Patong Police Station yesterday. Phuket Provincial Police Commander Pekad Tantipong and Patong Police Superintendent Arayapan Pukbuakao chaired the proceedings. Two suspects were…
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Phuket yacht racers fired up for Victron final
PHUKET: The Victron Energy Series comes to a climactic conclusion this weekend with regular crews and a few extra hulls expected on the water for race eight off Ao Chalong Yacht Club (ACYC). This final race of ACYC’s Keel Boat and Multihull club championship gives local racers a chance to warm up for the SEA Property Multihull Championship to be…
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Zidane returns to Real Madrid
PHUKET: “Real Madrid is the most important thing that happened to me, both as a footballer and as a person.” Zinedine Zidane gets emotional about his experience with Real Madrid now that he has become the sporting director of the richest football club in the world (€438m) and the second most valuable club in the world (€1.4bn). Considering Real Madrid…
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Phuket Gov pushes for underground hotels to register
PHUKET: With the prospect of a civil service reshuffle looming in the wake of the recent general election, the Phuket Governor will push to get hundreds of underground hotels on the island registered and paying taxes. The news came during the first meeting of an advisory committee formed by Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha on May 11. “I will look into…
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Phuket’s Triathlon double bill is not for the faint hearted
PHUKET: Numbers of entrants for Phuket’s 2011 triathlon double bill are showing massive international interest according to the events organizers. November 27 sees the 18th Laguna Phuket Triathlon (LPT) test the mettle of 700 triathletes from around the globe. Registration for LPT reached capacity within 40 days of opening, but a waiting list is now being prepared. On December 4,…
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Phuket to host regional seminar for the blind
PHUKET: Phuket Provincial Office has approved 100,000 baht in funding for a regional seminar on the topic of education and employment rights for the visually impaired. Somsak Samnhaw, Southern Region President of the Thai Association of the Blind, met Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha at Provincial Hall to outline the agenda of the seminar. About 60 blind and visually impaired delegates…
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Portrait FC wrap up Phuket’s AFL season seven
PHUKET: Season seven of Phuket’s Adult Futsal League (AFL) came to close last week with the final round of matches played out at Thanyapura Sports and Leisure Club (TSLC). Home side Thanyapura SLC played first against SGS. TSLC scored after just two minutes following a frantic start to the game. SGS equalized on 13 minutes when Surapong made no mistake…
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IQ survey ranks Phuket kids among brightest in Thailand
PHUKET: Phuket was among 14 provinces where students had a combined average IQ score above 100, according to the largest IQ survey ever conducted in Thailand. Of 72,780 Thai students surveyed recently by the Ministry of Public Health, 6.5% nationwide suffered intellectual disability because their IQs were lower than 70, almost double the number of geniuses who scored 130 or…
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Drug task force to be posted at Phuket Airport
PHUKET: A special task force of drug enforcement officers from Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok will be stationed at Phuket International Airport to combat the rising incidence of drug trafficking. Maj Gen Puttachart Ekkachan, Commander of the Narcotics Control Board’s Region 4 detachment, today told Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha the news at a meeting at Provincial Hall to discuss strategies to…
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More haze may be heading for Phuket
PHUKET: The haze creeping across Southern Thailand is blanketing the skies over Satun, Trang, Songkhla, Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat, but has yet to seriously affect Phuket. An advisory issued by state-run news agency MCOT reported a moderate-yet-thickening blanket of haze – believed to be the result of wild fires burning on Sumatra, Indonesia – has hovered over Thailand’s southernmost provinces…
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Phuket shock allegation: police pandering alien prostitutes
PHUKET: Phuket authorities are investigating a formal complaint that police officers are pandering illegal alien prostitutes to foreign tourists in the basement shop area of an upscale shopping mall in Patong. The investigation follows a recent complaint lodged with the Damrongtham Center at Phuket Provincial Hall by a person identified only as “a Patong Person”. The complaint alleges that members…
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Robbie “God’ Fowler to play in Thai Premier League
PHUKET: Former Liverpool and England striker Robbie Fowler is set to play for reigning Thai Premier League champions Muang Thong United. Ronnarit Suevaja, general manager of Muang Thong Utd, announced today that Fowler will arrive in Thailand tomorrow. He will undergo a physical examination and fitness test at 3pm before finalizing details with the club. “If that goes well, we…
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Pathum Thani woman dies in Phuket crash
PHUKET: Three women rushing to catch a flight off Phuket last night crashed their rented car into a power pole, leaving one dead and the others injured. The crash occurred on Thepkrasattri Road northbound, near the Esso service station in Thepkrasattri subdistrict. Arriving at the scene with Kusoldharm volunteer rescue workers at about 8:30pm, Thalang Police found that a group…
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Six of the best for Queensland
PHUKET: Australian rugby league fans in Phuket and especially those from Queensland were treated to a fantastic display of football skills in the State of Origin’s deciding game played in Brisbane yesterday. The end game and result were never much in doubt even with New South Wales (the Blues) winning the second encounter in Sydney two weeks ago. Queensland (the…
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Penalty miss could cost FC Phuket
PHUKET: FC Phuket squandered a golden opportunity to defeat Thai Premier League outfit Sri Racha Suzuki to gain an advantage in this last 16 round match of the Toyota League Cup at Surakul Stadium last night. Phuket started the game in lively fashion, but found Sri Racha difficult to break through. But a superb passage of play from Phuket on…
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Phuket plans parks at two reservoirs
PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Administrative Organization (OrBorJor) is looking to develop tourist parks and facilities at two dam sites. A public hearing was held on Tuesday to gauge public opinion on a plan to turn areas surrounding Bang Wad Reservoir and Bang Neaw Dam Reservoir into eco-tourist destinations. “The areas have good potential. They are accessible by main roads and…
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Body of missing Aussie tourist found
PHUKET: A Phuket lifeguard this morning found the body of missing Australian tourist Jennifer Laidley. Uten Singsom, head of the Phuket Lifeguard Club contingent assigned to patrol Karon beach, said the discovery was made by fellow lifeguard Phachoke Jamjareonjan at about 8:15am today. The body, recovered about one kilometer offshore from Nong Harn Lagoon at the north end of the…
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Lomas make international rugby final
PHUKET: Youth rugby shone on the international stage recently when the Phuket Lomas took on teams from around the world and reached the final of Touraid’s UK tournament held in Manchester. The Lomas lived with appointed host families and during their stay they enjoyed academic and leisure activities at Wright Robinson Sports College and met with celebrities such as Chester…
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Scholes pans Arsenal
PHUKET: “They just flatter to deceive. It doesn’t irritate me that people say they’re the best footballing team because, while they’re doing that, we’re winning games.” Paul Scholes is tipping Chelsea to be Manchester United’s main contenders for next season’s Premiership title race and that Arsenal pose little or no threat. Scholes also admitted he’d never heard of Chelsea’s new…
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FC Phuket v Sri Racha Suzuki FC tonight at Surakul
PHUKET: Toyota League Cup play advances to the final 16 tonight, with FC Phuket set for a challenge from struggling Thai Premier League (TPL) side Sriracha Suzuki FC. The competition now changes to a two-leg (home and away) format, with Phuket enjoying home advantage in this first encounter. Next Wednesday, Phuket travel to play the second leg at Sriracha’s Suzuki…
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Phuket’s Paiboon presses Pheu Thai for progress
PHUKET: The president of the Phuket provincial council has wasted no time in appealing to Yingluck Shinawatra’s new Government now taking shape to tackle the problems from the rising cost of living as soon as possible. Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) President Paiboon Upatising made his appeal through the media yesterday. “I would like to ask the new Cabinet to…
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Phuket car thief hears “God’, surrenders to police
PHUKET: Overwhelmed by a guilty conscience, a woman with 14 outstanding arrest warrants for car theft surrendered herself to Phuket Police yesterday. The woman, 32-year-old Cherry Piwsa-ard (whose name translates as “Cherry Clean-skin”) told officers at Patong Police Station last night that “God” had appeared to her in a dream and ordered her to surrender herself to authorities. Police Duty…
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Aussie woman missing, feared drowned off Phuket
PHUKET: Rescue workers are searching for an Australian tourist reported missing at Karon Beach yesterday. Jennifer Laidley (initially named by police as “Jennifer May”), 44, was staying with a friend at the Phuket Orchid Resort at the south end of Karon Beach. The friend reported Ms Laidley missing after she lost sight of her at about 6pm. Karon Municipality rescue…
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Filipino injured in Phuket motorbike crash
PHUKET: The dimly lit Baan Don – Layan road in Cherng Talay was the scene of yet another Phuket accident last night in which a Filipino man was injured. Teddy Dilag, the 38-year-old assistant operations manager at the Phuket & Marbella Villa Rental Management Company, suffered a broken arm when his motorbike and a pickup truck collided near the entrance…
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Guns, fights and ganja – but no election violence: Police
PHUKET: The police crackdown in Phuket in the run-up to the July 3 election landed a bumper haul of guns, drugs and arrests – but resulted in no arrests for violence related to the election. A total of 45 factory-made and homemade guns were seized and 350 people were arrested for drugs since May 12, according to statistics issued today…
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Mother’s Phuket plea for help in finding son Michael Carlberg
PHUKET: A Swedish mother has appealed for help in finding her adult son, who has not been in contact since arriving in Thailand two months ago. Writing from Sweden, Lise-Lott Carlberg informed the Gazette she had not heard from her 24-year-old son Michael since he landed in Bangkok on May 5. “We know that he has been located in Bangkok,…
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Election Thailand: Full count for Phuket is in
PHUKET: After a long day and night of work, the Phuket Election Commission has sent the following results to the Election Commission in Bangkok for final certification: Phuket 1 Constituency (Muang district, except Koh Kaew and Rassada subdistricts): Anchalee Vanich Thepabutr (Democrat Party): 52,921 votes. Wisit Jai-arj (Pheu Thai Party): 16,573 votes Weerasak Woranetiwong (Thaen Khun Phaendin Party): 281 votes…
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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