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 murder: victim’s lesbian lover sought for questioning
PHUKET: Police are investigating the apparent murder of a Phuket Town garment vendor whose body was discovered yesterday in her rented home in Chalong. Chalong Police identified the victim as 41-year-old Chamaiporn Chuaykham, originally from Trang Province. The gruesome discovery, at the victim’s home on Soi Kloom Yang Para, was made by Nattiporn Chuaykham, the 29-year-old brother of the victim.…
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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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Phuket to pull out all the stops in issuing kiddie ID cards
PHUKET: Phuket officials are lining up an intensive campaign to make sure that all Thai children in Phuket of ages seven to 14 are issued national ID cards as required by a new law that comes into effect on Sunday. The National Identification Card Act 2011, which was signed into law in May, mandates that all children of the ages…
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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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Volunteers to help alien worker registration push in Phuket
PHUKET: About 150 Labor Ministry officials and volunteers joined a seminar in Phuket Town yesterday to learn about the alien worker registration process for 2011. The volunteers are expected to play a key role by informing employers who want to hire alien workers about the work permit application process. There are currently 10,700 employers hiring a total of 50,000 legal…
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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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Blaze engulfs Phuket home
PHUKET: Damage caused by a fire that engulfed a wooden house in Phuket today is expected to be in the millions of baht. No deaths or injuries were reported to have occurred at the scene, in Chalong next to HomePro Village on Chao Fa West Road. The fire began just before noon and raged for more than an hour, consuming…
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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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Phuket Live Wire:Where is True going with its Ultra hi-speed internet?
PHUKET: After looking at True’s new Cable TV-technology internet connections last week, this week True’s plans are becoming more clear, and the results are interesting – even exciting – if True ever gets the kinks worked out of its system. True is running cable, probably fiber, to various places on the island. The cable is attached to black box switches…
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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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Phuket man killed instantly in motorbike crash
PHUKET: A road sign intended to save lives became an instrument of death last night when a Phuket motorcycle rider crashed into it at high speed and was killed instantly. Thalang Police were informed of the death at 10:20pm. Arriving at the scene, on the southbound lane of Thepkrasattri Road near the Tha Reua Chinese Shrine, police found the body…
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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 lifeguards continue search for missing Aussie tourist
PHUKET: The search for missing Australian tourist Jennifer Laidley, feared drowned, continued off Karon Beach today. Lifeguards searched throughout the day using their jet-skis to comb the waters of Karon Bay, said Uten Singsom, head of the Phuket Lifeguard Club contingent assigned to patrol Kata-Karon. He still holds on to a glimmer of hope she may be found alive, but…
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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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Phuket Democrats line up parliamentary agenda
PHUKET: Raywat Areerob, the elected Democrat Phuket MP for the Phuket 2 constituency, this afternoon identified traffic, crime and drugs as voters’ three most-pressing issues that need to be addressed. “While I was campaigning, people told me that the top three problems they need us to urgently solve are traffic congestion, increasing crime and drugs, especially in Pa Khlok and…
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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,…
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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