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 Police nab teenage murder gang
PHUKET: Phuket Police took just a few hours to track down and arrest three teenagers wanted for the strangling murder of a Phuket resort worker yesterday. At least two more suspects remain at large. Police presented two of the suspects to the press at Phuket City Police Station this morning. The suspects were identified as Charin “Mutt” Chokekue and Kittiphum…
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German victim of Phuket mob bashing out of coma
PHUKET: German national Kurt Trotnow, who is in intensive care after being beaten by a mob in Patong, is conscious but still on a respirator. “Kurt is conscious now but still cannot talk because he is on a respirator. When he wakes up, I talk with him and he looks at me. He understands my words,” said his wife, Jiraporn…
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Phuket Town calls for heavy metals
PHUKET: Phuket City Municipality in conjunction with the Pollution Control Department, under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, is calling for people to donate all old items containing heavy metals. Phuket Vice Governor Weerawat Janpen, Phuket City Mayor Somjai Suwanasupana and Rangson Pinthong, director of the PCD’s Waste & Hazardous Substances Management Bureau, launched the annual project at Phuket…
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Tuk-tuks, jet-skis top complaints by Aussie tourists in Phuket
PHUKET: Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha yesterday received more bad news about the state of Phuket’s tourism industry as the Deputy Head of Mission at the Australian Embassy in Bangkok told him that complaints about tuk-tuk drivers and jet-ski scams topped the embassy’s list of complaints filed by Aussie tourists in Phuket. “I personally haven’t heard any complaints, but I do…
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Phuket consuls let loose over German bashing
PHUKET: The quarterly meeting between Phuket’s honorary consuls and local officials held at Phuket Provincial Hall yesterday placed tuk-tuk drivers’ conduct squarely in the spotlight. The meeting became the forum for the strongest comments yet by the Phuket-based honorary consuls, who urged Phuket Provincial Police Commander Pekad Tantipong to take action and bring to justice tuk-tuk and taxi drivers who…
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Thai Army digs deep in Phuket to recover “landslide house’
PHUKET: A sortie of 15 soldiers from the Royal Thai Army 2nd Infantry Battalion based in Ranong arrived in Phuket yesterday to help excavate by hand a house located high in the hills of Kamala, on Phuket’s west coast. Heavy rains last Thursday caused earth on the slope above the house to slide down the hill, coming to rest along…
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Abandoned baby found in southern Phuket
PHUKET: Police have launched an investigation in Phuket to discover the parents of a baby boy found slightly bruised but otherwise healthy in the flat-bed of a pick-up truck this morning. Phuket City Police and members of the Ruamjai Rescue Foundation responded to a call at 8am from Wichit Moo 3 village headman Udom Nokseekaew reporting he had found a…
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Phuket anti-drug volunteer arrested in meth bust
PHUKET: A former volunteer member of the Phuket provincial drug suppression unit was among seven members of a gang of alleged drug dealers arrested in Chalong on Tuesday. Chalong Police rounded up the gang at a variety of locations in Chalong and Karon after a successful sting operation. A total of 123 grams of ya ice (crystal methamphetamine) and 432…
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Phuket Prison to crack down on phone and drug deliveries
PHUKET: Phuket Prison will install 12 CCTV cameras around its perimeter wall and throughout the compound as part of a ‘crackdown’ targeting mobile phone and drug deliveries to inmates. “Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha has approved a budget of 90,000 baht from the Provincial Office for the CCTV system to be installed at Phuket Prison,” Prison Director Rapin Nichanon announced at…
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Pedestrians reclaim Phuket’s Sarasin Bridge
PHUKET: The reinforced, raised, redecorated Sarasin Bridge connecting Phuket with the mainland Thailand is now open to pedestrians. “People are walking onto the bridge – and we’re not stopping them,” said Phuket Provincial Highways Office Chief Arun Sanae. “They think that the bridge is now open because we have finished construction but what we are doing now is cleaning up…
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Phuket memorial for Ken Brookes
PHUKET: Friends and family will be gathering at a memorial event in memory of Phuket publisher Ken Brookes on Sunday, September 4. Mr Brookes passed away in the United Kingdom on August 10, 2011. The gathering will be held from from 2pm to 4pm at the Happy Hut Restaurant, located on the left of the entrance to the Ao Po…
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Phuket update: Patong Hospital flooding ‘worst in ten years’
PHUKET: Floodwaters that crippled operations at Patong Hospital on Saturday were the worst the facility has experienced in ten years, the hospital director told the Phuket Gazette. Patong Hospital Director Phumin Silaphan said operations were partially restarted after water was pumped from the basement over the weekend. “Out-patient and emergency cases are now being accepted and there are many Thais…
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Phuket Live Wire: Unofficial study nets surprising rates of speed
PHUKET: The amount you pay for an Internet line has almost no correlation with how fast the line runs internationally. Before you spend a fortune on a new Internet connection, make sure you understand what you are – and aren’t – getting. Hundreds of Phuket residents regularly report (click here for graph) their international internet download speeds on PhuketInternetSpeed.com. Computer…
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Officials visit site of latest Phuket landslide
PHUKET: A landslide at a Phuket construction site for a shrine to the goddess Guanyin sent large boulders tumbling down a steep hillside yet again yesterday. No injuries or deaths were reported in the incident. Patong Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation officers this morning visited the area after a busy weekend responding to floods and other landslides caused by…
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TAT targets timeshare use of logo
PHUKET: The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has warned businesses and operators that it would consider legal action against those counterfeiting or imitating their seal and initials. The move is intended to be a warning shot at illegal timeshare companies in Phuket. The statement signed by TAT Governor Suraphon Svetasreni appeared on the TAT News Room site on July 26,…
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Liverpool Legends stop in Phuket canceled
PHUKET: The Liverpool Legends tour series football matches, scheduled to take place in Phuket and Bangkok in October, has been canceled, the Gazette is sad to report. Cris Rosenbergs, creator of the Football Legends Tour concept, informed the Gazette by email this morning that the series of charity fundraising events could not take place: “Due to the obstacles and issues…
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More Phuket tuk-tuk drivers move toward standard fares
PUKET: Karon Municipality is compiling a list of fares charged by tuk-tuk drivers operating in the Kata–Karon area in order to establish an agreed schedule of standard fares to be shown – and charged – in the popular tourist beach areas. The draft schedule is the first step in a new public relations campaign to build tourist confidence in local…
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Rider in the storm: man killed in Phuket motorbike crash
PHUKET: A man was killed last night when his motorbike slammed into the back of a 10-wheel truck parked in the breakdown lane of Phuket’s deadliest road. The tragedy occurred at about 10pm on Thepkrasattri Road inbound, in front a furniture store near the Srisoonthorn Tambon Administration Organization offices. Thalang Police identified the deceased from his Thai ID card as…
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Phuket Retail: Staff productivity, not piracy, the key to success
PHUKET: Phuket has experienced unprecedented growth across at levels of the retail sector over the past two decades, but without any real improvement in customer service – especially in terms of product knowledge and foreign language skills. Rapid improvement in these areas is needed if the island is to capitalize on its many advantages and to emerge as a regional…
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Tropical depression: two suicides in Phuket in one day
PHUKET: A sick and destitute Burmese worker was the second man to take his life by hanging in Phuket’s Srisoonthorn sub-district yesterday. Just hours after Thalang Police responded to a report of suicide-by-hanging that morning, they were informed at 4:30pm that a Burmese worker at the nearby ARE HAWKS Construction Company workers’ camp had taken his life in similar fashion.…
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After the floods, Phuket mops up
PHUKET: Emergency response crews across Phuket continued their clean-up operations as the flood waters subsided and breaks in the rain came late this afternoon. “Today, there are no major flood waters left standing in the Patong area. We started our cleanup work yesterday, especially in the hard-hit areas,” Wisit Methasoonthornpot, chief of the Patong Municipality Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Division,…
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Tuk-tuk drivers surrender to Phuket police
PHUKET: The four tuk-tuk drivers wanted for setting up a blockade on Patong’s beach road on August 1 have surrendered to police, Patong Police duty officer Lt Col Kittipong Klaikaew told the Phuket Gazette today. The men were wanted for setting up the blockade after being involved in a fight with Dutch tourists, which resulted in the tourists requiring hospital…
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Phuket rain drives visitors to hospitality expo
PHUKET: Heavy rain on Phuket this week has provided a handy boost to the inaugural Andaman Hotelier hospitality expo, which attracted nearly 3,000 visitors on the event’s opening day on Thursday. The event, which cost 3 million baht to stage, is open from 11am to 9pm at HomeWorks on the bypass road until Sunday. The expo marks the first time…
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Debt drives man to suicide in Phuket
PHUKET: A man in debt to loan sharks and unable to find work was found hanged in his rented room in Phuket’s Thalang district this morning. Friends believe he committed suicide. Thalang Police duty officer Somkhit Khawsang confirmed the identity of the deceased from the remains of his torn up Thai ID card. He was 27-year-old Sarawut Samosorn. Mr Sarawut’s…
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Patong Hospital floods, 40 patients evacuated
PHUKET: Flooding of the basement at Patong Hospital forced doctors there to evacuate about 40 patients as a precaution, transferring them to facilities elsewhere in Phuket. “Some of them were transferred to Vachira Phuket Hospital [in Phuket Town], while others were discharged early so they could go home,” said Hospital Director Dr Phumin Silaphan. Heavy rain on Thursday saw flood…
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Market fire leaves Phuket vendors broke
PHUKET: Market vendors whose shops were destroyed by fire on Wednesday are seeking government assistance in restarting their businesses. Tossapol Rungruengpawan, president of Patong Retail Business Club, told the Phuket Gazette that the fire caused an estimated 50 million baht in total damage. Most of the vendors did not have insurance as most insurance companies do not offer policies for…
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Phuket to get speed and traffic cameras
PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Administration Organization will spend 17 million baht on installing speed and traffic cameras to catch people running red lights in Phuket. “The cameras will not be of the same type used in a project launched recently in Bangkok. [With this type] we will know who exceeds the speed limit and who breaks traffic laws – and…
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Brit tourist in Phuket dies in soaked power surge
PHUKET: A young British tourist died in Patong early this morning after he accidentally placed his hand on an outdoor, floor-mounted power socket covered with water. The 20-year-old man, whose name is being withheld pending notification of next of kin, was sitting in the undercover forecourt of the Ocean Plaza Patong [shopping mall] on Soi Bangla at about 6am when…
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Phuket forecast: heavy rain to continue through the weekend
PHUKET: Over the past 24 hours Phuket experienced the heaviest rains since the freak storms of last March, with reports all over the island of flooding and downed trees and power poles. One of the heaviest hit areas was Patong, where knee deep water caused traffic jams along parts of Phang Muang Sai Kor road, especially near Patong Hospital and…
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TAT confident in big numbers for 2011 Phuket Veg Fest
PHUKET: THE current economic climate will have no effect on the Phuket Vegetarian Festival this year, says the director of the southern regional office of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT). The festival last year generated about 500 million baht in revenue for the local economy, said Director Bangornrat Shinaprayoon. She expects this year’s event, to be held from September…
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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