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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Greater Phuket: Shock TAT report on stinking beach
PHUKET: Despite regulations of the local village government stipulating that garbage not be placed out for collection before 8pm, trash continues to be dumped on Krabi’s Ao Nang Beach in broad daylight. Tourists say they don’t like it. The stink and the unsightly mess are a source of harsh complaints not only from tourists, but also from local residents. The…
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Phuket lucky license plate auction raises more than Bt23mn
PHUKET: The sixth annual “Lucky License Plate Auction” held in Phuket Town over the weekend raised 23,504,500 baht, Kanok Siripanichkorn, chief of the Phuket Land Transport Office (PLTO), has told the Phuket Gazette. “I am very happy with the revenue raised – it’s five million baht more than last year,” he said. All 301 plates up for auction were sold,…
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UK Ambassador puts Phuket safety on common agenda
PHUKET: UK Ambassador to Thailand Asif Ahmad met Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha this afternoon to discuss a slew of issues affecting British residents and tourists, with the aim of working together with local authorities to boost safety on the island. “We have 850,000 British tourists who visit Thailand every year. I’ll say up to half come to Phuket… The majority…
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Phuket cobras running out of room, into houses
PHUKET: A family in Phuket had their regular laid-back Saturday evening rudely interrupted by a cobra trying to enter their home. “We had dinner with family and friends in the garden near the pool. After dinner, my wife, Nongyao, cleared the table, and on her way back to the kitchen she encountered a snake,” explained Lothar Schudt, who has lived…
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Phuket beaches left unguarded
PHUKET: The Phuket Lifeguard Club’s contract to protect the island’s beaches expired on Friday, leaving tourists to swim unprotected in seas that claimed many lives last year. On Saturday, staff removed their equipment from the beaches. The 9.9-million-baht contract to guard the beaches is put out on an annual tender, which critics claim is too short a period of time.…
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Phuket Live Wire: When good lines go bad
PHUKET: International internet speeds in Phuket have been surprisingly good this week, with TOT finally recovering from whatever was ailing it last week. TOT Fiber Optic is only marginally faster than 3BB’s 12Mbps line or True’s 10Mbps line – at five times the cost. True “3G” HSPA continues to run very fast, but only on the extreme west coast of…
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Phuket to survey options for burying beach-front power lines
PHUKET: Patong Municipality has approved a feasibility survey for a project to bury power and telephone lines along the road at Phuket’s most popular beach. The 8-million-baht study should take eight months to complete and work on the first phase of the project should be completed by 2013. The road project, called Route A, will run along Patong Beach and…
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Phuket Readers’ poll results: Phuket is safe
PHUKET: Phuket is a safe place to visit or live, a majority of Phuket Gazette readers believe. A recent Gazette readers’ poll asked the question: “All things considered, do you think Phuket is a safe place to visit and live?” Overall, just under 63% of the people who took part answered that Phuket is “very safe” or “fairly safe”, compared…
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Motorbike taxi driver dies in Phuket police cell
PHUKET: After a collision with a pedestrian, a Phuket motorcycle taxi driver was found dead in his cell at Patong Police Station early Thursday morning. Chalee Jampa-ngam, 53, was driving along Phra Barami Road in Patong, looking for custumers, around noon on Wednesday. As he drove past the Government Savings Bank he collided with a pedestrian and fell off the…
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Phuket sea kayak guide dies during tour
PHUKET: Funeral services are being held this morning for a Phuket tour guide who drowned during a kayak tour in Phang Nga Bay yesterday afternoon. The deceased has been identified as 25-year-old Suriyan “Mee Mee” Rachapai, a resident of Ao Por. Mr Suriyan was employed by well-known kayak tour operator John Gray’s Sea Canoe. Mr Suriyan apparently had a diabetic…
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Phuket Football: FC Phuket in first home game today
PHUKET: FC Phuket play host to Rajpracha FC in their first Thai League Division 1 home game of the season at Surakul Stadium this evening. Kickoff is at 6pm. Phuket opened their 2011 campaign in solid fashion two weeks ago when they bagged a deserved share of the spoils away from home against Suphan Buri FC. Phuket missed several chances…
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New regulations to impact Phuket development
PHUKET: New environmental regulations may significantly affect property developments and land values, leading law experts told those gathered at the American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM) Greater Phuket Chapter’s inaugural 2011 event yesterday. The keynote speakers at the event, entitled “Changes In Greater Phuket Planning and Environmental Regulations”, were Sorachon Boonsong and Kammalard Urapeepatanapong, partners at Baker & McKenzie, and Anurag…
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Here comes the weekend: Phuket Gazette hits the streets
PHUKET: This week’s Andaman Edition of the Phuket Gazette goes on sale this afternoon and our Nationwide Edition will be released in Bangkok and placed on board the major international airlines serving Thailand early tomorrow morning. Both editions contain scores of information, all in one place, including: NEWS – Elephant rampage – MP Tossaporn calls for a new hospital in…
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Isarn comes alive in Phuket
PHUKET: An Isarn (Northeastern Thailand) cultural heritage fair is underway in Phuket with fashion shows and products such as premium Isarn silk on offer. The “Heritage Cultural of Southern E-San” event began yesterday and will run through Monday in the 1st floor Event Hall at HomeWorks on the bypass road. The fair, which features the cultural heritage of Isarn’s Nakhon…
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Woman found unconscious, half-naked on Phuket roadside
PHUKET: An unconscious woman was found yesterday morning on a Phuket roadside, naked from the waist down with blood pouring from her head. The 58-year-old, whose name is undisclosed, may have been raped, Thalang Police Lt Col Weerayut Sittirattanakul said. At about 5am yesterday, Thalang Police received a report of a woman lying unconscious near a parked motorbike on the…
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Elephant tragedy victim still in Phuket ICU
PHUKET: All but one of the people injured in the elephant tragedy in Khao Sok National Park on Tuesday have been released from hospital. Christine Colomb of Switzerland remains in the ICU at Bangkok Phuket Hospital. Mrs Colomb met with the Phuket Gazette briefly last night after conducting a telephone interview for the Swiss newspaper Blick. Connected to several tubes…
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HIV up among Phuket ladyboys
PHUKET: Increasing sexual activity among the youngest members of Phuket’s transgender community is leading to a worrying rise in HIV infection rates, public health officials say. Dr Sak Tanchaikul, chief of Phuket Provincial Public Health Office (PPHO), said he was deeply concerned about HIV infection rates among “men who have sex with men”, which his agency members refer to collectively…
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Exclusive Interview: Scheffczik in Phuket protests his innocence
PHUKET: Arrested German national Lars Scheffczik denies being involved in an alleged internet scam that defrauded people of about one million euros. Speaking exclusively to the Phuket Gazette from a holding cell at Chalong Police Station, Scheffczik said, “I have never used these people like that.” Scheffczik, 38, was arrested by Phuket Immigration at his home in Rawai on Monday.…
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Phuket Blues Rock Festival set for blast off tomorrow
PHUKET: The Sixth Annual Phuket International Blues Rock Festival is set to rock the island from the moment it starts tomorrow evening. The ten bands come from seven different counties and are among the best in the world of Blues, many honored with multiple awards and nominations. Headliner Curtis Salgado, the man who inspired and mentored John Belushi for his…
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Phuket Zoning, Environment rules on firing line at public seminar tomorrow
PHUKET: The Greater Phuket Chapter of AMCHAM Thailand has organized a seminar on the recent changes to the Planning and Environmental Regulations of both Phuket and Phang Nga.Two keynote speakers, both leading law experts, are featured: Sorachon Boonsong, Partner, Baker & McKenzie Thailand; and Anurag Ramanat, Partner, South Asia Law. Their briefings will be followed by a Question & Answer…
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Another Phuket Burmese labor camp destroyed by fire
PHUKET: A Burmese labor camp said to belong to a Phuket City policeman was completely destroyed by fire this morning. The blaze, which broke out in the Samkong camp at about 4:30am, leveled 15 huts and damaged three neighboring homes. More than 30 workers were asleep in the camp, but none was injured. Four fire trucks took almost 40 minutes…
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Elephant trek tragedy: Victims speak from Phuket hospital
PHUKET: A Swiss woman is dead and three other foreign tourists are in hospital in Phuket after an elephant went berserk during a trekking tour in Surat Thani yesterday. Speaking from his wife’s bedside at Bangkok Hospital Phuket this afternoon, Australian tourist Sean Gothe said he and his wife Helen were among eight couples on a one-day tour to Khao…
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Finn fights off knife-wielding thugs in Phuket Town
PHUKET: A Finnish tourist is recovering from a gash to his arm after fighting off two young thugs who attacked him with a knife in the heart of Phuket Town before dawn this morning. The Finn, 59-year-old Heikki Antero Malkki, arrived at the bus station on Phang Nga Road at about 3:30am. He had just arrived from Malaysia and planned…
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BREAKING NEWS: Sale of Phuket’s Laguna Beach Resort approved
PHUKET: THE 252-room Laguna Beach Resort in Phuket has transacted to Laguna Phuket Club Co, a Thai company controlled by Singapore-based private equity fund Recap. According to documents filed with the Stock Exchange of Thailand, the Board of Directors of Laguna Resorts and Hotels (LRH) approved the sale of the company’s 60% shareholding in the resort for 723.565 million baht.…
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British tourist drowns in Phuket
PHUKET: A party among friends turned tragic early this morning when a British tourist, whom Cherngtalay police had originally identified as French, entered the surf and drowned at Phuket’s northern Bang Tao Beach. Lt Col Wicharn Suwannasit of the Cherng Talay Police identified the victim as 34-year-old Daniel Medhurst. He was a guest at the Best Western Laguna Phuket Resort,…
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Phuket police seeking survivor of assassination attempt
PHUKET: Police are seeking a half-Thai, half-French man recovering from a gunshot wound sustained in Phuket Town Sunday afternoon. They expect to arrest his assailant soon. Phuket City Police duty officer Anek Mongkol said he suspects the victim, 27-year-old Patong businessman Markudom Boulbet, may be intentionally avoiding police questioning. Mr Boulbet was shot once in the right shoulder by a…
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Phuket consuls keep pressure on tuk-tuk, jet-ski scams
PHUKET: Following the success of the honorary consuls’ meetings in Phuket, the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) has announced that a nationwide gathering of all honorary consuls will be held at the ministry in Bangkok next month. News of the meeting was announced by Korn Suwanasai, director of the MFA Passport office in Phuket, at the first Phuket Honorary…
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Mayor Pian ponies up for Phuket police houses
PHUKET: Patong Mayor Pian Keesin today handed over one million baht to build two retaining walls around accommodation being built for Phuket police officers. Mayor Pian handed over the cheque to Kathu Police Superintendent Col Arayapan Pukbuakhao at a ceremony at Patong Municipality offices this morning. The money was garnered from rental fees levied on fair operators for staging a…
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Phuket’s “landless’ pin hopes on Cabinet support
PHUKET: The fate of six Phuket communities hinges on the outcome of a key Cabinet meeting tomorrow that could result in their gaining title deeds to the state-owned land they live on. The six villages are among 35 nationwide selected to pilot a Prime Minister’s Office regulation from last year that allows for issuance of so-called “community” Chanote land titles.…
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Phuket police investigate Englishman’s “whiskey poisoning’
PHUKET: Patong police have sent a bottle of Johnnie Walker Red Label whiskey for laboratory tests to determine whether a 77-year-old Englishman found dead in his Phuket guest suite was poisoned. Duty Officer Lt Col Jongserm Preecha today told the Gazette that the tests were only a precaution. No evidence of fighting was found in the man’s room, in a…
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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