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 A healthy tomorrow starts today: Celebrate the great American Smokeout day
The Great American Smokeout, held this year on November 17, is a nationwide event that encourages smokers to take their first steps towards a smoke-free life. If you’re an expat in Thailand, this day could be a timely reminder to...
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Correction: Dead American found by partner, not wife
PHUKET: The woman who discovered the body of Albert Alletzhauser on Tuesday was the mother of his daughter but not his wife, the Gazette has learned. The woman, Mikki Ferreira, wrote the following to the Gazette this morning: Dear Editor, “I would appreciate it if you set the record straight about the details of Mr Alletzhauser’s death. He was indeed…
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Phuket vendors protest alleged corruption, extortion
PHUKET: Seaside souvenir stall merchants in Kata and Karon have called on Phuket authorities to take action against alleged unfair treatment and intimidation by local authorities. About 50 Karon and Kata kiosk owners on Tuesday took their grievances to the Damrongtham Center, which serves as the provincial ombudsman’s office. Stall owner Somchai Pandum led the group in submitting an official…
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Body of Phuket artist found floating off Phromthep Cape
PHUKET: Delayed nearly five hours by large waves and blustery winds, rescue workers finally recovered the body of a well-known local artist from Laem Phromthep yesterday evening. The corpse of Chalad Thongdee, 54, was spotted near a rocky crop off Phuket’s iconic tourist attraction at about 12:45pm. Mr Chalad, who lived in Phuket Town, had been missing since Saturday night.…
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30,000 pills seized in Phuket meth “delivery man’ arrest
PHUKET: A Phuket hotel worker out on bail from a previous drugs arrest was nabbed this morning with 30,000 ya bah (methamphetamine) pills stuffed into a Thai Post cardboard box, police said. The capture of 32-year-old Phakphum “Aod” Ply-ngam from Rassada represents by far the largest bust of a ya bah mule in a string of recent arrests. The estimated…
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Call for blood donors for Phuket Boathouse GM Louis Bronner
PHUKET: The Phuket Gazette has received an urgent call for Type A-negative blood to help Louis Bronner, General Manager of the renowned Boathouse restaurant in Kata. “Our GM, Louis Bronner, is in Chulalongkorn Hospital in Bangkok. He needs surgery to correct an aneurysm of the aorta but Chula is still lacking blood of his type. “They need two more donors,”…
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B30mn coke bust at Phuket Airport
PHUKET: Six kilograms of cocaine were seized by officers in two separate airport arrests this week. The suspects, a Swiss man and a Thai woman, face a maximum penalty of death under Thai law for smuggling of Category 2 narcotics. Swiss national Peter Balmer, 47, was arrested on Monday with possession and intent to smuggle 4 kg of cocaine at…
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American man found dead in Phuket
PHUKET: An American man was found dead in his rented home in Phuket’s Paklok subdistrict late yesterday afternoon. Thalang Police duty officer Pratiwat Yodkhwan identified the deceased as 51-year-old Albert Alletzhauser, originally from New York. Mr Alletzhauser’s body was discovered by his wife after someone at his daughter’s school called to ask why nobody had come to pick up their…
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Phuket light rail investors push for Surat Thani, Phang Nga links
PHUKET: The latest joint-venture to approach Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha with ideas for Phuket’s light-rail project yesterday highlighted the need for developing transport links with other provinces. “If the routes in Phuket are linked with routes in other provinces, rather than only focusing on light rail within Phuket, it can be a profitable investment,” said independent investor liaison Pranom Phuangkanok.…
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Phuket to endure more blackouts this month
PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) has announced scheduled blackouts to carry out maintenance on high-voltage power lines, install new lines and move power poles. The dates and locations of the operations, which will be carried out from 9am to 4pm, are: May 12 – Chalong Along Chao Fa West Road, from the entrance to Ananda Garden Hill Villa…
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Phuket property expert Peter Kraus dies, age 55
PHUKET: Peter Kraus, Chief Financial Officer and co-founder of Engel & Volkers (Thailand) and a former long-term resident on Phuket, died at 9:15pm last night after a long battle with cancer. Highly regarded as an expert in his field, Mr Kraus at one time owned the Supper Club at Tinlay Place at the entrance to the Laguna complex, before he…
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Phuket Live Wire: How Twitter is changing the way news breaks
PHUKET: News of Osama bin Laden’s death came to international attention when, around 11:40pm Washington time on May 1, US President Barack Obama announced that American forces had entered bin Laden’s compound and killed him. But if you’d been following Twitter starting more than two hours earlier – from about 10:30am in Phuket – you would’ve already known the whole…
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Phuket roads undergoing B140mn overhaul
PHUKET: New road projects planned for Phuket and Phang Nga are budgeted at more than 140 million baht, the Highways Department has revealed. Scheduled for major upgrades are the road to the airport, the road on the north side of the Sarasin Bridge and the bypass road. Sathaporn Sornchana, deputy general manager of the regional Highways Department office, said work…
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Phuket football: Kamala, Wichit host tournaments
PHUKET: Phuket football enthusiasts are welcome to enter teams in the third annual Kamala Cup, a seven-a-side football tournament with 120,000 baht in prize money up for grabs. All are welcome to take part in the event, including foreigners. Competition will be divided into three groups: Open (entry 3,000 baht per team), Over -35s (2,000 baht) and Under-13s (1,000 baht).…
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Election set for July 3, PM Abhisit to address nation
PHUKET: HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej has approved the royal decree to dissolve the House of Parliament, it was announced late this afternoon. Sathit Wongnontaey, Minister for the Prime Minister’s Office, said Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva countersigned the decree this afternoon. The dissolution of Parliament procedurally paves the way for the Election Commission to announce the date set for the national…
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Thunderstorms, wind and rain prompt Phuket weather alert
PHUKET: The Thai Meteorological Department (MET) today issued a thundershower and flash flood alert for Phuket effective through Wednesday. Other provinces named in the warning as potential disaster areas were Ranong, Phang Nga, Chanthaburi and Trat. Prevailing southwest monsoon winds, expected to reach up to 40kph, will cause wave heights of up to three meters along Southern Thailand’s west coast…
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ASEAN 2015 prompts Kajonkiet to open “International School’
PHUKET: The Kajonkiet group of schools is preparing for a major shift in island demographics and greater demand for English-language education by opening its first international school this month. Permkiat Ketkul, manager of Kajonkietsuksa School and Chairman of the Phuket Private School Association, said the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) plan to lift cross-border travel restrictions and become a…
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Phuket woman found hanged in Pa Khlok
PHUKET: Police are treating as suicide the death of a Phuket woman found hanged by the neck in her Thalang home on Sunday morning. Thalang Duty Officer Pratueng Polmana identified the deceased as 58-year-old Thitima Boonrueng, a resident of the Baan Suan Neramit 1 housing estate off Route 4027 in Pa Khlok. Relatives discovered Ms Thitima’s body hanged by the…
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AMCHAM seminar sees Phuket property stronger than in rival resorts
PHUKET: The Phuket property market, though not yet back to the boom years, is staging a slow but steady recovery and is perceived to be offering better growth prospects than competing resort-based markets in the region. That, at least, was the conclusion of a panel of experts at a seminar in Phuket late last month. The meeting, organized by the…
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FC Phuket 2 – 2 Samut Prakan
PHUKET: FC Phuket pulled back from down two-nil to salvage a point on the road at Samut Prakan in the Thai League’s Division 1 yesterday. The Southern Sea Kirin appeared to be on yet another hard-luck road trip when Samut Prakan’s Lee Tuck scored early in the second half and then set up teammate Weerasak Kiatsoong-nern put his side up…
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War of the Wires: Phuket cable TV providers suspect sabotage
PHUKET: Following a spate of cable-cutting incidents over the past few months, local cable providers around the island are fed up. Suspecting sabotage, Atsadakorn Sidokbuap of KPP Cable TV and Kampanat Thantiwat, managing director of PA Business Phuket, filed a formal request for action to Phuket Electricity Authority (PEA) chief Somchai Krueapat on Tuesday. Mr Kampanat said he was acting…
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Phuket tourists, expats happier than locals: Poll
PHUKET: A clear majority of Phuket Gazette readers feel they are happy living in or visiting Phuket, results of a recent readers’ poll reveal. The Gazette asked online readers: “On a scale of 1-5 (1 = completely miserable; 5 = bliss), how would you rate your average emotional state living in, or when visiting, Phuket?” Overall, 56.2% answered that they…
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Bin Laden killing: Phuket reacts
PHUKET: The announcement by the US government that its military force had assassinated Al Qaeda founder Osama Bin Laden on May 2 was greeted with celebrations in the US and Europe. But what was the reaction of the man in the street half the world away in Phuket? The Phuket Gazette set out earlier this week to see what Phuketians…
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Phuket Crime: A special report on teen gang violence in paradise
PHUKET: Amid the scenic farms and hills of northern Phuket, beneath the ebb and flow of idyllic rural life, boils a rage – the rotten by-product of changing times. In Thalang, the body count continues to rise as neglected youth while away their days with a lethal cocktail of drugs and petty territorial disputes, while their parents work full-time just…
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Patong-Chalong shortcut bypassed in Phuket road upgrade
PHUKET: The shortcut between Chalong and Patong, directly across the Nakkerd Hills, was omitted from a 93.5-million-baht Department of Rural Roads project to upgrade unsealed roads throughout Phuket. The Thanon Rai Feun (“Dust-free Roads”) project recently concluded with 12 previously unpaved roads on the island now signed, sealed and delivered, said Department of Rural Roads Phuket Office Director Teeraporn Jirarattanakorn.…
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Burglar caught with keys to Phuket police HQ
PHUKET: Police this afternoon presented a man who has allegedly confessed to committing no less than seven break-ins in Phuket Town late last month. One of the houses robbed was the police accommodation home of the Capt Thapakorn Hanumard, who is the assistant to Phuket Police Commander Pekad Tantipong. Maj Gen Pekad is the chief of police for the entire…
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No arrests yet in Phuket dive death: Police
PHUKET: Police have yet to make any arrests in the investigation into the death of Japanese tourist Hitomi Shibata, Chalong Police Duty Officer Attawat Suwannarat told the Phuket Gazette this morning. “We have not arrested or pressed charges against anyone as we still have to question the boat driver and the crew about what happened first,” said Lt Attawat, who…
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Phuket man plunges into water well, drowns
PHUKET: Phuket Police are treating as an apparent suicide the death of an elderly man whose body was found at the bottom of a water well in Thalang early this morning. Thalang Police were notified of the tragedy at 7am by residents of Ban Nai Khlam in Cherng Talay, many of whom were gathered around the well by the time…
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Japanese dive tourist “struck in face by propeller’: Police
PHUKET: Hitomi Shibata, the Japanese tourist who died while on a dive tour off Koh Racha yesterday, was struck in the face by the propeller of the dive boat she was with, police told the Phuket Gazette today. “From our initial investigation, Miss Hitomi was diving with her dive instructor and a friend when they saw her suddenly start to…
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Japanese tourist dies in Phuket boating accident
PHUKET: A Japanese woman on holiday in Phuket died this afternoon after she was struck by the propeller of the dive boat she was on tour with. Chalong Police Duty Officer Attawat Suwannarat told the Gazette the police were notified of the accident at about 4pm. The name of the woman, aged 22, is being withheld pending notification of next…
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Phuket pirate raids net 11 vendors, B6mn in goods
PHUKET: Raids on Phuket shops selling pirated DVDs and CDs this evening ended with 11 arrests and evidence worth up to 6 million baht seized. Led by Pol Lt Gen Krisada Pankongcheun, deputy director of the police Center for Suppression of Intellectual Property Crime, the raids targeted 13 shops in Patong, some along the beach road and others in the…
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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