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.
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Deadly “Seven Days’ – Phuket toll: 17 accidents, no deaths
PHUKET: After two days of the annual ‘Seven Days of Danger’ national road safety campaign, the Phuket toll has climbed to 17 accidents, but still no deaths reported. The statistics, compiled by the Phuket office of the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM), list four accidents yesterday in Phuket Town, three in Kathu and two in Thalang. Eleven people…
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Phuket taxi rolls out special holiday treat
PHUKET: As we close out a year in which widespread public complaints against Phuket taxi and tuk-tuk services have dominated local news and made headlines around the world, our editors have this afternoon received a letter which caught our attention. It comes from a long term foreign resident well and favorably known to the Phuket Gazette. We publish it below…
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Phuket’s Yamu gets new lease of life
PHUKET: Campbell Kane, the luxury hotel developers of The Yamu on Phuket’s east coast, have secured backing by an investment team comprised of Singapore tycoon Ong Beng Seng’s Hotel Properties Limited (HPL) and Thailand’s KS Group. The Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels office in Singapore acted as an advisor for the transaction. While construction of the hotel was suspended due to…
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Phuket New Year celebrations take to the sky
PHUKET: Residents in the south of the island have started their Phuket New Year celebrations a little early this year, with the opening of the Rawai Sky Night Festival 2010 at Nai Harn Beach. The festival continues tonight, with stage and live music performances from 6pm. In addition to the live performances and contests, local vendors are selling food, drink,…
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Deadly “Seven Days’ begin: Eight accidents, no deaths in Phuket
PHUKET: Phuket’s holiday road toll stands at eight accidents with no deaths reported after Day One of the Seven Days of Danger national road safety campaign, which began yesterday. The statistics, being compiled by the Phuket office of the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM), list four accidents occurring in Phuket Town, two in Kathu and two in Thalang.…
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Phuket police get in the holiday spirit – of saving lives
PHUKET: Motorists heading to Phuket over the New Year holiday have a new place to take a break from long hours on the road: a Phuket Highway Police box on Thepkrasattri Road. Available free of charge, 24 hours a day, at the Muang Mai Highway Police box are tea and coffee, clean restrooms and toilets, foot massages and even a…
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Honest Phuket tuk-tuk driver returns camcorder
PHUKET: A Phuket tuk-tuk driver tracked down a Swedish couple who left their camcorder in his vehicle on Christmas Day and returned it to them free of charge on Boxing Day. Cathanna, 48, and her husband hired Thongchai Permpoon to take them on a five-hour tour of Phuket Town. After dropping the Swedes off at their hotel, the Diamond Cottage…
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Phuket pirates unperturbed by arrest
PHUKET: Five people were arrested on Tuesday for selling counterfeit handbags in Patong, but at least one of them swore she would be right back in business after paying a fine. Patong police and representatives of high-end handbag companies led the raid on five shop operators, all working inside the tourist-oriented Sainamyen Plaza on Rat-U-Thit 200 Pee Road. Chananan Hatthapradit,…
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Phuket baby saved from trash pile
PHUKET: A Phuket baby boy, thought to be just hours old and with the umbilical cord still attached, has been found abandoned near a dump site in Kathu. Phongthep Joyjard, a respected elder who lives in the area, discovered the newborn while he was out exercising on Soi Saithong near the dump site on Tuesday evening. He heard the baby…
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FC Phuket loses to Buriram
PHUKET: Despite a strong showing, FC Phuket went down to Buriram FC by a score of 0-1 in the championship match of the Thai League Division 1 promotion playoffs in Bangkok this evening. Phuket FC had a clear advantage in terms of possession and good chances, but the only goal of the match came at 39 minutes of the first…
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FC Phuket take on Buriram in Bt1mn playoff final tonight
PHUKET: The FC Phuket bandwagon will make its final stop of the season tonight against Buriram in the Thai League Division 2 playoff final, at Suphachalasai Stadium in Bangkok. Kick-off is at 6pm. The game will be broadcast live on the T-Sports Channel, available on True Visions and on Phuket Cable’s channel 58. Phuket finished atop Group B of Division…
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Keep Phuket land for Phuket people: Land Chief
PHUKET: Phuket Provincial Land Office chief Paitoon Lertkrai today told the Gazette that he is deeply concerned that far too many Phuket people are selling their land to off-islanders. “I do not mean just people from other countries, I mean anyone not from Phuket,” he said. “Right now many Phuket people are selling their land, and most of the buyers…
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Phuket Poll: Are there too many hotels on the island?
PHUKET: Official figures by the Tourism Authority of Thailand for 2010 put the number of registered hotels and accommodation establishments in Phuket at 703, up 10.8% from the official figure (639) for 2008. There was a similar jump in the total number of rooms in these establishments over the same period, the figure rising from 38,528 to 43,036, a percentage…
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Notice to our readers re New Year’s holiday office hours
PHUKET: As we approach the New Year’s holidays this weekend, the Phuket Gazette would like to remind readers that our business offices will be closed this Friday and Saturday, December 31 and January 1. Classified advertisers wishing to have their ads included in the January 8-14 issue of the Phuket Gazette are asked to ensure that we receive those ads…
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Parade marks opening of Bt50mn Phuket Town road
PHUKET: Anchalee Vanich Thepabutr, now confirmed to take on the appointment of Secretary-General to Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, on Friday officially opened the new road connecting Phuket Town’s two largest public parks.The opening of the new road, temporarily named Sai Phang Muang Khor, took place with a Christmas Eve ceremony complete with a parade and marching bands. Leading the procession…
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Phuket water? We wouldn’t drink it: Poll
PHUKET: Less than 20 per cent of Phuket Gazette readers think tap water on the island is safe to drink, results of the latest online readers’ poll reveals. The poll, launched on December 18, asked readers: Do you think tap water in Phuket is safe to drink? Overall, almost half of all respondents (49.2%) answered “no”, compared with just 19.8%…
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Kata Royal Condo moves to save Phuket view
PHUKET: Following complaints by local residents, developers of a condominium project in Phuket have agreed to not build the top two storeys of the apartment block to preserve views over Kata Bay. The environmental impact assessment (EIA) of the Kata Royal Condo project on Patak Road was originally approved for seven storeys. However, when local residents realized the structure would…
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Swedish man found dead in Phuket
PHUKET: Police in Phuket are investigating the death of a Swedish man whose body was found in his rented room at Cherng Talay yesterday. Police identified the man as Swedish national Felipe Basualto Trincado, 25, born in Santiago, Chile. His next of kin in Sweden have been notified of his passing, Swedish Embassy officials confirmed today. Mr Basualto Trincado’s body…
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BREAKING NEWS: FC Phuket promoted to Division I
PHUKET: FC Phuket will be promoted to Division I of the Thai League following an exciting come-from-behind 2-1 win over Samut Prakarn at Surakul Stadium this afternoon. Samut Prakarn silenced the crowd by scoring in the opening minutes of play. Despite dominating play for most of the first half, FC Phuket were unable to score the equalizer going into half-time.…
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Wishing you a very Merry Christmas
PHUKET: As yet another year full of ups and downs draws to a close, thousands of travellers are trying to find their way to Phuket’s shores from the cold shelter of snowed-in airports across Europe and the UK. Thousands more have already landed in Phuket, helping to usher in the high season by joining the carnivals, festivals and other events…
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Judgment Day for FC Phuket
PHUKET: FC Phuket face a date with destiny on tomorow afternoon at Surakul Stadium when they take on Samut Prakhan in their final Thai League playoff game of the season. Kick-off is at 4pm. The club currently sits in second place, a point behind table toppers FC Chainat and two ahead of FC Rayong who they defeated 2-0 on home…
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Phuket’s Tuptim given a fighting chance
PHUKET: A fund-raising campaign that began in Phuket just over a week ago and spread around the globe could have saved the life of a seven-month old baby. (See stories here and here.) Tuptim Jadngooluem – the only daughter of Rattanachai “Kru Nai”, a well known trainer at Tiger Muay Thai in Chalong – was diagnosed with a terminal liver…
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Phuket high season down 25% year-on-year: analyst
PHUKET: The start of this year’s high season for tourism in Phuket is down about 25% overall compared with last year, one industry analyst has said. Bhuritt Maswongsa, vice-president for marketing at the Phuket Tourist Association, said occupancy rates at Phuket hotels in November were only about 60%, on average. “We used to get occupancy rates in the 70% to…
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New Phuket traffic flow given green light
PHUKET: Changes to the Patong traffic flow, on Phuket’s west coast, moved a step closer this week when officials confirmed the new one-way system will take effect on January 15. Adding to the changes will be new parking zones and regulations coming into effect on December 30, with new road markings and signs being put in place to assist motorists.…
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Phuket Poll: Is our tap water safe to drink?
PHUKET: The current issue of the Phuket Gazette out today carries a feature on whether Phuket tap water is safe to drink. The authorities say it is at the point it leaves the water treatment plants, but resident water-quality expert Brad Kenny of Environmental Solutions says there are many factors that affect water quality between where the water is treated…
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Aceh asks Phuket for tsunami drill training
PHUKET: A delegation of medical staff from the Indonesian province of Aceh is in Phuket to seek assistance in developing their own tsunami search and rescue training drills. A total of 226,000 people were killed or went missing in the 2004 tsunami, the majority of which were Indonesians. About 65 per cent of the 170,000 Indonesians who died in the…
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Local tour operators furious at Russian counterparts
PHUKET: Russians allegedly running illegal tourism businesses in Phuket have sparked outrage among local tourism operators.Sukadach Ratanaburi filed a group complaint at the Governor’s Office on Monday, together with about 100 local tourism business operators with him for support. “These Russians are stealing our jobs,” Mr Sukadach said. “They set up tour information counters by the roadside, sit there and…
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Site chosen for new Phuket Provincial Hall
PHUKET: The new provincial hall under planning will be built on a 15-rai vacant plot of government land in Phuket Town. The site chosen is next to the Regional Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Center on Damrong Road.The announcement was made on Wednesday at a meeting convened especially to discuss the project. “There are many government offices here at the current…
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Foreign pirate duo nabbed in Phuket raid
PHUKET: Two alleged foreign copyright pirates were arrested in a raid by Phuket police yesterday. High-ranking provincial officers along with Patong Police Superintendent Arayapan Pukbuakhao led the search on a warehouse off Nanai Road in Patong. The warehouse tenants named as Truong Van Doan, 33, and Tong Vankorn of Vietnam, were arrested at the scene, police said. Police seized about…
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Phuket bypass-bypass officially opens
PHUKET: The long-awaited “bypass-bypass” road is now finished, connecting the existing bypass road with Ekwanit Road behind Surakul Stadium and Darasamuth School. The 550-meter shortcut – marked by a street sign as “Ekvanit Darasamud Road” – was officially opened at a ceremony today chaired by Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha. Joining the ceremony were Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) President Paiboon…
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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