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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Phuket gears up for Heroines’ Festival 2011
PHUKET: This year’s Phuket Heroines’ Festival will feature the acting debut of Phuket governor Tri Augkaradacha, who will take center stage in the role of King Rama I in a historical drama based on the history of Thalang. The 2011 installment of the annual event will take place March 13 to 15 at Thalang Victory Memorial Field in Thepkrasattri subdistrict.…
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Middle East riots will not affect Phuket tourism
PHUKET: Tossaporn Thepabutr, chairman of the House Committee for Tourism and Sports, said the political unrest in the Middle East would have little effect on Thailand’s tourism industry. Speaking to reporters in Phuket late last month, Mr Tossaporn called for tourism operators nationwide to work together to attract 18 million tourists to Thailand this year. This was a realistic figure,…
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New Phuket police station plans inch forward
PHUKET: Plans to build a new police station in Karon are progressing at a snail’s pace, but work on the new Police Region 8 headquarters now under construction in Mai Khao is steaming ahead, officials were told this week. Maj Gen Decha Budnampeth, Deputy Commissioner of Provincial Police Region 8, told a meeting on Tuesday that his office was still…
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Join Phuket’s grumpy men on their rally for a cause
PHUKET: The Phuket GOMS (Grumpy Old Men’s Society) will stage their inaugural Car Rally-Treasure Hunt this Sunday, and there’s still time to get involved. GOMS consists of over 130, presumably grumpy expat and Thai members who get together twice a month to meet, discuss issues which grind their gears and think of ways to raise money for local charities. There…
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Phuket delegates ready for “amazing’ German tour
PHUKET: The Phuket delegation to next week’s ITB Berlin 2011 travel trade show will comprise 60 members, all on a mission to draw ever more tourists to the island under the Tourism Authority of Thailand’s (TAT’s) newest slogan: “Amazing Thailand Always Amazes You”. Among those representing Phuket at the event will be Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha and his wife Nalinee,…
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Russia extends invitation to Phuket
PHUKET: The first vice mayor of Nakhodka, Phuket’s Russian “twin town”, invited local officials yesterday to visit the far-eastern port city. Mayor Boris Gladkikh extended the invitation to Phuket Vice Governor Nivit Aroonrat during a meeting at Phuket Provincial Hall to discuss building closer relations between the two cities. Nakhodka, on the Sea of Japan near Vladivostok, has been Phuket’s…
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Finnish tourist found dead in Phuket room
PHUKET: Police are not treating as suspicious the death of a Finnish tourist found in his rented room opposite Patong Municipality offices yesterday. Capt Weerapong Rakkittoo of Patong Police said he was notified of the death at about 2:30pm. At the scene, a rented room on the second floor of a shop-house on Ratchapatanusorn Road, Capt Weerapong found the body…
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BREAKING NEWS: FC Phuket awarded league points after protest
PHUKET: FC Phuket were today handed all three points from Saturday’s Thai League Division 1 encounter against Rajpracha FC after they successfully lodged a complaint against Rajpracha for using too many foreign players during the game. Although the game ended in a 1-1 draw at Surakul Stadium, FC Phuket later sent documentation to the Thai Premier League providing evidence that…
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Developing Phuket: Calls for yet another major public hospital
PHUKET: Phuket MP Tossaporn Thepabutr last week proposed to Governor Tri Augkaradacha that another government hospital be built in the island resort province. Instead of smaller branches or satellite clinics of major government hospitals being built to serve local people, Mr Tossaporn proposed a wholly-new, high-end facility to attract health practitioners who are specialists in their field. Vachira Phuket Hospital,…
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Poll: Do Burmese in Phuket enjoy basic human rights?
PHUKET: A senate committee meeting in Phuket last year was told the number of migrant workers from Burma living in Phuket, both legally and illegally, could be as high as 200,000. The sight of trucks packed with these workers is common in Phuket, as are the proliferation of zinc-roofed shanties of Burmese workers’ camps that can be found at construction…
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Karen visit to Phuket full of firsts
PHUKET: Nine-year-old Ywa Hay Tha never went on family trips to the beach; never saw his favorite films on the big screen; never got a chance for a “normal” life. Nine-year-old Ywa Hay Tha was more concerned with keeping himself alive when he fled the Burmese military through the jungles of eastern Burma to the relative safety of the Umpiem…
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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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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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Controversy reigns as FC Phuket drops league points at home
PHUKET: FC Phuket’s first Thai League Division 1 home game of the season ended in frustration as they were held to a 1-1 draw against Rajpracha FC at Surakul Stadium on Saturday evening. In front of a crowd of over 2000, Phuket couldn’t do enough to prevail over a team intent on clinching a draw. The visitors brought howls from…
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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 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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“Lucky plates’ rake in millions for Phuket
PHUKET: The sixth annual “Lucky License Plate Auction” kicked off today at the Metropole Hotel in Phuket Town with the much sought after Kor Nor 9999 plate selling for 1.4 million baht. The numbers “8” and “9” are auspicious numbers according to traditional Thai beliefs. In addition to taking home today’s top seller, motorcycle repair shop owner Jaruk Kaewpunnaray, 30,…
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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 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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Phuket longtails get new pier at Chalong
PHUKET: Work on a new pier for longtail boats in Chalong Bay is now about 25 per cent complete and should be finished by the scheduled completion date in late May, the project contractor says.Work on the 11.6-million-baht project, known in Thai as “Saphan Reua Hang Yaow”, is funded by the Ministry of Transport. Wandee Suwanchot, controller of the main…
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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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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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Artificial reefs sunk off Phuket’s west coast
PHUKET: About 200 concrete cubes were sunk in Bang Tao Bay, on Phuket’s west coast, today as the ongoing artificial reef project resumed. The current four-day installment, costing 7.9 million baht, aims is to sink 1,630 concrete cubes by sunset on Monday. The ongoing project is funded by the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (PPAO) and being carried out by the…
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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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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…
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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