Phuket News
Phuket news, politics, business, tourism, and nightlife—stay updated with breaking stories, events, and expat updates from Thailand’s top island destination. Get the latest from The Thaiger, your trusted Phuket news source.
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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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Skype back on in Phuket in time for Christmas
PHUKET: Skype internet telephone service has “stabilized” with core services returning to Phuket just in time for Christmas. “We’ve been able to successfully stabilize Skype due to the dedicated supernodes deployed by Skype’s engineering team,” Skype CEO Tony Bates wrote on the company’s website earlier today. “We’re at roughly 90 per cent of normal user volumes,” he said. “Audio, video…
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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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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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Details of Phuket tsunami memorial services announced
PHUKET: Details of Sunday’s remembrance services for those who lost their lives in the 2004 tsunami disaster have been announced. The first service will take place at 8:30am at the Tsunami Wall of Remembrance in Mai Khao. Later in the morning, at the Tsunami Monument in Kamala, memorial speeches will be given by various dignitaries, including Governor Tri Augaradacha and…
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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…
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Phuket to remember tsunami victims
PHUKET: Services to remember those in Phuket lost to the 2004 tsunami disaster will be held at Patong, Kamala and Mai Khao this Sunday. Governor Tri Augaradacha announced today that the annual Light Up Phuket event will be held at Loma Park in Patong. In Mai Khao, a remembrance service will be held at the Wall of Remembrance. He added…
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Euro snow will not stall Phuket tourism
PHUKET: The heavy snowfalls that forced airports across Europe to close this week are only a short-term problem and will not dramatically affect Phuket tourism, say key local industry figures. Suchart Hirankanokkul, president of the Thai Hotels Association (Southern Chapter), told the Gazette he didn’t think the airport closures would result in mass booking cancellations. “The heavy snow in Europe…
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Scores turn out for PAD meeting in Phuket
PHUKET: More than 1,000 people from throughout the South gathered in Phuket for the yellow-shirt People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) conference last night. PAD Phuket coordinator Aparat Chartchutikumjorn confirmed that people had come from Krabi, Surat Thani, Phang Nga, Nakhon Sri Thammarat and as far as Bangkok and Phetchaboon to attend the conference. Security for the gathering at the Royal…
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Phuket readers split over UK spousal visa English tests
PHUKET: Phuket Gazette readers are divided over whether it is fair for the UK to require spousal visa applicants to pass an English-language test: Most expats think the requirement is fair, but most Thais do not. The poll question followed a new requirement, effective from November 29, that Thai spouses applying for visas to join or marry British partners in…
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Phuket Red Cross to raffle Bt2.5mn house
PHUKET: The Phuket Red Cross has revealed the 2.5-million-baht home that will be raffled off as top prize at its annual fund-raising fair next month. The two-storey townhouse in Phanason Villa housing estate at Bor Rae in Wichit covers 21 square wah. The three-bedroom home was donated by Bangkok-based real estate developer Phanason, which has built many residential projects in…
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An early Christmas gift for one of Phuket’s poorest
PHUKET: As Christmas fast approaches, one of the poorest elderly residents of Rassada, near Phuket Town, received a special gift this year: a complete renovation for his dilapidated, old house. Put “Uncle Put” Nuengraksa, 73, was identified by Rassada Municipality as the most needy among five candidates living in the sub-district. His ramshackle abode in Soi Ta Tan, near the…
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UFC’s Dana White steps in to save Phuket baby
PHUKET: Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) President Dana White has agreed to cover the cost of a liver transplant for Phuket baby Tuptim Jadngooluem. Ray Elbe runs the mixed martial arts (MMA) program at Tiger Muay Thai in Chalong, where the girl’s father, former World Muay Thai world champion Rattanachai Jadngooluem, is an instructor. Mr Elbe told the Phuket Gazette, “[I…
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Two dead, four injured in drunken Phuket grenade blast
PHUKET: Police suspect an explosion that killed two and injured four people in Rassada, near Phuket Town, early this afternoon was caused by an M67 grenade. Police arrived at the scene near Rassada Pier and found one man dead on a bench in front of a house on Soi Wanich 1. The man, identified as Sutthi Saeung, 25, of Nakhon…
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Phuket, South to be ‘medical tourism hub’
PHUKET: Development and promotion of southern Thailand as a medical tourism hub was the topic of an international conference last week at the Royal Phuket City Hotel. IMT-GT (Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle) cooperative initiative officials participated in the “IMT-GT Medical Tourism” meeting chaired by Thailand’s Ministry of Tourism and Sports Permanent Secretary Sombat Kurupan on December 15. Among the 350 people…
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Phuket tsunami warning buoys deployed
PHUKET: The operation to install tsunami direct-detection buoys in the Andaman Sea has concluded and been hailed a success. The Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center (Seafdec) ship used to deploy the buoys returned to port in Phuket on Thursday. “The operation went smoothly. The first buoy was installed 250 kilometers west of Phuket, while the second was installed 150km from…
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Breaking news: FC Phuket trumps Rayong 2-0
PHUKET: Phuket football fans are rejoicing a solid 2-0 victory by FC Phuket over Rayong this evening. The win virtually assures the team’s promotion to Division I of the Thai League next year.Both goals were scored by Ivory Coast import Diarra Ali.The first came on a penalty kick half way though the first half.The insurance goal came half-way though the…
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Woman bites off husband’s penis, then stabs him to death
PATTAYA (Pattaya Daily News): A woman who was forced to have oral sex by her estranged husband bit off his penis. The act annoyed the victim and sparked a fight, during which the man, reportedly a senior official at the Ministry of Defence, was stabbed to death. Pattaya police were notified of the fight by a neighbor, Viroj Siritham, 70,…
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Crowds flock to Phuket Street Festival
PHUKET: The 2010 Phuket Street Show Festival kicked off yesterday evening on a packed Thalang Road with energetic performances by aerial acrobats from Bencha Theater Group. Some of the world’s best street performers have descended on Phuket Town this weekend for the event, which is sponsored by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT). The festivities, taking place in the old…
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Superyachts arrive in Phuket
PHUKET: Beachgoers along Phuket’s west coast would have had a hard time not noticing a flotilla of superyachts massing in Nai Harn Bay this week then moving up the coast to Pansea Bay yesterday. Leading the fleet, in Phuket for the annual Asia Superyacht Rendezvous, is the 74-meter MY Silver Zwei launched just last year. The Silver Zwei is rated…
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Phuket call to save ‘Tuptim’
PHUKET: “Tuptim” is only seven months old, but has a condition that requires an urgent liver transplant or she will die within weeks. She is the daughter of Rattanachai “Kru Nai” Jadngooluem, a well known trainer at Tiger Muay Thai (TMT) in Chalong and a former World Muay Thai world champion. Mr Rattanachai, “Nit”, the child’s mother, and Phuket’s muay…
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Phuket police beef up Patong security
PHUKET: Police in Kathu are boosting their presence on the streets of Patong for Phuket’s tourism high season. At a meeting with his top officers earlier this week, Kathu Police Superintendent Arayapan Pukbuakhao called for his officers to boost security, in terms of crime suppression and safety, and to work towards reducing the number of accidents involving tourists during the…
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Phuket carnival underway
PHUKET: Thousands of people in Phuket flocked to the streets of Patong to watch or join the annual Patong Carnival parade last night.Starting at 5pm with Patong Municipality’s ‘Pearl of the Andaman’ float, complete with its own angel of the clam, the parade continued for three hours. School bands and the traditional ladyboys dressed in glamorous outfits marched along the…
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Phuket Pirates: Being evil isn’t all it’s cut out to be
PHUKET: The Andaman Players new musical comedy, The Pirates of Phuket, takes to the stage of Le Meridien Phuket Beach Resort in Patong this Saturday evening, offering some sage advice for anyone considering a change of vocation. For instance, it’s well worth thinking twice before settling on “Evil Genius” as your new career path. As the Players ably explain in…
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Phuket’s first night tsunami drill hailed a success
PHUKET: Phuket’s first-ever night tsunami evacuation drill last night was a qualified success, but officials say more needs to be done to ensure residents in all risk areas are truly ready to conduct an after-dark evacuation. Last night’s drill was conducted at the Rajaprachanukroh 36 School in Kamala, just 100 meters from the high-tide mark at Kamala Beach. Activities, from…
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German’s Phuket stay goes to pot
PHUKET: A 33-year-old German man is facing deportation after being found overstaying his visa and in possession of half a gram of marijuana. Chalong Police stopped Nico Bergmann about midday on Sunday as he drove through a checkpoint in Soi Thanuthep. Officers, led by Lt Col Weerayut Sitthirattanakul, believed Mr Bergmann was acting suspiciously and searched his car. In his…
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Phuket November: A month of murder
PHUKET: There were five premeditated murders in Phuket last month, according to crime statistics released by the Phuket Provincial Police. Once again leading the number of reported cases and arrests were narcotics offenses. Overall 320 people were arrested in 282 cases, a 4.7% decrease year-on-year. The breakdown of these arrests was listed as follows: Consumption: 116 arrests Possession: 114 arrests…
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Phuket Rotary joins anti-polio effort
PHUKET: Rotary Clubs on the island are joining the Phuket Provincial Health Office (PPHO) in the local effort to eradicate polio. Rotarians will lend a hand at the PPHO’s upcoming mobile polio vaccination clinics to be held across the island as part of National Immunization Day for Polio Eradication on December 15. On the day, free polio vaccinations will be…
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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