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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Phuket City Police helmet crackdown hits the big screen
PHUKET: It was ‘standing room only’ at Phuket City Police Station this morning as hundreds of people caught on motorbikes without helmets crammed into the fourth-floor meeting room to watch a movie showing graphic images taken from road accident scenes. The viewings are all part of the Phuket City Police effort to enforce a long-ignored traffic law requiring all people…
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Phuket murder suspect turns self in, claims innocence
PHUKET: Police on Saturday announced the arrest of the third suspect wanted in connection with the June 26 shooting murder of 17-year-old Witarn Chuaykuea at a Phuket Town gas station. Watcharin “James” Limmanee, 21, handed himself in to Phuket City Police Station last Thursday to proclaim his innocence. Narongchai “Tan” Boonprom of Nakhon Sri Thammarat, arrested earlier, confessed to shooting…
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Readers call for charity for family of Phuket murder victim
PHUKET: In response to recurring suggestions from readers that a donation channel be set up to raise funds to help the mother and two young children of murder victim Wanphen Pienjai, the Phuket Gazette is currently working with a major, worldwide charitable organization to receive and administer funds. We hope to be in a position to announce details of that…
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Readers’ Poll: Is Phuket tourism sustainable?
PHUKET: According to one definition, the term “sustainable tourism” is an industry committed to making a low impact on the environment and local culture, while helping to generate future employment for local people. Given this definition, to what extent do you think Phuket’s tourism industry is sustainable? To vote in the latest Phuket Gazette Reader’s Poll, click here or on…
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FAT Football: Phuket beat Trang, 2-0
PHUKET: FC Phuket strengthened their grip on the Football Association of Thailand’s Division Two (South section) title with a hard-fought 2-0 win over second-placed Trang at Surakul Stadium on Saturday. With a game in hand, FC Phuket were two points ahead of Trang going into their first home match since the mid-season break. FC Phuket dominated possession in the first…
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Phuket chosen as Asian HQ
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily digest of news from around the world compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community. World Cup? Get instantaneous scores and news updates right here on the Gazette Online (fed directly from FIFA). PHUKET: Asia Travel Tips reports that Outrigger Hotels and Resorts Asia has officially established Phuket as its Regional Operating Headquarters (ROH).…
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New sketch of suspect in Phuket murder of Wanphen Pienjai
PHUKET: Police have released a sketch of what the prime suspect in the Wanphen Pienjai murder case may look like without a full beard. Ms Pienjai’s naked body was found stuffed in a suitcase in Phuket on June 24. For our previous report, click here. She was last seen leaving her workplace at the Sweetheart Bar in Kata with a…
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Man murders friend with homemade gun in Phuket
PHUKET: A construction site foreman has been charged with murder after allegedly shooting one of his laborers with a homemade pen-gun, police said. The shooting happened about 9pm last night in the Phanson Villa (Bor-Rae) housing project in Wichit. Arriving at the scene shortly after the incident, Phuket City Police officers found a single .38mm bullet casing and were told…
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Phuket ‘bypass-bypass’ construction stalled
PHUKET: Budget problems are holding up work to complete a road linking the bypass road to a section of Ekwahnit Road near the back entrance to Surakul Stadium. Work on the project, known jokingly as the bypass-bypass road, was stalled for months because the road was blocked by a home belonging to a family of squatters who settled the area…
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Mother of Phuket murder victim tells of her pain
PHUKET: The mother of Wanphen Pienjai, the bar hostess whose body was found stuffed in a suitcase in Phuket last week, has spoken of her anguish over the murder of her daughter. Sa-ard Maliwan, 59, told the Gazette she is praying every day for police to catch the killer. “He deserves to be punished hard for what he did to…
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Parade kicks off Phuket helmet crackdown
PHUKET: Phuket City Police kicked off their helmet safety campaign yesterday with around 4,000 helmet-clad riders on some 2,000 motorbikes parading down the island’s roads. From now on, police are pledging to crack down heavily on both drivers and passengers without helmets. Thai traffic law states that both drivers and passengers without helmets can be fined up to 500 baht.…
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Phuket police offer 50,000 baht to catch killer
PHUKET CITY: Phuket City Police are offering a reward of 50,000 baht for information leading to the arrest of the killer of 33-year-old bar hostess Wanphen Pienjai, whose naked body was discovered stuffed into a suitcase in Phuket last week. The offer follows the release of a sketch of the prime suspect in the investigation, a bearded Caucasian man who…
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Red-shirt protests hit Phuket leukemia patient
PHUKET: Jenarong Tapklaeng, a 16-year-old leukemia patient from Phuket, spent almost a month in Bangkok for medical consultations that should have taken just a few days after his hospital was shut down because of the red-shirt protests. Doctors at King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital were set to examine the possibility of performing a bone marrow transplant on Jenarong, who is currently…
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Tourism: Phuket better than most
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily digest of news from around the world compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community. World Cup? Get instantaneous scores and news updates right here on the Gazette Online (fed directly from FIFA). PHUKET: Tourism in Thailand suffered heavily in May, but Phuket continued to do better than most. The Bangkok Post reports that…
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Phuket City Police hunt expat murder suspect
PHUKET: Phuket City Police are asking the public for help in their search for a Caucasian man who is the prime suspect in the murder of 33-year-old Wanphen Pienjai, the bar hostess whose remains were discovered stuffed into a large suitcase in tambon Wichit last week. Ms Wanphen, a native of Petchaboon province, was an employee of the Sweetheart Bar…
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Phuket City Police helmet crackdown starts tomorrow
PHUKET: After more than two months of public awareness campaigning, Phuket City Police will tomorrow begin the enforcement of a long-ignored traffic law requiring all motorbike riders – including passengers – to wear crash helmets. Thai traffic law states that both drivers and passengers without helmets can be fined up to 500 baht. A driver transporting a passenger not wearing…
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Phuket arrest: Father remains jailed
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily digest of news from around the world compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community. World Cup? Get instantaneous scores and news updates right here on the Gazette Online (fed directly from FIFA). PHUKET: A father volunteered to remain in jail in the United States on Monday while awaiting trial on charges that he…
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Thailand warning on dengue fever
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily digest of news from around the world compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community. World Cup? Get instantaneous scores and news updates right here on the Gazette Online (fed directly from FIFA). PHUKET: Thailand is facing a major outbreak of dengue fever and cholera, which have killed 30 people over the past six…
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Phuket family to climb Mt Kinabalu
PHUKET: Two young sisters, nine-year-old Kasia Sambrook and her sister Alicia, 6, are in training to scale one of the largest mountains in the region next month in order to raise money for stray dogs. The two girls have their eyes on the 4,095-meter peak of Mount Kinabalu in Borneo, the fourth highest peak in the Malay Archipelago. All of…
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FC Phuket take on Trang FC Sunday
PHUKET: FC Phuket will take a giant step towards winning the Football Association of Thailand’s Division Two (Southern Section) if they can defeat Trang at home on Sunday. FC Phuket are currently two points clear of Trang, with a game in hand. The last time the two sides met, back in April, Trang handed the Southern Sea Kirin their first…
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Kathu culture fair a weekend hit
PHUKET: While many island residents partied the weekend away at the Phuket Music Festival in Karon, Kathu came to life with streetlights, red lanterns and numerous cultural activities as part of the second annual Kathu Culture Road street fair that took place on Kathu Soi 4. Funded at about 1 million baht, the three-night fair was an attempt by Kathu…
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Blackout in Phuket tomorrow
PHUKET: There will be a blackout in parts of Chalong tomorrow to allow workers to carry out maintenance on high voltage power lines, the Provincial Electricity Authority has announced. The power cut will last from approximately 9am to 4pm. The affected areas will be along the west side of Chao Fah West Road, from Soi Baan Krang to the Ananda…
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Woman fends off mugger in Phuket
PHUKET: A young woman last week fought off a would-be robber by biting his arm, causing the attacker to flee empty-handed down Soi Yodsane in Phuket. The incident happened around 4am on June 24 after the victim, Rhian ‘Fon’ Hartman, was leaving her job as a public relations officer at a well-known restaurant in Kathu. Ms Hartman drove on her…
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Ax murder ends World Cup dispute
NAKHON SRI THAMMARAT: A man hacked his boss to death with an ax following an argument over play in the 2010 FIFA World Cup, now into the knockout stages in South Africa. In the early hours of June 22, friends of Suwit Thongkhaha rushed the 42-year-old to hospital, but he was dead on arrival, the Thai-language newspaper Khao Sod (‘Fresh…
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Phuket flights: Air Bagan to Burma?
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily digest of news from around the world compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community. World Cup? Get instantaneous scores and news updates right here on the Gazette Online (fed directly from FIFA). PHUKET: Myanmar’s two private airlines have announced plans to purchase new aircraft to service new routes, including Phuket, in time for…
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Pair arrested in Phuket for robbery, rape
PHUKET: Tung Tong Police yesterday arrested two members of a gang allegedly responsible for a string of robberies in Patong and one brutal rape in Kathu. Police presented 30-year-old Kathu resident Manat Prabpai at a press conference at Tung Tong Police Station along with Adisak ‘Oom’ Rakkhanam, who was arrested yesterday while trying to escape from police after allegedly committing…
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Dengue Fever spreading in Phuket
PHUKET: The number of dengue fever cases in Phuket is soaring, according to the Phuket Provincial Public Health Office (PPHO). PPHO Director Narinrach Pichyakamin said figures released by the PPHO at a meeting of public health volunteers on June 17 showed 213 cases of dengue fever in Phuket from January 1 to June 12 this year. The initial target for…
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Something’s getting fishy in Phuket
PHUKET: Faced with high-tech detection technology and sniffer dogs, drug smugglers are resorting to stashing methamphetamine pills inside containers of fermented fish (pla raa) in an effort to hide their smell from authorities, Phuket Police say. Chalong Police held a press conference yesterday afternoon to announce the arrest of four suspects for possession of methamphetamine pills, known in Thailand as…
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Thailand prepares for earthquakes
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily digest of news from around the world compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community. World Cup? Get instantaneous scores and news updates right here on the Gazette Online (fed directly from FIFA). PHUKET: Pic caption: NREM Minister Suwit Khunkitti called on the public not to panic as Thailand is not situated near major…
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Yamaha pushes jet-skis as Phuket water safety solution
PHUKET: Thai and Australian lifeguard trainers last week staged a surf rescue demonstration at Karon Beach to show local officials how jet-skis, when properly used, can save lives rather than imperil them. Performing the demonstration were six trainers from the Bangkok-based Promedic Rescue Team and three trainers, headed by David Field, from Australia’s Surf Life Saving Association (SLSA). Mr Field…
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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