Phuket News
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Why long-term expats in Thailand say insurance is worth every baht
Thailand’s warm weather, low cost of living, and good healthcare attract many long-term expats, including retirees and remote workers. Life here feels easy and affordable, but medical costs can be high if something goes wrong. Private hospitals are popular because...
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Phuket Songkran road fatalities still on zero
PHUKET: After two days of the Songkran ‘Seven Days of Danger’ road safety campaign, not a single person has died in a road accident in Phuket, but that hasn’t stopped drunk drivers from spilling onto the roads and into the hospitals. According to the Phuket office of the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM), which is compiling road-toll statistics…
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No late closing times for Phuket bars during Songkran
PHUKET: All bars in Phuket must close at their regular closing times tonight and throughout the Songkran holidays, Governor Tri Augkaradacha has announced. “We have no policy to allow bars and entertainment venues to extend trading hours during this Songkran,” Governor Tri told the Gazette. “It is not like holidays during the high season, when we allow them to stay…
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Phuket father of three claims malpractice left wife in coma
PHUKET: A distraught husband has complained to the local media that his wife is now in a coma following complications after a Cesarean-section childbirth operation at a well-known private hospital on the island. Arthit Boonnark, 47, told reporters gathered at Bangkok Hospital Phuket yesterday that his wife, 38-year-old Pariporn Jantarothai, fell into a coma not long after giving birth to…
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Phuket kicks off Songkran with Patong parade
PHUKET: Tourists from all parts of Phuket will be “heading over the hill” this evening to enjoy a special Songkran Parade to mark the arrival of the Thai New Year tomorrow. Featuring entrants representing 28 different groups and organizations, the Patong parade will set off from Phang Muang Sai Kor Road, behind Jungceylon, at 5pm. The parade will head south…
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Songkran takes to the sky over Phuket
PHUKET: PHUKET is in for a spectacular treat this afternoon and tomorrow (April 13) when the island’s first “Sky High” show occurs over Patong Beach – weather permitting. The highlight of the show will see world renowned stunt pilot Les Vorosmarthy performing breathtaking aerobatcs in his 350 horsepower, Extra 300L stunt plane. Les will be performing spins, stalls, slips, slides,…
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Phuket Live Wire: Watching the CAT suck through the same straw
PHUKET: Live wire reader “RT” recently compiled a one-day profile of international Internet download speeds in Kamala, on Phuket’s west coast, from CAT’s wireless network. The raw data is posted on PhuketInternetSpeed.com. I’ve heard of problems with CAT’s CDMA/EV-DO network in Kamala for years. People who try to connect from different parts of Kamala get very different speeds, depending on…
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Brit arrested in Phuket coke bust
PHUKET: A 43-year-old British man was arrested for possession of cocaine at his Phuket home earlier today. The man was caught at 4:45am with 33 packages of cocaine weighing 0.9 gram each at a house on Nanai Road in Patong. The arrest followed a police complaint by a Thai woman claiming to be his wife. She told Patong Police he…
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Warehouse gutted in Phuket Town blaze
PHUKET: A warehouse blaze took Phuket firefighters about 30 minutes to extinguish early this morning. Phuket City Police at 2:30am received a report of a fire on Wirat Hongyok Road, a few doors down from the Lotus Express shop. By the time Phuket City and Wichit Municipality firefighters arrived, there was little they could do to save the warehouse, which…
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Phuket Bike Week rolls on
PHUKET: The official festivities for Phuket Bike Week 2011 draw to a close in Patong tonight after another full day of big bike fun and games, live music and road trips around the island. At 4pm today, a convoy of riders will leave Loma Park on Patong Beach, the main rallying point and concert venue for Phuket Bike Week this…
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Phuket Public Transport: Cartels continue in the driver’s seat
PHUKET: The latest fiasco at Phuket’s Deep Sea Port once again underscores the need for an immediate overhaul of the island’s public transport system, but the results of the talks that ended this latest blockade confirm that reform will not be coming soon. (See front-page story, current issue of the Phuket Gazette. Digital subscribers click here to download the full…
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Cambodia outlaws ‘sham’ marriages – is Phuket next?
PHUKET: If you are a non-Khmer male and over the age of 50, or make less than US$2,500 a month – and you’re seeking a bride – roughly five million women of marrying age have now been put off-limits for you. If you’re a Khmer woman, you have, as of this month, effectively been denied the right to freely choose…
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Sick dolphin dies in Phuket
PHUKET: Despite the best efforts of veterinarians, the bottle-nose dolphin rescued off Phuket on Saturday died earlier today. Patcharaporn Kaewmong of the Marine Endangered Species Unit at the Phuket Marine Biological Center confirmed that the two-meter-long cetacean took its last breath at around 3am, following five days of intensive treatment at the facility. An initial examination of the body was…
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Work on Phuket’s rival marina in Krabi well underway
PHUKET: Phuket’s rising popularity as a sailing destination is straining the capacity of the island’s four yacht marinas, particularly during high season. Fortunately for the region’s yachting community, work is well underway on a rival facility, Port Takola Marina, under construction across Phang Nga Bay in Krabi. Robert Reynolds, a property consultant working on the project, recently told The New…
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Yantai delegation lobbies fruit, tourism trade links
PHUKET: A delegation from Yantai City in Shandong province, China, met Phuket Vice Governor Weerawat Janpen at Provincial Hall today to discuss commercial exchange in fruit, local products and tourism. Huang Yewen, Deputy Director of the China (Yantai) Asia-Pacific World Trade Center, opened the talks by inviting Phuket officials to attend the 12th International Fruit Vegetable Food Exposition to be…
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Phuket Songkran ‘Seven Days of Danger’ road safety campaign announced
PHUKET: The Interior Ministry has set the “target number” of Phuket road accident deaths at two for the upcoming Songkran Festival, during which police will be under orders to strictly enforce provisions in the Alcohol Control Act. San Jantrawong, who heads the Phuket Office of the Departent of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM-Phuket), said the Interior Ministry’s national Road Safety…
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Phuket student to represent Thailand in international public speaking competition
PHUKET: Former QSI Phuket student Philip Songkran Upton has won the International Public Speaking Competition (Thailand) 2011. He will represent Thailand in the global finals of the competition in London in May this year. Philip was one of four Stamford International University (STIU) students who competed against 14 other students in the semi-final round of the competition on February 25.…
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Phuket tourism players hold “fire sale’ for flood victims
PHUKET: Representatives from Phuket’s tourism industry will be at Siam Paragon in Bangkok this weekend selling bargain-priced holiday packages to raise money for flood victims. Phuket Tourist Association (PTA) President Somboon Jirayus said he expected to raise more than 1.5 million baht from the campaign, which aims to sell 1,000 Phuket tour packages. All proceeds will be handed over to…
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Phuket’s sick dolphin now comatose, clinging to life
PHUKET: The future appears grim for the sick bottlenose dolphin rescued by marine biologists off Phuket last week. Paralyzed and comatose, the cetacean is now being kept alive by life support measures provided by staff at the Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC). Fourteen staff at the PMBC Marine Endangered Species Unit are currently working around the clock to keep the…
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Phuket Chinese celebrate Qingming
PHUKET: Phuket families of ethnic Chinese descent have been busy this week tending to the graves of their departed ancestors as part of the traditional Qingming Festival. This year’s Qingming festivities will take place at Chinese burial grounds around the island, where believers tidy up and make offerings they believe will bring them prosperity and good fortune, while helping to…
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Taxis blockade Phuket cruise passengers – again
PHUKET: The latest taxi and tuk-tuk blockade at the Phuket Deep Sea Port led to a victory for the drivers, who from today will be given a “50-50 share” of access to disembarking cruise ship passengers. Vice Governor Nivit Aroonrat, Phuket City Police chief Chote Chitchai and local Marine Police brokered the agreement at about noon today, four hours after…
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Canadian seeks support for B900mn Phuket aquarium project
PHUKET: A Canadian expat is seeking support from the Phuket Provincial Office for his plan to develop a 900-million-baht aquarium in Rawai. Accompanied by Rawai Mayor Aroon Solos, businessman Daniel McDaniel today presented his proposal to Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha at Provincial Hall. As managing director of Phuket Ocean Front Co Ltd, Mr McDaniel said Phuket still possesses huge tourism…
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Phuket’s Thung Thong Walking Street opens
PHUKET: Kathu Municipality is hosting a street fair until tomorrow evening to boost the local Phuket economy, entertain tourists and showcase the area’s unique local history. The event is taking place on Thung Thong Road, located off Wichit Songkram Road westbound between the entrances to Phuket Country Club and Bang Wad Reservoir. Local food stalls, stage performances, handmade local products…
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FC Phuket v Songkhla FC match postponed
PHUKET: FC Phuket’s mid-week home fixture with Songkhla, originally scheduled for tomorrow night, has been postponed indefinitely by the league – presumably due to the recent flooding. A huge contingent was expected to be on hand for the match, as tens of thousands of Phuket residents hail from Songkhla and a number of their supporters were planning to travel to…
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Phuket YouTube girl “not dead’, but another woman’s body found
PHUKET: Phuket authorities have dismissed as inaccurate a video clip posted on You Tube today showing a woman lying beside a road in Rawai – presented by whomever made the clip as if she were dead. The video clip is labelled “Body of a young girl found in Rawai / Phuket on 4th of April” “The woman certainly was not…
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Phuket tailor shop goes up in flames
PHUKET: Fire ravaged a two-storey tailor shop and damaged other units in a row of shophouses on the Patong beach road, on Phuket’s west coast, early this morning. Motorbike taxi driver Wirote Thongthep alerted the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation division of Patong Municipality of the blaze at about 3:45am. Eight fire trucks and 18 officials from the division rushed to…
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Serial rapist confesses to Phuket Police
PHUKET: A serial rapist who preyed on young female members of the Phuket ethnic Nepali community is behind bars tonight after confessing to multiple charges of sexual assault, robbery and impersonating a policeman. The accused, 30-year-old Phakpoom Maneerat, was presented to the media at a press conference at Patong Police Station at 10:30am. The gravity of the case was evidenced…
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Burmese denied basic human rights in Phuket: poll
PHUKET: A majority of Gazette readers think unregistered migrant workers from Burma are denied basic human rights here in Phuket. Overall, more than half of those taking part (56.5%) answered “yes” to the question: ‘Do you think unregistered migrants workers from Burma are denied basic human rights in Phuket?’ This was more than twice the number who answered “no” (20.4%).…
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Phuket experts treating sick dolphin
PHUKET: Experts at the Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC) are nursing a sick bottlenose dolphin back to health after it was found floating in the polluted shallows of Klong Tha Cheen in Rassada yesterday. The dolphin, fully grown at around two metres long, is being looked after by the Marine Endangered Species Unit at the PMBC, located at Cape Panwa.…
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No landslides in Phuket: Officials
PHUKET: Vice Governor Nivit Aroonrat and Phuket Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Chief San Jantharawong yesterday dispelled landslide warnings for two areas in the north of Phuket. The two top officials inspected Baan Phru Somparn in Thepkrasattri Subdistrict and Baan Mak Prok in Mai Khao, both in Thalang District, after the government Disaster Relief Committee included the two villages on its…
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Stars join Thai, Japan disaster relief event in Phuket
PHUKET: Guitarist Yuki Masahiko of popular Japanese rock band Lucifer will join a bevy of Thai stars at a “walking street” event on Thalang Road in Phuket Town on April 9 and 10. The event is being held to raise money for victims of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan, and the recent flooding and mudslides in southern…
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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