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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5 hidden healthcare costs in Thailand and how to avoid them
Thailand's healthcare system is affordable and supported by the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) scheme, offering essential services to most citizens. However, hidden healthcare costs can surprise patients and lead to unexpected expenses. These include specialist fees, insurance gaps, emergency services,...
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Two firsts for Phuket King’s Cup 2010
PHUKET: In a move to broaden the appeal of yacht racing and support youth sailing in the region, organizers of the Phuket King’s Cup Regatta have announced two major changes to the annual international event. It was announced yesterday that, for the first time, in the regatta’s 24-year history, dinghies will race as part of the official King’s Cup Regatta…
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August drug cases up 70% year-on-year: Phuket Police
PHUKET: August has seen a 70% jump in the number of reported drug cases year-on-year in Phuket, according to statistics released by the Phuket Provincial Police. According to the statistics, 333 were people arrested in 305 drug cases last month, a 70.1% increase on the number of cases reported in August 2009. However, the numbers for last month were down…
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Phuket murder suspect Lee Aldhouse faces swift extradition from UK
PHUKET: The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) in Bangkok has petitioned UK authorities to place Lee Aldhouse under provisional arrest when he is released from Wormwood Scrubs Prison in London on September 24. Mr Aldhouse, 28, is wanted for the stabbing murder of former US Marine Dashawn Longfellow in Rawai on August 14. The incident occurred after a brawl…
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New Phuket hospital to open next year: Paiboon
PHUKET: The long-awaited Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (PPAO) Hospital is likely to open early next year, PPAO President Paiboon Upatising has told the Gazette. The hospital was scheduled to start offering limited medical services last month, but procedural delays have deferred the planned “soft opening”. The PPAO is still waiting for the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) in Bangkok…
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Phuket sea gypsy cultural center moves ahead
PHUKET: The award-winning design of the Orang Laut Culture Center is one big step closer to construction now that the extra budget needed has been approved. The Phuket Cultural Office (PCO) announced they will soon be seeking tenders for construction. The center, which takes its name from the Malay Orang Laut, meaning “sea people”, will be built at Baan Laem…
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Phuket engineer slain in Cherng Talay
CHERNG TALAY: A construction engineer was gunned down yesterday evening on the main road linking Thalang Town and Cherng Talay. Cherng Talay Police received a report at 9:30pm that a man had been shot dead on Baan Don-Cherng Talay Road. Arriving at the scene, Superintendent Witoon Kongsudjai and duty officer Capt Tatchagrit Ritnuang found the bloody, bullet-riddled body of Sirichai…
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Phuket police grill prime suspect in karaoke girl murder
PHUKET: The prime suspect in the investigation into the murder of a karaoke hostess whose body was found south of Patong on Tuesday presented himself at Chalong Police Station yesterday morning. Phitsanulok native Nipon “Maew” Pongpanit, 20, was subjected to more than 10 hours of questioning by police. He was wanted for questioning over the rape and murder of his…
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Phuket blackouts: Chalong tomorrow, Rawai Friday
PHUKET: The Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) has announced scheduled blackouts in Chalong tomorrow and in Rawai on Friday, in order to continue its work on power lines in those areas. The power outages will take place from 9am to 4pm on both days. The following areas will be affected: September 16, Chalong: East side of Chao Fa West Road, from…
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Qatar Air ready for Phuket; Sheraton Phuket eyes mice
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily digest of news about Thailand from around the world, compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community. Qatar Air to launch daily flights to Phuket PHUKET: Qatar Airways will expand and strengthen its first and business class offerings with the addition of Phuket to the airline’s Thailand routes. The daily service to and from…
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Phuket’s dirtiest road set for October cleanup
PHUKET: After months of dumped trash piling up along Pracha Uthit Road in Rassada, efforts to clean up the mess will start October 1, Rassada Municipality has confirmed. Nichmon Keatmanee, Director of the municipality’s Public Health and Environment Division, said: “We admit that Pracha Uthit Rd is under the responsibility of Rassada Municipality. We have a private company to pick…
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Phuket police identify karaoke murder victim
PHUKET: Police this afternoon identified the body of the woman who was raped, murdered and abandoned in the hills just south of Patong. They told the Gazette the corpse was that of karaoke hostess Anicha Khaigunha, 21, from Khon Kaen. Her body was found about three kilometers from Sirirat Rd, halfway between Patong and Karon, by waterworks contractor Ong-ard Kongkaew,…
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SUCCESS: Phuket sea gypsies salvage oil carrier
PHUKET: A team of sea gypsy divers have successfully re-floated and towed ashore the Choke Taworn 6, which sunk in heavy seas off Phuket earlier this month with an estimated 25,000 liters of diesel fuel aboard. The team, led by Surin Pramongkij, successfully brought the vessel to the surface at 11am. The boat was then towed by its sister vessel…
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Phuket sea gypsies perform turtle exorcism ritual
PHUKET: Sea gypsies in Rawai held an exorcism ceremony on Mai Thon Island recently to seek forgiveness from their guardian spirit. They were hoping to appease spirit Balai Da Toe after two fellow sea gypsies died from food poisoning in June after eating Hawksbill turtle meat. Many others fell seriously ill, but survived the meal. The late-August ceremony, involving the…
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Phuket Town tackles power line problem
PHUKET: Phuket City Municipality, working with the Provincial Electric Authority and public and private telecommunication companies, on Saturday began stripping down unused power lines and other overhead cables along Mae Luan Rd in Phuket Town. Phuket City Mayor Somjai Suwansupapana told the Gazette the pilot project is part of a municipal plan to beautify Old Phuket Town and surrounding areas.…
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“Passion for Fashion” show raises money for Phuket charity
PHUKET: Over 250 Phuket locals and tourists raised a whopping 250,000 baht for underprivileged children at the Andara Resort & Villa’s “Passion for Fashion” charity fashion show in Kamala on Sunday afternoon. Resort General Manager Andrew Whitaker said the event was a “win, win” for all involved, with 100% of proceeds from all tickets going to a worthy cause. The…
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Phuket siren song: DDPM chief says “pump up the volume’
PHUKET: The head of Thailand’s Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM) pronounced this morning’s tsunami evacuation drill in Patong an overall success, but said he would call for an increase in the volume of the “siren song” from the Soi Bangla tower so that it can be better heard in windy conditions. More than 1,000 people, mostly students from…
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Call for action over illegal Burmese workers in Phuket
PHUKET: The Phuket Chamber of Commerce (PCC) is demanding that action be taken to deal with the the large and growing population of Burmese in Phuket. Dr Sirichai Silapa-archa, chairman of the PCC and also a deputy director at Vachira Phuket Hospital, told the Gazette that the number of newborns at Vachira alone ranges from about 60 to 100 a…
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Art Village Weekend at Royal Phuket Marina
PHUKET: Art lovers will want to visit Royal Phuket Marina (RPM) on September 18 and 19, designated “Art Village Weekend”. The weekend includes several forms of art and music, including paintings, sculptures, mixed media, handmade products, batik apparel, postcards, tattoos, performance art, shadow puppet shows as well as performances by local bands and other talented artists. All are invited to…
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Phuket convention center should open mid-2014
PHUKET: Work on a world-class conference and exhibition center for Phuket should begin next year and be ready to open by mid-2014, project consultants told two recent public hearings. The meetings about the proposed Phuket International Convention and Exhibition Center (Phuket-ICEC), planned for the island’s northern tip, met with no serious opposition, but some concerns over environmental impact and infrastructure…
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Thai attitude to foreign labor needs urgent fix
BANGKOK: If Thailand is to move forward as a nation, we have a moral obligation to be fair. In what is billed as the largest human-trafficking case ever brought by the US federal government, six contractors have been accused of a scheme to hold 400 Thai workers in virtual slavery on farms in Hawaii and Washington State. Global Horizons Manpower…
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Phuket primed for tsunami warning drill
PHUKET: The National Disaster Warning Center (NDWC) has confirmed the precise times the NDWC will sound the tsunami warning towers in the six Andaman provinces, including Phuket, during the full-scale evacuation drill on Monday. Dr Somsak Khaosuwan, director of the NDWC’s warning system management team, this morning told the Gazette that the tsunami warning towers will sound at four times:…
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Phuket Punchline Comedy returns in October
PHUKET: Following the success of its sell-out show in June, the Phuket Punchline Comedy Club will return to the Holiday Inn Resort in Patong on October 13 with three more top-class comedians. Set to take the stage this time are Englishman Pierre Hollins, Australian Darren Sanders and Philberto from Portugal. Pierre Hollins claims the only “proper jobs” he’s ever had…
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Phuket to host ‘Alternative Ownership’ conference
PHUKET: Some 150 delegates are expected to descend on Phuket next month for the second Alternative Ownership Conference for Resorts and Hotels – Asia Pacific (AOCAP) at the Millennium Resort in Patong. “Following the success of the inaugural AOCAP conference in 2009, we are excited to announce AOCAP 2010 will take place 10-12 October in Phuket,” said Bryan Lunt, Chairman…
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U-turn scheme planned to solve Phuket bus woes
PHUKET: Hopes are being pinned on a novel approach to traffic control to solve the problem of how cross-country buses will head north after departing Phuket’s new provincial bus terminal on Thepkrasattri Rd southbound in Rassada. How buses will head north is one of two crucial issues facing the new terminal, which has been sitting idle since its completion in…
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Diesel salvage mission off Phuket still on hold
PHUKET: Efforts to salvage the sunken Choke Thaworn 6 and its cargo of some 25,000 liters of diesel fuel remain on hold today due to big waves and strong currents. Members of the media were yesterday taken aboard a Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMCR) vessel to the site, 12 nautical miles off Phuket’s southwest coast. At the site…
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Pheu Thai presents reconciliation plan to Phuket
PHUKET: A regional spokesman for the opposition Pheu Thai Party was in Phuket yesterday to promote the party’s plan for national reconciliation. Chaturont Kochasiha addressed an audience of party coordinators and the media at the new Pheu Thai ‘Andaman Operations Center’ in the Phuket City Home estate in Rassada. Mr Chaturont said he had come to the island to help…
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Phuket mulls Muslim prayer hall for Laem Phromthep
PHUKET: Phuket’s Laem Promthep may soon have a Muslim prayer hall (surau), says Rawai Mayor Aroon Solos. The mayor has confirmed that Rawai Municipality is considering plans to build such a facility on the iconic peninsula at the southernmost tip of Phuket island. The surau, if built, is to provide a place for the Muslim faithful to perform prayers while…
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Corpse confusion: mix-up in Phuket morgue
PHUKET: Mourners at the funeral of a British man in Chalong were shocked to discover that the corpse handed over to them by staff at Vachira Phuket Hospital was not his, but that of an unidentified Westerner. William John “Bill” Young, 61, of Ipswich, England, passed away in his sleep on Friday, September 3, a friend told the Gazette. Friends…
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Lifeguard expert in Phuket calls for new rescue equipment
PHUKET: Ahead of the Phuket Surf Life Saving Carnival in Patong this Saturday, an expert surf lifesaving trainer from Australia has called for Phuket lifeguards to introduce different equipment to help them save lives at Phuket beaches. David Field, an assessor with Surf Life Saving Australia (SLSA) with 20 years’ experience in lifesaving, has called for Phuket lifeguards to use…
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Toxic waste collection drive in Phuket
PHUKET: A special tent has been set up at Saphan Hin as a collection point for toxic waste materials for safe, off-island disposal.The project, started on Monday, invites households, businesses and government organizations to bring any and all toxic waste to the tent, located near the basketball gymnasium.Light bulbs, batteries of all sorts, toxic packaging and other dangerous materials not…
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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