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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Breaking through: Phuket road near completion
WICHIT, PHUKET: The final stages of construction are set to begin on a long awaited road connecting the bypass road near HomeWorks to Ekwahnit Road behind Surakul stadium. Phuket Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop swung the project into action by helping demolish a wall with a sledgehammer on March 24. The 550-meter-long road, running behind Darasamuth School, was expected to have been…
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Phuket bike tragedy: three young lives lost
PHUKET: Three young women sharing a motorcycle died instantly in Phuket when a car traveling in the opposite direction veered into the wrong lane and hit them head on, police say. The accident took place around 4am on Chao Fa East Road close to the Kisalai Swimming Club near Kwang Road on Tuesday. Chuleeporn Primprai, 18, Pattarawan Boonpachuen, 20, and…
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Phuket rescuer: Italian’s boat “did not capsize’
KAMALA, PHUKET: An elderly Italian man found unconscious on a dinghy in Phuket’s Kamala Bay on Friday reportedly complained to his girlfriend of chest pains before setting out. Dinu Costa, 71, was later pronounced dead by doctors at Patong Hospital. Some local media reported that Mr Costa died after waves caused his boat to capsize. However, Phuket Ruamkatanyu Foundation rescue…
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Phuket yacht enthusiast ‘Boo’ dies
PHUKET: Local yachting enthusiast Boo Meesuk died this morning in Malaysia after falling ill while delivering a yacht to Phuket. Boo had been in a coma for more than two and a half weeks at a hospital in Terengganu. In a statement to members of the Ao Chalong Yacht Club (ACYC), Mick Kealy said, “It is with deep regret that…
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Private jets to rise in Phuket
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily, pocket-sized packet of news from around the world, compiled by Phuket Gazette reporters for foreigners who want it short, sharp and straight to the point. PHUKET: Thai business aircraft operator MJets has opened the country’s first dedicated fixed-base operation (FBO) at Bangkok’s Don Mueang airport to exploit the growing demand for business aviation throughout…
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Phuket beach clear of killer jellies
NAI HARN, PHUKET : The Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC) has found no evidence of deadly jellyfish on Nai Harn Beach.After the hospitalization of a four-year-old boy last week due to a jellyfish sting, PMBC researchers sampled the area by sweeping the waters with two nets at depths of 1.1 and 1.4 meters.The operation netted seven jellyfish of the painful…
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Fundraiser for Phuket yachtsman Boo Meesuk
PHUKET: The Ao Chalong Yacht Club (ACYC) in Phuket will host a fundraising event on Friday for local yacht enthusiast Boo Meesuk. About two and a half weeks ago, Boo fell seriously ill while delivering a yacht to Phuket. His condition was critical by the time the rest of the crew managed to get him to a hospital in Terengganu,…
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Phuket slaying: man murdered for making noise
RASSADA, PHUKET: Police are hunting two men they believe stabbed a neighbor to death in Phuket on Sunday night for making too much noise in an apartment block. Ponsan Noi-oonsaen, a 41-year-old Chiang Mai native, died around 10:30pm after being stabbed at least five times in the chest with what were described by a witness as “foot-long knives”. Thirty-year-old Teeradech…
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Fires rage again in Phuket
KOH KAEW, PHUKET: A forest fire threatened to scorch nearby communities in Phuket yesterday as it blazed through uninhabited forest. The fire began around 2:00pm in a stretch of forest about 300 meters from Tha Reua shrine, next to Jee Teng Villa in Koh Kaew. Fire engines from five local organizations were dispatched to the spreading blaze and had the…
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Readers’ Poll: Have protests put Phuket in the red?
PHUKET TOWN: With the latest red-shirt protests driving business away from Bangkok, we’re asking our readers about the effect the demonstrations have had on the Phuket tourism industry. Have the protests had a negative effect? Have they had a positive influence due to tourists being rerouted from Bangkok to Phuket? Or have they had no effect whatsoever? Have your say…
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FC Phuket trounce Pattani
PHUKET: FC Phuket cruised to a comfortable 3-0 victory over Pattani yesterday to solidify their status as the Division Two (southern section) league leaders. Goals from Diarra, Poramut and Sarach sealed the win as Pattani were able to offer little more than token resistance. The Southern Sea Kirin dominated early possession with the visitors struggling to string passes together. Pattani…
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Australian teacher held for sex abuse in Phuket
CHALONG, PHUKET: An Australian man has been arrested for allegedly sexually abusing a four-year-old male student at an international school in Phuket. Andrew Clements, 51, was arrested at his house in Chalong by Thalang Police at 8:15pm on Friday. The arrest came after a Thai woman told police Mr Clements abused her son in a toilet at Phuket International Academy…
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Phuket resorts may benefit from Malaysian challenge
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily, pocket-sized packet of news from around the world, compiled by Phuket Gazette reporters for foreigners who want it short, sharp and straight to the point. PHUKET: In defiance of the rudiments of free-market economics, Thailand’s neighbor Malaysia is raising – not lowering – room rates at its five-star hotels in order to compete more…
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Phuket fraud: ladyboy purchases hard time
PATONG, PHUKET: A transsexual supermarket cashier was arrested in Phuket for stealing the chief of Kathu District’s credit card and using it to buy a notebook computer. Sarayut Yunu, a 24-year-old employee at a well known Patong supermarket, failed to return Kathu District Chief Siriphat Phathakul’s card after a transaction on March 12. After Mr Siriphat left the store, Pattani…
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Bank cards, deposits at peril in Phuket
PHUKET OPINION: Two recent fraud cases, and a third one currently under investigation by this newspaper, highlight the continuing need for personal vigilance in protecting funds deposited in local banks. Last week a Phuket supermarket cashier admitted to buying a laptop computer using a credit card belonging to none other than the chief of Kathu District, Siriphat Phathakul. [See front…
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Phuket calm as protests intensify
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily, pocket-sized packet of news from around the world, compiled by Phuket Gazette reporters for foreigners who want it short, sharp and straight to the point. PHUKET: Thousands of opposition activists paraded through Thailand’s sprawling capital on Saturday in a bid to attract people from Bangkok’s middle classes to their anti-government campaign. Reuters reports that…
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Update: Phuket Murder of Dr Somchai
PHUKET TOWN: Police are investigating possible connections between the murder of Dr Somchai Wongbunterng and an altercation between the victim and a group of teenagers earlier this week. Dr Somchai was gunned down outside his own clinic just after noon in Phuket Town on Thursday. Jack Mai, one of the doctor’s employees, told police that two men pulled up in…
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Phuket football on a roll
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily, pocket-sized packet of news from around the world, compiled by Phuket Gazette reporters for foreigners who want it short, sharp and straight to the point. PHUKET: Football officials in Phuket have high hopes that the island will become the next haven for the AFC’s Vision Asia program. The Asian Football Confederation (AFC), headquartered in…
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Phuket flooding: Mayor Pian fights back
PATONG, PHUKET: Patong Mayor Pian Keesin has launched an ambitious program of public works in a bid to prevent a repeat of the flooding that deluged Phuket’s premier resort town during last year’s monsoon season. Mayor Pian said he guaranteed that the four projects underway would be complete before the rains start this year. “I’m not saying there will be…
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Young French boy in Phuket jellyfish attack
NAI HARN, PHUKET: A four-year-old French boy is expected to make a full recovery from a jellyfish sting on Nai Harn Beach this afternoon thanks to the quick thinking of two former Phuket lifeguards. The two men, who now work as beach vendors, rushed to help Aymeric Roussel after he was pulled from the surf screaming. “We poured vinegar over…
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Phuket tourism titans optimistic for 2010
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily, pocket-sized packet of news from around the world, compiled by Phuket Gazette reporters for foreigners who want it short, sharp and straight to the point. PHUKET: Somboon Chirayus, president of the Phuket Tourism Association, says the island should gain more visitors this year as many airlines plan to add more charter flights into Phuket…
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Buses the new solution to Phuket transport woes
PHUKET: Plans for a light rail system spanning Phuket have been scrapped in favor of the much cheaper option of scheduling new bus routes, it recently emerged. “We will no longer refer to this project as the light rail or monorail system project,” said Phuket Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop. “We will now refer to it as the Bus Rapid Transit system…
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Monk kills monk
PHUKET: A monk was stabbed to death after boasting that the talismans (amulets) hanging from his neck made his skin impenetrable to weapons. Phra Sunantha Phongsu-wan, 44, died in hospital earlier this month from a single stab wound to his chest. Witnesses reported that the previous evening Phra Sunantha and his friend Phra Sathien Khamphira, 55, had been at Samnak…
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Doctor gunned down in Phuket Town
PHUKET TOWN: A well known doctor was gunned down in a drive-by killing outside his own clinic in Phuket Town today. Police found the body of Dr Somchai Wongbunterng, 47, on the sidewalk outside Somchai International Clinic on Wichit Songkhram Road in Phuket Town around midday. He had been shot in the head. Phuket City Police Deputy Commander Komol Wattraporn…
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Phuket bemused as protests fizzle
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily, pocket-sized packet of news from around the world, compiled by Phuket Gazette reporters for foreigners who want it short, sharp and straight to the point. PHUKET: The mass anti-government rally in Thailand appears to be losing steam. Tens of thousands have returned to their farms. They drew nowhere near the promised million protesters. But…
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Dam fine: Phuket beauty spot gets overhaul
KATHU, PHUKET: Bang Wad Dam, one of Phuket’s most popular leisure spots, is getting a huge overhaul to turn it into a fully fledged recreational park. A project is underway to add a new drainage system, a new bike path, new landscaping and build what is being called “the most beautiful toilet in Phuket.” Overseeing the makeover is Phuket Irrigation…
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News Hound: Protests waning, Phuket remains quiet
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily, pocket-sized packet of news from around the world, compiled by Phuket Gazette reporters for foreigners who want it short, sharp and straight to the point. PHUKET: Protesters spilled what they say is their own blood at the gates of Thailand’s Government House late yesterday in what canada.com described as “a colourful act of political…
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Phuket’s Ironman to climb Mont Blanc – for local charity
PHUKET: Les Bird’s teeth are clenched, muscles taut and body drenched in sweat as he sprints the last leg of his training hike to the summit of Nakkerd Hill in Chalong. As he heaves off his 40 kilogram bag and glances at his watch, Les scolds himself for finishing his training hike in under an hour. “I need to slow…
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Phuket about-turn: Patong one-way to be reversed
PATONG, PHUKET: There could be a turnaround in Patong’s traffic woes by the year’s end. Mayor Pian Keesin has announced plans to redirect the one-way system in Phuket’s tourist epicenter from clockwise to anticlockwise. Newly appointed Kathu Police Superintendent Arayapan Pukbuakao said earlier this month that the current system, which came into effect in 2007, “not only confuses people but…
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Norwegian’s nose broken in Phuket punch-up
KATA, PHUKET: A 69-year-old Norwegian tourist sustained a fractured nose and other facial injuries after he was reportedly attacked while enjoying his morning coffee in Phuket on March 12. Kristian Kristiansen claims he was sitting on the porch of his ground floor room at Moon Shine Apartments in Kata when he was approached by a leather-clad Thai man with long…
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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