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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For those who have travelled throughout Thailand, 12Go is a well-known provider of various trips, though the platform itself has a much wider reach. Ranging from buses to planes, 12Go is undoubtedly a leading booking platform for travel throughout the...
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Phuket ‘surfer girl’ takes another title
PHUKET: Annisa Flynn, an 11-year-old from Chalong, took top honors in the under-15 category of the Rip Curl GromSearch Surf Series at Kata Beach on Saturday. The event, the second leg of the 2010 Phuket series, was held under very rainy and windy conditions. Despite this, competitors as young as four years of age took part. The GromSearch series is…
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Phuket oil scare ends; Phuket probes asthma
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily digest of news about Thailand from around the world, compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community. Phuket oil spill alert ends PHUKET: A Phuket provincial marine official says no more oil is leaking from the sunken tanker. Bhuripat Theerakulpisut told The Nation yesterday that the stricken vessel, the Choke Tavorn 6, was carrying…
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Phuket set for Indians; Storms ravage Thailand
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily digest of news about Thailand from around the world, compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community. Phuket set for Indian Travel Congress Phuket: The Travel Agents’ Association of India (TAAI) is expecting 800 to 1,000 delegates, including spouses, to attend their 59th annual convention – the Indian Travel Congress – in Phuket. The…
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Phuket Oil Spill: diesel slick drifting toward Phi Phi Islands
PHUKET: A large plume of diesel fuel emanating from the wreck of the Choke Thavorn 6 fuel tanker that sunk in heavy seas off Phuket yesterday is heading in the general direction of the Phi Phi Islands in Phuket’s neighboring province Krabi. Crew aboard Royal Thai Navy helicopters monitoring the situation told a reporter from the state-run MCOT news agency…
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Phuket pow wow over illegal alien workers
PHUKET: The number of illegal alien workers in Phuket is around 200,000, it was announced at a Senate committee meeting in Phuket on Friday. About 150 government officers, senators and private-sector representatives met at the Kata Beach Resort on Friday morning to brainstorm better ways to legalize the estimated 1.5 million illegal workers from neighboring countries, especially Burma. Suvit Meksereekul,…
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Fuel boat sinks off Phuket: 40,000-liter spill feared
PHUKET: A boat carrying 40,000 liters of oil sank in heavy seas off Phuket yesterday, prompting fears of environmental damage if the vessel could not be salvaged in time. Phuket Marine Police deputy commander Prasert Srikhunrat received a distress call from the crew of Choke Thavorn 6 at about 11am. The vessel was delivering the oil from a tank farm…
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Phuket artificial reef a hit with divers
PHUKET: Officials are trumpeting the success of an artificial coral reef off Racha Yai Island, some 25 kilometers south of Phuket, that has become a hit with foreign and Thai divers. As many as 100 divers are visiting the “Star Ruby Point” reef every day, according to Paitoon Panchaipum, director of the Department of Marine Coastal Resources in Phuket (DMCR).…
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Phuket Town in Bangkok; Phuket King’s Cup
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily digest of news about Thailand from around the world, compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community. Phuket Town now in Bangkok Phuket Town is now in Bangkok with the opening of a new restaurant called… well, ‘Phuket Town’. It’s at the corner of Thonglor Soi 6, off Sukhumvit Soi 55, and with a…
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Bt126m funding for Phuket development projects
PHUKET: The central government has approved some 126 million baht for Phuket development projects to be carried out during Fiscal Year 2011, which starts on October 1, 2010. Five Andaman coast provinces were allocated more than 641 million baht in total for local development projects. Trang had the most funding, 140 million baht, followed by Krabi (Bt135m), Phuket (Bt126m), Phang…
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Tsunami drill in Phuket this month
PHUKET: The National Disaster Warning Center (NDWC) has announced that a full-scale tsunami evacuation drill will be conducted simultaneously in the six Andaman coast provinces on September 13. All 127 tsunami warning towers in the region will be sounded from 9:30am to 10:30am. The 19 towers in Phuket are located at: Mai Khao, Nai Yang, Bang Tao, Kamala, Patong, Kata,…
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No sex, but lots of vegetables in Phuket next month
PHUKET: Skewered and entranced maa song (‘spirit mediums’, or ‘devotees’) will again embody the gods for next month’s Vegetarian Festival in Phuket. For most local celebrants the festival means nine days of abstention from sex and alcohol, and rigid adherence to a vegetarian diet. Mind-blowing processions, ear-splitting firecrackers, traffic jams, peaceful chants and vegetarian food return to Phuket to reveal…
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Philippine Ambassador puts Phuket tourism on the agenda
PHUKET: In her first official visit to Phuket as Philippine Ambassador to Thailand, Linglingay F. Lacanlale today met Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop to discuss a range of issues. At the top of the agenda was promoting the cross-flow of tourists between the Philippines and Phuket. “This is the one area that I am looking into. We both can learn from each…
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More mangrove encroachment in Phuket
PHUKET: Swift action by a Phuket village headman saved several rai of mangrove forest from destruction by encroachers, but not before three rai had already been cut down. Sinchai Limsakul, headman of Palai Village in Chalong, alerted police to the destruction at 4pm yesterday. Some of the uprooted trees were planted by Chalong Tambon Administration, government officers and villagers in…
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Phuket tourism firms win TAT awards
PHUKET: Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has announced the names of nine local tourism businesses and associations awarded prizes in the 8th Annual Thailand Tourism Awards. The biennial awards are designed to instill awareness and promote responsible management in tourism among tourism entrepreneurs, ultimately leading to sustainable tourism. Bangornrat Shinaprayoon, director of the TAT South Region 4 Office in Phuket…
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Laundry larceny: the gig’s up for Phuket garment grabber
PHUKET: Kathu Police raided a house in Patong early Wednesday morning and arrested a Thai woman who stole clothes from laundry shops and sold them as secondhand garments. Officers led by Lt Col Sakon Bunditsak arrested Ruengrin Sukbunjong, 30, from Phang Nga, at her house in Patong. Seized as evidence during the raid were about 300 items of clothing, ranging…
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FC Phuket out of Toyota League Cup after 3-1 loss in Saraburi
PHUKET: FC Phuket are out of the Toyota League Cup after losing to Thai Premier League side Osotspa Saraburi 3-1 last night. Trailing 2-1 from the first leg defeat at the Surakul Stadium last Sunday, FC Phuket faced the daunting task of defeating Osotspa Saraburi on the road if they were to progress to the second round of the cup.…
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Ron Fanelli still at Phuket Prison
PHUKET: Ronald Fanelli, confessed killer of bar hostess Wanphen Pienjai, today blamed local media coverage for being partly responsible for his decision not to surrender himself to authorities before his arrest. Mr Fanelli spoke to the Gazette briefly today from Phuket Prison, where he is being held for the stabbing murder of Ms Wanphen, a 33-year-old bar hostess at the…
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More sewage treatment for Phuket
PHUKET: Karon Municipality will levy charges on hotels, restaurants and other small businesses in the area for the wastewater they produce. The scheme, to start in October, will affect hotels and businesses in Karon, Kata and Kata Noi. Restaurants will be charged a flat rate of 5.25 baht per operating square meter, and hotels will be billed at 84 baht…
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Phuket’s BIS wins “Best in Thailand’ school award
PHUKET: The British International School Phuket (BIS) has triumphed as the “Best Provider of International Education for 2010” in the Prime Minister’s Export Awards. Collecting the prize in person from PM Abhisit Vejjajiva at Government House in Bangkok last week was BIS Headmaster Dr George Hickman. In a recent school newsletter, Dr Hickman explained that the award follows hot on…
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Identity of Russian car crash fatality in Phuket revealed
PHUKET: The Russian diplomatic mission in Phuket has identified the foreign woman who died in a car crash near Tesco-Lotus on Thursday as 33-year-old Vera Lovtsova, a Russian citizen who was employed by a tour company in Phuket. For the Gazette‘s initial report of the tragedy click here. The confirmation was made by Santi Udomkiratak, Deputy Honorary Consul of the…
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More Dragons for Phuket; Siam Makro expanding
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily digest of news about Thailand from around the world, compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community. More Dragons for Phuket PHUKET: Dragon Air intends to increase services on its Hong Kong-Phuket route. Cathay Pacific Airways, parent company of Dragon Air, says traffic to Phuket is robust with an average load factor of 90…
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High-tech drug detectors too expensive for Phuket
PHUKET: Top provincial officers have balked at a plan to install a drug-detecting “X-ray machine” at the Tah Chat Chai checkpoint after learning the cost would run well over 250 million baht. The drug problem was the main topic at the monthly meeting of the Phuket Provincial Peacekeeping Committee chaired by Phuket Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop at Phuket Provincial Hall yesterday.…
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Chuan slams money politics
PHUKET TOWN: Phuket leaders and ordinary residents put their heads together at a meeting Saturday to consider how Thailand can reform itself and resolve the ongoing political crisis that caused this year’s violent red-shirt protests. The seminar, “Reforming the Country at a Time of Change“, was the fourth of five organized by the National Economic and Social Advisory Council (Nesac)…
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Two-headed turtle turns one month old in Phang Nga
PHUKET: A two-headed turtle born in late July is thriving under the care of staff at the Royal Thai Navy base in Phang Nga as it celebrates its one-month birthday. The green sea turtle, born in a Thai Navy conservation area in the Similan Islands, was initially earmarked as one of scores of turtles to be set free in Phuket…
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Blackout in Rawai, Phuket tomorrow
PHUKET: Residents of Rawai be warned: the Provincial Electricity Authority has announced a scheduled blackout in parts of the municipality from 9am to 4pm tomorrow to work on high-voltage power lines. The affected area includes Saiyuan Road, from Wiset Rd to Nai Harn Beach, including Soi Khok Yang, Soi Hua Pru, Soi Khok Makham and Soi Naya. Much of Saiyaun…
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Arson considered in Phuket pawnshop blaze
PHUKET: Police have not ruled out arson for a pre-dawn blaze that gutted a Phuket pawnshop warehouse today. No one was reported as injured in the fire, although it took five firetrucks 30 minutes to extinguish the inferno on Sri Sena Road in Rassada. An initial investigation suggests that an electrical short circuit might have started the fire, but the…
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Stealers’ Wheel: missing in Phuket
PHUKET: A retired teacher and his family on a weekend trip to Phuket had an unpleasant surprise yesterday, when they checked out of their Phuket Town hotel to find the spare tire of their pickup had been stolen during the night Niphon Phetkong, 62, a former director of Ban Tha Chang school in his home province of Ranong, said he…
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Osotspa Saraburi down Phuket FC, 2-1
PHUKET: FC Phuket were unlucky to be beaten 2-1 at home by Thai Premier League side Osotspa Saraburi in the opening round of the Toyota League Cup. The first leg of the pairing, which took place at Surakul Stadium yesterday, was a big step up in opposition for FC Phuket, currently two divisions below their opponents. It was Osotspa Saraburi…
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Phuket respects hungry ghosts
PHUKET: Phuket City Municipality hosted the annual Por Tor festival this week (August 26-27) to appease spirits said to be visiting families and roaming the streets of the island throughout their month-long reprieve from the spirit world. The festival – chaired by Phuket Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop, his wife Taisika, Phuket City Mayor Somjai Suwansupapana and Phuket MP Raywat Areerob –…
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Another Phuket drug bust: more than 6,000 pills seized
PHUKET: Phuket’s governor and top police brass held a press conference at Phuket Provincial Hall yesterday to announce the arrest of a four-man drug ring and the seizure of over 6,000 ya bah (methamphetamine) pills. The arrest was the result of an investigation ordered by Phuket Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop and spearheaded by Lt Col Sutthirat Thochampa, who heads the Provincial…
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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