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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Another push for helmet use in Phuket
Officials once again pushed for more motorcycle riders to wear helmets in Thailand, this time in Phuket. The push is part of another of Thailand’s many road safety campaigns. Local officials handed out helmets to students and other community members in the Wichit area of Phuket’s main city district on Wednesday. The officials also finished painting a crosswalk in front…
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Price hike in vegetables prior to Phuket Vegetarian Festival
Phuket is seeing a jump in its vegetable prices as the annual Phuket Vegetarian Festival is coming up on September 26. The prices of many vegetables have shot up on average from five to 20 baht per kilogram. The prices on other vegetarian ingredients have bumped up as well. Vegetable prices usually increase in Phuket before and during the festival…
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Paragliding accident in Rawai puts 78 year old man in hospital
At the Khao Dang View Point in the Phuket district of Rawai, a paragliding accident left a 78 year old man seriously injured. The incident took place near Naiharn Beach at a spot also called Windmill Viewpoint late in the afternoon on Monday. Officials have not released many details about the victim, only saying it was a 78 year old…
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TAT expects Phuket Vegetarian Festival to make over 3 billion baht
The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) says it expects Phuket’s upcoming annual vegetarian festival to rake in more than 3 billion baht of visitor money this year. The festival will be held from September 26 to October 4. Some 81,429 travellers on 506 international flights are due to visit Phuket during the festival. Meanwhile, 110,165 domestic travellers are due to…
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VIDEO: Taxi drivers fistfight in front of customers at Phuket shop
Several minivan taxi drivers got into a fistfight over customers outside Khun Mae Ju, a popular souvenir shop in Phuket. One man struck another in the head with an axe, and it was all caught on video. The video clip went viral on social media after people inside the shops filmed the taxi drivers exchanging punches and kicks through the…
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Swedish man killed while crossing road in Phang Nga
A Swedish man was killed by a speeding car while crossing a road in the southern province of Phang Nga last night. The driver confessed he drove recklessly at a high speed. A CCTV camera recorded the shocking footage when the Swedish man, 40 year old Bjorn Olof Johansson, got hit by the sedan car while crossing Petchkasem Road in…
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Shrines preparing for Phuket’s upcoming vegetarian festival
Phuket‘s annual vegetarian festival is right around the corner, coming up on September 26 to October 4. Now, city workers and volunteers are helping Chinese shrines prepare for the festival. Yesterday, teams helped scrub the forecourts of the main shrines participating in the celebration, including the Pud Jor and Jui Tui shrines in the main city district. Phuket’s Vice Governor…
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Bangkok, Pattaya, and Phuket to open new theme parks
So many businesses in the entertainment sector were flattened by the Covid-19 global pandemic. But with tourism beginning to pick up, and sunny predictions for the fourth quarter after a rained-out third quarter of 2022, theme parks and water parks are pumping money into a flood of new attractions in Thailand in the coming months. Current theme parks have been…
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“Furious” stray dogs anesthetised after chasing Phuket tourists
Three furious stray dogs were anesthetised this week after they chased tourists and residents in Phuket, according to the Phuket City Municipality. The municipality said the dogs had been chasing people near the Toh Sae Hill Public Park in the main city district. The municipality noted that the dogs were not harmed when they were caught. The municipality alerted the…
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Police ask public to help find person who left dead baby at Phuket temple
UPDATE Police in Phuket’s Kathu district is asking the public to help track down the person who left a dead baby girl at a temple in the district. Monks found the poor newborn baby girl’s body in a plastic bag under a bodhi tree at Wat Anuphat Kritsadaram in Thung Thong on September 9. The body was already decomposing. Yesterday,…
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Monkeys barge into new Phuket resort
The monkeys are coming! Well, at least they are coming to one new resort in Phuket’s town of Chalong. The management team at the Noku Phuket resort says that monkeys have been seen on the resort’s grounds and tried to get into the guest’s rooms. Wildlife officers inspected the resort on Tuesday, with the chief of the Wildlife Education Centre…
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Phuket school director denies assault allegations
UPDATE The Phuket school director who last week was accused of physically assaulting an eight year old is denying the allegations. This news comes after a relative of the boy claimed that on September 8, the director pushed the boy’s head into a wall. He also allegedly used his hands to forcefully open her nephew’s mouth. The Phuket Provincial Educational…
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Patong: 100m profits with 4am curfew for venues, Chiang Mai residents oppose it
The pressure has been mounting for the government to raise the curfew to help entertainment venues boost earnings as tourism returns to Thailand. But some residents disturbed by noise living near bars in Chiang Mai are calling for the opposite. The Patong Entertainment Business Association estimates that extending closing hours from 2am to 4am for nightlife entertainment venues could raise…
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UPDATE: Phuket Police order investigation into allegedly abusive school director
UPDATE Phuket Provincial Police have ordered an investigation into reports that a school director physically assaulted an eight year old boy. A relative of the boy had said that the school director on Thursday, September 8 pushed the boy’s head into a wall. He also allegedly used his hands to forcefully open her nephew’s mouth. The boy’s mother, 30 year…
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Dead baby girl in a plastic bag found in Phuket temple
A dead newborn baby girl was left in a black plastic bag at a temple in Kathu in Phuket and police are searching for answers. The bag with the baby’s remains was found yesterday at Wat Anuphat Kritsadaram in Thung Thong in Kathu, with police receiving a call at around 5pm to report it. Three monks walking through the area…
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Phuket woman says school director injured her nephew
A grandmother says that a director of a private school in Phuket’s main city district has assaulted and injured her eight year old nephew. The woman says that on Thursday, September 8, the director held her nephew’s head against the wall before knocking him into the wall. He also allegedly used his hands to forcefully open her nephew’s mouth. The…
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Phuket prisoners could have sentences reduced in new community project
Prisoners in Thailand’s island province of Phuket are being given a chance to have their sentences decreased in a new community project. In the project, called “Public Work for Society,” inmates from Phuket Prison who have shown good behaviour will be selected to do community service work. One day of monitored work reduces the inmates’ sentences by one day. Phuket…
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Phuket man arrested after allegedly beating ex with iron rod in May
Justice is finally being served on one Phuket man who allegedly beat his ex-girlfriend and her friend with an iron rod and held them against their will back in May. Police arrested the 26 year old man, named Worawat, at his residence in Chalong town on Monday. The man, Worawat, allegedly messaged his girlfriend on May 21, asking her to…
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Intoxicated Phuket man whacks cars and houses with iron bar
An intoxicated Phuket man yesterday wreaked havoc in a housing estate in Phuket’s main city district. The man went around whacking cars and houses in an estate with an iron bar that had a sharp end. Residents alerted Wichit Police of the carnage the man caused to damage cars and houses, and the police arrived on the scene to find…
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Surf competition coming up in Patong
Another surfing competition is coming up in Phuket this month. The ‘Kalim Reef Surfers Surfing 2022’ competition will be held at Kalim Beach in Patong from September 16-18. The competition is being organised by the Patong Municipality and the Phuket Surfing Association. The event will feature five different categories of competitions, which are: open shortboard, open longboard, master 35 years…
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Croc randomly shows up in Phuket temple pond
A crocodile randomly showed up in the pond of a Phuket temple on Friday. Monks at the temple on the Toh Sae Hill in Phuket’s main city district say they have no idea who released the croc there. The monks were afraid that the croc would hurt people who feed turtles in the pond. Luckily, the Phuket Fisheries Office removed…
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UPDATE: Governor rushing to feed over 800 Phuket flood victims
UPDATE Phuket Governor Narong is rushing to get food to over 800 victims of the island province’s recent floods. A total of 871 people, making up 372 households, have been affected by heavy floods that hit Phuket on Friday. Narong yesterday led officials in handing out 1,800 meals to people at Wat Nai Yang temple in the Thalang district. This…
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Driver who blocked van at Phuket pier: “We are NOT taxi mafia”
A scuffle between taxi drivers at the Rassada Pier in Phuket on Friday, with three female and one male tourist trapped in the middle, has taxi drivers at the pier arguing that they are not mafia. The travellers had just returned from Koh Phi Phi just after 10am and chose not to use their transportation from the stand at the…
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UPDATE: Prayut calls in army to help with Phuket floods
UPDATE After floods wreaked havoc in Phuket yesterday, General Prayut Chan-o-cha has today called in the Royal Thai Army for some backup to help the island province’s victims, and pump out flood water. Prayut has ordered army officers to pump out water in the area around the Phuket International Airport. He has also ordered to officers to help victims in…
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VIDEO: Phuket Airport and surrounding areas engulfed by floods
Floodwater is being pumped out of Phuket Airport and surrounding areas following heavy rainfall. No flights have been cancelled yet but the airport has requested passengers to arrive three to four hours before their scheduled departure time. “Heavy rain in Phuket province has resulted in flooding at Phuket Airport. Urgent remedial action is being taken in all flooded areas,” said…
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Inaugural Vietnam Airlines flight lands in Phuket, Thailand
Yesterday at 11am, Vietnam Airlines’ inaugural flight from Ho Chih Minh City landed at Phuket International Airport with 161 tourists on board. Passengers on flight VN9625 were given a warm welcome from the Director of Phuket Airport Monchai Tanod, and the Deputy Director of Phuket Airport’s Business Support Line Kanyarat Suthipatanakit. With Thailand’s monsoon season in full swing, all passengers…
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Another Phuket meth bust
There’s been another meth bust in Phuket’s main city district. Border Patrol Police reported arresting 32 year old Eakksachai ‘Gueng’ Paesophon on Monday, on a road in the Wichit Sub-district. The police seized 2,770 meth pills from Gueng, along with roughly 1,293 grammes of crystal meth. Gueng is allegedly part of a larger drug network, which includes dealers in other…
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Soi Dog Foundation vaccinates over 700 stray dogs in Phuket, Thailand
Soi Dog Foundation, a non-profit organisation, recently carried out its annual vaccination campaign at the Phuket Stray Dog Shelter in Thalang district, also known as the “government dog compound.” A team of Soi Dog veterinarians, community outreach staff, rescue officers, and a representative from the Phuket Provincial Office of the Department of Livestock Development came together to vaccinate 735 resident…
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Phuket Immigration reports over 100,000 Indian tourists since May
Even though Malaysia has now beaten India for its number of tourists to Thailand overall, Indians are still the biggest tourist group in Phuket. From May 1 to August 30, the island province saw 104,350 Indian tourists arrive on its shores, according to Phuket Immigration. This was out of a total of 436,326 foreign tourists that arrived in Phuket in…
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Korean Air to resume flights to Chiang Mai and Phuket
Korean Air will resume direct flights from Seoul to both Chiang Mai and Phuket this October. Both routes were suspended in March 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The airline’s Phuket flights are scheduled to depart from Seoul Incheon Airport four days per week on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays at 5.55pm and land in Phuket at 10pm. Phuket to…
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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