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.
-
Sponsored Limited-time deal: Save 20% on Cigna's expat health plans forever
Starting a new life abroad is exciting—new culture, new lifestyle, and new chances to grow. But living far from home also means taking steps to protect your health in unfamiliar surroundings. Without the right coverage, even small health issues can...
-
Phuket government offices to close for Mother’s Day
PHUKET: All Thai government offices, including Phuket Immigration, will be closed August 12 and 13 for the birthday of HM Queen Sirikit. Her Majesty’s birthday on August 12 is also celebrated as Mother’s Day in Thailand. “Our office will be closed on August 12 and 13, and will reopen on August 16,” Phuket Immigration Chief Col Panuwat Ruamrak confirmed to…
-
999 rare trees to honor Mother’s Day in Phuket
PHUKET: Phuket City Municipality mark Mother’s Day, which in Thailand is on the August 12 birthday of HM Queen Sirikit, with a variety of public activities at Suan Luang Park on August 9. The activities include the planting of 999 yang na, or “hairy-leafed apitong”, trees. The Kata-Karon Hotel Business Association, together with Krungthai Bank, the Rotary Club of Tungkha…
-
Phuket PAD protest; oil drills defended; Bangkok bombs; economy booms
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily digest of news about Thailand from around the world, compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community. Phuket PAD adding fuel to temple fire Phuket members of the People‘s Alliance for Democracy are on their way to Bangkok this morning to join a rally at Government House. The Phuket contingent wants to help the…
-
German-Thai couple nabbed for Phuket burglary
KAMALA: A German and his Thai girlfriend were arrested Wednesday for burglary and possession of stolen goods after the couple’s alleged victim spotted one of them carrying her missing handbag in Kamala, police said. Natthapakin Kuanchaipruek, superintendent at Kamala Police Station, presented Karsten Lange, 45, and his girlfriend Pattranit Morida, 29, at a press conference yesterday. Police said Mr Lange…
-
Preah Vihear protest: Phuket PAD off to Bangkok
PHUKET: Phuket members of the People’s Alliance for Democracy will travel to the capital tomorrow to join a rally at Government House, where they will pressure the government to resolve the ongoing dispute over the Preah Vihear temple. Preah Vihear temple, built on the hilly border between Thailand and Cambodia, was awarded to Cambodia by the International Court of Justice…
-
Six confess to drug charges in Phuket
PATONG: Kathu Police held a press conference on Tuesday to announce the arrest on Monday of six drug suspects, all of whom confessed to being members of a major drug ring selling ya bah (methamphetamine) and ya ice (crystal methamphetamine) to tourists in Patong. The conference was chaired by Phuket Provincial Police Deputy Superintendent Kosol Watrakon and Kathu Police Superintendent…
-
Brit biker sets record for Thai King
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily digest of news about Thailand from around the world, compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community. PHUKET: Away from his home in Chiangrai for more than three months, British expat Alan Bate completed his trip around the world in honour of His Majesty the King of Thailand yesterday and set a new record…
-
Phuket Police: ‘Serial suicide’ girl a con artist
PHUKET: The “suicidal” teenage girl who threatened to hurl herself from a pedestrian walkway in Phuket Town yesterday is actually a serial con artist who has tried similar scams in other parts of the country, police say. Phuket City Police Superintendent Wanchai Ekpornpit told the media today that police left Phuket yesterday to escort 19-year-old Orasa Lapruek back to her…
-
Baba Peranakan mass wedding in Phuket Town
PHUKET: The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is organizing a mass wedding ceremony in the “Baba Peranakan” (Straits Chinese) tradition to take place in Phuket Town this month. The colorful event, organized jointly with the Phuket Peranakan Association (PPA) and Phuket City Municipality, will take place August 14 and 15. It is intended both as a celebration of Peranakan culture…
-
Business brisk at Phuket City Pawnshop
PHUKET: The general state of the economy – not World Cup gambling – is responsible for brisk trade at the Phuket City Municipality Pawnshop, officers say. The shop, on Kamorapat Road in Phuket Town, currently has 480 million baht out on loan to 31,280 customers, according to a release by the municipality. Borrowers appear to be pawning more valuable items,…
-
Phuket crash helmet campaign: fines start July 1, 2011
PHUKET: The public awareness part of the Phuket City Police “100% motorcycle helmet use” campaign will run another full year before offenders will face fines, it has been announced. The campaign, which began in April, is intended to bring helmet use in Phuket City Police District to 100%, both among operators and their passengers. July 1 this year was initially…
-
Cockfighting a gamble in Phuket
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily digest of news from around the world about Thailand, compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community. PHUKET: Initially reported by the Phuket Gazette on Monday, a raid on a cockfighting ring in Phuket on Sunday has caught the attention of online gambling journal ‘Gaming Zion’, which in a report filed last night looks…
-
Phuket students prevent suicide leap
PHUKET: A group of Satree Phuket School students were able to talk a troubled teenager out of committing suicide by jumping off the pedestrian footbridge near their school this morning. Satree Phuket 12th-grade student Nat Koeypoekaisan said he was walking over the footbridge that spans Thepkrasattri Road when he noticed the young woman climbing over the handrail, facing out over…
-
FC Phuket 2 – Satun United 1
PHUKET: First-place FC Phuket won a key football match on Sunday, with a clutch 2-1 road win over second-place Satun United. Satun United, coming off a 1-0 win over Hatyai FC, were in high spirits for the match against FC Phuket, who won the first encounter played at Surakul Stadium in March by a score of 2-0. In second place…
-
Chinese firm interested in light rail project for Phuket
PHUKET: Representatives of a mainland Chinese construction conglomerate paid a visit to the Phuket Governor today to discuss the possibility of building a light-rail public transport system for Phuket. Francis Soo of Ershisanye Construction Group met Gov Wichai Phraisa-ngop at Provincial Hall this morning to express his firm’s interest. Founded in 1953, Ershisanye is engaged in construction engineering, mining development…
-
42 arrested at Phuket cockfight
PHUKET: Forty-two people were arrested and charged with gambling following a raid at a Phuket cockpit yesterday afternoon. The raid, led by Crime Suppression Division Area 5 Inspector Sitthikiat Srichan, came at 1:30pm at a rubber plantation area off Soi Suanwat in Rawai Village 1, behind Rawai Temple. Among those arrested were two women, one of whom was pregnant. All…
-
Dems in Phuket: unity sought, top cop consoled
PHUKET: During a Democrat Party seminar in Phuket over the weekend, Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban urged fellow Democrat MPs from throughout the south to take a creative, friendly approach in trying to mend the fractious issues dividing the country. DPM Suthep was speaking at a party seminar entitled “Join Forces and Solve the National Crisis” at the Phuket Merlin…
-
Thai jails swamped with inmates
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily digest of news from around the world compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community. PHUKET: The number of prisoners in Thailand’s 143 jails is now well over capacity, with more than 200,000 inmates around the country. About 60 per cent have been jailed for drug offences, Corrections Department chief Chartchai Suthiklom says. In…
-
Phuket beach deaths: Airlines, airport could help cut the toll
PHUKET: The full onset of this year’s monsoon season has brought with it a sadly predictable rise in the number of drowning deaths, most among foreign tourists who ignored not only the red warning flags, but also, in some cases, verbal warnings from lifeguards about the dangers. The latest casualty was a Romanian tourist who, like so many before him,…
-
Phuket to stay green up top
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily digest of news from around the world compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community. PHUKET: Phuket’s Natural Resources and Environment department head Ong-art Chanachanmongkol has announced that the 80-metre height limit on new construction will remain in place, according to Property Report magazine. Some had speculated that the limit might be dropped on…
-
Revitalized Phuket Town to boost tourism
PHUKET: Revitalization of Phuket Town’s Sino-Portuguese heritage was the topic of a seminar held by the Senate Tourism Committee on July 30, led by Phuket Senator Thanyarat Atchariyachai and Phuket City Municipality at the Metropole Hotel. Speaking at the seminar, Phuket City Mayor Somjai Suwansupapana explained that there were three major plans for the project. The first is to develop…
-
Phuket “still life’ wins Wichit photo contest
WICHIT: Chusak Uthaipanumas has won the Wichit Municipality’s “Travel Thai Way in Wichit” photo contest for his outstanding photo Cheewit Haeng Sai Nam Mudong (Life of Mudong Canal). For first prize, Mr Chusak will receive 10,000 baht cash and a certificate of achievement. “I feel delighted. I often go to that area to shoot photos. This photo was taken around…
-
Phuket reservoir projects get green light
PHUKET: Work is set to go ahead on increasing the capacity of Bang Wad Reservoir by 3 million cubic meters after Phuket Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Phuket Provincial Irrigation Office (PPIO) Director Weerawat Aungsupanith and Kathu Mayor Chaianan Suthikul yesterday at Phuket Provincial Hall. Mr Weerawat told the Gazette that the 300-million-baht project will be…
-
Phuket eyes “huge’ medical tourism boom
PHUKET: Medical and healthcare providers on the island can expect to get a large slice of the 402.9 billion baht that the Ministry of Health (MoH) expects Thailand’s medical tourism industry to rake in over the next five years. Phuket Public Health Office Deputy Director Dr Wiwat Seetamanotch said, “Over the past five years, Phuket has enjoyed great success in…
-
Over 7,000 alien workers deported from Phuket this year
PHUKET: Phuket is on track to set a record number of deportations of illegal workers this year, with at least 7,086 illegals having been deported from the province in 2010, according to the latest statistics from the Phuket Immigration Office. In 2009, 10,790 illegals were deported, preceded by 7,867 in 2008. Announcement of the figures comes on the heels of…
-
Dems to hold “Crisis Seminar’ in Phuket this weekend
PHUKET: Leading Democrats and rank-and-file party members will attend a “crisis seminar” in Phuket this weekend. Democrat Party official spokesman Dr Buranaj Smutharaks announced the meeting on Tuesday, saying all Democrat party members “without exception” are expected to attend. The seminar, from Friday to Sunday, is entitled “Concentrating Energy to Solve the National Crisis”, Dr Buranaj said. The emphasis will…
-
Phuket Police arrest 15 for alcohol ban violations in Patong
PHUKET: Fifteen people were arrested for selling alcohol at bars and restaurants in Patong on the Khao Pansa Buddhist holiday on Tuesday. Kathu Police Deputy Superintendent Praya Chansomwong ordered police to be on the lookout for violators of the alcohol ban that was in effect on Monday and Tuesday, according to a report in the local Thai-language press. Violators will…
-
Phuket F&B Show starts Friday
PHUKET: The Phuket Food and Beverage Show will take place starting on Friday at Central Festival Phuket’s HomeWorks complex on the bypass road. The three-day event will feature a wide variety of events including contests and exhibitions in bartending, cooking, linen folding, wine butlering, ice carving and so on. The event, sponsored by Smirnoff vodka, will run from 11am to…
-
‘New York City cop’ arrested on drug charges in Phuket
PHUKET: Police on Monday arrested two men caught smuggling some 8,000 ya bah (methamphetamine) pills onto the island at Tah Chat Chai checkpoint. Tah Chat Chai Police identified the suspects as 35-year-old Nonthaburi resident Wesarat Ninjamrat and his alleged accomplice Jad Jedklang, a 26-year-old from Nakhon Sri Thammarat. At the time of his arrest, at about 6pm, Mr Wesarat was…
-
Trawler sinks off Phuket after collision with barge
PHUKET: In the latest marine mishap off Phuket, a crew of 12 fishermen were saved by another fishing boat after their trawler slammed into a sand barge off Wichit last night. Pol Sub-Lt of the Phuket Marine Police received a report of the accident at 7am. The 10-meter trawler Sri Thong Prae 4 from Ranong was cruising about 2 kilometers…
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.
Don't forget to check out some other things to do in Thailand - get help starting a business or finding a job in Thailand, buy Thailand property, rent a yacht or book a medical procedure worldwide.