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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Phuket set for historical extravaganza
THALANG, PHUKET: The year’s first performance of ‘Thalang Light and Sound’, a grand re-enactment of the Battle of Thalang featuring a cast of 700, will take place in Phuket tomorrow night. The historical extravaganza has been organized by Phuket Provincial Administration Organization at a cost of six million baht. It will run from 8pm to 9:30pm at Thalang Victory Memorial…
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Phuket cop to end greasy traffic fines
PATONG, PHUKET: In a move sure to win the hearts of foreigners, Patong’s new top police officer says he’ll end the longstanding practice of levying higher traffic fines against tourists and other foreigners than are levied against Thais. Kathu Police Superintendent Arayapan Pukbuakao, who took over from Col Grissak Songmoonnark last month, said traffic fines in Patong were ‘very high’.…
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Tourists to be routed to 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: Government sectors have teamed up to create the National Tourist Assistance Center (NTAC) to help tourists during the current mass rally against the government in Bangkok. Conducted by…
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Police enlist public as Phuket’s eyes and ears
PHUKET: Fearing that political groups may try to cause disruptions in Phuket during the red shirt demonstrations in Bangkok, the police are enlisting members of the public as their roving eyes and ears. Through a project called ‘News for Security’, the police are asking citizens to spot suspicious packages and unusual behavior, and to report it to the authorities. This…
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Phuket red shirts head to Bangkok
PHUKET: More than one thousand Phuket red shirts have reportedly left the island to take part in mass demonstrations in Bangkok. A local leader of the red-shirt United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD) movement, Soonthorn Tohmharn, said there would be no demonstrations in Phuket. A huge UDD protest in Bangkok is set to take place tomorrow afternoon in a…
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NEWS Hound: Travel update for Thailand
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: Government-owned Thai media conglomerate Mcot reports that Bangkok’s major airport Suvarnabhumi has issued an advisory warning passengers check in 3 hours in advance for international flights, and 2…
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Phuket’s new reservoir project: Klong Krata
CHALONG, PHUKET: The Klong Krata Reservoir project has been delayed by several months while the agency responsible awaits approval to use Forest Department land needed for construction. The 600-million-baht project will see the construction of a 25-meter-high dam spanning 730 meters across the existing Klong Krata stream, creating a 430-rai reservoir and recreational area. The Klong Krata catchment area comprises…
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NEWS Hound: New property tax moots exemptions for 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: The Fiscal Policy Office has completed drafting a new Land and Building Tax Law which requires owners of non-commercial land and buildings to pay tax of no more…
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Tehran-Phuket flights begin soon
PHUKET: A Bangkok-based tour company will run three direct charter flights from Tehran to Phuket on a trial basis beginning March 18. The company, Homa Travel & Tour, has chartered a Mahan Air Boeing 747 for the service, Tourism Authority of Thailand’s Dubai Office Director Pramote Sapyen announced. The three flights could bring in around 1,300 tourists from Iran this…
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NEWS Hound: Phuket to smell good next month
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: From April 22-26, The Pavilions in Phuket will hold ‘Passion For Perfume’, a unique three-day programme designed specifically for couples to indulge in the sensual pleasures of scent.…
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Frenchman fleeced in Phuket banking bungle
CHALONG, PHUKET: A Frenchman is demanding damages from his Thai bank after it let another man with the same name empty his account of at least 164,000 baht. One day last November, Claude Alfred Francois Marie Prigent walked into the Siam Commercial Bank branch in Chalong and asked for a new ATM card and bank book. The bank obliged. But…
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Four arrested for aquarium fish smuggling in Phuket
PHUKET TOWN: Four residents of a Sea Gypsy community in Rawai were arrested yesterday for smuggling protected marine species. The suspects, 34-year-old Pichit Bangjak and three minors, were arrested at 11am in a pickup truck parked along Thepkrasattri Road in Rassada, near the Phuket Highways Department Office. A search of foam coolers in the bed of the truck uncovered 250…
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Phuket Police nab murder suspect
PHUKET TOWN: Police on Saturday arrested a man wanted for the rape and strangling murder of 24-year-old Supercheap employee Thipkasen ‘Khwan’ Heep-phech last month. The suspect, identified as Nakhon Sri Thammarat native Sutthiporn ‘Khao’ Morasin, was arrested as he tried to leave the island at the Tah Chat Chai checkpoint at 5pm on Saturday. He has denied all of the…
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German collapses, dies in Kata
KATA, PHUKET: An elderly Caucasian tourist died in the sea off Kata Beach on Friday. Witnesses said the man collapsed in the water at around 4pm. Tourists pulled him out but he was already dead. The man is believed to be a 69-year-old German who was staying at the Kanjana Guesthouse on Nanai Road in Patong. German Honorary Consul Dirk…
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Drug treatment at Vachira Phuket
PHUKET TOWN: Phuket police are at war on drugs. Rarely does a week go by without fresh arrests for narcotics possession, ranging from kids caught with a handful of pills to dealers trading shipments worth hundreds of thousands of baht. Ya bah (methamphetamine) remains the most popular, although Phuket Police recently warned that ya ice (crystal methamphetamine) is taking its…
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Dream delay: Phuket kayakers’ dream paddle on hold
PHUKET TOWN: Two Phuket-based men who were set to paddle a kayak 14,000 miles from Phuket to California have been forced to postpone their trip due to ‘financial constraints’. American Ryan Doran, 26, and Piya ‘Mr X’ Sukunthai, 28, were due to leave Phuket on March 10 aboard their 20-foot wooden kayak Say-Lee. The pair insist that their dream trip…
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NEWS Hound: Thailand traffic concerns during protests
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 preparation for Thailand’s mass political rally scheduled for Bangkok next Sunday, authorities will cite traffic law to ban the ‘red shirts’ from bringing in their E-taen farm…
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Phang Nga plans world mass dive record in April
PHUKET: Phang Nga Province, Phuket’s immediate neighbor to the north, is asking divers from all over Thailand to pack their fins, tanks and regulators and head to a diving festival in Thai Muang District on April 3, when there will be an assault on the world record for a mass dive. Thai Muang is about a one hour drive from…
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Phuket to get more tsunami buoys
PHUKET CITY: The director of the National Disaster Warning Center (NDWC) has confirmed that its disaster warning system is working well and says two more tsunami direct detection units on order from Italy should be deployed off the Andaman Coast by year end. NDWC Director Viriya Mongkolveerapan told the Gazette that the government is spending more than 100 million baht…
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Historic building to become Phuket Peranakan museum
PHUKET TOWN: The Phuket Peranakan Association is seeking donations to help transform the old Standard Chartered Bank building into a 50-million-baht cultural museum. When completed, the classic two-story Sino-Portuguese building at the corner of Phuket and Phang Nga Roads in Phuket Town will be designated as the ‘Phuket Provincial Baba Museum’. Phuket Peranakan Association President Dr Kosol Teng-uthai said the…
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Phuket leukemia patient bank info
PHUKET: A number of Gazette readers have expressed interest in donating money to help a schoolboy suffering from leukemia in Phuket. Jenarong Tupklaeng, 16, was diagnosed with leukemia one year ago and has been unable to attend classes at Dowroong Wittaya School since. For our previous stories, click here and here. Anyone wishing to help Jenarong can transfer funds, in…
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US consular outreach trip: Phuket
PHUKET: The Consular Section of the American Embassy in Bangkok has announced a consular outreach visit to Phuket on March 19. Consular staff will be available to provide consular services for American citizens at the Hilton Phuket Arcadia Resort and Spa from 8am to 12 noon on Friday, March 19. The following consular services will be available during the outreach…
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Phuket Gazette announcement
The Phuket Gazette would like to apologize to Miss Siriporn ‘Kat’ Saenpap for any public misunderstanding or loss of reputation related to her inclusion in an online news photo of her with her former husband, Mr Yvon Van Eyseren of Belgium, who was arrested by Phuket City Police on February 17 this year. Miss Siriporn has presented the Gazette with…
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Phuket Chinese cemetery fire set by spiritual arsonists
PHUKET TOWN: Arson was the cause behind a fire that raged among the graves of the Chinese cemetery near Rang Hill in Phuket Town yesterday. A villager living nearby said the fire started around 3pm. Phuket City Municipality firefighters put the blaze out, but it reignited again in the evening. It was set deliberately, the man said. “It normally happens…
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Heroines’ Memorial Fair starts tomorrow in Phuket
PHUKET: Phuket’s annual Thao Thepkrasattri and Thao Srisoonthorn Fair starts tomorrow in Thalang. The fair, which runs until March 20, will take place at Thalang Victory Memorial Park near the Heroines’ Monument. Highlights will include a theatrical performance recreating the two heroines’ famous victory. The pair, known as Jan and Muk before they were ennobled with the title ‘Thao,’ led…
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Three US navy vessels in Phuket
PHUKET: Another three United States Navy vessels with over 500 crew members are in Phuket for five nights of rest and relaxation. The amphibious transport dock ship USS Cleveland and amphibious dock landing ship USS Rushmore docked at the Phuket Deep Sea Port at Cape Panwa on Tuesday, followed by the smaller USS Patriot the following day. All three vessels…
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Phuket taxi drives off with Finnish tourist’s bag
PHUKET: A Phuket taxi driver drove off with a Finnish tourist’s bag while she and her parents were carrying shopping back to their hotel room on Tuesday. The taxi picked up Sini Kukkonen, 17, Lauri Kukkonen, 61, and Tanja Kannerua, 59, on the bypass road between Central and Big-C around 10pm. While they were unloading their shopping at the Phuket…
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NEWS hound: Phuket to benefit from big airline sale
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: AirAsia is conducting another big sales promotion this month, offering more destinations, including Phuket, at even lower fares than their previous sale last August. Phuket is one of…
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Phuket water plant worker dies in freak accident
PHUKET: An employee at a desalination plant in Karon died yesterday when he was sucked into a high pressure intake hose at the facility. The worker, 40-year-old Tannit Pramungij, accidentally fell into a large vessel containing sea water while performing routine maintenance at the REQ Water Services plant about 2:30pm on Tuesday. Mr Tannit was sucked into a 30-meter length…
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Phuket residents fight loan scam
KOH KAEW, PHUKET: Hundreds of villagers in Phuket claim they have been cheated out of their homes by an unscrupulous loan company. The victims, mostly from Saensuk Village in Koh Kaew, say the company is demanding tens of thousands of baht to buy their homes back – and threatening to throw them out on the streets if they don’t comply.…
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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