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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How one hospital visit in Thailand could cost more than your whole trip
Thailand is a favourite spot for travellers who want to enjoy more while spending less. From cheap street food to low-cost hotels and fun attractions, it’s easy to stretch your budget here. But there’s one thing many people don’t think...
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Phuket karaoke killing: teen arrested
PHUKET: Phuket City Police have charged a young man with murder and issued an arrest warrant for his father, after the pair allegedly stabbed to death a Phuket man at a karaoke bar in Wichit on Sunday night. A crowd of bar girls, patrons and other onlookers were standing outside the Chumporn Karaoke bar on the corner of Kwang and…
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Phuket Ghostbusters: illegal guide crackdown looms
PHUKET: Kathu Police are setting up a new center aimed at cracking down on unregistered ‘ghost guides’ operating in Patong, the local police chief says. Kathu Police Superintendent Arayaphan Pukbuakhao told the Gazette that the new center, to be based in the police box on the beach at the foot of Soi Bangla, is scheduled to open in about one…
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Full-Moon frazzled farang in BB rampage
SURAT THANI: Koh Phang Ngan police came under a hail of BB gunfire when they tried to subdue a middle-aged Swiss tourist on a rampage in a weaponry shop, Khao Sod has reported. Boom BB Guns shop owner Manop Wongtawan on the morning of July 4 called police to his store, which sells BB guns as well as knives and…
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Phuket City Police helmet crackdown hits the big screen
PHUKET: It was ‘standing room only’ at Phuket City Police Station this morning as hundreds of people caught on motorbikes without helmets crammed into the fourth-floor meeting room to watch a movie showing graphic images taken from road accident scenes. The viewings are all part of the Phuket City Police effort to enforce a long-ignored traffic law requiring all people…
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Readers call for charity for family of Phuket murder victim
PHUKET: In response to recurring suggestions from readers that a donation channel be set up to raise funds to help the mother and two young children of murder victim Wanphen Pienjai, the Phuket Gazette is currently working with a major, worldwide charitable organization to receive and administer funds. We hope to be in a position to announce details of that…
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Readers’ Poll: Is Phuket tourism sustainable?
PHUKET: According to one definition, the term “sustainable tourism” is an industry committed to making a low impact on the environment and local culture, while helping to generate future employment for local people. Given this definition, to what extent do you think Phuket’s tourism industry is sustainable? To vote in the latest Phuket Gazette Reader’s Poll, click here or on…
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Phuket Gazette Readers’ Poll: Patong sign a waste of money
PHUKET: A wide majority of Phuket Gazette online readers think the project to build a welcome sign on Patong Hill is a waste of taxpayer money, the latest Readers’ Poll has revealed. Readers were asked on June 21 which of three statements most accurately matched their view of the 9.1-million-baht project, funded under the central government’s Thai Khem Khaeng (Strong…
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FAT Football: Phuket beat Trang, 2-0
PHUKET: FC Phuket strengthened their grip on the Football Association of Thailand’s Division Two (South section) title with a hard-fought 2-0 win over second-placed Trang at Surakul Stadium on Saturday. With a game in hand, FC Phuket were two points ahead of Trang going into their first home match since the mid-season break. FC Phuket dominated possession in the first…
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New sketch of suspect in Phuket murder of Wanphen Pienjai
PHUKET: Police have released a sketch of what the prime suspect in the Wanphen Pienjai murder case may look like without a full beard. Ms Pienjai’s naked body was found stuffed in a suitcase in Phuket on June 24. For our previous report, click here. She was last seen leaving her workplace at the Sweetheart Bar in Kata with a…
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Man murders friend with homemade gun in Phuket
PHUKET: A construction site foreman has been charged with murder after allegedly shooting one of his laborers with a homemade pen-gun, police said. The shooting happened about 9pm last night in the Phanson Villa (Bor-Rae) housing project in Wichit. Arriving at the scene shortly after the incident, Phuket City Police officers found a single .38mm bullet casing and were told…
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Thai politics not ‘all in the family’
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily digest of news from around the world compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community. World Cup? Get instantaneous scores and news updates right here on the Gazette Online (fed directly from FIFA). PHUKET: In stark contrast with the family of deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who speak with one voice on seemingly all…
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Phuket ‘bypass-bypass’ construction stalled
PHUKET: Budget problems are holding up work to complete a road linking the bypass road to a section of Ekwahnit Road near the back entrance to Surakul Stadium. Work on the project, known jokingly as the bypass-bypass road, was stalled for months because the road was blocked by a home belonging to a family of squatters who settled the area…
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Parade kicks off Phuket helmet crackdown
PHUKET: Phuket City Police kicked off their helmet safety campaign yesterday with around 4,000 helmet-clad riders on some 2,000 motorbikes parading down the island’s roads. From now on, police are pledging to crack down heavily on both drivers and passengers without helmets. Thai traffic law states that both drivers and passengers without helmets can be fined up to 500 baht.…
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Phuket police offer 50,000 baht to catch killer
PHUKET CITY: Phuket City Police are offering a reward of 50,000 baht for information leading to the arrest of the killer of 33-year-old bar hostess Wanphen Pienjai, whose naked body was discovered stuffed into a suitcase in Phuket last week. The offer follows the release of a sketch of the prime suspect in the investigation, a bearded Caucasian man who…
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Couple get lucky with stolen ATM card, then get arrested
PHUKET: A Thai couple relieved an Irish expat of more than 750,000 baht after stealing his ATM card in Phuket and guessing his PIN number from his birth date, police said. Chai Bunrit, 26, and Pacharin Rathanaphansunthara, 24, then went on a spree, buying a car and staying in luxury hotels across the South before their arrest in a luxury…
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Red-shirt protests hit Phuket leukemia patient
PHUKET: Jenarong Tapklaeng, a 16-year-old leukemia patient from Phuket, spent almost a month in Bangkok for medical consultations that should have taken just a few days after his hospital was shut down because of the red-shirt protests. Doctors at King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital were set to examine the possibility of performing a bone marrow transplant on Jenarong, who is currently…
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Phuket City Police hunt expat murder suspect
PHUKET: Phuket City Police are asking the public for help in their search for a Caucasian man who is the prime suspect in the murder of 33-year-old Wanphen Pienjai, the bar hostess whose remains were discovered stuffed into a large suitcase in tambon Wichit last week. Ms Wanphen, a native of Petchaboon province, was an employee of the Sweetheart Bar…
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Phuket City Police helmet crackdown starts tomorrow
PHUKET: After more than two months of public awareness campaigning, Phuket City Police will tomorrow begin the enforcement of a long-ignored traffic law requiring all motorbike riders – including passengers – to wear crash helmets. Thai traffic law states that both drivers and passengers without helmets can be fined up to 500 baht. A driver transporting a passenger not wearing…
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Pheu Thai opens office in Phuket
PHUKET: The opposition Pheu Thai Party has launched a bid to win seats in southern provinces in upcoming elections by setting up operations centers in key Andaman Coast provinces, including Phuket. Party spokesman Prompong Nopparit said at the Phuket center’s opening ceremony on June 24, “We are ready to fight for representation in the next elections. Phuket is the first…
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Phuket arrest: Father remains jailed
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily digest of news from around the world compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community. World Cup? Get instantaneous scores and news updates right here on the Gazette Online (fed directly from FIFA). PHUKET: A father volunteered to remain in jail in the United States on Monday while awaiting trial on charges that he…
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Phuket family to climb Mt Kinabalu
PHUKET: Two young sisters, nine-year-old Kasia Sambrook and her sister Alicia, 6, are in training to scale one of the largest mountains in the region next month in order to raise money for stray dogs. The two girls have their eyes on the 4,095-meter peak of Mount Kinabalu in Borneo, the fourth highest peak in the Malay Archipelago. All of…
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FC Phuket take on Trang FC Sunday
PHUKET: FC Phuket will take a giant step towards winning the Football Association of Thailand’s Division Two (Southern Section) if they can defeat Trang at home on Sunday. FC Phuket are currently two points clear of Trang, with a game in hand. The last time the two sides met, back in April, Trang handed the Southern Sea Kirin their first…
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Two teens arrested for Phuket shooting murder
PHUKET: A 17-year-old was left dead after one man’s jealousy turned fatal in Phuket Town on Saturday night. Phuket City Police today announced the arrests 19-year-old Narongchai ‘Tan’ Boonprom of Nakhon Sri Thammarat and 27-year-old Phuket native Kajorn ‘Ee’ Chansri for their involvement in the murder of Phuket youth Witarn Chuaykuea, 17. An accomplice identified only as ‘James’ remains at…
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Kathu culture fair a weekend hit
PHUKET: While many island residents partied the weekend away at the Phuket Music Festival in Karon, Kathu came to life with streetlights, red lanterns and numerous cultural activities as part of the second annual Kathu Culture Road street fair that took place on Kathu Soi 4. Funded at about 1 million baht, the three-night fair was an attempt by Kathu…
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Woman fends off mugger in Phuket
PHUKET: A young woman last week fought off a would-be robber by biting his arm, causing the attacker to flee empty-handed down Soi Yodsane in Phuket. The incident happened around 4am on June 24 after the victim, Rhian ‘Fon’ Hartman, was leaving her job as a public relations officer at a well-known restaurant in Kathu. Ms Hartman drove on her…
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Ax murder ends World Cup dispute
NAKHON SRI THAMMARAT: A man hacked his boss to death with an ax following an argument over play in the 2010 FIFA World Cup, now into the knockout stages in South Africa. In the early hours of June 22, friends of Suwit Thongkhaha rushed the 42-year-old to hospital, but he was dead on arrival, the Thai-language newspaper Khao Sod (‘Fresh…
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Software Park Phuket ‘Tech Talk’ series for July
PHUKET: Software Park Phuket has announced its schedule of weekly ‘Tech Talk’ discussions for July: July 1: ‘Worry-free, legal-licensed, free open source business software‘, by LisAndi (English presentation with Thai translation). July 8: ‘Get to know Google Docs’ by Phuket Innovation Incubation Center, Software Park Phuket (Thai presentation with English slides, no translation). July 15: ‘CAT CDMA 3G: Wireless technology…
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Phuket flights: Air Bagan to Burma?
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily digest of news from around the world compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community. World Cup? Get instantaneous scores and news updates right here on the Gazette Online (fed directly from FIFA). PHUKET: Myanmar’s two private airlines have announced plans to purchase new aircraft to service new routes, including Phuket, in time for…
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Dengue Fever spreading in Phuket
PHUKET: The number of dengue fever cases in Phuket is soaring, according to the Phuket Provincial Public Health Office (PPHO). PPHO Director Narinrach Pichyakamin said figures released by the PPHO at a meeting of public health volunteers on June 17 showed 213 cases of dengue fever in Phuket from January 1 to June 12 this year. The initial target for…
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Something’s getting fishy in Phuket
PHUKET: Faced with high-tech detection technology and sniffer dogs, drug smugglers are resorting to stashing methamphetamine pills inside containers of fermented fish (pla raa) in an effort to hide their smell from authorities, Phuket Police say. Chalong Police held a press conference yesterday afternoon to announce the arrest of four suspects for possession of methamphetamine pills, known in Thailand as…
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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