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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Phuket Bag Plague: carrot or stick?
PHUKET: What works best, the carrot or the stick? It’s an age-old question, and one brought to the fore here in Phuket with the launch this week of the Tesco Lotus ‘Green Bag Green Point’ scheme. [See details, current issue of the Phuket Gazette. Digital subscribers click here.] Lotus will reward shoppers who reuse bags – instead of using new…
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Cambodia may tweak Phuket property
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily digest of news from around the world compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community PHUKET: Cambodia is trying to encourage international investment by relaxing laws on property ownership by foreigners. The Financial Times reports that Cambodia’s draft law is under discussion at the National Assembly and would allow non-nationals to fully own residential…
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“Mind Centre’ opens in Phuket
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily digest of news from around the world compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community PHUKET: The Phuket International Academy (PIA) is opening its internationally rated Mind Centre for balance and well being with world renowned mentor B. Alan Wallace at the helm. The PIA Mind Centre will be launched a week from today…
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Phuket resort scam: British CEO arrested
PHUKET: The British chief executive officer of a Phuket resort company has been arrested on fraud charges for allegedly cheating customers out of millions of baht. Mr Steven James Granville, 43, CEO of Puravarna Resort Co, was arrested at the company’s office in Rawai. Crime Suppression Division police had received information from Mr Anand Kumar Sen, managing director of Tycoon…
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Phuketians march in support of prime minister
PHUKET TOWN: Around 200 Phuketians and members of the Phuket People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) took to the streets on March 31, voicing their objections to the red-shirted United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD) rally in Bangkok. The crowd marched from Queen Sirikit park to Phuket Provincial Hall waving banners and parading a huge national flag. In a show…
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Phuket Airport snubbed
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: Bangkok Airways, Thailand’s largest privately owned carrier, plans to turn Samui Airport, rather than Phuket International Airport, into a second international air hub, after Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport, in…
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Mass dive record postponed
PHANG NGA: Mr Wattana Pornprasert, chief of Khao Lumpi-Had Thai Muang Marine National Park revealed that the diving festival in Thai Muang District on April 3 that aimed to set a new dive record has been postponed due to bad weather. It had been hoped that over 3,000 divers would attend the record breaking attempt. Mr Wattana said that he…
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Phuket water woes averted
PHUKET: Recent heavy downpours have ensured that Phuket should now have enough water to last until the rainy season, according to the Phuket Provincial Irrigation Office (PPIO). Mr Issara Anukool, who heads the PPIO’s water management department, said that before the recent rains there was enough water in the Bang Wad dam to last until the end of May. “After…
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Phuket meeting to urge end to 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: More than 1,000 local tourism sector representatives and tour operators will gather in Bangkok, Phuket, Chiang Mai, Krabi, Pattaya and Samui tomorrow afternoon to urge anti-government red-shirt protesters to end their political rallies. The protests resulted…
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Phuket trash crisis: Tesco goes it alone
PHUKET: Tesco Lotus yesterday launched its own answer to Phuket’s long-delayed plastic bag charging scheme. The UK-based retail chain’s “Green Bag Green Point” initiative rewards customers who reuse old shopping bags with points which can be exchanged for cash coupons. Customers also receive “green points” when they buy certain environmentally friendly products. The project was launched in Bangkok on March…
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Phuket threatened as airfares soar
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 what might look like an April Fools’ Day joke but isn’t, Thai Airways is increasing its domestic fares tomorrow in hopes that its passengers will be willing…
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Accused Australian bailed tonight
PHUKET: An Australian man accused of sexually assaulting a four-year-old boy at an international school in Phuket is set to be released on bail this evening. Andrew Clements, 51, posted 800,000 baht in bail and will be released from Phuket Provincial Prison. Mr Clements, from northern Tasmania, was arrested at his house in Chalong by Thalang Police at 8:15pm on…
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Life after death: Bereaved family turn Phuket lifesavers
PHUKET: The family of a young Canadian man who died in a freak accident in Patong six years ago have donated six Automatic External Defibrillators (AEDs) to Phuket hospitals and rescue foundations. Noah Yelizarov, 19, died as a result of electrical shock on October 9, 2004. He was in Phuket on holiday with three friends. Standing knee-deep in flood water…
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Phuket protest against prawn farm poisonings
PA KHLOK, PHUKET: Villagers are complaining that shrimp farms in Ban Tha Rua in Phuket are poisoning the canal their livelihoods depend on. Ten residents of Bang La village said last week that shrimp farm operators were letting chemical wastewater flood into Klong Pak Ka, killing marine life. Surasak Wahlum, a 55-year-old fisherman, said, “The wastewater kills shellfish and other…
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Dane found dead in Phuket guesthouse
KATA, PHUKET: A Danish tourist died while eating pizza in a Phuket guesthouse on Thursday. A maid at Tik Place in Kata told police she grew suspicious when Mr Svend Aage Schwaback, 69, failed to check out on time. After failing to get a response from Mr Schwaback, the maid entered his room and found him lying on the bed…
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Phuket gang boots Italian off bike
PHUKET: Police arrested two minors and a 26-year-old man in Phuket on March 25 for kicking an Italian tourist off his motorcycle and stealing his cell phone, credit cards, licenses and 1,500 baht in cash. Ferdinando Rota, 50, was heading down Pracha Uthit Road towards Thepkrasattri Road around 2am when four Thais on two bikes passed him in the other…
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Bikers descend on 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: More than 3,000 big bikers from across Thailand and nearby countries will gather in Phuket during ‘Phuket Bike Week 2010’ and celebrate the Thai Water Festival of Songkran,…
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Phuket’s praises sung – loudly
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: While not all is well in Thailand, with fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra threatening to incite civil disobedience nationwide [see story below], Phuket continues to generate favorable…
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Accident claims two lives in Phuket
RAWAI, PHUKET: A Frenchman and a Thai man were killed in a motorcycle accident in Phuket in the early hours of March 25. Chalong Police found Cyril Chausse, 40, dead at the scene near his smashed motorcycle. His bike collided with a motorcycle driven by Loei-native Naphatphol Hongchumphare, 25, who died on the way to hospital. Mr Naphatphol, who worked…
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Englishman found dead in Phuket home
KATHU, PHUKET: A retired businessman from England was found dead in his Phuket home on Monday. Tung Tong Police found the body of William Mann, 63, lying on a sofa in the living room of his house with a bloody tissue in one hand and a wound on the right eyebrow. Investigators found no signs of a struggle. However, there…
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Breaking through: Phuket road near completion
WICHIT, PHUKET: The final stages of construction are set to begin on a long awaited road connecting the bypass road near HomeWorks to Ekwahnit Road behind Surakul stadium. Phuket Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop swung the project into action by helping demolish a wall with a sledgehammer on March 24. The 550-meter-long road, running behind Darasamuth School, was expected to have been…
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Phuket bike tragedy: three young lives lost
PHUKET: Three young women sharing a motorcycle died instantly in Phuket when a car traveling in the opposite direction veered into the wrong lane and hit them head on, police say. The accident took place around 4am on Chao Fa East Road close to the Kisalai Swimming Club near Kwang Road on Tuesday. Chuleeporn Primprai, 18, Pattarawan Boonpachuen, 20, and…
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Phuket rescuer: Italian’s boat “did not capsize’
KAMALA, PHUKET: An elderly Italian man found unconscious on a dinghy in Phuket’s Kamala Bay on Friday reportedly complained to his girlfriend of chest pains before setting out. Dinu Costa, 71, was later pronounced dead by doctors at Patong Hospital. Some local media reported that Mr Costa died after waves caused his boat to capsize. However, Phuket Ruamkatanyu Foundation rescue…
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Phuket yacht enthusiast ‘Boo’ dies
PHUKET: Local yachting enthusiast Boo Meesuk died this morning in Malaysia after falling ill while delivering a yacht to Phuket. Boo had been in a coma for more than two and a half weeks at a hospital in Terengganu. In a statement to members of the Ao Chalong Yacht Club (ACYC), Mick Kealy said, “It is with deep regret that…
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Private jets to rise in 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: Thai business aircraft operator MJets has opened the country’s first dedicated fixed-base operation (FBO) at Bangkok’s Don Mueang airport to exploit the growing demand for business aviation throughout…
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Phuket beach clear of killer jellies
NAI HARN, PHUKET : The Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC) has found no evidence of deadly jellyfish on Nai Harn Beach.After the hospitalization of a four-year-old boy last week due to a jellyfish sting, PMBC researchers sampled the area by sweeping the waters with two nets at depths of 1.1 and 1.4 meters.The operation netted seven jellyfish of the painful…
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Fundraiser for Phuket yachtsman Boo Meesuk
PHUKET: The Ao Chalong Yacht Club (ACYC) in Phuket will host a fundraising event on Friday for local yacht enthusiast Boo Meesuk. About two and a half weeks ago, Boo fell seriously ill while delivering a yacht to Phuket. His condition was critical by the time the rest of the crew managed to get him to a hospital in Terengganu,…
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Phuket slaying: man murdered for making noise
RASSADA, PHUKET: Police are hunting two men they believe stabbed a neighbor to death in Phuket on Sunday night for making too much noise in an apartment block. Ponsan Noi-oonsaen, a 41-year-old Chiang Mai native, died around 10:30pm after being stabbed at least five times in the chest with what were described by a witness as “foot-long knives”. Thirty-year-old Teeradech…
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Fires rage again in Phuket
KOH KAEW, PHUKET: A forest fire threatened to scorch nearby communities in Phuket yesterday as it blazed through uninhabited forest. The fire began around 2:00pm in a stretch of forest about 300 meters from Tha Reua shrine, next to Jee Teng Villa in Koh Kaew. Fire engines from five local organizations were dispatched to the spreading blaze and had the…
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Readers’ Poll: Have protests put Phuket in the red?
PHUKET TOWN: With the latest red-shirt protests driving business away from Bangkok, we’re asking our readers about the effect the demonstrations have had on the Phuket tourism industry. Have the protests had a negative effect? Have they had a positive influence due to tourists being rerouted from Bangkok to Phuket? Or have they had no effect whatsoever? Have your say…
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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