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 tragedy ends in hope
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily digest of news from around the world compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community PHUKET: Noah Yelizarov, the 18-year-old who died in a freak accident in Phuket in October 2004, can rest in peace knowing that others will be spared his tragic fate. He was electrocuted when he inadvertently touched a live wire…
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Phuket not immune to red damage
PHUKET: The toxicity for tourism of the Bangkok protests, initially characterized in some quarters of the Phuket hospitality industry as being for Bangkok only – or certainly for Bangkok mainly – has now come home to roost. The cost to Thai tourism nationally since the red shirt protests began is now estimated at 233 million dollars (7.7 billion baht) in…
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Phuket red shirt leader speaks
PHUKET: About 40 Phuket residents remain part of the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD) protest in Bangkok, now in its 51st day at the Rajprasong intersection in Bangkok. Speaking to the Gazette by mobile phone from the protest site this afternoon was Phuket red shirt leader Wisut ‘Ae Inside’ Tangwittayaporn, who has been part of the protest since…
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SUDDEN IMPACT: Phuket helmet law crackdown starts today
PHUKET: Phuket City Traffic Police have been ordered to take more serious action against motorcyclists riding without helmets by fining passengers as well as drivers. The order was issued by Phuket Police Commander Pekad Tantipong as part of a crackdown that starts today. In May and June, 50 officers will crack down more heavily on motorcycle drivers without helmets and…
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Danish steakhouse blaze in Phuket
PATONG, PHUKET: Damages from a fire that broke out in the kitchen of a Danish steakhouse yesterday could run as high as one million baht, the owner says. The fire started about 10:30am in the kitchen of the Fundue House restaurant on Soi Patong Resort, off Soi Bangla. No one was harmed in the blaze. The fire caused extensive damage…
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Phuket throat slasher suspect arrested
PHUKET: A young man arrested in Phuket for the murder of Pirasak Pongchoo has confessed to slashing the man’s throat after enduring a month of sexual abuse. The badly decomposing body of the 43-year-old was found at his rented room on Wichit Songkram Road, Soi 1 on Monday. For the initial report click here. Surat Thani Police arrested Watcharin Srinin,…
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Swimming with sharks: Phuket debt reduction plan moves forward
PHUKET: The government is trying to help 2,000 heavily indebted Phuket residents escape the clutches of loan sharks as part of an ambitious nationwide program. The people selected owe between 50,000 and 200,000 baht each and were chosen from 4,000 island residents identified as being in debt to unofficial lenders. Their debts total at least 228 million baht. For our…
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Lost shopping bag still with Phuket Governor
PHUKET TOWN: Will the owner of two newly-purchased women’s purses please step forward? The Phuket governor is holding them for you. The handbags were among a small cache of items returned by an honest taxi driver in Patong last week. The purses were found in a paper bag along with two pearl rings, a pair of sunglasses and a slip…
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Yellow shirts active in Phuket
CAPE PANWA, PHUKET: Around 100 yellow shirted members of the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) gathered at the navy base at Cape Panwa yesterday to deliver a letter to the military demanding tough action against the red shirt protesters in Bangkok. PAD members led by Somnuk Tuito and Ms Aparat Chartchutikumjorn gave the letter to Vice Admiral Chumnum Ajwong of…
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Senators tour Phuket mangrove encroachment site
WICHIT, PHUKET: A Senate committee gave its support to Wichit Municipality Tuesday in its bid to secure proper permits for a road and football field it built illegally on mangrove forest land. Led by Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Environment chairman Surachai Liangboonlertchai, the committee members traveled to view the alleged encroachment, which covers five rai. Access to the…
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Phuket police sent to Bangkok
PHUKET: Nearly one-sixth of Phuket’s 1,200-strong police force has been sent to Bangkok to help manage unrest there. Since Monday, 173 officers with crowd control training have been dispatched from police stations on the island. Phuket Provincial Police Commander Pekad Tantipong denied the move would have any effect on law enforcement in Phuket. “The police left here will do their…
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High fliers in Phuket
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily digest of news from around the world compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community PHUKET: From May 21-23, Phuket will be playing host to its first-ever paragliding competition. Approximately 40 contestants from countries around the world are expected to arrive for the event. Among the challenges that will await the contestants are spot…
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Throat slash murder in Phuket
PHUKET: A 43-year-old man was found murdered in an apartment in Phuket Town yesterday afternoon. Police believe Pirasak Pongchoo, from Phatthalung, may have been killed in anger by his male partner for sleeping with another man. Mr Pirasak’s body was found wrapped in bedsheets in the toilet of his rented room on Wichit Songkram Road Soi 1 around 2:30pm. His…
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Memorial events for Tony Kelsey-Stead in Phuket
PHUKET: In memory of former Phuket resident Tony Kelsey-Stead, who died last week in England, friends and colleagues have arranged two memorial events on the island. The first, organized by The Andaman Players theater group, will feature a free show at The Green Man pub in Chalong at 6:30 pm on Sunday May 2. The performance will feature acts and…
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Phuket to host AFC Cup match
PHUKET TOWN: Instability in Bangkok is once again sending an Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup match Phuket’s way. Thailand FA Cup 2009 champions Thai Port FC and NT Realty Wofoo Tai Po of Hong Kong are set to face off in an AFC Cup Group H match tomorrow night at Phuket’s Surakul Stadium. Kick-off is at 6:30pm. Thai Port FC…
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Fake ring puts Phuket woman in jail
PHUKET: Police arrested a woman in Chalong on Saturday for selling a fake gold ring to a gold shop. When she sold the item to the Chao Fa Gold Shop on Chao Fa East Road for 8,200 baht, another shop, allegedly, had already told 25-year-old Sajee Sutthiprapha that the ring was a fake. Phuket’s Chalong Police arrested Ms Sajee, who is…
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Gun crackdown underway in Phuket
KATHU, PHUKET: Thung Thong Police are hoping to cut down on violent crime in their district by cracking down on the illegal possession of firearms. Thung Thong Police Superintendent Kraithong Chanthongbai said there is a particularly high concentration of unauthorized people carrying weapons in tambon Kathu. Many people living in Kathu work nights in Patong as touts and bar workers…
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Compromise needed at new Fresh Market
PHUKET: Pressure is mounting on Phuket City Municipality to reach an agreement with 425 market vendors who have been waiting almost three years for completion of the new fresh market on Ranong Rd. (See story in the current issue of the Phuket Gazette. Digital subscribers click here.) Most of the vendors have been operating at a temporary market on Wirat…
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Phuket to host Asian bike tour
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily digest of news from around the world compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community PHUKET: SpiceRoads Cycle Tours has launched an epic journey for cyclists – a 3,000 kilometer bicycle tour from Hanoi to Phuket. Riding through Vietnam, Laos and Thailand, the organizers say it will take 39 days to complete this “trip…
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Hearing on Patong Tunnel in Phuket soon
KATHU, PHUKET: Members of the public will get the chance to air their views on the controversial Patong Tunnel project at a hearing in Phuket on Tuesday. The project, which is currently the subject of a 40-million-baht feasibility study, will see a tunnel bored through the hills separating Patong from the rest of Tambon Kathu. Proponents of the project, including…
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Phuket Gazette Readers’ Poll: Turning Patong around
PHUKET: Patong Mayor Pian Keesin’s plan to reverse the one-way system in Patong would see traffic on the beach road run south and traffic on Rat-U-Thit 200 Pi Road run north. In general, would this make travel through Patong more convenient for you? Would it inconvenience you? Or would it have no effect? Have your say in the latest Phuket…
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Phuket vies for Indian tourism conference
PHUKET: Around 2,000 Indian tourism professionals will gather in Phuket later this year if the island is selected to host the annual meeting of the Tourism Association of India. Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) South Region 4 office director Bangornrat Shinaprayoon said the conference could generate as much as half a billion baht for the local economy if Phuket is…
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Readers’ Poll: Protests damaging Phuket tourism
PHUKET: Most Phuket Gazette readers believe the red-shirt rallies in Bangkok have had a negative effect on the island’s tourism industry, according to the results of our latest poll. With 615 readers casting votes, nearly two-thirds (64.4%) think the demonstrations in Bangkok have damaged tourism to Phuket, despite some earlier industry suggestions that Phuket, as a peaceful destination, could benefit…
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Phuket a super-star for hotel performance
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily digest of news from around the world compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community PHUKET: According to data compiled by STR Global Hotels and reported by Hotel News Now, the Asia/Pacific region, and most notably Phuket, experienced increases in all three key performance metrics for March 2010. “The Asia/Pacific region is still leading…
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Phuket People Network to PM: stay the course
PHUKET TOWN: The Phuket People Network is planning a large rally at Saphan Hin to show support for embattled PM Abhisit Vejjajiva. The PPN is a group of Phuket residents who claim to be neither ‘red’ nor ‘yellow’, but are deeply committed to democratic rule with the Thai Monarch as head of state. Members have been holding daily rallies at…
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Phuket hotels count costs of flight bans
PHUKET: Island hotels are counting the costs to the local hotel industry of the volcanic eruption in Iceland that forced airlines to delay and cancel flights between Europe and Phuket for a week. More than 600 tourists remain stranded on the island days after direct flights to Germany and Belgium were canceled, while many more travelers remain stuck here because…
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Grenade attacks rock Bangkok
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily digest of news from around the world compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community THE NATIONFive grenades were fired from M-79 launchers at BTS Saladaeng Station and nearby areas last night from unknown launch sites in Bangkok, killing a Thai woman and injuring 75 others including three foreigners, officials said. Ten are in…
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Mystery surrounds Phuket car fire
RASSADA, PHUKET: Police continue to investigate the mysterious explosion and fire that left a Honda Accord a charred wreck on the bypass road in front of Tesco Lotus at about 5:30pm yesterday. The driver, 35-year-old construction contractor Supachai Jongchanasetthakul, was rushed to nearby Bangkok Hospital Phuket, where he was treated for burns to the right side of his stomach. He…
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Will Air Asia become Phuket’s favorite airline?
PHUKET: Given its penchant for quickly fleeing the scene by abandoning routes (such as Phuket-Perth and Phuket-Singapore) when business turns bad, and following notorious fare hikes on routes into Phuket earlier this month, THAI Airways has exposed itself to disenchantment across a wide swath of Phuket’s resident market. And now the island resort province has an increasingly credible suitor –…
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Phuket Governor lobbies AoT for lower airport taxi fees
PHUKET: In a bid to lower taxi fares on the island Phuket Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop is lobbying to reduce fees for taxis operating out of Phuket International Airport (PIA). Land Transport Department director Kanok Siripanichkorn told the Gazette today that Gov Wichai sent a letter to Airports of Thailand (AoT) management in Bangkok requesting a meeting by the end of…
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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