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 5 ways retirees in Thailand lose money (and how to stop it)
Retiring in Thailand can be affordable and enjoyable, but many retirees lose money due to common mistakes. High living costs, scams, and unexpected expenses can quickly drain savings. There are five ways that retirees in Thailand can lose money and...
-
Belgian beauties bound for Phuket
PHUKET CITY: Twenty Belgian beauties will touch down in Phuket on Monday as part of eight days of activities in the run up to the 2010 Miss Belgium pageant. Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) South Region 4 office director Bangornrat Shinaprayoon said the activities will include beach tours, photo and video shoots, kayaking in Phang Nga Bay, Thai cooking classes,…
-
Chalong – Patong road ‘coming soon’
PHUKET CITY: A new road linking Chalong and Patong will reduce accidents, save fuel and result in the destruction of fewer trees than detractors believe, the Phuket governor said on Monday. Phuket Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop was addressing a meeting at Provincial Hall to discuss progress on the controversial project, a key part of his plan to improve Phuket’s road network.…
-
British man dies in Rawai
PHUKET CITY: A 52-year-old British man was found dead in his rented home in Rawai earlier today.Chalong Police Duty Officer Tienchai Duangsuwan was informed of the death by the man’s Thai girlfriend at 3:30am.The couple shared a rented home on Soi Kok Mar in Rawai.They moved into the dwelling about one week ago.The woman told police the man had earlier…
-
Phuket blackout schedule announced
PHUKET CITY: The Phuket office of the Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) has announced the following scheduled power cuts to carry out maintenance on high voltage wires, starting with parts of Chalong on Thursday.November 12 (9am to 4pm): ChalongAffected areas include parts of Patak Rd, south side, from Chalong Circle to the Phuket Shooting Range. Patak Villa is among the affected…
-
Hainan delegation tours Phuket
PHUKET CITY: Representatives from the Chinese province of Hainan paid a visit to Phuket as part of a three-day study tour examining tourism management and development strategies. The Hainanese delegation held talks with Phuket Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop, Vice Governor Smith Palawatwichai and other officials at Provincial Hall yesterday afternoon. It was the final day of their three-day stay in Phuket,…
-
More trouble at Panason City in Phuket
WICHIT, PHUKET: Problems continue at the troubled Panason City housing project, with workmen this morning allegedly trying to bury seven houses under mounds of earth using three excavators, according to residents of nearby Ketkaew village. Four of the houses were still occupied, 50-year-old local woman Yaowaluck Promsiri said. The incident caused outrage among local residents, 30 of whom are understood…
-
Pa Khlok man named Phuket’s ‘Outstanding Citizen’
PA KHLOK, PHUKET: A 47-year-old Muslim man with no education past high school has won top honors for Phuket in a nationwide search for the most outstanding citizen in each Thai province. Jeerasak Torthip was named an ‘Outstanding Citizen’ for his work in securing a simple, sustainable way of life for the people of Bang Rong Village, a coastal community…
-
Chinese takes top honors in Phuket programming meet
PHUKET CITY: IT whizzes from universities across Asia convened in Phuket last week to compete in an international computer programming contest. The Association for Computing Machinery International Collegiate Programming Contest (ACM-ICPC) took place at Prince of Songkla University on Tuesday and Wednesday. Sixty teams of three students each from universities in Thailand, China, Vietnam, Japan, Taiwan, Indonesia, Singapore, Philippines, South…
-
Americans cash in on Phuket volleyball win
KARON, PHUKET: With a masterful performance, the American pair of Jen Kessy and April Ross captured their second-straight Phuket Thailand Open title on Karon Beach yesterday, walking off the sand with the winners’ check of US$30,000.The top-seeded Kessy and Ross finished their four days of competition by downing compatriots Angie Akers and Tyra Turner with clinical precision in the 37-minute…
-
All-American volleyball final in Phuket
KARON, PHUKET: The US teams of Jen Kessy/April Ross and Angie Akers/Tyra Turner will square off in the championship match of the US$190,000 Phuket Thailand Open this afternoon. The top two-seeded teams scored semi-final victories yesterday afternoon to advance to the ‘final four’ of the final women’s event on the 2009 world tour. The third-place final will see another US…
-
Phuket convention center “a certainty’: DPM Korbsak
MAI KHAO, PHUKET: Phuket’s decades-old dream of having an international-class convention and exhibition center took another turn yesterday, when Deputy Prime Minister Korbsak Sabhavasu toured the proposed project site in Mai Khao and suggested a number of changes to the latest plan. Mr Korbsak, Deputy Prime Minister in charge of economic affairs, reaffirmed that Cabinet has approved 2.6 billion baht…
-
Phuket Thailand Open: World’s largest women’s beach volleyball event!
KARON, PHUKET: Top seeds powered their way into the semi-finals of the US$190,000 Phuket Thailand Open on Karon Beach yesterday, with April Ross and Jen Kessy-Boss of the US surviving a sturdy challenge from the Netherlands. The FIVB announced yesterday that the Phuket Thailand Open was officially the largest event in women’s beach volleyball, having attracted a record-breaking 66 teams…
-
MV Doulos Phuket visit cancelled
PHUKET: It has been announced that the ‘library ship’ MV Doulos has cancelled her visit to Phuket. MV Doulos was due to port in Phuket from November 19 to 26. However, planned maintenance and repairs on the ship, currently berthed in Singapore, have run into unexpected delays. The advance preparation team regret the delay and apologizes for any inconveniences caused.…
-
Favorite teams drop like flies in Phuket Thailand Open volleyball tourney
KARON, PHUKET: After the posting of the seeds for this week’s SWATCH FIVB World Tour event in Karon, pundits figured that the gold medal participants at last week’s international stop in China would face each other in the third-round of the US$190,000 Phuket Thailand Open. Instead, only one of the final two teams advanced as expected, as Switzerland’s Simone Kuhn…
-
New Phuket TAT office chief to sell Phuket’s international side
PHUKET: With the possible exception of Bangkok, Phuket is the most ‘international’ of Thailand’s 76 provinces. A ride past the bustling eateries that line Patong’s Rat-U-Thit 200 Pi Road will confirm it: there are people from every corner of the globe living and working here. It’s this angle that new Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) South Region 4 Office chief…
-
Phuket punters sit for cops of coffee
PHUKET CITY: Phuket City Police Station’s very own coffee shop, The Seat, opened its doors on Monday, selling hot beverages, cakes – and earning extra cash for the city’s underpaid cops. The enterprise is a ‘police welfare project’ organized by station superintendent, Col Wanchai Ekpornpit. All profits from the shop will be shared by Phuket City Police officers, supplementing their…
-
Woman arrested for Phuket FantaSea jewel heist
PHUKET CITY: After analyzing DNA evidence, police on Monday arrested a cashier at Phuket FantaSea for the theft of more than two million baht’s worth of diamond jewelry from the souvenir shop safe in May. Police said a sample of 26-year-old Khuanrue-thai Chartnarong’s hair matched those found near the safe shortly after the robbery, which took place at Phuket FantaSea…
-
Software police target Phuket businesses
PHUKET: As part of a nationwide investigation, Phuket businesses are being investigated closely by police for using illegal computer software. A Gazette source said a ‘high profile’ property investment firm was raided earlier this week. Police are said to have seized hardware and software, all allegedly unlicensed. The company was given a million baht fine, the source said. Following news…
-
Patong nightspots under curfew scrutiny
PATONG, PHUKET: Following many reports that certain nightlife establishments in Patong are not closing by the mandatory 2am curfew, the Phuket’s governor and the island’s top police officer say the situation is being closely monitored. This follows a report in a local Thai language newspaper that three unspecified nightclubs were habitually operating until 6am. At a meeting at Phuket Provincial…
-
New Swedish Honorary Consul for Phuket
PHUKET CITY: A doctor at Bangkok Hospital Phuket is the new go-to man in times of trouble for the Andaman region’s sizable Swedish community. Dr Sompoch Nipakanont, assistant director of Bangkok Hospital Phuket, was formally appointed as the new Swedish honorary consul on Monday. Swedish Ambassador to Thailand Lennard Linner presented a letter of appointment to Dr Sompoch from HM…
-
Five Phuket teens accused of gang rape
PHUKET CITY: Five teenagers, including two girls, were arrested yesterday for allegedly gang raping a 14-year-old Thai-Japanese girl at a house in Phuket City last week. Police say the two girls held the victim down while the three boys raped her. All five suspects are 14 to16 years of age. Their faces covered with balaclavas, the youths were presented to…
-
Phuket FC to hold open trials
AO MAKHAM, PHUKET: In a bid to bolster the squad ahead of the 2010 season, the Phuket FC will hold open players trials on November 12. The trial will take place at the FIFA Tsunami Memorial Center at Ao Makham from 4pm to 6pm. The Sea Dragons finished their maiden season second from the bottom in the Thailand Regional Division…
-
MV Doulos back in Phuket in mid-November
PHUKET CITY: On the next leg of its mission to bring books to readers around the globe, the world’s oldest passenger liner will make its fifth port-of-call in Phuket later this month. The MV Doulos, built in the US in 1914, will berth at the Phuket Deep Sea Port for a one-week stay starting on November 19. Built just two…
-
Volleyball vixens smashing balls on the beach
KARON, PHUKET: A record number of teams are competing in the 4th Phuket Thailand Open women’s beach volleyball tournament, which began yesterday on Karon Beach. Heading the list of 70 teams competing in the US$190,000 event are April Ross and Jennifer Kessy-Boss, the 2009 Women’s Beach Volleyball World Champions. The US pair, currently ranked third in the world, return to…
-
Phuket Gov and consuls to talk through problems
PHUKET CITY: Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop has agreed to meet with the island’s honorary consuls every three months to discuss problems concerning tourists and expat residents. The move follows a proposal by the German ambassador to Thailand yesterday. German Ambassador Dr Hanns H. Schumacher met with the governor at 2pm at Phuket Provincial Hall. Dr Schumacher was accompanied by German Honorary…
-
‘Nong Peach’ top ladyboy at Phuket Rajabhat
RASSADA, PHUKET: Keslingthip ‘Nong Peach’ Rungreungniti took first prize in a beauty pageant among 12 ladyboy university students held at Phuket Rajabhat University last night. The event, now in its second year, was held as part of the school’s Loy Kratong celebrations. Nong Peach, 19, is studying performing arts in the school’s Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. Most of the contestants…
-
Phuket City CCTV plan hits a snag
PHUKET CITY: A new project at Phuket City Police Station has the worthy goal of providing disabled people with jobs and a salary. Nine disabled volunteers will work eight hour shifts watching monitors in the station’s CCTV control room, alerting officers when they spot traffic offenses, other crimes or suspicious vehicles. But there’s a snag: the control room is on…
-
Wired: CCTV expansion in Cherng Talay
CHERNG TALAY, PHUKET: A construction company has built a new office for Cherng Talay Traffic Police entirely free of charge. Wasi Construction Company spent 400,000 baht on the new building, which includes a CCTV control room for monitoring the 17 CCTV cameras in tambon Cherng Talay. A second room will be used as a ‘one stop service’ center for the…
-
Berlin Air deal a boost for Phuket tourism
PHUKET CITY: More good news for the Phuket tourism industry came earlier this week when it was announced that German carrier Berlin Air has entered into a codeshare agreement with Bangkok Air. A codeshare agreement enables two airlines to sell seats on the same flight. In this case, Air Berlin customers will benefit from a wider choice of flights and…
-
Phuket FC take on Thai champs tonight
PHUKET CITY: The Sea Dragons of Phuket will face a stiff challenge this afternoon when they kick off against 2009 Thailand Premier League winners Muang Thong United.The home side will bolster their line-up for the friendly match with former Thailand internationals Sarayud Chuaykhamdee and Somjed Sattabud.Muay Thai star Saenchai Sor Kingstar is also expected to play for the visitors.Phuket FC has been…
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.