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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Asean meetings: Thai Army rolls onto Phuket
PHUKET: Troops and military hardware began arriving in Phuket today in preparation for the 42nd Asean Ministers Meetings at Laguna Phuket later this month. The convoy of equipment, including flatbed trailers carrying armored vehicles, troop transport trucks and four-wheel drive vehicles, rolled onto the island over the Thao Thepkrasattri Bridge at about 3pm. Military personnel waved on passing traffic after…
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Patong gears up for high season
PATONG, PHUKET: Patong Municipality will spend five million baht filling in the potholes on the unfinished Phang Muang Road that runs behind Jungceylon. Patong Mayor Pian Keesin said he hopes the work will be completed in time for the upcoming high season. The total price tag for the Phang Muang Road project, which requires completion of a three- to four-…
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Woman killed by truck in Phuket
MAI KHAO, PHUKET: A young woman died instantly on Tuesday afternoon when a pickup truck slammed into her motorbike as she tried to cross the busy Thepkrasattri Road. Sirintip Jongjalern, 26, was on her way home from work at Blue Canyon Country Club (BCCC) when she pulled onto Thepkrasattri Road in Thalang and into the path of a fast-moving Toyota…
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Phuket university student becomes first swine flu fatality
PHUKET CITY: A university student who died of pneumonia at Vachira Phuket Hospital on Thursday was infected with the A(H1N1) virus that causes swine flu, lab results have confirmed.Phuket Provincial Health Office (PPHO) chief Dr Pongsawas Ratanasang said the student was a 19-year-old in his first year of the engineering program at Prince of Songkla University (PSU) Phuket campus.He was…
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Fish die mysteriously in Phuket City
PHUKET CITY: Local people were surprised to find large numbers of dead fish floating in the pond in front of Prince of Songkla University’s Saphan Hin campus yesterday morning. When officials from Phuket City Municipality went to investigate, they found excited residents pulling dead grouper, red snapper and sea mullet from the water. While locals bagged fish with dinner in…
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10-man Phuket FC slumps to yet another defeat
PHUKET CITY: New team, same old result: Phuket FC slumped to their fifth-straight home defeat on Sunday in a disappointing 2-1 loss at Surakul Stadium. The new-look Sea Dragons took the lead midway through the first half, but two Narathiwat goals either side of half-time consigned them to their sixth defeat in eight matches. Expectations were high at the outset,…
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Govt to help Phuket sea gypsies rebuild
MAI KHAO, PHUKET: The central government is preparing to build temporary housing for the 17 sea gypsy families whose modest homes were destroyed by fire on the afternoon of June 29. Social Development and Human Security Minister Issara Somchai visited what remains of the Ban Hin Look Diow sea gypsy village early on Saturday morning. For our initial report about…
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Kajonkietsuksa School issues statement on swine flu
PHUKET CITY: Kajonkietsuksa School has had two cases of swine flu and no deaths, the school management has said. School Manager Permkiat Ketkul said the school closed for a “big cleaning” on Friday after the Phuket Public Health Office (PPHO) confirmed a kindergarten student as having the A(H1N1) virus two days earlier. The PPHO inspected the entire school, which comprises…
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Thieving teens victimize blind masseuse in Phuket City
PHUKET CITY: Two teenagers ran off with a blind masseuse’s handbag on Friday night as she was sitting in front of the small massage parlor where she works in Phuket City. Kainapa Jeenapueng, who operates the six-bed Nong Neuy traditional Thai massage parlor in Phuket Villa 1, said the thieves struck at 7.40pm. The victim, 43-year-old Wilawan Maikhong, was sitting…
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Phuket gym closes temporarily
CHALONG, PHUKET: Members of the Chalong Gym on Chao Fa East Road in Phuket will be pleased to hear that the popular fitness center’s recent closure is only a temporary measure. When morning fitness enthusiasts arrived at the gym on June 27, they found the doors locked and saw that exercise equipment had been removed. Some members had recently paid…
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Phuket health officials pay surprise visit to Laguna
CHERNG TALAY, PHUKET: The Phuket Public Health Office (PPHO) yesterday morning conducted a surprise inspection tour of the Laguna Phuket resort complex, which will host the upcoming 42nd Asean Foreign Ministers Meetings.The inspection was to ensure that water supplies, food preparation areas and hotel staff are free of disease-causing microbes during the proceedings to be held July 17 to 23,…
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Bt1m in damages from Phuket furniture shop fire
WICHIT, PHUKET : The owners of a furniture shop on Chao Fa West Road have vowed to remain in business, despite a fire that reduced half the store to ashes and caused an estimated 1 million baht in damages. The blaze broke out at the Touch Wood Furniture & Thai Advanced Solar Power Co Ltd store on Chao Fa West…
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Phuket’s illegal immigrants given 30 days to register
PHUKET: Foreign laborers currently working illegally in the fishing industry in the Andaman region have been given 30 days to register with the Labor Department and Immigration in order for them to work legally in and around Phuket.Those who do not register during the grace period from July 1 to July 30 face deportation if they are caught working illegally…
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Security Act will have little impact on Phuket: Governor
PHUKET CITY: Invocation of the controversial Internal Security Act during the 42nd Asean Foreign Ministers’ Meetings to be held in Phuket in July will have little impact on local residents or tourists, the Phuket governor has announced.Phuket Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop said special security measures put in place under the act will be limited to Thalang district.The event is to be held at…
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Phuket school blamed for spoiled milk
PHUKET CITY: Following lab tests of spoiled milk from a school in Phuket City that saw 16 children hospitalized last month, the Phuket Public Health Office (PPHO) has blamed the school for storing the milk improperly. PPHO chief Dr Pongsawas Ratanasang said Piboonsawaddee School in Phuket City over-stacked cartons of the UHT milk, causing some of them to split and their contents to…
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Phuket chikungunya outbreak worsens in June
PHUKET: While much attention has been placed on the fight against the spread of swine flu in Phuket, the island is still suffering from a chikungunya outbreak and has the highest per capita infection rate of any province in Thailand. According to recently-released figures from the Phuket Public Health Office (PPHO), there have been 2,155 confirmed cases of the disease…
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New-look Phuket FC return to action Sunday
PHUKET CITY: After a much needed six-week mid-season break, the new-look Phuket Sea Dragons football club return to action at Surakul Stadium on Sunday, July 5. The home side has added 15 new players to its squad since its last fixture and coach Somsak Waijarean is determined to make amends for their dismal start to the season. Only two players remain…
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Phuket to become medical training center
PHUKET CITY: The Public Health Ministry plans to develop Phuket into a “medical knowledge center” where medical students will receive specialist training. The move is part of a five-year plan to double the revenue of the medical service industry to 400 billion baht by 2014 and to further establish Thailand as a medical hub and world-class spa destination. Dr Wiwat…
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Asean meeting: Internal Security Act to be imposed for 15 days
PHUKET CITY: Phuket will for the first time fall under the Internal Security Act (ISA) when it hosts the 42nd Asean Ministerial Meeting and related activities to be held at Laguna Phuket from July 17 to 23. Cabinet yesterday approved the strict measure for 15 days, from July 10 to 24, for an area covering the entire island and extending…
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Tragedy strikes Phuket sea gypsy village – again
MAI KHAO, PHUKET: Less than five years after it was damaged by the 2004 tsunami, the Ban Hin Look Diow sea gypsy community has suffered another disaster – this time by fire.At about 1:30pm on Monday a fire broke out in one of the homes and quickly spread to sixteen others, destroying more than half of the village and leaving…
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Phuket energy exhibition ends Thursday
PHUKET CITY: To mark Thailand’s “Energy Day 2009”, some 200 people took part in a six-kilometer bike ride to Saphan Hin, where a one-week exhibition and sale of energy-saving devices attracted a lot of visitors over the past weekend. Taking part in the ride and opening event on June 26 was Phuket Vice-Governor Tri Augkaradacha, Ministry of Energy (MoE) Phuket…
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TAT bullish on Phuket tourism for 2010
PHUKET CITY: The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) expects 14 million foreign tourists to visit Thailand next year. It also expects an additional 90 million trips by domestic holidaymakers – to Phuket, Chiangmai, Pattaya, Koh Samui and other key tourist destinations – and total revenue of 960 billion baht. If achieved, the number of inbound tourists will represent a 5.6%…
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Phuket may face draconian Internal Security Act
PHUKET: The Cabinet will today consider a proposal to apply Thailand’s Internal Security Act to Phuket during the upcoming Asean ministerial meeting which will be attended by the US Secretary of State. An informed source said this morning that the Act, if approved, would task the nation’s powerful Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC), which is chaired by Prime Minister Abhisit…
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Munchies, ornaments and much more at Phuket Four Regions Festival
PHUKET: An inexpensive array of eye-catching handmade ornamental products from around the region and a wide range of locally-made “blue-flag” edible products are currently on sale at Saphan Hin in Southern Phuket until July 2.The rows of colorful stalls were set up over the weekend for the first ‘Good Food, 4 Regions & Blue Flag Festival’, which has been organized…
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Fire engulfs Patong beach road building
PATONG, PHUKET: In the latest fire to hit the beach road in Patong, an Indian restaurant, a tailor shop and a pharmacy were gutted in a pre-dawn blaze Thursday morning. The fire broke out at about 3am at a two-story building on the corner of Soi Post Office, just north of McDonald’s. Five fire engines from Patong Municipality were able…
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Phuket Airport staff sing for victory against swine flu
PHUKET CITY: Sing “Happy Birthday” to combat swine flu. Bizarre as it may sound, this was one of many pieces of advice given by public health officials during Phuket International Airport’s (PIA’s) “Big Clean Day” [sic] yesterday. But there is, in fact, method in the apparent madness. As one Phuket Public Health Office (PPHO) officer explained to PIA staff, the…
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12 donate land for new Phuket Airport Road project
PHUKET CITY: A provincial plan to build a second airport road took a small step forward earlier this week, thanks to 12 private landowners who donated land for the project. The handover took place on Monday night at the Ban Prujumpha School in Tambon Thepkrasattri, where the landowners personally handed over land title deeds and related documents to Phuket Governor…
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Phuket’s tourist population swells with American seamen
PHUKET: The unprecedented arrival in Phuket of five US Navy ships at the same time has given a boost to the island’s tourism industry and local economy, with about 5,700 US sailors and marines enjoying R&R on Phuket over the next few days. The USS Boxer has returned to Phuket while on an extended tour of duty that will have…
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Beach football competition in Phuket
KARON, PHUKET: Karon Municipality is organizing a five-a-side beach football tournament in early August with 74,000 baht in prize money up for grabs. The competition, being held to celebrate HM Queen Sirikit’s birthday on August 12, will kick off on August 1. The competition is also aimed at encouraging healthy lifestyles and keeping children off drugs. Match play will take…
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Phuket may benefit, but free visas backfire on honorary consulates
PHUKET CITY: The future of honorary Thai consulates around the world is in doubt following the Thai government’s move to waive tourist visa fees until March 2010. The Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday announced that as of today all foreigners applying for single-entry tourist visas at Thai embassies, consulates and honorary consulates will be exempt from fees. Some…
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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