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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Another foreign tourist arrested, jailed in Phuket
PHUKET: According to a story released this morning by AAP, Australia’s national news agency, a Melbourne mother of four is facing five years in a Thai jail after allegedly “stealing” a bar mat [‘coaster’] from a Phuket pub. The report says 36-year-old Annice Smoel was arrested by undercover police as she left the Aussie Bar in Patong on May 3.…
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Power cuts in Thalang tomorrow
PHUKET CITY: The Phuket office of the Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) has announced scheduled power cuts to carry out maintenance on high voltage lines in parts of Thalang tomorrow, May 19, from 9am to 5pm. Affected areas will include Phanason Park Ville, the National Housing Authority estate at Baan Lipon, Baan Kluay, Baan Ya, Aekachai Village, Baan Tuk Sea Khuan and Baan…
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Tragic trajectory: man’s head blown off by festival rocket
SAKON NAKHON: A man had his head blown off while watching an annual homemade rocket festival in this northeastern town on May 11. The victim and his friends chose to have a drinking session in a cordoned off area where rockets were landing at the time of the incident. Police were called to the scene in Village 3, Tambon Dong…
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Paiboon suspended pending appeals court ruling
PHUKET CITY: The Region 8 Court of Appeals has ordered Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (PPAO) President Paiboon Upatising and a fellow PPAO member to cease their duties following a report of electoral fraud from the Election Commission (EC) in Bangkok. PPAO Chief Administrative Officer (Palad) Manop Leelasuthanon confirmed the letter and said Mr Paiboon and fellow PPAO member Sawat Muchawej…
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Krabi man survives assassination attempt
NAKHON SRI THAMMARAT: The key witness in a trial against six security forces personnel was shot and injured in Phra Phrom District on Saturday. The victim was due to testify against the men in an attempted murder case stemming from a previous attempt on his life. Jit Jansiriwong, 52, was shot as he driving his pickup truck through Tambon Thai…
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Star mayor gunned down in Haad Yai
SONGKHLA: The mayor of Khlong Hae Town in Songkhla’s Haad Yai District was gunned down in his car on the evening of May 16. Aphichat Sangkhachat, 39, was shot at around 10:30pm as he stopped at an ATM on Ratyindee Road in downtown Haad Yai City while on the way home from a funeral at Wat Khlong Ple. He was…
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Phuket Airport to get VIP terminal for private jets
MAI KHAO, PHUKET: The new director of Phuket International Airport has confirmed a plan to establish a new terminal for private jets to accommodate “VIP” passengers. Pratuang Sornkham officially took over as head of Phuket International Airport on May 12, then flew back to Airports of Thailand (AOT) headquarters in Bangkok to receive orders on a wide range of development…
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Land borders to Phuket under intensive flu screening
PHUKET: Thailand yesterday tightened the screening of people entering the country through its southern borders as Malaysia confirmed its second case of swine flu. The southern Thai borders are the land gateways to Phuket and the Andaman region’s other international resort areas. The borders are also used heavily by expatriates working in Phuket, Krabi and Khaolak for their visa runs.…
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Thai Prime Minister does not believe in media neutrality
BANGKOK: Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjiva said yesterday that he did not to want to discuss media neutrality because he did not believe that such a thing exists, pointing out that everyone has an opinion. “The point is that opinions must be expressed freely and responsibly,’ he said. He was addressing the Congress of National Media on “The media’s lesson, the…
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Thai woman bites Belgian tourist’s organ
PHUKET: A Belgian tourist in Pattaya was severely injured early Thursday morning when a Thai woman took a bite out of his penis and almost severed it, police said. The tourist, age 56, was rushed to Pattaya Memorial Hospital where doctors managed to save his organ. The hospital reported the event to police at 5:30 am. The man told police…
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Snatch bandits rob, kill elderly woman in Phuket
WICHIT, PHUKET: In one of the most heinous crimes in Phuket in recent memory, Phuket City Police are searching for two motorcycle-borne snatch bandits who stabbed an elderly woman to death on Thursday afternoon and made off with her gold necklace.Phuket City Police Inspector Wijak “The Magnet” Tarom told the Gazette the attack was reported to police at about 4pm…
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Vachira Hospital doctors save nine-bullet attack victim
PHUKET CITY: Doctors at Vachira Hospital Phuket saved the life of a 25-year-old photographer admitted to the emergency room with nine bullet wounds yesterday afternoon. Sarawut Seebatkhan, a photographer at the Baan Chang Elephant Safari camp in Rawai, was shot five times in the right arm, twice in the ribs and twice in the back in an attack in broad…
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Burrowes update: more jail time possible!
PHUKET CITY: Simon Burrowes may have to spend a night in a cell at the Phuket City Immigration Office while his case is processed, the Gazette has learned. An officer at immigration said Mr Burrowes should be able to leave the country tomorrow after “some paper work” is completed. This might mean he will have to spend a night in…
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Burmese woman dies in stabbing attack
PATONG, PHUKET: A Burmese woman last night died of stabbing injuries sustained while fighting off attackers in a workers’ camp in Kalim early yesterday evening. Patong Police Duty Officer Nitikorn Rawang was informed that a Burmese woman, identified only as “Aa-eeka”, underwent emergency treatment for deep lacerations to the arms and chest after being rushed to Patong Hospital at about…
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German, 57, dies in Phuket after severe vomiting
PATONG, PHUKET: A 57-year-old German national died on the way to a Phuket hospital in the early hours of May 12 with symptoms similar to those of two tourists who recently died on Phi Phi Island in Krabi. The deceased, later identified as Ernst Hermannweid, had been staying at the Sky Inn Hotel in Patong. Mr Hermannweid had gone for…
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Simon Burrowes misses flight from Phuket!
PHUKET CITY: It seems that British tourist Simon Burrowes’s troubles in Thailand will never end. His flight out of Phuket left at 3pm today, but, in a situation that is all too familiar to Burrowes, he was not on it. Immigration officials at the airport told him they wanted to make some “additional inquiries” before permitting him to board the…
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Good to go! Simon Burrowes flies out today
PHUKET CITY: Today is a big day for British tourist Simon Burrowes. If all goes to plan, he will be escorted through Customs and Immigration at Phuket International Airport, finally leaving the island on a 3pm flight to Bangkok. From there, he will fly home to the UK, thus ending a saga that has intrigued the British and local press…
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German held for manslaughter in Khao Lak
KHAO LAK, PHANG NGA: Phang Nga Police are investigating the death of a young German tourist found dead on the beach in Khao Lak early yesterday morning. The body of 21-year-old Sebastian Wolff of Munich, covered in cuts and bruises, was discovered about 30 meters from the Briza Beach Resort and Spa at about 6:30am. Police estimated the time of…
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Phuket Poll: How do we brand the virus?
PHUKET: It’s all about ‘branding’, baby, and the Phuket Gazette Poll is asking for your views on how a tourist-oriented community might best brand a pest. Two weeks ago, we learned that the island had lost its romantic rainy season, traditionally known as “The Low Season”. The Low got summarily canceled and “Summer Season” was ushered in. (The weather itself,…
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Like a Virgin? Aussie carrier seeks Phuket entry
PHUKET CITY: At a time when the Phuket tourism industry could use some good news, Australian low-cost carrier Virgin Group has applied for permission to begin a daily service from Australia to Phuket, according to a company press release published this morning by online Australia-based tourism industry newsletter etravelblackboard. If approved, it would be Virgin Group’s first destination in Thailand.…
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Asean summit postponed until October
PHUKET CITY: Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya today announced the postponement of the Asean summit in Phuket from the middle of next month to late October. Delegations of several countries found the June schedule too inconvenient, he said. But while the Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva’s government has cited the busy schedules of other heads of state, some skeptics believe unsettled political…
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Pressure drop in Phuket City
PHUKET: Is your water tank almost empty? Now might be a good time to fill it. Residents of parts of Phuket City will be without water for about an hour starting at around 4pm today, the Phuket City Waterworks has announced. Affected areas will include much of downtown Phuket City, including Damrong Road, Maeluan Road, Phuket Road, Srisuthat Road and Srisena Road. There will…
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Local PAD commends Phuket red shirts, but issues warning
PHUKET CITY: The People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) spokesperson for Phuket has commended the local “red shirt” group for its commitment not to disrupt the upcoming Asean-led summit meetings in June, but vowed to mobilize PAD members to prevent any incursion onto the island by red shirt protesters from other parts of the country. Phuket PAD coordinator Aparat Chartchutikumjorn this…
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Phuket property developer blamed for flooding
PATONG, PHUKET: As the monsoon season approaches, Patong residents fear that unusually prolonged flooding on a section of Nanai Road will only get worse. Despite efforts by Patong Municipality to rectify the problem, the section of Nanai Road has remained permanently under three feet of water for the past few weeks. It has become such a constant fixture that local residents have nicknamed the stretch…
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Phuket red shirts vow no disruption to Asean summits
PHUKET CITY: Members of the Phuket branch of the National United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD) this morning visited the Governor’s Office to protest government plans to invoke the Internal Security Act in Phuket during the upcoming Asean summit. Dressed in their trademark red shirts, a group of about 20 UDD members led by Wisut “Ae Inside” Tangwittayaporn presented…
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Phang Nga murder linked to land dispute
PHUKET CITY: The recent murder of a village headman on the island of Phra Thong in Phang Nga’s Kuraburi District, about a four-hour drive north of Phuket, may have been related to a land dispute, local police said. The Thai-language Siangtai Daily newspaper recently carried a report of the killing on the Phang Nga mainland, close to the island. On…
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Four Chikungunya cases reported in Phuket
PHUKET CITY: Chikungunya, the viral disease that is sweeping the Deep South, has now surfaced in Phuket, according to the Phuket Provincial Health Office. A press release issued by Kusuma Sawangpan of the Disease Control and Prevention Division confirmed four cases of the disease on the island, with all the patients being treated at Vachira Phuket Hospital. The vector for…
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UK man dies in motorbike crash
RAWAI, PHUKET: An accident in the early hours of Sunday morning left one British tourist dead and a Thai man seriously injured. Tourist Kenneth Nicholas Ibrahim, 27, was killed when the motorcycle he was riding collided with a truck outside the Sai Yuan Bungalows in Rawai. The Thai driver of the truck was also seriously injured. Mr Ibrahim, a semi-professional…
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Yala beat Phuket FC, 1-0
PHUKET CITY: Surakul Stadium remains less than a fortress for Phuket FC as the “Sea Dragons” were once again beaten on home soil, this time suffering a 1-0 defeat to last-place Yala. With the win, Yala picked up their first-ever points in the league after four consecutive losses. After five matches in the fledgling Division 2 of the Footbool Association…
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THAI to launch direct Oslo-Bangkok flights
PHUKET CITY: In a move that could provide some help to Phuket’s summer season tourism prospects, Thai Airways International (THAI) has announced the introduction of direct flights between Bangkok and Oslo, Norway. The service, to be inaugurated on June 15, will make THAI the first southeast Asian carrier to serve passenger demand between Norway and Thailand. THAI’s Bangkok-Oslo route will…
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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