Phuket News
Discover the latest news and updates from Thailand’s most famous and beautiful island, The Thaiger’s hometown, having previously operated as the Phuket Gazette.
Our team brings you breaking news, in-depth analysis, and exclusive stories from Phuket, covering everything from local politics and business to lifestyle and tourism. Learn about the island’s stunning beaches, vibrant nightlife, and thriving expat community, as well as keeping updated on events, and attractions.
The Thaiger is your ultimate guide to staying connected with Phuket’s ever-evolving landscape. To keep up with the most reliable news source on the island, subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on social media.
-
Sponsored A healthy tomorrow starts today: Celebrate the great American Smokeout day
The Great American Smokeout, held this year on November 17, is a nationwide event that encourages smokers to take their first steps towards a smoke-free life. If you’re an expat in Thailand, this day could be a timely reminder to...
-
Battle brewing over U-turn closure
RASSADA: Residents of Village 2 are threatening to protest if Rassada Municipality moves ahead with a plan to permanently close down the U-turn on Thepkrasattri Rd, just north of Supercheap. At a meeting of Village 2 residents and local officials yesterday morning, residents led by spokesman Anurak Hongwongpaisarn said the plan to close the U-turn announced by Rassada Municipality last…
-
No end in sight for Patong Hospital staffing crisis
PATONG: Service at Patong Hospital continues to suffer, with no doctors on its permanent staff and no reinforcements expected until the middle of next year. Hospital Director Dr Taveesak Netwongse explained that the 60-bed hospital continues to get by with a skeleton crew of doctors on loan from other state-run hospitals including Vachira Phuket Hospital, Thalang Hospital and some in…
-
Thailand hammered by world travel warnings
PHUKET: Countries around the globe yesterday issued warnings to their citizens about traveling to Thailand – a country the Philippines said was lacking in “political maturity”. The comment from President Gloria Arroyo’s spokesman, Anthony Golez, was prompted by the seizure of Suvarnabhumi Airport by protesters. Asked to explain his comments, Golez said, “Our people have reached a high degree of…
-
Bangkok Airways announces flight cancellations
PHUKET: Bangkok Airways announced this morning that following a series of flight cancellations yesterday due to disruption of services at Suvarnabhumi Airport, a further 76 domestic and international flights in and out of Bangkok have been canceled for the period from 0600 hrs to 1800 hrs today. However, the airline is still operating scheduled services between the following destinations: Samui…
-
B39.7m approved for “Patong Tunnel’ study
PATONG: Patong Municipality’s recently approved 271-million-baht budget for fiscal year 2009 includes 40 million baht to conduct a detailed study into the possible construction of a tunnel to connect the town with Tambon Kathu. Thanin Attasup, President of the Patong Municipal Council, stated that the recently-held third ordinary meeting of the council for 2008 was attended by Patong Mayor Pian…
-
Kathu man confesses to grisly murder of neighbor while drunk
KATHU: A Kathu man confessed to the shooting and stabbing to death of a neighbor on the morning of November 23. Under questioning at Tung Tong police station, Wichian Choosri, 38, stated that he killed 39-year-old Nitti Limboot while in a drunken rage earlier that morning. A neighbor of Mr Wichian reported the murder to the police, who arrived at…
-
Toilet paper warehouse goes up in flames
CHALONG: It took firefighters about an hour-and-a-half to extinguish a blaze that broke out in a warehouse on Soi Sanjaotaead in Chalong at about 11:30 am today. Four firetrucks and a cherry-picker were dispatched from the Wichit and Chalong Fire Departments to the warehouse, located in a residential area off Soi Taiad, about 200 meters behind the Phuket Spa and…
-
Bangkok Airport Closed – Thousands Stranded
BANGKOK (The Nation): Up to 10,000 passengers are being stranded after the Suvarnabhumi Airport has been ordered closed as a result of a blockade by the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD). The Airports of Thailand (AOT) has decided to close the airport after the protesters blocked an entrance, entered passenger terminals and scuffled with airport officials. The closure, ordered around…
-
192 kilos of illicit drug ingredients seized
PHUKET: Thai and Australian law enforcement officials yesterday afternoon joined Phuket Governor Preecha Ruangjan at Phuket City Police Station to announce the arrest of a drug suspect and the seizure of 192 kilograms of pseudoephedrine (PSE), the chemical compound used to produce methamphetamines. Officers from the Royal Thai Police Narcotics Suppression Bureau and Phuket Provincial Police arrested 38-year-old Thai National…
-
800 Phuket PAD members to join protest in Bangkok
PHUKET CITY: At least eight buses will leave from Phuket late this afternoon to transport Peoples’ Alliance for Democracy (PAD) members and supporters to join a huge anti-government protest in Bangkok tomorrow. Phuket PAD spokesman Natjarong Ekpermsup told the Gazette this morning that the buses will leave from the Esso service station opposite Satree Phuket school at 5 pm. At…
-
Police nab bike thieving teens
PHUKET CITY: Phuket City Police have arrested three youths for motorcycle theft. Phuket Provincial Police Commander Apirak Hongtong presented the three 16-year-old suspects, along with a wide variety of motorcycle specialty parts and three stolen motorcycles, to the Gazette outside Phuket City Police Station this morning. The arrests were made after police spotted a blue Yamaha Mio, which had been…
-
Nai Yang Beach restaurant operators fight eviction
NAI YANG BEACH: The owners of 13 beach-side restaurants located inside Sirinath Marine National Park are refusing to relocate to new premises that were built for them at the park’s visitors center, saying that the new shops are too small and distant from the sea. The latest dispute in the area is only the latest chapter in a decades-old dispute…
-
Emergency medical training course for scuba staff
PHUKET CITY: The Badalveda Diving Medicine Network, on behalf of the TDA Diving Association (Thailand) and Bangkok Phuket Hospital, has announced the presentation of an Emergency Medical Management Training Course to be offered to the general scuba diving community. The course will include Basic First Aid, Oxygen Provider, and Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) training that can improve the emergency medical service…
-
All systems go for Coral Reef Squadron
PHUKET DEEP SEA PORT: Muslim clerics and Buddhist monks held religious services on the morning of November 15 to bless 10 aircraft that will be be sunk off Bang Tao Bay to create the “Coral Reef Squadron,” the first artificial reef project of its kind in Thailand. The services started at 10:30 am with a ceremony led by Muslim Wittaya…
-
Nuvo to play benefit concert for Coral Reef Squadron project
PATONG: Veteran pop band Nuvo will play a benefit concert at Jungceylon on Friday, November 28 to raise funds for the Coral Reef Squadron artificial reef project, which will have its grand opening ceremony the following morning. ‘For Sea Foundation’ Press Coordinator Siri “Poo” Vorabutra said the six-member band, with hits like Pen yang nee tung tae kerd luey (I’ve…
-
The next Miss France is on Phuket
NAI YANG: Phuket’s natural beauty got even more attractive this week with the arrival of 36 Miss France contestants who are here to film a segment of the pageant to be broadcast in France next month. On November 14 the Miss France contestants and their entourage, totaling 85 people, arrived at Indigo Pearl resort, where they will based during their…
-
Mysterious documentary filmed today in Phuket City
PHUKET: At least four pairs of contestants taking part in a travel documentary are racing around Phuket using various forms of transport today. One of the challenges that faced the contestants was to pull each other through Phuket City in the midday heat using rickshaws as they searched for “King Rama V Park”. The contestants pictured here made “four wrong…
-
Rage on the road turns fatal
PATONG: A hot-headed youth has been arrested after he shot and killed another man during an argument at a stoplight in Patong on Thursday morning. The victim was 32-year-old Kamjon “Neng” Pungprom. He died from a single gunshot wound to his abdomen. The shooting occurred at the three-way intersection along the new Phang Muang Road, not far from the Patong…
-
High-season tourism outlook bleak: PTA
PHUKET CITY: Despite a large drop in fuel prices internationally, the outlook for this year’s high season for tourism remains bleak, a top tourism industry leader says. Phuket Tourist Association (PTA) Vice-President Bhuritt Maswongsa told the Gazette that current occupancy rates and bookings from now until the end of the year should result in an island-wide average occupancy rate of…
-
Two arrested in Phuket heroin mega-bust
RASSADA (Kom Chad Luek): Police arrested a Thai man and a Taiwanese national along with 104 kilos of heroin at a house in the Phuket City Home residential estate yesterday afternoon, deputy national police chief Priewphan Damapong announced at a press conference in Bangkok yesterday. Speaking at the Royal Thai Police Drug Suppression Division headquarters on Viphawadee-Rangsit Rd, Gen Preowpan…
-
Local Muslims begin sacred journey
MAI KHAO: Phuket Governor Preecha Ruangjan and other top officials attended a ceremony, on Sunday, at Phuket International Airport to send off some 250 local Muslims leaving to attend the annual Hajj pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia, local Thai-language news sources have reported. Also attending the farewell were Phuket Senator Thanyarat Atchariyachai, Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) President Paiboon Upatising and…
-
War on drugs underway
BANGKOK (TNA): The government has launched a new round of drug suppression in a ceremony presided over by Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat last Thursday. The 90-day “war on drugs”, which kicked off on November 3, is scheduled to last through till the end of January. In his speech announcing the crackdown, PM Somchai encouraged authorities to devote their full attention…
-
Phuket Carnival dates announced
PATONG: This year’s Phuket Carnival will take place from December 15 to 20 at Patong Beach, some six weeks after the traditional starting date of November 1. Phuket Deputy Mayor Chairat Sukban said this year’s events will differ slightly from carnivals in past years, which have featured top rock acts including Modern Dog and even a performance once by the…
-
Americans dominate beach volleyball final
KARON: In the final playoff of the Swatch FIVB Beach Volleyball 2008 tournament, Jennifer Boss and April Ross overcame fellow Americans Nicole Branagh and Tyra Turner to win at Karon Beach on Sunday. After two sets, the teams couldn’t be separated with Branagh and Turner winning the first set 21-18 and Ross and Boss the second 21-14. The final went…
-
UK cancels visas of Thaksin, wife
BANGKOK (The Nation): The British Embassy has revoked entry visas of ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his wife Pojaman. The cancellations, which were decided while the couple were outside England, were notified to airlines yesterday. The decision was made by the United Kingdom Border Agency, and the notification email was signed by Bangkok-based Immigration Liaison Manager Andy Gray. The…
-
Israir announces direct flights from mid-December
PHUKET: Israeli airline Israir announced Wednesday that as of December it will begin operating two flights to Thailand, including direct flights between Israel and Phuket. Israel-based news service ynetnews.com reported that the flights, aboard Airbus A-330 planes, will be available during the height of Phuket’s high season: from December 15 to February 28. The flights will leave Israel on Sundays…
-
Urgent need for B Rh Negative blood
BANGKOK: Foreign Correspondents Club Thailand (FCCT) member and well-known local restaurateur Thomas McNamara is in critical condition and in need of blood type B Rh NEGATIVE. If you or anybody you know has this rare blood type, please contact Bumrungrad Hospital in Bangkok (Tel: 02-6671000) where Mr McNamara is being treated in Intensive Care Unit 526. A transfusion will help…
-
Young Brit dies in mystery fall
PATONG: A young English tourist mysteriously fell from a building in Patong early Monday evening and died en route to hospital. Kathu Police Superintendent Col Grissak Songmoonnark identified the deceased from his passport as UK national Joseph John Nason, age 22. Mr Nason and a friend, aged 19, had just arrived in Phuket on a flight from Bangkok and were…
-
Bus crash claims 2, injures 30
MAI KHAO (NBT): A fully-loaded bus headed for Satun overturned and crashed at about 9 pm Sunday night, killing two people and injuring at least 30 more. The state-run Andaman News service reported that the accident occurred on the outbound lane of Thepkasattri Rd, in the Ban Maak Prok area of Mai Khao Village 1. Tah Chat Chai Police Superintendent Sakchai…
-
Laguna Phuket turns to China, Middle East as Europe stays away
PHUKET: Laguna Phuket, the giant five-star resort complex on Bangtao Beach, Phuket, says it plans to look more and more towards China and the Middle East next year to compensate for a continuing plunge in bookings from European tourists. The operators expect the global financial crisis and domestic political unrest to continue affecting international arrivals next year, particularly Europeans, long…
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.