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.
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Yachting events giant acquires PIMEX
PHUKET: World-class yachting events organizer Informa Yacht Group has acquired the Phuket International Marine Expo (PIMEX), adding Phuket’s premier boating exposition to its calendar of international yachting events.The announcement was made at a press conference at Royal Phuket Marina today, attended by more than 100 press and VIPs, to announce the opening of the new Royal Phuket Marina Exhibition and…
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Backlund murder trial enters final days
PHUKET: The final hearing of witnesses in the Hanna Backlund murder trial will be held this Friday, Phuket Provincial Court Registrar Sittipong Engchuan told the Gazette today.Akaradech Tongay is accused of stabbing Ms Backlund to death in broad daylight at Mai Khao Beach on March 15.He will be given a final chance to add to his confession and Pol Lt Col Somkit…
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PAD rallies to continue in Phuket
PHUKET CITY: Local members of the anti-government People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) will continue their evening gatherings at Saphan Hin even though Khunying Pojaman Shinawatra, wife of ex-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, was found guilty of tax evasion in court on Thursday.Phuket PAD leader Natjarong Ekpermsup told the Gazette, “We will only stop protesting if the Bangkok protests stop.”While the PAD…
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New orphanage nearing completion
KOH KAEW: Construction of the Phuket SOS Children’s Village on 10 rai on the road from Thepkrasattri Rd to British International School (BIS) is expected to be completed by the end of this month. The SOS Foundation of Thailand, under the Royal Patronage of Her Majesty Queen Sirikit, is a member of the Austria-based charity SOS Kinderdorf International (SOS-KDI). The…
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Land brokers in murder-suicide
THALANG: A local land broker shot dead his female business partner and then turned the gun on himself in a murder-suicide last Sunday.The incident occurred at Manas House rented apartments on Thepkrasattri Rd in Srisoonthorn.After the owner of the apartment block heard gunshots, he called the police, who arrived at the scene about 5 pm, Pol Maj Prakob Boonkwun told the Gazette.The…
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Soldiers of fortune found dead in Rawai
RAWAI: Two men who worked for a “security” company in Iraq died from suspected drug overdoses in Rawai on Monday while on holiday in Phuket.Australian ex-soldier Jason Gerrard Flynn, 32, from Perth, and James Plunkett Howe, 34, from the UK, were staying in Soi Sammakkee 2 with their Australian friend Mark Leo, who discovered their bodies on Monday morning.“Both of…
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Police Deputy Commissioner opens new Immigration building
PHUKET CITY: Gen Wiroj Phahonwet, Deputy Commissioner of the Royal Thai Police, arrived in Phuket to lead the opening ceremony of the new Immigration offices at Saphan Hin on Tuesday morning.The three-story building, which sits on 341 square meters of land, was built at a cost of just over 12 million baht.At 9:09 am, the ceremony started with a troupe…
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Nok Air ceases Phuket flights
PHUKET: From August 1, low-cost carrier Nok Air will no longer operate flights between Phuket and Bangkok, the Gazette has confirmed.The move follows Nok Air ceasing its services between Krabi and Bangkok on July 1.“Nok Air has no official statement regarding its marketing strategies, but if one looks carefully at what we are doing they might be able to figure…
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Tosaporn named Korean Honorary Consul for Phuket
PHUKET CITY: Phuket Member of Parliament Tosaporn Tephabutra has been appointed the Republic of Korea’s Honorary Consul for Phuket and the new consular office here opened yesterday. Its opening occurs in a year coinciding with the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Korea and Thailand, which will be observed on October 4. Presiding over the opening ceremony at the new office, located near Surakul Stadium on Wichit Songkram…
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Father who allegedly abducted girl to Cambodia is arrested
SWEDEN (Nation): Alicia Elfversson on Friday arrived in Sweden with her mother and aunt, who for the past year have been looking for the girl. Alicia was reported missing on June 4 last year after her father, Torgier Nordbo, picked her up for a routine visit to see relatives in Norway. (Click here for previous report.) Nordbo, who has business…
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Phuket’s first Toy Library opens
WICHIT: Muang District Chief Wisit Kurattanavate today officially opened Phuket’s first “Toy Library”, which has been set up at the childcare center at Wat Thepnimit on Chao Fa East Rd.Organized by the Phuket Community Foundation (PCF), Phuket International Hospital (PIH) and Wichit Municipality, which is responsible for the government-run childcare center, the toy library aims to give underprivileged children the…
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Phuket “69ers’ to promote Thai ICT in China
PHUKET CITY: Representatives from Phuket businesses and other organizations will travel to Nanning City in Guangxi, China, for the 5th China-ASEAN Expo (CAEXPO) to be held from October 22-25.Phuket Vice-Governor Smith Palawatwichai met officers from the Department of Export Promotion (DEP), the Phuket Office of the Software Industries Promotion Agency (SIPA) and Phuket business operators at Phuket Provincial Hall yesterday…
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Anti-smuggler task force stages simulation
AO CHALONG: While the record fleet was wrapping up racing in the Six Senses Phuket Raceweek at Chalong Bay on Sunday, the Phuket Marine Police, Thai Customs officers and the Royal Thai Navy Third Fleet staged a co-ordinated, simulated raid on a fishing boat with the crew pretending to be arms smugglers.In the exercise, a response group combining all three organizations…
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Man drowns in “freak wave’
PATONG (Gazette, Kom Chad Leuk): The body of one of the three men who were dashed against rocks at Paradise Beach by a single large wave on Saturday was recovered today.Cap Nithikorn Rawang, duty officer at Kathu Police Station, told the Gazette that the men were fishing off a rocky outcrop near Paradise Beach when they were swamped by a…
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Pian wins second term as Patong Mayor
PATONG: Pian Keesin won the Patong Municipality election for the seat as Patong Mayor yesterday, defeating rival Somkiet Kuru by 577 votes.Of the 11,460 eligible voters in the resort town, 7,849 voters (or 68%) turned out to cast ballots at the 23 polling stations set up around Patong.Votes were cast from 8 am to 3 pm, after which the counting…
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Yo!2 blitzes Phuket Raceweek regatta
AO CHALONG: Perth-based sailor Peter Ahern, skippering his new boat Yo!2, left the rest of the fleet in his wake at this year’s Six Senses Phuket Raceweek with eight wins from eight races to take the honors in the top-flight IRC 1 class today. Ahern, who is also the Commodore of the Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club in Perth, finished…
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Yo!2 finds Raceweek plain sailing
AO CHALONG: Peter Ahern’s crew aboard Yo2! have maintained their lead in the IRC 1 class of this year’s Six Senses Phuket Raceweek with two more wins today, leaving them with four wins from four races so far in the series. Other provisional results posted this afternoon show that Ben Copely’s Swan 42 Katsu, racing in her first Raceweek regatta,…
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Yo!2 blows into first place in Raceweek opener
AO CHALONG: After torrential downpours delayed the start of the first race yesterday morning, crews racing in the Six Senses Phuket Raceweek regatta were blessed with steady winds of more than 10 knots pushing the record fleet around the courses. The fleet of 44 yachts, competing in seven classes, faced miserable conditions as heavy rain forced organizers to delay the…
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“Death truck’ families to receive B35k per victim
BANGKOK (TNA): Relatives of the 54 Burmese migrant workers who suffocated in the back of a seafood truck in Ranong on April 9 will receive 35,000 baht compensation for each relative who died while being illegally transported to Phuket, Suwanna Suwanjutha, director-general of the Rights and Liberties Protection Department, said on Tuesday.A total of 121 people were crammed inside a…
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Vandals slash Patong election campaign posters
PATONG: Ahead of the Patong municipal election on Sunday, many of the campaign posters of mayoral candidate Somkiet Kuru, of the Patong Gao Na (Progress) party, posted throughout the resort town, have been slashed by vandals.Khun Somkiet is the only mayoral candidate opposing Pian Keesin, who is campaigning for his second consecutive term as mayor.Kathu Police Superintendent Col Grissak Songmoonnark…
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New international school set to open
THALANG: Phuket International Academy (PIA), under construction on Soi Teenped-Nanai, in Baan Nanai and next to Khao Pra Taew National Park, is scheduled to open on September 8 with its first students, ranging from nursery to Grade 4, taking classes.The academy, once complete, will run through senior high school and a boast modern sports and performing arts facilities. All construction is scheduled…
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World health tourism conference slated to bring US$10 million
KARON: An international convention on medical and health tourism to be be held in Phuket next year is expected to generate US$10 million, according to the event’s organizer, SOS Medical Tourism Services.The World Medical Health Tourism Conference (TWMHTC) 2009 will be held at the Hilton Phuket Arcadia Resort & Spa from September 16 to 18 2009.“Phuket is the ideal location…
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Kathu killing attracts top-level interest
KATHU (Gazette, Kom Chad Luek): The mafia-style murder of Komkai Kositkoon, whose mother owns Jintana Shopping Plaza in Patong, has caught the attention of some of the nation’s top police.“Maj Gen Chatree Sunthornsorn, a personal assistant to the national police chief, was in Phuket yesterday and has taken control of the case,” Thung Thong Police Superintendent Col Arayapan Pukbuakao told the…
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OrBorJor to offer incentives for rooms tax
PHUKET: In a move to encourage Phuket hotels to pay their dues, Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) President Paiboon Upatising has said that the OrBorJor would start offering incentives to hotels that paid the controversial rooms tax.Although he did not specifically explain what incentives would be offered, Khun Paiboon said that they would be in the form of personnel or…
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Big Buddha cost to top 100 million baht
CHALONG: The total cost of Phuket’s Big Buddha image on top of the Nakkerd Hills between Kata-Karon and Chalong is predicted to surpass 100 million baht, said Suporn Vanichkul, President of the Mingmongkol Faith 45 committee, which is raising funds for the project.K. Suporn told the Gazette that the structural work on the Big Buddha is almost finished and that…
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One-Two-Go forced to suspend operations
BANGKOK (Nation): Low-cost carrier One-Two-Go will suspend its operations from Tuesday until September 15, making it the first airline victim of record oil prices. Founder and CEO Udom Tatiprosongchai said the unrelenting rise in oil prices had forced the airline to shut down temporarily. “The company has been losing money for months, and we cannot continue like this,” said K.…
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THAI reopens Narita-Phuket route
MAI KHAO: The first Thai Airways International (THAI) direct flight from Narita, Japan, since the tsunami, arrived at Phuket International Airport yesterday afternoon, bringing some 300 Japanese tourists to the island.The Boeing 777-200 arrived at 3:30 pm, a little ahead of schedule, giving the tourists some more time to be welcomed by Tourism Authority of Thailand Southern Region 4 Office…
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Trawler sinks off Koh Racha Yai
KOH RACHA YAI: Crew on board the Sang Samut scrambled on top of their upturned hull yesterday morning as their 40-foot fishing boat sunk in rough seas off Koh Racha Yai.Sopon Sukkarin, vice-chairman of Koh Racha Yai Conservation and Prevention Network Club, told the Gazette, “The boat started taking on water the night before, when there were torrential downpours and…
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Heavy rains cause traffic delays
KOH KAEW: As the rain continues to fall on the island, motorists on Thepkrasattri Rd near Boat Lagoon this morning saw waters rise to more than a meter deep across the three northbound lanes.Police allowed only high-clearance vehicles to pass, such as pickup trucks, directing them in single file through the shallowest point, while diverting other vehicles to alternative routes.Many…
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Campaign to reduce plastic waste launched
PHUKET CITY: In possibly Phuket’s first unilateral move to reduce the volume of trash created each day on the island, the leaders of all 19 local administration organizations on Phuket – as well as representatives of 23 businesses, shops, department stores and resorts on the island – signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) at The Metropole hotel on July 9.…
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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