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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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...
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Limo driver returns B200,000 in “lost luggage’
PHUKET: Airport limousine driver Prateep Seeponnok has been commended for returning almost 200,000 baht worth of cash and goods to their Norwegian owner who had left them in his car.K. Prateep, accompanied by Phuket Vice-Governor Worapot Rattasima and Tourist Police officers, returned the forgotten luggage to Rolf Bernharn Knobloch yesterday.K. Prateep told the Gazette that, “At 10 pm on January…
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Tourist Police nab Phang Nga murder suspect
PHUKET: Tourist Police have 23-year-old Wanasart “Bank” Jeensrikong, for his role in the June 28, 2003 murder of Sarawuth Yamying in Phang Nga’s Takuatung District.Following a tip-off, Wanasart was arrested on Thursday after he was found working as a chef at a hotel in Patong. Plainclothes police arrested the suspect at the hotel, which they declined to name.Wanasart had confessed…
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Nai Harn curve claims two lives
CHALONG: Two men, both 20, died in a motorbike accident when the driver overshot Ku Bua curve on Saiyuan Rd around 7:30 am yesterday.Pol Lt Col Sanguan Muangtam at Chalong Police Station said that the two men, one from Nakhon Sri Thammarat and the other from Trang, were friends who had come to Phuket to work.“The men were on their…
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Hotels get crash course in disease control
PATONG: Dr Wiwat Sitamanod of the Phuket Provincial Health Office on Wednesday said that the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) is investigating claims that six tourists contracted Legionnaire’s disease while on holiday in Patong.“The PPHO received a fax from a foreign embassy on January 9 about some of their nationals who were diagnosed as having Legionnaire’s disease after being on…
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Body found floating off Koh Bon
KOH BON: The body of an unidentified young man was found floating in the sea off Koh Bon yesterday afternoon. Police believe the victim was a Burmese fisherman.Pol Lt Col Chana Sutthimas, an Inspector at Chalong Police Station, told the Gazette that the discovery was made about 2 pm by a tourist, who then notified the Phuket Tourist Rescue Center…
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Local telephone book has arrived
PHUKET: The 2007 edition of the Gazette Guide, Phuket’s English-language yellow pages, has arrived and guestroom copies are today being delivered to the major four- and five-star hotels and resorts. The book goes on sale to the general public at noon on Thursday, February 1. The price of the directory is 140 baht. A full list of retailers in Phuket,…
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Patong tuk-tuks protest one-way traffic
PATONG: About 40 angry tuk-tuk drivers parked their vehicles on the football field on the beach road from 5 pm until 10 pm on Sunday to protest the town’s new one-way road system, which went into effect on a three-month trial from January 16.Among the drivers’ complaints are that the new system has increased traffic, travel time and operating costs – while…
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Hotels still refuse to pay rooms tax
PHUKET: Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) President Anchalee Vanich-Thepabutr has again threatened legal action against hotels that refuse to pay the controversial 1% rooms tax.K. Anchalee said that the OrBorJor this year aims to collect 60 million baht in rooms tax, up from a little over 41 million during the fiscal year from October 1, 2005 to September 30, 2006.However, she said that…
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Phuket runs out of “smart” ID cards
PHUKET: People looking to be issued one of the new “smart” ID cards will have to wait until about mid-year to get their hands on one, as all District Offices on Phuket have run out of the new cards.Phuket City Mayor Somjai Suwannasuppana said that people will have to settle for an old-style card until the Department of Local Administration…
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Kamala to get traditional Thai-Chinese medical center
KAMALA: Cabinet has approved a plan to build a traditional Thai-Chinese medical center with the assistance of the Chinese government at the site of the Kamala Public Health Office.Phuket Provincial Health Office (PPHO) Chief Dr Wanchai Sattayawuthipong told the Gazette the center will provide Thai and Chinese traditional treatments to both Thai and foreign patients.The PPHO, which drew up the…
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Fewer island blackouts predicted
PHUKET: The island’s residents are expected to suffer fewer electricity supply disruptions this year as power supply will be boosted to meet expected increases in demand, the head of the island’s electricity provider has reported.Suthep Jitseree of the Phuket Provincial Electricity Authority (PPEA) said the successful introduction of Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) technology to the island’s power grid…
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TTVI chief Khemmarin transferred
BANGKOK (Kom Chad Luek/Gazette): Pol Col Khemmarin Hassiri, the Superintendent in charge of the Thailand Tsunami Victim Identification (TTVI) center, has been transferred to an inactive position at the Police Forensic Science Office pending an investigation into allegations that money donated to the TTVI was used improperly.Ireland and Denmark have now added their names to the list of countries demanding…
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Doubt lingers over Legionnaire’s “outbreak’ claims
PATONG: Reports in the Finnish press of Legionnaire’s Disease being contracted by a group of tourists staying at a hotel in Patong have yet to be confirmed, as tests are still being conducted by the Phuket Provincial Health Office (PPHO), Ministry of Public Health and the World Health Organization.As of press time, no proof of the bacteria Legionella has been…
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Former Sheriff robbed en route from Bangkok
MAI KHAO: A former Sheriff in San Bernadino County, California, had valuables stolen from his luggage while it was on an Orient Thai Airlines One-Two-Go flight from Bangkok to Phuket on January 10.Californian Larry Morgan, who is in Thailand on a month-long trip, said that he checked his bag in with One-Two-Go staff at Suvarnabhumi Airport about 7 pm on January…
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Traffic jams mar Patong one-way system launch
PATONG: The introduction of the new one-way traffic system in Patong passed without accident on its first day, January 15, but was marred by early evening traffic jams along Thaweewong Rd (beach road). Kathu District Police, determined to make the day a success, stationed a total of 75 officers on rotation from 3 am until midnight to direct traffic flow.Pol…
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Hotel thieves nabbed at airport
PATONG: A 20-year-old man and a 14-year-old girl were arrested at Phuket International Airport January 10 while in possession of more than 250,000 baht’s worth of Swiss francs and a digital camera they had stolen from a couple staying in Patong.Duty Inspector Pol Lt Col Pisit Chunpet, of Kathu District Police Station, said the thieves, whom he declined to name, were…
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Property expo expected to set record
PHUKET CITY: The Property Investment Exhibition 2007 (PIE), the annual property show staged by the Phuket Provincial Land Office and Phuket Real Estate Club, is expected to set a record 500 million baht in sales and reservations, Thanet Traiwut, Managing Director of exhibition organizer Delice Thai, told the Gazette.Most of the properties sold or reserved were valued at five to…
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Jungceylon borrows B2.6 billion for expansion
PATONG: Jungceylon’s parent company, Phuket Square Co Ltd, has borrowed an additional 2.6 billion baht to further expand the Patong shopping complex.The money will be spent on the plaza area, building decorations, a road expansion and to finish construction of the on-site hotel. Last week Suchad Chiaranussati, President of Phuket Square Co Ltd, signed a six-year loan with the Bank…
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Tsunami buoy warning would be “too late’ – Smith
PHUKET: Because of its location, the lone tsunami direct detection buoy deployed last month in the middle of the Indian Ocean would offer little advance warning to Phuket in the event of another tsunami generated off the Indonesian Coast, Dr Smith Dharmasaroja, head of the National Disaster Warning Center (NDWC) in Nonthaburi, has told the Gazette.Dr Smith said that the…
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Gambling still Phuket’s top vice
PHUKET: With 62 cases resulting in 204 arrests from December 1 to 30, gambling remains the most popular crime committed in Phuket. Illegal lottery ticket sales counted for 44 of the arrests. Drug-related cases totaled 105 with 125 people arrested. Ya bah (methamphetamine) was involved in 35 of those cases, with 53 people arrested and 938.5 pills seized.There were 33…
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US experts lead counter-terrorism workshop
PATONG: Some 30 Thai police and military personnel are undergoing a two-week “Military Law Enforcement/Boarding Officer” course conducted by US military experts at the Patong Resort Hotel.The training, which began Monday, is the latest of many ventures funded by the US Defense Department’s Counter Terrorism Fellowship Program (CTFP) for Thailand. The program, which in 2006 had a budget of about…
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Island CCTV “ready next month’
PHUKET CITY Phuket Provincial Police Commander Pol Maj Gen Decha Budnampeth on Monday announced that the island-wide 16-million-baht closed-circuit television (CCTV) surveillance system will be operational in three popular tourist districts by mid-February.Work on the project, begun last August, was funded under former Phuket Governor Udomsak Uswarangkura’s discretionary budget for provincial development.The network, being installed by telecommunications provider CAT Telecom Public Company…
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Tourism Minister affirms tourism targets
PHUKET CITY: Tourism and Sports Minister Dr Suwit Yodmanee yesterday affirmed the government’s national targets for 2007 of 14.8 million foreign tourists and 82 million Thai tourists, with earnings of 547,500 million baht and 377,800 million baht respectively.Dr Suwit announced the targets at a meeting of about 280 government and private sector representatives from the 14 southern provinces at The…
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More than 5,000 fake credit cards seized
KATHU: Police have arrested three Sri Lankan men for credit card fraud, seizing more than 5,000 bogus credit cards allegedly encoded with information from real credit cards.Police suspect the three men may be part of a much larger ring operating in popular tourists areas throughout Thailand and other parts of the world.Pol Lt Col Boonlert Onklang of the Kathu Police…
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Sithi Tandavanitj passes away
PHUKET CITY: Sithi Tandavanitj, President of the Thai Hotels Association, Southern Chapter, died after suffering a heart attack on December 30. He was 79.A sociable Phuket native, K. Sithi was on the management committee of The Metropole hotel and also served as President of the Parent-Teacher Association at Phuket Vocational College.He was also a former President of the Thai Hotels…
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British boy, 7, electrocuted in Patong
PATONG: A seven-year-old British boy was electrocuted while playing a video game in his hotel room at the Sunset Beach Resort, police have confirmed.Pol Lt Col Sopol Borirak, of Kathu Police Station, identified the victim as Connor Dean O’Keeffe, son of David Skinner, 49, and Kathleen Patricia Curry, 45.Police were notified of the death about 8 pm on December 30…
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Alleged rapist dies in death plunge
THALANG: An alleged rapist died after being pushed off a second-story balcony in Cherng Talay by the boyfriend of the alleged victim.Pol Lt Col Jessada Sangsuree, Inspector for Investigations at Cherng Talay Police Station, identified the deceased as Echa Bumrung, 31, a resident of Cherng Talay.Echa celebrated New Year’s Eve by drinking beer with a group of four or five…
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Tourism operators “cautiously optimistic’ after Bangkok bombings
PHUKET: Tourism industry experts remain cautiously optimistic that the bombings in Bangkok will have limited impact on tourism numbers in Phuket.Suwalai Pinpradab, Director of Tourism Authority of Thailand’s Southern Region 4 office in Phuket, said, “We are concerned about this in Phuket, especially as it comes during a peak period for tourism.“If similar incidents occur and the violence continues to…
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Three die in New Year’s Day road accidents
PHUKET: Between the end of the new year countdown and sunrise on New Year’s Day, three people were killed on Phuket roads.The first fatality of the year on the island’s roads came at 2:30 am when Suripong Jitsamut, 30, was killed when his motorbike crashed into an electricity pylon.At 3:35 am, Prakarn Keawdee, 20, and Thanachart Rungsrisuk, 18, were killed…
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B10,000 reward for escaped convict
PHUKET CITY: The Director of Phuket Provincial Prison is offering a 10,000-baht reward for information leading to the arrest of a convict who broke out of Phuket Provincial Prison earlier this month and remains at-large.Phuket Provincial Prison Director Paisal Suwanraksa identified the fugitive as Thiwa Wahji, 20. In his successful bid for freedom on February 18, Thiwa scaled the facility’s…
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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