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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Karaoke hostess murdered
PHUKET CITY: A karaoke bar hostess was found murdered in her apartment off Montri Rd early yesterday morning. Police are searching for the victim’s live-in boyfriend, who is the prime suspect in the case.Phuket City Police Duty Inspector Pol Lt Col Sien Kaewthong identified the victim as 28-year-old Kanchana Aonpleng, from Pathum Thani province.About 12:45 am yesterday, police received a…
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Mala Seafood murder suspect surrenders
CHALONG: After two months on the run and wanted for the shooting murder of Karon restaurateur Mala Peng-iam, Suban Pon-iamsaen handed himself in to Chalong Police Station on Tuesday. A reward of 100,000 baht had been offered for information leading to his capture.About 7 pm March 27, Mala, owner of Mala Seafood restaurant, was shot three times in the face…
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PPEA to move head office
PHUKET CITY: The Phuket Provincial Electricity Authority (PPEA) will move its main office in Phuket from its current location on Thepkrasattri Rd to downtown Phuket City.The new office will be located west of the Honda dealer on the north side of Phang Nga Rd, near where the old “Chatuchak” weekend market was located.The new office will open for business Monday…
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New airport terminal ready for business
PHUKET: The expansion of the international passenger terminal at Phuket International Airport has been completed and is expected to be open for the upcoming high season, Phuket International Airport Director Sq/Ldr Pornchai Eua-aree told the Gazette today.The 120-million-baht expansion started in April 2004 and the building was completed earlier this year, he said.The ground floor of the new wing features check-in…
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Dead red frog crabs “probably poisoned’
MAI KHAO: Hundreds of red frog crabs, or phu jakkajan, and other species of crabs and sea urchins were found washed ashore on Sai Kaew Beach on Sunday evening. Many of the sea animals were dead, possibly poisoned by fishermen, said Somkiet Khokiettiwong of the Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC). “We’re not sure how many red frog crabs and other…
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Ian Rush-es through Phuket
WICHIT: Former English Premier League star striker Ian Rush was among a group of famous footballers who conducted a short football clinic in the parking lot of the Tesco-Lotus supercenter this morning.Rush, a Welshman, is best remembered as Liverpool’s leading scorer with 346 goals for the club between 1980 and 1996.Some 60 lucky youths from three local schools attended the…
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Local administrations to fund CCTV expansion
PHUKET: Following the installation 48 closed-circuit television (CCTV) surveillance cameras covering parts of Phuket City, Patong and Kata-Karon, local administrations across the island are preparing to fund 180 more cameras to improve security in their jurisdictions.Vice-Governor Worapoj Ratthasima yesterday chaired a meeting on ways to fund installation of CCTV cameras at “risk” areas across the island by year’s end. Attending…
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Shop owner grazed in drive-by shooting
WICHIT: The owner of a noodle restaurant was injured in a drive-by shooting while she worked in her shop last night.A teenager eating at the restaurant at the time, believed to have been the intended target, said he recognized the shooter as the same man who had once stabbed his brother.Lt Col Yongyut Krongmalai, an Investigating Inspector at the Phuket…
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Police push for 180 more CCTV cameras
PHUKET: After hailing as a success the installation of 48 closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras around the island, Phuket Provincial Police Superintendent of General Staff Pol Col Peerayut Karajedee on Friday announced that police are now looking to install 180 more public surveillance cameras.At the monthly Governor Meets the Press meeting, Col Peerayut said that the 48 cameras installed in Phuket…
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Private funding offered for convention center
NAI YANG: Phuket’s decades-old of dream of having an International Convention and Exhibition Center (ICEC) took a step forward on May 28, when Tourism and Sports Minister Suwit Yodmanee ordered the formation of a provincial committee and gave it 60 days to decide where the center should be sited.The move follows a May 25 meeting of ING Funds (Thailand) Co…
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Labor Office calls for work permit renewals
PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Employment Office (PPEO) today called for employers of Burmese, Lao and Cambodian workers to renew their employees’ work permits before the June 30 deadline.At the monthly meeting of provincial government department chiefs at Phuket Provincial Hall, Kitti Nuisri of the Phuket Labor Office this morning said that work permits for 6,685 immigrant workers whose permits will…
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Thai Rak Thai executives face five-year ban from politics
BANGKOK (Nation): The Constitution Tribunal yesterday ruled that the Thai Rak Thai executives must be banned from politics for five years in line with a coup order.The tribunal ruled that the Announcement No 27 of the Council for Democratic Reform had retroactive effect against the Thai Rak Thai executives.The court ruled that executives had committed political crimes, not criminal offenses,…
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Tribunal rules suit against Democrats legitimate
BANGKOK (Nation): The Constitution Tribunal ruled yesterday that the Democrat Party had not breached the MPs and Senatorial Election Act because the act had lapsed after the coup.Reading the legal interpretations before the verdict, Judge Somchai said the organic election had not been exempted by any coup order and so it was annulled by the coup.However, the tribunal ruled that…
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Democrats escape dissolution
BANGKOK (Nation): The Constitution Tribunal yesterday acquitted the Democrat Party of framing the Thai Rak Thai Party during the election campaign in the run up to the April 2 general election last year.The tribunal ruled that it was not wrong for the Democrats to attack the Thaksin regime during the election campaign.The tribunal also found the Democrats not guilty of…
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Villagers back Yamu marina plan
PHUKET CITY: In the latest in a back-and-forth dispute between opposing village groups, developers and the governmen, about 200 villagers from Baan Yamu in Pa Khlok staged a peaceful demonstration outside the Phuket Provincial Hall on May 29 to show their support for a controversial marina project at Cape Yamu. The planned 60-million-baht project, to be constructed by The Yamu…
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Decha calls for volunteers
PHUKET: Phuket Provincial Police Commander Maj Gen Decha Budnampetch once again called for more police officers and civil defense volunteers in a meeting this morning at ST Hotel. Comparing Phuket to Las Vegas, he said that more officers are needed to keep Phuket safe, especially after the recent bombings in Haad Yai. At the Phuket Provincial Security Committee meeting, chairman…
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OrBorTor Wichit aspires to municipality status
PHUKET: The President of Wichit Tambon Administration Organization (OrBorTor) has requested for the Governor of Phuket to upgrade the OrBorTor to the status of a town municipality, skipping the usual tambon municipality step. The upgrade is needed to reflect the rapid growth of the area’s economy and population, OrBorTor President Kreetha Saetan claims.Phuket Muang District Chief Wirawat Janpen, however, advised…
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Rise in registrations continues
PHUKET: As of May 20, Phuket’s official population stood at 318,538. The figure was up 7,868 people from January 31 when the province launched a campaign to increase the number of Thai citizens whose names appear on household registration forms in the province. Phuket Provincial Chief Administrative Officer (Palad) Piya Bharatasilpin reported the increase to Vice-Governor Worapoj Ratthasima during the…
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Copyright crackdown urged
PHUKET: Representatives from national copyright and trademark enforcement agencies this morning met with more than 30 police officers from Police Region 8 today, including Phuket Provincial Police Commander Pol Maj Gen Decha, to encourage the officers to crack down on intellectual property infringements. Phuket, Koh Samui and Ao Nang were specifically targeted because of their high number of foreign visitors,…
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2.9 billion baht requested for waste management
PHUKET (Gazette, The Nation): Phuket has requested a 2.9 billion baht budget from the central government to fund a four-year plan to manage waste disposal and water treatment on the island. The request includes an allocation of 1.3 billion baht to build a second incinerator.The plan was discussed at a workshop at the Phuket Merlin Hotel chaired by Vice-Governor Worapoj…
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Nation seminar sold out
PHUKET CITY: Phuket’s economic strengths and weaknesses were under the microscopes of prominent local and national leaders during “The Drivers of the Economy in Phuket” seminar at The Metropole hotel yesterday.The sold-out event, part of a number of activities to mark the Nation Group’s 36th anniversary, drew many notable speakers from government, industry and tourism sectors and focused on ways Phuket could…
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Thai Navy stages VIP rescue
CAPE PANWA: A “VIP” was rescued by officers from the Royal Thai Navy Third Naval Command yesterday as part of an anti-terrorism drill held off Cape Panwa.About 50 officers from the Navy, Marine Police and Marine Transport Officers took part in the drill, which simulated the rescue of a Thai Government VIP from a terrorist boat in the sea off…
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Student rape report denied by police
RASSADA: An unknown intruder broke into a room in a women’s dormitory yesterday afternoon and assaulted a 16-year-old student, but police are denying reports in the local Thai-language media that the girl was raped.Duty Officer Capt Attapol Wannasaengthong of the Phuket City Police responded to the report of the attack, which took place at about 5:15 pm at a women’s…
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Phuket’s klong to be cleaned Saturday
PHUKET CITY: Phuket City Municipality is organizing a “Clean Up Klong Bang Yai” day on Saturday, May 26, as part of its activities to mark World Environment Day on June 5.The cleanup will take place along a two-mile stretch of Klong Bang Yai, Phuket’s longest watercourse, from the Thipkiri Bridge to the Phra-Aram Bridge in Phuket City. Volunteers are invited…
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Local moneylender found murdered in his home
TUNG TONG: Police are investigating the brutal stabbing murder of an elderly businessman discovered in his Bangtong Village home in the early evening of May 22.Tung Tong Police Investigating Inspector Pol Lt Col Passakorn Sontikul told the Gazette the bloody corpse of 62-year-old Kajorn “Ko Jorn” Somnam was discovered by his longtime live-in partner Wassana Chookaew, 51, at about 7…
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Press conference to clarify “Zoran Island” plan
PHUKET: Following reports that a man-made island was ready to be built off the east coast of Phuket to accommodate a marina for mega-yachts, the marketing manager at Royal Phuket Marina [RPM] clarified that the project is still in the early planning stages and faces many obstacles before it can become a reality. RPM Marketing Director Wilaiporn Titimanaaree told the Gazette that developer…
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Phuket economy, lifestyle under scrutiny
PHUKET: With tourism resilient and the local property and investment markets sullied by strong central government resistance to globalism, business people in Phuket find themselves at a crossroads. They wonder if the legendary Thai welcome accorded overseas tourists can continue to work its magic amid the walls against foreign land ownership. Will the walls fall? Or will they, along with…
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Phuket and Japan’s Hyoko to be “sistered” soon
PHUKET: Plans are afoot to add the Japanese prefecture of Hyogo to Phuket’s growing list of sister cities.On May 21, Phuket Japanese Association President Kazushi Miyashita met with Phuket Governor Niran Kalayanamit and Suwalai Pinpradab, Director of Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), Southern Region 4 office to discuss the idea.Mr Miyashita told reporters he has already met the Vice Governor…
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Evacuation drills planned for June 30
PHUKET: Evacuation drills will be conducted in all tsunami-risk areas on the island on June 30, Phuket Vice Governor Tri Augkaradacha has announced. The drills will be coordinated jointly by the National Disaster Warning Center (NDWC), the local office of the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM-Phuket) and local administrative bodies where the exercises will take place. The areas…
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Night of drug checks turns up only one positive
PHUKET CITY: A urine check of 155 customers at seven nightspots in Phuket City on the night of May 17 turned up only one possible case of drug use, police reported.Phuket City Administrative Officer Adul Chuthong, along with Phuket Provincial Health Officer Anuntaporn Pattanapan, Phuket City Police Pol Capt Sombat Thanawut and about 10 volunteers conducted the unannounced checks, which…
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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