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
Infinito helps hotels in Thailand with revenue management
Maximising revenue and profit–isn’t that the ultimate goal for every business in the hospitality industry? If you run a hotel, you might have heard that revenue management is an effective way to boost your top-line revenue. It involves using data...
-
Top beach volley players heading for Phuket
PHUKET: The island will play host in November to the Swatch-FIVB World Tour Women’s Professional Beach Volleyball tournament, from November 1 to 5 at Kata Beach, it was announced yesterday. Prize money of US$200,000 (about 7 million baht) will be up for grabs for the winners among some 60 two-player teams from countries including Germany, Brazil, the US, China and…
-
Taiwanese dominate Phuket Marathon
CHERNG TALAY (Gazette, Nation): Taiwan’s Ko Shih Chieh won the inaugural Phuket International Marathon on June 18, while two Thai SEA Games gold medalists, Boonchu Chandecha and Boonthueng Srisang, were the best of the local runners, winning gold in the half marathon and 10k events, respectively.Boonchoo, from Chumphon, won the gold medal in the marathon in the 2005 SEA Games…
-
Swedish Royals give grants to tsunami kids
PHUKET: HM King Carl XVI Gustaf and HM Queen Silvia of Sweden this morning visited Satree Phuket School. Later in the day they were taken to the Tsunami Gallery at Bangkok Phuket Hospital.Their majesties are staying in Phuket until tomorrow on a six-day unofficial visit after attending HM King Bhumibol’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations in Bangkok.This morning at 11:30 am they…
-
Phuket’s Sikh community remembers Guru Arjan Dev
PHUKET CITY: The island’s small Sikh community yesterday marked a particularly special festival in their religion: the 400th anniversary of the martyrdom of the fifth Guru, Arjan Dev. In 1606 Guru Arjan Dev was tortured, on the orders of Emperor Jahangir, by being boiled alive and then forced to sit on a red-hot iron plate, in an effort to make…
-
Dive industry facing tough new rules
PHUKET: Phuket’s Chief Administrative Officer (Palad) Nivit Aroonrat yesterday handed the Governor a proposal to issue an order that will require all dive businesses on the island to register with the government within 30 days. Thereafter, the dive shops will have to provide specific details – including how many foreigners they employ and whether the foreign employees have work permits.The…
-
Fascinating detail revealed by cache of old documents
PHUKET: The effort to classify four huge stacks of old documents found by workers fixing the roof of Phuket Provincial Hall nearly six years ago should be completed by the end of September, the official in charge of the project says.Suntree Sungayuth, Chief Archivist at the National Archives in Trang, told the Gazette that some of 70,000 pages of official…
-
Public urged to wear yellow shirt every week
PHUKET CITY: Vice Governor Vorapot Rattasima has urged everyone, whether in government service or the private sector, to wear a yellow polo shirt with the symbol of HM King Bhumibol’s Diamond Jubilee every Monday for the rest of the year.He was speaking at the regular gubernatorial meeting with the press today. Also there was Sompoch Sungkapong, Chief of the Phuket…
-
Four shops damaged in Patong blaze
PATONG: Four shophouses on the corner of Thaweewong Rd and Soi Phermpong Phattana 2, just south of the Banthai Resort, were damaged by fire early yesterday morning. There were no casualties.Patong Fire Chief Paitoon Pholrop told the Gazette that the blaze broke out about 2 am. “It took firefighters two hours to put out the fire. Luckily, no one was…
-
Direct flights from HK, Korea “coming in July’
PHUKET: Dragonair still has no plans to restore its direct Hong Kong-Phuket service, but no fewer than three other airlines are planning to start flights on the route, a Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) official has announced. The first of these will start flying as early as next month.Anoma Wongyai, Assistant Director of the TAT office in Phuket, returned from…
-
Bike gang terrorizes Kalim motorists
KALIM-KAMALA: Kathu Police Station Superintendent Pol Col Teerapol Thipjaroen has warned motorists using the Kalim-Kamala road at night to take extra caution after one woman was dragged off her bike and nearly held at gunpoint and another woman had the rear window of her car smashed by a motorbike gang.Vanessa Temple reported that she was attacked while riding her motorbike…
-
More yellow shirts on the way
BANGKOK (The Nation): Clothing manufacturers have been asked by the government to produce 500,000 more yellow shirts, commemorating HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s diamond jubilee, to meet huge demand from the public. The shirts will be available at supermarkets including Big C, Makro and 7-Eleven stores nationwide. Siriphol Yordmuangcharoen, Director General of the Department of Commerce, said he has met with…
-
Police unravel tale of money and murder
PHUKET: Phuket Police have arrested three people in connection with a web of crime including the assassination of a local newspaper editor and the attempted murder of the ex-husband of one of the accused. A police sergeant was among those arrested.Local businessman Peerasak “Ko Yu” Aiewpanich was shot on October 19 last year while he was giving alms to monks…
-
Phuket to receive award for “fastest recovery’
PHUKET CITY: Phuket has won the Arabian Travel Market 2006 (ATM) “New Frontiers Award” for being the tourism destination that recovered fastest from a natural disaster, Governor Udomsak Uswarangkura announced yesterday.“The Arabian Travel Market has praised Phuket for its outstanding recovery and positive contribution to tourism development after the tsunami,” Governor Udomsak said.“The island was chosen after organizers consulted professionals…
-
Police get strict with red-plate cars
CHALONG: Traffic Police set up a checkpoint on Chao Fa East Rd on Monday night to check that all vehicles bearing red “temporary” license plates for newly-purchased cars were registered with the Transport Department and that the vehicles were not stolen or being used to commit crimes. The checkpoint, near the intersection with Soi Palai, was also manned by officials…
-
Land Office moves to allay property bust fears
PHUKET: The Chief of the Phuket Provincial Land Office (PPLO), Supot Suwannachote, has moved to reassure businesspeople that the closer inspection of companies wanting to register land titles, as ordered by the Ministry of Interior, does not mean that transfers of ownership will be refused.He stressed that he did not want to see a slowdown in Phuket’s booming property industry.…
-
Phuket readies security for Swedish royal visit
PHUKET: Security will be tight during the one-week visit to Phuket of King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden, with more than 100 police officers directly involved in the security effort and units from many other government agencies taking part. The Swedish royal couple will arrive in Phuket on the afternoon of June 14, following their attendance in…
-
More than 3,000 ya bah pills seized in May
PHUKET: Statistics released by the Phuket Provincial Police show that 3,183 ya bah (methamphetamine) pills were seized by police, with 71 arrests made in connection with the drug, between May 1 and 25. Seizures of ecstasy were also up on last month’s figures. In total, 121 people were arrested on drug-related charges. The second most commonly seized intoxicants were solvents…
-
Market launched to honor HM The King
PHUKET CITY: An open-air market is being held from 9 am until midnight at Queen Sirikit Park on Thalang Rd as part of the activities being held around the island to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of HM The King’s ascension of the throne. The market, organized by the Phuket Provincial Commercial Office (PPCO) and the Phuket Market Vendors’ Association, opened…
-
Official denies extortion and bodily harm charges
CHALONG: Sassiri Klinhom, a district official from Surat Thani, presented himself to Chalong Police Station on June 1 to deny charges of extortion and causing bodily harm.Pol Lt Col Jessada Sangsuree told the Gazette that at about 10 am on May 29, he and other officers responded to a call saying that a woman had been found handcuffed and drugged…
-
Police Chief warns of increasing petty crime
PHUKET CITY: Phuket Provincial Police Commander Pol Maj Gen Decha Budnampeth has ordered police in the province to step up their vigilance against petty crimes.He has also urged the public to help officers by informing them of any crimes they witness, especially in the run-up to the month-long soccer World Cup.Gen Decha said, “All police officers should be more attentive…
-
Blue Canyon out of bankruptcy
BANGKOK: The Central Bankruptcy Court (CBC) in Bangkok today announced its decision to allow Murex Co Ltd, the holding company for Blue Canyon Country Club (BCCC), to officially exit the debt restructuring process it has undergone under the court’s administration.BCCC, in an official release, stated, “The Plan Administrator of Murex, BC Golf Resort Management Co Ltd, has been instrumental in…
-
Swiss man found dead in pickup
CHALONG: A Swiss man was found dead in the driver’s seat of his pickup truck on Chao Fa East Rd on Monday. The 63-year-old man, identified by police as Johann Kupreest, was discovered slumped at the wheel with the engine off and the windows and doors locked. Local residents noticed the unconscious Mr Kupreest and tried to assist him, but…
-
Land crackdown targets Thai shareholders
BANGKOK: The Ministry of Interior has ordered a crackdown on property companies attempting to circumvent Section 74 of the Land Act in order to allow foreigners to control land ownership.Section 74 states (unofficial translation): “In the process of registering [land] possession rights and contracts between parties … officers have the power to investigate both parties and call them for questioning…
-
Hotel buying spree continues
PHUKET: Central Hotels & Resorts (CHR), which last month announced that it had bought the Islandia Park Resort in Karon for more than a billion baht, has also bought the Jiva Resort & Spa in Kata.This most recent purchase brings the number of properties CHR owns in Phuket to four; the company’s other properties in Phuket are the Central Karon Village…
-
Document forging gang arrested
PHUKET CITY: Two Burmese men and a Thai woman have been arrested for producing fake work documents to sell to illegal immigrants. The two men, Sommay Mahapong, 24, and So (last name unknown), 25, and the woman, Nipaporn Boonbunjob, also 25, were arrested in their Phuket City apartment where document-forging equipment was also found and seized. Pol Maj Pheeranat Chatinkaew,…
-
Reserve water pipeline to be complete by end of June
KATHU: The 17-kilometer pipeline to tap water supplies from the Hitlor and Manik lagoons in Tambon Srisoonthorn is now about 80% complete and should be finished by the end of June. The 60-million-baht pipeline is part of the Phuket Provincial Water Supply’s (PPWS) short-term plan to fight water shortages on the island. PPWS Manager Sayan Wareearoonroj told the Gazette today,…
-
Gov moves to unite dog welfare bodies
PHUKET: Governor Udomsak Usawarangkura has appointed a committee to try to solve the problem of stray dogs in Phuket. One main responsibility of the new Stray Dog Committee will be to promote coordination between the various government bodies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) who, Gov Udomsak believes, are not cooperating efficiently.Dr Prasit Koeysiripong, the newly appointed Chairman of one of the…
-
New terminal opened at Krabi International Airport
KRABI: Phumtham Vejyachai, Deputy Transport Minister, officially opened a new four-floor domestic-passenger terminal at Krabi International Airport on May 18. Pisarn Jinacharn, Director of Krabi International Airport, said “The terminal has been built for domestic passengers and has many facilities such as restaurants, banks, taxi services and car rental offices. It has an area of 10,593 square meters and a…
-
Chetwynd-Talbot gets 10 years for murder
PHUKET CITY: Briton Paul Chetwynd-Talbot was sentenced to 10 years in jail today for the murder of his girlfriend, Debra O’Hanlon, on July 31 last year in the Patong room the couple shared at the time.The 32-year-old accused and his lawyer, Somsak Chattay, had hoped for a reduced charge of manslaughter, arguing that Chetwynd-Talbot had not intended to kill Ms…
-
New rules reduce sailboat confusion
PHUKET: The Marine Department has announced that Thai-registered sailing vessels with a length of 16 meters (52.4 feet) or less no longer need to have a Thai skipper or crew on board when in Thai waters.Phuket Marine Office Chief Surin Theerakulpisut told the Gazette today that the new rule came into effect on March 1.Vincent Tabuteau, Managing Director of Asia…
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.