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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Anti-terrorist system in place soon
PHUKET CITY: Phuket Immigration should have a new international anti-terrorism database system in operation by mid-year, the head of Thai Immigration told a press conference this morning.Speaking at a gathering of provincial Immigration Police chiefs at the Phuket Immigration Office, Immigration Commissioner Lt Gen Amarin Niemskul announced that Phuket would be one of three pilot provinces to get the new…
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Dengue outbreak reports “exaggerated’
PHUKET CITY: Dr Wanchai Sattayawutthipong, Chief Of Phuket Provincial Health Office (PPHO), today denied media reports that 100 people in Phuket have contracted dengue fever already this year, saying that only half that number had been confirmed as having the disease.A report by the state-run Thai News Agency (TNA), an arm of the Mass Communications Organization of Thailand, for example,…
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Patong plan takes a step forward
PATONG: The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) will fund a 200-million-baht project to improve road surfaces, sidewalks and drains along the beach road in Patong, it was announced yesterday.The announcement came during the third meeting of a committee set up to oversee redevelopment of Patong in the wake of the December 26 tsunami. The meeting, held at Patong Municipal offices…
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Your police force needs you!
PHUKET: The Tourist Police are hoping to recruit 100 people, including foreigners, to complete a weekend-long course and become volunteer tourist police officers, capable of safeguarding the wellbeing of tourists.Phuket Tourist Police inspector Pol Maj Bundit Khaosutham told the Gazette that the course would cover topics such as first aid and how to spot con men and others who might…
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Farewell to ghosts
PATONG: A ceremony was held at Patong Beach yesterday to exorcize “sea ghosts” of people killed by the tsunami, in the hope that Korean tourists will be persuaded to return to Phuket.The ceremony was organized by the the Seoul, South Korea, office of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT).The Patong Beach ceremony was conducted by Korean medium Lee Hyo Nam.…
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Smiling girl from Bangkok is “Miss Phuket’
PHUKET: A 19-year-old from Bangkok was last night named the “People’s Choice” out of the 44 young women competing to be named Miss Thailand Universe 2005.A total of 864 members of the 2,000-strong audience of VIPs at Phuket FantaSea voted for Nootsara “Jum” Suknamai to win the “Miss Phuket” award, after seeing all the contestants model batik and Yahya (Phuket-style)…
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Prince Andrew to visit Phuket
PHUKET: HRH Prince Andrew, fourth in line to the British throne and Britain’s Special Representative for International Trade and Investment, is due to visit Phuket on April 25 and 26 after attending Expo 2005 in Aichi, Japan.The announcement was made by Phuket Vice-Governor Niran Kalayanamit following a meeting with representatives of the British Embassy and Buckingham Palace staff in Phuket…
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Tourists “will return in October’
PHUKET CITY: Panu Maswongsa, Vice-President of Marketing of the Phuket Tourism Association, has said that he expects the number of tourists visiting Phuket to return to normal by October, when European tourists start to come back in larger numbers.“The number of tourists [to Phuket] will not increase in the immediate future because we are now entering the low season, but…
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More rain on the way
PHUKET: Parched Phuket can expect more rain this afternoon (Tuesday) after a heavy shower of about 30 minutes yesterday, mostly around Thalang and the airport.The director of the Southern Meteorological Center (West Coast), Vichit Phuangsombat, told the Gazette, “This [rain] is following the normal pattern of the rainy season in the South – the rain usually starts by the end…
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Second disaster warning system for Patong
PHUKET: Patong has been chosen as the pilot site for the government’s high-tech Early Warning System for disasters and will have three siren poles operational by the end of April, an official from the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology said today.The announcement was made at the Phuket Governor’s Office this morning by Manus Somsang, deputy chairman of the sub-committe…
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Beauties and the four-wheel beasts
PHUKET: Demonstrating that there’s more to a beauty queen than good looks, the 44 competitors in the Miss Thailand Universe 2005 indulged in a little pistol shooting, raced all-terrian vehicles and rode on elephants.The activities, filmed by Channel 7 TV for broadcast on March 26, the day of final of the contest, took place at the Phuket Shooting Range. Yesterday…
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Chalong death “was suicide’
CHALONG: Police have identified the body found hanging from a rubber tree in Chalong in the early hours of yesterday morning as that of Wachara Rodklongtan, 21, who lived with his parents in a house in Soi Nakok, Chalong.Pol Maj Anek Mongkol, from Chalong Police Station, told the Gazette that K. Wachara is believed to have committed suicide. He disclosed…
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WTO calls for easier access to soft loans
PHUKET CITY: World Tourism Organization (WTO) consultant JK Robert England today called for more flexibility in providing soft loans to tourism-related small- to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the post-tsunami environment.Speaking after meeting with Phuket Governor Udomsak Usawarangkura, he said, “The government has been amazingly successful so far in response to an unprecedented problem. However, more things can be done, more…
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THAI offers packages to boost tourism
BANGKOK: The national carrier, Thai Airways International (THAI) today announced special domestic packages offered by its Royal Orchid Holidays subsidiary aimed at kickstarting the tourism-led economies of Phuket, Krabi and Trang Provinces following the tsunami.The “Southern Sun and Sea” round-trip packages will be available for departures from Bangkok to the three southern provinces with prices pegged at 5,000 baht per…
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Plea for Fiona to contact parents
TORBAY, UK: The parents of Englishwoman Fiona Hodgkinson – who is known to have arrived in Bangkok in February and indicated that she was planning to stay at the Siam Hut, near Bai Lan Bay (Lonely Bay) on Koh Chang – are asking for help in ensuring that she is safe. Ms Hodgkinson is 30 but looks younger. She is approximately…
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Miss Thailand Universe beauties touch down
PHUKET: Forty-four beauties – all entrants in the Miss Thailand Universe 2005 contest – arrived at Phuket International Airport today at the beginning of an arduous round of photo opportunities and public appearances aimed at promoting Phuket’s wobbly tourism market.Among the places the lovely ladies are set to visit are Wat Chalong, the Phuket Home for the Aged, Patong’s infamous…
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Immigration service on the move
PHUKET: The Immigration Department will launch a mobile service as part of its contribution towards boosting Phuket’s tourism industry.Throughout April and May, immigration officers will staff desks at the Sheraton Grande Laguna Phuket on Tuesdays and at the Kata Beach Resort on Thursdays – except on the April 12 and 14 Songkran public holidays.Phuket Immigration Superintendent Pol Col Witawat Buranasompop…
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Krabi tsunami corpses transfered to Phuket
PHUKET: Ten refrigerated containers holding the bodies of tsunami victims from Krabi Province have been transfered to the cemetery at Mai Khao.Five containers holding 212 bodies were brought to Phuket on Sunday and the other five arrived yesterday. The temporary mortuary in Krabi has now been closed.The bodies, all of which are believed to belong to foreigners, will be kept…
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Police get training in handling bombs
PHUKET CITY: The Special Operations Unit (SOU) of Phuket Provincial Police are receiving some timely training in the use of blast suppression blankets – commonly known as bomb blankets – from Frank Boyd, a Supervisory Security Specialist with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service at the US Embassy in Bangkok. Pol Capt Charkrawat Buntaweekulsawat, the Chief of Phuket SOU, stressed that…
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Ferry rules crackdown sparks fears of “mob’
THALANG: The Marine Office today began enforcing rules barring ferries from carrying both passengers and cargo, and limiting the number of passengers per ferry on all boats operating from the Bang Rong Pier, sparking fears that ferry operators may oppose the crackdown with a mob.The move to enforce maritime safety regulations follows the deaths of 10 people in the sinking…
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Bypass project nears halfway mark
PHUKET: Motorists are asked not to be unduly alarmed by the sound of explosions as they travel along the bypass road to do their weekend shopping – it’s all part of the Government’s 111-million-baht project to widen Chalermprakiat Ror IX Rd to make for room for Phuket’s ever-growing number of vehicles. Boonyakiat Kongketyai, government engineer with the Highway Department and…
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ODPM officers “responsible for missing B2m’
PHUKET: The former chief of the Office of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (ODPM), Metha Mekarat, and several of his staff were responsible for the disappearance of more than two million baht earmarked for tsunami victims, Vice-Governor Supachai Yuwaboon announced yesterday.V/Gov Supachai has been chairing a commission set up to investigate the disappearance of the money – reported missing on February…
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Information “the key’ to restoring tourism
BERLIN: Prospective visitors to Asia have indicated that they would like more information about the areas hit by the December 26 tsunami, and cite health and sanitation as their main concerns, according to the results of a survey released on March 10 at ITB Berlin, the international tourism industry’s premier expo.The findings of the Post-Tsunami Global Travel Intentions Research (PTGTIR),…
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Tsunami memorial funding cut back
PHANG NGA: The head of the Phang Nga office of the Ministry of Culture today told the Gazette that the Cabinet this week approved an initial budget of 50 million baht for construction of a 1.5-billion-baht tsunami memorial in Bang Niang.The original idea for the memorial park called for a 2-billion-baht high-tech dome off the beach at Bang Niang, a…
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Lookout towers to be built at beaches
PHUKET CITY: The Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) intends to build 12 permanent watchtowers, where observers can watch for signs of future tsunamis, and also monitor the safety of tourists.Some of the towers will replace existing lifeguard stations; others will be completely new.OrBorJor Vice-President Sutin Lean-Udom said there would eventually be three towers around Kata and Karon; three in Patong…
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Time bomb found in Pa Khlok
PA KHLOK: Police explosives experts from Takua Pa last night used a controlled explosion to destroy a time bomb found in a quiet residential street of the east Phuket village of Baan Pa Khlok.The device, according to Phuket Provincial Police Chief Maj Gen Suwit Othong, consisted of two sticks of C4 plastique wrapped tightly in black insulating tape and connected by wires…
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Tsunami victim stats updated
PHUKET: The Tsunami Center in Phuket has issued updated statistics of the number of victims from the December 26 tsunami, following deduplication of lists.The total number of dead from the tsunami is now officially 5,395 people, comprising 1,926 Thais, 1,953 foreigners and 1,516 of as-yet-unidentified nationality.A total of 8,457 people were injured – 6,065 Thais and 2,392 foreigners. Still missing…
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Japanese tsunami warning plan outlined
PHUKET: Japanese seismologists have recommended that a Japanese tsunami early warning system be installed in the deep ocean and linked to beaches along the Andaman coast of Thailand that were hit by the December 26 tsunami.The Tokyo University team, led by Professor Kimiro Meguro, unveiled the proposal during a meeting today at Phuket Provincial Hall with Vice-Governor Supachai Yuvaboon.The scientists…
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Govt slashes Patong, Kamala rebuilding funds
PHUKET CITY: The Cabinet yesterday approved a budget of 200 million baht to rebuild Patong Beach and a further 100 million baht to rebuild Kamala Beach, together totaling less than a third of the original budgets Phuket Governor Udomsak Usawarangkul requested.At a meeting of district chiefs and other top-ranking provincial officials, chaired by Governor Udomsak today, Vice-Governor Winai Buapradit announced…
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Marine Chief defends agency after sinking
PHUKET: Surin Tirakulpisut, Head of the Phuket Marine Office, defended his agency in the face of scathing criticism, both in the media and by Government officials, after the disastrous sinking of the ferry Rungroj last Saturday.The last victim of the Rungroj was pulled from the sea yesterday evening, bringing the final death toll to 10. The victim was identified as…
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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