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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Thaksin okays B38m for stadium upgrade
PHUKET CITY: The race is on to repair Surakul Stadium in time for a key inspection in June by officials from Fifa, international soccer’s ruling body, who will decide whether Phuket’s most important sporting event yet can go ahead. Governor Udomsak Usawarangkura told the Gazette yesterday that Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has approved the budget of 38 million required to…
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Narathiwat “still safe for visa runs’
NARATHIWAT: Visa-run businesses are still operating normally to Narathiwat despite the outburst of violence in the South yesterday, which resulted in more than 100 deaths. Those who organize the visa-run services say that foreigners are safe. Kanitha Saelao, Manager of the Patong branch of Royal Silk Travel, which organizes visa trips to Kota Bahru via Narathiwat, told the Gazette that…
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Cop heading South vows to be “careful’
PHUKET: The 26th police officer seconded from Phuket to the turbulent South of the country left today for Narathiwat, vowing to be “very careful” after yesterday’s gun battles resulted in more than 100 deaths. Pol Capt Sanya Potchsalee, 32, Deputy-Inspector of Phuket Tourist Police, has been detailed to join a new unit of Tourist Police that has been established at…
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Pongtorn murder probe faltering
PHUKET: A year after the assassination of Pongtorn Hiranyaburana – the Deputy Chief of the Phuket Land Office ordered to investigate suspect land titles – the trail leading to his killers has apparently gone cold. Pol Col Ronapong Saikaew, Superintendent of Investigation of Police Region 8, based in Surat Thani, told the Gazette today, “We still need more time to…
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B255 million airport upgrade begins
PHUKET: Work has begun on a 255-million-baht expansion of Phuket International Airport. A 120-million-baht expansion of the passenger terminal – to be completed early next year – will be augmented by the creation of two additional berths for aircraft, taking the total number of berths to 27 and costing another 98 million baht. A further 37 million baht has been…
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Airport departure tax to rise 40pc
PHUKET: Departure taxes for international flights from Phuket will be hiked by 40% next year, soaring from the current 500 baht to 700 baht. Domestic passengers, who currently pay 50 baht a flight, will also face a hefty rate increase. The amount has yet to be set but according to Lt Cdr Boonchart Prompoon, Director of the Airports Authority of…
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Apply early for one-year permits – Immigration
PHUKET: Pol Capt Krissarat Nuesen, the Deputy Inspector of the Phuket Provincial Immigration Office (PPIO), yesterday urged foreigners seeking extensions to one-year permits-to-stay to apply at least a month before their current permits expire. “We need to receive applications about a month before the current permit expires to give us enough time to check the documents [submitted with applications],” Capt…
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BoI mulls tax break for IT investors
PHUKET CITY: An eight-year tax break for IT investors is among incentives being considered by the Board of Investment (BoI) to kick-start Phuket’s much-desired role as a software development center. The tax break proposal was revealed by the President of the Software Industry Promotion Agency (SIPA), Manoo Ordeedolchest, when he came to Phuket to exchange views with participants at a…
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New plan to tackle youth violence
PHUKET: New tactics are to be tried in an effort to control youth gang violence after police concluded that checkpoints are not the answer. “We have discussed this matter with the Phuket provincial government and have agreed to coordinate with local community leaders to obtain cooperation from parents,” said Provincial Police Commander, Maj Gen Veerayuth Sittimalic. “Other measures will be…
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Phuket sends reinforcements to South
PHUKET CITY: Police from Phuket are being sent as reinforcements to three troubled southern provinces to help quell continuing violence and attempt to improve relations between local agitators and law enforcement officers. The inclusion of 24 Phuket officers among 335 additional police being sent from Region 8 to Region 9 was revealed yesterday by Phuket Provincial Police Commander, Maj Gen…
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Anchalee’s election confirmed
PHUKET: The election of Anchalee Vanich-Thepabutr as President of the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) has been confirmed by the Central Election Committee (CEC) in Bangkok, though an official announcement has yet to be made in Phuket. Dr Prapa Kayee, Chairman of Phuket Election Commision (PEC) told the Gazette that the CEC had also confirmed the elections of other members…
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Rumors of Thaksin plans for Koh Yao denied
PHANG NGA BAY: Land prices on Koh Yao Noi and Koh Yao Yai are soaring, but local officials and residents have dismissed rumors that the boom is the result of speculation that Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is planning a mega-project for the islands. Koh Yao District Chief Songpol Konkaew told the Gazette yesterday that many foreign investors have paid deposits…
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3 dead, 424 hurt on Songkran roads
PHUKET: Three people died in accidents on Phuket roads during the official Songkran period, which began on April 9 and ended at midnight on Sunday. Metha Mekarat, Chief of the Phuket Office of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation, yesterday announced that the latest two victims were Visanu Chulap and Kajornkiat Sae-iew, both 20 and from Mai Khao. The two men were…
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Wildlife touts arrested in Patong
PATONG: Four photo-taking touts have been arrested by police and charged with having young gibbons in their possession without the required wildlife licences. One has already been fined 20,000 baht. The men were taken into custody over Songkran in Patong after a steady stream of complaints from tourists. Further charges will be laid against the four if allegations that the…
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Water supply projects completed
PHUKET: Two new mains water projects by the Phuket Provincial Waterworks Department (PPWD) are now in operation, and the authority is nearing completion of three additional supply lines as part of its fiscal 2004 budget. Speaking at the Governor’s monthly press conference at the Phuket Provincial Health Office yesterday, PPWD chief Sayun Vareearoonrod said residents could now apply for hook-up…
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Green light for bypass road widening
PHUKET CITY: Work to widen Chalermprakiat Ror IX Rd (the bypass road) to four lanes and, along one section, to six lanes, is due to begin on May 7. The 111-million-baht project, which will be paid for by the central government, will run from just south of the Dara Samut School intersection (known to many people as the Thainaan intersection)…
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Songkran blitz holds road toll down
PHUKET: A Songkran crackdown by police and government officials has held Phuket’s Thai New Year holiday road toll to one death and 340 injuries so far. The figures, recorded up to midnight last night, were in line with last year’s, when the number of deaths was restricted to two during the 10-day festival. In contrast, the tally of arrests at…
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Laws of physics win
OOPS: Passers-by at the Thepkrasattri Rd – Komarapaj Rd intersection in Phuket City on Saturday night were astonished to come across this humpbacked pickup truck. Witnesses said that the truck, heavily laden with fruit, was not involved in an accident, but had jack-knifed – vertically – after its driver slammed on his brakes at the lights.
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First road death recorded in “Safe Songkran’
PATONG: Within minutes of government officials urging people to ride safely, Sarawuth Kohavee became the first road fatality in Songkran week in Phuket. About noon his motorbike, bound for Phuket City, slammed into the rear of a six-wheel truck as it turned into a soi in Chalong, near the entrance of Phuket Vanich Company. K. Sarawuth was not wearing a…
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Report to Immigration, foreigners told
PHUKET CITY: The Phuket Immigration Office has renewed its warning that foreigners holding any type of one-year extension-of-stay must visit an Immigration office every 90 days to confirm their identity and address, or face a 2,000 baht fine. More stringent application of the rules – along with random visits by officers to check passports in areas where foreigners gather –…
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Air hostess grants offered to needy dreamers
PHUKET: The government is offering 60 scholarships for good-looking, tall, well educated Thai women living in poverty to realize their dreams of becoming air hostesses. Under the “Eur Ah-torn Air Hostess Project”, women granted the scholarships will attend the three-month basic cabin attendant course at the Civil Aviation Training Center (CATC) in Bangkok. The project, says an announcement from the…
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More Songkran water play zones designated
PHUKET CITY: Phuket Governor Udomsak Usawarangkura has designated two more zones for Songkran water play, adding to the three previously announced by Phuket Provincial Police. In a pamphlet issued by the Provincial Public Relations Office, the Governor listed the following areas as places where people may legally fling water at one another during Songkran: Muang District: Saphan Hin, Tambon Rawai,…
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Two-tier pricing claim baffles developers
PHUKET: Real estate developers have reacted with bafflement and irritation to an accusation that the property industry in Thailand indulges in double pricing, with foreigners paying up to 75% more than Thais do for homes. The accusation came in a report published yesterday by the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong – the biggest market by far for the…
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Patong politician attacked with metal bar
PATONG: Suwat Somnam, a member of the Patong Progress Party, which is currently under investigation by the Phuket Election Commission for vote-buying after it won the February 8 Patong municipal election, was beaten with a metal bar early on Tuesday morning while he was jogging along Patong Beach. “I woke up early as usual and went jogging along Patong Beach,”…
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Bad debt property up for auction
PHUKET CITY: The Phuket Legal Execution Department (PLED) will hold its first “distressed property” auction of the year on May 15 at the Phuket Merlin Hotel. The PLED, which is responsible for auctioning off bad-debt properties, currently has on its books 220 properties worth an estimated 750 million baht. Those that are unsold on May 15 will be offered at…
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Air Andaman to launch Phuket-Singapore route
PHUKET: Air Andaman will begin a regular service between Bangkok and Singapore from May 13, stopping at Phuket on the way. Public Relations Manager Am-nad Thienhiranchaikul told the Gazette that the airline is awaiting delivery of two new Fokker-100 jet airplanes to fly the new route. With capacity for 108 passengers, the new planes will replace the smaller F-50 turboprop…
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Warning over export of antiques
PHUKET CITY: Officers from the Customs Office at Phuket International Airport and from the Thalang National Museum have issued a reminder that people wanting to take antiques or Buddha images out of Thailand must first obtain a permit to do so. Nittaya Pinchaisiri, an officer at Thalang National Museum, said, “People who want to take antiques or Buddha images bought…
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Phuket City elects a new mayor
PHUKET CITY: A woman is Phuket City’s first directly-elected mayor. Somjai Suwannasuppana led the Khon Noom (Young Turks) Party to a relatively narrow victory in the Phuket City Municipality poll yesterday. K. Somjai, previously second on the party ticket, behind long-serving mayor Phummisak Hongsyok, polled 11,986 votes, narrowly defeating Prawat Suwannadithakul, of the Chao Baan Sarng San (Creative) Party, who…
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Reward offered over missing man
KATA: The family of missing dive instructor David Wiewel are offering a reward of 50,000 baht for information leading to Mr Wiewel being found. The 57-year-old Dutchman walked out of his home in Kata on the morning of March 26 and has not been seen since. His brother, Frank, said, “We are living between hope and fear and the situation…
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Dulwich to open college on Samui
KOH SAMUI: David Cook, Headmaster of Dulwich International College (DIC), has announced that the international school will open a new campus on Koh Samui next year. At a meeting of property developers and agents on Koh Samui on Friday, Mr Cook said that DIC had concluded the purchase of 65 rai of land with 300 meters of road front in…
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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