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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Confusion over new entertainment licenses
PHUKET: About 30% of the entertainment venues on Phuket have not applied for any of the new entertainment service licenses, Wisut Romin, Deputy Secretary of the Phuket Provincial Administrative Office, has told the Gazette. Owners of entertainment venues had until March 12 to apply, after which their existing licenses automatically became void. Those who did apply are allowed to continue…
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Gov urges swift action on seaweed
PHUKET: At a provincial meeting this morning Phuket Governor Udomsak Usawarangkura admitted that bright green seaweed covering large parts of Patong Beach is the result of poor waste disposal practices by the Patong Municipality, but stressed that it is not a danger to human health. The Governor did acknowledge, however, that the piles of macroalgae are a threat to tourism.…
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Tax man’s take rises 50pc
PHUKET: The island’s tax collectors were highly successful in February this year, collecting almost 50% more than in the same month in 2003. The latest figures released by the Phuket Provincial Revenue Office show a rise in the overall tax harvest from 223.97 million baht in February last year to 334.17 million baht in the same month this year, an…
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Roads claim 15 more lives
PHUKET: Fifteen people were killed on Phuket’s roads between January 20 and February 20, according to the latest statistics from the Wachira, Thalang and Patong government hospitals. All of the victims died while riding motorcycles, Ampaipan Pawawattananusorn, of the Phuket Provincial Health Office, reported. In the same period, 1,024 people were hurt in crashes involving motorbikes. Another 80 people were…
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Appeal over missing dive instructor
KATA: The wife and friends of dive instructor David Wiewel, 57, have issued an appeal for anyone who has seen the Dutchman since 8 am on Friday (March 26) to get in touch with them. Mr Wiewel left his home at 121/1, Koktanod Rd, Kata, at that time and was last seen walking toward Kata Noi. He left behind his…
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Hotel unions examine service charge issue
PHUKET CITY: For members of local hotel labor unions, the question of who gets service charges was high on the agenda at a recent international meeting of labor officials in Phuket. Regional representatives of the International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Associations (IUF) gathered at the ST Hotel on March 27-28 to discuss collective…
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Video captures tourist’s “suicide’
KARON: A video recording of a Thai tourist speaking her last known words was found in the bedroom of her Karon holiday home where she apparently committed suicide. Pol Maj Jessada Sangsure, of Chalong Police Station, told the Gazette that he received a call yesterday at 6 pm from a male cleaner who found the body. Maj Jessada arrived to…
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Songkran water battles to be zoned
PHUKET (The Nation): Revelers will have to watch out where they hurl water during Songkran next month because local authorities plan to designate specific areas for their antics. “We will ensure that the revelers have fun while observing laws and safety rules,” Phuket police chief Pol Maj Gen Veerayuth Sittimalic said. The proposed free-for-all zones are Saphan Hin in Phuket…
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Direct Phuket-Pattaya flights take off
PHUKET: Bangkok Airways will launch direct Phuket-Pattaya flights on Sunday (March 28) – part of a general aviation expansion that also sees Hong Kong-based airlines Cathay Pacific and Dragonair getting access to some domestic routes within Thailand. Bangkok Airways’ Sales Executive in Phuket, Julalak Atiwattananon, told the Gazette that, starting March 28, the new Phuket-Pattaya service will fly on Sundays,…
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Phuket Seminars to focus on quality-of-life issues
PHUKET: In connection with a Nation Multimedia Group (NMG) editorial board meeting to be held in Phuket this weekend, The Nation newspaper and the Phuket Gazette will present an English-language seminar entitled: “Can zoning save Phuket?” Focused on provincial planning, zoning, environmental and other issues critical for tourism, property development and day-to-day living on the island, the seminar will be…
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Move to curb long-tail rip-offs
RAWAI: Island-wide measures are to be introduced to register all of Phuket’s long-tail boats, set standard fees for tourist trips, and punish rip-off boat operators. Most of the island’s long-tail operators are honest, but some unscrupulous boatmen have been known to charge excessive rates and cheat tourists. Another cause for concern – and action – is the tour group operators…
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Police seek witnesses to double fatality
RAWAI: Police are keen to interview anyone who may have witnessed a collision between a car and a motorbike that killed a British tourist and his Thai girlfriend on Wiset Rd, Rawai, on Sunday night. Killed were Briton Scott Tristan Watkins, 33, and Sasithorn Kaewyai, also 33, from Buri Ram. The following day, the driver of the Mitsubishi Pajero involved…
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Police appeal over headless corpse
KAMALA: Police have appealed for information to help them identify a badly decomposed, headless body that was found washed up on seaside rocks at Laem Son on Sunday. Pol Capt Serm Kwannimit, of Kathu Police Station, told the Gazette that the body was discovered by local villagers at about 4:30 pm. He said that police believe the victim was probably…
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Mayoral candidate disqualified
PHUKET CITY: The Phuket Election Commission (PEC) has barred Thanapong Kho-udom, leader of the Pattana Baan Rao (“Develop Our Home”) Party from running for Mayor of Phuket City in elections due to be held on April 4. Kittipong Thiengkunagrit, Director of the PEC, told the Gazette that electoral rules state that a mayoral candidate must have lived within municipal boundaries…
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Court accepts Blue Canyon case
PHUKET (The Nation): The Phuket Provincial Court has decided that a complaint filed by a founder of Murex Co, developer of the Blue Canyon Country Club, has sufficient merit for it to proceed. The court set March 29 as the date of the first hearing, allowing the accused, Sia Leng Yeun, an executive of Murex, to defend himself against the…
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Piglet deaths “not from bird ‘flu’
PHUKET CITY: The deaths of 60 piglets on a single farm recently from respiratory infection were the result of hog cholera, not avian ‘flu, according to the island’s top livestock official. The Chief of the Phuket Provincial Livestock Office (PPLO), Sunart Wongchawalit, told the Gazette that the piglets died after contracting hog cholera, also known as swine ‘flu. The deaths…
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Dugong not out of the woods yet
PHUKET TOWN: The health of the young female dugong rescued by staff of the Phuket Marine Biology Center (PMBC) on March 5 has improved, but the animal is still far from a complete recovery. The young animal, little more than an infant, was found stranded at the edge of Klong Pa Khlock, exhausted, bruised all over and with a large…
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Obstructive bureaucrats slammed
PHUKET CITY: The President of the recently formed Phuket Real Estate Club (PREC) yesterday slammed bureaucrats for constantly putting obstacles in the way of the booming property market. Announcing that the club plans to stage a public seminar on April 3 at the Royal Phuket City Hotel to address problems faced by those in real estate development, Phummisak Hongsyok, former…
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Phuket must decide on expo center: Chavalit
PHUKET TOWN: Phuket and its tourist trade are essential to Thailand’s economy but what matters most is that the island’s inhabitants decide their own future, Deputy Prime Minister Gen Chavalit Yongchaiyuth said today. “I’d like to ask if Phuket people really want to build the International Convention and Exhibition Center (ICEC) or not,” he said of the controversial 2.5-billion-baht project…
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Broken leg foils car thief’s escape
PHUKET CITY: A man suspected of stealing two cars and electrical equipment in a wave of thefts tried to escape through a third-floor window at Phuket City Police Station today and ended up in Wachira Hospital with a broken leg. The man specialized in robbing the homes of foreigners, police said. Pol Capt Akanit Danpitaksat, Sub-Inspector of Investigation at Phuket…
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Gazette launches private home delivery
PHUKET: In response to increasing demand from readers for home delivery, as well as pressure from advertisers for paid (vs ‘give-away’) circulation, the Phuket Gazette has today launched a “Phuket Special Delivery” subscription. Available to readers in Phuket Province only, the new service promises direct, hand delivery to homes and offices virtually anywhere on the island – “every Saturday morning,…
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Autopsy finds Russian girl was electrocuted
PHUKET: Police have resumed their inquiry into the death of a 10-year-old Russian girl beside the pool at the Dusit Laguna Resort Hotel, after an autopsy by the Institute of Forensic Medicine (IFM) in Bangkok established that she was electrocuted. It is almost two months since Ksenia Drashinskiy died in mysterious circumstances while on vacation with her parents at the…
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Deadline approaches for fun venues
PHUKET: Entertainment venues on the island have just a few more days to register under a new law that requires all such venues to have licenses. From January 13, owners of the venues were given 60 days to apply for licenses under the revised provisions of Section 3 of the Entertainment Act. The 60-day period expires on Friday. Wisut Romin,…
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Makeover for Immigration office
PHUKET CITY: The Phuket Immigration Office (PIO) is to be redecorated as a prelude to a proposed full-scale redevelopment that could add an IT crime center and make Phuket an Immigration center for other southern provinces. The new Superintendent of the PIO, Pol Col Witawat Buranasompop, told the Gazette that the new look for the Immigration ofice should be complete…
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Chuan leads Democrat vote drive
PHUKET CITY: Former Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai and other Democrat Party leaders went walkabout and attended a rally at Saphan Hin on Saturday to support Anchalee Vanich-Thepabutr’s bid to win the presidency of Phuket’s Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor). Among others in attendance at the walkabout and rally were current Democrat Party leader Banyat Banthadtan and senior members Trairong Suwankiri and…
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Stranded dugong recovering after rescue
CAPE PANWA: A sick dugong was rescued by the Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC) on Friday, given medication and food, and is making its first steps toward recovery. A fisherman saw the animal, a young female, stranded in Klong Pa Khlock, Baan Para, close to where the klong meets the sea. He contacted the PMBC who came and retrieved the…
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Search and destroy at the chicken farm
PHUKET: This week has been Clean Your Chicken Farm Week. Starting on Monday, the Phuket Provincial Livestock Office (PPLO) initiated a campaign to destroy any viruses in chicken farms and chicken meat companies in Phuket. While the campaign has been deemed successful, PPLO Chief Sunart Wongchawalit and Vice-Governor Niran Kalayanamit took matters into their hands yesterday morning, personally administering the…
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Two more held for gang slaying
PHUKET TOWN: Two more teenagers believed involved in the execution-style murder of a 15-year-old on January 17 were arrested on Monday in Ranong. The victim, Khajornkiat Tongdeesuk, was tied up, gagged and beaten before being taken to Naamsai beach on Koh Sireh where his killer fired a shotgun into his head. Police believe the slaying was part of a war…
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Wind stops as Langkawi regatta starts
LANGKAWI (Gazette, Asian Yachting): Yesterday’s first day of racing in the BMW-Royal Langkawi International Regatta 2004 suffered from a syndrome known all too well to organizers and competitors in the Phuket King’s Cup Regatta – fickle winds. For the Racing, Premier Cruising and Sports Boats classes, two windward-leeward courses were planned, but after the first lap of the first race,…
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B145m reservoir budget “a done deal’
THALANG: The head of the Phuket office of the Royal Irrigation Project (PRIP) is “100% confident” that the 145-million-baht budget for the purchase of land to create a reservoir at Klong Bang Neaw Dum will be approved by Bangkok by the end of March. The project, which is intended to provide a second major supply of water on the island,…
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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