Phuket News
Phuket news, politics, business, tourism, and nightlife—stay updated with breaking stories, events, and expat updates from Thailand’s top island destination. Get the latest from The Thaiger, your trusted Phuket news source.
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Laguna denies being “totally destroyed’
PHUKET: Laguna Phuket has issued a press statement denying reports broadcast globally on Cable News Network (CNN) that the resort was “totally destroyed” in the Boxing Day tsunami.Laguna Phuket events and Press Relations Manager Michelle Payette told the Gazette, “Not only are we not gone, but we are operational. And we think we will be fully operational within four days.“Anything…
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Final death toll could exceed 2,000
BANGKOK: More than 700 foreign tourists are believed to have died when tidal waves smashed into southern Thailand on Sunday, the deputy interior minister said this morning.“The latest figure we have is more than 990 confirmed deaths. Of these, some 200 were Thais and the rest were foreigners,” Sutham Sangprathum told reporters before a cabinet meeting on the disaster.“But from…
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THAI adds more special flights, bigger planes out of Phuket
PHUKET: Thai Airways has announced a change to larger aircraft and two special flights from Phuket to Bangkok.Mr Kanok Abhiradee, THAI’s President, said that the airline has taken the step to facilitate transportation of the injured and others affected by the natural disaster in the South of Thailand. The special arrangements take effect from today, 27 December, onwards.The special, additional…
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Death toll update: 600-700 killed
PHUKET: Rescue teams searched beaches and remote islands in search of the missing today as Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said that up to 700 people died when earthquake-induced tidal waves hit resort areas of southern Thailand.According to Prime Minister Thaksin, about 600 to 700 people died when the waves and flooding devastated the coastal areas of Phuket and surrounding provinces.Maj Gen. Kokiet Wongworachart,…
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Accommodations prepared in Bangkok for foreign tourists
BANGKOK: The Tourism Ministry has prepared over 1,000 rooms in Bangkok to accommodate foreign tourists whose hotels in Phuket, Phang Nga and Krabi were destroyed by yesterday’s tidal waves.All domestic airlines will arrange special flights to send foreign tourists from the three provinces to Bangkok. All expenses will be shouldered by the ministry.
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King’s grandson killed by tidal waves
KHAO LAK: A grandson of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej was among those killed when tidal waves smashed into southern Thailand, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra announced today.He said the body of Bhumi Jensen, 21, was found at the resort of Khao Lak, in Phang-nga province, about one hundred metres away from where he was last seen before the waves hit…
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Plea to find missing parents
PHUKET CITY: As the hospitals on the island continue to receive people injured by yesterday’s tidal wave, the number of patients who have been separated from family or friends grows.At Phuket International Hospital, a toddler boy was brought in by ambulance from Tai Muang, in Phang Nga, about 9 pm last night.The boy had been rescued by a couple, but…
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Blood donors and translators needed
PHUKET: Wachira Phuket Hospital is urgently seeking people willing to donate blood. Although all types – A, AB, B and O – are required, need is especially desperate for rhesus negative, or Rh-, types.Anyone interested in donating blood should present themselves at either the fourth floor of Wachira Phuket Hospital, on Yaowarat Rd in Phuket City, or call K. Sri-Rung,…
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Consular support for foreigners
PHUKET: The official tally for dead and missing in and around Phuket as a result of yesterday’s tsunami now stands at 122 and 355 respectively, according to the Bureau of Emergency Medical Services System (Narenthorn Center) of the Ministry of Public Health. A further 1,027 people are reported as injured, although one local private hospital confirmed that it alone had…
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Latest toll: 66 dead, 691 injured
PHUKET: Kawee Sukunthamath, Chief of the Phuket Office of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (ODPM), early this evening said that 66 people were confirmed dead by the tidal wave which ravaged Phuket’s coastline this morning. Of the dead, 20 were foreigners. Another 691 people were reported injured, and 22 more were missing.Phuket International Airport resumed normal inbound and outbound flight services…
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Tidal wave toll: 35 dead, 355 injured
PHUKET: The tidal wave that hit Phuket this morning has claimed the lives of 35 people and injured some 355, Wisut Romin, Deputy Secretary of the Phuket Provincial Administration Office, has announced.Speaking at the emergency rescue headquarters set up at the Phuket Provincial Office, K. Wisut said that an earlier report had recorded 11 dead at Kata Beach, and nine more at Nai Yang…
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Tourists tell of their tidal wave ordeal
PHUKET: Swedish tourist Kjell Sköld, of Gothenburg, has described how the rising waters of the wave trapped him, his wife Bibi, and their young children in their bungalow at Andaman Bay Resort, at Bang Tao.“The water went out then came back in very, very quickly, taking everything with it,” said Mr Sköld. “When the water came into the bungalow, we…
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Phuket coast swamped after Sumatra earthquake
PHUKET: Emergency response units have been scrambled after waters off Phuket surged onto land this morning, washing away homes on the east coast and causing damage at resorts all along the west coast.The sea rose after tremors from an earthquake just before 7 am off Sumatra, Indonesia, that measured 8.1 on the Richter scale.At 11 am, Phuket International Hospital confirmed…
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Aids awareness campaign launched
PATONG: Over 30 people attended the launch of the “Men Who Have Sex With Men (MSM) Project”, an Aids awareness campaign aimed at increasing condom use among male sex workers in Patong.The seminar, held at Patong Hospital yesterday morning, was organized jointly by gay advocacy group the Rainbow Sky Organization of Thailand and Thai Red Cross Aids Research Center.The main…
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Gas stations to stay open 24 hours
PHUKET: Petrol stations will be allowed to trade around the clock over the Christmas and New Year holiday period, Thongrat Vannuch, the Chief of Phuket Provincial Energy Business Office, told the Gazette today.K. Thongrat said the Energy Ministry announced on December 20 that petrol stations would be allowed to remain open 24 hours from tomorrow (December 25) through to January…
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Police to boost water safety
PHUKET: The Phuket Marine Police will be put on 24-hour patrol over the holidays in order to ensure the safety of tour boats, respond to distress calls and thwart any terrorist incursions.The announcement came at a press conference yesterday at the office of the Phuket Marine Police Office at Saphan Hin. Pol Maj Gen Ronnarong Youngyuen, Deputy Commissioner of the…
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Panwa aquarium “to re-open in time for Songkran’
CAPE PANWA: Following Governor Udomsak Usawarangkura on Monday announcing that a private aquarium may be built at Surin Beach, Phuket Marine Biology Center (PMBC) director Wannakiat Thubthimsang today told the Gazette that the PMBC aquarium will be open in time for the Songkran holiday period in April 2005.The PMBC aquarium closed more than two years ago for renovations. The work…
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Road carnage continues
PHUKET: Official figures for the year to November 20 show that 151 people on motorcycles, 17 more in cars and one unlucky pedestrian have died in accidents on Phuket roads.Despite the high total of 169 deaths so far, the figures are an improvement on those for the same period in 2003, when 176 people died in accidents, 165 of them…
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Police bust major gambling ring
PHUKET CITY: Police have arrested the suspected “bankers” of a multi-million-baht gambling operation in Phuket City.Somkid Korkiatiwong, 40, and Somchai Santi-Amorntat, 51, both of Kra Rd, were arrested at a home on Takuatung Rd on Sunday.The arresting officers found a computer, fax, two photocopiers, a bankbook, three large hessian sacks and 10,000 baht in cash, along with “betting slips” relating…
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Governor’s last chance for Ao Phuket approval
PHUKET CITY: Governor Udomsak Usawarangkura is to make a last-ditch attempt to persuade the Cabinet to approve the Ao Phuket development project before Parliament is dissolved for February’s general election.The proposed development concerns more than 3,200 rai of land and a budget of more than 63 billion baht. It would include a convention center, hotels, apartments, shopping centers, entertainment facilities,…
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“Target’ Phuket to receive more anti-terrorism equipment
PHUKET CITY: Phuket is to receive two “bomb blankets” worth 500,000 baht each from the US Embassy, to use in the event of a suspected terrorist attack.The blankets would be placed over suspected bombs to catch shrapnel and fragments in the event of an explosion.The blankets are due to be handed over to Governor Udomsak Usawarangkura on December 27 by…
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Two surrender over vicious attack
CHALONG: Two people accused of being involved in the death of Koh Racha Yai restaurateur Dern Wora-ngon and the beating of his nephew, Jantree Mahanwongpan, have handed themselves in at Chalong Police Station.K. Dern and K. Jantree were ambushed by a man and two teenagers at Bangkhontee Beach in Rawai early in the afternoon of December 10. K. Jantree escaped…
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Phuket gears up for national elections
PHUKET CITY: The Phuket Election Committee (PEC) expects a high voter turnout in the province for the upcoming general election, which will be held from 8 am to 3 pm on February 6.PEC Chairman Dr Prapa Kayee said, “There was a low turnout, 74%, in the last general election. This time we think people are more familiar with the voting system,…
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Phuket’s business boom continues
PHUKET: The number of new businesses registered on Phuket so far this year has increased by nearly 50% over the number for the same period last year, according to statistics from the Phuket Provincial Business Development Office (PBDO).Yongyuth Kasetsuntorn, head of the the PBDO, told the Gazette that 1,452 new limited partnerships and limited companies were registered from January 1 to…
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Minimum wage set to rise
PHUKET: Phuket’s lowest-paid workers could be in line to receive a New Year present – of an increase in the minimum wage of five baht a day.The Chief of the Provincial Labor Protection and Welfare Office, Patom Phetmanee, told the Gazette today it was likely that the minimum wage in Phuket will rise on January 1, from 168 baht a…
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Law-breaking vendors put “on notice’
PHUKET: Undercover inspectors are visiting shops and stores to check that they are not selling alcohol outside the permitted times or alcohol and cigarettes to minors, Wisut Romin, the Deputy Secretary of Phuket Provincial Administration Office, has told the Gazette.Said K. Wisut, “The 253rd declaration of 1972 Revolutionary Council states that shops having liquor licenses are allowed to sell alcohol…
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TAT to put up B60m for F1 boat race
PHUKET: The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is set to double its sponsorship of next year’s F1 powerboat Grand Prix, to 60 million baht.Swin Chatsuwan, Managing Director of Paragon Events, which has won the contract to organize the race, said yesterday that the TAT had agreed to his company’s request to provide full sponsorship.He added that the race – the…
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TAT to celebrate B300m high-season bonanza
PHUKET: The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) expects no less than 300 million baht to be injected into the Phuket economy over the upcoming holiday period from December 23 to January 2.TAT Region 4 Director Suwalai Pinpradab told the Gazette today that a recent check of hotel occupancy rates and advanced bookings indicates that most island hotels will be fully-booked,…
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Patong Tower auction “a big success’
PATONG: A total of 55 units were sold in Sunday’s auction of apartments in the 32-story Patong Tower. Around 500 people turned up to bid in the auction, held at the Patong Resort Hotel.On the block were 61 one-bedroom apartments, seven two-bedroom apartments, seven three-bedroom apartments and five four-bedroom penthouses.The media were barred from the auction and the Tower’s owner,…
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Fingerprint clue in tourist’s murder
PATONG : Police are to compare a fingerprint thought to belong to the murderer of a 61-year-old Swiss tourist with prints of the staff of the hotel where she was staying.Jeanette Sager was found dead in room 208 of the Horizon Beach Resort Hotel on December 7. Police believe she was killed when she returned from the hotel pool and…
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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