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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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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Resort guards arrested
CHERNG TALAY: Two former security guards from Banyan Tree Resort Phuket have been released on bail by the Phuket Provincial Court after being charged with attempted murder. Over police objections, the court released the two men the same day they were taken into custody – March 4. Pol Lt Col Suwat Kaewprom, Deputy Superintendent of Cherng Talay Police Station, named…
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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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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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Curb resort guards, mob urges police
CHERNG TALAY: An argument between locals and security guards at the Banyan Tree Phuket resort led to about 100 villagers staging a protest outside the Cherng Talay Police Station last night. The crowd protested for six hours, calling on police to have the guards removed from their jobs, said Pol Lt Col Suwat Kaewprom, Deputy Superintendent of Cheng Talay Police…
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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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Entertainment venues get temporary reprieve
BANGKOK: The Cabinet resolved today that entertainment venues may stay open until 2 am for the time being because new regulations enforcing earlier closing times have yet to be approved. A source in the Cabinet Secretariat, who asked not to be named, told the Gazette that all venues, regardless of when they received operating licenses, could stay open until 2…
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Press freedom under siege, says IFJ
BRUSSELS: The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has today written to Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra calling on his government to stop political interference in the media, and reiterating a call to introduce new rules to prevent conflicts of interest over media ownership. The letter follows a spate of incidents threatening independent media in Thailand. The IFJ, the Brussels-based global…
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Police warned they must reform
PHUKET CITY: Police in Phuket were told yesterday that they must make big changes to the way they work and the way they are perceived by the public, or face having massive and humiliating change imposed on them. Speaking to a meeting of officers at the Royal Phuket City Hotel, Pol Lt Gen Somsak Buppasuwan, commander of Police Region 8…
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Spy network to tackle road safety
PHUKET: A new road safety campaign aims to recruit volunteers from government departments, schools, factories, transport operators, private companies and even villages – a large proportion of the island’s population – to look out for and report violations of traffic laws. The scheme was launched last week by the newly-formed Phuket Land Transport Security Center (PLTSC) under instructions from the…
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Marina finally breaks ground
KOH KAEW: The Royal Phuket Marina took its first step toward construction this morning with a ceremonial ground-breaking and the placing of the first stone. Phuket Governor Udomsak Usawarangkura was the guest of honor at the ceremony, presided over by the marina’s president, Gulu Lalvani. Mr Lalvani told the Gazette that he hopes the marina will attract anyone who enjoys…
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Impetuous boat owners pay the price
PHUKET CITY: Overeager boat owners who have been too quick to import their yachts or take ownership from Thai boatbuilders may now be regretting their hastiness. The Phuket Area Excise Office (PAEO) announced on Friday that boats that were registered after the Customs duty was reduced to zero but before February 23, would still be required to pay excise tax…
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Som Tam Express wins Champagne Run
ANDAMAN SEA: The Rebak Champagne Run 2004 was a race of extremes, from lulls that left the boats lurching in sloppy waters making no headway, to fresh breezes of 10 to 15 knots. Fifteen boats registered for the Phuket-Langkawi race, the 120-nautical-mile precursor to the Royal Langkawi Yacht Club Regatta, while others joined in unofficially. As with most yacht races,…
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Sipa branch launches cyber future
PHUKET CITY: After years of promises, Phuket today moved one step towards the goal of becoming a center for information technology with the opening of a branch of the Software Industry Promotion Agency (Sipa) at Saphan Hin. The opening aligns Phuket with Sipa headquarters in Bangkok and puts the local branch in control of software development throughout southern Thailand. It…
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Illegals top Feb crime stats
PHUKET: Illegal immigration topped crime statistics for February 1 to 23 with 203 illegal migrants arrested, according to figures just released by the Phuket Provincial Police. Arrests for gambling coming in second, with 194 people taken into custody in the course of 106 raids. Police apprehended another 46 people for prostitution and made 34 arrests for possession or use of…
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D-day arrives for black taxis
PHUKET: In a long-awaited move to eliminate unlicensed “black” taxis on the island, the Phuket Provincial Transportation Office (PPTO) and the Phuket Provincial Police will from Monday fine any such taxi caught operating on Phuket. The maximum penalty for operating an unlicensed taxi is a fine of 2,000 baht. Teerayuth Prasertphol, Deputy Chief of the PPTO, told the Gazette today…
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Beach chair protest falls on deaf ears
KHAO LAK: An angry crowd of about 200 beach chair renters and other residents of the Bangniang area of Khao Lak blocked the road to Bangniang Beach from 9 am to 5 pm yesterday to protest the removal of beach chairs and umbrellas from the beach. Police and military personnel moved all the chairs and umbrellas from the beach earlier…
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Sipa to bring “e-life’ to Thailand
PHUKET CITY: Kruewal Somana, Adviser to Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Minister Surapong Suebwonglee, today explained the aims of the Software Industry Promotion Agency (Sipa), which will open an office on Monday at Saphan Hin. At a seminar in the Royal Phuket City Hotel this afternoon, she said that Sipa will support all sectors of society by bringing them the…
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New benchmarks for central funding
PHUKET CITY: Provincial projects must meet meet one of two new criteria if they to receive funding from the central government: profit or “communal benefit”. Speaking at Phuket Provincial Hall this morning, Gov Udomsak Usawarangkura told provincial government department chiefs that only projects that make money or that offer benefits to other provinces will be considered when it comes to…
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City municipal campaigning begins
PHUKET CITY: Garlands of marigolds marked the start of the election campaign for mayor and councillors of Phuket City today as the first two candidates registered and outlined their policies. More candidates are expected to join the race before the April 4 poll. The streets of the newly-declared city are expected to resound with public-announcement trucks and be filled with…
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Two more boat taxes dropped to zero
PHUKET CITY: In the wake of the dropping last week of customs duty on yachts comes more good news for the local yachting industry with the announcement that excise tax has been reduced from 5% to zero. A third impost on yachts, the Ministry of Interior Tax, which is calculated as a percentage of excise tax, also automatically falls to…
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Province requests B2.5bn for expo center
PHUKET CITY: Phuket Province and the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) have jointly requested 2.5 billion baht in funding from the central government for construction of the proposed International Convention and Exhibition Center (ICEC) at Saphan Hin – a site still seen by most island residents as inappropriate for such a project. Speaking after a planning seminar at the Royal…
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Langkawi Regatta draws 70 entries
LANGKAWI: The BMW Royal Langkawi International Regatta 2004 (RLIR) will be contested from March 3-6 in waters off the Royal Langkawi Yacht Club in Kuah, Langkawi. The organizers say that almost 70 boats from Switzerland, Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Brazil, the US, Alaska, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Hong Kong and Vanuatu have registered to take part. The official closing…
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Shopping for a change
PHUKET CITY: A new initiative to help adolescent offenders in Phuket learn legitimate skills and steer them away from a life of crime was launched on Saturday. Youngsters doing time at the Phuket Juvenile Observation and Protection Center (PJOPC) will now have the opportunity to learn handicrafts, batik-making and hairdressing skills and then sell their products or skills at a…
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Crime fighters set up in Phuket
PHUKET: In a bid to tackle serious crime around the country, the Bangkok-based Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) has formed local crime-fighting forces for each police region, CIB Deputy Commissioner Pol Maj Gen Chatchawal Suksomjit announced on Sunday. Gen Chatchawal has been appointed chief of the CIB office for Region 8, based in Phuket and covering Ranong, Krabi, Phang Nga, Phuket,…
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A flap but no bird ‘flu
PHUKET: The Chief of Phuket Provincial Health Office confirmed today that a hospital patient originally suspected of having bird ‘flu had been allowed to go home after doctors found he was free of the disease. Virat Hongsib-paed, 33, a garbage man employed in Kamala, was admitted to the Mission Hospital Phuket on Friday after feeling ill for several days. Concern…
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Drive against alcohol and tobacco
PHUKET CITY: In a scene reminiscent of the US in the 1920s, some 100 people turned out this morning to burn cartons of cigarettes and smash bottles of alcohol. The “No tobacco, no alcohol for a better life” project was organized by the Kalyanamitra Organization, Phuket, along with Rajabhat University Phuket, where the bottle-smashing was staged. The message of the…
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Probe into Patong municipal poll
PATONG: Thirteen days after Songserm Kepsap and his Patong Progress Party (PPP) swept aside former mayor Pian Keesin and other Raksa Patong Party candidates in the Patong municipal election, the poll results have yet to be certified by the Government – and an investigation is now underway to determine if the poll was tainted by vote-buying. Kittipong Thiengkunagrit, Director of…
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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