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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12Go introduces Japan Rail Passes to enhance travel accessibility for international travellers
For those who have travelled throughout Thailand, 12Go is a well-known provider of various trips, though the platform itself has a much wider reach. Ranging from buses to planes, 12Go is undoubtedly a leading booking platform for travel throughout the...
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Newborn baby allegedly has broken arm after staying in Phuket hospital
A new mother in Phuket is dealing with a horrifying situation after a nurse informed her that her baby had a broken arm. The baby has had to stay in the hospital since she was born on May 23, and a doctor said she choked on amniotic fluid and needed a lung X-ray. The mother, 30 year old Aujchara Jantararat,…
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Dolphin washes up on Phang Nga beach, likely from strong waves
Locals discovered a dolphin washed up on the shore of a beach in Phang Nga province yesterday, just north of Phuket. A local man tipped off the Royal Thai Navy about the dolphin, and officials from the navy and the Sea Turtle Conservation Centre arrived on the scene. The dolphin was then transferred to the Phuket Marine Biological Centre in…
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As night venues reopen, Phuket officials on their toes
As Thailand’s bars and nightclubs reopen (until midnight ‘officially’) in 31 provinces, Phuket officials are still on their toes about Covid-19. This week, Phuket officials inspected night venues in the island province’s city area of Phuket Town. Vice Governor Pichet Panaphong, along with Phuket City Police and others officials, visited venues around the Nimit Circle (well known as Seahorse Circle),…
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Phuket governor reverses decision easing mask-wearing
Easy come, easy go. Phuket Governor Narong Woonciew today reversed yesterday’s mask-wearing easing order, insisting people must wear a mask in all public places even if they are practicing social distancing measures. Only yesterday the governor relaxed all measures saying healthy people could to take off their face masks while in open-air places, beaches, public parks and stadiums, as part of…
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UPDATE: Woman falls from Phuket condo, 3 foreign suspects refuse to speak
UPDATE #2: Three foreign suspects refuse to speak about Russian woman who fell from Phuket condo The 3 foreigners who were drinking with Evegeniia on the night she fell from the 8th floor of a condominium in Phuket have so far refused to give any information to police about what happened. On the night of Evegeniia’s death, 3 foreigners were…
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Phuket drops outdoor face mask requirement
Wearing a mask in outdoor public spaces will no longer be a requirement in Phuket province, effective from yesterday, June 1. Medical or cloth face masks will still be required to be worn indoors, in crowded spaces and in badly ventilated spaces. The mask requirement – indoors and outdoors – is still in effect in all other provinces around the…
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Phuket authorities close Covid-19 field hospital
In a grand ceremony yesterday, Phuket authorities closed up a field hospital set up for people who tested positive for Covid-19. The field hospital was at Phuket Rajabhat University in the island province’s main city district. The deputy director of the Phuket Provincial Public Health Office, Padungkiat Utokasenee, led the closing ceremony. Between August 2021 and March 2022, the field…
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UPDATE: Woman falls from Phuket condo, 3 foreign suspects arrested
UPDATE: Police arrest 3 foreigners in relation to death of woman who fell from Phuket condo The woman who fell from the 8th floor of a condominium in Phuket and died yesterday morning has been identified as 37 year old Evgeniia Smirnova of Russian nationality. Police have arrested 3 foreigners who were staying in the same apartment with Evgeniia, inlcuding…
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Patong woman drowns after pickup skids off treacherous road into lake
A 50-year-old Patong woman drowned after her pickup truck careered off a treacherous road and plunged into a lake in the Kathu district. Witnesses alerted police of the accident, opposite the GSM Duty Free Shop on Phra Phuket Kaew Road, at 6am on Sunday. The bystanders said the woman, driving a blue Ford Ranger pickup with Phuket plates, failed to…
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Storms rip through areas of Phuket, including food festival
Even the weather is conspiring against Thailand’s tourism recovery. As the annual monsoon season settles in, areas of Phuket have been damaged by storms yesterday, overnight, and into today. A series of wind squalls, preceding heavy rain, hit parts of the tourist island. One of the spots hit by some sudden wind blasts yesterday was the Kata Karon Food Festival…
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Soi Dog Foundation and DNP rescues monkey chained up for 2 years in Phuket
Sandy the macaque, a former working monkey, has been given a fresh start in life after a heartbreaking two years of being chained up to a cage in Rawai subdistrict, Phuket. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, Sandy worked in an elephant camp. The camp closed down over two years ago, and Sandy was chained up ever since, until today. Two expats,…
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Phuket thief steals 1,000 baht from elderly woman
A thief in Phuket who stole 1,000 baht from an elderly woman last week was caught yesterday. The victim’s granddaughter said the thief stole the money from a jar on a table at the elderly woman’s home in Phuket’s main city district. Police tracked down the thief, who they so far have only named as “Ms. Davika”, 9 days after…
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Deep Week in Phuket – The world’s largest open freediving festival
Phuket recently hosted ‘Deep Week’, a huge freedive training event, which sold out in just 5 days. This was certainly Asia’s, and probably the world’s, biggest ever participation of freediving held in open water. The recent reopening of Thailand certainly enabled this first-of-a-kind freediving event to take place from May 14 – 21. Freediving, free-diving, free diving, breath-hold diving, or…
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Phuket looks for new groundwater sources to cope with acute water shortages
The Department of Groundwater Resources started a project to explore new groundwater sources in Phuket to cope with the ongoing water scarcity problem in the province. The project is also expected to be a model for other Thai islands to study groundwater resources and water management. The Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, Varawut Silpa-Archa, assigned the Groundwater Resources Department…
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Thai officials say out-of-order tsunami buoys will be fixed soon
Thailand’s Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department has admitted that 2 tsunami detection buoys are out of order, but insists they will be repaired soon. The department was forced to issue a statement following widely-shared news on social media that the buoys were out of order. According to the reports, both buoys had stopped submitting information to the National Data Buoy…
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Things looking up in Phuket following return of international tourism
Provincial officials on the southern island of Phuket say the return of tourists has raised income levels and created more jobs. According to a Bangkok Post report, the return of international tourists has started to revive the island’s economy and reduced unemployment across Phuket. Data shared by Phuket governor, Narong Wunciew, reveals that since the launch of the Phuket sandbox…
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Official in one Phuket district plans to step up English teaching
Even though Thailand’s English language proficiency ranked 100 out of 112 countries last year, an official in one Phuket district isn’t giving up on teaching the language. The chief of Phuket’s Kathu district, Siwat Wangkun, says he has looked beyond the walls of the district’s schools for teaching English, since some school staff lack proficient English teaching skills. The groups Siwat…
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UPDATE: German tourist who went missing in Phuket released from hospital
THE LATEST Barbara Lange, the 76 year old woman who went missing from her Phuket hotel earlier this month, has been released from the hospital on Monday. She was being treated for exhaustion and weakness at Bangkok Hospital Phuket, after rescuers found her during a helicopter search in Sirinat National Park. Lange and her family thanked everyone who helped rescue…
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Phuket police search for kidnapper and young girl he abducted months ago
Police are still on the hunt for a man who kidnapped a young girl on Rawai Beach in the main city district of Phuket in February. The girl’s mother reported the kidnapping on February 9, saying that a 33 year old man named only as ‘Camp’ abducted her 13-year-old daughter while the girl was selling flowers on Rawai Beach in…
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Phuket officials announce plans for 2 big tourism events next month
Phuket’s Deputy Governor Pichet has announced yesterday that the island province will host 2 major tourism events in June, which will each host hundreds of guests. One event is the Thailand Tourism Congress 2022, which will be held at Beyond Resort Kata from June 6-8. The other event is Thailand Travel Mart Plus 2022, which will be held at Angsana…
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Thailand’s biggest new attraction “Andamanda” opens in Phuket
Moisture and adventure meets Thai culture and mythology at Andamanda, Thailand’s biggest water park, covering 58 rai of land in Kathu, in Phuket, southern Thailand. On Saturday, Thailand’s former deputy prime minister Suwat Liptapanlop attended the water park’s grand opening. The new theme park is located on the main road to Patong, about 800 metres west of the Samkong intersection,…
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Cruise ships set to return to Phuket for first time since pandemic
All aboard! The southern Thai island of Phuket is set to welcome back the cruise ships, for the first time since the start of the Covid pandemic. According to a Bangkok Post report, the Spectrum of the Seas will dock in Phuket next month. Pichet Songtan from the Thai Maritime Enforcement Command Centre Region 3 says officials have given the…
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Phuket to scoop 20 million baht booty a day after Patong gets green light to party
Cha-ching! The familiar sound of the cash register is about to ring once again after pubs, bars, and entertainment venues at Patong beach got the green light to reopen. Patong Entertainment Association expects to earn between 10 to 20 million baht per night after the beach resort on the west coast of Phuket Island got the go-ahead to reopen its…
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Phuket authorities launch campaign against dengue fever in schools
Now that Thailand’s new school year has started last week, Phuket’s authorities are on their guard for dengue fever. On Thursday, the Public Health and Environment Division of Phuket City Municipality brought fogging machines to schools, kindergardens, and vocational colleges, to fight mosquitos. Phuket hasn’t had dengue outbreaks in recent years, however, a Songkhla doctor warned this week that the…
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Thailand’s biggest light festival kicks off on Phuket shores
Thailand’s biggest light festival arrived on the shores of Phuket’s Nai Harn Beach yesterday. Officials from the Tourism Authority of Thailand welcomed partiers to the Aqua Lumina Illumination Festival with, as you’d expect, lots of colourful lights. The Phuket edition of the festival is set to last until May 31. Aqua Lumina’s theme in Phuket is “Land of the Guardians…
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In Phuket, Indians are the top tourist group since Test & Go scrapped
Now that Thailand Pass has dropped its much hated ‘Test & Go’ scheme, Indian tourists are the biggest tourist group on the island province, according to Phuket International Airport Immigration. Between May 1-18, 12,200 Indians have travelled to Phuket. The other countries on a list of 10 with the most tourists in Phuket, in order, are Australia, Singapore, UK, Russia,…
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Love drugs found in hotel of Aussie man who plunged to his death
Thai police yesterday concluded there was no foul play involved in the death of Billy James Simmons who died Tuesday after he fell from his hotel room balcony. Local police in Phuket established after an investigation that the death of the 22 year old Australian was an accident. The Aussie backpacker was found dead on Tuesday evening around 10pm by…
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Thai officials vow to solve household debt problem at Phuket event
Thai officials held a ‘Household Debt Reconciliation Fair’ in Phuket yesterday. At the event, Thailand’s Minister of Justice Somsak Thepsutin said the government has designated 2022 as the “Year of Solving Household Debt”. He said that 2,810 people had registered for the event. Somsak said that several government departments have organised events to “facilitate the mediation process of household debts…
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22 year old Australian found dead at hotel in Phuket
An Australian traveller plunged to his death after falling from an 11th storey hotel room at The Royal Paradise Resort Hotel and Spa, in Patong district of Phuket. The body of the lifeless man, identified as Billy James Simmons, was found on the footpath below his room, lying face up. The 22 year old’s body was discovered by the hotel’s…
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UPDATE: Phuket’s Narong visits recovering German tourist in hospital
UPDATE As Barbara Lange recovers in Bangkok Hospital Phuket after she went missing for a week, Phuket’s Governor Narong has paid Barbara and her family a visit yesterday. The governor reportedly went to the hospital with other officials, and the group presented Barbara and her family with flowers. The 76 year old woman first went missing from a hotel 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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