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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Sponsored Where to travel in Thailand in April [2025]
Travelling in Thailand is peak during April if you are looking for a real taste of summer. With high temperatures, amazing beaches, and exciting events, April is an amazing time to visit the country as a whole. Due to the...
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No more monkey business! Phuket monkeys lose tourists from monkeypox scare
Phuket’s monkeys are missing out on their usual feedings from tourists at Koh Siray island’s monkey viewpoint. At the viewpoint, tourists usually buy fruit from vendors to feed to the roughly 200 monkeys there. But following Phuket’s recent monkeypox scare, after a Nigerian man was found to have the virus, fewer tourists are coming to feed their furry friends. Local…
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Armed robber makes off with 160,000 baht from Phuket Tesco
Bank robberies are generally violent affairs, with lots of drama, some shots fired, and an injury or death. But this wasn’t the case when a stick-up occurred yesterday afternoon at a Tesco Lotus department store in Phuket. The cheeky armed robber wandered into the store in the Rawai area of Muang district shortly before 1pm and casually made off with…
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UPDATE: Health officials test 19 for monkeypox after contact with fugitive
UPDATE: All 19 people who had close contact with Thailand’s first ever recorded monkeypox case have all tested negative for the monkeypox virus. All 19 people will isolate for a total of 21 days and will then be tested again to confirm they have not contracted the virus. The 27 year old Nigerian national travelled to Thailand eight months ago…
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Health officials test 19 for monkeypox after contact with fugitive
After a Nigerian man fled Thailand upon being diagnosed with monkeypox and was subsequently captured in Cambodia, authorities have been tracking down anyone in contact with him to test them for the disease. Health officials have identified 19 high-risk people who came in close contact with the man and have now tested all of them for monkeypox. Results are still…
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UPDATE: Thailand’s first monkeypox case goes missing
UPDATE: The 27 year old man who tested positive for the monkeypox virus in Phuket has been missing since Wednesday, July 20 at 9.05pm, according to Phuket police. Despite Thai media widely reporting that the man escaped from the private hospital in Phuket where he initially presented with symptoms, he was actually staying at Patong Princess hotel when he went…
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BREAKING: Thailand’s first monkeypox case allegedly escapes Phuket hospital
Edit: Inaccuracies in this story have been corrected in a recent update. Thailand recorded its first case of monkeypox yesterday. During the night, the 27 year old Nigerian man allegedly escaped from a private hospital in Phuket and drove away in a white car. Officials are currently tracking him down but his whereabouts are unknown. At present, no further details…
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Indian tourists are picking up Phuket’s Old Town economy
Phuket’s recovering tourism economy is picking up again thanks to Indian tourists. Indians have been the biggest tourist group in Phuket, and Thailand overall this year. Since May 1, over 72,000 Indian tourists have visited Phuket, according to the president of Phuket Old Town Tourism Community, Somyot Pathan. Phuket’s ‘Old Town’ in the main city district is a particular hotspot…
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Thailand’s first monkeypox case is identified in Phuket tourist
Thailand has recorded its first case of monkeypox, the 71st country in the world during this recent outbreak, only the fourth since the start of the 21st century. The virus has only been endemic in a few Central African countries up to this stage. The 27 year old man, who had been travelling from Nigeria, was confirmed with monkeypox after…
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Heavy rains cause disruption around Thailand, Bangkok commuters deluged
Yes, it is the wet season. And, just in case you doubted it, Mother Nature has thrown down the rain in buckets to make sure you don’t forget, including Bangkok overnight. The Thai Meteorological Department has issued warnings of “isolated heavy to very heavy rain in most parts of the country” up to July 24. Some parts of the country,…
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Phuket residents welcome the new ‘Khao Daeng Glass Bridge’ to be built in Rawai
A community meeting in Rawai on Tuesday agreed to get behind the latest tourist attraction, the Khao Daeng Glass Bridge, a new viewpoint and tourism focus for the quieter south of the island. President of Phuket Provincial Administration Organisation, Rewat Areerob, presented details about the new attraction and said it was good to have the Rawai community backing the project.…
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Electric vehicles are now available to rent in Phuket, Thailand
Phuket has entered a new era of sustainability by welcoming the island’s first ever rentable 100% electric vehicle (EV). Tourists can rent the Nissan Leaf from SIXT Thailand and cruise around Phuket without producing any harmful emissions at all. SIXT Thailand partnered with InterContinental Phuket Resort on the project, who have installed a series of EV charging stations compatible with…
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Phuket to hold tsunami evacuation drill tomorrow
The tourist resort of Phuket will be holding a tsunami evacuation drill tomorrow from 2pm. Warning alerts in five languages, including English, Japanese, Chinese, and Russian will be available, and 200 assembly points in three districts are prepared. The Director of Phuket’s Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department, Udomporn Karn, informed the media that Phuket’s yearly tsunami evacuation drill would focus…
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Phuket woman rushed to hospital after jumping from bridge
A Phuket woman has been rushed to a hospital after jumping from a bridge into a canal in the island province’s main city district this morning. Rescue workers pulled the 31 year old woman out of the shallow water, and took her to a nearby hospital. Details about her injuries have not yet been reported, though. The woman had jumped…
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Public grieves loss of doctor who drowned trying to save tourist in Phuket
Many are grieving the loss of a doctor who drowned while trying to save a tourist from drowning in Phuket. The doctor, 55 year old Surasit Pongaohapan, had rushed to rescue a British tourist from drowning on his honeymoon at Phuket’s Kata Beach. Witnesses say Surasit had been sitting on the beach before he rushed into the water to help.…
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After drownings, Phuket governor calls to step up safety
In the aftermath of a drowning incident this week, Phuket’s Governor Narong is pushing to increase safety measures. Narong visited Patong Beach for an inspection yesterday (Friday), saying he wished to support the lifeguards working there. Red flags have been posted at the beach, and lifeguards are stationed to closely monitor tourists’ safety, according to the National News Bureau of…
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Phuket lifeguards save 2 tourists at same beach where another 2 drowned
Lifeguards at Phuket’s Kata Beach saved two foreign tourists from drowning yesterday, the same day that another two people drowned there. The lifeguards rescued a man and a woman around 35 years old. They were choking on water before being taken to the Chalong Hospital in Phuket’s main city district. The tourists have both reportedly recovered in the hospital. They…
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Nearly 1,000 hotels in Phuket are currently considered “illegal”
NB: The photo of this property bears no resemblance to the content of the following story. Phuket is home to 994 small hotels which are facing closure as a result of their unauthorised use on public property. The building control laws were discovered to have been broken by about 53% of the investigated properties. Environmental laws were found to be…
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Wind plunges trees onto houses in Phuket
Thailand’s stormy season is raging on and causing some inconveniences to the people of Phuket. Earlier this week, strong winds plunged trees and cables onto houses in the island province’s Kamala district. Altogether, 5 different areas of the Kamala district were impacted. One tree fell into the middle of the road, and some trees brought down power poles. A large…
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Government officials meet with Patong small hotels asking for aid
Many small hotels were crushed by the Covid-19 pandemic, even as things reopened they were forbidden to legally operate. Eighty small hotels in Patong met with the President of the Office of the Public Sector Development Commission to discuss how they had lost their businesses and buildings due to poorly handled Covid regulations. The president, Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam,…
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Dead sea turtle with plastic lodged in its throat washes up on Phuket beach
A dead sea turtle with plastic lodged in its mouth and throat washed up on Mai Khao Beach in Phuket yesterday, July 11. Winai Seh-ew, the village chief of Mai Khao subdistrict in Thalang district, received a call from lifeguards at Mai Khao beach to say a big Hawksbill turtle carcass had washed up on the shore. Upon inspection, the…
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Weather warning in Patong urges people not to go swimming
With storms and high winds around Thailand, lifeguards at the popular Patong Beach in Phuket are warning people of the dangerous surf on the shores of the storm-blown ocean. They urge all swimmers at the beach to only use the safe swimming zones where yellow-red flags are posted and warned that swimming outside the safe areas can be very perilous…
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Driver critical after collision involving 5 vehicles in Phuket
A driver is in critical condition after a collision on a road toward Phuket International Airport involving five vehicles. The 26 year old pickup driver now in a critical state, Inyat Kendphet, tried to overtake a taxi on Don Chom Thao Road in Moo 4, Thepkrasattri, but was unable to move back into his own lane in time to avoid…
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Phuket will have a tsunami drill on July 20 following multiple small tremors offshore
There will be a tsunami evacuation drill in Phuket’s Thalang district on July 20 after a number of underwater earthquakes off the Nicobar Islands, some 500 kilometres away, increased residents’ fears of a possible tsunami. Phuket tsunami 506 kilometres away from Thailand’s Andaman coast, the Andaman and Nicobar islands were continuously hit by 4.0 to 4.9 magnitude underwater earthquakes for three…
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Army helps repair houses of elderly and disabled in Phuket
The Royal Thai Army has helped repair and renovate the homes of elderly and disabled people in Phuket’s Thalang district. Many elderly and disabled residents in the Mai Khao subdistrict have been hit hard after 2 years of Covid-19 restrictions, and can’t afford to renovate their houses. The subdistrict had received about 20,000 baht per house to support repairs for…
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King tide in Phuket spurs online fears of a tsunami – it wasn’t
There was a lot of online chatter yesterday which was claiming there had been a small tsunami along the western shores of Phuket. The posts were correlating a king tide (unusually high tide) in Phuket, that was at its highest at 1.27pm (Sunday afternoon), some rough seas and a strong south-westerly swell in the Andaman Sea and Phang Nga Bay,…
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Runway temporarily closed for repair, flights to and from Phuket affected
Last evening Phuket International Airport closed for 2 hours whilst quick repairs were made to the runway. Earlier in the day, small cracks were found on the tarmac causing airport officials to postpone some flights and divert others that were on their way to Phuket. Repairs were made on the runway between 5 – 7pm as repairs were affected by…
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Look out for Phuket’s Spider-Man ice cream seller
Spider-Man, Spider-Man, does whatever a spider can. An ice cream seller in Phuket’s main city district is putting smiles on children’s faces by dressing up as a super hero. But the man, 35 year old Witoon, has a backstory that’s not so cheerful. He once made his living singing at restaurants and venues, but Covid-19 restrictions changed all that. Left…
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UPDATE: 19 year old Australian falls to his death at a Phuket hotel
UPDATE Phuket Police, Lieutenant Colonel Kokiat Boonplod, today confirmed there was no foul play involved in the death of 19 year old Australian Joshua Cornell. The teenager fell to his death from the 6th floor of a hotel rooftop in Phuket’s Patong Beach. The roof of a restaurant kitchen next door broke his fall. CCTV footage captured Cornell walking on…
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Officials to build new sky walk and glass terrace in Phuket
Officials in Phuket plan to build 2 new structures in different parts of the island province. A skywalk is planned for Phuket’s southern village of Rawai, and a glass terrace is planned for Surin Beach in the northern Thalang district. The President of the Phuket Provincial Administration Organisation, Rewat Areerob, said that Phuket is trying to build more landmarks to…
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Phuket welcomes more than 1.7 million travellers so far in 2022
The southern Thai island of Phuket welcomed more than 1.7 million visitors from January to the end of May, according to the Tourism Authority of Thailand, Phuket office. Phuket, the most reliant of Thai provinces for a steady flow of tourists, has suffered over the past 2 years and has relied on the government’s travel stimulus packages to keep some…
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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