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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The Great American Smokeout, held this year on November 17, is a nationwide event that encourages smokers to take their first steps towards a smoke-free life. If you’re an expat in Thailand, this day could be a timely reminder to...
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Tourist-speak training for police
PHUKET TOWN: Island police are undergoing a brief course aimed at giving them the basics of tourist-speak in English and Japanese and advice on how to deal with other practical issues involving visitors. The Deputy Commander of Phuket Provincial Police, Pol Col Apirak Hongtong, told a seminar of 200 officers at the ST Plaza Hotel in Phuket Town today that…
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Diplomats praise island tourism
KARON: Bangkok-based diplomats representing 20 Asian and European countries have completed a tour of Phuket and Samui that was designed to promote tourism to the islands following the Sars scare. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) organized the study tour for ambassadors, consuls and their spouses between July 18 and 20. The party of…
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Another year’s work on historical documents
TRANG: More than two years after they were discovered by workers fixing the roof at the Phuket Provincial Hall, four stacks of documents dating back as far as 80 years ago are now being classified in an ongoing project by the National Archives Office in Trang. The documents have been grouped into 300 different categories and thousands of sub-headings. All…
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They’re back! Tourist numbers double in June
PHUKET: The latest figures on arrivals and departures at Phuket International Airport indicate that people are beginning to travel again in substantial numbers. The total of international passengers landing and leaving the island increased by 133% in June compared to May. June saw 602 international flights come and go, carrying 74,354 people, compared to the previous month when 31,806 people…
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Raids bring third land scandal arrest
BANGKOK (Kom Chad Luek): Police arrested Panthong Na Ranong, a former consultant of the New Aspiration Party (Kwamwangmai), during raids on Bangkok properties in Huay Khwang and Phra Khanong yesterday. Panthong, who was charged with conspiracy to falsify documents, was the third person arrested in investigations concerning fake land titles in Phuket. He was taken to the Crime Suppression Division…
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Phuket joins Portland in municipal project
PHUKET TOWN: Phuket Town officials will work together with counterparts from the city of Portland, Oregon, over the next two years in an effort to improve the city through mutual cooperation and an exchange of urban management expertise. The project, which is part of the International City/County Management Association’s CityLinks Program, will also include Chiang Mai and Khon Kaen municipalities.…
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Two more police charged in Big C slaying
PHUKET TOWN: Two Songkhla policemen accused of conspiracy to murder Phuket businessman Visanuwat Ngamjun, who was shot in his car in front of the Big C supercenter on February 28, turned themselves in to the Phuket Town Police on Tuesday morning. Pol Lt Col Paween Pongsirin, Superintendent of the Phuket Town Police Station, named the suspects as Pol Sgt Maj…
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Phuket to cement links with Andamans
PHUKET: Closer ties are to be established between Phuket and Port Blair, capital of the remote and intriguing Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Approximately halfway between Thailand and India, the islands were visited by Marco Polo and have a colorful history as a base for pirates and home for head-hunters. One tribe reportedly communes with the dead. Today the islands are…
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Alert over landslide risk
PHUKET: The Department of Mineral Resources has placed Phuket on a list of provinces that are susceptible to dangerous landslides during the monsoon season. Apichai Chiensirikul, Chief of Mineral Resources at the Phuket Provincial Industrial Office, told the Gazette that his section would inspect the island for areas where landslides were most likely and compile details before the onset of…
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Hotels urged to watch for suspicious foreigners
PHUKET TOWN: The Deputy Commander of Phuket Provincial Police, Pol Col Apirak Hongtong, last night appealed for hotel and resort staff to be on the lookout for foreigners acting suspiciously, in order to aid police in solving crimes committed by tourists. Speaking at the annual meeting of the Thai Hospitality Club of Phuket, held at The Metropole hotel, Col Apirak…
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Phuket Town blackout postponed
PHUKET TOWN: The Phuket Provincial Electricity Authority has postponed the Phuket Town blackout scheduled for tomorrow (July 17). The blackout, from 9 am to 4 pm, will now be on Tuesday, July 22. The affected areas are: Montri Rd, from Phuket Post Office to Surin Circle; and Phang Nga Rd, from the Mazda showroom junction to the Sinthavee Hotel. Please…
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Beachside villagers resist expulsion
CHERNG TALAY: Villagers in Cherng Talay today called a press conference to demand fair treatment as a deadline set by Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi for them to vacate public land expired. On March 16, the Governor gave the villagers four months to quit the beach and other pieces of land near the Laguna resort complex after no records of ownership…
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Fisherman found dead
PHUKET TOWN: The body of a Burmese fisherman washed ashore near Chocktaweekij fishing pier, off Si Sena Rd, at about 2 am on Sunday. Police have ruled out murder, saying that they believe the man fell from the pier into the water two days earlier while drunk, and drowned. Phuket Town Police inspector Pol Maj Watcharin Thirathikanwiwat told the Gazette…
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Job losses mounting, but recovery on track
PHUKET: Latest figures indicate that the island’s recovery from the negative effects of Sars is on course but that more suffering may lie ahead before good times return. The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) predicts that by December, total visitor numbers may be only slightly down on last year. Paradoxically, small businesses and workers continue to feel the after-effects of…
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TAT Deputy slams tourism restructuring
PHUKET TOWN: Following many complaints about delays in tourism business and tour guide registrations, the Deputy Director of the local Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) office yesterday criticized the shift of responsibilities to Bangkok in the government’s latest restructuring efforts. As of July 1, as part of a move to place the TAT under the authority of the Sports and…
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No helmet, no hill: safety crackdown
PHUKET: Patong Hill has been chosen as the island’s first “Helmet Heaven”, with motorcyclists barred from it from next month unless they wear helmets. While details are still being worked out, Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi told the Gazette that riders traveling without helmets would be turned back at checkpoints on both sides of the hill, day and night. It is…
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Gov offers to help validate titles
PHUKET TOWN: Big business investors who want to check the legitimacy of titles to land they are thinking of buying can ask the Phuket Governor’s office for help, Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi said today. He told the Gazette that his staff would work with the Phuket Provincial Land Office so that investment could continue without being delayed by investigations now…
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Hilton enters Phuket market
PHUKET: Hilton International has finally made an entry into the Phuket market after negotiating a contract to manage the Panwaburi Resort and Spa at Cape Panwa. The resort, which will undergo a US$7-million (292-million-baht) refurbishment, paid for by its owners, is expected to reopen in October as the Conrad Phuket Resort and Spa. Conrad is Hilton’s top-of-the-line five-star brand. Methee…
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Markets, restaurants face food checks
PHUKET: Officers from the Phuket Provincial Health Office (PPHO) will next month start inspecting restaurants displaying the “Clean Food Good Taste” (CFGT) seal of approval to see whether they have in fact been authorized by the PPHO to display the logo. They will also check fresh produce sold at markets from next month to ensure it is free of harmful…
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More fishing but fewer fish
PHUKET TOWN: The number of illegal alien workers on fishing boats in the Andaman Sea was increasing at the same time as vital marine stocks were being depleted, said Vice-Admiral Pairoj Theerachai of the Royal Navy Third Fleet. Fishing boats were using large illegal gill nets that diminished fish resources and also trapped and killed other marine animals, he explained…
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Missing Briton found safe in Krabi
KRABI: Missing Briton Eric Wells has turned up safe in a guest house in Krabi, his son told the Gazette this evening. Guy Wells said that he had spoken by phone with his father, who was unharmed, but that the reasons why he had ended up in Krabi were not clear. He also thanked all those who had gone out…
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Top businessman held over Samsara deed
PHUKET TOWN: Chamnan Pachantabutr, former owner of the land on which the Samsara luxury property development is currently being constructed, was arrested today for his alleged part in falsifying a land document – the original title for the Samsara site. Chamnan, who is one of the owners of the Phuket Cabana Resort and of the Kan Eang restaurants in Chalong,…
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Startling plans for Phuket’s future
PHUKET TOWN: Four Cabinet members attended high-powered meetings with Phuket government officials and local businessmen on Friday and Saturday (July 4 and 5), indicating that the government is still committed to Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s vision of Phuket as a regional hub for transport, medical tourism, IT, duty-free shopping and yachting. The Saturday meeting at Royal Phuket City Hotel was…
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High price for high fliers
PHUKET: Expensive rainmaking flights costing as much as 480,000 baht a day have yet to make an appreciable difference to Phuket’s water supplies. Three aircraft from the Royal Rainmaking Service are currently in Phuket. The two smaller airplanes each incur a cost of 50,000 baht a flight in fuel, chemicals and other costs while the third, larger aircraft costs 60,000…
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Still no sign of DIDIT founder
PHUKET: The family of Briton Eric Wells have asked that anyone who has seen him since the evening of Friday, July 4, get in touch with them immediately. Mr Wells and his wife Linda are co-founders of Dogs In Distress In Thailand (DIDIT), which looks after stray dogs in temples around the island. Mr Wells went to feed dogs at…
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Free air tickets to boost tourism
BANGKOK: Thai Airways International (THAI) has announced a campaign to celebrate its 43rd anniversary by giving away 20,000 tickets as prizes in a lottery among passengers who fly on the airline between now and September 30. The “Luck Is In The Air” campaign will, it is hoped, attract tourists to make repeat visits to Thailand. A total of 16,000 free…
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Govt seizes land from 39 in Phuket
BANGKOK (The Nation): The Agriculture Land Reform Department yesterday revoked the land-right documents held by 39 people who were found to be unqualified to occupy SorPorKor land earmarked for farmers in Phuket. Agriculture Minister Sora-at Klinprathum said the revocation took immediate effect and that no prior warning letters were necessary to inform the holders. “We are also verifying other holders…
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Police nab pair for mugging tourists
PHUKET: Two men now under arrest have confessed to assaulting and robbing German tourists Rainer and Susanne Siebert and two others have confessed to receiving the stolen goods. The Sieberts, who were knocked unconscious and robbed last week, flew out for Germany yesterday afternoon with most of the stolen items after recovering from their injuries. Surachai “Jade” Khonginn, 25, and…
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Tourism “boom’ tipped soon
PHUKET TOWN: The outlook for tourism in Phuket is much brighter now, Santhichai Auengjongprasit, Deputy-Governor for Marketing of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), said today. Numbers were still down on last year’s low season, he conceded, but were improving. The effects of the Sars scare were no longer being felt and discounts and travel promotions were already working, he…
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Govt turns up the heat in SorPorKor probe
BANGKOK (Gazette, Nation): Fifty-seven officers from the Crime Suppression Division and more than 40 from the Forestry Police, the Land Department and the Agriculture Land Reform Department arrived in Phuket yesterday, complete with helicopter, to help speed up the government probe into abuses of SorPorKor land occupation. In the meantime, in Bangkok, the much-feared Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO) has announced…
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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