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.
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Deputy PM denies land fiddle
PHUKET: Deputy Prime Minister Pitak Intrawitayanunt took reporters to the northwest end of the island on Saturday for a tour of a piece of land he bought in 1990, which was at the center of accusations made in the recent parliamentary no-confidence debate. K. Pitak repeated his assertions, made during the debate, that he had obtained the land near Baan…
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Two girls drown in pool
THALANG: Two girls, one 10 years old, the other 12, died while swimming in a pool near their home in the Thalang area yesterday. Police named the two girls as Kittima Butlada, 10, and Praemai Poltawee, 12. Cousins, they both lived in a house in Moo 8, Baan Prusompan in Tambon Thepkrasattri, where they went to school. Pol Maj Adul…
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Corruption: Thai police a “national scandal”
BANGKOK (AFP/The Nation): In a survey on corruption and political interference in justice systems in Asia, the Hong Kong-based Political and Economic Risk Consultancy (PERC) found Indonesia at the bottom of the heap, and noted that Thailand had descended to second worst in the region. The survey, concluded last week, sought the views of expatriate business people in each of…
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Sea walking probe starts in Phuket
PHUKET: In the latest development in one of Phuket’s longest-running sagas, researchers from the Thailand Institute of Scientific and Technological Research (TISTR) arrived yesterday to begin checks on local sea walking operators. The checks are part of a six-month study to develop regulations for the controversial industry which, according to critics, is damaging to the environment – particularly coral –…
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Gazette Guide to the World Cup
PHUKET: The latest issue of the weekly Phuket Gazette, on sale today, includes the guide that’s a must for all soccer fans. The clip-and-keep – or clip-and-stick-on-the-wall – chart contains a full guide to all World Cup matches, from the early group contests through to the finals, with dates, times (in Thailand), venues and TV channels carrying the games. Get…
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Governor heads anti-gambling parade
PHUKET TOWN: Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi led a parade today urging people not to gamble during football’s World Cup, which begins tonight. A microphone and speakers were used to address bystanders as the governor and police moved in a cavalcade of vehicles around Phuket Town this afternoon. Later, anti-football gambling brochures and information about penalties for gambling will be distributed,…
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British woman drops rape charge
NAI HARN: A 20-year-old British resident of Phuket today agreed to drop charges of rape against a man from Songkhla after negotiations at the Provincial Court. Details are sketchy, but sources who asked not to be named told the Gazette that the two had been seen together in intimate proximity on three successive evenings. On Wednesday evening, they had been…
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It’s official: Phuket goes crackers
PHUKET TOWN: The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is to stage a Fireworks Festival at Saphan Hin on July 26. More than 4,000 skyrockets and other fireworks, costing about 2 million baht, will be fired off in a 45-minute spectacular, which the TAT hopes will attract tourists from overseas and from neighboring provinces. If it is successful it will become…
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Thirsty threesome in bungled burglary
PHUKET TOWN: A trio of thirsty drinkers, finding that the nightclubs, bars and restaurants of Phuket Town all seemed to have stopped selling beer after 2 am, decided that self-service was the only solution. So they broke into the Tungka Café at the top of Rang Hill and helped themselves to several crates of amber fluid. What they hadn’t bargained…
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Probe finds road is substandard
CHERNG TALAY: The committee investigating the 4-million-baht road fiasco in Moo 2 Cherng Talay, today dug up the road in question and announced that accusations that the road is shoddy are well-founded. Committee chairman and Thalang District Chief Kanthee Silapa announced the findings after a three-hour meeting at the Cherng Talay Administration Organization (OrBorTor) offices. Although invited, neither the road…
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World Cup hits tourist arrivals
PHUKET: Predictions that Phuket will reap windfall profits as thousands of football fans head for the island, seeing it as the perfect venue for sun, sand and soccer, are, apparently, wide of the posts. Anupharp Thirarath, director of the Phuket office of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), today told the Gazette that the World Cup has had the opposite…
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Damaged cable slows Internet access
PHUKET: Access to large parts of the Internet has been slow, if not impossible, since Sunday when an undersea telecoms cable was damaged between Taiwan and Japan. It is unclear what caused the damage. One source at a local Internet service provider (ISP) said the damage was caused by sharks mistaking the cable for a large fish. But Thitiporn Panichphol,…
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Road death toll falls
PHUKET: Eighteen people died in traffic accidents on Phuket’s roads between March 20 and April 20, a drop of 25% when compared with the 24 deaths during the previous 30-day period, according to statistics from Wachira, Thalang and Patong government hospitals. The figures, issued yesterday, show that one person died in a car accident while 17 deaths involved motorbikes. In…
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Crackdown on Burmese labor imminent
PHUKET: In what it describes as an effort to protect Phuket’s image, the island’s work permit committee has announced that officials will soon begin arresting illegal Burmese laborers living “in a campsite on a mountain”. Vice-Governor Manit Wattanasen, chairman of the committee, said that a request has also been sent to the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare to reduce…
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Three toddlers drown in tin mine lagoon
PHANG NGA: Three toddlers drowned in a lagoon in an old tin mine on Sunday after wandering off from their grandfather’s home in Tai Muang. Pol Maj Somporn Paungthong, inspector of Tai Muang Police Station, said that Prapaet Jaikeaw, 53, called police to report that the bodies of his three grandsons, three-year-old Apiwat Jaikeaw, two-year-old Watcharin Chunak and two-year-old Supawat…
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Navy arrests Burmese timber smugglers
RANONG: The Royal Thai Navy stopped a suspicious boat in Thai waters around Koh Chang, Ranong, last Saturday, and found it full of timber, which the boat’s 10-man Burmese crew were apparently trying to smuggle into Thailand. Vice-Admiral Pairoj Theerachai, Commander of the Third Fleet, said that a warship spotted the 20-meter gray boat lurking around the island. The cargo…
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Gov denies bowing to pressure on land title
PHUKET: In response to recent intense national media coverage, Phuket Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi has emphatically denied employing his powers in unusual ways to effect the upgrading of titles on land owned by Deputy Prime Minister Pitak Intrawitayanunt. Nipat Intarasombat, Democrat MP for Phattalung, raised the controversial issue on Thursday, during last week’s televised censure debate. Since then Governor Pongpayome…
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Trailer-truck flips on curve
PHUKET: A 10-wheel truck towing an 8-wheel trailer and carrying 900 bags of cement overturned on Chao Fa West Rd last night. While the overturned truck and trailer made for a dramatic scene for motorists on their way to work this morning, no one was hurt in the accident. Pol Maj Peeraphan Meemak, inspector of Phuket Town Police Station, told…
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Client privacy at risk in Thai banks
BANGKOK: A story in today’s “Nation” reveals that the Thai government may have sought, and may still be seeking, direct online access to the accounts of companies and private individuals doing business with any of Thailand’s commercial banks. The Thai Bankers Association, citing customer privacy, has rejected a request, made through the government’s Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO), for direct links…
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June Bahtra tour boat seized
PHUKET: Phuket Marine Police and officers from the Bangkok-based Economic Crime Investigation Division this morning seized one of Phuket’s best-known tourism icons, the junk June Bahtra 2. The officers seized the 16-meter wooden boat from the Yacht Haven marina on allegations that the owner, East West Siam Ltd, had presented forged documents when registering the boat eight years ago, in…
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Tuk-tuks defeat governor’s fair fare plan
PHUKET: Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi announced today that his plan to curb tuk-tuk ripoffs by introducing fixed, published fares has been put on hold indefinitely. The announcement came after a tense two-hour meeting between the Governor and some 20 representatives of Phuket’s tuk-tuk drivers, who told him that they would not accept the new distance-based scale of fares that he…
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Drugs summit in Phuket
PHUKET TOWN: The National Security Council held a meeting today behind closed doors at the Royal Phuket City Hotel to discuss ways of combating drug proliferation in Thailand. Sixty officials from the central government and Phuket reviewed results so far in the current “war on drugs” at the meeting, which was chaired by Kachadpai Burusapatana, Secretary General of the National…
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Burmese katoey stabbed to death
PHUKET TOWN: A Burmese katoey [transsexual] has been found murdered behind the Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) office on Srisena Rd. Acting on information received, Pol Capt Watcharin Jiratikarnwiwat and other officers from Phuket Town police station found the man’s body on Wednesday in a machinery shed, face down in a pool of blood. The man, later identified as “Bee,” had…
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Committee to probe shoddy road
CHERNG TALAY: Following a protest by villagers on Wednesday about the poor quality of a new concrete road in Moo 2, Cherng Talay, a special committee has been formed to investigate the handling of the 4-million-baht budget for the project, and the officials involved. Siri Yokthong, chief of the Cherng Talay Tambon Administration Organization (OrBorTor), said yesterday that the OrBorTor…
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Thai-Burmese border closed
RANONG: All border crossings between Thailand and Myanmar were closed today by Rangoon for undisclosed reasons. Latest reports point to renewed conflict between the two governments over their dealings with the Shan State Army as being the reason. An official at the Immigration Department in Ranong – favored destination for “visa hops” from Phuket – said that the border has…
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Villagers protest over shoddy new road
CHERNG TALAY: Some 60 villagers in Cherng Talay staged a protest this morning on Soi Masjid Langkao, complaining about the rapid deterioration of a new concrete road running through the village. The villagers accused unnamed officers of the Cherng Talay Tambon Administration Organization (OrBorTor) of acting without transparency in this and other construction projects in the tambon. During the protest,…
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Oops! Auditor mislays B1.5 million
PHUKET TOWN: British vacationer Michael Michalke is a lucky man after recovering all of the 1.5 million baht he left in his Phuket hotel room at the weekend. Lucky and a little red-faced: back home, Mr Michalke is an auditor. The 50-year-old Brit and his 29-year-old Thai girlfriend, Rungtip Praujanteuk, checked into the Pearl Hotel on Montri Rd on Saturday…
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Indonesian boats caught fishing illegally
CHALONG: Phuket Marine Police boarded two Indonesian fishing boats moored near Koh Racha Noi on Sunday and arrested 10 crewmen for fishing illegally in Thai waters. Pol Lt Col Prathuang Srilamontri, inspector of the Phuket Marine Police, said that he had received a report from an investigation team that foreign boats had been seen fishing in Thai territory. At around…
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New official fees to curb tuk-tuk ripoffs
PHUKET: An official scale of fees based on kilometers travelled will be imposed on tuk-tuks from June 1 to curb overcharging of tourists. In some cases, the official fares are half what tuk-tuk drivers have been demanding. A trip from Phuket Town to Patong (15 km) will cost 200 baht, while the 32 km from Patong to the airport will…
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Immigration steps up English skills
PHUKET TOWN: Thirty officers from Immigration Division 3, the division for Southern Thailand, today began a four-day English-language workshop at the Pearl Hotel with the aim of improving their English skills. The course, called the English Language Training Camp II, was organized by the Immigration Bureau in conjunction with Chulalongkorn University Language Institute to improve the quality of Immigration service…
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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