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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Police New Year target is helmets
PHUKET: Police will crack down on bad driving over Chinese New Year next weekend – especially on motorcycle riders who do not wear helmets at night. The Chinese New Year, which falls on February 1 this year, always brings an increase in traffic and accidents. Police are keen to halt the rising toll of unnecessary deaths and injuries in 2003.…
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Parties slug it out over Phuket billboards
PHUKET TOWN: Accusations are flying across the political divide in a slinging match that broke out on the eve of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s party congress in Phuket this weekend. With more than 300 Thai Rak Thai (TRT) MPs gathering from today in the heartland of the opposition Democrat Party, billboards began appearing around the island about three weeks ago,…
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Cough syrup the new menace
PHUKET TOWN: Public Health Minister Sudarat Keyurapan chaired a crisis meeting in Phuket today to plan action to stem the rising misuse of cough syrup among Thailand’s young people. Among the 120 provincial officers who met at Royal Phuket City Hotel were Phuket Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi, Public Health officers from the 14 southern provinces and others from as far…
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Quake tremors rattle Phuket
PHUKET: Tremors from a distant earthquake caused anxiety in tall buildings in Patong and triggered a stampede to evacuate the Phuket Vocational College at Saphan Hin, Phuket Town, today. The six buildings at the college shook for almost a minute, with students running downstairs to gather outside. One student, Kittipong Jarusatorn, said later, “Someone shouted, ‘Get out of the building,…
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Early-teen motorcycle thieves nabbed
PHUKET TOWN: A gang of eight boys, all aged about 14, were taken into custody and charged with motorcycle theft following a police raid on their hangout off Sakdidet Rd on Sunday. Police suspected the boys might responsible for a surge in motorcycle thefts in the Sakdidet Rd area when they observed the gang involved in a bustling trade in…
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Coral reef bombers still at large
KOH LANTA: The coral on two undersea mountain reefs, blasted more than a year ago by fishermen using illegal explosives, has grown back and marine life has returned, authorities say. But the vessels that inflicted the damage have not been identified despite photographic evidence showing at least one boat in the area at the time. The diving community along the…
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Blaze leaves seven homeless
PHUKET TOWN: A fire in a two-story shophouse on Phuket Rd this morning caused about 2 million baht baht damage and left seven people homeless. Firefighters took 45 minutes to extinguish the blaze while officers from Phuket Town Police Station redirected traffic at the nearby intersection with Ong Sim Phai Rd. Buildings on either side of the fire sustained minor…
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Kathu Police announce “Foreign Friends” project
KATHU: Region 8 Police Chief Pol Lt Gen Pichai Soontornsajabool and the Kathu Police Department have jointly announced a new project to help foreigners in the Patong area. The project name, roughly translated, is “Good Foreign Friends”. Kathu Police Superintendent Chalit Thintanee told the Gazette, “The police want to establish links with groups of long-stay tourists and business people. We…
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Police net 36 for bike offenses
PHUKET TOWN: Police set up a checkpoint at 2 am on Monday on Rassada Rd and caught 36 motorcycle riders for racing or drunk-driving. Pol Col Paween Pongsirin, Superintendent of Phuket Town Police Station, said the checkpoint, near the Krung Thai Bank, resulted in the apprehension of 23 motorcycle racers on modified motorcycles and 13 people who were charged with…
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Officials examine traffic jam problem
PHUKET TOWN: Residents along Chao Fa West and Chao Fa East Rds have asked local authorities to solve traffic jam problems. Busy “talat nut” markets on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays are being blamed for delays that affect local and through traffic. Wises Sabaijit, Palad of Wichit Tambon Administration Organization (OrBorTor) met residents at the weekend and said later that the…
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MP pushes for greater unionization
PHUKET TOWN: The Chairman of Thailand’s Parliamentary Committee on Labor, Khon Kaen MP Premsak Pearyura, was in Phuket again yesterday, and once again found himself in the middle of controversy. In September last year K. Premsak hit the limelight for remarks he made at a seminar on work permits for foreigners. “Most of the foreigners [in Thailand] are small investors…
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Busy schedule for 2nd Thaksin visit
PHUKET: Phuket will be on show during the visit by Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and more than 300 Thai Rak Thai (TRT) party MPs this weekend. Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi and local government officers met this morning to finalize plans for activities associated with the TRT seminar. Public Health Minister Sudarat Keyuraphan and representatives from 18 southern provinces will meet…
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Card-trick couple “stole 100,000 baht’
PHUKET TOWN: A temporary bank employee has been arrested for using a customer’s credit card to make purchases and ATM withdrawals totaling more than 100,000 baht. The customer, Kanyarat Pitikulsathit, went to police when her statement from the Phuket branch of the Bangkok Bank included transactions she knew nothing about. On Thursday, police arrested Kriangsak Supap, 28, and his wife…
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Urgent call for AB-negative blood
PHUKET TOWN: Bangkok Phuket Hospital is urgently seeking a donation of type AB-negative blood for a 25-year-old Swiss man requiring treatment after a jet-ski accident. Potential donors are asked to report to the hospital’s reception desk or to call 076-254425. The victim, Sandro Hauger, was riding a jet-ski off Patong when his brother Roger, on another jet-ski, collided with him,…
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Meter taxis “forced to raise fares’
PHUKET TOWN: Fares for longer trips in meter taxis have risen substantially because, the cab company says, it continues to be denied the right to pick up passengers from the airport. Patipol Prakobtan, manager of Phuket Taxi Meter Co, explained, “We have made no profit because we haven’t been granted permission to set up a booth at the airport.” The…
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Laem Phromthep to get B20m facelift
RAWAI: Popular tourist site Laem Phromthep will be improved by a 20-million-baht beautification project spanning seven months, it was announced yesterday. Arun Sorot, President of the Rawai Tambon Administration Organization (OrBorTor), said, “We plan to build a new car park first. It will take as many vehicles as the old one. Construction will begin in the middle of February.” In…
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Briton arrested in love triangle slaying
PHUKET: Police arrested a British diving instructor at Phuket International Airport yesterday as he was about to flee the island on charges of strangling and stabbing his Thai girlfriend in a love-triangle murder. Police said that Mark Leighton Storey, 48, confessed he had killed his girlfriend after discovering there was another man in her life. The woman, Rattanaporn Pimkot, 30,…
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Phuket to promote health tourism
PHUKET TOWN: “Come to Phuket for your health” will be the catchy slogan for a new strategy aimed at attracting tourists who need medical or dental care to come to Phuket. Thailand’s inexpensive surgery is to be used as the lure to make the island a center for health care, in addition to its traditional beach, diving and golf attractions.…
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Deputy Interior Minister on Social Order visit
PHUKET TOWN: Deputy Interior Minister Pracha Maleenond plans to meet with owners of Phuket entertainment venues tomorrow as he pursues more effective implementation of the national Better Social Order Policy. Tonight he is likely to make an excursion to check on how the policy is working in local venues, where 2 am closing and adults-only admission are being strictly enforced,…
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Bold trio rob tourists of 200,000 baht
PHUKET TOWN: A couple on vacation in Phuket had cash and belongings worth about 200,000 baht stolen from their car yesterday afternoon by a gang who distracted their attention while their possessions were taken. Luckana “Ann” Polthep, 26, from Nonthaburi, came to Phuket on vacation with her foreign boyfriend. The couple, who were staying in Patong, withdrew 60,000 baht from…
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Smuggling of drugs by boat “declining’
AO MAKHAM: The new commissioner of the Royal Thai Navy visited Phuket today and told the Third Naval Area Command to continue to be vigilant in looking out for smuggled drugs. Vice Admiral Taweesak Somapa’s New Year message to the base at Ao Makham was that there appeared to be less of a problem now in the Andaman Sea. “More…
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Gunmen make off with 70,000 baht
PHUKET TOWN: Motorcycle raiders knocked a man off his motorbike, held a gun to his head and escaped with cash and checks totalling 70,000 baht yesterday, in a bold daylight robbery. Police said the two men pounced as Pramote Sanmongkol, 24, rode the 500 meters along Rassada Rd from Phuket Adventure Group Co, where he works, to a nearby bank,…
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Visit targets better social order
PHUKET: Deputy Interior Minister Pracha Maleenond is to visit Phuket on Wednesday as the national campaign to improve “social order” continues. At a meeting that afternoon, K Pracha will relay the latest developments in policy to members of local administrations before visiting a one tambon-one product site on Koh Sireh. On Thursday K. Pracha will meet Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi…
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Skull and bones found on island
RAWAI: Forensic scientists are trying to identify a skull found washed up last week on the bank of a stream on an island off Rawai. The skull and some small bones from a hand and a leg were found at about 10 am on Friday by a resident of Koh Bon. Pol Maj Jessada Sangsuree of Chalong Police Station said…
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Students aim to cut road accidents
PHUKET TOWN: Students from Rajabhat Institute Phuket have launched a project aimed at reducing road accidents on the island, which for its size has one on the highest road death and injury tolls in Thailand. The students, studying for master’s degrees in development strategy, will campaign to publicize telephone numbers people should call if they see bad driving they believe…
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Longest cake bake for Children’s Day
CHALONG: About 1,000 children are expected to turn out tomorrow to watch an attempt to produce a record-size cake for Children’s Day at Chalong Police Station. Pol. Lt. Col. Worrapong Wongjom told the Gazette that the officers there had organized activities on Children’s Day for the past six years. Last year they produced a cake 22 meters long. This year…
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Korean drowns in honeymoon tragedy
PHANG NGA: An idyllic honeymoon ended in horror and tragedy for a South Korean couple on Tuesday when the 33-year-old husband drowned in a boating tour accident. His young bride is due to fly home tonight, carrying her husband’s ashes. The cremation of Lee Dong Keun was due to take place just hours before his bride’s flight. Details of the…
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PMs’ visit puts pressure on illegals
PHUKET TOWN: The weekend visit to Phuket by Singapore’s Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong, who arrives this evening, has triggered a crackdown by police on illegal immigrants. The Commissioner of the Immigration Bureau, Pol Lt Gen Chanwut Watcharapook, said last night that aliens would be repatriated to get rid of troublemakers and to make Thailand a safer place. He said…
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New prison chief invites visitors
PHUKET TOWN: The new Chief of Phuket Prison has invited groups of people, including students, to tour the prison to see facilities and watch convicts’ activities. The Chief, Panya Panatnachee, who arrived in Phuket two months ago, explained that the new activities he has introduced are batik making and the manufacture of bamboo blinds. Both products are in big demand,…
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Businesses, Movies and Tides
The 2003 edition of the Gazette Guide, Phuket’s ‘yellow pages’, will go on sale (at 140 baht) from January 17, with bulk deliveries to the hotels scheduled for the following day. For a list of retailers selling the Guide, or for discounts on bulk orders (10 or more copies) for guesthouses, clubs, associations and other non-profit organizations, please contact Guide@PhuketGazette.net…
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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