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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Kitchen knife killing: wife on the run
RASSADA: A woman who appears to have been a victim of domestic violence was on the run today after her husband was killed with a kitchen knife. Somsak Thepthong, 37, a laborer, was stabbed once in the stomach at the couple’s home on 12/66 Moo 1, Koh Sireh at the weekend. Pol Capt Sarit Buthnongsan, of Phuket Town Police Station,…
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Village chiefs bitter at ‘no guns&’ decision
PHUKET: Village leaders have protested over an Interior Ministry decision to stop awarding guns to village leaders who are voted provincial Kamnan or Phu Yai Baan of the Year. The Kamnan and Phu Yai Baan traditionally act as mediators in village disputes and are also responsible for security when police are not available. To this end, they are entitled to…
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Ya bah arrests drop by 50pc
PHUKET: The number of people arrested between July1 to July 25 on charges related to ya bah (methamphetamine) was just 28, compared to 56 during the same period in June, according to the latest statistics released by police. Police last month arrested 123 people on narcotics charges in raids that netted 455 ya bah pills, compared with 153 arrests for…
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Star Tour denies cutting back tour groups
PHUKET TOWN: A major Swedish tour organizer says it will continue to send groups to Phuket despite some misgivings it has about child labor, homeless children and child prostitution on the island. At the same time, however, Marie Hallberg – a Swedish researcher who was at the center of an earlier storm over suggestions that the company might boycott Phuket…
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Fake Dulwich papers “full of mistakes’
PHUKET TOWN: Fake Dulwich International College certificates were part of a recently uncovered Internet scam, but were of poor quality, the Phuket Provincial Education Office said today. Among the mistakes on the imitations were subjects listed that are not taught at the college and a logo that failed to match the real one. The signature on the fakes was that…
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Electricity firm opens pay kiosk at Big C
PHUKET TOWN: The Phuket Provincial Electricity Authority (PPEA) today opened a service counter at the Big C supercenter, on the bypass road, where consumers may pay their electricity bills. Sornchai Uparamai, the Manager of the PPEA, told the Gazette that the decision to open the kiosk was made following many complaints from customers about the hot and lengthy wait for…
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Mahouts trained to look after elephants
PHUKET: The Provincial Livestock Department today held a training seminar for mahouts from Phuket, Phang Nga and Krabi, in which they were taught the basics of elephant health. About 50 mahouts attended the seminar at the Royal Paradise Hotel in Patong. A similar seminar last year attracted about 300 mahouts. Suwut Chalayjorn, Director of the Veterinary Service Division, explained, “The…
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Thais urged to battle corruption
PHUKET TOWN: Thai people should be more aware of corruption, a workshop to promote ethics in the community was told today. “There should be regular corruption inspections and investigations,” Pongthep Thepkarnjana, Minister to the Prime Minister’s Office, told the 500 people who attended the day-long gathering at the Royal Phuket City Hotel. K. Pongthep, who is also Vice Chairman of…
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Mayor to lead 500 on Penang junket
PATONG: The Mayor of Patong, Surasak Maneesri, is to take 500 local people on an educational tour to Penang in Malaysia next week, at a cost to local tax payers of two million baht. The money to provide the 500 travelers with free bus transport, accommodation and food from August 4-7 will come from the municipality’s human resources development budget.…
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Mangrove walk to be closed at night
PHUKET TOWN: The Mayor of Phuket Town, Phummisak Hongsyok, has announced that the two entrances to the Saphan Hin mangrove walk will be fenced off, and the walk will be closed between 7 pm and 8am every day. His announcement came after a young mechanic from Surin was murdered late on Friday when he tried to stop two men raping…
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Fisherman witnesses colleague’s murder
PHUKET TOWN: A Thai fisherman watched as a Burmese man who worked on the same boat was stabbed to death at Rassada Port in the early hours of Sunday. Pol Maj Pissanu Poonwong, of Phuket Town Police Station, told the Gazette yesterday that the witness, who works on the fishing boat “Yod Duangporn”, called the police after seeing his co-worker…
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Rules changed for EMS deliveries
PHUKET: The Communications Authority of Thailand (CAT) has announced that it is no longer accepting parcels or envelopes addressed to post office boxes in India, Luxembourg, Qatar, or Tanzania, for delivery via its premium Express Mail Service (EMS). EMS parcels and envelopes sent to these four countries must carry the recipient’s name and full address. Items addressed to PO boxes…
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Murder, attempted rape on mangrove walk
PHUKET TOWN: A man was stabbed to death as he tried to save his girlfriend from two would-be rapists on the new Saphan Hin mangrove tourist walkway on Friday night. One attacker dropped his wallet in the struggle, leading to the arrests of both the following day. The murder victim, Nopparat Thongjanthuck, a 26-year-old air-conditioning technician from Surin, had taken…
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Tourist Police stage sea rescue seminar
PATONG: Phuket Tourist Police held a seminar today on sea rescue techniques for 150 people, including officers and volunteers such as lifeguards, paramedics and others who work on the beach. In his opening address at the Royal Paradise Hotel, seminar chairman and Kathu District Chief Sutin Uthaitamrong emphasized the need for speed in alerting rescue organizations in the event of…
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Girl drowns at Nai Harn Beach
NAI HARN: The body of an eight-year-old Thai girl who was pulled under the waves on Wednesday washed ashore at Nai Harn Beach this morning. Pol Capt Anake Mongkol of Chalong Police Station told the Gazette that Nisamanee Malilam was reported missing around 5 pm on Wednesday. Capt Anake said Nisamanee had come to Nai Harn with her aunt and…
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‘Hot’ competition for Phuket police
PHUKET TOWN: Police officers went through a two-hour competition yesterday to hone their skills in dealing with hostage-taking and other “hot” situations. Police were judged on their work with pistols and rifles, methods of snatching a gun from a suspect, using handcuffs, arresting suspects in a car, freeing hostages on a bus, protecting VIPs and other similar drills. Pol Maj…
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Bars, nightclubs urged to close
PHUKET: Police are requesting bar and nightclub owners to close their doors tomorrow and Thursday, out of respect for the religious holidays. Pol Col Paween Pongsirin, Superintendent of Phuket Town Police Station, said today, “We ask only for cooperation from the bar and nightclub owners in Phuket. It’s not a law or rule. “It has become customary for Thais not…
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Man caught passing forged B500 note
CHERNG TALAY: Police yesterday arrested a 35-year-old Trang man for passing forged 500-baht notes – after rescuing him from a group of local people who were beating him up. The locals told police that the man, Jamnong Longklang, had earlier bought some cigarettes from the JR Mart in Kamala, using a 500-baht note to pay for them. After receiving the…
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Phuket Aquarium to get giant face-lift
AO MAKHAM: The Phuket Aquarium has received 81 million baht from the Department of Fisheries to renovate and expand to include a glass tunnel that will allow visitors to walk through a fish tank. The improvements, it is estimated, could bring as many as half a million visitors to the aquarium a year. Potchana Boonyanate, a marine biologist at the…
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Man in black found hanging from tree
PHUKET TOWN: Police have appealed to the public for help in identifying a man who was found hanging from a tree yesterday morning near Moo Baan Prangthong on Kwang Rd. Pol Capt Watcharin Jirattikarnviwat, of Phuket Town Police Station, said the victim was found by local villagers hanging by a nylon rope from a tree branch, about 10 meters from…
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Russian drowns at Surin Beach
SURIN: A Russian tourist drowned at Surin Beach on Friday while swimming with his wife. Pol Maj Anan Jingjit, Inspector of Cherng Talay Police Station, identified the victim as 42-year-old Alexey Afonichev. “He was swimming with his wife and disappeared under the strong waves. Other tourists in the area located him and pulled him to shore,” Maj Anan said. Police…
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Post office changes opening hours
PATONG: The Post Office on Taweewong Rd, Patong, (post code 83151) has changed its operating times in order to improve its service to the public. Postal services and the telecommunications section are now open from 11 am to 6 pm with bill-paying, money orders and other services involving money available from 11 am to 5 pm. The post office opens…
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Bag-snatch raiders score three times
PHUKET: Three motorbike handbag snatchings have sparked a police hunt for the perpetrators – and a warning to women to be wary until the snatchers are caught. The first case took place on Wednesday in front of Moo Ban Perm Sin on Thepkrasattri Rd. Suwai Wanbutra, 25, was riding her motorbike back home from Phuket Town, when two men rode…
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Phuket prepares for Apec meeting
KARON: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs hosted a seminar involving about 100 officials and businesspeople this morning at Phuket Arcadia Beach Resort, to prepare for the 3rd Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) Senior Officials Meeting, to be held in Phuket next year. Apinan Pavanarit, Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said Phuket will host the conference from August…
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Bravery of recovery team acknowledged
PHUKET TOWN: The United States Ambassador to Thailand, Darryl Johnson, today presented certificates of commendation to the 24 Marine Police and Navy personnel involved in the operation to recover the body of American diver Dr Jeffrey Gall. Dr Gall, an experienced diver with more than 250 logged dives, disappeared on March 25 while exploring an underwater cave off Koh Ha…
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Bookseller charged over pornography
PATONG: Tourist police raided a shop on Tuesday and arrested a woman for selling pornographic books. Officers had been on patrol at about 8:30 pm on Rat-U-Thit 200 Phi Rd when local people drew their attention to the shop. Pol Capt Sanya Potchsalee, deputy inspector of the Phuket Tourist Police, said the shop, in the soi leading to the Royal…
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Wachira sets two national firsts
PHUKET TOWN: Deputy Public Health Minister Dr Surapong Suebwonglee today announced that Wachira Phuket Hospital has set two public health care firsts for Thailand. It is the first to have a government-owned hyperbaric chamber, and the first to treat HIV patients under the 30-baht medical scheme. Dr Surapong officially opened the hyperbaric chamber, which will be used to treat divers…
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Boys, 11 and 12, arrested for burglary
WICHIT: Three schoolchildren became burglars because their pocket money wasn’t enough, they told the Gazette on Monday. Twelve-year-old “Pring”, one of the accused sixth-graders, said, “Twenty baht isn’t enough. I asked mom for extra money, but she said no.” The trio were caught after allegedly burglarizing two houses in the same neighborhood, one of them twice. Pring, 11-year-old “Kob”, and…
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Luck runs out for Diamond the dolphin
AO MAKHAM: Diamond the dolphin died on Sunday, just hours before a planned release back into the ocean at Patong. Rescued by villagers from the beach at Patong last month, Diamond (Jao Petch) had appeared to be recovering and biologists at the Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC) planned to free him today. The 1.83-meter striped dolphin (Latin name Stenella coeruleoalba)…
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50 arrested for night bike races
PHUKET TOWN: More than 100 police and volunteers led by Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi busted up a gang of night-racing motorcyclists in a raid at the weekend. The large group of officers descended on Saphan Hin about 11pm on Saturday and surprised about 100 riders, arresting about half of them. Police organized the raid following complaints about the noise from…
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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