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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Tourism authorities will co-host fun events in Phang Na and Krabi to boost economy
In an effort to boost tourism income in Phang Na and Krabi, the Thailand Tourism Authority is helping host some new fun events. This comes after tourist areas in Thailand have been devastated by Covid-19. The first events will be two car rallies. People will drive along a route between the two cities, and stop at various sites to tour…
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UPDATE: Phuket gunmen named, possible related shooting in Canada last Tuesday
Police have identified the 2 gunmen who are being sought over the apparent gangland killing of Indian-born Jimi Sandhu on February 4 in Rawai, Phuket. Arrest warrants for 2 Canadian men have been issued. The alleged gunmen have been named as 36 year old Gene Karl Lahrkamp and Matthew Leandre Ovide Dupre, also 36. The arrest warrants follow an intensive…
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Volunteer teams clean trash and weeds from Phuket canal
Two volunteer organisations are joining forces to clear garbage and weeds from the Bang Yai Canal, which runs from Samkong into Phuket Town on Phuket’s east coast. The organisations are the Royal Thai Volunteers and the Rak Bang Yai Club, who announced the cleanup plan on video teleconference yesterday. The groups say they hope to clear the “bad smells” coming…
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Airport CCTV shows 2 suspects of Phuket murder case leaving Thailand
Police say they’ve obtained surveillance camera footage showing the two suspects in the Jimi Sandhu murder case in Phuket preparing to leave the country at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport. Sandhu, who was born in India, was a notorious gangster in Canada and was deported for “serious criminality.” He entered Thailand last month by private jet and was found dead with more…
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Phuket conservationists butt heads with locals on coral reef
Conservationists are fighting to stop a bay being dredged in Ao Kung in Pa Khlok, on Phuket’s east coast, as they say it will damage nearby coral reefs. A former village headman says the bay needs to be dredged because fishing boats have a hard time getting to the port at low tide. At a meeting with representatives of local…
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German celebrity says she was mugged at a Thailand beach, Phang Nga police investigate
While on a trip to Thailand, Cathy Hummels, the wife of German footballer Mats Hummels from Borussia Dortmund, was allegedly mugged. She told German media that she was hit by a stranger and robbed at a beach in Thailand. Some of the reports repeat her claims that she was mugged on the southern island of Phuket, but local police say…
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Phuket hotel is first to roll out ‘Life Bag Initiative’ with Living Waters
The Pullman Phuket Arcadia Naithon in Phuket has became the first hotel to complete and roll out the joint initiative by Living Waters Phuket and the Phuket Hotels Association Life Bag Project. On Wednesday, February 9, the hotel handed out 200 Life Bags directly to the local Saku area, their local community in the area around The Pullman Phuket Arcadia Naithon.…
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Criminals pretend to be police, scam Swiss man in Phuket
Scammers went after a Swiss national living in Phuket when they pretended to be police, and told him he had to pay a fine for receiving funds through illegal activities. The “police” contacted the man, Alain, saying a FedEx package couldn’t be delivered. Since Alain was expecting a FedEx package, he listened. The story then changed to say Bangkok police…
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Police arrest man for allegedly stealing 4,900 euros from tourists in Phuket
Police arrested a man who allegedly stole 4,900 euros from a Greek family travelling in Phuket. The family had left nearly their cash in their car, thinking it would be more secure than their hotel room where there was no safe to lock anything away while the maid cleaned. The suspect allegedly told police he spent most of the money…
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Fire breaks out by Phuket viewpoint, 16 Thai and foreign visitors rescued
Around 16 locals and Thais were evacuated from a forest in Phuket after a fire broke out and spread quickly by the Laem Krating viewpoint by the Krating Cape. The flames blocked the exit and authorities had to send a boat to pick the tourists and others up at the bottom of the hill in Phuket’s Rawai district. Phuket authorities…
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Cash, safes, passports seized from Phuket villa in “gangster” murder investigation
Following the murder of an alleged gangster in Phuket, police have seized a number of items from the Indian man’s rented villa. According to a Bangkok Post report, investigating officers have removed 2 safes, 2 passports, and 700,000 baht in cash from the villa in Rawai, in the south of the island. The 32-year-old victim, named locally as Mandeep Singh,…
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Phang Nga village hit by 2004 tsunami opens museum
One Phang Nga village community that was hit hard by the 2004 tsunami, Baan Nam Khem, has officially opened a museum about the tsunami, known as the Asian Tsunami (which was commemorated again recently). Thailand’s Minister of Culture, who attended the opening, says the museum will educate people about the history of how the tsunami devastated the Baan Nam Khem…
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VIDEO: Phuket police search for 2 gunmen over shooting death of Jimi “Slice” Sandhu
Police are still investigating the shooting of a former “gangster” who had been deported from Canada 6 years ago. 32 year old Indian Jimi “Slice” Sandhu, was gunned down while getting out of his red SUV around 10pm on Friday night in Rawai, Phuket. He was a former ‘person-of-interest’ for police in British Columbia, Canada, referred to as a “gangster”…
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UPDATE: Gunmen shoot dead a deported Canadian ‘gangster’ in Rawai, Phuket
A former British Columbia “gangster”, who was deported from Canada 6 years ago for “serious criminality”, has been shot to death in Rawai, Phuket. 32 year old Jimi “Slice” Sandhu, was gunned down while getting out of his car around 10pm last night. Sandhu, who the Vancouver Sun report was affiliated with the ‘United Nations’ gang, was the alleged owner…
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Deported Canadian gangster shot and killed in Phuket
UPDATED STORY HERE Two gunmen jumped out from bushes and shot and killed a Canadian man at The Beachfront Hotel Phuket in Rawai, a seaside resort town in the far south of Phuket, last night. Chalong police arrived on the scene at 6.30am this morning and found the victim lying face-down in a pool of blood next to a red…
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A night with the Junkies! Phuket’s Junkyard Theatre.
By Barry Daniel As a quiet, bookish type I’ve only taken LSD a few dozen times, but my recent Saturday night at the Underwood Art Factory Junkyard Theatre Show was far better than any other trip I’ve experienced! Half way along Phuket’s By-Pass Road in the middle of the island, lies the Underwood Art Factory’s psychedelic parallel universe which has…
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Phuket vice governor says water shortage not a concern
Phuket’s vice governor announced yesterday in a meeting that even though the island’s rainfall was below average in 2021, there was still lots of water from the three main reservoirs, and water shortage is “not a concern.” He said plans still need to be made to prevent water shortages in Phuket, though. Phuket had severe water shortages in 2019 and…
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Phuket officials comment on recent ‘taxi’ fiasco – everything except taxi meters
It’s the public, especially tourists’, “misunderstanding” of the way taxis fares are charged on the island of Phuket that is the problem. That’s the explanation from Phuket Land Transport Chief Jaturong Kaewkasi during an interview on an island radio station this week. The Phuket Land Transport has responded to last week’s viral video clip when a Thai man posted the altercation…
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Greek tourists robbed in Phuket get 51,000 baht gift from anonymous donor
The Greek family who claims 200,000 baht was stolen from their car in Phuket have received a gift of 51,000 baht from an anonymous donor to help them continue their travels. The Facebook page named KNIGHTS BORDER made a post saying an “anonymous kind and beloved brother” donated the money to the family after hearing that hundreds of thousands of baht…
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Most Phuket tourists infected with Covid travelled from Russia and Kazakhstan
Most tourists who tested positive for Covid-19 when they arrived in Phuket travelled from Russia and Kazakhstan, but particularly Russia, the Phuket provincial governor told the Bangkok Post. The governor says there will be an investigation of why a significant number of infections involved travellers from those countries. Governor Narong Woonciew says that out of about 300 daily diagnoses in Phuket,…
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A review of PlayYard Phuket – a new campground on the island
The following story was written by Barry Daniel. It’s a glorious sunrise morning at 6am and I’m sitting at the edge of the beach on Phuket’s north-east corner, overlooking a stunning vista of the lapping sea channel which leads to Phang Nga Bay framed by a series of glorious rolling hills beyond. Cup of tea to hand, I’m sitting outside…
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Greek travellers in Phuket claim 200,000 baht in cash was stolen from their car
A Greek family on a trip to Phuket claims around 200,000 baht in cash was stolen. Thai media reports that the family of five is asking for the money to be returned and are even promising to give the thief 500 euros if they return the cash. The family filed a report with the police and asked the hotel to…
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Phuket taxi driver fined 2,000 baht, to do etiquette training after overcharging incident
Authorities have slapped the Phuket taxi driver, who is accused of overcharging a passenger, with a 2,000 baht fine and have ordered him to go through etiquette training. The driver charged a Thai traveller 600 baht for a roughly 20-minute drive from the Kamala Beach area to a hotel Patong Beach. The traveller had tried to book a ride through…
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Phuket Lantern Festival 2022 runs now until February 20
The Phuket Lantern Festival 2022, also known as Yaun Xiao which is a traditional celebration following the Chinese New Year, will be running in Phuket Old Town from now until February 20. The festival was hosted to preserve the traditional culture of the Thai-Chinese people in the province and boost the economic situation. Phuket mayor of Phuket, Saroj Angkanapilas, kicked…
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Sneak peek into MONOPOLY: Phuket Edition coming in March
A new version of MONOPOLY heads to shelves this March, this time it’s Phuket edition. The game will include sights like Sarasin Beach, Kata Beach, Central Phuket and Karon Viewpoint. All these sites are well know to both locals and tourist. Sarasin Bridge was the first bridge that linked Phuket to mainland Thailand (a mere 300 metres). Kata Beach is…
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Deputy PM Prawit Wongsuwon discusses Phuket pedestrian safety
Deputy PM Prawit Wongsuwon brought up pedestrian safety crossings yesterday at an online meeting with a road safety policy committee, and the interior minister. Phuket officials have now been told to paint warning lines ahead of pedestrian crossings, letting drivers know they will have to slow down soon. The group also talked about the new points system that started in…
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Phuket gov calls for investigation, charm offensive after report on hospitel parties
Following British journalist Jonathan Miller’s harsh and lengthy report of his stay at a Phuket quarantine hospitel, Governor Narong Woonciew called for an investigation into the reporter’s claims. The reporter documented the impromptu parties with Covid-infected travellers during his two-week stay at the “hospitel.” In the Sunday Times, Miller who was classified as high risk of contracting Covid-19, was ordered…
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British journalist documents beer-fuelled parties with Covid patients at Phuket quarantine hotel
British journalist Jonathan Miller was declared to be at high risk of Covid-19 after entering Thailand and ended up in a quarantine hotel in Phuket… which he says was more like an “Asian Hotel California” with “late-night discos fuelled by local beer.” Miller, known in Thailand as the first foreign reporter to interview King Vajiralongkorn after his coronation, wrote a…
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Thai man arrested for shooting a foreign man at a Patong resort
Though few details are available now, a Thai man was taken into custody by Patong Police early this morning for allegedly shooting a foreign man in a resort. The incident took place around 2 am at a resort along the Patong Beach Road and police arrested the local man just outside the resort around 4am. The victim’s condition is currently…
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Venues in Phuket selling alcohol must apply for new permit
First, they shut all the bars and entertainment venues selling alcohol in Thailand. Then they said those venues could reopen, but not as a boozy bar, rather as restaurants, who eventually were allowed to sell a bit of alcohol again, now until 11 pm. But now in Phuket, entertainment venues that were originally licenced to sell alcohol but then got…
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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