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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TAT boss worries over child abuse
PHUKET: A major Scandinavian tour operator may stop sending tourists to Phuket if the authorities cannot stop child prostitution and other forms of abuse on the island, the local TAT boss warned yesterday. In a meeting at the Phuket Provincial Meeting Hall, Anupharp Thirarath, director of the TAT Phuket office, said that he had met a Swedish researcher looking into…
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Another yacht seized for forged papers
PHUKET: The Phuket Marine Police today seized another yacht on charges that it was registered with the Harbor Master’s office using forged documents that purported to show the boat was made in Thailand. The yacht is the Samakki, a 40-feet fiberglass motor catamaran equipped with twin 200hp engines. The boat, which police say belongs to Thrinuch Kingkaew, who now lives…
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Time of month saves girl from rape
PHUKET TOWN: A girl student of Rajabhat Institute Phuket managed to avoid being raped by an unknown assailant on Sunday by crying out that she was having her period. The girl was found lying unconscious, still in uniform, in a small dark soi opposite Phuket Town Police Station, on Chumphon Rd, by one of the soi’s residents. After regaining consciousness…
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Drinker caught with live grenade
PHUKET TOWN: Sa-eak Chu-on, 24, from Trang, was arrested on Saturday night for being in possession of a live hand grenade while drinking in a restaurant on Si Sena Rd. Pol Sub Lt Wiwat Chamnarnkit, of Phuket Town Police Station, today told the Gazette that he was on routine patrol when he entered Nimit 2 restaurant and pub in search…
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Soccer gambling den raided
PHUKET TOWN: Phuket Town Police raided the Smile Snooker Pub at 27 Hongsyok U-Thit Rd on Thursday and made one arrest. Pol Capt Akanit Danpitaksan said that after receiving a tip-off, officers visited the pub and found 37-year-old Somyos “Yai” Kweangsopa poring over a list of customer names on his desk, along with a list of the odds for the…
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Illegal immigrant arrest tally falls
PHUKET: The number of arrests of illegal immigrants fell sharply in the period from May 1 to May 25 compared with the same period in the previous month, police statistics show. The total plummeted from 237 arrests to 75. Gambling arrests also dropped, from 229 arrests in 73 raids to 198 from 106 raids. Six of the May gambling raids…
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Killing No 5 at “Burmese cemetery’
PHUKET TOWN: The body of yet another murder victim has been found in a notorious dumping ground that has become known as the “Burmese Cemetery”. The man, victim of a savage stabbing, was found about 7:45 on Thursday morning in a ditch near a football field, close to the entrance to the Saphan Pla Organization (the government fishery dealer). The…
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Tuk-tuk fares “to be imposed next month’
PHUKET: Negotiations on fixed fares are underway with the island’s tuk-tuk drivers, and an agreement will be hammered out at a meeting planned for June 21, says the provincial government. Teerayout Prasertphol, chief analyst at the Phuket Provincial Transport Office, told the Gazette today that survey forms have been sent to tuk-tuk drivers, provincial and municipal government officials, TAT officials,…
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Snack seller hangs herself
PHUKET TOWN: The body of a young woman was found yesterday morning hanging from a concrete beam in the upper-floor bathroom of her shophouse on Soi Nerttip. Police say the death was a suicide. The victim was Supaporn Auttalee, 23, who sold Thai snacks on Sakdidet Rd, near her home. Pol Capt Rassada Klengvong, of Phuket Town Police Station, said…
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Lehman to up Thai holdings by $250m
BANGKOK (The Nation): US investment bank Lehman Brothers said it was committed to boosting its investment in Thailand by an additional US$250 million (Bt10.6 billion). The announcement followed a meeting on Tuesday between Lehman Brothers Inc chairman and CEO Richard S. Fuld, Jr, and Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. It was the third meeting between the two in the last 18…
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Tin mine probe launched
PHUKET: With a looming water shortage on the island, government officials today began sorting out tin mine land claims. The government has been eyeing the island’s 115 old tin mines as a source of much-needed water, but some prominent Phuket families claim outright ownership of the mines, with some families holding Chanote titles dating back as long as 50 years.…
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Island’s elephants get wired
PHUKET TOWN: Want to know the name of the elephant that left a steaming pile in your driveway? Chances are it can now be traced because 176 elephants on Phuket have had microchips implanted. Wiraparp Termkietpaisan, a vet from the Phuket Provincial Livestock Office (PPLO), said today that keeping tabs on the elephants from 23 camps will also enable authorities…
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Man murdered while guarding beans
CHERNG TALAY: Somphong Keawpitak, 32, a boat tour guide working at Banyan Tree Phuket, was shot dead yesterday in a small hut in a Cherng Talay hillside while guarding bunches of freshly picked “sator” – the spicy beans that are a specialty of the South. Pol Maj Winai Kongkeaw, Inspector of Cherng Talay Police Station, told the Gazette that a…
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Thalang Rd “walking street’ to continue
PHUKET TOWN: At the closing ceremony of the Seven Wonders of Phuket festival on Sunday evening, Deputy Prime Minister Pitak Intrawitayanun announced that Thalang Rd will continue to be a “walking street” every Sunday. He explained that Phuket Town Municipality will continue to stage events there for a further 17 weeks, under the slogan “Amazing Phuket”, and sponsored by the…
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Governor defends support for marina
PHUKET: Governor CEO Pongpoyome Vasaputi defended himself today against criticism over the fast-tracking of the project to build Phuket’s third yacht marina. Gulu Lalvani, head of international telephone manufacturer Binatone, has undertaken to spend around a billion baht on the project, the Royal Phuket Marina, provided that the governor can help slice through bureaucratic red tape. Speaking at his regular…
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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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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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Prison still swamped with drug offenders
PHUKET: More than half of the inmates at Phuket Provincial Prison have been convicted or are awaiting trial on drug-related charges, according to statistics released by prison officials yesterday. Of the 1,199 prisoners, 495 men and 109 women have been incarcerated in relation to narcotics offenses. Of the remaining prisoners, 229 are being held for theft, 143 for murder or…
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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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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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Restaurants warned: no alcohol after 2 am
PHUKET: Restaurants, as well as pubs and nightclubs, must stop selling alcohol after 2 am or face losing their licenses for good, Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi warned today. “If any restaurants disobey, I will stop them selling alcohol permanently,” he told a monthly meeting of about 100 senior provincial officers at Phuket Provincial Meeting Hall. In a wide-ranging address, he…
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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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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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Another murder in “Burmese Cemetery’
PHUKET TOWN: Another victim of a vicious stabbing frenzy was found floating yesterday morning in a small mangrove klong by Si Sena Rd – an area that is becoming known locally as the “Burmese cemetery”. He had been stabbed about 50 times. Pol Maj Pitsanu Poonwong of Phuket Town Police Station told the Gazette that local residents called the police…
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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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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…
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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