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 plan crackdown on parking at schools
PHUKET TOWN: Phuket Town Police have warned parents to obey the traffic laws when dropping off their children when schools reopen next Monday. Pol Lt Col Teeraphol Thipjaroen, Deputy Superintendent of Phuket Police Station, said today that police will concentrate on the problem of cars parked in the yellow-and-white or red-and-white no-parking zones. “During the period before schools open [traffic]…
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Airport passenger traffic higher than last year
PHUKET: The total number of passengers arriving or departing from Phuket International Airport in March increased by 2.52% compared with the same month last year. Statistics released by airport officials show that 364,586 passengers arrived at or departed from the airport, compared with 355,631 passengers last year. The number of international passengers increased by 6.8% to 141,025, while the number…
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Phuket crash kills Central family member
THALANG: The youngest brother of Central Group Chairman Suthikiati Chirathivat died in a car smash in Phuket on Saturday night. Pol Maj Suppawat Suksiri, of Tah Chat Chai Police Station, said that Sutthipong Chirathivat, 42, was driving his Volkswagen alone from his house in Baan Kor-Ane along Thepkrasattri Rd toward Phuket Town at about 9 pm. In rain on a…
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Wife’s lover “hacked officer hubby to death’
KOH MAPHRAO: Desha Shum-nina, a 40-year-old community police officer for the Samphan community, was hacked to death yesterday morning, allegedly by his wife’s boyfriend. Called to the scene, police led by Pol Col Paween Pongsirin, Superintendent of Phuket Town Police Station, entered K. Desha’s single-story wooden house, which was surrounded by hundreds of local villagers, and found his body lying…
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WWII shells spark fear and hilarity
PHUKET TOWN: A scrap metal collector found 17 World War II-era artillery shells under a tree in an area off Rassadanusorn Road in Moo 3 yesterday. Pol Capt Anukul Nookate, of Phuket Town Police Station, said that he received a phone call at 12:30 pm that the shells had been found near the garbage pile belonging to Kijprasarnphattana Co. Pol…
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Bid to boost public bus service
PHUKET TOWN: Monthly passes and additional buses are to be introduced to counter complaints that Phuket Town’s public bus service has failed to live up to expectations in its first month of operation. The most frequent complaint by passengers was over the frequency of service. As a result, the Vice-President of the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization, Samroeng Chaison, told the…
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Yet another Burmese savagely murdered
PHUKET TOWN: Police are conducting a murder investigation after a man, believed to be a Burmese construction worker, was found dead with his neck almost completely severed. Called by nearby residents, officers found the body face down on a pile of sand in Soi Kingkaew-U-Tid, near Rassada Port, at about 8:30 am on Thursday. The victim’s head was almost separated…
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Tourist dies on island adventure
CHALONG: A 30-year-old Taiwanese tourist died while snorkeling off Koh Hei about noon on Wednesday. Police named him as Hsu Chi Jen. An officer said that although Mr Hsu was wearing a lifejacket, he appeared to have panicked and choked on water. The man was among a group of tourists who had made a day trip on a speedboat from…
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Fugitive Duangchalerm surrenders
BANGKOK (The Nation): Thailand’s most wanted man, politician’s son Duangchlarem Yoobamrung, surrendered to police last night after flying in from Kuala Lumpur. Duangchalerm, son of notorious MP Chalerm Yoobamrung, is accused of the murder of a policeman in a Bangkok nightclub just over six months ago. He has been on the run ever since. Duangchalerm breezed into the Thai Embassy…
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Seminar tackles dangers at sea
PHUKET: With the dangerous monsoon season approaching, a two-day seminar for 200 officers who may be required to take part in sea rescues is being held to improve life-saving procedures. Organized by the Royal Thai Navy Third Fleet, the gathering also involves representatives from the Marine Police, the Tourist Police, the Harbor Master, the fishery and national parks departments and…
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Three stabbed in pub brawl
PHUKET TOWN: Three employees of the Dance Fever Pub on Rassada Rd were stabbed early yesterday morning after a group of young men were denied entry to the pub because they were deemed to be inappropriately dressed. Pol Capt Kanung Pitakkulthorn, of Phuket Town Police Station, told the Gazette today that he received a phone call from Wachira Phuket Hospital…
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Black day on Phuket&’s roads
PHUKET: Four people were killed in three separate road accidents in the south of the island yesterday. The first accident, in Kata at 1:30 pm, involved a motorbike and a 10-wheel truck on the narrow beach road in front of Club Med Resort, said Pol Capt Anek Mongkol of the Chalong Police Station. Police arrived on the scene to find…
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Japan to pay for clinic for Burmese
PHUKET TOWN: Aeko Nakamura, first secretary to the Japanese Ambassador to Thailand, met with Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi yesterday to discuss Japanese government funding for a health clinic for Burmese immigrants. Details of the meeting were not released, but it is understood the governor used the meeting to lobby for further financial support to cover the running costs of the…
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OrBorJor chief faces ‘Mob Monday’
PHUKET TOWN: Dr Prasit Koeysiripong, President of the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor), had his hands full yesterday dealing with two mass protests. The main protest came as 300 villagers from Moo Baan Saku Moo 1, in Thalang, descended upon the OrBorJor offices at 11 am to demand that their local council be ordered to build a provincially funded road…
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Aliens top April crime stats
PHUKET: Illegal immigration cases topped the list of arrests during the period from April 1 to April 25, according to statistics released yesterday by Phuket police. A total of 237 people were taken into custody over illegal immigration cases compared to 421 in the same period of the previous month. Gambling arrests numbered 229, from 73 police raids. Of the…
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Boat seized for dodging import tax
AO CHALONG: Phuket Marine Police and the Economic Crime Investigation Division seized a boat on Saturday following allegations that it had been imported illegally into the country to avoid paying import taxes. The seized boat, a 25-meter wooden yacht named “Anusara”, was estimated by the Marine Police to have a market value of around 16 million baht. According to its…
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Prison population down slightly
PHUKET TOWN: The number of people being held in Phuket’s overcrowded Provincial Prison has fallen over the past month, from 1,247 at the end of March to 1,194 today. Of 1,194 prisoners, 491 men and 105 women are in for drug offenses. Of the remainder, 220 are held for theft; 138 for murder or attempted murder; 50 for sexual assault…
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Police net teenage bike thieves
PHUKET TOWN: In a series of raids on Tuesday night and Wednesday, police arrested five teenagers involved in motorcycle thefts. The first two arrests were the result of police undercover investigation of young people with criminal records after a recent spate of motorcycle thefts in Phuket Town. Officers first staked out the homes of two boys, one 13 and the…
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Teen killed in road rage fight
PHUKET TOWN: After an extreme case of road rage, a 21-year-old man confessed to stabbing a 17-year-old boy to death on Monday. At about 5 pm Monday, police rushed to the home of Jakrit Preechakorn, 17, on Soi Hab Ake off Phuket Rd, after Jakrit’s relatives called to say the boy had been stabbed. Pol Capt Chokchai Suttimek of the…
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Big soccer not coming here yet – FIFA
KATA: Worawi Makudi, an executive committee member of soccer’s international ruling body, FIFA, yesterday said that Phuket was still a long way from hosting international-standard soccer matches. K. Worawi, who is also the General Assistant of the Thai Football Association (TFA), said, “The soccer fields here are not up to international standards, and many changes will have to be made…
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Fisherman murdered on boat
PHUKET TOWN: A man believed to have been a Burmese fisherman was found murdered yesterday morning on the fishing boat “Thavorn 4” at the Sri Sena fishing port. Pol Lt Parichat Jaturonphan of Phuket Town Police Station told the Gazette that crew on the boat found the victim lying on his back in their sleeping quarters. He was wearing a…
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Dead foreigner identified
PATONG: Police yesterday announced that they had identified the man found dead in a derelict Patong building on Sunday as 60-year-old Bjorn Ola Ingemar Ahlin, from Sweden. Pol Lt Col Supamit Sukjaroen, Inspector of Tourist Police, told the Gazette that officers yesterday identified Mr Ahlin’s body after questioning staff at hotels in Patong and Karon about any guests who had…
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Move to close cruise company
PHUKET: Officials today moved to have Lifestyle in Asia – the company at the center of the “sex cruises” scandal – struck off as a registered tourism business. The move comes after allegations that one of the company’s boats was illegally registered, and after a raid on the company’s offices that allegedly uncovered pornographic videos and sex “toys”. Prachuab Tangka-arree,…
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Police peep into Peep Inn
PHUKET TOWN: Police seized pornographic VCDs and arrested three employees after a raid on the Peep Inn hotel on Rattanakosin 200 Pi Rd yesterday afternoon. Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi and Vice Governor Manit Wattanasen led police officers on the raid on what they termed a “love hotel”. Officers seized 52 pornographic VCDs, a television and a VCD player. Three hotel…
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Cruises probe: porn videos found, boat seized
PHUKET: Tourist police have uncovered more evidence they believe links Lifestyle in Asia Co and its managing director, William Anthony Ranauro, to an alleged sex cruise operation promoted on a website, www.loveboatcruises.net. The website has been inaccessible since Saturday, 20 April. Pol Maj Supamit Sukjaroen, Inspector of the Phuket Tourist Police, told the Gazette that investigators conducted a second search…
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Police appeal for information on dead man
PATONG: Police have appealed for information to help them identify a Caucasian man found dead yesterday evening in an abandoned building on Thaweewong Rd. Pol Maj Sanguan Muangtam of the Kathu Police station said that police believe the man was between 40 and 45 years of age. He was about 175 cm tall, with blond hair and a mustache, and…
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Seven Wonders festival opens
PHUKET TOWN: Deputy Prime Minister Pitak Intrawitayanun presided over the opening of the Seven Wonders of Phuket festival on Sunday, during which Thalang Rd, in the oldest part of the town, was turned into a walking street. About 1,000 people turned up to take part in or watch activities along the road, which included a bicycle rally in the morning,…
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Patong Municipality pawnshop set to open
PATONG: The Patong Municipality is set to open its new pawnshop on Ratpatanusorn Rd on May 1 – Labor Day – as part of a nationwide initiative by the Ministry of Interior to give people access to low-cost financing through their municipalities. Sakorn Cheua-yuan, Deputy Mayor of Patong, said, “This is a good chance for people living in Patong to…
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Sex cruise&’ raid is a bust
PHUKET TOWN: A high-profile raid today on the offices of tour cruise operator Lifestyle in Asia Co Ltd turned up no evidence to support a connection between the company and a web site promoting exclusive sex tours in Phuket. The intention of the raid was to turn up evidence that Lifestyle in Asia was running cruises advertised at the web…
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Thalang Rd to close at midnight
PHUKET TOWN: The section of Thalang Rd between Thepkrasattri Rd and Montri Rd will be closed at midnight tonight to allow organizers to build a stage for the first Seven Wonders of Phuket festival on Sunday. Pol Lt Col Teeraphol Thipjaroen, Deputy Superintendent of Phuket Police Station, told the Gazette that a section of Deebuk Rd near the intersection with…
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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