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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Gov to lobby against flight change
PHUKET: Phuket Governor Pongpayome Vasaputi is to request the government to reconsider the switching of a Thai Airways International (THAI) service from Phuket to Bangkok. THAI has announced that its twice-weekly service between Perth, Australia, and Phuket will be canceled. Starting from October 1, the flights will land in Bangkok instead. Governor Pongpayome said yesterday, “I don’t agree with this…
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Prawn farm boss on murder conspiracy charges
PHUKET TOWN: Somsak Wongsawanond, the owner of the Wachara Prawn Farm in Pa Khlok, was arrested yesterday on charges of conspiracy to murder environmental activist Jurin Rachapol at the end of January. K. Jurin died on January 30 after being shot three times while collecting cashew leaves in a forest near the farm. The man accused of carrying out the…
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Thai tourist feared drowned off Patong
PATONG: Prawit Butdon, a 19-year-old tourist from Haad Yai, is feared to have drowned while swimming with friends off Patong Beach yesterday. Pol Capt Chawarit Patseepear of Kathu District Police Station said he received a call at about 6 pm, notifying him that Prawit had disappeared. Officers from Kathu and from the Marine Police rushed to the scene, along with…
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One dead, 20 hurt in bus crash
PRACHUAP KHIRI KHAN: One passenger from Hong Kong died instantly and 20 Thais were injured when a tour bus carrying passengers from Phuket to Bangkok overturned on the highway early yesterday morning. One of the injured is Pol Lt Col Wuttichai Kumphut, formerly deputy superintendent of Chalong Police Station. He and other passengers were taken to Prachuap Khiri Khan Hospital…
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Copyright raid reports keep Net cafés closed
PHUKET TOWN: Dozens of businesses that use computers stayed closed today after reports that police were raiding Internet cafés and other computer-intensive businesses, looking for pirated software or copies of legitimate software being used without licenses. A source claiming to be close to the police in Bangkok responsible for enforcing copyright law told the Gazette that raids were being conducted…
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Gov urges businesses to tell him of problems
PHUKET TOWN: Phuket Governor Pongpayome Vasaputi today urged foreign investors in Phuket to inform him of their suggestions, complaints and problems so he could deal with them or pass them on to the government. Speaking at the monthly meeting of the International Business Association of Phuket at the Royal Phuket City Hotel, the governor also stressed that corruption in government…
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Angel Air to fly Phuket-HK and Phuket-Osaka
BANGKOK : Thailand’s second airline, Angel Air, is to launch two new services to Phuket next month – one from Osaka in Japan, and one from Hong Kong. The airline said today that it would begin daily flights from Japan’s second-largest city to Phuket, via Bangkok, on June 21. It will also introduce twice-weekly flights between Phuket and Hong Kong…
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Two held for murder of Chinese fisherman
PHUKET TOWN: Two young men have been arrested and charged with the murder of a member of the crew of a mainland Chinese fishing boat during a brawl in the fishing port in the early hours of yesterday morning. They have also been charged with assault on another member of the boat’s crew. Pol Maj Songwut Khunjan, Investigation Inspector with…
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Tourist dies in motorcycle accident
KARON: Australian tourist Samantha O’Donnell, 23, died instantly in a motorcycle accident early Monday morning. Pol Capt Sanae Panmee of Chalong Police Station said, “Ms O’Donnell was a passenger on a motorcycle driven by a friend, Craig Eades. They were riding back from Patong at about 2 am. “He tried to overtake a Road Tran Tours coach on the corner…
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Warning over door-to-door cheats
PHUKET TOWN: Charan Sandsarn, owner of Charan Kreunglek & Faifha on Ong Sim Pai Rd, has warned householders to beware of a gang of foreign cheats who, he says, are using the name of his shop to sell electrical goods door-to-door. K. Charan said that the foreigners – thought to be from West Africa – claim to be sales representatives…
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Crooked community police arrested
WICHIT: Anucha Kaewkuen, 33, and Udomchai Faipetch, 37, from the Tambon Wichit Community Police office, were arrested recently after demanding 4,000 baht from an employer who had hired an illegal Burmese worker. The men went to an unnamed employer’s construction site and arrested a Burmese laborer. They then demanded the employer pay them 4,000 baht, claiming that the money wasn’t…
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After 100 days, jury still out on Thaksin
BANGKOK (AFP): After 100 days in office, the jury is still out on Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra — literally. Thailand’s constitutional court is deliberating corruption charges against Thaksin. If convicted, he may be forced out of office and barred from politics for five years. That pressure has seen him scrambling to leave a legacy by pushing through his populist…
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MP tells how she lobbied Thaksin over bar problem
BANGKOK: Chalermlak Kebsab, Phuket’s Member of Parliament for Region 2, which includes Patong, was a busy woman yesterday morning, trying to persuade the government in Bangkok to relax the crackdown on bar closing times in Phuket’s entertainment capital. Her first port of call was a meeting of the Democrat Party, at which she sat with Pol Lt Gen Wannarat Kosharat,…
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29 sex slaves rescued in Bangkok raids
BANGKOK (AFP): Thai police commandos made raids on two houses and rescued 29 hilltribe women forced to work as sex slaves, officers said today. Six hilltribe men guarding the women, one of whom was chained by the ankle to a railing after a failed escape attempt, were arrested in the operation on Thursday, said Pol Col Sophon Pitsuthiwong. “She had…
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Patong bar owners claim victory
PATONG: The embattled bar owners of Patong appear to have won a reprieve from the enforcement of the 2 am closure law after putting intense pressure on the government, both locally and in Bangkok. The bar owners gathered this evening in the Pasha discotheque on Soi Sunset. There, the Mayor of Patong, Pian Keesin, announced that a tacit agreement had…
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Two million baht robbery reported
PHUKET TOWN: At 10 am on Monday, May 14, Sophana Tawahudee reported to Phuket Town police station that her house on Mae Luan Rd had been robbed, and that cash and valuables worth over two million baht had been stolen. K. Sophana, the manager at the Andaman Sea View Hotel in Karon, said that the bandit had made off with…
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Patong bars protest, say they’ll not open tonight
PATONG: About 1,000 bar owners and staff gathered at the football field on the beach road this afternoon to protest the Ministry of Interior’s refusal to exempt Patong from the 2 am legal closing time for entertainment venues in Thailand. Chairat Sukkaban, owner of the Safari Disco & Fun Pub, who led a petition drive two weeks ago, told the…
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American dies at police station
PHUKET TOWN: An American man died after falling off a chair early yesterday morning while in custody at the Phuket Town Police Station. Police named the 56-year-old man as William Bryan Brooks. Pol Maj Adul Nirapai of Phuket Town Police Station told the Gazette that he had received a call late Monday night from staff at the Bai Fern restaurant…
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New QSI director denies closure rumors
KATHU: The new director of the QSI International School of Phuket, Dr Paul Finkbeiner, has emphatically denied rumors that the school is about to shut. “We are definitely not closing down. If that were true, then I wouldn’t be here,” he said, adding, “I plan on staying here for two years. But if things go well, they may have to…
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Ministry rejects bar owners’ 2 am plea
PHUKET: Provincial Governor Pongpayome Vasaputi said today that he has received an emphatic “No” from the Ministry of the Interior in response to a petition by Patong bar owners to allow them to stay open later than 2 am. Gov Pongpayome told the Gazette that the Ministry, in a letter to him, pointed out that there are many other tourist…
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Man found murdered near fishing port
PHUKET TOWN: A man believed to have been a Burmese fisherman was last Saturday found murdered at Baan Laem Tukkae, near the fishing port. Pol Lt Kanuang Pitakkulthorn of Phuket Town Police Station told the Gazette that the man, as yet unidentified, had died from blows the face and head with a blunt instrument. The victim is estimated to have…
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Laser speed trap on airport road
PHUKET: Motorists traveling north towards the airport are advised to take their feet off the gas until the end of this week at least, or risk paying a fine for speeding. Every day until Saturday, police officers will be been perched atop the footbridge near the Muang Thalang School, armed with a pair of laser speed guns, while, 300 meters…
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OrBorJor reviews Rassada Port bids
PHUKET TOWN: Companies bidding for a 30-year lease management on the Rassada Port made presentations to the Phuket Provincial Organization Administration (OrBorJor) on Friday. The companies that delivered presentations were Sri Fuengfah Co Ltd, Port and Marine Enterprise Co Ltd, and Seatran Travel Co Ltd. A fourth bidder, Thepkrasattri Petroleum Co Ltd, pulled out. The OrBorJor’s decision as to who…
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Duty-free scheme discussed
PHUKET TOWN: A special meeting was convened yesterday to brainstorm ideas on how Phuket might be developed into a duty-free city. Provincial Governor Pongpayome Vasaputi called the meeting – which brought together members of the Provincial Administration Organization and the Thai business community – in the wake of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s proposal that tourism in Phuket and Chiang Mai…
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German man dies of overdose
PATONG: A 49-year-old German man died yesterday of heart failure after swallowing a lethal mixture of vodka and sleeping pills. Pol Maj Pisit Cheanpetch of Kathu Police Station told the Gazette that Patong resident Klaus Werner Blume was found dead in his room at Nanai Happy House, Soi Nanai. The victim’s partner, Noppawan Hemwanta, 24, told police that she returned…
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Malaysia puts harsh brakes on Thai drivers
KHUAN DON, THAILAND: In a move sure to bring frowns and grimaces to the Land of Smiles, Thailand’s neighbor to the south has introduced measures making it an almost hopeless enterprise for Thais to enter Malaysia by automobile. At the Khuan Don border (near Satun) this afternoon, Malaysian authorities in spiffy blue uniforms were handing out “Rules” flyers to scores…
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Thai Airways board members lose perks
BANGKOK (AFP): Thai Airways International board members, long accustomed to free flights and expensive perks, are to lose their privileges as part of an effort to streamline the national carrier, an airline official said this afternoon. Chairman Chai-Anan Samuddavanija, appointed with a new board of directors amid controversy this week, has vowed to cancel the perks offered since Thai Airways…
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Japanese woman drowns off Mai Thon
MAI TON: The body of Japanese tourist Na-Ao Yukimura, 35, was found on Tuesday on a beach on Mai Thon Island. Pol Capt Cha-aom Khowsrisuwan of the Phuket Town Police Station said, “Some villagers found Ms Yukimura’s body lying face-down on the beach. She was wearing a green bikini, and a snorkeling mask was around her neck. She had been…
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Free dive master training for Thais
PHUKET: The Dive Operators’ Club of Thailand (DOCT), Phuket Chapter, is seeking Thai applicants to train as dive masters in response to the shortage of Thai dive masters on the island. Applicants must be at least 18 years old. They must have a working knowledge of English, a high-school education, be physically fit and able to swim, and have their…
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Police seize 2 tonnes of smuggled meat
PHUKET TOWN: The Phuket Marine Police yesterday evening raided a warehouse in Moo Bann Iravadee on the bypass road after receiving a report that it contained smuggled cigarettes. But instead of illegal smokes, they found about two tonnes of illegally imported meat, worth about 200,000 baht. Pol Lt Col Bunjerd Piriyavong of the Phuket Marine Police told the Gazette that…
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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