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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Patong Mayor forced to quit
PATONG: Members of the Patong Municipal Council have forced the resignation of the town’s Mayor, Pian Keesin, by rejecting his budget plan for the coming year. Pian lost by a vote of nine to two, the two being the mayor himself and Councillor Surasak Maneesri. Councillor Sakorn Cheua-yuan, who is secretary to local Member of Parliament Chalermlak Kebsab, said that…
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Krabi killer gets life
KRABI: Kasem ‘Maew’ Dumdee was sentenced to life imprisonment on Friday for the October 1 murder of German tourist Cao Ghu. Pol Lt Col Somdej Sukkarn, the case investigator, told the Gazette today, “Kasem was charged with murder for the purpose of robbery and with concealing his crime. He was also charged with robbery resulting in death. He pleaded guilty…
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Thailand may triple visa fees
BANGKOK (AFP): Despite an alarming slump in the country’s critical tourism sector, Thailand is considering a plan to triple visa fees for tourists. Non-immigrant visas, including those for business people, whether resident or visiting, would also rise sharply, a report said today. Thailand’s finance ministry is expected to seek cabinet approval this week for the move, claiming that it would…
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New park fees spark fury among dive firms
PHUKET: The good news is that the discriminatory fee system for entry into the Similan and Surin National Parks has been abolished. Thais and foreigners will pay the same fee. The bad news is that, from November 15, the entry fee for all divers will be 200 baht. And on top of that they must also pay a user fee…
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CSD arrests Phuket policeman for murder
PHUKET: Officers from the Crime Suppression Division (CSD) in Bangkok yesterday arrested a fellow officer working in the Phuket Forensic Science Department on charges of murder and robbery. Pol Lt Col Chatkanok Keawsongsang, Deputy Commissioner of the CSD, explained that it was alleged that Pol Sgt Maj Soonthorn Krodtem stopped an airport limousine driven by 26-year-old Sampakorn Temtup of Krabi…
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Injured writer’s family appeals for funds
PHUKET: Friends and family of writer Karla Doberstein yesterday appealed for people to help Karla with her rising medical bills by making donations into an account specially set up to pay the hospital. Ms Doberstein, 38, fell down the stairs in her home late at night on October 3, striking the back of her head as she fell. She was…
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Tangled trouble in Paradise
PHUKET TOWN: Thirty owners of businesses in the market area of Patong’s Paradise Complex descended on the Consumer Protection Office at the Provincial Hall on Monday morning to protest construction by the Royal Paradise Hotel, which they say has blocked access to their shops with thigh-high walls made of concrete blocks. The protest is the latest turn in a tale…
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Drowned foreigner identified
PATONG: The foreigner who drowned off Patong on August 29 has finally been identified after relatives saw his photograph in the news section of the Gazette Online. For six weeks local police had hoped that someone would come forward to claim the unidentified man’s body. They issued descriptions of the man and finally passed a photograph to the Gazette. After…
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New chief bans police from golf courses
BANGKOK (AFP): Thailand’s newly appointed police commissioner, General Sant Sarutanond, has banned senior officers from playing golf, saying they were shirking their duties by spending hours on the fairways. “Many police commanders are ignoring their responsibilities by going to play golf and passing all their duties to subordinate officers, which is not proper behavior,” he said in a directive released…
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Blackout slated for Kathu-Patong areas tomorrow
PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Electricity Authority (PPEA) has announced that a scheduled blackout will take place tomorrow (October 17), from 10 am to 4 pm, to allow staff to work safely on high-voltage power lines. The area affected will run from the Caltex gasoline station at the intersection of Wichit Songkhram Rd and Phra Phuket Kaew Rd in Kathu, to…
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Last chance to register foreign labor
PHUKET: In its drive to register all Burmese, Laotians and Cambodians working in Phuket, the Provincial Employment Service Office (ESO) yesterday extended its deadline to register foreign laborers working in fishing-related industries to October 25. The ESO issued the new deadline after four employers told the office that they had, in total, 183 foreign laborers who could not be registered…
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Police appeal to identify drowned foreigner
KARON: Police have released a photograph of a foreigner who drowned off Karon Beach on Saturday afternoon, in the hope that someone may identify him. The victim is the second to have drowned at Karon Beach on Saturday, the first having been reported in yesterday’s Gazette Online. Pol Capt Chana Sutimard, of Chalong Police Station, told the Gazette that his…
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Another tourist drowns
KARON: Philip Sams, a 40-year-old British tourist, drowned off Karon Beach in front of the South Sea Resort on Saturday afternoon. Pol Maj Jetsada Sangsuri told the Gazette that Mr Sams was swimming with his girlfriend, Wendy Murrin, around 3 pm. Ms Murrin returned to the beach, but Mr Sams chose to stay in the surf. Soon thereafter, he was…
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Appeal for blood donations
PHUKET: Wachira Phuket Hospital is appealing for donations of every type blood in advance of the Vegetarian Festival, which starts tomorrow. Pinwin Pinrarainont, a medical scientist at Wachira, told the Gazette that the hospital boosts its stock of blood every year for the festival to prepare for any accidents that might happen during the nine-day period. He added that, while…
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Festival ceremony to be televised live
PHUKET TOWN: This year will be the first time that a highlight of the island’s annual Vegetarian Festival will be televised live across Thailand. Channel 7 will broadcast the “go teng” pole raising ceremony, led by Somsak Thepsutin, Minister to the Prime Minister’s Office, at the Jui Tui Shrine on Soi Phuton, from 4:30 pm to 5:30 pm, on October…
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Airport passenger traffic falls
PHUKET: The number of people who arrived in Phuket via the International Airport has dropped by more than 20% in the past month, according to the latest statistics released by airport officials. The figures show that 118,382 passengers arrived in September, compared with 150,680 in August. The number of departures during the same period also dropped, by 25%, with 115,866…
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Forensic tests “will nail Krabi murder suspect’
KRABI: Police are waiting for the results of an autopsy and other forensic tests which, they believe, will cement their case against boatman Kasem “Maew” Dumdee, accused of the murder of German tourist Cao Ghu on October 1. These results should be delivered to Krabi from Bangkok in two or three days, said Pol Lt Col Somdej Sukkarn, the case…
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City undeturd – fines for Fido’s streetside stools
PHUKET TOWN: Phuket Town Mayor Phummisak Hongsyok vowed today that his town will no longer be a place for close encounters of the turd kind, thanks to an imminent drive to eliminate stinking dog faeces from the city’s streets. Speaking at his second “Mayor meets the press” conference, Mayor Phummisak warned that anyone who allows a dog in his or…
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Tour operators win park fees battle
PHUKET: In a major victory for local tour operators, the Royal Forestry Department (RFD) has backed down on enforcement of the 200-baht entry fee for foreigners in tour groups visiting the Phang Nga Bay National Park. Individual foreigners going into the park will still be required to pay 200 baht a head, (100 baht for children) compared with 20 baht…
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Industry standards to be set for sea walking
PHUKET: The local Tourist Business and Guide Registration Office (GRO) is to set up a committee to regulate the sea walking industry, based on the recommendations of an environmental impact study on coral reefs. The announcement was made on Monday, after GRO officials met with officers of provincial government departments involved in overseeing the industry, including Phuket’s Fisheries Office, Harbor…
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Gov calls closed meeting on tourism
PHUKET TOWN: Phuket Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi yesterday called a closed meeting of high-ranking officials to discuss potential problems for Phuket arising out of the conflict in Afghanistan. At the meeting were district chiefs and senior officers from the Phuket Immigration Office, the Royal Thai Navy Third Fleet, the Tourist Police, the local branch of the Tourism Authority of Thailand,…
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Srisaket wins DTAC soccer tourney
PHUKET TOWN: The superior teamwork of Srisaket’s provincial soccer team won them the 1st DTAC Super League Cup Tao Thep Invitational tournament on Sunday with a 4-3 victory in the final over Chiang Mai. The final, at Surakul Stadium, proved entertaining despite heavy rain. Within minutes of the opening whistle, Srisaket were awarded a penalty. Chayanon Rungsantee missed, but made…
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Entertainment zones to be fixed this month
PHUKET: Details of entertainment zones across the country should be finalized by the end of this month, Deputy Prime Minister Pongpol Adireksan said yesterday. He added that some zones may be allowed to open as late as 4 am. In an interview broadcast on Phuket’s 95FM radio station last night, K. Pongpol also stressed that it is government policy to…
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Policeman dies in explosion in Yala
YALA: An officer with the Border Police died early this morning in an explosion near the Ton Maphrao market in this southern city. Police said the blast, at 1:25 am, was unlikely to have been the work of Muslim militants. It was more probable, they said, that the officer killed himself accidentally with one of his own hand-grenades. Pol Sgt…
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Chef Ronnie does it again
BANGKOK: Chef Ronnie Macuja of the Phuket Cabana’s Sala Bua restaurant has scored a second huge victory in the New Asia Cuisine competition, once again beating top chefs from Bangkok in the contest, one of the highlights of the Asian Food & Catering Fair at the Bangkok International Trade & Exhibition Center. Chef Ronnie was the surprise winner in last…
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Deputy PM slams tourism greed
CHALONG: Deputy Prime Minister Pongpol Adireksarn today voiced concern over local attitudes that he said threaten to damage tourism. Speaking before leaving on an inspection tour of the Phi Phi islands, he said, “I wanted to go to Phi Phi because we’ve been advertising it a lot, but once tourists get there they are disappointed. “Patong is the same,” he…
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Boatman arrested for killing tourist in Krabi
KRABI: Police arrested a suspect this morning in connection with the murder of the 21-year-old German student, Cao Ghu, who disappeared Monday morning and was found floating face-down in the sea near Koh Gai two days later. Cao Ghu, who was Vietnamese by descent, was an Asian Culture major at Bonn University. She was visiting Thailand for the fourth time…
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Newlyweds in hostage drama
PATONG: Police from Kathu Police Station were called to the Jaranya Guesthouse on Rat-U-Thit Rd on Tuesday to find a honeymooning Briton standing in his wrecked hotel room, holding a broken beer bottle to his bride’s throat. Pol Capt Ampolwat Sangruang told the Gazette that his officers rushed the man, Mark Francis O’Reilly, 36, and managed to free his 18-year-old…
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Phuket ranks 2nd in Thai HIV stats
PHUKET: Phuket now has the second-highest rate of HIV infection in Thailand, Dr Jessada Chaikhunnarath, Deputy Chief of the Phuket Provincial Health Office, has told the Gazette. Only Chiang Rai has a higher rate. The infection rate in Phuket over the past 12 years was approximately six times the national average. In 1989, the last time national HIV statistics were…
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Third Fleet gets new commander
TAB LAMU: The outgoing Commander in Chief of the Royal Thai Navy Third Fleet (RTN3F), V/Adm Sathirapan Keyanon, this morning handed over command to his successor, V/Admiral Pairoj Theerachai, formerly a Deputy Chief Staff Officer. The hand-over took place at a military ceremony aboard the guided missile frigate HTMS Kraburi, docked at the Royal Thai Navy’s shore base at Tab…
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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