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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The Great American Smokeout, held this year on November 17, is a nationwide event that encourages smokers to take their first steps towards a smoke-free life. If you’re an expat in Thailand, this day could be a timely reminder to...
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French deputy mayor killed in bike smash
PATONG: A deputy mayor of the French ski resort of Chamonix died in a motorcycle accident in front of Phuket Simon Cabaret early yesterday morning. Pol Maj Pisit Cheanpeth of Kathu Police Station told the Gazette that at around 2.30 am, the man, whom he named as Jean-François Girod, aged about 38-40, crashed his rented motorbike into a culvert at…
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Policeman murdered on bypass road
PHUKET TOWN: Pol L/Cpl Piyanut Singkaew, 31, of Phuket Town Police Station, was found murdered late last night opposite a deserted building on the bypass road, about 200 meters past the Gems Gallery. Responding to a call at 11 pm, police found the victim lying face down beside the road. He had been shot seven times with a 9mm pistol,…
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Phuket Rugby Sevens canceled
PHUKET TOWN: It was announced yesterday that this year’s Phuket International Rugby Sevens tournament has been canceled. The announcement came just 10 days before the tournament was due to start. The Thai Rugby Union (TRU) blamed the cancellation on a 2-million-baht shortfall in sponsorship. No hint of these problems was given in the last meeting between organizers and sponsors, held…
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Phuket to crack down on illegal workers
PHUKET TOWN: Phuket’s Governor, Pongpayome Vasaputi, has warned that illegal Burmese, Laotian and Cambodian workers – and those who employ them – will be singled out in a crackdown starting December 1. The proposed crackdown follows a cabinet meeting on August 29 at which a limit was set of 5,308 work permits for Laotian, Burmese and Cambodian workers in Phuket.…
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Police suspect murder in death of jet-ski operator
PATONG: The body of a Thai jet-ski operator was found near the Nakalay viewpoint, near the Thavorn Beach Village Hotel, on Friday afternoon. Although the cause of death has yet to be established, the police are treating it as murder. Local fisherman, who had noticed a foul smell, discovered the body on the rocks 20 meters below the Nakalay viewpoint…
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Monk hacked to death with axe
PAK THO (AFP): The continuing scandals in the Thai clergy took a gruesome turn on Wednesday with the discovery of the body of a 37-year-old monk who had been hacked to death with an axe in a temple near the western Thailand border. Police said today that the body of Phra Ko Muang, who was originally from Burma, was found…
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Warning over fake 500-baht notes
PHUKET: The Bank of Thailand has issued a statement advising banks and the public on how to identify forged 500-baht notes currently circulating in Thailand. “The counterfeit notes are printed on thinner paper [than the real ones] and the surface of the paper is more slippery than genuine notes,” explained Boonserm Jitsamreang, the marketing officer of Bank of Asia, Phuket…
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Local student wins speech contest
KATHU: Twenty-one-year-old Philippe Berthe, a first-year hotel and tourism management student at Prince of Songkla University, Phuket Campus (PSU), won the first round of the National Speech Contest held at PSU on Wednesday. Mr Berthe, whose father is French and whose mother is Thai, was born in Phuket. The runner-up was Siwaporn Arjariya, a second-year student at Walailak University, Nakhorn…
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Four charged with million-baht “black money’ scam
PATONG: Police on Wednesday charged four West African men with swindling a Patong restaurateur and his brother out of one million baht, using a classic “black money” scam. Pol Col Kokiat Wongvorachart, superintendent of Kathu Police Station, named the four arrested men as: Gala Sompson, 24, and David Woshington Je, 23, both from Liberia, and John Cacosta, 30, and Goodrid…
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Phuket people “should handle environmental problems’
PHUKET: The Phuket Environment Committee (PEC) is to push for the island to have its own Environmental Protection Office, members said today, because Phuket is the county’s most important resort. Up to now, they said, environmental problems that have cropped up in Phuket have been addressed very slowly because there has been no organization in the province that was directly…
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Monk disrobed after telephone sex
BANGKOK (AFP): A senior monk left the Buddhist clergy today after he was caught engaging in phone sex, officials within the monkhood say. Phra Si Visuthyarn, deputy abbot of Bangkok’s Tritosthep temple, delivered his resignation this morning, an official told AFP. The monk quit after religious officials in the Sangha Supreme Council received a tape recording of him having phone…
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Leaking policeman gets into hot water
PHUKET TOWN: Stopping to pass water can be a dangerous business, as an Immigration Police officer found out on Monday. Pol Snr Sgt Maj Wichien Petphang-nga told the Gazette that he was driving, in plain clothes, toward the center of Phuket Town when he heard the call of nature. He decided to stop at the Sanamchai football field, opposite the…
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Hotel tax row: Governor steps in
PHUKET: The island’s new Governor, Pongpayome Vasaputi, has stepped into the furious row between Phuket’s hotels and the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) over the OrBorJor’s new tax on hotel room revenue. After a five-hour closed meeting last Wednesday with representatives of both sides, the Governor ruled that the hotels must pay the tax, but that the OrBorJor must revise…
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Fire in Phuket Town
PHUKET TOWN: A fire on Saturday night caused damage estimated at 500,000 baht to a house on Sakdidet Rd. Four fire engines arrived within 20 minutes of being alerted by a neighbor. About 80% of the house was destroyed by the blaze. No one was hurt. The cause of the fire has not yet been identified, though an electrical short…
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Abbot accused of rape in latest monk scandal
BANGKOK (AFP): Thai police were today investigating allegations that a Buddhist abbot repeatedly raped an 11-year-old girl who lived with her mother inside his temple compound. The case is the third this week in which a senior member of the nation’s clergy has been accused of a serious criminal offence. On Thursday, an abbot and his girlfriend were charged with…
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New driving test area to be built
PHUKET TOWN: The Phuket Provincial Transportation Office (PTO) is to set up a new area for conducting driving tests. The project, which has received the go-ahead from the Department of Land Transport, is expected to be completed within the coming 12 months. Driving tests currently take place on an area next to the PTO office which, the PTO says, is…
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Two more parties name parliamentary candidates
PHUKET: Two more political parties have named candidates to run in the national elections which, Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai announced today, will take place on January 6. The New Aspiration Party, which is led by Gen Chavalit Yongchaiyudh and Pol Capt Chalerm Yoobamrung, has named Prasert Tantibutsapan to run for District 1. The Chart Thai Party, led by former Prime…
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Injured activist well enough to make statement
THALANG: Environmental activist Siripoj Cheechang, severely injured in what appeared to be an assassination attempt on October 4, was yesterday well enough to make a full statement to officers investigating the incident. But investigators are having trouble getting witnesses to come forward, and have had to resort to issuing subpoenas to force them to make statements. K. Siripoj, who is…
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Phuket bus service a step closer to reality
PHUKET: Phuket Town is one step closer to having the bus service that has been promised for so long. The Provincial Administration Organization – which earlier announced its intention to take over the bus project from a private company, after the plan stumbled in the wake of soaring fuel prices – has received the official go-ahead from the Phuket Provincial…
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Abbot charged with murdering woman
PETCHABUN (AFP): The abbot of a wat in this Isan province has been charged with murdering a woman who was found strangled and dumped in a septic tank, local police said today. Adhikarn Arn Wattanadhamo, the abbot of Wat Nonsawangarom, in Amphur Lomsak, Petchabun, has been charged with robbery and premeditated murder and will be prosecuted, the police said. Last…
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Golf match raises 400,000 baht for charity
PHUKET: The golf tournament organized by the British Business Association of Phuket (BBAP) on October 14 raised a grand total of 400,665 baht for charity, the BBAP has announced. Despite occasional heavy showers, the contest, at the Blue Canyon Country Club, drew 121 players. Of the total raised, 300,000 baht will go to the Phuket Old People’s Home for construction…
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Motorbike death rate drops sharply
PHUKET: Eight people died in traffic accidents between August 20 and September 20, according to statistics from the Wachira, Thalang and Patong government hospitals. All the victims were on motorcycles, reported Ampaipan Pawawattananusorn of the Phuket Provincial Health Office. The death-rate on motorcycles in August/September was considerably lower than the average of 14.7 a month for the first nine months…
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Most prisoners serving time for drugs
PHUKET: Violation of narcotics laws is the number one conviction for prisoners serving time in the Phuket Provincial Prison. “Drugs are by far the biggest reason most Thais and foreigners are in here,” Pairoj Pankaew, chief of the prison, told the Gazette today. “Sixty percent of the total number of inmates were convicted on drug charges. Most of them were…
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Money-laundering regulations start tomorrow
PHUKET: From tomorrow, anyone wanting to withdraw more than 2 million baht in cash from a bank account – or deposit more than that amount in cash – will have to fill in certain forms in order to comply with the Money Laundering Control Act of 1999. “This applies to cash transactions of more than 2 million baht. The purpose…
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Monk caught cavorting in guise of Army officer
BANGKOK (AFP): A Buddhist abbot caught masquerading as a well-heeled military officer was being investigated by police today after his secret life of luxury cars, bars and girls was exposed. Abbot Thammathorn Wanchai was defrocked and arrested when his illicit activities were broadcast nationwide by a television crew who had followed him for days. Their report showed him leaving his…
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Chart Pattana picks Phuket candidates
PHUKET TOWN: The Chart Pattana Party has finally chosen its candidates for Phuket’s two parliamentary seats in the coming general election. Samkhan Saengfai, managing director of PB Holdings, is to stand for Voting District 1, which covers Phuket Town apart from Tambon Rassada and Tambon Koh Kaew. K. Samkhan, Gazette readers may recall, was the man who tried to launch…
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Hostage-taker hacked to death
CHANTABURI (AFP): A man who took a child hostage at knifepoint was hacked to death yesterday with his own weapon by the boy’s enraged relatives, police said today. The unidentified man, believed to be in his 20s, was dressed only in underwear when he burst into the boy’s home, grabbed him and demanded to be driven out of the village…
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Police announce softer traffic policy
PHUKET TOWN: Although they will continue stopping those who break traffic laws, Phuket’s police say they will be more systematic about it, and will issue fewer tickets for traffic offenses than before. The new policy follows riots in the streets of Nakhon Sri Thammarat recently when motorcycle owners went on the rampage in protest against what they saw as excessively…
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Rape victim goes home
PHUKET TOWN: The Scottish rape victim, 22-year-old tourist Dawn Farmer, left Phuket yesterday for home, but police say they will stay in touch with her, and her departure will not stop them from hunting her rapist. However, Pol Lt Col Paween Pongsirin, deputy superintendent of Phuket Town Police Station, admitted that his officers are finding it hard to identify the…
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Another week of rain, says weatherman
PHUKET: The current bad weather in Phuket is likely to continue for another week as a tropical depression passes over the island, Amorn Chantanavivate, director of the Southwestern Regional Meteorological Center, said today. The rain and wind are being caused by a moderate southwest monsoon over the Andaman Sea and the southwestern coast of Thailand, he explained.
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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