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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Shortage of tour guides causes problems
PHUKET: The island is suffering from a serious shortage of licensed tour guides, giving rise to increasing complaints from tourists, a meeting called by the Phuket Chamber of Commerce heard on Wednesday. While there are 363 licensed tour operators in Phuket, there are just 135 licensed guides, those at the gathering heard. The meeting – which brought together representatives of…
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15,000 sign Luang Por Cham petition
PHUKET: A petition signed by more than 15,000 people urging a Bangkok academic to retract remarks he made about Wat Chalong’s revered former abbot, Luang Por Cham, has been submitted to Phuket Governor Charnchai Soontharamut’s office. The petitioners hope to pressure Dr Poowadon Sonprasert, a sociology professor at Kasetsart University, to retract negative comments he recently made about Luang Por…
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Robbers stab German resident to death
CHANTABURI (AFP): A 52-year-old German man was stabbed to death in a bungled robbery in eastern Thailand yesterday. One of the three men suspected of killing him has been shot dead, police said. Dieter Meyer, from Frankfurt, was found dead early yesterday in the Kitchakud district of Chantaburi Province, Pol Lt Komon Cholcheep said. He had been stabbed five times.…
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Teens in “Romeo and Juliet’ double suicide
THALANG: Two Thai teenagers drowned in a reservoir in Thalang yesterday evening in what police believe may have been a double suicide echoing the classic tragedy of “Romeo and Juliet”. Pol Capt Suwarid Prommul of Thalang Police Station said that the two – food shop worker Maitree Kumvisete, 19, and Chanida Tiyapongpattana, 16, a student at Phuket Vocational College –…
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Angel Air suspends services
BANGKOK (AFP): Private airline Angel Air said today it is looking for partners after suspending all flights due to financial problems. The airline, which was given an operating permit by the government in 1998 as part of a broad plan to liberalize Thai aviation, said in a statement it was looking for help from another airline. “Angel Air has recently…
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General coy about new job as minister
PHUKET AIRPORT: Pol Gen Pracha Promnog was playing his cards close to his chest when he flew into Phuket today, just hours after resigning as Thailand’s Chief of Police amid announcements that he will be appointed Minister of Labor. Chart Pattana leader Korn Dabbarangsri, who is also a Deputy Prime Minister, announced on TV that Gen Pracha would be named…
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Pattana Kathu Party wins landslide victory
KATHU: The Pattana Kathu Party has won a landslide victory in the Kathu Municipal Council elections that took place on Saturday, winning 11 of the council’s 12 seats. Two thirds of the municipality’s 9,732 registered voters cast ballots. Each was able to vote for as many as 12 candidates. Prasert Kaokijpaisarn, the leader of Pattana Kathu, gathered the highest number…
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All saved as ferry burns and sinks
PHUKET: Courageous ferry skippers who came alongside a burning tour boat today in Phang Nga Bay saved all 166 passengers and three crew. There were no injuries. The ferry, the 30-meter “Phuket Cruiser 2”, left Rassada Quay on the east side of Phuket Town for Phi Phi Island at 8 am. About an hour later, fire broke out in the…
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World’s biggest croc celebrates birthday
BANGKOK (AFP): The world’s biggest crocodile celebrated his 28th birthday today with a cake and a whole chicken at a private zoo on the outskirts of Bangkok. “Yai”, whose name means “Big”, is six meters long and weighs 1,114 kilograms, zoo officials said. The massive reptile, a cross between the fresh-water and salt-water breeds of crocodile, entered the Guinness Book…
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Two American teens die in road smash
KARON: Two American teenagers on a motorcycle were killed in a traffic accident on the road to Patong yesterday evening. Pol Capt Chana Sutthimas of Chalong Police Station told the Gazette that at around 7.30 pm, John James Haney and William Richard Knox, both 18, were in a collision with a van belonging to Phuket Simon Cabaret. The two boys…
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Slow start for petition against professor
PHUKET TOWN: A petition aimed at pressuring a prominent academic into withdrawing remarks he made about about a revered former abbot of Wat Chalong and to apologise to the people of Phuket has taken off slowly, with only 1,000 or so signatories so far. As reported in the Gazette Online’s Daily News yesterday, Kasetsart University professor Dr Poowadon Songprasert has…
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Swiss expatriate drowns
KATA: A 71-year-old Swiss expatriate, Walter Ledermann, who lived near Chalong Circle, drowned after going swimming in front of Club Med at Kata on Monday evening. Pol Lt Teerawat Liumsuwan of Chalong Police Station said, “At 2 pm [on Monday], Mr Ledermann told his wife Pang, before she went out, that he was planning to go swimming. When she got…
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Governor checks out mini-sub
PHUKET TOWN: Phuket Governor Charnchai Soontharamut, accompanied by the Phuket Harbour Master, officers from the Royal Thai Navy and local police officers, went to Koh Sirae this afternoon to examine the mini-submarine located by Gazette reporters. The visit came after K. Charnchai saw pictures taken by the Gazette and reprinted in an English-language daily newspaper. After taking photographs and measuring…
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Phuket won’t be base for rebels – Surin
BANGKOK (AFP): Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan said yesterday evening that Thailand will make every effort to prevent its territory from being used as a base by Tamil Tiger rebels fighting the government of Sri Lanka. Speaking after a dinner at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand, K. Surin said that although one person was detained in connection with the submersible,…
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Open invitation to high-level “IT City” meeting
PHUKET TOWN: The organizers of a seminar to discuss the plans for turning Phuket into a “Cyberport and International City” have issued an invitation to all interested parties to attend the high-level meeting next Wednesday (June 14) at the Pearl Hotel in Phuket Town. Seventy seats will be allocated to members of the public, on a first-come, first-served basis. Speakers…
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Gap between rich and poor widens in Thailand
BANGKOK (AFP): The gap between rich and poor in Thailand has continued growing since the 1997 Asian economic crisis as more people slip below the poverty line, a cabinet statement said today. The National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB) said in its latest study sent to the cabinet that some 7.9 million Thais live below the poverty line on…
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Mystery mini-sub found on Koh Sirae
KOH SIRAE, PHUKET: Gazette staff today located and photographed the mini-submarine that has been at the center of a controversy over the presence of Tamil rebel operations in Phuket. But so far, the discovery of the mini-sub raises more questions than it answers. The part-finished sub is about five meters long and is large enough to hold two, perhaps three…
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Marine Police deny mini-sub report
PHUKET: Senior officers of the Phuket Marine Police today strenuously denied a news story in the Bangkok Post which asserted that authorities here had found a mini-submarine being built for Sri Lanka’s rebel Tamil Tigers. According to the Post, “Thai authorities” stumbled on the half-built 10-meter mini-sub in a shipyard in Koh Sirae, just outside of Phuket Town. Quoting “sources”,…
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Mud flies in Kathu election campaign
KATHU: With only eight days to go, the contest for 12 seats on the Kathu Municipal Council is becoming increasingly heated. On Wednesday, Somwong Torwong, candidate number 10 of the Kathu Ruamjai Party, was disqualified because it was found he is registered as living in Patong, not Kathu. As the application deadline was last month, Kathu Ruamjai, led by Suthep…
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Free window tint checks on offer
PHUKET TOWN: Phuket transportation officials say they have started providing free window tint tests for motorists. The tests are intended to help drivers comply with a law that has already gone into effect, but which will not be enforced until June 1 next year. The new law prohibits vehicles from having windows that block out more than 60% of light.…
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About-face on tinted windows
PHUKET: Phuket’s top traffic policeman, Pol Lt Col Teeraphol Thipjaroen, has responded with resignation to yesterday’s announcement in Bangkok that a new law barring heavily tinted windows in vehicles will not be enforced for at least a year. “So what can I do?” said Lt Col Teeraphol. “I don’t make law. I enforce it. So it will be another year…
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German held for stealing from Lotus
PHUKET TOWN: A German tourist was arrested Monday evening after allegedly stealing goods worth almost 30,000 baht from the Tesco-Lotus Supercenter. According to a police report seen by the Gazette, Uwe Gayer, 32, was observed queuing up at a payment counter with a full cart. Soon afterwards, Saranya Nathoongnui, a member of Lotus’ Prevention Before Loss Department, saw him turn…
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Bad numbers for gamblers
PHUKET: May 1 to May 25 was a bad time for Phuket’s gamblers, who once again topped the island’s arrests league. According to statistics released by the Phuket Provincial Police, a total of 167 people were arrested on charges related to gambling during the period. In second place were the 145 people held on narcotics charges. This figure included ya…
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“Ladies only” buses launched in Bangkok
BANGKOK (AFP): All-female “lady buses” will begin operating in Bangkok today, in a bid to eliminate sexual harassment of female passengers. The buses, which are marked with pink signs, will only take females and will “provide comfort and safety for women … freeing them from sexual harassment,” the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority (BMTA) said in a statement. If male passengers…
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Hospitals kept busy with traffic injuries
PHUKET: Eighteen people were killed in traffic accidents in Phuket between March 20 and April 20, a considerable improvement on last year. Last year the figure for the period – which includes Songkhran – was higher, with 25 deaths, of which 23 involved people on motorcycles. Ampaipan Pawawattananusorn of the Phuket Provincial Health Office reported that according to statistics from…
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Phang-nga Bay to receive a well deserved cleaning
PHUKET: To prepare for a promising high season, the Phuket Canoe Club, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), and Phang-Nga Bay National Park have announced plans for their 3rd annual “Cleaning Day” in Phang-Nga Bay, to be held on Sunday, July 9. According to figures supplied by 17 canoe companies in Phuket, 70,791 tourists from outside Asia, and 41,200 from…
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Illegal sea-walking to continue
PHUKET: Despite an almost two-year-old ban, illegal sea-walking companies were given another eight months to operate on Koh Hey, one of Phuket’s many outlying islands. At a recent meeting at Government House in Bangkok between Phuket Vice Governor Vongsak Sawaspanich, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), and Mrs Paveena Hongsakula, Minister of the Prime Minister’s Office (Tourism Division), it was…
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Big Discounts to Europe on Lauda Air
PHUKET: Lauda Air has today announced a whopping 20% discount on Business Class fares from Phuket and Bangkok to any of its destinations in Europe. The offer is available to Gazette Shopper Card holders only and includes a bonus of an extra 10-kilograms in luggage allowance (from 30 kg to 40 kg). Tickets, whether originating from Phuket or Bangkok, must…
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Big hike in water prices imminent
PHUKET TOWN: The Phuket Town Municipality announced yesterday that the price of piped water supplied from the council’s waterworks will increase massively from next Thursday (June 1). The price will rise by as much as 33% for households and by as much as 44% for businesses. Deputy mayor Jongrak Narukatpichai explained that the hike was necessary because of the spiraling…
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Bus company boss finally gives up
PHUKET TOWN: Samkhan Saengfai, who a year ago proposed to launch Phuket’s first local bus service, has finally admitted defeat. K. Samkhan, managing director of PB Holdings, told the Gazette that his company would relinquish the concession it was awarded for two bus routes in Phuket Town. He explained that he had decided to pull out because the company would…
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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