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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Truck smashes into 12 vehicles
PATONG: A 10-wheel truck carrying a full load of rocks and soil went out of control coming down the hill into Patong from Kathu yesterday, smashing into 12 vehicles, including a hotel staff bus, and then ramming a roadside garage. Amazingly, no one was seriously injured, though 15 people in the hotel bus had to be treated for cuts and…
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Hitmen caught after getting cold feet
PHUKET TOWN: Three men from Trang were arrested on Wednesday for allegedly threatening the life of a 77-year-old woman who is a major land-owner in the Sam Kong area of Phuket Town. Somporn Paotong, 28, Wannarat Kamsoot, 26, and Soontorn Siripan, 24, were arrested at Nimit Circle on Ong Sim Pai Rd in Phuket Town as Somporn made a call…
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Kao Mai sued for election offenses
PHUKET TOWN: Ten of the 15 members of the Pattana Tongtin Party, which lost its domination of the Provincial Administrative Organization (OrBorJor) in elections on February 5, have filed charges against all 15 members of the winning Kao Mai Party. Somchai Meebangyang, the lawyer for Pattana Tongtin, said that the Kao Mai members had violated election laws in four ways:…
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Three masked robbers arrested
PHUKET TOWN: Three of the four masked robbers who held the owner of a grocery store and his family at gunpoint nine days ago were arrested yesterday afternoon. The robbers, dressed in rubber “ghost” masks, robbed the family in their store, near Suanluang Park, of 67,000 baht in cash and gold jewelry. The arrests were made in a police raid…
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Search for Miss Jumbo begins
BANGKOK (AFP) – The search is on for appropriate candidates for Miss Jumbo 2000, Thailand’s best-known beauty pageant for large women, and a major source of funding for elephant conservation. Women must weigh more than 80 kilograms to be eligible for the Jumbo Queen pageant, which will be held on May 1. “The competition aims to find the most beautiful…
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Speedboat flips, kills owner
KARON: Montri Chuernark, a 27-year-old boat-trip operator, was killed after his boat flipped over and he was hit by the propeller. He was the second person to be killed by a boat propeller in the Phuket area in just five days. Pol Capt Chana Sootthimat of Chalong Police Station told the Gazette that Montri had bought the second-hand speedboat two…
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TOT offers cut in phone installation fee
PHUKET: Residents of Thailand – Phuket included – have a chance this month to get a new phone line for 2,000 baht less than usual. To celebrate its 46th anniversary, the Telephone Organization of Thailand (TOT) will give a discount until the end of March on the installation fee for a fixed-line telephone. The installation fee has been reduced from…
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Fire destroys shops in Kata
KATA: Three small stores across from Kata Beach Resort were destroyed by fire yesterday morning. Pol Capt Chana Sootthimat of the Chalong Police Station told the Gazette that the fire started at about 9 am in a clothing store made of bamboo and galvanized iron. The fire quickly spread to an adjoining optical store and then further down to a…
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Tourist killed by boat propeller
KURABURI: A 40-year-old German tourist was killed by a boat propeller while snorkeling off Koh Tachai, Phang Nga Province, on Thursday. Pol Lt Col Narongyot Aunhabandit, deputy superintendent of Kuraburi District Police Station, told the Gazette that the tourist, whom he named as Beatrix Hannelore Miczuga, was on holiday in Phuket when she and friends decided to take a day…
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Couple saved from insecticide suicide
CHALONG: A 65-year-old German resident and his 45-year-old Thai wife were rushed to Wachira Phuket Hospital on Friday evening after apparently attempting to kill themselves by spraying insecticide into their mouths. Pol Lt Pachai Muttayan of Chalong Police Station said that officers were called to an apartment block in Rawai. The caller reported that two people in the apartment seemed…
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Paiboon wins Senate seat
PHUKET: Paiboon Upatising won election on Saturday as Phuket’s representative in Thailand’s Senate. K. Paiboon received 51,059 votes, just 3,290 votes ahead of Chaiwat Narukatpichai, managing director of the Phuket Arcadia Hotel and Resort. Trailing in third place was Dr Sirinit Ratanadilok Na Phuket, with only 8,435 votes. Of Phuket’s 168,356 eligible voters, 132,801 (or 78.86%) voted in the election,…
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FantaSea to build theme park in Langkawi
PHUKET: Pin Kewpaisal, president and CEO of Phuket Fantasea, has revealed that Dr Mahathir Mohamed, Prime Minister of Malaysia, has asked him to build a new theme park in Langkawi, and he has agreed. In an interview with Tansettakit newspaper, K. Pin said that he had already had two conferences with Dr Mahathir to discuss the Prime Minister’s plan. K.…
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Con men pick the wrong target
PHUKET TOWN: Two alleged con artists from Africa were arrested late Tuesday night for trying to pull one of the world’s best-known con-tricks – the black-paper-into-cash scam. Unfortunately, their target was a cop who, instead of taking them up on their offer, took them downtown. Pol Lt Akanich Darnpitaksart, deputy inspector at Phuket Town Police Station, said 30-year-old Tchouffang Moukeumen,…
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Gazettes maul US Navy 42-28
PHUKET TOWN: The Phuket Gazettes rugby team once more overwhelmed the team from the American flotilla led by the USS Blue Ridge yesterday, at Surakhul Stadium, finishing with a scoreline of 42-28. They could not claim all the glory, however; a shortage of players meant the Gazettes had to borrow several men from the other side to make up their…
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Masked men rob grocery store
PHUKET: Three robbers, all wearing ghost masks, robbed a grocery store off Chao Fa Nai Rd near Suanluang Park last night, taking 67,000 baht in cash and gold jewelry belonging to the owner and his family. Pol Maj Winai Kongkaew of the Phuket Town Police Station said that Witoon Pinta, 35, the owner of the grocery store in a camp…
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City bus service “to start next month’
PHUKET TOWN: Phuket Town’s first real bus service – originally scheduled to start in May last year and then postponed to January this year – is expected finally to be up and running some time in April. Introduction of the service has been delayed because PB Holdings, the bus operator, was not able to find 26 buses of the right…
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Schmid proves he’s top mountain biker
PHUKET: Switzerland’s Marco Schmid, 28, stormed to victory in Sunday’s 30-km Muang Chaofa Mountain Bike Race, repeating his victory a week ago in Surat Thani over Thailand’s Satit Ruanpae. Third was Direc Pamornchat. Satit finished in one hour, 18 minutes and 19 seconds, seven minutes and 10 seconds behind Schmid’s 1:11:09. Direc clocked 1:20:22. The super-fit Schmid admitted he could…
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THAI domestic fares to rise 13pc
PHUKET: Thai Airways International (THAI) is to raise fares for all domestic flights by about 13% on April 20. The one-way airfare for the Phuket-Bangkok service will be raised by 13.5% from 2,000 baht to 2,270 Baht for economy class, and by 10.8% from 2,770 baht to 3,070 baht for business class. The hike was originally approved by THAI’s Board…
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PhoneNET cards offer up to 30pc discount
PHUKET: Between now and June 30, holders of PhoneNET cards in Phuket can take advantage of a new discount of up to 30% on calls to 27 countries around the world. Worawit Worapibulpong, chief of the office of telecommunication services at the Communication Authority of Thailand (CAT) in Phuket Town, explained that the 500-baht cards may be used with every…
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12 die in bus crash
KANCHANABURI (AFP) – Twelve Thais were killed and eight seriously hurt when a tour bus traveling to a Buddhist temple near the border with Burma plunged into a deep ravine, police said today. The bus, carrying 45 mainly elderly people from Bangkok, left the road and plunged 50 meters before coming to a stop in Kanchanaburi province’s Sangkla district early…
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Ten arrested for illegal immigration scam
PHUKET AIRPORT: Two Malaysian women, a Singaporean woman and a Thai man were arrested yesterday at Phuket International Airport for involvement in an attempt to sneak six Chinese illegal immigrants out of Thailand and into Singapore. The six Chinese were also caught. Pol Lt Col Annop Suwanchatri, an immigration inspector at Phuket International Airport, said there were actually 12 people…
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Burmese boys escape detention center
PHUKET TOWN: Three Burmese boys escaped from the Juvenile Observation and Protection Center near Saphan Hin early yesterday morning. Two were recaptured within hours but the third is still at large. The escape, according to Pongsura Krainara, the center’s chief, took place at around 6 am when the three boys were detailed to help a guard at the center carry…
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11 die in helicopter crash
KANCHANABURI (AFP) – A Thai army helicopter crashed in western Kanchanaburi province today, killing at least 11 people, including seven senior officers, an army spokesman said. Maj Gen Sanchai Rachtawan, commander of Ninth Army division, was among the top army officers who died, along with two pilots and two technicians. Army Lt Gen Lertrat Ratanavanich said the aircraft went down…
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Chinese cadres head for Phuket
PHUKET: After the brief holiday enjoyed by China’s President, Jiang Zemin, in Phuket last year, it seems that the island is becoming a vacation choice for senior communist cadres from the People’s Republic. Tomorrow sees the arrival of 17 communist officials, led by the president of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Li Tieying, who is also a member of…
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Microsoft apologizes for Bangkok sex slur
BANGKOK (AFP): Microsoft has apologized to Thailand for describing Bangkok as a commercial sex center in the Deluxe 2000 version of its Encarta Encylopedia CD. “I regret any misrepresentation that the Encarta segment may have caused,” said Robert Bach, vice-president of Microsoft’s Home and Retail Division, in a letter to local media. “As soon as we were made aware of…
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Dead man in woods “killed himself’
KARON: The man who was found dead in the woods to the east of Karon two days ago has been identified as Prasert Chuwong, 42, a former cook at Chao-Kuen Restaurant in Kata. According to Pol Col Sati Malakanond, the superintendent of Chalong Police Station, Prasert was left jobless after the restaurant went out of business some time ago. Based…
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Soldiers kill student after row over girl
PHUKET TOWN: Two Thai soldiers and a friend were arrested last night and charged with the murder of a Rajabhat Phuket Institute student earlier in the evening after an argument over a girl. The student, 23-year-old Sakda “Tuk” Thongsongsri from Trang, was riding his motorcycle past the Muang Mai auto dealership showrooms on Thepkrasattri Rd at 8:30 pm with his…
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Banana forager finds skull
KARON: A local man looking for wild bananas in woods to the east of Karon yesterday afternoon found something rather less appetizing: a human skull. Pol Maj Thanate Poungmanee of Chalong Police Station told the Gazette that the man immediately reported what he had found to officials of Tambon Karon, who in turn reported the discovery to Chalong Police Station.…
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Japanese tourist stabbed four times
PHUKET TOWN: A Japanese tourist who wanted to call his family – to tell them he had arrived safely in Phuket – was robbed and stabbed four times just after midnight yesterday, on his way to make the call. Pol Maj Adul Nirapai of Phuket Town Police Station said that Terai Osamu, 27, came to Phuket with friends and was…
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Two men seriously ill in radiation alert
BANGKOK (AFP) – Two Thai men are seriously ill in hospital with radiation sickness after being exposed to a highly radioactive substance in a Bangkok shop, health officials said this afternoon. “These two people are suffering seriously from burns to the hands. They are losing their hair and have very low white blood cell counts,” a public health ministry spokesman…
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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