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.
-
Sponsored Working in Thailand: How expat health insurance protects your career and lifestyle
Starting a career in Thailand can be an exciting chapter, but it also brings unique challenges, especially when it comes to health and wellness. For expats, navigating Thailand’s healthcare system and meeting work permit requirements can be difficult. And while...
-
Man caught stealing phone services
PATONG: A 36-year-old German has been charged with theft after being caught tapping into a telephone line near Wat Suwankeereewong on the outskirts of Patong, along the Patong-Kathu road. Voravit Vorapiboonpong, chief of the Phuket Telecommunication Center of the Communications Authority of Thailand (CAT), told the Gazette that on Monday he was alerted by the CAT in Bangkok that someone…
-
No more elephants in Phuket: Governor
PHUKET: The Governor of Phuket, Chadej Insawang, has announced a ban on any more elephants being brought into the province for commercial purposes. Announcing the decision on Tuesday at a seminar, organized by the Department of Livestock Development and attended by 75 elephant keepers from Phuket, Phang Nga and Krabi, the Governor said, “Phuket has 170 elephants in 27 camps.…
-
Man found shot dead in tin mine
PHUKET TOWN: Kupai Foundation staff found a corpse floating in an abandoned tin mine on Chao Fa Nok Rd on Sunday. Police called to the scene described the corpse as male, wearing an unbuttoned black shirt and Chinese trousers. Kupai Foundation staff found one gunshot wound in the back of the head and another in the right chest, with an…
-
Quake shakes northern Phuket, Phang Nga
MAI KHAW: Northern Phuket and southwestern Phang Nga experienced three minor earth tremors last night. No serious damage was reported. The tremors, felt at 11:36 pm, 11:38 pm and 1:59 am, shook homes between Phuket International Airport and Khok Kloy in Phang Nga. Amorn Chantanavivate, director of the Southwestern Meteorological Center, told the Gazette that the three shocks were caused…
-
Tax chief urges foreigners to get it right
PHUKET TOWN: Annop Buakrean, chief of the Phuket Provincial Revenue Office, has appealed to business owners, particularly foreigners, to try to get their tax returns right. He told the Gazette this afternoon that his officers had checked a large number of dive shops recently and found that “in every single case” their tax returns for last year were incorrectly filed.…
-
Undercover police patrol Wachira Hospital
PHUKET TOWN: Wachira Hospital and Phuket Town police have set up a special undercover police unit which is now patrolling the hospital to try to spot increasing numbers of thieves preying on outpatients and visitors. The setting up of the unit coincides with another theft from an outpatient. Sainahp Nounpai, 44, of Patong had gone to the hospital for a…
-
Big Balls-up at Bangkok Airport
BANGKOK: Bangkok airport authorities said earlier today that they had launched an investigation into how excerpts from a pornographic video were shown on television monitors throughout the international terminal during coverage of a major football match. An airport spokesman said it was a mystery how a 20-second clip of a man and woman having sex was aired after Thailand [also]…
-
Tong murder suspects released on bail
PHUKET TOWN: Hugo Vandervelde, on trial for involvement in the murder of American Danis Wayne Tong in June 1997, was released on bail of 1 million baht on Friday. Vandervelde was arrested in November 1997 and had been in custody ever since. Chief Justice Ampan Sombatstapornkul told the Gazette, “His attorney failed on several occasions to persuade the Phuket Provincial…
-
Businesses urged to mark King’s birthday
PHUKET TOWN: Phuket Governor Chadej Insawang has appealed for all business owners to join in with celebrations to mark the 72nd birthday of HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej on December 5. Businesses are urged to decorate their premises with royal emblems, signs, flags, and lights. They are also urged, if possible, to organize projects or charity drives – for example, to…
-
Krung Thai Bank to open new branch
PHUKET TOWN: Krung Thai Bank will open a new branch in town on Monday, August 16, on Phang Nga Rd, close to the Royal Phuket City Hotel. The branch, in a building that was completed about 18 months ago, (but which has remained empty since), will replace the old Krung Thai office at the junction of Phang Nga Rd and…
-
Three women arrested for selling “yaba’
PHUKET TOWN: On Sunday, narcotics police arrested three women from Phetburi in two separate raids for trafficking in amphetamines (yaba). The first raid came after undercover investigations revealed that yaba was for sale in the Talad Yai, Phuket Town’s central market, on Ranong Rd. During surveillance, they arrested a 19-year-old woman for possession of two pills. After questioning her, they…
-
Unidentified bodies washed up on Patong Beach
PATONG: Kathu Police have appealed for help in identifying two men found dead on Patong Beach last weekend. The first was found early on Saturday morning in front of Kamonland, a cabana hotel. Police said the man was about 45 to 50 years old, wearing violet shorts and a green T-shirt inside a long-sleeved grey shirt. An autopsy showed the…
-
Work may be fruitless for Phuketians in Sweden
PHUKET: People tempted by offers of jobs picking fruit in Sweden have been warned by the Phuket Provincial Employment Office to check very carefully that the offer is genuine. The office pointed out that this year’s fruit harvest in Sweden is not particularly good, so demand for foreign workers is not high. But confidence tricksters working in Phuket have been…
-
Phuket tops Dengue fever league
PHUKET TOWN: The Phuket Health Office recorded 148 cases of Dengue fever between the beginning of the year and July 23, said its director, Dr Boonrieng Chuchaisangrat, in a report issued yesterday. There were no deaths. The figure means that with an infection rate of 63.9 per 100,000 inhabitants, Phuket remains at the top of the Dengue fever league table…
-
Tuk-tuk drivers in protest over access to port
AO MAKHAM: About 40 tuk tuk drivers from Phuket Town gathered in front of the gates of the deep-sea port this morning in protest at the apparent unwillingness of port authorities to allow them inside to pick up some of the 4,000 American sailors disembarking at the port on Monday. Asin Arammethappongsa, manager of the port, told the Gazette that…
-
American believed murdered in Bangkok
BANGKOK, Aug 4 (AFP) – An American found dead in a central Bangkok hotel room with a plastic bag covering his head was believed to have been murdered, police said this morning. Wayne Tischbern, 58, was found yesterday when hotel staff informed police that he had spent an unusually long time in his room. Tischbern was handcuffed, there was tape…
-
Deadline warning for those employing illegals
PHUKET TOWN: Employers hiring illegal labor from countries such as Burma or Cambodia have been reminded that they have until next Wednesday, August 4, to report the illegals to the Phuket Provincial Employment Service Office. After that date employers face a fine of up to 60,000 baht or three years in jail, or both, if they are found to be…
-
102 road deaths in first six months of 1999
PHUKET: Phuket Health Office has reported that 5,421 people were involved in road accidents in the first six months of 1999. Of these, 4,835 – 92% – were on motorcycles. In the same period, 102 people died in road accidents. Again, bikes accounted for nearly all the statistics – 94 of the dead were on motorcycles. In June 765 people…
-
Australian tourist drowns, two others saved
PATONG: The body of an Australian tourist who disappeared while swimming on Monday was found last night in front of the Phuket Cabana Hotel. The tourist, named by police as Henry Ng, 27, was staying with his girlfriend at the Novotel Phuket Resort. While swimming off Kalim beach, the two were hit by a large wave. A fishermen managed to…
-
OrBorJor imposes fuel and tobacco taxes
PHUKET: Banlur Tantivit, president of the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor), announced on Sunday that the organization has agreed to levy taxes on tobacco and fuel. As predicted in the Gazette (July 1, 1999, issue) the tobacco tax will be 4.54 satang per cigar or cigarette, while the fuel tax will be 4.54 satang per liter. Both taxes are already…
-
Kamala sees toughest competition in election
PHUKET TOWN: Members of the newly elected Tambon Administration Organizations (OrBorTor) in Phuket will vote today to decide who will be on the three-member executive committees of each of Phuket’s 13 OrBorTor. The OrBorTor elections, which took place on July 18, generally went smoothly, with an overall turnout around Phuket of 59% of the total 85,025 eligible voters. In seven…
-
“Good swimmer’ drowns at Kamala
PATONG: A British tourist drowned on Saturday at Laem Sing beach, Kamala. Police named him as Stephen Guy Douglas Desborough, aged 41. Police said that he was swimming alone while his Thai girlfriend stayed on the beach reading the newspaper. She told them that he was a good swimmer, and often swam at Kamala beach, especially when there were big…
-
Police drive to boost awareness of crime
PHUKET TOWN: Police have launched a drive to raise public awareness of ways to guard against criminals, particularly burglars and snatch-and-run thieves. The drive takes the form of a card which can be hung on the doorknobs of people’s homes and which gives the following advice to cut down the risk of burglary: Before you leave the house, make sure…
-
CAT opens international video conference center
PHUKET TOWN: The Communication Authority of Thailand (CAT) has opened an international video conference center in Phuket, only the second in Thailand. Voravit Vorapiboonpong, chief of the Phuket Telecommunications Center explained that video conferencing was a high-tech way for people from different countries to have a meeting without having to travel, saving both time and cost. The center may be…
-
TAT opens PO Box for suggestions
BANGKOK: Seree Wangpaijit, governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has announced that the TAT now has a PO Box specifically for people in the tourism industry who wish to write to the TAT to express views or make suggestions. Those wishing to use this service should write to PO Box 33, Suthisarn Post Office, Bangkok 10321. Anonymous correspondence…
-
Motorbike taxi driver caught with yaba
TAMBON MAIKAO: A motorbike taxi driver, stopped yesterday at a police checkpoint because he looked suspicious, was found to be carrying 200 amphetamine (yaba) pills in the lining of his helmet. Police, who set the checkpoint at Tambon Maikao near Thalang said the 30-year-old man admitted he had bought the drugs in his home town in Phlypraya District in Krabi…
-
False pregnancy lands woman in custody
PHUKET TOWN: A woman who became heavily pregnant, very suddenly, while in the Super Cheap store on Thepkrassatri Rd was arrested yesterday for the theft of two cans of tuna, two cans of rambutans and two of coconut cream, plus a pair of jeans and a pack of plastic bags. Police were called to the store after a staff member…
-
New post office opens in Patong
PATONG BEACH: Today saw the opening of a new post office at 41/1 Rat-U-Thit Rd. Wisan Pongtiwattanakul, postal chief in Patong, said he hoped the new branch would make it more convenient for both Thais and foreigners, whether individuals or companies, to handle mail and money transactions. Services offered include domestic and international letter and parcel post, EMS courier, the…
-
Drug-dealing duo arrested in rubber plantation
THALANG: Police raided a home in a rubber plantation in Baan Bangtak on Tuesday after undercover officers bought 10 amphetamine (yaba) pills from the occupants. Inside they found a further 65 pills hidden in a rubber-tapping can. A 41-year-old man and a 44-year-old woman were arrested and charged with possession and dealing in illicit drugs. Police said the two admitted…
-
Star-crossed couple in double suicide
CHALONG: Police yesterday found the bodies of a young couple who apparently committed suicide when life became too difficult. Alerted by neighbors who called them to investigate a bad smell coming from the couple’s rented room behind Wat Sawangarom, police found the corpses of Kowit Singkasem, 22, and his four-months-pregnant wife Petcharat Sangmanee, 21. Both were hanging from a beam…
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.
Don't forget to check out some other things to do in Thailand - get help starting a business or finding a job in Thailand, buy Thailand property, rent a yacht or book a medical procedure worldwide.