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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Chuan sacks driver after seizure of pirated CDs
BANGKOK (AFP): Thai Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai has sacked his driver after police seized pirated compact discs which were about to be delivered to his official residence, police said this afternoon. Police guarding Chuan’s home said they made the bust as Malaysian national Liew Chee Kong, 41, arrived at the prime minister’s residence to allegedly hand over 80 illegal CDs…
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Investigator gives evidence in Tong trial
PHUKET TOWN: The prosecutor in the trial of five men accused of participation in the June 24, 1997 murder of American Danis Wayne Tong today called Pol Capt Thanet Poungmanee, investigation inspector of Chalong Police Station, to the witness stand. The trial was adjourned until November 5. On trail are Manit Panme, Pratin Praktong, Prajuab Sukkong, Pairat Raksawong, and Hugo…
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British tourist shot dead in Pattaya
PATTAYA (AFP): A British tourist was shot dead and another seriously wounded during an attack in a Pattaya bar early yesterday, British embassy officials said today this morning. An embassy spokesman named the dead man as Terence Morley, 31, from Romford in Essex. Dean Brendan Sherrin, also from Romford, was seriously wounded. “We regret to confirm that Mr Morley died.…
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Tourist Police move to new offices
PHUKET TOWN: Phuket’s Tourist Police have moved their headquarters to new offices in the Srisuchart Grandview project on the Bypass Road, about one kilometer south of the Gems Gallery. The new address is 100/31-32 Bypass Rd, Tambon Rassada, Muang, Phuket. The office also has new telephone numbers: 355015 and 254693.
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Lions Pearl raises B600k for Child Watch
KARON BEACH: The Lions Club of Phuket Pearl raised 600,000 baht for the Child-Watch Phuket charity during its “Ray of Hope” Gala Dinner on October 9 at the Phuket Arcadia Hotel. The money came from the sale of dinner tickets, raffle tickets, and auctions. Vilaiwan Dienel, President of Lions Pearl, said, “It is a worldwide Lions tradition to honor the…
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Two tourists survive, four missing in boat mishap
BANGKOK, (AFP): Two Singaporeans narrowly escaped with their lives today and four other tourists are missing after a sightseeing boat overturned on Bangkok’s Chao Phraya River, police and rescue officials said. Police said they were still searching for the missing passengers, whose nationalities were not immediately known, as well as the driver of the traditional Thai long-tail boat. Police said…
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Man arrested for stealing, cooking dog
PHUKET TOWN: A worker from Isaan was arrested on Saturday after he was caught cooking a dog he had stolen from a neighbor. Pol Capt Suwarit Prommul of Phuket Town Police Station told the Gazette that police were called by the dog’s owner, a Khun Kanda. She told them that in the morning she had let her one-year-old dog out…
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67 treated for Vegetarian Festival injuries
PHUKET: A total of 67 people needed hospital treatment for injuries arising from the annual Vegetarian Festival, which ended yesterday. Hospitals reported that 39 of the victims were hurt by firecrackers, while 25 required treatment for injuries sustained in ceremonial face-piercing. One was burned with hot oil which he deliberately splashed on himself during a ceremony; one was hit by…
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Burmese fisherman murdered by gang
PHUKET TOWN: A Burmese fisherman was stabbed to death in the early hours of Thursday morning in a boat at the entrance to the fishing port on Soi Si Sena, near Phya Thai Hospital. He was the third person murdered in the fishing port in the past week. Pol Lt Passakorn Sonthikul of Phuket Town Police Station told the Gazette…
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Hotel guests robbed of 25,900 baht
PHUKET TOWN: An Italian tourist and his Thai girlfriend, who came to Phuket from Chiang Mai to see the Vegetarian Festival, were robbed of 25,900 baht and their credit cards on Thursday. Pol Maj Winai Kongkaew of Muang Station said that the couple, who were staying at the Suksabai Hotel in Phuket Town, admitted that when they went out to…
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German tourist drowns off Kata
KATA: A German tourist, named by Phuket Town police as Mr E. Utzke, aged 68, drowned off Kata Beach on Wednesday. Mr Utzke was staying at the Kata Beach Hotel with his wife. Police believe he may have suffered cramps while in the water. Alerted by people on the beach, members of the Kupai Foundation searched for him using a…
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Two badly injured in steel bar assaults
PHUKET TOWN: A Swedish resident of Phuket, 38-year-old Borje Karlsson, spent five days in the intensive care unit in Wachira Hospital after being hit in the face and legs with a steel bar. He was the second person to be assaulted in this way on Sunday. The first was Jongjit Tanchuvong, 40, a motorcycle taxi driver. Pol Lt Kanung Pitakkulthon…
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Thai banks slash interest rates for foreigners
PHUKET: Thai banks here and across the country have quietly followed the legions of tuk-tuk drivers and street vendors who practice “two-tier” pricing – one for Thais and another for foreigners. In this case, the pricing relates to interest paid on savings accounts and fixed deposits. While the rates paid to foreigners vary from bank to bank, almost all are…
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Standard and Poor’s doubtful about bank recoveries
BANGKOK (AFP) – Thai banks need a further injection of 863.5 billion baht (23.3 billion dollars) to restore solvency, global ratings agency Standard and Poor’s said in a report issued today. The report was critical of the high levels of bad loans as well as capital quality, and expressed doubts whether restructuring efforts are sustainable. “Thailand’s banking sector still requires…
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Tong trial postponed because defendant has flu
PHUKET TOWN: The trial of five men charged with participation in the murder of businessman Danis Wayne Tong was adjourned today until October 21. Lawyers for the accused told Judge Pachara Panichwara that one of their clients, Pratin Praktong, was suffering from influenza and therefore unable to attend the court. They argued that it would not be fair to continue…
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Local “Shopper Card’ takes off
PHUKET TOWN: A discount card for Phuketians disillusioned with ‘international’ pricing and the gaps so often found between ‘Thai’ prices and those charged to locally resident foreigners, has met with strong demand following its October 4 launch. More than 40 “Shopper-friendly businesses” have signed on to the Gazette Shopper program, and requests for cards are being received at an average…
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Depositors sue bank over embezzled deposits
PHUKET TOWN: Twelve people holding time deposit and savings accounts in Bangkok Bank’s Thepkrassatri Rd branch are suing to recover a total of more than five million baht allegedly embezzled by bank employees. One of the victims was Chamnong Tiansub. “On September 1, my daughter was called to the bank by [one of the accused] who told her to bring…
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Tobacco excise tax goes up tonight
BANGKOK (AFP): Tobacco taxes are to be raised from midnight tonight in an effort to offset government revenues lost by diesel tax cuts last week. The cabinet endorsed a Ministry of Finance proposal to increase the excise tax on tobacco products, Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai said. “Cigarettes are the main target for this tax adjustment,” he said, following a weekly…
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Residents in fear after second murder in two days
PHUKET TOWN: People living in the area of the Fishing Port have asked police to step up patrols after two murders in as many days. Both victims were stabbed to death. The first body was found on Friday, as reported in the Gazette’s online news the following day. On Saturday, police were again called to the port area where another…
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Five murderers executed by firing squad
BANGKOK (AFP): Thailand has executed five prisoners found guilty of murder, corrections officials said Saturday. The five men, ranging in age from 26 to 51, were shot dead by a firing squad late on Friday after their appeals for royal clemency were rejected, the officials said. The men were all convicted for murders committed between 1983 and 1996, they said,…
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Provincial Councillor killed in road crash
PHANG NGA: Arkom Ackasinthawangkool, 39, a businessman and member of the Phuket Provincial Council, was killed instantly on Thursday night when his Range Rover car was hit by a bus on a tight bend near Baan Bangwan, Kuraburi District. Khun Arkom, known in Phuket as “Kom Sapam”, was the owner of the Khon Thai 1 bar in Phuket Town and…
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40 businesses sign up for Millennium party
PATONG: Some 40 companies in Patong have signed up to support a TAT project to count down to the Millennium with a beach party that will include the launching of thousands of miniature hot-air balloons and a massive fireworks display. Anuparp Thirarath, director of the TAT, told the Gazette this morning that he had “sent my proposal to about 150…
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Bangkok Bank ATMs to close tonight
PHUKET: All Bangkok Bank ATMs across Thailand will be closed from 6 pm this evening until 4 pm tomorrow (October 9), so that the bank can test the readiness of its cash point system for Y2K. The only exceptions will be in Bangkok, where the ATMs will close at 10 pm, reopening at 4 pm tomorrow. Mongkol Thongprasarn, assistant manager…
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Two arrested after stabbing of foreigner
PHUKET TOWN: A Thai man has been charged with assault with a deadly weapon, and carrying a concealed one, following a recent brawl in a Phuket Town night spot. During the brawl in the Timber ‘n’ Rock pub in Yaowarat Rd, Irishman Hugo Crawford, 47, was stabbed in the throat and stomach. Mr Crawford has since been discharged from hospital.…
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Festival flag “may be one for the Guinness Book’
PHUKET TOWN: The Phuket Provincial Administration Organization plans to contact the publishers of the Guinness Book of World Records to see whether a massive yellow flag, made specially for this year’s Vegetarian Festival, is a world record. The flag, which is 9,999 meters long and carries uplifting messages in Thai, may already be seen, running along the roadside from the…
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Woman found dead in Suan Luang Park
PHUKET TOWN: The body of a young Thai woman was found floating in a canal in Suan Luang Park on Chaofa Rd early Saturday morning. The body was discovered by a security guard in the park. He alerted police who, with the help of staff from the Kusonlatham Foundation, retrieved the corpse. Pol Maj Amnuay Kraiwutthianant, in charge of investigating…
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Gazette sports reporter comes up a champ
PHUKET TOWN: The Gazette’s own sports reporter, Elke Cheong, yesterday beat off all-comers to win the women’s prize in the 1st Phuket Mini-Marathon, run on the streets of Phuket Town. Elke covered the 10-kilometer course in a time of 44:07 minutes, beating Kanlaya Odoom and Jamruensuk Kao-ien to take the overall women’s title. Overall winner of the race was Pawin…
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Minister to wager his life that flying is safe
PHUKET: Thailand’s Minister of Transport and Communications, Suthep Theuksuban, will fly from Bangkok to Haad Yai next Friday. Nothing unusual in that, except that the THAI aircraft in which he will fly will have its computer clocks set to December 31, 1999. During the flight they will tick over to January 1, 2000, to test whether the airline’s jets are…
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Armed group storms Myanmar embassy in Bangkok
BANGKOK (AFP): A group of 12 men armed with grenades and AK-47 assault rifles stormed the embassy of Myanmar (Burma) in central Bangkok just before noon today. Some 20 embassy staff are believed to have been taken hostage or to be trapped in their accommodation in the compound. In a statement faxed from inside the embassy, the group said the…
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Too much of a good thing
LOPBURI (AFP): Mike the orangutan has been hospitalized with serious fatigue after spending too much time making love to his new mate, the director of Lopburi Zoo said today. “Mike is very weak. His legs and arms are very weak and he refused to eat any food yesterday,” the director, Lt Col Virat Phupeingchai, said. Veterinarian Chisanu Tiyacharoensri said part…
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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