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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No lockdown in Phuket, governor calls for more disease control measures
There’s no lockdown in Phuket, the provincial governor says, but protective measures are in place to prevent the spread of the Covid-19. The province currently has 3 confirmed Covid-19 cases, classifying it as a “yellow zone,” a high surveillance area. Phuket Governor Narong Woonciew says Phuket’s borders are still open to outside visitors, but all of them must be screened…
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Like a rolling stone (2 decades and counting). My home, Phuket.
by Bill Barnett from c9hotelworks.com Driving down a seemingly endless winding road on the warm tropical island of Phuket, I glance up and see a sign indicating a left turn, shouting out in big bold letters ‘Welcome to Days of Future Past.’ Reading between the lines, let me state that we have landed headfirst like crash test dummies into the…
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New restrictions in place, get ready for additional screening at airports | VIDEO
Good morning and sawasdee krub from the Phuket Domestic Terminal. Additional restrictions announced today in relation to the 28 provincial red zones are now in affect. You can read the latest about these restrictions here… https://thethaiger.com/coronavirus/update-new-restrictions-come-into-force-in-thailand-from-today Keep up to date with all the latest Covid restrictions and changes to our lives here in Thailand at thethaiger.com
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New Year holiday draws homegrown tourists to Phuket, Koh Samui
With the vast majority of foreign holidaymakers still steering clear of Thailand, or simply unable to get a visa at the moment, the country has become almost completely reliant on homegrown tourists. The New Year holiday has brought some slight relief to islands like Phuket and Koh Samui, as visitors from other parts of the country arrived to welcome in…
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Thailand remembers the 16th anniversary of the Indian Ocean Tsunami
It was Boxing Day, now 16 years distant, when the Andaman Coast of Thailand, and coastlines around the Indian Ocean, suffered one of nature’s most disastrous events of our generation. The tsunami reached Phuket and provinces nearby around 10am on Boxing Day, December 26, 2004, and caused uncountable losses. Official Thai government statistics estimate 4,812 souls were lost to the…
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Phuket’s Covid High Season Crisis | VIDEO
https://youtu.be/hK_j52xMwnU We visited Phuket 3 months ago and found the west coast tourist towns empty and devoid of people. Businesses had closed, vendors headed back to their home towns, shops shuttered and streets very, very quiet. The island’s east coast was still busy with the locals and many expats getting on with their daily lives, getting used to the ‘new…
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Health officials confirm Phuket’s first case of local transmission in months
Phuket officials have confirmed a case of Covid-19 in the province and given a timeline of the new infection. The patient is a 40 year old Thai man from the Kathu district, who recently returned from a “big bike” event on Koh Lanta, in Krabi province. The man belongs to a “big bike” afficionados’ group and travelled to an event…
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Phuket panics after fake Covid news posted on social media
Whilst the touristy west coast of Phuket has been very, very quiet since April when the airport closed (especially the tourist towns like Surin, Kamala, Patong, Kata and Karon), now the east coast has gone quiet this morning. The east coast, where many of the locals and families live, has been buzzing along since Phuket’s lockdowns were lifted at the…
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Foreign flagged yacht docks and completes quarantine in Phuket
The following is a statement from Asia Pacific Superyachts. The new Special Tourist Visa scheme allows tourists and crew members on foreign yachts to dock in Thailand and depart after an onboard quarantine. “The first Asia Pacific Superyachts (APS) Phuket foreign-flagged superyacht client has now completed quarantining aboard in Phuket”, reports APS co-founder, Jojo Tanyuta Singmanee (Jojo), adding: “All aboard…
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Phuket sets goal for New Years: Zero road deaths during “7 dangerous days”
Zero road deaths during the “7 dangerous days.” That’s the goal Phuket officials set for the New Year’s holiday week from December 29 to January 4. They’ve launched a road safety campaign to prevent fatal traffic incidents, Phuket vice governor Vikrom Jakthee announced yesterday. “During the New Year holidays, many people like to travel to other provinces, bringing greater risk…
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Cheaper flights to Phuket a possibility to help revive the tourism industry
Some say cheaper flights to Phuket will entice people to visit the island and get the once booming tourist destination back on its feet. Along with talk of lowering the price of tickets, those at a stakeholder meeting at the Thai Airways International headquarters in Bangkok say more direct international flights to the island also need to be reinstated. The…
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Phuket taxis and tuk tuks under the microscope again after passenger ripped off
Local Phuket transport and provincial officials are AGAIN trying to tackle the island’s notorious taxi and tuk tuk ‘mafias’, after another passenger complained of being ripped off. The island has a long history of extortionate transport costs for local taxis and tuk tuks, giving Phuket a poor and infamous reputation for over-priced transport and rude drivers. Efforts to attract travellers…
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Monopoly comes to Phuket, but don’t Go To Jail!
You may not be able to physically visit the world famous holiday island right now, but you can buy and trade property along it’s best known streets – all whilst sitting at home and playing Phuket Monopoly with your family. You can also get “free parking”, usually at a premium in Phuket’s most popular towns. But make sure you don’t…
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Pet wildcat lost in Phuket, Russian family offers 50,000 baht reward
Be on the lookout for an African wildcat in Phuket. A Russian family’s pet serval cat “Julie” is missing and they’re offering a 50,000 baht reward to anyone with information that leads to the cat’s return. The cat is large with markings that resemble a cheetah. Julie was last seen in the Surin Beach area. The cat’s owner, Aliona Lissone,…
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The 2020 Supersports Laguna Phuket Marathon has been run and won, despite all the challenges
Signs of life, combined with a determined event organiser and keen participants. And so the Laguna Phuket Marathon was staged in Phuket this weekend, despite all the challenges. An 8,000 strong field turned out to Run Paradise in Phuket this weekend at the 15th Supersports Laguna Phuket Marathon. Held on December 5 and 6, the ‘new normal’ edition combined stringent…
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What has the pandemic taught hotels about luxury. Is ‘less’ more?
by Anthony Lark “Let’s say goodbye to all that stale pretence and manufactured pomp” Until the collective nightmare that was 2020, many of the so-called high-end hotels had a reputation for trying to convince guests to pay for often dingy guestrooms lacking any real views inside an otherwise ornate structure with a storied, celebrated past, where the first impression was…
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97 police officers investigated for fiddling Covid-19 payments
97 police officers, from 41 police stations, are currently being investigated for an alleged scam involving Covid-19 payments meant for officers who worked extra shifts during the crisis. The case was assigned by national police chief Suwat Jangyodsuk in November, when it came to light that some officers may have fraudulently claimed allowances meant for others. In one incident, an…
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Thai-Chinese Chamber of Commerce to propose Guangzhou-Phuket tourism route
A tourism route from Guangzhou, China to Phuket could help the island province recover from the recession brought on by the pandemic and lack of foreign travel, according to the Thai-Chinese Chamber of Commerce. The president of the organisation, Narongsak Puttapornmongkol, says they plan to submit a letter proposing the route under a travel bubble scheme to the Centre for…
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Re-opening Thailand to tourism will be vaccine dependent
Bill Barnett from c9hotelworks.com continues to follow the difficult journey of the Thai hospitality industry. Traditionally, now would be the start of the country’s highly profitable high season for the tourism industry. But not this year. Thai hotels find themselves in the middle of an existential crisis – either still closed, only partly open, or one of the few converted…
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Phuket workshop helps residents cope with high stress brought on by the economic crisis
Hundreds of residents in Phuket’s Wichit subdistrict attended a workshop focused on reducing stress from to the pandemic-induced economic crisis. A psychologist was even on site to help those who had extreme mental stress and a Buddhist monk taught meditation techniques to reduce physiological effects of stress. The event was planned in response to an online survey conducted by the…
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Police have yet to investigate illegal hiring of foreign teachers at international school in Phuket
Chalong police in Phuket say they have yet to start investigating the illegal hiring of foreign teachers at an international school in Rawai, south of the island. Palm House International School allegedly hired foreign teachers illegally in which 2 were arrested by Phuket Immigration police on November 4. Somkiet Sarasin, the leading investigator of the case, says the 2 Brits…
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How Thailand’s domestic tourism market fell in love with Khao Lak during a pandemic
While Thailand’s doors remain mostly shut to international tourists, Thailand’s domestic travel wanderlust has turned Khao Lak into an Instagram hero. In the first 2 months of this year, according to research by consulting group C9 Hotelworks’ new Khao Lak Hotel Market Update occupancies soared above 80%. With the Covid-19 lockdowns, occupancy plunged in April and May, but as domestic…
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Phuket sees 300 million baht boost over long holiday weekend
The Tourism Authority of Thailand says that Phuket has received a much-needed 300 million baht boost over the 4 day long weekend with around 54,000 tourists flocking to the island from last Thursday through to yesterday. Phuket Office Director Nanthasiri Ronnasiri, reports that the average expenditure per visitor was about 5,500 baht, which was higher than the average spend for…
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Covid tourism standstill gives Thailand’s southern sea gypsies a break
Phuket’s sea gypsy communities are getting a much needed break after the Covid tourism standstill have their traditions a break from the tourism onslaught. 42 year old Sanan Changham says now there is an abundance of fish and shellfish to eat. Tourist boats have been docked at the quay, making fishing easier for the Chao Lay, or “people of the…
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Thai VietJet passenger arrested for allegedly saying the “airline should be bombed”
We might think all sorts of things when flight delays inconvenience us. But most of us stew in the departure lounge. Mike decided to vent his anger. A Thai VietJet passenger was arrested after he allegedly muttered “I think this airline should be bombed” just as he was boarding a flight at the Phuket International Airport. 26 year old Mike…
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Tsunami warning buoys to be installed, replacing Thailand’s out-of-action buoys
Tsunami warning buoys will be re-installed after one buoy got loose and floated off and the other appeared to have been scavenged for parts. The buoys transmit real-time data, allowing officials to detect underwater earthquakes. 30 experts from Thailand’s Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation departed from the Phuket Deep Sea Port to install the buoys. First, they will replace…
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Qatar Airways set to return to Phuket
Qatar Airways is set to return to Phuket by offering limited flights after the coronavirus pandemic halted services to the resort island. in March this year The middle eastern airline says it is planning a weekly flight between Doha and Phuket from December 4 and is seeking permission from Thai authorities to increase the number of flights between the 2…
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Expat awaits trial for drug charges, mother in England worries and works to pay the bills
While 27 year old expat Louis Bentley awaits trial in Thailand for drug charges, his mother back in England is working 12 hour shifts to pay her son’s bills. For his mother, Michaela, the anticipation of waiting for the her son’s February court date, in a country so far from her with laws she’s unfamiliar with, has been “horrendous.” Louis…
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Phuket’s tourism high season hopes shattered in policy flip-flop
“The time has come that Thailand must gain confidence from international benchmarks.” Thailand’s leading resort island Phuket has come face-to-face with the reality that it’s tourism high-season will not see a marked reopening to overseas travellers. In the wake of the dismantling of the ‘Phuket Model’ and refocus by the government on using Bangkok as a single international gateway, there…
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5 injured after engine explodes on Phang Nga speedboat
5 people have been injured, 3 seriously, after a moored speedboat caught fire in Phang Nga province yesterday. The incident happened around 8.30am. The boat was tied up to the Thap Lamu boat pier, where most Similan Island-bound private tour boats depart from and return to. The injured were all crew from the boat. According to witnesses, the captain started…
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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