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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Swiss man falls to his death in Phuket
PHUKET: A Swiss man fell to his death from the third-floor balcony of his home on a Patong hillside this morning. The man was living in a rented home on Phisit Gorani Rd, Soi 1 in Patong, not far from Suwankhiriwong Temple, at the time of his death. The man’s live-in Thai girlfriend, a woman of about 30 years old…
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Phuket Police nab postal fraud trio
PHUKET: Chalong Police yesterday held a press conference to announce the arrest two employees of a camera store in Chonburi for allegedly defrauding a camera store owner in Phuket out of more than 150,000 baht’s worth of photographic equipment. Ya Paenkaew, a local motorcycle taxi driver, is also in police custody for his alleged role in the scam. Anankorn Itthi-atsakorn,…
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Readers’ Poll: Would an ‘Asean Visa’ help Phuket?
PHUKET: For years, Asean members have been working to develop a single “Asean visa” that would allow free travel within the bloc. Such a visa would closely follow the highly-praised “Schengen visa”, which allows free travel throughout 15 European countries. Last month, former tourism minister Weerasak Kowsurat called for more support for the project, saying it would boost tourism within…
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Phuket Poll: 60% think current ‘low’ season a bad one
PHUKET: About 60% of respondents to a Phuket Gazette poll believe that tourism businesses on the island are doing poorly in the current low season. In total, well over half of respondents (58.7%) had a negative view: 33.6% said the economy was doing “not very well”, while 25.6% said it was doing “very badly” The remainder had positive views: 26.6%…
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FC Phuket beat Phattalung FC, 2-0
PHUKET: FC Phuket rebounded from being bounced out of the Toyota League Cup competition last weekend with a solid 2-0 win at Phatthalung on Sunday. Phattalung FC came into the pairing in tenth place in the 13-team Division 2 South of the AIS Regional League, while FC Phuket had already clinched the division title. Both sides came out aggressively, but…
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Phuket ‘surfer girl’ takes another title
PHUKET: Annisa Flynn, an 11-year-old from Chalong, took top honors in the under-15 category of the Rip Curl GromSearch Surf Series at Kata Beach on Saturday. The event, the second leg of the 2010 Phuket series, was held under very rainy and windy conditions. Despite this, competitors as young as four years of age took part. The GromSearch series is…
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Phuket oil scare ends; Phuket probes asthma
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily digest of news about Thailand from around the world, compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community. Phuket oil spill alert ends PHUKET: A Phuket provincial marine official says no more oil is leaking from the sunken tanker. Bhuripat Theerakulpisut told The Nation yesterday that the stricken vessel, the Choke Tavorn 6, was carrying…
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Phuket set for Indians; Storms ravage Thailand
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily digest of news about Thailand from around the world, compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community. Phuket set for Indian Travel Congress Phuket: The Travel Agents’ Association of India (TAAI) is expecting 800 to 1,000 delegates, including spouses, to attend their 59th annual convention – the Indian Travel Congress – in Phuket. The…
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Update: Phuket oil spill
PHUKET: As feared 40,000 liters of diesel fuel is leaking from the wreck of Choke Thavorn 6, a small tanker that sunk about 10 kilometers south of Phuket yesterday morning. The state-run Thai News Agency reported at 1am today that Navy helicopters confirmed a large and growing contamination plume above the site of the wreck, which now sits about 30…
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Phuket pow wow over illegal alien workers
PHUKET: The number of illegal alien workers in Phuket is around 200,000, it was announced at a Senate committee meeting in Phuket on Friday. About 150 government officers, senators and private-sector representatives met at the Kata Beach Resort on Friday morning to brainstorm better ways to legalize the estimated 1.5 million illegal workers from neighboring countries, especially Burma. Suvit Meksereekul,…
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Fuel boat sinks off Phuket: 40,000-liter spill feared
PHUKET: A boat carrying 40,000 liters of oil sank in heavy seas off Phuket yesterday, prompting fears of environmental damage if the vessel could not be salvaged in time. Phuket Marine Police deputy commander Prasert Srikhunrat received a distress call from the crew of Choke Thavorn 6 at about 11am. The vessel was delivering the oil from a tank farm…
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Phuket artificial reef a hit with divers
PHUKET: Officials are trumpeting the success of an artificial coral reef off Racha Yai Island, some 25 kilometers south of Phuket, that has become a hit with foreign and Thai divers. As many as 100 divers are visiting the “Star Ruby Point” reef every day, according to Paitoon Panchaipum, director of the Department of Marine Coastal Resources in Phuket (DMCR).…
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Phuket masseuses robbed at gunpoint
PHUKET: Police are on the lookout for two men wanted for robbing two masseuses at gunpoint in Phuket Town on Wednesday. Phuket City Police duty officer Pol Lt Col Na-non Phithakkultorn told the Gazette he received the report of the robbery at 9:30am on Wednesday and immediately went to investigate. At the scene, in front of the Chao Phraya massage…
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Bt126m funding for Phuket development projects
PHUKET: The central government has approved some 126 million baht for Phuket development projects to be carried out during Fiscal Year 2011, which starts on October 1, 2010. Five Andaman coast provinces were allocated more than 641 million baht in total for local development projects. Trang had the most funding, 140 million baht, followed by Krabi (Bt135m), Phuket (Bt126m), Phang…
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Tsunami drill in Phuket this month
PHUKET: The National Disaster Warning Center (NDWC) has announced that a full-scale tsunami evacuation drill will be conducted simultaneously in the six Andaman coast provinces on September 13. All 127 tsunami warning towers in the region will be sounded from 9:30am to 10:30am. The 19 towers in Phuket are located at: Mai Khao, Nai Yang, Bang Tao, Kamala, Patong, Kata,…
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No sex, but lots of vegetables in Phuket next month
PHUKET: Skewered and entranced maa song (‘spirit mediums’, or ‘devotees’) will again embody the gods for next month’s Vegetarian Festival in Phuket. For most local celebrants the festival means nine days of abstention from sex and alcohol, and rigid adherence to a vegetarian diet. Mind-blowing processions, ear-splitting firecrackers, traffic jams, peaceful chants and vegetarian food return to Phuket to reveal…
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Five-car smash in Koh Kaew, Phuket
PHUKET: An Alfa Romeo was among five vehicles damaged in a road accident near the entrance to the Boat Lagoon marina in Phuket this afternoon. The accident, on Thepkrasattri Road southbound in Koh Kaew, appears to have been caused when one vehicle braked suddenly. The driver of a pickup that was the first of the five vehicles damaged told the…
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More mangrove encroachment in Phuket
PHUKET: Swift action by a Phuket village headman saved several rai of mangrove forest from destruction by encroachers, but not before three rai had already been cut down. Sinchai Limsakul, headman of Palai Village in Chalong, alerted police to the destruction at 4pm yesterday. Some of the uprooted trees were planted by Chalong Tambon Administration, government officers and villagers in…
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Phuket tourism firms win TAT awards
PHUKET: Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has announced the names of nine local tourism businesses and associations awarded prizes in the 8th Annual Thailand Tourism Awards. The biennial awards are designed to instill awareness and promote responsible management in tourism among tourism entrepreneurs, ultimately leading to sustainable tourism. Bangornrat Shinaprayoon, director of the TAT South Region 4 Office in Phuket…
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Laundry larceny: the gig’s up for Phuket garment grabber
PHUKET: Kathu Police raided a house in Patong early Wednesday morning and arrested a Thai woman who stole clothes from laundry shops and sold them as secondhand garments. Officers led by Lt Col Sakon Bunditsak arrested Ruengrin Sukbunjong, 30, from Phang Nga, at her house in Patong. Seized as evidence during the raid were about 300 items of clothing, ranging…
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Australian tourist dies in Phuket swimming pool
PHUKET: An Australian tourist died while swimming in a pool at a well-known Phuket hotel late yesterday afternoon. Kathu Police duty officer Jongserm Preecha identified the deceased as 58-year-old James Bourke. Staff and customers at the Banthai Beach Resort and Spa in Patong told police they saw Mr Bourke go for a swim after eating a meal at about 5pm.…
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Ron Fanelli still at Phuket Prison
PHUKET: Ronald Fanelli, confessed killer of bar hostess Wanphen Pienjai, today blamed local media coverage for being partly responsible for his decision not to surrender himself to authorities before his arrest. Mr Fanelli spoke to the Gazette briefly today from Phuket Prison, where he is being held for the stabbing murder of Ms Wanphen, a 33-year-old bar hostess at the…
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More sewage treatment for Phuket
PHUKET: Karon Municipality will levy charges on hotels, restaurants and other small businesses in the area for the wastewater they produce. The scheme, to start in October, will affect hotels and businesses in Karon, Kata and Kata Noi. Restaurants will be charged a flat rate of 5.25 baht per operating square meter, and hotels will be billed at 84 baht…
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Phuket’s BIS wins “Best in Thailand’ school award
PHUKET: The British International School Phuket (BIS) has triumphed as the “Best Provider of International Education for 2010” in the Prime Minister’s Export Awards. Collecting the prize in person from PM Abhisit Vejjajiva at Government House in Bangkok last week was BIS Headmaster Dr George Hickman. In a recent school newsletter, Dr Hickman explained that the award follows hot on…
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50 largest landholders control 14.3% of Phuket
PHUKET: Land ownership in Phuket is highly concentrated in the hands of a relatively small group of wealthy landowners, according to a prominent Thammasat University economics professor. Prof Duangmani Laowakul, a member of the watch-dog committee Policy Watch, said the top 50 largest landholders in Phuket control 14.3% of the island’s total area. A report published in Krungthep Turakij, the…
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More Dragons for Phuket; Siam Makro expanding
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily digest of news about Thailand from around the world, compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community. More Dragons for Phuket PHUKET: Dragon Air intends to increase services on its Hong Kong-Phuket route. Cathay Pacific Airways, parent company of Dragon Air, says traffic to Phuket is robust with an average load factor of 90…
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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