Phuket News
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Phuket closes Songkran Seven Days of Danger with one dead, 22 injured
PHUKET: The Songkran Seven Days of Danger national road-safety campaign drew to a close at midnight last night with Phuket amassing a tally of one death and 22 people injured during the week-long holiday. Saeree Panitkul, the chief administrative officer at the Phuket Provincial Office, reported the news at the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Phuket office (DDPM-Phuket) this…
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Babies thrown away throughout history
PHUKET: Child welfare and safety issues have been much in the news recently and our special report this week explores for our readers some of the options available locally to young mothers who are either unwilling or unable to support children they have given birth to. Few news stories generate greater emotional resonance than reports of abandoned babies. Yet it…
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Shady Business: Phuket beaches kept out of the sun
Special Report Just over a generation ago, there were few chairs or umbrellas on the sands of Phuket. Now, they cover up to 80 per cent of many popular beaches. Last June, the Senate Standing Committee on Tourism said their excessive numbers have a negative impact on tourists’ experiences. What’s happening, and who’s in charge? The Phuket Gazette’s Irfarn Jamdukor…
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Navy defamation case proceeds against PhuketWan
PHUKET: Alan Morison and Chutima Sidasathian of local blog PhuketWan were released on bail yesterday on charges of criminal defamation and other offenses in connection with a story they published on trafficking in Rohingya. Mr Morison, an Australian, and Thai national Ms Chutima published a story last July that contained excerpts from a Reuters Special Report alleging that some Thai…
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Phuket officials threaten protest over Club Med lease
PHUKET: Kata-Karon officials yesterday threatened public protests if the lease for the Club Med resort located on 39 rai of public land along the Kata beachfront is renewed. The 30-year lease, which began in 1985, will expire on September 24 next year. “For 30 years we have been waiting for the contract to expire,” said Kamnan Winai Chidchiew, who led…
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Korean Association Phuket calls for donations to aid victims of ferry disaster
PHUKET: The Korean Association in Phuket is collecting money to help those affected by the sinking of the South Korean ferry on Wednesday – both survivors and victims’ families. As many as 271 of the 475 passengers on board when the ship began sinking are still unaccounted for (story here). Many of those missing are schoolchildren. “We have called on…
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Phuket hit-and-run Russians now fugitives
PHUKET: Chalong Police are seeking arrest warrants for two Russians who have fled the country amid an investigation into a fatal hit-and-run of a 16-year-old boy in Phuket in the early hours of April 5. Thananbavorn “Lotus” Durongpan was struck and killed while riding his motorbike along Patak Road near Chalong Circle, just after 1am, explained Capt Thada Sodarak of…
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Wolfpack gore the Galahs to retain Cricket 7s title
PHUKET: Australia’s Wolfpack retained their title by winning the 11th Annual Phuket International Cricket Week 2014 Kata Group International Cricket 7s at Republic Phuket Football Ground last weekend. Captained by Australian Indoor Cricket Team champion Will Badger, the Wolfpack fought back to defeat the Galah Cricket Team, who had been admirable opponents during the Kata 7s. Wolfpack had defeated Phuket…
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Miss Universe Australia 2010 plays in Phuket
PHUKET: Phuket hosted Miss Universe Australia 2010 for the Songkran holiday while she was in town shooting an Australian TV program to showcase tourist destinations in Thailand. Jesinta Campbell, 22, was chosen by Australian travel show The Getaway to be the face of a six-episode series covering tourist hot spots in Phuket and Phang Nga, said Anoma Wongyai, Director of…
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Phuket Songkran heatwave claims three lives on same day
PHUKET: Doctors at Patong Hospital have confirmed that three foreigners died yesterday after collapsing from heatstroke. Russian tourist Igor Kiselev, 59, was rushed to hospital for medical treatment after he passed out at Karon Beach, Patong Hospital Director Sirichai Silpa-archa confirmed to the Phuket Gazette this morning. “He died en route to the hospital. Medical staff tried for one hour…
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Road death tally holds steady on fifth day of danger
PHUKET: Phuket’s road death toll remains at one after “five days of danger”, but four injuries were added to the casualty tally after yesterday. Between midnight on April 14 and midnight on April 15, four road accidents were reported, according to the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Phuket office (DDPM-Phuket). Three involved motorcyclists, two of whom had blood alcohol…
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Dust to Dust: Phuket’s struggle to clear the air
Special Report Each month thousands of people seek treatment at Phuket hospitals for breathing difficulties, eye and nose problems and even nausea – all brought on by dust and other forms of air pollution. The Phuket Gazette‘s Irfarn Jamdukor investigates. PHUKET: The Phuket health chief has revealed the disturbing news that in February alone more than 2,500 people in Phuket…
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3 injured as water truck flips in Phuket
PHUKET: A water truck flipped and crushed a motorbike, injuring three people when its brakes allegedly failed while descending a small hill in Kata. Police and rescue workers rushed to the scene on Patak Road at about 1:50pm. “The water truck was heading to Karon, and its brakes failed on the small slope there. When it flipped, it crushed a…
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Former police volunteer tests positive for drugs, case goes to Phuket public prosecutor
PHUKET: Drug test results came back positive for former tourist police volunteer Garry Halpin, who has spent the last four months in Phuket Provincial Prison. The drug test results were the last piece of evidence the police needed before sending the case to court (story here). It has now been handed over to the public prosecutor. “The prosecutor will formally…
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Phuket Songkran road toll stands at 1 dead, 17 injured
PHUKET: After four days of the Songkran Seven Days of Danger national road safety campaign, Phuket’s death and injury toll stands at one dead and 17 people injured in 17 accidents. Five accidents which resulted in five people being admitted to hospital for treatment of injuries occurred in the 24 hours ending at midnight last night, the Department of Disaster…
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Baby sea turtles wash back to shore after annual turtle release
PHUKET: Two baby sea turtles washed ashore two Phuket beaches on Sunday afternoon shortly after a turtle release took place in Mai Khao. “Villagers in Mai Khao and Karon called the Phuket Marine Biological Center [PMBC] after they found the stranded baby turtles on the beach,” an officer from the Marine Endangered Species Unit of the PMBC told the Phuket…
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Ghost rider becomes first Phuket fatality in Songkran Seven Days of Danger
PHUKET: A woman speeding on a motorbike in the wrong lane has become Phuket’s first recorded fatality during this year’s Songkran Seven Days of Danger national road-safety campaign. Nannika Boonchorn, 27, from Chaiyaphum, died after she collided at high speed with a motorbike with a sidecar at about 4pm yesterday. The accident happened on Baan Thungkha – Kuandindaeng Road, which…
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DNA results confirm body of missing Russian kidnap victim
PHUKET: Unofficial DNA results and dental records confirm that the decapitated body found in Cherng Talay on March 29 is that of missing Russian Alexey Slabinskiy, Phuket Provincial Police Deputy Commander Arun Kaewvatee announced on Saturday. “We’ve heard unofficially from the Forensic Office in Surat Thani that the remains are those of Mr Slabinskiy, and the teeth found in the…
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B320mn wastewater plant project at Bang Tao Beach stalls
PHUKET: As black water continues to spill over Bang Tao Beach in Cherng Talay, local officials report that the 320-million-baht wastewater-treatment project scheduled for completion next year has stalled. “Our big wastewater treatment project is only 30 per cent complete, but construction has now stopped,” Ma-ann Samran, president of the Cherng Talay Tambon Administration Organization (OrBorTor), said on Saturday. “The…
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Search begins for missing Phuket toddler
PHUKET: Police have launched a search for a missing three-year-old boy last seen near the family home in a construction camp in Rawai late Thursday afternoon. Kongpob Chuerket, nicknamed “Nong Gorya”, was wearing a blue singlet emblazoned with an Angry Birds motif and light blue shorts when he disappeared, said Lt Kraisorn Boonprasop of the Chalong Police told the Phuket…
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Sponsor can’t prevent Phuket kratom arrest
PHUKET: Amid the bustle of holiday travellers at Phuket Bus Terminal 2 yesterday, officers arrested a man after confirming that the box he retrieved from a bus contained kratom leaves. The arrest of Polawat Jay-yeng, 25, occurred after a tip-off to Suthee Sirianant, Chief Administration Officer of Phuket City District Office. “Mr Polawat picked up a Sponsor drink box from…
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Speed, seats and safety targeted in Songkran bus blitz
PHUKET: Extra buses, drug and alcohol tests for drivers and GPS to monitor speeds have been ordered to ensure that holiday travelers make it home safely for the Songkran holidays. Ten extra buses were on standby at Phuket’s Bus Terminal 2 yesterday to cope with the 50 per cent increase in travelers as officials rolled out new disciplinary regulations for…
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Phuket maintains zero road fatalities in Seven Days of Danger
PHUKET: As of 9am today, no deaths had been reported in Phuket during the Songkran holiday Seven Days of Danger safety campaign. Two motorcycle accidents were reported yesterday, but neither involved serious injuries. At 6:21pm, Ampan Jansanoi, 35, lost control of her motorbike while riding in Phuket Town. Three hours later, at 9:25pm, Pongsakorn Sangkasee, 21, was involved in an…
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Phuket rental shops send passport pictures to Bangkok via smartphone application
PHUKET: Nearly one-third of rental shops in Patong have started to send photos of renters’ faces and passports to the Interpol branch in Bangkok via the messaging application Line in an effort to identify stolen passports and protect against passport theft on the island. The push for tighter security follows the news that two passports stolen in Phuket had been…
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Baby found abandoned in Phuket pickup
PHUKET: Police are searching for the mother of a newborn baby boy found abandoned in the bed of a pickup truck in front of a luxury Phuket resort last night. The baby is healthy and is being cared for at Vachira Phuket Hospital, said Wichit Police Deputy Superintendent Jakkawat Boontaweekulsawat. Hotel staffer Anchalee Singsoon, 39, discovered the infant in the…
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Another Phuket beach befouled by wastewater, again
PHUKET: Dirty, smelly water is flowing across a Phuket beach again, not in the south this time, but in Bang Tao in the north, causing health and economic problems for local boat operators. The source of the problem, say the boatmen, is local hotels dumping untreated wastewater into the Bang Tao Canal, which spills it onto the beach and into…
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Safe start to Songkran Seven Days of Danger
PHUKET: The nationwide Seven Days of Danger road-safety campaign for the Songkran holiday came into effect at midnight last night, and the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Phuket office (DDPM-Phuket) has confirmed there have been no deaths reported in the first 12 hours of the campaign. “The Seven Days of Danger campaign started at midnight and will run from…
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Phuket Governor offers safe Songkran blessings
PHUKET: Governor Maitri Inthusut hosted more than 300 people, including the island’s three vice governors, at his official residence in Phuket Town this morning for a traditional Songkran water blessing to start off the Thai New Year holiday. Vice Governor Sommai Prijasilpa led the first blessing of Governor Maitri. “Thank you for your support and for helping us develop our…
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Phuket governor lends muscle to lake-filling investigation
PHUKET: Governor Maitri Inthusut yesterday lent the weight of his office to the investigation of a lake-filling project in Samkong with the aim of assisting Rassada Municipality to file a police complaint. The project, at Srisuchart Grandview housing estate, began as a municipality-ordered anti-erosion measure at the lake, but has become a noisy, dusty public nuisance and health threat, according…
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Phuket doesn’t need more tuk-tuks, says tuk-tuk chief
PHUKET: Seven months after his last appeal to legalize tuk-tuk drivers on the island, Sakol Srisompoch filed yet another complaint yesterday, but this time it was against legalizing them. In September, Mr Sakol led a group of legal tuk-tuk drivers to file a third formal complaint in their campaign to stamp out the illegal tuk-tuk trade in Patong (story here).…
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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