Phuket News
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Chinese tourist dies in Phuket after speedboat accident
PHUKET: A 24-year-old Chinese woman died in Phuket International Hospital this morning after being involved in a heavy collision between two speedboats off Koh Khai island in Phang Nga Bay yesterday.Chinese tourist Kang Xiao Xue was rushed to Phuket along with “many others” who sustained injuries in the collision, the Phuket Gazette was told.She was one of three tourists who…
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Might not be Phuket “Minute Man’ bank robber’s first heist: Police
PHUKET: The “Minute Man” who made off with 2.7 million baht in a bank robbery yesterday displayed similar behaviors to the uncaught bank thief who robbed a Kasikorn Bank branch in Witchit January last year, said Phuket City Police Superintendent Sermphan Sirikong. In both cases, the robbery was made at gunpoint by a man wearing a helmet and took less…
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Phuket Halloween kratom party a bust
PHUKET: Police arrested a Phuket hotel staff member with five kilograms of kratom leaves, allegedly being prepared for a “kratom party” on the island. On the eve of Halloween, Thanit Praditnipol, 21, was picked up by a sortie of officers led by Muang Chief Administrative Officer Thammarong Chuayaksorn as Mr Thanit stepped off a bus arriving from Trang province at…
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B100k reward offered for Phuket bank robber
PHUKET: Police are offering a 100,000-baht reward for any information that leads to the arrest of the man who robbed a Kasikornbank (KBank) branch on the north side of Phuket Town yesterday. The robber escaped with an estimated 2.7 million baht. Police believe the man received “inside assistance” in carrying out the robbery and are now questioning six suspects for…
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Futsal world rankings updated ahead of World Cup; Thailand falls to 14
PHUKET: Hosts of the FIFA Futsal World Cup 2012, Thailand have dropped three spots in the world rankings list down to 14th from 11th previously. The world rankings list was recently updated ahead of the sport’s most prestigious tournament, which kicks off tonight in Bangkok and Nakhon Ratchasima. The world’s top 8 sides, however, remained unchanged, with Spain prevailing as…
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Phuket bank robber escapes with B2.7mn in 60 seconds
PHUKET: An armed man clad in a black jacket and wearing a motorbike helmet robbed the Kasikornbank branch near SuperCheap, just north of Phuket Town this afternoon, making off with 2.7 million baht. The man was recorded by the bank’s CCTV cameras entering the branch on Thepkrasattri Road at about 3pm. Armed with a homemade handgun, the man threatened one…
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Phuket’s 100% helmet campaign rides on
PHUKET: More than 15 people die every month in road accidents in Phuket, most riding a motorbike without a helmet.The news came at a road safety awareness seminar at Phuket Rajabhat University on Monday, headed by Phuket Provincial Police Commander Choti Chavaviwat.Also present at the seminar were Phuket Provincial Health Office Deputy Director Dr Wiwat Seetamonotch and officers from other…
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World Sports: Arsenal battled back in goal fest – League Cup update
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World sporting news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Reuters / Gazette EditorsPHUKET: Arsenal battled back from 4-0 down to beat top-flight rivals Reading 7-5 last night, powering their way into the League Cup quarter-finals after one of the most extraordinary matches in the competition’s 52-year history. Manager Arsene Wenger said last week that…
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Chinese tourist airlifted to Phuket “recovering well’
PHUKET: The Chinese tourist who was airlifted from Racha Yai Island by a Royal Thai Navy medivac helicopter yesterday after suffering serious heart palpitations is recovering well, staff at Vachira Hospital Phuket reported today.“Mr Li Qi Feng, 39, is conscious and fully responsive, but he is still suffering from chest pains,” said coronary care unit Nurse Maliwan Arthan.Staff at the…
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Live Wire: A 3G auction in a 4G world – part 1
PHUKET: After years of delays, political infighting, legal maneuvering and insider manipulation, the trough finally stabilized long enough for Thailand to complete its auction of “3G” airspace. As I’ve remarked before, Thailand appears to be the last country in the world to officially allocate channels for HSPA (“3G”) signals. North Korea and Zimbabwe, the other two global holdouts, have offered…
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Local finds missing Phuket tourists alive and well
PHUKET: The two tourists who disappeared yesterday while trekking through the Khao Phra Taew Wildlife & Forest Reserve in central Phuket were found alive and well today.British tourists Mohammed Samir El Shimi, 28, and Hanna Zareen 26, were discovered early this afternoon by a local villager named only as “Ms Suphatra” who was walking through the park.Police and park officers…
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Breaking News: Search launched for tourists lost in Phuket jungle
PHUKET: A search has been launched for two tourists last seen entering the Khao Phra Taew Wildlife & Forest Reserve, in the heart of Phuket, at about 4pm yesterday.The search has been expanded to included the popular waterfall area and the surrounding jungle.The couple took a taxi to the wildlife park and asked the driver to wait while they entered…
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Baby boy’s body found in back of Krabi trash truck
PHUKET: The body of a newborn boy was found wrapped in a plastic garbage bag in the back of a Krabi trash truck this morning. Police believe the baby was discarded by his mother shortly after birth, just hours before the body was found. “The baby seemed to have fully developed organs. It was found along with the placenta,” said…
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Phuket meeting on joint Andaman province tourism initiative promises to share the profits
PHUKET: Woravat Auapinyakul, Minister to the Prime Minister’s Office, has told the Phuket Gazette that he expects the “Andaman – The World Experience” tourism initiative to attract more than 20 million tourists to the region. At a meeting at Phuket Provincial Hall on Saturday to chart the progress of the tourism initiative, Mr Woravat said that intense competition within the…
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Futsal World Cup: Thailand faces an uphill group stage campaign
PHUKET: With the entire futsal world’s eyes now focusing on Thailand, pressure is mounting for the host country to put on a respectable performance in the World Cup, which kicks off in Bangkok this Thursday. Having failed to progress past the group stage in their three previous World Cup appearances, Thailand face the high probability of history repeating itself. Though…
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Krabi Police not to investigate British “sex attack’ claims – for now
PHUKET: The police officer investigating the vicious gang attack in Krabi last Monday night has confirmed to the Phuket Gazette that – at this stage – he is not investigating any allegations of an attempted rape . The news follows British tourist Jack Daniel Cole being reported as saying that “he feared the gang – mostly young men with perhaps…
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First female double World Champion to race at Laguna Phuket’s Ironman
PHUKET: Leanda Cave, the recently-crowned 2012 Ironman and Ironman 70.3 triathlon double World Champion, has confirmed that she will compete in the Ironman 70.3 Laguna Phuket on December 2. Ms Cave of Great Britain, is the first woman, and only the second triathlete, to win both World Championship titles in the same year. She sits atop a stellar line-up of…
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Smooth sailing in Phuket Dinghy Series second race
PHUKET: The second race of the 2012 Phuket Dinghy Series took place this weekend off Bang Tao Beach’s Bliss Beach Club. Organized by the Phuket King’s Cup Regatta, the event featured 16 Optimists and four Lasers competing for the Act II title, with the boats amassing points in the three-event series. Stunning blue skies and calm seas set the scene…
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Minister denies Phuket “robbed’ of ICEC 2.6bn baht
PHUKET: The Minister Attached to the Prime Minister’s Office has denied claims that the government has “stolen” the 2.6 billion baht sequestered from the now-shelved plan to build a Phuket International Convention and Exhibition Center (ICEC). In Phuket on Saturday to oversee the preparations for the upcoming three-day Andaman Culture Festival, to be opened by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra in…
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Phuket FC prevails: 4-0 win over JW Rangsit ensures division survival
PHUKET: The Islanders ended their season in great form, sealing their Thai Division 1 status with a 4-0 win over JW Rangsit FC on Saturday night. Going into the final match of the season, 13th-placed Phuket were under pressure to win in order to avoid relegation. Meanwhile, their 16th-placed opponents — third from bottom of the 18-team table — had…
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Power to the Phuket people
PHUKET: The official launch of the Koh Kaew transformer station on Friday marked a much needed power boost, said Phuket Vice Governor Somkiet Sungkaosuthirak at the opening ceremony.The station opened by the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) is looking to almost double the megawatts the Phuket power system is currently handling, EGAT director Sutad Pattamasiriwat announced.“The main objective is…
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Fireworks row ignites corruption scandal
PHUKET: Winai Chidchiew, the chief of Karon Subdistrict (Kamnan), has found himself amid another corruption scandal, this time over allegedly threatening municipal officers into allowing firework displays to be held late at night, while facing allegations of paying bribes to the Chalong Police.Kamnan Winai found himself in the center of corruption allegations involving the Chalong Police last year, when he…
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National anti-drug campaign targets three high-risk Phuket areas
PHUKET: The national anti-drug initiative “X-ray every inch over a 90-day period” will take hold of Phuket starting November 1, Vice Governor Chamroen Tipayapongtada announced at Provincial Hall on Thursday.The aims of the project are to get treatment for existing drug addicts, solve family issues associated with drug addiction, and prevent people from becoming criminals to feed their drug habit,…
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Patong gambling den raid fails to come up trumps
PHUKET: Patong Police and about 50 Kathu Territorial Defense volunteers stormed a venue thought to be a “huge” casino in Phuket’s main tourist town only to “go bust” and be forced to leave the premises without a single chip.Acting on information received though the Prime Minister’s Office’s Complaint Center from anonymous local residents, police and Territorial Defense Volunteers descended on…
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Phuket Soccer Schools U10s own Patong soccer match
PHUKET: Phuket Soccer School’s (PSS) Academy U10s destroyed Patong Wassaone school 10-1 in a match on Tuesday. A pre-game warm-up and pep-talk fired up the PSS squad, who went on the attack straight from the whistle. Daniel C scored in one of PSS’s first attacks and his goal was followed by a great half-volley from Fard, which left the Wassaone…
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Phuket Sports: Olympic medalist comes to Phuket
PHUKET: Two-time Olympic medalist David Davies spoke to the Phuket Gazette about his upcoming trip to Thanyapura Sports and Leisure Club to teach a Swimming Stroke Clinic tomorrow.Phuket Gazette: What brings you to Phuket and will this be your first time in Thailand?David Davies: It will be my first time in Thailand. Following my third consecutive Olympics, I thought I’d…
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Phuket Sports: F1 – change, crowds and customs
PHUKET: Sebastian Vettel’s victory in the Korean Grand Prix allowed him to take the Drivers’ Championship lead from Fernando Alonso. Vettel now has a six-point lead and is on track for his third consecutive title. Korea was Vettel’s third successive victory and he is the first driver to win four races this season. His teammate Mark Webber was second in…
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Phuket FC Season finale: all or nothing
PHUKET: The Islander’s Head Coach Anurak Srikerd has vowed to fans that he will run nine circles around the main ordination hall of Wat Chalong on Sunday morning if Phuket FC prevail in their final match of the season this evening.He did not say, however, what he would do if the Islanders don’t prevail in the match, a home-fixture to…
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Yingluck’s Cabinet called on to answer Phuket ICEC debacle
PHUKET: Phuket MP Anchalee Vanich Thepabutra yesterday stood in Parliament and called for the government to answer why the 2.6-billion-baht project to build a Phuket International Convention and Exhibition Center (ICEC) was cancelled. The news of the cancellation was never announced by the government, prompting Ms Anchalee to break the news through her Facebook page last week. Despite being lobbied…
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Krabi teens claim stabbing of British tourist was a “misunderstanding’
PHUKET: Two teenagers who confessed to attacking a British tourist in Krabi on Monday have claimed that they “misunderstood” the foreigner’s actions and thought he was insulting them.The victim, Daniel Cole, 21, has already undergone surgery for the cut wounds to his temple, chest, right shoulder and right arm and is recovering at Bangkok Hospital Phuket.Anusorn Kullak, 18, and his…
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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