Phuket News
Discover the latest news and updates from Thailand’s most famous and beautiful island, The Thaiger’s hometown, having previously operated as the Phuket Gazette.
Our team brings you breaking news, in-depth analysis, and exclusive stories from Phuket, covering everything from local politics and business to lifestyle and tourism. Learn about the island’s stunning beaches, vibrant nightlife, and thriving expat community, as well as keeping updated on events, and attractions.
The Thaiger is your ultimate guide to staying connected with Phuket’s ever-evolving landscape. To keep up with the most reliable news source on the island, subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on social media.
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Russian missing after drunken midnight plunge
PHUKET: Police are searching for a Russian tourist who reportedly went missing after diving into the sea in a drunken state at Kamala Beach late last night. The man was named as Mikhail Korneev, 39, by a friend who reported the incident to police a little after midnight, adding that Mr Mikhail had been drinking heavily that night. “The incident…
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Phuket tour guides, bus drivers demand action for lost jobs
PHUKET: A group of local tour guides and a group of local tour bus operators simultaneously submitted letters at Phuket Provincial Hall today demanding that action be taken against illegal tour guides and operations “stealing” their jobs. About 50 members of the Andaman Tour Guide Association (Phuket-Phang Nga-Krabi) led by Mr Krit Thepbamrung gathered at Provincial Hall at 9.30am to…
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Top officials discuss major Phuket woes
PHUKET: Five of Phuket’s most influential lawmen met at Phuket Provincial Hall this morning in order to discuss what they named as the top five issues plaguing the island. The officials included Phuket Governor Chokchai Dejamornthan; Vice Admiral Surapol Kuptaphan, commander of the Royal Thai Navy Third Area Command; Maj Gen Akom Pongprom, commander of the 41st Military Circle; Phuket…
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Busload of Russians injured as ‘brakes fail’
PHUKET: Three Russian tourists were seriously injured, and 39 others less so, when the bus they were taking to Phuket ended up in a ditch in Phang Nga yesterday. Lt Thavorn Thongkam of Takuathung Police received reports of the incident from Kok Kloi District, Phang Nga at 2pm. The driver of the bus belonging to MKR Transport, Nithakorn Jamrasklang, 26,…
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Tim Reed triumphs in Phuket’s Foremost Ironman 70.3
PHUKET: Australian athlete Tim Reed was the overall winner of the Foremost Ironman 70.3 held at Bangtao Beach yesterday, crossing the finish line with a time of 3 hours 48 minutes and 33 seconds. The grueling course comprised a 1.9km swim, followed by a 90km bike race from the beach up to the Sarasin Bridge and back, and then a…
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Marine Office prepares to tackle Mai Khao encroachment
PHUKET: The Phuket Marine Office yesterday vowed to take action against a business owner who has allegedly constructed a building on public beach land in Mai Khao. Earlier this month, the building owner, Somboon Pakdee, was summoned for discussions to allow him to clarify his position. “Locals from Moo 5, Baan Laem La, filed a complaint that Mr Somboon had…
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Safety First: Phuket Airport security meets international standards
PHUKET: News about the grand opening of the international terminal at Phuket International Airport (PIA) has littered the airwaves since its official ceremony in September. Like every new, large-scale project in Phuket, and indeed elsewhere in the world, the new terminal has had its fair share of teething problems – something the public has been quick to notice, criticize and…
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Speedboat sinks longtail at Maya Bay
PHUKET: A minor was injured yesterday after a speedboat smashed into a longtail boat at Phi Phi Island’s Maya Bay. Krabi Marine officials say they “now” plan to boost safety standards in the area after two similar “incidents” over just the past two days, and at least ten such crashes, some of them fatal, at Phi Phi over the past…
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70-year-old mother ‘beaten by son’ attempts bridge jump
PHUKET: Police and volunteers persuaded a 70 year-old woman not to jump off a footbridge in a suicide attempt in Phuket Town on Thursday. The distraught pensioner said she’d had enough of being beaten by her son and wanted to end it all. The woman, whose name has been withheld, was perched atop the footbridge at Komaraphat Junction near the…
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Speeding biker breaks neck in barrier crash
PHUKET: A speeding motorcyclist broke his neck last night in a fatal high-speed crash with a concrete barrier placed across a back road near Phuket Airport. Witnesses told police that the rider was moving along the road extremely fast in the direction of the airport on a Honda Click motorbike. “It seems he didn’t know the barrier was there,” said…
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iStink telephone? Man steals mobile, sticks it in his underpants
PHUKET: A Thai man was arrested for stealing and hiding a hapless tourist’s telephone in his underpants at a Patong tour agency yesterday afternoon. Kuwaiti tourist Abdul Nabimh Redha, 38, filed a complaint at 2:30pm with Lt Col Somsak Thongkliang of Patong police station. “Mr Redha told us that he put his mobile on the counter at the ‘All in…
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Motorcyclist killed in horrific rush-hour smash
PHUKET: A 68-year-old man on a motorcycle was killed instantly this morning in a horrific 4-vehicle collision at 7am in front of the SuperCheap store near the Heroine’s Monument on the four-lane road to Pa Khlok. According to police reports, witnesses said the motorcyclist swerved in front of a Subaru driven by Kornthip Kriangkra, 32, heading toward Pa Khlok. He…
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Barriers erected to halt vendors at Patong Beach
PHUKET: About 15 stall holders at Loma Park on Patong Beach pleaded with the governor of Phuket to ask for help after Patong Municipality yesterday cordoned off the area with metal fences in an effort to oust the vendors. The move follows an ‘inconclusive’ meeting between the vendors and Phuket officials on November 1 (story here), during which the vendors…
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Thailand Yacht Show organizers push to make Thailand Asia’s marine hub
PHUKET: Organizers of the second edition of the Thailand Yacht Show (TYS) to be held December 15-18 at Phuket’s Ao Po Grand Marina aim to inject millions of dollars into the country’s economy as they steam ahead to make Thailand Asia’s marine hub of choice for superyacht owners and marine leisure enthusiasts. Held in partnership with the Thai government, TYS…
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Emergency landing at HKT, one passenger dead
PHUKET: Emirates Airlines pilots called in for an emergency landing at Phuket International Airport yesterday afternoon, after a passenger lost consciousness and required medical treatment. He was later pronounced dead at a Phuket hospital. The passenger, whose name is being withheld until his family has been notified, was reportedly feeling sick on board the aircraft and eventually passed out. It…
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Koh Lanta villagers cash in on seasonal shellfish
KOH LANTA: Enterprising villagers on Koh Lanta are earning up to 3,000 baht a week getting their hands dirty collecting shellfish. The coastal village entrepreneurs are making ends meet by digging in the wet sand at nearby beaches for ‘tapao’ shells – a type of edible clam-like mollusk that appears in the area at the end of the monsoon season…
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Phuket pensioner busted with illegal concoctions
PHUKET: A 74 year-old woman was arrested Sunday for ‘looking after’ more than 58 kilograms of kratom leaves and 45 bottles of cough syrup used to make concoctions of illegal sedatives. Acting on a tip-off, military officers led by the 41st Military Circle’s Major Sathit Naikoon arrested the pensioner at 10am yesterday at a house in Soi 6 of the…
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Worker camp head orders hit, charged with murder
PHUKET: A Myanmar worker suspected of killing a colleague was apprehended within an hour by police Sunday night at a workers camp in Kamala. Lt Col Somnuek Damkaew of Kamala Police arrived at the scene after he received reports of the incident at about 11:50pm. The head of the workers, named as ‘Kyaw Sein Win @ Bun’, had reportedly had…
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Motorcyclists injured in coach collision on Patong Hill
PHUKET: The driver of a coach carrying Chinese tourists says he ‘lost control’ of the vehicle when its ‘brakes failed’ on Patong Hill last night, resulting in serious injuries to the riders of a motorbike. The coach was heading down the hill into Patong at 10:23pm when driver Uayporn Rattanasaeng, 51, hit the bike and then slammed into a roadside…
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Russian man stopped at airport with protected sea shells
KRABI: National park officials in Krabi last Thursday decided to educate locals and tourists in that province on animal preservation after they caught a Bangkok-bound Russian tourist with a giant clam and a conch at the airport. The chief of the Krabi office of the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources, Wittaya Khunsan, said it was useless to arrest the…
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Germany’s Michael Raeleart wins Laguna Phuket Triathlon
PHUKET: German athlete Michael Raelert finished first at the 23rd annual Laguna Phuket Triathlon yesterday, completing the 1.8km swim, 50km bike race and 12km run in 2 hours, 19 minutes and 13 seconds – beating his own record by 11 minutes, which he set when he won the contest last year. In second and third places in the men’s category…
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Military removes stalls at Naithon Beach
PHUKET: Military officers removed 29 roadside vendors at Naithon Beach yesterday morning, demolishing makeshift stalls set up among trees lining the beachfront. About 50 Thalang and Sakoo district officers along with national park officers, civil defense volunteers and Navy personnel assembled at the beach at 10am and spent two hours assisting vendors taking down the snack stalls and massage beds…
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Waterways lit with thousands of lanterns for Loy Krathong
PHUKET: Phuket Governor Chokchai Dejamornthan and all three vice governors arrived at Saphan Hin as honored guests to join the Loy Krathong festival on Monday. The event was organized by Phuket Municipality and led by Phuket City Mayor Somjai Suwansupana. Loy Krathong, the ‘Festival of Light’, is one of Thailand’s most significant holidays. The annual festival takes place on the…
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Thousands gather at Laem Promthep to honor HM
PHUKET: More than 20,000 people are estimated to have taken part in the historic candle-lit ceremony atop Promthep Cape last Saturday to commemorate the 30th day of national mourning since the passing of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej on October 13. At 6pm, Phuket Governor Chokchai Dejamornthan and local dignitaries led the public in singing the Royal Anthem alongside the…
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Public warned of jellyfish dangers in Krabi
KRABI: National park officials yesterday installed warning signs on Koh Hong to educate and warn locals and tourists about jellyfish ahead of the high season. “The signs are in Thai and English, one featuring pictures of jellyfish to help identify which ones are venomous and which not. The other explains what to do if stung by a jellyfish,” said Jampen…
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Truck blocks coastal road between Surin and Kamala
PHUKET: An articulated truck has jack-knifed on the hilly road between Surin and Kamala beaches, near Laem Singh, blocking traffic in both directions. Police are working to remove the truck but are warning motorists to steer clear of the route if possible. No injuries have been reported. — Winai Sarot
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Phuket’s premium pineapples sold out in an hour
PHUKET: A hundred Phuket-grown premium pineapples priced at 1,543 baht each were pre-booked for sale within an hour last week. The pineapples will be ready for harvest in February next year and sold at the Phuket Pineapple Festival 2017, Phuket Governor Chokchai Dejamornthan announced at a press conference at Tu Kab Khao restaurant in Phuket Town. “As we all know,…
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First direct Frankfurt-Phuket flight arrives
PHUKET: The first Thai Airways direct flight from Frankfurt to Phuket arrived at Phuket International Airport this afternoon. Airport Director Monrudee Gettuphan and Tourism Authority of Thailand Governor Yuthasak Supasorn greeted the passengers after they disembarked from TG 926 following its arrival at 1.30pm. The new Frankfurt-Phuket route comprises three flights a week – Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays – on…
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German found dead in Kamala hotel room
PHUKET: Police are investigating the death of a German man whose body was found Monday afternoon in a Kamala hotel room, where police also found almost a dozen empty packets of the sedative Quetiapine. Kamala Police responded to a call from staff at Kamala Beach Resort – A Sunprime Resort about 2pm to find the body of German national Mr…
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Illegal Indian meat seized in Phuket
PHUKET: Over a tonne of illegally imported meat from India was seized in Rassada yesterday. A joint task force comprising about 30 officers from the Animal Quarantine Station 8 (AQS) and Army 41 was led by the Head of Animal Quarantine Station, Pornchai Inkhamdee, to raid two locations in the area. The 1,342 kilograms of what officials believe to be…
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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