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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Angsana to hold candlelight dinner for Earth Hour
PHUKET: The Bodega & Grill steakhouse at Angsana Laguna Phuket is holding a candlelight dinner to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the international energy-saving event ‘Earth Hour’ this Saturday. The event is being held in line with Banyan Tree Hotels & Resorts’ ‘Stay For Good’ philosophy “to build a better society by embracing the environment and empowering people”. The a…
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Defunct Phuket travel company sold out at auction
PHUKET: The Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO) has sold all of Tranlee Travel Co’s assets, 151 items in all, after four auctions yielded total revenue of only 204 million baht (approx US$6 million). The last auction was held yesterday at Phuket City Municipality (story here), where the company’s last 15 buses were sold off. Pawornan Thamanyatanan of the AMLO led the…
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Canadian tourist found dead in Phuket
PHUKET: A 49-year-old Canadian tourist was found dead in a condo in Kathu this morning. He is believed to have been dead for at least two days before his body was discovered. Police received a report of the incident at about 11am from ‘Plus Condo 1’. “We noticed a peculiar smell outside his room, which was on the 6th floor.…
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Phuket to receive B71bn for infrastructure, traffic management
PHUKET: Phuket is slated to receive 71 billion baht in infrastructure funding, with an emphasis on improving traffic management and chalking out effective solutions for the island’s growing traffic woes, the Ministry of Transport announced yesterday. Transport Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith held a meeting at the Phuket Boat Lagoon with relevant officers to discuss details of the plan. “Phuket has one…
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Troops of monkeys go swimming during heatwave
KRABI: At least a hundred monkeys climbed down a hill to cool off in a pool of water at Wat Tham Sue in Krabi yesterday. Krabi has not seen rain for about two months and this particular area has experienced a severe rise in temperature. “The monkeys climbed down into the pool, close to where tourists had come down for…
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Live coral planted at artificial reef off Phuket
PHUKET: More than 250 pieces of live natural coral (coralline algae) were added to an artificial coral reef in Koh Mai Thon by the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMCR) this past weekend. The event was chaired by Kasem Sukwaree, chief of the Phuket office of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MNRE). More than 150 people attended…
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Phuket partygoers injured in early morning crash
PHUKET: Yet another ‘drowsy’ driver and his two passengers were injured yesterday morning when their vehicle overturned near a Koh Kaew gas station. “We found an upside down Honda CRV stuck to a power pole near the PTT station on Thepkrasattri Road. All three occupants were trapped inside the car and rescue workers had to use Jaws of Life to…
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Two-headed Krabi calf hailed lucky
KRABI: A two-headed calf born in Krabi yesterday has risen to fame after the owner said the animal brought her luck while in the womb, reports Sanook.com. The conjoined twins were stillborn with two heads, six legs and two tails at the house of Ms Samrong, 47, who resides in Klong Thom district in Krabi. Ms Samrong said that she…
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Phuket, Nakhon Sri Thammarat seek mutual economic benefit
PHUKET: Phuket and Nakhon Sri Thammarat signed a Memorandum of Understanding yesterday, titled ‘Imagine Nakhon Sri Thammarat & Phuket 2017: A new Economic and Tourism Cooperation Development’. The MOU was signed at Phuket Provincial Hall by Phuket Governor Chokchai Dajamornthan and Nakhon Sri Thammarat Govenor Chamroen Tipayapongtada, with other relevant government officers and private sector officials in attendance. “The purpose…
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Phuket tourism operators display their wares in Berlin
PHUKET: At least 28 hotel and tourism operators from the Andaman region participated in the ‘International Tourism Bourse (ITB) 2017’ event held from March 1-12 in Berlin, Germany. Phuket Governor Chokchai Dejamornthan, Phuket Tourist Association (PTA) President Sathirapong Na Takuatoong, as well as officials from OrBorJor Phuket and Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) were among those present. Her Royal Highness…
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Shamed Phuket travel company’s assets to be auctioned
PHUKET: The Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO) is auctioning off 15 assets, worth about 15 million baht, of Tranlee Travel Co Ltd on Monday. Tranlee was an established, full-function tour service provider in Phuket until July last year, when police arrested a senior director and shareholder for allegedly faking two Thai national ID cards used to register the business (story here).…
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Ukranian severely injured in nightmarish Phuket accident
PHUKET: A Ukrainian woman was critically injured in a horrific car crash in Kathu yesterday. “The accident occurred at about 6:30pm on Phra Phuket Kaew Road, near Bang Jak gas station. At the scene, we found a severely damaged black Toyota Vios with the roof almost entirely blown off,” said Capt Watthana Bamrungthin of Kathu Police. “The victim, Kateryna Mizerniuk,…
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Phuket locals, officials team up to clean up
PHUKET: Officials from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MNRE) joined hands with locals, students and sea gypsies in a trash collection effort at Koh Sireh this morning. A team of 150 people, including Phuket Vice Governor Sanith Sriwihok and Somchai Maisatian of the MNRE, gathered at Laem Tukkae Beach at about 10am. “The focus of this campaign is…
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Phuket marine expert says coral restoration ‘successful’
PHUKET: An expert from the Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC) has stated that a decades-long coral restoration project at Koh Mai Thon has yielded significant improvements in marine life in the area. More than 30 types of coral were grown when the project was first started in 1994, after a large number of reefs were damaged by a powerful storm…
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Phuket ‘snake master’ captures king cobra in minutes
PHUKET: Bang Tao locals were stunned when a local snake catcher managed to capture a three-meter-long king cobra with his bare hands in a matter of minutes yesterday evening. The incident occurred at a house in Bang Tao Soi 7 at about 5pm yesterday. A local woman, Kob, saw the snake making its way into her neighbor Surin Bilabdullah’s house,…
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Video: B5mn worth of damages caused in Phuket fire
PHUKET: No injuries were reported in an early morning fire, in which at least five shop-houses were burned down in Thalang today. The flames caused an estimated 5 million baht worth of losses, but officials believe that this number may turn out to be higher as more accurate estimates emerge. “We received a report about the fire at about 4:30am…
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Three arrested for stealing from German tourist in Phuket
PHUKET: Three men were arrested this morning for stealing a German tourist’s bag containing a wallet, a cell phone and a hotel key card, at Loma Park in Patong yesterday. The victim, Herter Ekika, was relaxing at the beach when a Thai man came up to her and started talking. “The first suspect, Nattawat Sengpatom, engaged Ms Ekika in conversation,…
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Suspects hangs himself in Phuket holding cell
PHUKET: A man arrested for trespassing died after he hanged himself in a holding cell at Cherng Talay Police Station early this morning. The suspect, Rossaniyom Putdee, 29, made a noose out of his T-shirt and tied it to a bar inside his cell. His body was taken to Thalang Hospital for further examination. He had been arrested at about…
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Taxi flips on main Phuket thoroughfare
PHUKET: A taxi driver escaped with minor injuries after he flipped his vehicle on Thepkrasattri Road yesterday afternoon. “We found an upside-down green-plated Toyota Altis taxi in the middle of the southbound lane,” said Lt Suporn Muangkai of Thalang Police. The driver, Piyapat Sae-Ong, 47, experienced chest pains from the crash and was taken to Thalang Hospital for treatment. “He…
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Korean tourist shoots himself at Phuket gun range
PHUKET: A Korean tourist was seriously injured after he shot himself in the face at Patong Hill Shooting Range last night. The victim, Dong Ok Yun, 42, was rushed to Patong Hospital by rescue workers. “Mr Dong sustained a bullet wound under his chin and is now under doctors’ care,” said Maj Pattapee Srichai of Patong Police. The weapon used…
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Surin vendors upset over exclusion from 10-percent zone
PHUKET: A number of vendors working in the vicinity of Surin this morning submitted a letter to the Cherng Talay OrBorTor demanding a 10-percent zone to operate in, similar to the arrangement at other Phuket beaches (except Laem Sing which is now apparently private). Surin, which previously operated under the 10 percent rule, was converted to a ‘virgin beach’ in…
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Russian tourism to Phuket rising sharply
PHUKET: Last year, rebounding Russian tourism contributed an estimated 30 billion baht (approximately US$848 million) to Phuket’s economy, according to C9 Hotelworks‘ latest report on the segment. One clear-cut metric of the attraction of Phuket for Russians is that 51 per cent of the country’s travelers to Thailand now come here. Total 2016 Russian passenger arrivals on international flights to…
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Phuket cobra scare: one caught, one escapes
PHUKET: Rescue workers caught a 5-meter-long king cobra from a bamboo tree near a Rawai house on Saturday. “We found the 10kg snake at a soi in Baan Saiyuan. Ten Rawai Municipality Rescue workers took about two hours to catch it,” said one rescue worker. There were two of them up in a bamboo tree. The other managed to escape.…
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Thai government warns of heatstroke, high temperatures
PHUKET: Rising temperatures have raised the risk of heatstroke, the Public Health Ministry warned yesterday. It is predicted that temperatures may soar as high as 43 degrees Celsius (109.4 F) over the next seven weeks. The ministry’s permanent secretary, Dr Sopon Mekthon, advised people to drink two liters of water a day during summer to lower the risk of heatstroke…
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Mother of missing Russian tourist arrives on Koh Tao
KOH TAO: The mother of a missing Russian tourist has arrived on the resort island of Koh Tao, while DNA results on bones that were believed to belong to the woman have proved negative. Despite launching a full-scale land and sea search for Valentina Novozhyonova (story here), authorities have so far failed to find the 23-year-old tourist, who checked into…
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Russian tourist dies soon after arrival in Phuket
PHUKET: A Russian tourist died hours after landing at Phuket International Airport yesterday afternoon. The 55-year-old, whose name has been withheld by police, was on holiday with his wife. “Shortly after landing, he told his wife that he had a headache,” said Lt Suporn Muangkai of the Thalang Police. “The couple checked into a hotel in Cherng Talay at about…
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Koh Tao bones examined for link to missing Russian tourist
PHUKET: Bone fragments found in the sea in Koh Tao yesterday are now being examined to check whether they belong to a Russian tourist who disappeared last month. Valentina Novozhenova, 23, disappeared from a Koh Tao hotel on February 16, a day before she was due to check out (story here). Amid concerns that she might have gotten into trouble…
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ALRO locked in lengthy Phuket land dispute
PHUKET: The Agricultural Land Reform Office (ALRO) is engaged in a legal feud with the occupant of 22 rai of land near Paradise Beach. A land ownership dispute between the ALRO and defendant Sompong Sakulthap was decided in favor of the former by a Phuket court last month. ALRO officers and other officials visited the property yesterday morning in order…
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Whales bathe in Phuket sunshine yet again
PHUKET: Another pod of false killer whales was spotted yesterday by Phuket-bound tourists around the Mu Koh Similan area. The false killer whale (Pseudorca crassidens) is the fourth-largest dolphin and lives in temperate and tropical waters throughout the world. “We were on our way to Phuket when we arrived at an area called Hin Pusah and saw at least 30…
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One dead after drunk man stabs another in Phuket
PHUKET: Police walked into bloodbath after an alcohol-fueled argument resulted in the death of a migrant worker in Phuket near SuperCheap on Thepkrasattri Road. The perpetrator, identified by police as 38-year-old Htin Line, is on the run. “Tae Sor Ao, 21, and the suspect had had three bottles of alcohol between them. Witnesses told us that at about 10:40pm, the…
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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