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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Ask people to name the most beautiful places in Thailand, and you'll often hear Phuket and Koh Samui being mentioned. Who would disagree? One is renowned for its bustling nightlife, vibrant culture, and lively beach scene, while the other is...
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Video Report: Phuket United unveil 2015 Futsal League lineup
PHUKET: The island’s sole team in the national Futsal League, Phuket United FC, unveiled their squad for 2015 Futsal League lineup, which gets underway on Saturday. The team, unveiled by Phuket Vice Governor Somkiet Sangkaosuttirak last weekend, includes two Brazilians: 26-year-old defender Francisco Da Silva Soares, and Jackson Santos, 29, who plays pivot. Headed by coach Chalermpong Saengdee, just 27…
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German tourist recovering after propeller slashes head
PHUKET: A German tourist who was struck in the head by the propeller of a longtail boat off Karon Beach on Wednesday (story here) is recovering well, a tourism official has confirmed to the Phuket Gazette. Santi Pawai, director of the Ministry of Tourism and Sports (MOTS) Phuket office, visited the injured tourist, 54-year-old Rudi Dann, at Bangkok Hospital Phuket…
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Phuket officials charge captain of illegal Antarctic toothfish vessel
PHUKET: Officials have charged the Peruvian captain of an illegal, unreported, unregulated (IUU) fishing vessel for falsely reporting the cargo of his ship as he attempted to offload 182 tonnes of Antarctic toothfish illegally caught in the Southern Ocean. The ship, which recently had its name changed from Kunlun to Taishan, had already fled from the navies of New Zealand…
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No Phuket tsunami warning after 4.9 earthquake off Sumatra
PHUKET: The National Disaster Warning Center has not issued a tsunami warning or alert after an earthquake measuring 4.9 in magnitude struck west of Sumatra this morning. “We are aware of the earthquake, and a tsunami warning has not been issued,” confirmed Trakul Thotham, director of the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM) Region 8 office, based in Phuket.…
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Phuket police ordered to follow up on taxi mafia, billion-baht-beach scheme cases
PHUKET: A group of high-ranking police officers and island officials met with Phuket Public Prosecutor Pisitpol Phumsawat yesterday to follow up on the progress in the island’s high-profile taxi mafia and billion-baht-beach scheme cases. “I have been ordered by the Royal Thai Police and the National Council for Peace and Order to follow up on these cases, as they have…
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No lifeguards on Phuket beaches tomorrow
PHUKET: There will be no lifeguards on Phuket’s beaches starting tomorrow, as the annual government contract comes to an end. No party has come forward to bid on the 22-million-baht concession to sign the new contract – not even the Phuket Lifeguard Club (PLC), who have guarded the beaches for years. The Phuket Provincial Administrative Organization (PPAO) offered a concession…
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Phuket’s Lighthouse Weekend Market returns with a taste of Fantasia
PHUKET: Phuket’s liveliest marina is going Fantasia for this month’s Lighthouse Weekend Market at the Boat Lagoon with world-class acrobatic performances and live acoustic vibes from one of the country’s top guitarists to accompany the smorgasbord of street-side treats from local vendors and boutique stores. Bring the entire family for a fun-filled evening in ‘Never Never Land’ from 5pm to…
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German tourist struck in the head by Phuket longtail propeller
PHUKET: A German tourist who was struck in the head by the propeller of a longtail boat off Karon Beach yesterday morning is now receiving treatment at Bangkok Hospital Phuket. Kata-Karon chief lifeguard Uten Singsom told the Phuket Gazette today that his staff rescued the tourist, who was swimming about 60 meters from shore. The man’s name and condition has…
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Phuket’s Kingdom crew fly high at Platu TransWorld
PHUKET: Phuket-based yachtsman Scott Duncanson and his crew Trent Pedersen, Alfie Rowson, Tony Harman and Paul Burke on Kingdom Property have won second place in the inaugural Platu TransWorld Invitational. The four-day international competition based at the Ocean Marina Yacht Club in Pattaya featured crews from Sweden, Russia, Singapore, Japan, Holland, the United Kingdom and Australia, but was ultimately won…
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Euro tour golfer Spilkova swings by Laguna
PHUKET: Ladies European Tour player Klara Spilkova recently visited Laguna Phuket Golf Club’s newly upgraded course, designed by renowned golf architect Paul Jansen, to practice ahead of her first event of the 2015 season. As part of her stay, Spilkova conducted a golf demonstration, showcasing her golf talents to Laguna Phuket Golf Club’s lucky lady members. “It was such a…
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Phuket readies for Earth Hour
PHUKET: The chief of the Phuket office of the Provincial Electricity Authority (PPEA) is urging people to join the Earth Hour 2015 event this Saturday to show their support for saving the world’s energy. “It is a very good campaign that everyone can join. You can take part while at home or work, by simply turning off unnecessary lights,” PPEA…
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Cricket: Patong CC take Thalang to town
PHUKET: Patong CC proved too hot to handle last Sunday with a clean defeat of visitors Thalang Cricket Team in the Phuket Cricket Group 40-over league competition. Hot, sunny conditions usual for this time of year prevailed, with a brown grassy outfield and the wicket still sporting surplus sand from a recent AFL match. Patong captain Seemant Raju won the…
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Breaking News: Three dead in Phuket bus crash
PHUKET: Three people were killed after a Phuket tour bus crashed on Kata Hill as it headed toward Chalong Circle at about noon today. First reports at the accident site say that 18 tourists were on board the Morning Sun tour bus when it tumbled off the road and rolled down the hill. Concerns were raised in January last year…
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Eight netted in Phuket gambling, drug raid
PHUKET: Eight people were arrested for drug use and gambling following a joint police-navy raid in Phuket Town last night. “We received a report from neighbors that there was gambling and regular disturbances at the house,” Phuket City Police Deputy Superintendent Khunnadet Nanongkhai told the Phuket Gazette. “There were eight people, two women and six men, at the house on…
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Adrenaline opens Phuket yacht race series with a bullet
PHUKET: Mark Horwood and his crew on Adrenaline opened their campaign in the Ao Chalong Yacht Club (ACYC) Keelboat and Multihull Race Series for the year with a bullet in the first race, held on Chalong Bay last Sunday. The Formula 40 trimaran, famed for its “rocking outer hulls” (wonky training wheels), outpaced Kirill Stashevskiy’s Stealth Cat Galeforce, which placed…
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Earthquake rattles Phuket
PHUKET: An earthquake measuring 3.8 in magnitude rattled the east coast of Phuket before dawn this morning. The Thai Meteorological Department reported the quake as striking at 5:32am, with its epicenter halfway between Phuket and Koh Yao Yai island in Phang Nga Bay (click here). The epicenter of the quake was centered in the same area where a 4.0 quake…
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Phuket mega-party promoter, TV stars jailed for defamation
PHUKET: Two famous national television show hosts have been sentenced to one year in jail, with no suspended sentence and no option for parole, for defaming the organizer of the 2013 New Year mega-party held at Phuket’s Patong Beach. The Criminal Court in Bangkok yesterday sentenced Vuthithorn ‘Woody’ Milintachinda and Chaleumpol ‘Jack Fanchan’ Tikumpornteerawo, of the popular show ‘Chao Doo…
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Civil defence volunteer kills girlfriend in Kathu somtam shop
PHUKET: A civil defence volunteer has confessed to the shooting murder of his girlfriend inside a somtam shop in Phuket last night. Police were called to the scene on Wichit Songkram Road in Thung Thong at about 8:45pm, where they found the body of 46-year-old Yupin Somrak on the floor of the shop’s kitchen. “Ms Yupin suffered fatal gunshot wounds…
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Police seize bumper haul of illegal lumber
PHUKET: Marine Police on Friday seized a truckload of rough-cut planks of wood hewn from protected trees that were bound for Phi Phi Island, where they were to be used to build a restaurant. The truck, bearing Chachoengsao license plates and driven by Janyarat Janput, 34, was stopped near Jianwanich pier in Rassada near Phuket Town during a random check…
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No further safety measures at shooting range after tourist kills self
PHUKET: Officials have confirmed that no further safety measures are to be introduced at the Phuket shooting range where a British tourist took his own life on Saturday. Liam Colven, a 21-year-old from the Isle of Skye in Scotland, arrived at the Thalang Shooting Range on Saturday afternoon. During live-fire target practice, Mr Colven pointed the .11mm handgun he was…
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Satree Phuket strides for new sports facilities
PHUKET: Satree Phuket School will hold a mini-marathon this coming Sunday dedicated in honor of HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn’s 60th birthday on April 2. The event, held in association with the Sport Association of Phuket, will also serve as a fundraiser for the school’s new, high-standard sports facility, said Koson Saikao, principal of Satree Phuket School. “The new sports…
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British man, 21, kills self at Phuket gun range
PHUKET: A 21-year-old British man turned a gun on himself and committed suicide at a Phuket shooting range this afternoon. Staff and witnesses at the Thalang Shooting Range said the man arrived at the tourist attraction before 3pm. The man hired an 11mm pistol and emptied his magazine at the target, before asking for three more bullets. He then turned…
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Teen dies in motorcycle crash
PHUKET: A teenage boy is dead and one man injured after their motorcycle slammed into a traffic sign near the main intersection north of Thalang town at around 1:15am today. Somjai Tengsomboon, 18, suffered a head injury and died at Thalang Hospital early this morning. “The passenger, Sathaporn Wongwai, 35, received minor injuries and confessed that they had both been…
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Suspects yet to be charged for billion-baht illegal beach rental scheme
PHUKET: The public prosecutor has yet to press formal charges against the Kata-Karon mayor or any of the other suspects allegedly involved in the island’s billion-baht illegal beach rental scheme. At least 15 people, including Kata-Karon Mayor Tawee Thongcham, were accused at a press conference in September last year of illegally issuing permits for local beach vendors to use public…
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Chinese tourists safe after airport taxi slams into motorcycle, kills man
PHUKET: Two Chinese tourists brought their holiday in Phuket to a close by witnessing one man being killed and another suffering serious injuries in a road accident before dawn this morning. The tourists were heading to Phuket International Airport when their taxi slammed into a motorcycle at Baan Porn, in Thalang, at about 5am, explained Lt Suporn Muangkhai of the…
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Navy probes ATV tour operator, shrimp farms for mangrove encroachment
PHUKET: The deputy commander of the Royal Thai Navy Third Area Command in Phuket is spearheading an investigation into an ATV tour company and five shrimp farms for alleged encroachment of more than 200 rai in a mangrove forest in Pa Khlok. Rear Admiral Teansiri Montriwade personally led an inspection of the alleged encroachment site in Baan Pak Chit on…
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Government evicts Surin Beach clubs
PHUKET: Several iconic beach clubs are among 39 businesses along the Surin beachfront boardwalk that were given eviction notices yesterday. The notices, and the negation of contracts for the use of the buildings, follows the demolishing last year of some of the businesses’ developments on the west side of the boardwalk, which were deemed to be encroaching on public land…
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Pakistani nabbed after B200k hotel theft in Patong
PHUKET: A Pakistani man caught on CCTV robbing nearly 200,000 baht in cash from guests’ safe-deposit boxes at a Patong resort has been arrested in Haad Yai. Officers arrested Paris Azeem, 21, at about 10pm on Wednesday after Patong Police tracked him from Phuket to Bangkok to a rented room in Haad Yai, in the southern border province of Songkhla.…
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One Direction star Zayn Malik flees Phuket, dumps Asian tour
PHUKET: Zayn Malik of One Direction, who was spotted with a woman outside of a Phuket nightclub this week, has dropped out of the band’s Asian tour due to “stress”, confirmed his publicist on Thursday. “Zayn has been signed off with stress and is flying back to the UK to recuperate. The band wish him well and will continue with…
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Special Report: Thailand’s wine industry at crossroads
SPECIAL REPORT Though many foreigners, and some Thais, often succumb to strong cravings for fermented grape juice, Thailand’s wine industry is metaphorically, and literally, in ferment. The Kingdom produces a limited amount of premium wine, not nearly enough to satisfy demand. In addition, the import business is riddled with taxes, making fine wines all-the-more expensive. In steps Thai ingenuity –…
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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