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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Police raid illegal Phuket forest homestead
PHUKET: A Phuket police raid on an illegal homestead in the Kamala Forest yesterday found no people but did turn up a registered rifle which police are using to pursue suspects. More than 30 Phuket police officers and a special squad from Region 8 Police went to the site, located three kilometers away from the nearest road, after local residents…
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Next Target: Land-snatching Phuket officials
PHUKET: National level politicians involved in commandeering more than 1,000 rai of public land in Phuket will face fire as a joint agency operation pushes to shake out the long history of illegal land titles plaguing Sirinath National Park. “The people at the root of the issue of encroachment in Sirinath Park go all the way up to the top……
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Phuket Raceweek: Foxy Lady stretches her legs with four straight wins
Bill Bremner’s Foxy Lady VI, out of Singapore, scored two more firsts in the Cape Panwa Hotel Phuket Raceweek Regatta today to card four straight wins in the IRC 1 Racing class. Winds eased to 10 to 12 knots off the east coast of Phuket, where the fleet of 35 yachts competed in the second day of racing in slightly…
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Jellyfish warning after Russian woman suffers serious sting
PHUKET: A 24-year-old Russian woman was rushed to hospital today after being stung by a bluebottle jellyfish while swimming at Nai Thon Beach, off Phuket’s west coast. “At about 12:30pm we heard a woman screaming. We helped her out of the waist-deep water and found a bluebottle jellyfish stuck to the back of her hand,” Jit Chairap, head of the…
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Dig up the land titles next
PHUKET: The National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) deserves the island’s full support for the ongoing efforts to rid public beaches of illegal encroachment in all its myriad forms. The results, which have been nothing less than stunning so far, are sure to go a long way towards restoring the island’s attractiveness to quality tourists, of both the foreign…
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Sea Sheperd rails against allegedly wild caught dolphins for Phuket Dolphinarium
PHUKET: Sea Shepard Global has put out a call to stop the Nemo Dolphinarium from being built in Phuket. Phuket Aqua Project Co Ltd’s application for the facility has been handed over to the Department of Fisheries’ head office in Bangkok, confirmed Kiattikhun Charoensawan, chief of the Phuket Fisheries Office, to the Phuket Gazette today. “I don’t see the construction…
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Video Report: Pony Up – Phuket marine conservationists launch international seahorse specialty course
PHUKET: Marine conservationists in Phuket today announced the international launch of a seahorse diver specialty course to promote accurate crowdsourcing as Thailand, and the rest of the world, attempts to protect endangered populations. The Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) course will teach student divers the basics of seahorse biology and conservation, how to identify and search for seahorses and…
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One-stop center for migrant worker registration to open in Phuket this month
PHUKET: Migrant workers living and working illegally on Phuket may be able to become fully legal and registered by the end of the month, confirmed the island’s employment office chief yesterday. “We expect illegal workers to be able to register at Phuket’s one-stop center by the end of the month. All application processes and procedures will be completed in one…
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Phuket to be waste management model for nation
PHUKET: The Royal Thai Navy has vowed to find a budget to fix Phuket’s third incinerator, broken since 2012, and make the island a model of garbage management for other provinces to follow. Royal Thai Navy Commander Narong Pipathanasai made the pledge after touring the island’s waste facility at Saphan Hin on Monday. On a similar tour in March (story…
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Phuket dog turns in fugitive
PHUKET: An astute dog led police to arrest a fugitive who had escaped from a Phuket police pick-up truck yesterday as it was stopped at a red light (story here). About 7 hours after 22-year-old Boonrit Boontang, arrested for motorbike theft, escaped from police custody while being transferred to Phuket Provincial Court, a barking dog gave up his hiding spot.…
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Knife-wielding bag snatcher bagged by Phuket police
PHUKET: Police snared the knife-wielding thief who threatened and robbed a Chinese couple last night at Karon View Point in just over 24 hours. “We were notified about the attack at about 10:30 yesterday morning,” said Lt Col Ason Jiraksa of the Karon Police. “The victims said the man threatened them with a knife, snatched the woman’s bag and then…
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Phuket officials board fishing vessels to check for human trafficking victims
PHUKET: Officials stepped off Phuket to spot-check five fishing vessels this morning as Thailand ramps up its efforts to stifle human trafficking. “We came out to the boats to ensure that there were no trafficking victims on fishing boats in the province. We also talked with the fishermen to establish whether or not they were being treated fairly by their…
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Phuket police hunt handcuffed thief who fled from police vehicle at red light
PHUKET: A handcuffed man left behind only his slippers today when he jumped from a police pick-up truck while it was stopped at a red light. Boonrit Boontang, 22, who has been evading police since his escape, had been arrested on July 15 for stealing a motorbike. He was being transferred to Phuket Provincial Court at about 11:30am when he…
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Phuket bound bus kills three in Krabi
PHUKET: Three people died and 10 were injured in Krabi when a pick-up truck rammed another truck, sending it into the path of a bus last night. The accident occurred as a Mazda pick-up was approaching a u-turn near the Makro store on the Krabi-Ao Luek Highway at 8:30. “Witnesses said that the Mazda was going slowly into the u-turn,”…
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Phuket Raceweek: Foxy Lady too hot to handle
PHUKET: Bill Bremner’s Foxy Lady VI scored two firsts in the opening day of racing in the Cape Panwa Hotel Phuket Raceweek Regatta, which began today off the east coast of Phuket. Peter Ahern’s TP52 Oi! cut a clear lead from the fleet from the outset, but a spinnaker error at the leeward mark handed the advantage to Foxy Lady,…
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Phuket Raceweek: Fast boats, slick crews to make most of blustery weather
PHUKET: The shift to heavy weather this week has set the scene for dramatic racing off Phuket’s east coast as a fleet of 36 yachts compete in this year’s edition of the renowned Cape Panwa Hotel Phuket Raceweek Regatta. Racing began today following last night’s gala opening party. Setting the courses over the next four days is Simon James, who…
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Phuket python magnet catches third snake seeking shelter
PHUKET: An unlucky resident in northern Phuket suffered deja vu early this morning as he discovered that a two-meter-long python had taken cover from the rain in his chicken coop. At about 1:30am, Chokdee Inklub heard his chickens crying loudly so he went out to investigate. “I found a snake in the coop,” said Mr Chokdee. Rescue workers from the…
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Kata-Karon mayor denies five more charges in connection to Phuket taxi mafia
PHUKET: Police have slapped five more charges on Tawee Thongcham, mayor of Phuket’s tourist-popular beach area Kata-Karon, for his alleged connection to the powerful taxi mafia in the area. Mr Tawee has denied all charges. “Mr Tawee has been charged with the same thing as before, which is conspiracy and the aiding of illegal activities carried out by criminal associations,”…
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Islands off Phuket’s east coast next up in beach cleanup
PHUKET: The islands of Koh Naka Yai and Koh Naka Noi are the next targets in the great Phuket beach cleanup, which has now spread to sands on and off the island’s east coast. Officials planned to visit the islands this afternoon but were informed by a local official that residents there had started clearing illegal beach structures on their…
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Phuket shop owners helpful in clearing Phuket east coast beachfront
PHUKET: The clearing of Phuket’s beaches reached the east coast today as officers helped Ao Por locals dismantle shacks, sun shades and stalls set up along the beachfront. “We had about 70 people on our task force including Navy personnel and staffers from the Pa Khlok Municipality, as well as officers from the Thalang Police Station and Marine Office,” said…
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A Phuket success story: British siblings’ locate saviors nearly a decade after the tsunami
PHUKET: A Facebook hunt led by British siblings for a man and woman who helped them during the devastating 2004 tsunami is over; their guardians have been found. Upin Sengmuang, a small shop owner on Tri Trang Beach, learned today that she and her partner Pitchat were being sought by Emily and Ben Willgrass, who had posted a message on…
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Sirinath National Park land tug-of-war continues as chief files complaint against illegal landowners
PHUKET: The Sirinath National Park chief is set to file a complaint against three people who are attempting to upgrade allegedly illegally issued SorKor 1 documents into land title deeds. “Tomorrow morning I will file a complaint to Tah Chat Chai Police against Nakorn Wongsrithong, Chan Pongpa and Anoma Fangsen for encroaching on national park land,” said Sirinath National Park…
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Phuket lawyers push mediation as alternative to court
PHUKET: Lawyers and Phuket officials promoting mediation as an alternative to civil lawsuits held their annual informational event today to raise awareness of the option. “The purpose of our event, Mediation 2014, is to encourage people involved in civil lawsuits to settle their cases outside of court. It tends to be a much swifter process and is offered free of…
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First beach on Phuket’s east coast to be cleared tomorrow
PHUKET: The island’s great beach clearing will reach the east coast for the first time tomorrow when 50 municipal officers and navy personnel descend on the small seaside village of Ao Por. “We officially informed people last week that they had to clear everything off the beach and beachfront,” said Pa Khlok Mayor Panya Sampaorat. “Yesterday, we repeated the message…
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Video goes viral of Phuket beach club emptying trash bags in sand
PHUKET: A video posted on YouTube showing Surin beach club staff burying the contents of black garbage bags in the sand is not a matter of concern, says Cherng Talay Mayor Ma-ann Samran. “I saw the video a long time ago and had my staff check it out,” Mayor Ma-ann told the Phuket Gazette today. In the video, taken a…
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Phuket mayor seeks B60mn for seawall to stave off coastal erosion
PHUKET: The Cherng Talay mayor will ask the nation’s military leaders for 60 million baht to build a seawall to prevent coastal erosion at Phuket’s Surin Beach. “We are collecting documents to accompany the budget request, such as plans for the seawall and evidence showing how much damage is done each year by coastal erosion,” Mayor Ma-ann Samran told the…
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Navy tears down Phuket beach restaurants at Nai Yang
PHUKET: About 100 Navy personnel and national park officers are this morning continuing their “mop up” operation after tearing down 11 restaurants and bars at Phuket’s Nai Yang Beach yesterday. “We notified these vendors that they were encroaching on national park land and ordered them many times to remove their buildings, but they ignored us,” Sirinath National Park Chief Kitiphat…
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Brazil 2014 strong contender as best-ever World Cup
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World sport selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community RIO DE JANEIRO – The 2014 World Cup provided an unmatched level of football, outstanding individual moments, shocks, some controversy and it all took place in stadiums packed with knowledgeable and passionate fans. Taken as a whole, the 64 games in Brazil, were unparalleled as a…
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Death of Korean tourist mired in murky Phuket dive company waters
PHUKET: Police have confirmed that they are investigating the death of a Korean tourist who was pulled unconscious from the water while diving near Coral Island, off Phuket’s southeast coast, on Saturday. Kim Sang Min, 47, had been in the water for just a few minutes when the guide saw him floating on the surface shortly before 10am. “The tour…
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No flash flood warning for Phuket – yet
PHUKET: Despite heavy rains throughout Phuket today, the local office of the Thai Meteorological Department (TMD) has confirmed that no warning has been issued for flash floods or landslides on the island. “We haven’t been told to issue local warnings,” Santhad Panbanpeaw, director of the Phuket TMD office, told the Phuket Gazette. “The current wet weather is the same as…
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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