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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ICC claim a fortunate place in the T20 final
PHUKET: The semi final playoff between ICC and Thalang was shortened due to a lengthy rain delay and ended with calculators out on the ground and ICC being awarded entry into the Outrigger Twenty20 cup final. After the morning’s friendly match was shortened with waves of bad weather blowing across the Island, Thalang’s captain won the toss and elected to…
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Phuket Town water shut off for pump station repairs
PHUKET: Taps throughout Phuket Town ran dry at 9am today as Phuket City Municipality shut off the water supply to some areas so that workers could repair power cables for one of the main water pumping stations serving the town. The water supply is scheduled to return at 4pm. For more information, call the Phuket City Municipality Water Supply Office…
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Electric shock puts Phuket TOT worker in hospital
PHUKET: A Phuket TOT worker was rushed to hospital after suffering an electric shock while installing cables near the Baan Kamala Intersection yesterday afternoon. Kamala rescue workers arrived at the scene at about 2pm, where they found two men attempting to remove 19-year-old Boonlong Taweepa from a hodge-podge of wires, Lt Solae Damad of the Kamala Police told the Phuket…
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Rubble on Surin Beach not part of clean-up plan, says Mayor
PHUKET: The shocking piles of rubble on Surin Beach are not part of an initiative to clean up the beach area, confirms Cherng Talay Mayor Ma-ann Samran. Following the demolition order for illegal buildings on the beach, workers have started using the rubble to create a makeshift seawall. “The dumping of rubble along the beach to stop erosion is not…
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Phuket preps for 2014 Vegetarian Festivals – both of them
PHUKET: Yellow and red flags are popping up around the island ahead of the world-renowned Phuket Vegetarian Festival, which will kick off on September 24 at shrines across the island. The much anticipated annual festival, which will run until October 2, will begin with a ceremonial raising of go teng poles to allow the Jade Emperor and the Nine Emperor…
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Phuket Governor nominated for Interior Ministry promotion, successor revealed
PHUKET: Maitri Inthusut has been nominated for promotion from his current position as Governor of Phuket to Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Interior, effective October 1. Governor Maitri was among more than 30 high-ranking officials nominated by the Ministry of Interior for promotion or transfer in a list to be presented to the Cabinet today, reported The Nation. Any…
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Brigade of Krabi officials tear down more than 100 illegal structures
PHUKET: An 800-strongbrigade of Krabi officials removed 80 squatters from an old palm oil plantation and demolished more than 100 illegal structures today. “We told the people that they had to leave the area before noon,” said Bunnsueb Samakrad, director of the Forest Resource Management. “This land belongs to the Royal Forest Department. After the palm oil company’s licence for…
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Sixteen corrupt officials to be charged for B100bn national park land scandal
PHUKET: Sixteen officials will face negligence charges for their alleged involvement in causing more than 100 billion baht of damage by illegally issuing land documents in Phuket, the Royal Forestry Department revealed in Bangkok yesterday. The accused officials had been involved in issuance of illegitimate land deeds and documents since 1987, department head Theerapat Prayurasiddhi said. Eight of the officials…
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Phuket fisherman drowns after returning to port for safety
PHUKET: A fisherman who returned to port due to rough seas collapsed and fell into the water at the fishing port area in Rassada, on the east side of Phuket Town, yesterday, and was found dead two hours later. Witnesses told police that Songyot Choophol, 39, fell from the fishing boat Sor Narongrit 1 while he was casting out mooring…
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Phuket local finds cobra curled up in bathroom sink
PHUKET: A Phuket villager was shocked to find a cobra curled up in his bathroom sink when he went to hang up his underwear to dry last night. The startled man called Ruamjai Rescue Foundation workers to the scene to have the reptile removed. “The home owner said that he had gone into the bathroom to hang up his clothes…
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Aussie yachties dodge 10,000 baht fine east of Phuket
PHUKET: A 10,000 baht fine lodged against an Australian-owned yacht was dropped after officials confirmed that the vessel was registered with the Phuket Marine Office. Over the weekend, four Australian yachties claimed that a group of six uniformed Thai marine officers had shown up on a dinghy and had attempted to extort money from them while at sea in Phang…
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Naked man found murdered, washed up on Phuket beach
PHUKET: The naked body of a man with his feet and hands bound was found washed up on a Phuket beach on Saturday morning. “We received a call at about 8am from a local villager, saying that the body of a man had been washed up on Tah Nun Beach, about half a kilometer from the Sarasin Bridge,” Capt Terdsak…
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Forensic police to probe fire at B20mn Phuket mansion
PHUKET: Phuket Forensic Police have been called in to investigate a fire that broke out yesterday afternoon at a home costing 20 million baht under construction in Cherng Talay. The house, named Baan Palita, is about 90 per cent complete, said Lt Thanapop Rattanaburi of the Cherng Talay Police. “Damage caused by the fire is estimated at about 1 million…
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Phuket yachts brave 25-knot gusts for weekend regatta
PHUKET: A brave few challenged the windy and wet conditions on Chalong Bay yesterday for Race 4 of the Ao Chalong Yacht Club (ACYC) Series 2 2014 weekend regatta. Catamarans Galeforce and Shiraz accompanied by monohull Sansiri started the course with a downwind run. Even though Kirril Stashevskiy’s Galeforce crossed the start line some 10 minutes after “Capt Ron” Ellis’s…
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Drug dealer pulls gun on Phuket police
PHUKET: A drug dealer pulled a gun on a group of Phuket police officers as they moved in to make an arrest at a Srisoonthorn community housing project today. “When officers presented themselves to 28-year-old Kriengkrai Chookeaw, he attempted to fight back and pulled out a gun,” said Lt Col Jarun Bangprasert of the Phuket Provincial Police. After a short…
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Phuket “ya ice butcher’ facing murder charges for meat-cleaver attack
PHUKET: A Phuket man, who in a drug-crazed fit killed his friend, injured his girlfriend and tried to commit suicide, is facing serious charges for the horrific August 14 attack. Niwat Sampoosri, 25, who later tested positive for ya ice (crystal methamphetamine), is facing charges for murder, assault with a deadly weapon and use of an illegal drug, confirmed Capt…
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Maimed sea turtle found tangled in net on Phuket beach
PHUKET: A maimed sea turtle tangled in a fishing net washed up on Phuket’s popular Kamala Beach yesterday afternoon. Kusoldharm Foundation rescue workers were called to the scene by locals, and brought the badly injured Olive Ridley sea turtle to the Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC) at Cape Panwa. “The turtle had grown tired from dealing with the big waves…
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Motorbike crashes into group of Chinese tourists in Phuket
PHUKET: A motorbike driver plowed into a group of five Chinese tourist standing at the Thalang-Bandon intersection in Phuket last night. Two tourists, Xuxlao Qlano, 32, and Xiaomei Kang, 29, both received minor injuries after the motorbike struck them – three of their companions managed to avoid being hit. “The 21-year-old driver, Peerapong Soisai, told us that it was very…
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Men charged for B12mn land grab near Phuket’s Freedom Beach
PHUKET: A Phuket man was slapped with a second land encroachment charge yesterday for the same multi-million baht plot of land in a protected forest near Freedom Beach. Parin Ruangrattanawanit, who owns “about three rai” of the land along the border of Patong and Karon, explained to Royal Forest Department (RFD), Navy and local officials that he was in the…
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Lucky escape as foreigner dives out of path Phuket tour bus
PHUKET: A foreigner escaped being run over by a Phuket tour bus loaded with Chinese tourists in Rawai this afternoon as he dumped his motorbike and dived to safety. The foreigner, who asked not to be named, was waiting to turn right at the intersection in front of the Rawai Municipality offices. “The tour bus crossed the center of the…
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Phuket workers save Polish man from hanging
PHUKET: Two workers wiring up an internet connection inside a house in Chalong yesterday came outside to find a foreigner, who lived in the house they were working in, hanging from a tree in the front yard. “We saw him walking around the yard when we went in to the house,” said one of the 3BB Internet workers, who asked…
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Phuket Classic Bodybuilding Event 2014 aims to promote healthy lifestyle (video)
PHUKET: Last year’s “Phuket Classic”, an annual bodybuilding and modeling competition and the first of its kind in the south of Thailand, was held at Central Festival. The event was heralded as an outstanding success with the numbers of participants and audience in excess of expectations. According to Wilaiporn Wannaklang, President of the Phuket Bodybuilding Club, organizer of the event,…
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Five Phuket names to be sent to Bangkok today for NRC selection
PHUKET: The Phuket Election Commission (PEC) yesterday released the names of candidates vying for a chance to represent the island on the yet-to-be created National Reform Council (NRC). “A special provincial committee will submit the names of five final candidates from the list to the Election Commission [EC] in Bangkok,” PEC Director Kitipong Thiengkunakrit told the Phuket Gazette. The five…
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Phuket dive tour boat ablaze, sinks in Chalong Bay
PHUKET: Phuket boat Chok Somboon 15, of local dive tour company Andaman Ocean Safari, caught fire and sank in Chalong Bay before dawn this morning. Marine Police were notified of the fire at about 2am, and responded by dispatching a boat and eight officers to douse the blaze. “While trying to put the fire out, we dragged it away from…
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Bondi Bar Bashers put paid to Laguna’s playoff hopes
PHUKET: Confirming their domination of the Outrigger T20 cricket league, The Bondi Bar Bashers (Tri Bs) claimed a seventh victory in eight games with a win against Laguna on Sunday at the ACG. Tri Bs must now wait for the result between Thalang and ICC from which their opponents for September 22 will be decided. Seemant Raju (21) and Mike…
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Phuket lifeguards bring home gold from Vietnam
PHUKET: The island’s own Phuket Lifeguard Club brought home gold on behalf of Thailand from the Da Nang International Lifeguard Competition in Vietnam, held on September 7. Seventeen rescue teams, including the Phuket team representing Thailand, took part in Vietnam’s first-ever lifeguard competition. “We won the first-place trophy in the three-man rescue board relay. This activity is one of the…
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Myanmar national mysteriously drowns during Phuket fishing trip
PHUKET: A Myanmar national mysteriously drowned in Phuket while on a fishing expedition with his friends yesterday. Mew Ow, 25, was last seen fishing at a large pond located near Yokkekeng Shrine in Rassada with four friends, before he suddenly disappeared. His friends, also Myanmar nationals, called the Kulsoldharm Foundation for assistance. “The Kulsoldharm Foundation diving team took only about…
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Phuket Marine chief ramps up AIS tracking order for foreign-registered yachts
PHUKET: Owners of foreign-registered yachts in Thai waters will face six months jail time if they fail to fit their boats with AIS (Automatic Identification System) transceivers by October 1, Phuripat Theerakulpisut, chief of the Phuket Marine Office, said yesterday. Instead of small yachts needing to carry only AIS receivers, as Mr Phuripat told the Phuket Gazette last week (story…
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Helmet-less motorbike rider in head-on collision dies instantly
PHUKET: A woman was killed in Phuket early this morning after the motorbike she was riding hit a pick-up truck head-on. “We were called to the scene on Patak Road in Kata in front of a Siam Commercial Bank at about 3:30am,” confirmed Lt Channarong Prakongkeua of the Karon Police. “There we found the body of Kodchaporn Kongruang, 32, from…
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Unstable Phuket weather downs trees, damages homes and causes a landslide
PHUKET: Heavy winds and rain toppled trees in Phuket this morning, leaving one local villager with minor injuries and at least five houses damaged. Officers from the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM), Phuket office, were called to the scene of one of the felled trees near Phuket City Hall about 9:30am. “Houses were damaged by the tree, but…
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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