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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Letters from Abu Dhabi: It’s the F1 pits and a flying circus
Abu Dhabi: The motorway to the Yas Marina Circuit hops from Abu Dhabi onto Sadiyaat Island, en-route they are building a Guggenheim Museum, a Louvre, and lots of expensive housing. Right now Sadiyaat Island it is a flat naked barren sun-blasted atoll interspersed with cranes, but when Abu Dhabi has a will, there is a way. Then we crossed onto…
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New gun, security guard laws aim to improve tourist safety
PHUKET: Gun owners with permission to carry their weapons in public may no longer do so in tourist areas, it was announced on Tuesday. The order issued by the Royal Thai Police applies nationwide and is part of an ongoing effort to improve tourist safety. Carrying guns in tourist areas or in areas where crowds gather is no longer allowed,…
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Phuket taxi driver’s feud leads to fatal stabbing
PHUKET: A Karon taxi driver was stabbed to death early this morning by a neighbor he was feuding with. Police were called to the Samkong Shrine area at about 3:30am. When they arrived, they found Teeranan Phongkrathin, 29, lying in the road with a knife protruding from his chest. Friends who witnessed the stabbing told police that Mr Teeranan had…
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Russian found dead in Phuket resort pool
PHUKET: A 38-year-old Russian man was found dead in a Phuket resort swimming pool early this morning.Royal Crown Hotel & Palm Spa Resort staffers informed Patong police of the death at 4:30am.Police and Kusoldharm rescue workers arrived at the scene to find the man floating face down in the pool.“He was only wearing swimming trunks, and there was a bottle…
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Phuket airport taxi collides with tipsy motorbiker
PHUKET: An airport taxi driver rushing to pick up a tourist at the airport collided with an inebriated motorbike driver in Thalang yesterday.The man on the motorbike suffered minor injuries.The taxi driver, Wattana Patan, 36, told police that he was en route to the airport and saw the motorbike riding in the left lane on the Cherng Thalay-Baan Don Road,…
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Royal Thai Navy keep eye on young seawolves – Phuket Youth Sailing
PHUKET: Organized by Phuket Youth Sailing Club (PYSC), 28 sailors from Phuket and Sattahip between the ages of 6 and 18 years took part in the inaugural Phuket Youth Week Training Camp & Regatta 2013. The two-day regatta sponsored by The Sponsorship Experts – PP(SEA)CL and Topper Sail Phuket produced some exciting and close racing across the four divisions. Eighteen…
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Speed cameras coming to Phuket roads
PHUKET: Four speed cameras are being set up on Phuket roads in an effort to reduce road traffic accidents and increase awareness of speed limits, police told the Phuket Gazette on Monday. The cameras may also help police solve crimes, as they may capture images of suspects fleeing crime scenes, said Phuket Provincial Police Deputy Commander Saneh Yawila. The total…
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Thailand’s favorites keep local hopes alive at Phuket Open
PHUKET: Thailand’s favorites Varapatsorn Radarong and Tanarattha Udomchavee are through to the knock-out stage taking two wins in Pool A, at the 2013 FIVB Beach Volleyball Phuket Open on Thursday. Thailand has hosted over 10 women’s and one men’s FIVB tournament and the Open is back for an eighth consecutive year. Despite losing their final pool match to Dutch pair…
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Letters from Abu Dhabi: Chapter One: Circuses – F1
Abu Dhabi: There are three kinds of sports; men against distance, men against men, and man-and-machine against man-and machine. Athletics is the first type, rugby and boxing are of the second. Motor Sports and horse racing are of the third. So which does history say is the most popular? Greece, Rome and Byzantium had all these sporting types. In Rome…
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Central Festival Phuket installs life-saving automatic external defibrillators
PHUKET: Central Festival Phuket has became the first Central shopping mall in Thailand to have Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) for use in the treatment of heart attack victims. Motivated by the death of a patron about four months ago, Central Festival made the AEDs available in conjunction with a new medical bay operated by Phuket International Hospital which opened in…
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Phuket officers push LINE for drug crime clues
PHUKET: A popular social networking application that was recently used to locate a missing man with Alzheimer’s disease (story here) will be used to help police crack down on drugs in Phuket. The use of LINE by police was announced yesterday at Phuket Provincial Hall by Phuket Vice Governor Chamroen Tipayapongtada. The provincial government has established a group on LINE…
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Phuket – BISP – Cruzeiro football academy announced
PHUKET: British International School Phuket (BISP) have officially announced plans to launch an unprecedented football academy in collaboration with Phuket FC and top-tier Brazilian football club, Cruizeiro EC. The plans (story here) were formally presented to local media at a press conference held this afternoon at the expansive BISP campus in Koh Kaeo, just north of Phuket Town. Presiding over…
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“Brother Pom’ says he’s clear of extortion charges; DSI disagrees
PHUKET: Pom Sukkasem, the leader of the Central Festival taxi group arrested in September on extortion charges, has announced that the charges have been dropped. However, the Department of Special Investigations (DSI) begs to differ. “I reported to the Criminal Court in Bangkok on Monday as required, and I was told that the prosecutor decided not to pursue my case,”…
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Phuket airport aims to bring swift justice to shoplifters
PHUKET: Phuket International Airport has established a new policy for dealing with airport shoplifters.Passengers suspected of shoplifting in the airport who attempt to escape prosecution by boarding their flights will now be asked to deplane to be arrested. However, the arrest and the retrieval of the passenger’s luggage must all be completed within an hour.The announcement, made on October 29,…
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Phuket woman transfers over 2 million baht to alleged Facebook scammer
PHUKET: A woman believed by police to be entangled in an intricate Facebook scam transferred 2 million baht into a Thanachart Bank account and 48,000 baht into a Bangkok Bank account based in Phuket. The 53-year-old woman, named only as “Ms A” by police, filed a complaint to Wichit Police yesterday after being asked to transfer an additional 2.3 million…
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King cobra joins guest in hotel room, gets evicted [video report]
PHUKET: A foreign tourist staying at at hotel in Bang Tao on Tuesday night had an uninvited visitor enter his room: a two-meter long king cobra.Thanakorn Puyati, 29, a security guard at Bangtao Beach Gardens, was called to the scene, and quickly summoned Kusoldharm rescue workers. “We rushed to the hotel and found a frightened foreigner and his Thai girlfriend…
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USA’s Kessy joins up with Sweat to top Pool G at Phuket Open
PHUKET: USA’s Jennifer Kessy and Brooke Sweat top Pool G after securing two wins on the first day of pool play at the 2013 FIVB Beach Volleyball Phuket Open yesterday. The penultimate Open of the year is back in Thailand for its eighth consecutive year, taking place from October 28 to November 3. Kessy/Sweat were first on court at 9:00…
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Baburina/Mulenko dig deep to knock out top seeded qualifiers at Phuket Open
PHUKET: Svitlana Baburina and Diana Mulenko from Ukraine knocked out top seeded qualifiers Sweden’s Nina Grawender and Karin Lundqvist at the 2013 FIVB Beach Volleyball Phuket Open yesterday. The penultimate Open of the year is back in Thailand for its eighth consecutive year, taking place from October 28 to November 3. Baburina/Mulenko had the longest time on court in the…
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It’s raining snakes in Phuket Town
PHUKET: Recent heavy rainfall has led to a jump in large snakes being nabbed in Phuket, with four rounded up in Phuket Town in the last 24 hours.One of the four giant snakes, a three-meter python, made a dramatic entry into a Phuket Town bedroom by tumbling through a vent.“I heard noise that sounded like something had fallen off my…
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In memory of “Mrs Palmer of the Phuket Hash House Harriers’
Well-known local healer and Phuket triathlete Richard Patrick Cracknell, 66, passed away in Hawaii in the care of his son Jesse on October 24. He succumbed to complications arising from an idiopathic degenerative motor neuron disease (MND).PHUKET: This singular American athlete and healer, known by the Phuket Hash House Harriers (Phuket HHH) as Mrs Palmer, arrived in Phuket in the…
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Enough power to keep Phuket aglow this high season
PHUKET: Phuket will have plenty of electricity supply for residents and tourists during the coming high season, Natthaporn Kochsiripong, an officer at the Phuket Provincial Electricity Authority (PPEA) ensured the Phuket Gazette yesterday.“We have a capacity of 580 Megavolt Ampere (MVA) to support Phuket residents,” Mr Natthaporn said.“Demand has never exceeded 420 MVA, and this high season we expect a…
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New Region 8 Police Commander demands crime-free beaches
PHUKET: The new Police Region 8 Commander on Sunday demanded that officers in Karon and Patong include beaches in their patrol zones. “In order for tourists to truly relax and have a good time, they must feel safe, even on the beach,” said Police Region 8 Commander Panya Mamen on his first official visit to Phuket. In Karon, Lt Gen…
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Phuket’s Thanyapura extends its challenge
PHUKET: The island’s active and healthy lifestyle destination, Thanyapura Sports and Leisure Center, is extending its commitments to developing sporting excellence in athletes and enthusiasts of all abilities and ages by hosting the Thanyapura Junior Challenge Triathlon, part of the Challenge Laguna Phuket Tri-Fest 2013, on Saturday, November 30. With participants divided into Junior (6-8 years), Intermediate (9-12) and Senior…
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FIVB Phuket Open starts today – Beach Volleyball
PHUKET: World No 1 Taiana Lima and Talita Da Rocha Antunes of Brazil head the seedings of the Phuket Thailand Open, powered by PTT, which starts at Karon Beach today. Seeded second in the six-day competition are compatriots Maria Clara Salgado Rufino and Carolina Solberg Salgado, ranked No 3 in the world. Other seeds include the German pair of Laura…
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Former Central Festival Phuket security guard robs shops of ex-employer
PHUKET: Police arrested a former Central Festival mall security guard yesterday for stealing over two dozen phones from the mall.Kitti Pueanrak, 23, went to the mall to watch an evening movie on October 21, said Wichit Police Deputy Superintendent Jakkrawath Boontaweekulsawas.When the movie ended, Mr Kitti went down the escalator and slipped into the mobile phone section one floor below.…
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Daughter pleas for help in finding missing father
PHUKET: A distressed woman made a public plea for help in the search for her father, who is suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease and wandered away from home on Saturday afternoon.Benjawan Moonket, 29, filed a missing person report with the Thalang Police at about 5:30pm yesterday.“The missing person is Muang Moonket, 60. He was last seen at about 1pm on Saturday,…
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Mizsy Phuket brings ray of sunshine in dour affair
PHUKET: Most of the nearly 1,800 fans who attended Phuket FC’s final home match of the season had little to cheer about after their side was downed 1-0 by last-placed Rayong United in a disappointing match on Saturday night in Phuket Town. Indeed, the halftime presentation of “Mizsy Phuket” finalists proved to be the evening’s highlight for the home fans,…
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Ships, planes north of Phuket warned of possible Indian rocket fallout
PHUKET: Ships and planes were warned yesterday to stay away from the Phang Nga coast, north of Phuket, on November 5 as India will launch a rocket that might jettison a fuel tank into the area.“India’s space center told us that the launch would possibly be on November 5, because the weather on that day is expected to be suitable…
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South Africa considers consulate in Phuket
PHUKET: South African Ambassador Ruby Marks met with Phuket Governor Maitri Inthusut on Friday to discuss the possibility of opening a consulate on the island.“South Africa has a consulate in Chiang Mai, and now they are considering adding one in Southern Thailand,” Gov Maitri said.“Phuket is a logical choice because we have so many South African visitors – 77,915 last…
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Heavy drinking Phuket chef, 44, found dead from heart failure
PHUKET: A 44-year-old chef was found dead from heart failure in his room on Friday, just a week after starting a new job. The body of Chalong Tiwiyang was found on the floor of his staff bedroom at Phuket Graceland Resort and Spa at about 6pm on Friday evening. Police estimate Mr Chalong had been dead for about 10 hours.…
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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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