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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Phuket Honorary Consul reports violent abuse, intimidation by taxi drivers
PHUKET: The Honorary Consul of Ireland this week revealed to the Phuket Governor how she was threatened and intimidated at a resort in Rawai, where taxi drivers refused to let her leave after picking up a friend and her children.The news came at Governor Maitri Inthusut’s quarterly meeting with Phuket’s honorary consuls at Phuket Provincial Hall on Tuesday.“I went to…
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Another memorable year of the Phuket Dinghy Series
PHUKET: With day one of the final of the Phuket Dinghy series being canceled due to the freak storm that hit Cape Panwa last Saturday, the race resumed on Sunday morning in light wind conditions. A fleet of 17 Optimists and three Lasers did the windward – leeward course in anticipation of wind shift, which is not uncommon after the…
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Phuket throat slasher arrested in Patong
PHUKET: Police have arrested one man for the murder of Phuket construction worker Than Zaw, 24, a Myanmar national whose body was found dumped in a pond near the Patong Municipality offices on Sunday. Mr Than’s throat had been slashed and his torso had been stabbed at least 17 times (story here). Patong Police arrested Myanmar national Aung Htre, a…
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Stoney Monday founder faces trial in Phuket for B80mn fraud
PHUKET: The Australian who formerly ran the Stoney Monday Oasis Hotel in Patong has been arrested in Krabi and brought back to Phuket to face trial for embezzlement and six counts of fraud. The alleged damages total more than 80 million baht. Rell Vivien Hayes, 51, was arrested last Friday while allegedly selling property at an upscale resort south of…
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Victim’s sister laments 25-year sentence for Aldhouse Phuket murder
PHUKET: The sister of American Marine Dashawn Longfellow today lamented the 25-year jail term handed down to her brother’s killer, British national Lee Aldhouse, saying that the sentence was not long enough. Marquis Longfellow voiced her disappointment with the sentence less than an hour after Aldhouse was given the 25-year jail term today (story here). “Lee took the life of…
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Brit kickboxer “Pitbull’ Aldhouse handed 25 years for Phuket murder
PHUKET: British national Lee Aldhouse today was sentenced to 25 years’ imprisonment for the stabbing murder of American Marine Dashawn Longfellow following a bar fight in Phuket in 2010. The sentence was handed down at Phuket Provincial Court this morning. Mr Aldhouse, who entered a guilty plea on August 28 (story here), has one month to appeal the sentence. The…
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Phuket Provincial Hall silent after anti-government protests
PHUKET: Phuket Provincial Hall has bowed to the peaceful demands of thousands anti-government of protesters yesterday, and has shut down its operations. “No officers will work today or tomorrow at Provincial Hall or the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization [PPAO] Office,” said a public relations officer, speaking on condition of anonymity. “We also didn’t work yesterday.” The closure of both provincial…
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Phuket officials target taxi ranks
PHUKET: Phuket officials put taxi ranks on the chopping block on Tuesday in hopes of allowing police to take quick action against illegal parking. As a result, all taxi rank operators in Phuket must identify themselves to local police stations by December 31, the same deadline day for all taxi, tuk-tuk and tour van drivers on the island to become…
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Triathlon champion Chris McCormack takes reins of Thanyapura Phuket
PHUKET: Thanyapura Phuket has appointed multiple world champion athlete, Chris McCormack, as Executive Chairman of the island’s world-class megaplex as it takes a big stride into the future with the establishment of Thanyapura International to take its unique and ground-breaking “Thanyapura Active Healthy Lifestyle” concept to the world.Mr McCormack will take up the reins at Thanyapura Phuket on December, 1,…
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Buakaw breaking it down in Phuket
PHUKET: Muay Thai is Thailand’s signature sport, and its most famous active practitioner is Buakaw Banchamek, the rock-hard pugilist from Surin who first stepped into the ring at the tender age of eight and has been fighting regularly ever since – last Monday (November 18) right here in Phuket. Thailand has produced some great fighters over the years: Khaosai Galaxy…
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Slashed woman dies after Phuket hotel fall, roommate found dead
PHUKET: A Chinese tourist has died after falling from the second-floor balcony of a Phuket Town hotel this morning while bleeding heavily from deep lacerations.Jiang Chengyuem, 42, left a suicide note behind before leaping from The Pago hotel balcony with cuts across her throat, wrists, chest and stomach, said Phuket City Police Deputy Superintendent Prawit Engchuan.Chinese tourists who were part…
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Marine safety summit sails forward with local, international support
PHUKET: Safer Phuket, a new marine-safety non-government organization (NGO), made a splash today with the announcement of the Coastal Water Safety Summit in January at the PIMEX Boat Show. The announcement comes in the wake of over 200 tourists being stranded on nearby islands over the weekend due to heavy weather (story here), and fatal rip currents on Phuket’s west-coast…
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Victory is Sweet for Swiss Olympian at 20th Laguna Phuket Triathlon
PHUKET: Swiss Olympian Ruedi Wild has triumphed once again at the Laguna Phuket Triathlon, successfully defending his title from his debut performance in the iconic endurance event last year. In the women’s field, Challenge Laguna Phuket Tri-Fest’s headliner from Australia, Melissa Hauschildt, newly-crowned 2013 ITU Long distance World Championship and 2013 Ironman 70.3 World Champion, who made her LPT debut…
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Six protesters injured in bus crash home, recovering in Phuket
PHUKET: Six of the Phuket protesters injured in a bus crash on Saturday, while en route to anti-government rallies in Bangkok, were transferred to Phuket hospitals last night. “They were transferred from hospitals in Surat Thani and arrived in Phuket at about 9pm,” protest co-ordinator Amnuay Kumban told the Phuket Gazette. The six were admitted to Vachira Phuket Hospital, Provincial…
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Don’t risk tourists’ lives, warns Royal Thai Navy
PHUKET: The Royal Thai Navy has warned all tour operators to obey orders to stay in port during dangerous weather conditions following navy ships being dispatched to rescue tourists stranded at Koh Racha and the Similan Islands over the weekend.“If the ports are ordered to close due to the weather, please do not launch your vessels. We understand it is…
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Man with throat slashed found in Patong pond
PHUKET: Police are looking to identify a man whose body was found in a lagoon behind the Patong Municipality offices early yesterday morning. The man’s throat had been slashed and his torso had been stabbed at least 17 times, reported officers at the scene (map here). “The body was found at 8am by local tuk-tuk driver Pattanapong Sombat, 36,” Maj…
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Storm sinks Phi Phi ferry, ravages longtail, speedboat fleet
PHUKET: Heavy seas at Phi Phi Island this morning sunk a large passenger ferry, beached a cargo boat and heavily damaged at least six speedboats and 20 longtail boats, officials have confirmed. The Andaman Jet Wave ferry, registered to carry 250 passengers, had yet to begin its daily operations of carrying tourists to and from Krabi and Phi Phi, explained…
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Phuket Airport resumes domestic flights as storm abates
PHUKET: Flights at Phuket International Airport have resumed normal service after the storm this morning resulted in hours-long delays, forcing at least hundreds of travellers to seek refuge in the departure lounge. “From about 9am to 11am some domestic flights had to be delayed because of the weather,” Phuket Airport Director Pratuang Sornkham confirmed. “However, all the flights are back…
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Phuket yachties in dramatic boat rescue from sea wall
PHUKET: A handful of brave members at Phuket’s Ao Chalong Yacht Club (ACYC) scrambled to save a French expat’s yacht from smashing into the sea wall in front of the clubhouse this morning. The onslaught of strong waves saw the 30-foot yacht break free from its anchor at about 11am, sending the boat pitching dangerously toward the sea wall (map…
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Port closed, yachts beached as storm lashes Phuket
PHUKET: Local authorities this morning ordered Phuket Rassada Port closed as strong wind and waves lashed the coast and driving rain wreaked havoc with motorists across the island.Hundreds of tourists waited dockside as the ban took effect, as Rassada Port, located on the east side of Phuket Town, is a major jump-off point for tourists boarding ferries and tour boats…
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Friends fail to identify body of Gao Yang, parents en route to Phuket
PHUKET: The parents of Chinese national and Singaporean student Gao Yang, who slipped from the rocks at Phuket’s Promthep Cape late Wednesday afternoon, are on their way to the island. “We expect them to arrive in Phuket tomorrow or Sunday,” Qin Jian, Vice Consul of the Consulate-General of the People’s Republic of China, told the Phuket Gazette this afternoon. A…
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Imprisoned Russian pays B310k for damage to statue of Phuket abbot
PHUKET: The Russian tourist who damaged a statue of a revered Phuket abbot during a drunken spree last month has had relatives wire in 310,000 baht to pay for a new statue to be built. Oleg Fomenko, 31, remains incarcerated at Phuket Prison following his arrest on October 24. He faces charges for damaging a statue of revered historical abbot…
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Phuket Rotary Club continues push for Philippines relief
PHUKET: The Rotary Club of Patong Beach has collected over 226,000 baht through its Philippines Typhoon Haiyan Disaster Relief Fund. However, the club is pushing for more donations in light of the desperate need of those in the affected areas. Half of the funds raised will be sent directly to the Disaster Fund of Rotary District 3860, based in the…
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Chinese tourists on Phuket ladyboy tour safe after bus dies on Patong Hill
PHUKET: An entire busload of 35 Chinese tourists were quickly and safely evacuated from a tour bus after its engine died while climbing the steep road up Patong Hill last night. The tourists were en route from the Aphrodite ladyboy show on the bypass road to the famed Simon Cabaret ladyboy show in Patong when the bus broke down just…
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British tourist alleges attacker in hotel room before balcony fall
PHUKET: Police are waiting for the results of a toxicology report for British tourist Romany Mitchell after she told them her drink in Phuket was spiked. The tests were ordered after the 21-year-old student from Edinburgh reported to police that she was fleeing an assailant in her hotel room before she plunged from the second-floor balcony of the building on…
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Police arrest man for rape of 10-year-old in Phuket
PHUKET: Police arrested an alleged pedophile for the rape of a 10-year-old girl in Phuket on November 11.The 24-year-old man, who lived across the street from the girl and her parents, faces charges of separating the child from her parents, molesting a person under the age of 15 and rape.Police took the man from Nakhon Sri Thammarat into custody under…
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Laguna Phuket Tri-Fest – Let the games begin! [VIDEO]
PHUKET: It’s here and it’s going to be big! Laguna Phuket Triathlon schedule. Click here for more details. Challenge Laguna Phuket Press Conference in Bangkok. The much-anticipated Laguna Phuket Tri-Fest 2013 will kick off with the legendary Laguna Phuket Triathlon (LPT) on Sunday (November 24) which is celebrating its 20th anniversary and will finish with the Challenge Laguna Phuket a…
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Runaway Phuket Thai Post truck slams into cars on Patong Hill [Video]
PHUKET: A Thai Post lorry that failed to make the steep climb up Patong Hill yesterday afternoon, faltered then careened backward down the hill, slamming into cars and pickups as it went. “The truck slid down the hill at about 2:15pm. It ended up stopping at almost the same spot as the student bus that rolled backward down the hill…
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Weather dampens spirits, search for missing Singaporean tourist continues
PHUKET: The search resumed today for missing tourist Gao Yang, who slipped from the rocks at Phuket’s Promthep Cape late yesterday afternoon. “We resumed our search this morning,” said Phuket Marine Police Inspector Chatchai Sakdee. “Rawai Municipality officers have joined the mission. They provided one speedboat and one small boat to help conduct the search,” he added. “We have divided…
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Illegal loggers arrested in Phuket, one suspect armed
PHUKET: The battle against illegal loggers in Phuket continued this week as Thung Thong Police arrested six suspects for the illegal possession of more than 50 kilograms of eaglewood with a street value of more than 300,000 baht. One of the men was found with an illegal .45 handgun, fully loaded, under his pillow. Armed with a search warrant, police…
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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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