Phuket News
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Phuket officials lay into landslide concerns caused by Big Buddha construction
PHUKET: Landslide risks and water management concerns caused by the construction of Phuket’s Big Buddha image were on the table yesterday as officials met for the first time since work at the site slammed to a halt last month. Construction at the popular tourist attraction was put on hold after villagers filed a complaint and prompted an inspection of the…
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Phuket Cycling: The power of Yao Yai island
PHUKET: New Age guru Eckhart Tolle sold millions of copies of his book The Power of Now which expounded the blindingly obvious premise that we would all be much happier if we lived our lives in the here and now. Tolle tells us over 256 repetitive pages, that rather than worrying about what might happen tomorrow, or regretting our misdeeds…
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Protected Phuket hillside slashed and burned
PHUKET: Four rai of forest on a hillside in Kamala was obliterated on Tuesday night to make room for a rubber plantation. “The area has been ruined – all the trees were cut down and burned,” said Phuket Natural Resources and Environment Office Chief Kasem Sukwaree this morning. “Terracing had already been put up in preparation for establishing a rubber…
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Phuket Police set to launch nationwide manhunt for Patong headhunter killers
PHUKET: Patong Police are preparing to send an alert to every police station in the country in the hopes of apprehending three prime suspects for the murder of Myanmar worker Wai Phyo Kyaw, 22, whose decapitated body was found dumped on Patong Hill on March 9 (story here). “We have learned the names of three of the five men we…
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Phuket aims for 729-million-baht biofuel production facility
PHUKET: The island may be in for a cleaner and greener future as Phuket officials plan to request 729 million baht to build a biofuel production facility. “Organic waste from the entire province will be sent to the plant. It will be processed and turned into biofuel and the leftover matter subsequently turned into compost,” said Provincial Administration Organization (PPAO)…
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Formal charges against Phuket protest leaders delayed
PHUKET: Police delayed pressing formal charges today against five Phuket protest leaders for obstructing the February 2 national election and obstructing law enforcement officers. The five – Suratin Lian-udom, Sompop Konkeaw, Chartchai Chuachit, Saman Krohlek and Sanya Srimuang– were scheduled to appear at Thalang Police Station at 10am to witness the handing over of the case files to the Phuket…
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Tourism Minister targets Phuket’s stolen passport trade
PHUKET: Recent news of the stolen passports trade in Phuket and the recently found Russian kidnap victim prompted a visit from Thailand’s Tourism and Sports Minister to the island yesterday to meet with officials and get to the bottom of the issues. “I came to Phuket to follow up on the cases concerning the stolen passports used to board missing…
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Phuket police connect two local expats to Russian missing persons case
PHUKET: Police have identified the two Caucasian men who were seen with “missing” Russian woman Iana Strizheus, found injured and in shock in a hotel room on Sunday. “We are searching for the two men, who work in Phuket. At this time, we can’t reveal their names without jeopardizing the case,” Phuket’s top cop Ong-art Phiwruangnont said at a press…
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Phuket Drive Thru: Woman blames car for surging into 7-Eleven
PHUKET: A woman parking her car outside a 7-Eleven in Phuket Town this afternoon ended up inside the store when the vehicle suddenly surged forward, injuring a 12-year-old girl in the process. Orathai Kaikong, 31, had pulled into a gas station on Phun Pol Road in Phuket Town with her boyfriend to buy snacks. “I was braking while pulling into…
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Patong elections set for April 26, bringing another weekend alcohol ban
PHUKET: The Patong by-election has been set for Saturday, April 26. After former Patong Mayor Pian Keesin was found guilty of electoral fraud on March 7 (story here), new elections were required by law to take place within 60 days, explained Patong Municipality Chief Administrative Officer Poonsuk Narksena. Candidate registrations will be accepted on the third floor at Patong Municipality…
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Phuket’s B120mn road to Freedom Beach inches forward
PHUKET: The controversial new road planned to provide access to Freedom Beach, south of Patong, took a step closer to becoming reality as the project passed its third and final public hearing on Friday. About 80 of the 100 participants who joined the hearing, held at the Patong Merlin Hotel, voted to approve the project, rebounding from a 64 per…
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Phuket national park encroachment investigation in full swing again
PHUKET: The plot thickened in the ongoing investigation into encroachment onto Sirinath Marine National Park yesterday as five former park chiefs were accused of signing documents allowing encroachment. “After reviewing several land titles from owners in the area, we discovered that five chiefs signed their names, making it legal for landowners to build on land that is part of Sirinath…
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Police post bodyguard for Russian ‘kidnap’ victim
PHUKET: Police have posted an around-the-clock guard outside the hospital room of the Russian woman who was found injured yesterday after having disappeared for nine days. Friends say the woman, Iana Strizheus, 22, may have been the victim of a kidnapping. Phuket Provincial Police Commander Ong-art Phiwruangnont visited Ms Strizheus at Bangkok Hospital Phuket last night. “We don’t know how…
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Phuket Sports: Phuket FC and TTM Customs draw at Surakul Stadium
PHUKET: With a full moon overhead and a smoke filled sky, the scene yesterday evening in Phuket Town seemed more appropriate for a zombie apocalypse than a football match. The living dead did not make it out to the game, however, 5,100 fans did, and cheered on their home team Phuket FC as they lined up against TTM Customs. Coming…
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Mysterious deaths of Quebec sisters may be due to lethal dose of pesticide
PHUKET: Two Canadian sisters who died mysteriously on the popular resort island of Phi Phi in 2012 may have ingested toxic amounts of a lethal pesticide called aluminum phosphide, reports Canadian news network CBC. The highly toxic pesticide is used to control bedbugs in some holiday hotels in Asia and may have contributed to the deaths of Audrey and Noemi…
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Rain breaks Phuket’s worst drought in 30 years
PHUKET: The skies parted to deliver scattered showers across the island late this afternoon to break Phuket’s lowest recorded rainfall between the months of January and March for 30 years. Governor Maitri Inthusut yesterday morning chaired an annual meeting at the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation-Phuket (DDPM-Phuket) office to plan water usage strategies for the dry season. “After receiving…
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Australian long-term expat dies after fall from motorbike in Phuket
PHUKET: An Australian expat died early yesterday morning in Phuket after allegedly driving his motorbike one-handed.“The accident happened at about 1:50am. Eyewitness accounts described Wayne Anthony Stone driving his motorbike at high speeds with only one hand holding the handlebars,” Navin Petchan of the Kamala Police told the Phuket Gazette.“Mr Stone fell off his bike at a main junction in…
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Phuket tour bus drivers caught in Patong Hill checkpoint drug blitz
Note: Since this story was posted, a representative from the tour company Pegas Touristik affirmed that no drivers associated with the company tested positive for drugs in the blitz. PHUKET: The new police and transport office safety checkpoint for buses about to cross over Patong Hill netted 16 drivers who tested positive for drugs in its first day of operation…
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Murder brings curfew for Myanmar workers in Patong
PHUKET: Patong police announced today that Myanmar workers living in Patong will be arrested if they are found outside of their camps after 10pm. The curfew is in response to the murder of a Thai man by a group of Myanmar nationals early Tuesday morning in Patong. “Construction operators typically keep the passports of their workers. If we stop workers…
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Chinese tourists safe after brakes fail on Phuket’s Patong Hill
PHUKET: The driver of a Phuket tour bus avoided a serious accident on Patong Hill this morning by running the bus off the road before driving down the steep slope on the east side of the hill.Bus driver Sutthichai Pohad was ferrying about 20 Chinese tourists from Patong to Phuket Town at about 8am when he realized the brakes were…
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PGM CCM Rhaman Putra Championship Reduced to 54 Holes
The PGM CCM Rahman Putra Golf Championship, which is the second event to be played on the Asian Development Tour (ADT) this season, will be decided over 54 holes, tournament officials announced on Friday. The third and final round of the RM200,000 (approximately US$65,000) ADT event is scheduled to tee off at 7:45am (local time) and conclude on Saturday due…
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Vichit Bicycle Cup kicks off
PHUKET: This weekend will see the start of the Vichit Bicycle Cup 2014 tournament, which kicks off on Sunday, March 16. The competition aims to promote tourism in the area and encourage more people to use bicycles. On March 7, at the Suan Sriphunaat Park in Phuket, a press conference was held to announce the Cup and was hosted by…
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Special Report: Phuket’s stolen passports shine light on illegal migrant corridor to Europe
Special Report Passports stolen in Phuket that were used to board ill-fated Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 have placed Phuket in the center of an international maelstrom. Thousands of passports are reported lost or stolen in Thailand each year, and the region is gaining a reputation as a gateway for international asylum seekers to reach Europe. The Phuket Gazette’s Saran Mitrarat…
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Shark killed off Phuket Beach raises online ire
PHUKET: Photos posted online of a foreigner killing a small shark at Kata Noi Beach prompted outrage, but the act was legal, a marine official said. The pictures, posted on the Go Eco Phuket Facebook page (click here) yesterday, showed a man in the act of killing the shark on a rock. The post read, “We just received these awful…
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Letter from the Phuket Governor: Creating unity in a time of discord
Maitri Inthusut arrived on the island to take up the position of Governor of Phuket in October 2012. With a master’s degree in political science from Thammasat University, he joined the National Security Council, rising to the position of NSC Secretary-General, before taking up the position of Chief Secretary for Secretariat of the Cabinet. He has also served as Governor…
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Raging Phuket black market passport trade
PHUKET: Police have admitted they are powerless to prevent motorcycle and car rental operators from holding foreign tourists’ passports as collateral against potential damage to rented vehicles. The news comes as the island’s top police officers try to stymie the fallout from international news reports branding Phuket a key source for stolen passports in the wake of the mysterious disappearance…
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Phuket Sports: A fun-filled football function
PHUKET: Yesterday morning, March 13, the Palm House International School Rawai hosted a football skills clinic for their students, as well as a group of fellow students from the nearby Wat Sawang Arom School. About thirty students took part in the activities, which were led by Phuket FC players Ricarte Dos Santos Tales, Namchai Yongyuth, Alef Poh-ji and Wuttichai Sooksen.…
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Phuket Police go for the balls to unite Patong
PHUKET: Patong Police Superintendent Chiraphat Pochanaphan, ousted by the tuk-tuk blockade of Patong last week, is back and considering using ball sports, namely a football match, to unite competing factions in the busy resort town. Col Chiraphat quietly returned to work on Monday, less than a week after his abrupt transfer to stave off violence during a blockade of the…
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Phuket murder fugitive “Mick the Pom’ arrested in the Philippines
PHUKET: British murder fugitive Michael John Taylor, better known in Phuket as “Mick The Pom”, has been arrested in the Philippines. Taylor, who celebrated his 50th birthday on September 20 last year, was wanted for the stabbing murder of his girlfriend Jantra Weangta, 27, in Phuket. Ms Jantra who was found stabbed to death in Taylor’s rented bungalow near Chalong…
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Local Phuket student could be ‘The Star’
PHUKET: A local Phuket student is battling it out in the last rounds of The Star, a popular Thai singing competition broadcast on nationwide television every weekend. Phuket Governor Maitri called on fellow Phuket residents to cast their votes in support of Natthawadee “Nong Nut” Dokkrathin, a student from Satree Phuket School, who is one of eight final contestants on…
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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