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.
-
Sponsored Travel insurance vs digital nomad insurance: What’s the difference?
Travel insurance and digital nomad insurance protect travellers but cater to different needs. Travel insurance is for short trips, like vacations or business trips. It covers things like medical emergencies, trip cancellations, and lost bags. It works best for people...
-
Phuket tourists warned about illegal slow loris touts
PHUKET: A seven-day educational campaign against profiteering from slow lorises and other wildlife is now underway on the streets of Patong. Last night about 30 government officers handed out English-language brochures on the illegal use of wildlife in one of the most tourist-dense areas of Phuket, between Loma Park and Soi Bangla in Patong (map here). The officers were from…
-
Phuket Gazette Sports: Chelsea face second exit as Spurs trounce Inter
Tottenham thump sorry Inter, Chelsea stung Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Tottenham Hotspur trounced a sorry Inter Milan 3-0 in the Europa League yesterday while last year’s European champions Chelsea were humbled 1-0 by Steaua Bucharest after being stung by a Raul Rusescu penalty.Big-spending Russian pair Zenit St Petersburg and Anzhi Makhachkala failed to manage a goal between them. Zenit lost…
-
Phuket protest delivers possible reprieve for Muslim teacher sacked for joining Hajj
PHUKET: About 100 parents, students, community leaders and other Muslim residents from across Phuket gathered in front of Muslim Wittaya School on Thepkrasattri Road in Koh Kaew this morning to protest a teacher being sacked for taking unapproved leave to join the Hajj. The protesters called for the school board to recast their decision to sack Parinya Payadsub, a respected…
-
Hail Phuket Provincial Hall
PHUKET: Protests over the recently-unveiled plan to build a new 465-million-baht Phuket Provincial Hall (story here) strike us as quite surprising, especially the fact that self-described “local people” are leading the opposition: virtually all of the land in the immediate vicinity belongs to the state. Few would argue the need for a larger provincial hall complex on Phuket. Various plans…
-
US Embassy to stage “outreach visit’ to Phuket
PHUKET: The Consular Section of the American Embassy in Bangkok will hold an “Outreach Visit” at Le Meridien Phuket Beach Resort in Karon (map here) on March 15. Consular staff will be available from 8am to midday to provide services on: • Passport renewal applications (US$110 or 3,520 baht for adult passports, US$105 or 3,360 baht for a child’s passport).…
-
Keep your Phuket junk clean and green, traders told
PHUKET: Traders dealing in secondhand goods and discarded items are under scrutiny in the latest campaign to keep the island green. Officers from the Pollution Control Department are working with the regional Environment Office to ensure recyclables and heavy materials dumped at the stores are disposed of appropriately. Surachai Kulthong, from the regional Environment Office headquarters, explained to the Gazette…
-
Phuket taxi driver confesses to assault, abduction – denies rape
PHUKET: A Phuket taxi driver has confessed to beating and abducting a karaoke hostess before stealing her valuables and leaving her tied up in a Phuket hotel room.However, he has denied the rape charge filed against him by the woman.Phuket City Police arrested Suksan Mornamrong, 28, at his rented home in Koh Kaew for the alleged rape on Monday night…
-
Russian tourist struck down by Phuket bus
PHUKET: A Russian tourist suffered head and leg injuries when he was hit by a ‘pink bus’ in the middle of Phuket Town yesterday.The tourist was named as Kirill Kulagin by Lt Col Yongyuth Kongmalai, a deputy superintendent at Phuket City Police Station.“The man was hit by an OrBorJor [Phuket Provincial Administration Organization] pink bus at about 10am, when he…
-
Putting it all on the line – Live Wire
PHUKET: With renovations running full-tilt on my new digs in Kathu, near Phuket Town, it’s time for me to stop hypothesizing and analyzing, pays my money, and takes my chances. That’s what this week’s Live Wire is all about – taking chances on a new internet land line. Two weeks ago, I broke down the internet services in Phuket into…
-
Myanmar Navy makes historic visit to Phuket
PHUKET: Under a tight program, Capt Aung Zaw Hlaing, Commander of Myanmar Number 1 Fleet, still made time for an exclusive interview with the Phuket Gazette during the navy’s historic first diplomatic visit to a foreign country (click here for story). “We are very pleased to be here. It is the first time our ships have visited Thailand,” Capt Hlaing…
-
Laguna Phuket Golf Club gets an upgrade
PHUKET: The Laguna Phuket Golf Club will begin a comprehensive course upgrade on July 1, aimed at significantly improving its complete golf experience as a world-class, five-star golfing facility.The entire project is estimated to take a maximum of 18 months to complete, with the upgraded 18-hole course scheduled for full operation by January 1, 2015.”During recent years the combination of…
-
Phuket Gazette Sports: Man Utd out as Ronaldo scores winner
Ronaldo returns to knock out United Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Former Manchester United hero Cristiano Ronaldo scored the winner against his old club to give Real Madrid a 2-1 victory at Old Trafford and a place in the Champions League quarter-finals last night. United, 1-0 up in the game after Real defender Sergio Ramos put through his own goal…
-
Phuket Gazette World Sports: Preview of Champions league clash – round 2
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Sports news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Manchester United’s Jones ruled out of Real match Reuters/ Phuket GazettePHUKET: Manchester United’s Phil Jones will miss the Champions League last 16 second leg at home to Real Madrid after failing to recover from an ankle injury, manager Alex Ferguson said.The versatile defender or midfielder suffered the…
-
Phuket residents protest new B465mn provincial hall
PHUKET: More than 200 Phuket residents protested today against the construction of the new provincial hall. The protesters gathered this morning at Sanam Chai in Phuket Town, opposite the current provincial Hall (map here), to express their concerns that the proposed new hall will negatively affect the lifestyle of people in the area. Former Rassada Mayor Suratin Lianudom and former…
-
Phuket Gazette office to be closed tomorrow
PHUKET: The Phuket Gazette would like to inform our readers and advertisers that our office in Koh Kaew will be closed tomorrow, Tuesday, March 5, due to yet another all-day blackout in the area to upgrade power lines. The blackout affects Soi Harn Farang and Soi Koh Kaew 33, and may affect adjoining areas that are supplied electricity from power…
-
Phuket United shock Lightning Shrimp with hat trick
PHUKET: With the Thailand futsal season rapidly winding down, Phuket United maintained their good run of form, winning their third match in a row by defeating Southern rivals, Surat Thani 4-2 in a tense yet thrilling match on Saturday night in Phuket Town.Played at the Saphan Hin Indoor Sports Complex, the game was Phuket’s 26th and Surat Thani’s 25th match…
-
Phuket mob surrounds British expat who hit motorcyclist
Correction: The original story yesterday named the driver, as repeatedly confirmed and spelled out to our reporters by Thalang Police Sub Lt Niphon Temsang, as “Martin Ian Potter”. His reports of the surname were incorrect. The driver charged over the incident was Martin Ian Foster, who reportedly works in the hotel industry on Koh Maphrao. The Gazette obtained the correction…
-
Phuket Police raid cockfight
PHUKET: Police broke up a cockfighting match near a rubber plantation in central Phuket yesterday, arresting 16 men and confiscating two roosters and 220 baht found at the scene. The number of men attending the matches had grown steadily over the past few weeks, causing local residents to complain to police, who sent an undercover agent to discover the time…
-
Phuket blood bank launches March mobile donation drive
PHUKET: The Phuket Chapter of the Red Cross Society has announced its schedule of mobile donation clinics for the month of March. The Phuket Regional Blood Center (PRBC), often called upon to save the lives of Thais and foreigners, is low on stocks of blood type A. “We need to maintain a daily minimum stock of 200 units of A,…
-
Phuket Charity Event Sets Record
PHUKET: The Phuket Family & Gourmet Festival, held at Royal Phuket Marina on January 26, raised a whopping one million baht for children’s charities, it was announced this morning by the Bangkok-based food wholesaler Jagota Brothers, the creator and driving force behind the event. The record-breaking sum for a single-event fundraising effort on the island followed a cash donation of…
-
Breaking News: Democrats win Bangkok election, Yingluck concedes defeat
PHUKET: Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has conceded defeat in the election today for Bangkok Governor, handing the election win over to Democrat candidate Sukhamband Parabitra.PM Yingluck publicly announced the defeat at 6:15pm after the ongoing count of votes at the polls showed that Sukhamband had amassed more than a million votes while leading Pheu Thai rival Pol Gen Pongsapat Pongcharoen…
-
Under Investigation: Phuket villagers foraging for turtle eggs
PHUKET: The safety of turtle eggs in a protected nesting ground at the northern tip of Phuket is under investigation by the Mai Khao Marine Turtle Foundation. The Phuket Gazette contacted the foundation after a reader reported seeing turtle tracks and people probing for eggs in the area between Maikhao Dream Villa Resort and Spa and Maikhao Beach Bungalows (map…
-
World Sports: Review of Six Nations
PHUKET: Before the Six Nations began the pundits were, as usual, making their predictions about the destiny of the championship. After their stunning autumn victory over Australia, France was strongly fancied to win “Le Grand Slam”. Wales, despite being current Six Nations champions, had lost seven games on the bounce and seemed to be out of contention. Ireland, so strong…
-
Pharmacy raid nets 24 youths in cough syrup blitz
PHUKET: A raid on a Phuket Town pharmacy early yesterday evening turned into a bumper haul for officers as they arrested a procession of youngsters turning up to buy cough syrup specifically to make the local drug cocktail “4×100”. Following an order by Muang District Chief Supachai Pochanukul, the 15 officers arrived at the Pharma Sure drug store on Si…
-
Phuket Sports: Southern Sea Warriors reinforced ahead of season start
PHUKET: In their first fixture, Phuket FC, taking on the new nickname this year as the “Southern Sea Warriors” are set to play Big Bang Chula United (BBCU), a team relegated last year from the TPL. The match will kick off today at 6pm at the Army Stadium in Bangkok, BBCU’s home pitch. The Southern Sea Warriors’ first home match…
-
DNP outlines conservation issues to be presented to CITES
PHUKET: In town yesterday for the investigation into encroachment on Phuket’s Sirinath National Park (story here), Manopat Huamuangkaew, the director-general of the National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department (DNP), took time to hand out pro-conservation pamphlets to tourists at Phuket International Airport. The pamphlets also advertise the 16th annual Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna…
-
Phuket Gazette Sports: Boas bounce back; Benitez’s plea; Giggs signs – again
Spurs driven by last season’s stumble, says Villas-Boas Reuters / Phuket GazettePHUKET: One year after his axing by Chelsea left a dent in his ego, Andre Villas-Boas finds his reputation soaring again as high-flying Tottenham Hotspur prepare to host north London rivals Arsenal in a match of huge significance.Win it and Tottenham would move seven points clear of their arch-rivals…
-
Phuket Police hunt continues for Jintana killers
PHUKET: Police are continuing to question individuals over the murder of Jintana Mahattanapak as they await the results of CCTV-footage analysis being conducted in Bangkok (story here). “Experts in Bangkok are still trying to extract information, that will lead to the arrests of the killers, from the CCTV footage we sent them. However, we have yet to be able to…
-
DSI launches fresh attack on illegally issued Phuket land title deeds
PHUKET: The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) stepped in last week to expedite the ongoing investigation of illegal land encroachment in Sirinart National Park. Acting on a complaint from The Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP), whose own investigation seemed to ground to a halt last year when an expected 366 investigators from Bangkok failed to arrive,…
-
Thailand Futsal: Andaman Pearl clamp down on Killer Bees
PHUKET: The Andaman Pearl are floating high following back-to-back wins in the past week. Topping off Sunday’s away win to Samut Songkhram (2-6), Phuket’s latest victory was earned at home on Wednesday night against Nonthaburi FC (5-3). Played at Phuket’s Saphan Hin Indoor Sports Complex, the match was both sides’ 25th match of the 30-fixture GMM Sport Thailand Futsal Premier…
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.
Don't forget to check out some other things to do in Thailand - get help starting a business or finding a job in Thailand, buy Thailand property, rent a yacht or book a medical procedure worldwide.