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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    The real cost of being a digital nomad in Thailand

    Thailand is a popular destination for digital nomads, known for its affordable living, lively culture, and modern facilities. With its warm climate, great food, and friendly communities, it's an ideal place for remote workers to balance work and travel. However,...

  • Oldest football club faces permanent relegation; Sports roundup

    Oldest football club faces permanent relegation; Sports roundup

    World waiting for Real v Man United clash, says Mourinho Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Real Madrid manager José Mourinho ran the rule over Manchester United yesterday before declaring that Wednesday’s Champions League clash between the sides was “the match the world is waiting for”. The last 16 first-leg game at the Bernabeu pits old adversaries Mourinho and Alex Ferguson…

  • Attorney denies Norwegian man willed millions of baht to Phuket elderly, children | Thaiger

    Attorney denies Norwegian man willed millions of baht to Phuket elderly, children

    PHUKET: Police have not been able to find a will to substantiate rumors that a Norwegian man left a portion of his 100-million-baht estate to Phuket foundations for the elderly and for children. Frank Robert, 52, died on Saturday from pre-existing medical conditions, a Patong Hospital staffer told Patong Police. “I have talked to the attorney who will execute Mr…

  • Live Wire – Putting the pieces together

    Live Wire – Putting the pieces together

    PHUKET: In the past three editions of Live Wire, I’ve taken you through a detailed list of the internet packages currently available in Phuket and a description of what kinds of packages – “3G,” ADSL, Fiber, etc – most people will want. Last week I warned you about the truly awful experience one reader had with the new TOT 3G…

  • Phuket United end losing streak, beat Leo Bang Seu at home

    Phuket United end losing streak, beat Leo Bang Seu at home

    PHUKET: A 4-1 second-half run secured victory for Phuket United (7-4) in their match against Leo Bang Seu on Saturday night in Phuket Town. The much needed win ends the Andaman Pearl’s five-game losing streak. Played in front of about 500 fans at the Saphan Hin Indoor Sports Complex, the match was both team’s 20th of the 30-fixture Thai Futsal…

  • Phuket Gazette Sports: Rugby’s Six Nations update

    Phuket Gazette Sports: Rugby’s Six Nations update

    English coaches in awe of young side’s maturity Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: England’s renaissance under coach Stuart Lancaster continued apace yesterday with a first Six Nations win in Ireland in a decade that left the coach and his staff almost in awe of their young side’s maturity. It was a first trip to a damp Dublin for many of…

  • Phuket prepared for Chinese New Year

    Phuket prepared for Chinese New Year

    PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) has prepared an extravagant celebration to ring in the Year of the Water Snake with the arrival of the Chinese New Year tomorrow. The celebration is slated to kick off at Sanam Chai (across from Phuket City Hall, map here) at 4pm. “Acrobats from Henan, China will be performing as well as other…

  • American tourist found dead in Phuket hotel

    American tourist found dead in Phuket hotel

    PHUKET: A 23-year-old American tourist was found dead in his Cherng Talay hotel room by staff after he failed to checkout at noon yesterday. Staff at the Resident Resort and Spa Retreat called Cherng Talay Police at about 10:30pm to report the death. “When we entered the room, we found the man face down on the bed,” Cherng Talay Police…

  • Phuket Deputy Honorary Consul: Russian tourists cause most problems, not expats

    Phuket Deputy Honorary Consul: Russian tourists cause most problems, not expats

    PHUKET: Santi Udomkiratak, 48, has been the Deputy Honorary Consul of the Russian Federation for the provinces of Phuket, Krabi and Phang Nga since 2008. Born and raised in Phuket, Mr Santi received a degree in mechanical engineering from King Mongkut’s University of Technology in Bangkok. Here, he gives his views on Russians in Phuket. Most of the problems we…

  • Public sector Anti-Corruption Commission packs in Phuket land title investigations

    Public sector Anti-Corruption Commission packs in Phuket land title investigations

    PHUKET: The investigation by the Public sector Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) into allegedly illegally issued land titles covering more than 500 rai of land in Phuket has silently been dropped.The PACC, set up specifically to fight corruption among government officials, quietly dropped the probe into hundreds of Phuket land titles just days after Col Dusadee Arayawuth, who had initiated the investigation,…

  • Rawai Municipality takes charge of one of many environmental issues plaguing Racha

    Rawai Municipality takes charge of one of many environmental issues plaguing Racha

    PHUKET: The Rawai municipality was assigned to take charge of the mounting trash-disposal issues on Koh Racha Yai despite progressive local government talks yesterday with hotel and resort representatives about a conglomerate of environmental issues facing the once pristine island. “Though hotel and resort representatives agreed to take care of the trash-disposal problem themselves, I have assigned the Rawai Municipality…

  • Phuket cement truck flips on late-night trip down Patong Hill

    Phuket cement truck flips on late-night trip down Patong Hill

    PHUKET: An out of control cement truck flipped at the bottom of Patong Hill last night, skidding on its side into a motorbike and two houses before coming to a halt about 50 meters away from Wat Suawan Kiriwong Patong on Phra Baramee Road (map here). No one was seriously injured. “It was about 1am last night, and I was…

  • Phuket Old Town festival to showcase Chinese heritage

    Phuket Old Town festival to showcase Chinese heritage

    PHUKET: The annual Phuket Old Town Festival will begin on February 15, ushering in the three-day celebration of the town’s historical origins and unique ethnic mix of cultures. To announce this year’s festival, leading Phuket dignitaries gathered at Queen Sirikit Park on Thursday night. Joining Phuket City Mayor Somjai Suwansupana in announcing the event were representatives from Phuket City Municipality,…

  • Police snap up “kratom’ grower in northern Phuket

    Police snap up “kratom’ grower in northern Phuket

    PHUKET: Police in the northern Phuket area of Thalang yesterday raided and shut down a tropical fruit orchard that was also being used as a kratom-growing operation. The orchard owner, named by police as Nathee Tianthong,50, had five kratom trees growing on his property – in his house police found 400 grams of harvested leaves. All five trees were cut…

  • Phuket City police bag druggy by using GPS tracker from stolen iPhone

    Phuket City police bag druggy by using GPS tracker from stolen iPhone

    PHUKET: Police quickly nabbed a Phuket druggy by using the GPS tracking feature of the iPhone he had stolen from a German tourist yesterday. The German tourist, David Trebs, was standing in front of the 99 Oldtown Boutique Guesthouse in Phuket Town at about 2am yesterday when a man on a motorbike drove by and snatched his iPhone, explained Lt…

  • Phuket Soccer Schools and Thanyapura set for international tourney

    Phuket Soccer Schools and Thanyapura set for international tourney

    PHUKET: The Phuket Soccer Schools (PSS) is hosting a 40-team international tournament this weekend at Thanyapura Sports and Leisure Club (TSLC). Teams will compete in U8, U10, U12 and U14 age groups. The tournament has attracted teams from Hong Kong, Singapore, Koh Samui and Phuket. The opening ceremony starts at 8:30am on Saturday with the closing ceremony taking place on…

  • Thailand Futsal League: Andaman Pearl bagged by CAT

    Thailand Futsal League: Andaman Pearl bagged by CAT

    PHUKET: The island’s pro futsal team, Phuket United, suffered their fifth straight loss on Wednesday night, losing at home 1-2 to the state-owned telecom corporation flagship team, CAT FC. Played in front of about 500 fans at the Saphan Hin Indoor Sports Complex, the match was both sides’ 19th of 30 fixtures in the Thailand Futsal Premier League (TFPL) 2012-2013…

  • Thai Army helicopter makes safe emergency landing in Phuket

    Thai Army helicopter makes safe emergency landing in Phuket

    PHUKET: A rapid loss in oil pressure forced the pilots of a Royal Thai Army helicopter to make an emergency landing in a field in central Phuket yesterday.No injuries were reported in the incident.Thalang Police were alerted to the emergency landing by villagers in Baan Pru Champa.“The helicopter belongs to the 2nd Air Mobile Company in Nakhon Sri Thammarat. There…

  • Rogue wheel in Phuket leaves Russian in ICU

    Rogue wheel in Phuket leaves Russian in ICU

    PHUKET: A Russian biker remains unconscious in Bangkok Hospital Phuket’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU) after being knocked from his motorbike by a rogue wheel that flew off a 10-wheeled truck on Thepakasatrri Road yesterday. The Russian, named by police as Alexey Balabko, 26, was a riding a “big bike” when he was struck by one of two wheels that came…

  • Phuket jet-ski operator nabbed, denies anchor attack | Thaiger

    Phuket jet-ski operator nabbed, denies anchor attack

    PHUKET: Police have apprehended the Phuket jet-ski operator who reportedly swung an anchor angrily at the head of a German tourist at Kata Beach on Monday (story here). Named only as “Mr Buntoon”, age 33, the operator was brought in for questioning by Karon Police yesterday. “He confessed that he run over the German man’s belongings with the jet-ski trailer…

  • One dead, one injured in Phuket construction landslide

    One dead, one injured in Phuket construction landslide

    PHUKET: One man is dead and another injured after a landslide buried them while they were building a retaining wall high in the hills of Patong late yesterday afternoon.The two men were working in a trench about two meters deep when the land beside them gave way, burying them alive, explained Lt Thawatchai Srimai of the Patong Police.Rescue workers called…

  • Party monk defrocked over drugs, sex romp in Phuket

    Party monk defrocked over drugs, sex romp in Phuket

    PHUKET: A monk and two female friends having a sex party in a Patong hotel room were busted by police for drug use yesterday, and the monk was subsequently defrocked. After receiving a tip from local residents, police raided a hotel room at the southern end of Patong Beach. “We went to the location provided and found a monk and…

  • Phuket parents join “fight club’ | Thaiger

    Phuket parents join “fight club’

    PHUKET: Two parents tired of having their boy picked on by a gang of students at school took matters into their own hands today by turning up at the school and “slapping” the five bullies. They have since been charged with assault. Sgt Paritat Duangkamol of the Thalang Police was called to Muang Thalang School at 8:10am. Outside the principal’s…

  • Phuket Police search for jet-ski operator after anchor attack on German tourist

    Phuket Police search for jet-ski operator after anchor attack on German tourist

    PHUKET: Karon Police are looking for a jet-ski rental operator at Kata Beach who yesterday allegedly swung an anchor at the head of a German tourist.When contacted by the Phuket Gazette, Col Werawat Juntharavijit*, Acting Superintendent of the Karon Police, today said he had yet to be informed of the incident.“I have not received a report about this. I will…

  • Racha residents call for Phuket officials to fulfill old promises

    Racha residents call for Phuket officials to fulfill old promises

    PHUKET: The ongoing struggle to protect the beauty and environmental health of the tourist-popular Racha Yai Island, about 25 kilometers south of Phuket, continued yesterday in a meeting with Vice Governor Sommai Prijasilpa. Santi Chandi, representative of Racha Yai residents, asked the vice governor to solve the problems she had promised to solve at a meeting in May 2012. At…

  • Phuket to crack down on businesses using nominee shareholders

    Phuket to crack down on businesses using nominee shareholders

    PHUKET: An inspection team from Bangkok will be arriving in Phuket to help local officers investigate businesses with foreign owners that are suspected of using nominee shareholders, Phuket Governor Maitri Inthusut announced at a meeting this afternoon. About 3,700 “foreign-owned” business are registered in Phuket, explained Department of Business Development Phuket Office chief Nimit Kangkajit at the meeting. “Of course…

  • Spiraling Phuket prices blamed on B300 min wage

    Spiraling Phuket prices blamed on B300 min wage

    PHUKET: A market vendor at the busy Kaset Market in Phuket Town yesterday told the Phuket Governor the 300-baht-a-day minimum wage was forcing vendors to pass on price hikes of fresh produce to consumers. Governor Maitri Inthusut yesterday morning led officers to inspect food prices at Kaset fresh market, located behind the Robinson department store in Phuket Town (map here).…

  • Breaking News: Phuket fugitive Dane “Denny’ Knudsen arrested

    Breaking News: Phuket fugitive Dane “Denny’ Knudsen arrested

    PHUKET: Patong Police Superintendent Chiraphat Pochanaphan has confirmed to the Phuket Gazette that wanted Danish national Dennis Mark Knudsen, 24, has been arrested by Phuket Police. Mr Knudsen was wanted for breaking bail conditions after he failed to appear at Phuket Provincial Court on January 22 to resolve a dispute with Australians John Cohen and Adam Shea about a “big…

  • Thailand Futsal: Phuket United sunk by Navy

    Thailand Futsal: Phuket United sunk by Navy

    PHUKET: A second-half hat trick from Phuket United’s leading scorer, Jackson Santos, was not enough for his side to beat the Royal Navy FC, who walked away 5-3 winners in a futsal league match on Saturday evening in Bangkok. The match, played at Bangkok’s Fashion Island futsal arena, was both side’s 18th of 30 league matches in the Thailand Futsal…

  • Russian tourist found dead at Phuket resort, cause unclear

    Russian tourist found dead at Phuket resort, cause unclear

    PHUKET: Police are hoping that assistance from forensics investigators will help unravel the cause of death of a Russian tourist whose body was found in his Phuket resort villa yesterday. Chalong Police Deputy Superintendent Jumroon Plaiduang was called to a resort in Soi Na Tai in the southern Phuket beach area of Rawai (map here), at about 1:30pm. “We found…

  • Teaching Russian-language skills the key to resolving Phuket discord

    Teaching Russian-language skills the key to resolving Phuket discord

    PHUKET: A solution to the anti-Russian sentiment spreading rapidly in Phuket is Russian-language classes, the Russian Federation’s Deputy Honorary Consul in Phuket, Santi Udomkiratak, has told the Phuket Gazette.“Lack of Russian-language skills is a big part of the Russian issue here, and it’s been a problem for a very long time,” Mr Santi said.“There are very few Thai people who…

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.