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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Tiger Disco fire: British man appeals to find lost brother
PHUKET: A British man today held a public appeal to find his brother, who was last known to be at Tiger Discotheque at the time the deadly fire broke out at about 4am on Friday. With tears in his eyes, Joseph Tzouvanni, 26, told the press in Phuket that his brother, Michael Pio Tzouvanni, 24, had not been heard from…
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Tiger Disco fire: French, British named as probable victims
PHUKET: Patong Police Superintendent Jirapat Phochanaphan this afternoon confirmed to the Phuket Gazette that police were now investigating at least three more missing persons now suspected of being victims of the Tiger Discotheque fire that killed four people early Friday morning. “Police are investigating four people named as missing. We will ask for DNA samples to be provided so they…
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Phuket knock off Bangkok FC, 1-0
PHUKET: Phuket FC fans who gathered at the Nok Sanarm sports bar near Surakul Stadium in Phuket Town this morning erupted with cheer when the Islanders scored late in their away-match at Bangkok FC, then held on to win 1-0. The result marks the Islanders third consecutive victory, all from a 1-0 scoreline, and gives them great momentum going into…
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Patong Tunnel inches forward to 2018
PHUKET: The Expressway Authority of Thailand (EXAT), the government agency tasked with conducting a feasibility study of the Patong Road Tunnel project, has said that the tunnel from Kathu to Patong could be completed by 2018 if the budget is procured by the 2013 financial year. A study undertaken in November 2011 projected the amount required from the central government…
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Phuket corruption probe reveals “hundreds’ of suspicious land titles
PHUKET: The investigation by the Office of Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) into illegally issued land titles in Phuket has identified 100 plots that will be investigated thoroughly, but the number could easily double if tip-offs from local informants are accurate.PACC Secretary General Col Dusadee Arayawuth said that “some” of the 100 plots investigated so far had been cleared and…
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Mass-circulation ‘Asia Weekly’ launched in Phuket
PHUKET: The Phuket Gazette is proud this week to be ushering into Phuket the China Daily Asia Weekly, a world-class publication built in Hong Kong by, among others, senior expatriate editors from the UK, the United States, Europe, India, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand.Please find the launch issue tucked into this week’s Phuket Gazette, now on sale throughout the…
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Phuket Airport B5.7bn expansion “likely to start next year’
PHUKET: The 5.7-billion-baht expansion of Phuket International Airport is likely to begin next year, and take two and half years to complete, the Senate Standing Committee on Transportation was told this week. The Standing Committee, led by Committee Chairman Kecha Saksomboon, heard the news at a high-profile meeting at Phuket Airport on Wednesday. “The 5.7-billion-baht expansion project has now passed…
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Phuket B12mn meth bust “tip of the iceberg’, say Bangkok Police
PHUKET: The lead officer in the investigation that led to 12 million baht in methamphetamine being seized in Phuket last weekend has told the Phuket Gazette that the bust was the “tip of the iceberg” of the true volume of drugs being trafficked to the island from Bangkok.Kittisak “Ton” Sew-Eaw, 29, from Phuket, and Dusit “Boy” Chaiphan, 30, from Petchabun,…
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Round-the-clock treatment fails to save Phuket dolphin
PHUKET: The ailing striped dolphin that was under treatment at the Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC) died last weekend, two weeks after she washed ashore in Phang Nga. Despite round-the-clock treatment that included the fitting of a harness to help her swim, the female dolphin took her last breath on August 12. Dr Kongkiat Kittiwattanawong, who heads the PMBC’s Endangered…
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Protest against Tesco Lotus in Phuket Town
PHUKET: More than 500 local traders, business owners and residents marched on Provincial Hall yesterday to petition the Governor to stop construction of a new Tesco Lotus outlet planned for Phuket Town. After assembling at Rama X Park (Suan Luang), the protesters marched through the streets carrying signs with slogans reading “Tesco ruins our life in Phuket Town”, “We don’t…
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Phuket Sports: F1 mid-season report card
PHUKET: The season is half way through, everyone is taking the half-term holiday and it’s time to look at where the teams and drivers are. Red Bull gets a B. They have had many solid performances, but there are suspicions of cheating in tests in a car that is now off the pace. They have certainly pushed the regulations to…
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Tiger disco fire: Police to call in forensics experts from Bangkok
PHUKET: Forensics experts from Bangkok will be called in to assist Phuket officers in their investigation into what caused the deadly inferno at Tiger Discotheque on Patong’s Soi Bangla early this morning. The blaze, which claimed the lives of four people, may have started as a result of an electrical fault inside the building. Events inside the nightclub seem to…
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4 dead, 11 injured in Tiger disco inferno
PHUKET: A pre-dawn blaze at the popular Tiger Bar and Discotheque in Phuket has left four people dead and 11 people injured. Among the injured were four French nationals.Kathu Police were notified of the blaze at the well-known Patong nightspot at about 4am. Patong Municipality Fire Department rescuers raced to the scene with eight fire engines. It took them about…
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Phuket Prisoners bestowed Royal Pardon
PHUKET: More than 100 inmates at Phuket Provincial Prison were given a Royal Pardon today in honor of HM Queen Sirikit’s 80th birthday and HRH Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn’s 60th birthday.The Royal Pardons were granted by HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej to 750 convicts across Thailand today, 175 of which were incarcerated at Phuket Prison.Phuket Provincial Chief Administrative Officer Chaiwat Taepee…
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Phuket National Park chief transferred after island resorts raided
PHUKET: National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department (DNP) Director-General Damrong Phidet yesterday announced that the chief of Sirinath National Park will be transferred from Phuket after less than a month in office. “The Sirinath National Park Chief will be transferred to work at the DNP [offices] in Bangkok for 30 days,” said Mr Damrong. He went on to explain…
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Two survive as car plows into Phuket power pole
PHUKET: Two men lucky to be alive are recovering at Vachira Phuket Hospital in Phuket Town after the car they were travelling in slammed into a power pole in Cherng Talay about midnight last night. Arriving at the scene, on Pasak-Koktanod Road, police and Phuket Kusoldharm Rescue Foundation rescue workers found a white Toyota Vios with extensive damage to its…
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Chuvit Facebook tip-off sparks Phuket gambling raid
PHUKET: Phuket Police last night raided a gambling den operating near a major government school in Kathu after its location was revealed by controversial MP Chuwit Kamolvisit, leader of the Rak Thailand Party, on one of his Facebook pages. The raid on the gambling den, at 7:20pm in a house about 100 meters from Baan Kathu School, was conducted by…
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Forensics to probe suspected Patong jet-ski ‘arson attack’
PHUKET: Police yesterday called in forensic experts to investigate a fire that gutted a house and destroyed five jet-skis in Patong earlier that morning. At the scene, a burnt-down wooden house on Phang Muang Sai Kor Road, they discovered tyres had been placed near where the jet-skis were housed. Suspecting arson, they requested forensic assistance. Lt Col Kittisak Nuphueng, Inspector…
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Satree Phuket takes the initiative for AEC
PHUKET: In the next three years, the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) will come into force, and the region’s languages will be as important as English. A school on the resort island of Phuket in Thailand’s south has been providing Myanmar language classes to its high-school students. Secondary students at Satree Phuket School in the provincial seat are paying special attention…
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Governor opens “Festival of 1,000 eyes’
PHUKET: Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha yesterday officially opened the 20th Phuket Pineapple Fair at Saphan Hin Park in Phuket Town. The fair kicked off at 5pm and continues through to August 22. Phuket Agricultural chief Winai Khankaew explained to the Gazette, “It’s not just pineapples. There are all kinds of fruit, flowers and other agricultural products on show.” Among the…
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Phuket Sports: Orphans team up with Olympic finalists
PHUKET: A group of school children on Phuket played its part in helping the American pair of Jennifer Kessy and April Ross reach the recent Beach Volleyball Olympic final. Last year the duo competed in the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) Women’s World Tour in Karon and took some time out from competing in their tournament to watch a school…
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Phuket Town underground cable project ’90 per cent complete’
PHUKET: Phase two of the 39-million-baht project to bury central Phuket Town’s electricity mains cables is more than 90 per cent complete, Phuket City Mayor Somjai Suwansupana has confirmed. The Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) has already finished burying the electricity mains cable on Krabi and Deebuk Roads. They are now focused on burying the mains supply along sections of Thepkrasattri…
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Phuket Police close case on death of German woman
PHUKET: Police have closed their investigation into the death of a German woman in Phuket last Friday following the request of her husband, who has accepted that she died from cardiac arrest. Angelika Geibler, 60, was found dead by her husband at their home in Rawai. He woke early and left the house; when he returned he found her dead,…
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Phuket safe from Sumatra smog: Officials
PHUKET: An expert at the Phuket Provincial Health Office today confirmed that no health warning has been issued for Phuket following Sumatran fire-related smog blanketing Southern Thailand.“Phuket is not affected by the smog from Sumatra, so we have yet to issue a smog warning,” Health officer Walapa Jeenloy confirmed to the Phuket Gazette.“There are some other provinces effected by the…
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Foul complaints prompt Phuket piggery inspection
PHUKET: An inspection of a chicken and pig farm led by Phuket Vice Governor Somkiet Sangkaosuttirak has resulted in several recommendations for the farm owners to follow, but otherwise found nothing untoward other than the foul odor emanating from the site. The inspection follows residents at the The Valley 2 housing estate filing a group complaint with the Damrongtham Center…
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Olympics: Medalists come home to heroes’ welcome
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Rousing welcome Phuket Gazette / The Nation PHUKET: Thailand’s Olympic athletes returned home to a resounding heroes’ welcome yesterday after capturing three medals – including two silver – at the London Games. The Kingdom finished 57th out of 205 countries that competed in the sporting extravaganza.…
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Protest pressures Phuket police to reopen teen death crash probe
PHUKET: Following a public protest yesterday, Chalong Police will reopen their investigation into a traffic accident in which a 16-year-old boy died on Sunday. About 20 people, including the aggrieved father, Sompong Sae-min, friends and family, gathered at Chalong Police Station at about 10am. According to the police report, Weerachat Sae-min, a 16-year-old first-year commerce student at Phuket Technology College,…
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Phuket Live Wire: What exactly is this new 4G?
PHUKET: Thailand has been bombarded with “3G” advertising for years. As befits a term with no real definition, “3G” is all about marketing. A phone company can call two tin cans and a piece of string “3G” and get away with it. Not so 4G. Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in the US and Europe have been taken to court over…
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Phi Phi islanders, resort tackle rising tide of monsoon trash
PHUKET: Island residents and local resort staff on Koh Phi Phi Don teamed up for a mass beach cleanup on Sunday, removing more than 100 trash bags worth of rubbish that had washed ashore.Local residents together with more than 45 staff from the Holiday Inn Resort Phi Phi Island tackled the rising tide of trash at Lanah Bay, one of…
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Fireball engulfs Phuket marina workshop
PHUKET: Police believe that children playing with fireworks may have accidentally started a fire that destroyed a workshop at Phuket’s Yacht Haven Marina last night. Prai Junnoo, a 33-year-old security guard at the marina, reported the fire at about 9pm. Firefighters from the Mai Khao Tambon Administration Organization (OrBorTor) and the Thepkrasattri Municipality fire brigades arrived swiftly and took 30…
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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