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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Sponsored A healthy tomorrow starts today: Celebrate the great American Smokeout day
The Great American Smokeout, held this year on November 17, is a nationwide event that encourages smokers to take their first steps towards a smoke-free life. If you’re an expat in Thailand, this day could be a timely reminder to...
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Phuket National Park chief lays to rest death threat rumor
PHUKET: Sirinath National Park chief Cheewapap Cheewatham has denied claims that he or any other officers investigating alleged encroachment onto national park land have received death threats. “Since I started my work here, I have not received any death threats from anyone. I have not heard any reports of any other officers receiving death threats, either,” chief Cheewapap said. “However,…
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Phuket beach club manager killed, three Thais injured in head-on crash
UPDATE: Since this story was posted online, the Gazette has learned that car accident victim Christian Roth was the Operations Manager at the Xana Beach Club, operated by Angsana Laguna Phuket and Attica. Kampanat Mataramanee, Associate Relations Manager of Angsana Laguna Phuket, confirmed that the Mexican Embassy in Bangkok has been notified of the incident and that Mr Roth’s family…
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Phuket taxis agree to standard fares
PHUKET: More than 50 representatives from taxi organizations across Phuket have agreed to a schedule of standard fares to be charged island-wide. The benchmark agreement, which is expected to resolve many of the issues – and violent conflicts – related to fares charged, was forged at a meeting at Phuket Provincial Hall on Wednesday. The schedule of standard fares will…
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Bogus Phuket tour guides, gem rip-offs in firing line
PHUKET: Phuket jewelry shops that overcharge tourists and tour companies that hire illegal guides are to be targeted by the latest campaign by provincial authorities to preserve a “billion baht” business, officials were told this week.“I want tour companies to follow the law. Their main tour guides must be Thai. If they do not, they will be in trouble,” Phuket…
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Sea turtle with fish net wounds saved on Phuket beach
PHUKET: Yet another female sea turtle was rescued on Phuket’s shores yesterday, after suffering lacerations to its flipper from fishing nets. The turtle, found on Patong Beach, is the 25th female Olive Ridely sea turtle found injured on the coastline of Phuket and Phang Nga within the past two months, confirmed Dr Kongkiat Kittiwattanawong, who heads the Phuket Marine Biological…
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Damrong to ramp up Phuket national park probe
PHUKET: The Director-General of the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Conservation, Damrong Phidet, has warned that come September 25 he will order 400 officers to start a full-scale investigation into land encroachment along the boundaries of Phuket’s Sirinath Marine National Park. In Phuket yesterday, Mr Damrong flamed some officials for their slow progress in the investigation of 12 resorts…
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Phuket Sports: Quiksilver Open at Patong Beach update
PHUKET: Women’s division competitors were the first to be sent out yesterday morning under sunny tropical skies and two foot waves, to kick off day one of the 6-star ASC/ISC sanctioned Quiksilver Open Phuket at Patong Beach.Local Thai surfer and current ASC rankings leader Annissa Flynn had no trouble winning her heat and looks in fine form to make it…
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Heavy rain prompts flood, landslide warning
PHUKET: The Thai Meteorological Department (TMD) has issued its sixth official warning in 36 hours for flash flooding, forest run-off and landslides in Phang Nga, Krabi and Trang – but has yet to issue a warning for Phuket. Likewise, the Phuket Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM) confirmed to the Phuket Gazette this afternoon that no flash flood or…
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Funeral begins for revered abbot of Phuket’s Wat Chalong
PHUKET: A seven-day funeral service began yesterday for the revered Abbot of Phuket’s famed Wat Chaithararam, well known among foreigners simply as Wat Chalong (Chalong Temple). Phra Ajarn Udomwetchakit Uttamuyano, often called “Phra Ajarn Lim Wat Chalong” by his devotees, died on Tuesday, September 11, at 4:21pm at the Coronary Care Unit of Bangkok Hospital Phuket. He was 87 years…
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Comatose French tourist dies from motorbike crash injuries
PHUKET: French tourist Jerome Sebastien Heras, 35, who was left comatose by a motorbike accident in Karon on September 3, died of his injuries early yesterday morning. Medical staff at Vachira Phuket Hospital told the Phuket Gazette that Mr Heras was unconscious when he was brought to the hospital, and remained so. “Mr Heras remained in critical condition as his…
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Phuket Labor welfare chief warns against minimum wage cheats
PHUKET: The chief of the Phuket Provincial Labor Protection and Welfare Office has warned employers that his office is inspecting businesses across the island and is prepared to take legal action against any firms found paying less than the 300 baht a day minimum wage. Phuket Labor Welfare chief Kittipong Laonipon explained to the Gazette that his concerns about minimum…
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“I believe my decision has the interests of British athletics…
“I believe my decision has the interests of British athletics at its heart in sustaining this culture.” PHUKET: Dutchman Charles van Commenee is to stand down as UK Athletics head coach, citing a poor medal haul during the Olympics as the reason. Before the games, he said he would step down if the team did not achieve his target of…
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Rawai rides for Phuket road safety
PHUKET: Local government in Phuket is continuing its battle to reduce the number of motorbike accident fatalities and serious injuries that frequently occur to children of school age.Yesterday, it was the turn of Rawai Municipality to take up the fight at Muang Phuket School on Wisit Road in Rawai.Phuket Democrat MP Anchalee Vanich Thepabutr presided over the opening ceremony of…
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Phuket blood bank calls for A-, O- donors
PHUKET: The Phuket Regional Blood Center (PRBC) is calling for donations of Rhesus-negative (Rh-) blood types to bolster stocks that are now critically low. “We have only one unit of ‘A negative’ and one of ‘O negative’ blood,” PRBC Director Pornthip Rattajak told the Phuket Gazette. She explained that Rh-negative blood types are far more common among Caucasians than Asians.…
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Off-duty cop accused of Phuket shooting kicked off police force
PHUKET: The off-duty police officer accused of shooting a man dead in Phuket Town on May 5 has been kicked off the police force, but has yet to face charges for the killing. Rachaporn Semaksorn was discharged from the Royal Thai Police about a month ago after months of being relegated to desk duties, Patong Police Deputy Superintendent Kittipong Klaikaew…
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On-board CCTV snaps Phi Phi “iPirates’ stealing tourist laptop
PHUKET: Two ferry crewmen were arrested and charged yesterday after CCTV evidence showed the pair stealing a laptop computer from a tourist travelling on their boat. The victim, 31-year-old Australian national Evan Russell Darnley-Pentes, was returning with a friend from Phi Phi Island on Sunday when the theft occurred. However, it was only after his return to Rassada Pier that…
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“I don’t know how I came through in the end…”
“I don’t know how I came through in the end, I just managed to get through.” PHUKET: Andy Murray has won his first Grand Slam final at the fifth time of asking. Murray defeated Novak Djokovic 7-6 (12-10), 7-5, 2-6, 3-6, 6-2 in four hours 54 minutes to win the US Open and in doing so ended Britain’s 76-year wait…
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Phuket Governor to retire September 30, but replacement yet to be named
PHUKET: Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha is set to retire from civil service on September 30, just 19 days away, but his replacement has yet to be named, the Phuket Gazette has learned.Governor Tri took up the position of Governor of Phuket on October 1, 2010, but had already served as a Phuket Vice Governor for four years following a posting…
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Phuket Sports: ASC’s final ride at Quiksilver Open Phuket
PHUKET: The Quiksilver Open surf contest is back in town with surfers streaming in from all over the world. Patong Beach, the most popular in Phuket, will host professional surfers from all over Asia, from Wednesday to Sunday. This year’s tournament has been upgraded to a 6-Star, dual-sanctioned competition and Asian surfers are expected to turn out in force. They…
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New B153mn indoor sports center opens in Phuket Town
PHUKET: Sports fans and spectators packed the 4,000-seat Indoor Sports Complex at Saphan Hin to the rafters on Saturday for the new venue’s official opening ceremony. Built on 207 rai at a cost of about 153 million baht, the center was first used for the 28th National Youth Games, dubbed the “Phuket Games”, held on the island earlier this year.…
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Phuket Food Festival goes “booze-free’, but lays on the entertainment
PHUKET: For the first time in its 15-year history, the annual Phuket Good Taste Food Festival at Saphan Hin in Phuket Town this year will be held specifically without any alcohol for sale and with no plastic food containers. Announcing the news on Saturday, Phuket City Mayor Somjai Suwansupana said that about 100 booths selling food will be at this…
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“I honestly can’t believe I won…”
“I honestly can’t believe I won. I was preparing my runner-up speech because she was playing so great.” PHUKET: American Serena Williams won her 15th Grand Slam singles title and became the first woman over 30 to win the US Open since Martina Navratilova in 1987. Williams beat world number-one Victoria Azarenka 6-2, 2-6, 7-5 in a match that lasted…
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Phuket Live Wire: A galaxy of pads, a clamour of nooks and an army of androids
PHUKET: Welcome to the third of four installments in my ongoing series about where the computer industry is headed as we barrel along to the Christmas season. If you are thinking about buying any new electronics – computer, tablet, phone, maybe even a TV – it would be worthwhile to stay on top of developments between now and Christmas. Some…
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Death of German woman ‘natural’, say Phuket Police
PHUKET: Police do not suspect foul play in the death of a foreign woman found dead in her Phuket villa yesterday morning. Cherng Talay Police inspector Sarubadee Butranongsaeng told the Phuket Gazette that the woman was found dead by her husband at her home in Baan Layan. He named the deceased as German national Maria Makeenta, as identified by her…
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Phuket’s first underpass to spur new traffic woes
PHUKET: Motorists have been warned to expect major delays when construction begins next month on a 599-million-baht underpass at the Darasamuth Junction, on the bypass road near the Central Festival Phuket shopping mall. Chavalert Lertchavanakul, Project Manager at the Department of Highways’ Bureau of Bridge Construction in Bangkok, broke the news at a meeting in Phuket to finalize areas of…
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Phuket park raids prompt villagers’ plea to keep road, power supply
PHUKET: A community of farmers living on a road leading into Sirinath Marine National Park, on Phuket’s west coast, have appealed for the road and power supply to their village not be cut off following a police complaint being filed against a nearby villa project for encroaching on national park land. In making the plea, Jaroon Boonchu presented to Sirinath…
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Chalong seeks B300mn for Phuket flood prevention
PHUKET: The Chalong Municipality has requested 300 million baht in funding from the Royal Irrigation Department for a permanent flood-prevention system after last month’s floods again highlighted the issue of flash flooding in Phuket. The project proposes the construction of retaining walls along all canals in the Chalong area to prevent debris and soil from clogging and disrupting the water…
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Phuket hacks back drug “growers’ in Thalang
PHUKET: Thalang police and district officers hacked open a path for progress in the war on drugs in Phuket by cutting down more than 60 kratom trees in Srisoonthorn yesterday. Despite the trees being native to Southeast Asia, their leaves have been designated a controlled substance, in the same category as cannabis, since promulgation of the Kratom Act in 1943.…
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Phuket Sports: Rory continues to roar; Golf tip
PHUKET: This week marked the second of golf’s FedEx playoffs, with the PGA’s Deutsche Bank Open at the Tournament Players Club, Boston. The parkland golf course with narrow curving fairways requires more precision than power off the tees and tests players accuracy and short games more than their all out power games. Only 100 players from the FedEx points list…
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Phuket Sports: Italian Grand Prix preview
PHUKET: In my last article I said I thought Hamilton would be a very strong contender at Spa together with Räikkönen, Rosberg, Michael Schumacher, Romain Grosjean and Jenson Button. I said it looked hard for Ferrari and Red Bull to shine, but also said “Who knows“? In the event Lewis Hamilton, Sergio Perez and Fernando Alonso were shunted off the…
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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