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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Sports News: Thailand face tough challenge in Singapore tonight
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international communityPHUKET: Thailand will aim to gain the upper hand over old foes Singapore in the first leg of the ASEAN Championship final today, in a showdown of the tournament’s two most successful sides. Both have won the title three times, with their second championship showdown in five years…
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British ambassador joins fight against tourist scams
PHUKET: The British Ambassador to Thailand, Mark Kent, has joined a campaign by Thailand’s Ministry of Tourism to tackle tourist scams and will be in Phuket in the new year to discuss the issue with high-ranking Phuket officials. Ambassador Kent is being featured in a nationwide television campaign that will run until the end of December. In the video, Ambassador…
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No formal change in Non-Imm B visas
PHUKET: The Department of Consular Affairs head office in Bangkok, which coordinates policy for issuing visas at all Royal Thai Embassies around the world, has confirmed to the Phuket Gazette that there has been no formal change in policy concerning non-immigrant Business (“B”) visas issued in Malaysia. “The Royal Thai Embassy in Kuala Lumpur is still issuing multiple-entry, non-imm B…
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International Sports: Aussies snatch victory from jaws of a draw
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – International sports news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Siddle strikes to spark dramatic Australia win Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Seamers Peter Siddle and Mitchell Starc shared six late wickets to give Australia a dramatic 137-run victory over Sri Lanka in the last hour of the fifth and final day of the first…
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Karon Mayor: Phuket seafood vendors will be charged with beach encroachment
PHUKET: Karon Mayor Tawee Thongcham warned Phuket seafood vendors with stalls set up along Kata Beach that they will be charged with beach encroachment.The warning follows raids on beach touts led by Phuket Vice Governor Somkiet Sangkaosuttirak on November 28 – Loy Krathong.The raids, which included officers from the Muang District Office, Karon Municipality and local police, specifically targeted the…
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Tsunami warning app lands on Phuket shores
PHUKET: The National Disaster Warning Center (NDWC) launched a mobile phone application this month that allows iPhone and Android phone users to receive instant notifications of any tsunami alerts and warnings issued by the center. The “app” was launched on the online Apple App Store for iPhones and iPads on December 11, with an Android version launched on the Android…
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Crane rips roof off Phuket tour van
PHUKET: A retractable crane arm hanging over Patak Road in Chalong ripped the roof off a Phuket tour van full of tourists just after 9am today.The west-bound tour van was about 200 meters from Chalong Circle when it collided with the arm of the crane.The van was not overturned in the accident and at this stage no deaths or serious…
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French tourists in Phuket struck by falling tree
PHUKET: An unlucky pair of French tourists were enjoying a scenic motorbike ride along the road from Patong to Kamala on Saturday when they were struck down by a falling tree.Ruamkatanyu Foundation Phuket workers rushed to the scene after being notified of the accident by Kamala Police at about 4:30pm.“At the scene, we found the man had suffered only slight…
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Phuket’s “Non Tanon’, 16, wins The Voice Thailand
PHUKET: Phuket teenager Tanon “Non” Chamroen won the national singing talent quest The Voice Thailand 2012 last weekend. Standing on stage in Bangkok on Saturday night, Non sang the Thai love song Yung Mai Koey (“Still Never”) live on Channel 3’s nationwide broadcast of the finals.Now called “Non Tanon”, the Mattayom 4 student at Satree Phuket School in Phuket Town…
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Phuket rallies for expat sailor Kevin Ashby
PHUKET: Hundreds of people turned out at the Ao Chalong Yacht Club (ACYC) on Friday night to contribute much-needed money for the life-saving surgery of beloved Phuket expat sailor Kevin Ashby. Kevin, 42, was recently diagnosed with stage three colon cancer, but does not have the health insurance needed to cover the critical surgery. “It was a great event. More…
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Police, officials knew of death threats, alleges Reisz girlfriend
PHUKET: A woman close to Hungarian murder victim Peter Reisz gave her statement to Phuket police, claiming that Samui Police and officials at the Hungarian embassy in Bangkok were aware of death threats being made against Mr Reisz but failed to act appropriately on them. The woman, a Vietnamese national who asked not to be named in fear of compromising…
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Family positive in identification of missing American Brett Bean
PHUKET: Based on CCTV footage the family of missing American Brett Bean have identified the man using Brett’s ATM card on November 23 as Brett. “My husband, my daughter and I all thought that the video on the 23rd was Brett. None of us are sure of the other videos. We are actively working on those videos, so that we…
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Phuket labor chief confirms illegal Burmese workers will be deported
PHUKET: Any migrant workers found in Phuket without having completed the nationality verification process will be deported, the chief of the Phuket Provincial Employment Office (PPEO) has warned. “The deadline for migrant workers to complete the nationality verification process was extended by six months, from June 15 until December 14,” PPEO chief Yaowapa Pibulpol told the Phuket Gazette. “During that…
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Patong Carnival underway today
PHUKET: The island’s premier party town of Patong is set to kick off the tourism high season with its annual carnival, starting today and running to December 20. Organized by the Patong Municipality, the annual festival draws thousands of visitors from all over the world to mark the start of the tourism high season in Phuket, which traditionally runs from…
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Phuket Sports: Andaman Pearl’s home games under threat
PHUKET: Phuket United’s home at the new 4,000-seat futsal arena in Saphan Hin is under threat after Phuket City Municipality has asked that the parquet playing surface be relayed with rubber. The Andaman Pearl’s Saturday game was postponed to Sunday, at Fashion Island in Bangkok, because of issues with the playing surface at Saphan Hin’s futsal stadium, said Samak Rattanadilokna,…
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Phang Nga officials implicated in illegal palm plantation
PHUKET: Several high-ranking Phang Nga officials have been implicated in the operation of an illegal 16-rai palm plantation raided by officers yesterday after the site was deemed to be encroaching on protected park land.More than 70 officers cleared 420 palm trees in yesterday’s raid.The offensive targeted a district border area at the tourist-popular Ton Pariwat Wildlife Conservation Area, north of…
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Phuket first-time car buyers overload Excise Office
PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Excise Office (PPEO) is calling in extra officers from other departments to help cope with an overload of tax-rebate applications being filed by first-time car owners. The office has processed 9,000 applications for tax rebates since the government campaign to encourage young people to buy cars was launched on September 16 last year, said policy specialist…
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Phuket Sports: Patong CC slay old foe
PHUKET: Patong Cricket Club (PCC) squared off against old foes Island Cricket Club (ICC) in the second game of the Jones Lang LaSalle League last Sunday. Patong Cricket Club emerged victorious after an exciting day of cricket. PCC won the toss and elected to bat, losing their fist wicket in the second over. After a cautious start, opener Mike Khan…
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Hungarian suspect Kvalka retraces steps to Peter Reisz killing
PHUKET: Gyorgy Lajos Kvalka, the second suspect arrested in connection with the murder of Peter Reisz in Phuket late last month, today reiterated to police his claim that he played no part in the killing of the Hungarian businessman. However, Mr Kvalka today did confess to assisting the Israeli-Hungarian dual national Moshe David – named as Gabor Nemeth on his…
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Phuket human trafficking victim now safe in children’s home
PHUKET: The Cambodian child who literally ran to the safety of Phuket officials to escape her life as a human-trafficking victim and being forced to beg on the streets of Soi Bangla is now safe in a home for children, Patong Deputy Mayor Chairat Sukban confirmed to the Phuket Gazette today. “We coordinated with all relevant departments immediately after she…
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Phuket Prison to investigate alleged “death beating’
PHUKET: Phuket Prison officials are investigating the death of a male inmate following a grieving widow alleging that her husband was beaten to death. Prison guards found Pranom Duksukkaew, 48, dead from what they believed to be natural causes when they went to rouse the inmates at 6am on Tuesday. Pranom was serving a 16-year sentence for raping a minor,…
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Phuket Customs deliver “crushing blow’ to copyright pirates
PHUKET: Phuket Customs destroyed an estimated 29 million baht’s worth of pirated goods yesterday as part of their ongoing battle to protect intellectual property rights on the island. Fake copies of designer brand-name purses, sunglasses, shoes and mobile phones were among the nearly 10,000 items destroyed. “The 9,762 counterfeit items destroyed today are from 44 closed cases related to pirated…
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International Sports: Assumptions that cricket has largely eradicated corruption are challenged
Spot fixing threatens integrity of modern game Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Any comfortable assumptions that world cricket has largely eradicated corruption after the shock of the Hansie Cronje match-fixing scandal are challenged in a disturbing new book investigating India’s illegal bookmaking underworld. In “Bookie Gambler Fixer Spy; A Journey to the Heart of Cricket’s Underworld”, English author and cricket…
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Police to charge tour van driver today over lethal Phuket crash
PHUKET: Tuan Russala Samae, the tour van driver involved in the fatal crash that killed 9-year-old British International School student Kunnarree Lattuada-Lancini on November 29, has been discharged from Vachira Phuket Hospital. “He is to present himself at Chalong Police Station on Thursday [today] to be charged with reckless driving causing death,” Sub Lt Kraisorn Boonprasop told the Gazette on…
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Live Wire: 3G WiFi offerings in Phuket
PHUKET: In the first installment of this series, I talked about the general state of internet connections in Phuket. Last week, I covered the current offerings in land lines, with TOT Fiber 2U 10 Mega bits per second (Mbps) representing the best bang for your baht (sometimes; 1,500 baht/month), True DOCSIS “Ultra” coming in second (if you can get it;…
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Live Wire: A decade of hard internet knocks
PHUKET: This is the final installment in a four-part series of articles about getting connected to the internet in Phuket. High season is upon us and many people are looking for good internet connections – for a month, a year, or the rest of their lives. In these four articles I’ve tried to distill more than a decade’s worth of…
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North Korean native found dead in Phuket
PHUKET: A Russian national, but born in North Korea, was found dead in his rented Phuket apartment room this evening.The unclothed body of the man, 46, was found face-up on the floor by the apartment owner after she unlocked the room to access the air-conditioning unit.“I knocked on his door and asked for him to open up for me and…
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Mother offers B50k reward for missing Phuket expat Brett Bean
PHUKET: The mother of an American ski instructor, who was last seen in Phuket, has offered a 50,000-baht reward to find her son. Speaking at Karon Police Station today, 69-year-old Lynne Bean appealed to the public for any information that would help find Brett Bean, her 43-year-old son who failed to make a flight home to Los Angeles on November…
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Kvalka surrenders, denies active role in Phuket Reisz murder
PHUKET: Following his surrender to Samui Police on Saturday, Gyorgy Lajos Kvalka denied any role in the killing of Hungarian businessman Peter Reisz. Tourist Police Commander Roy Ingpairoj arrived from Bangkok to present Mr Kvalka, 48, to the press at the Phuket Tourist Police headquarters in Phuket Town on Saturday night. Named on the arrest warrant as “Kvalka Lajos Gyoergy”,…
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Football Roundup: Van Persie breaches City fortress, Everton win
PHUKET: Manchester United laid down a significant marker in the Premier League title race as Robin Van Persie’s late free kick sealed a dramatic 3-2 Premier League derby win at Manchester City’s home fortress yesterday. City fought back after Wayne Rooney’s first-half double but goals from Yaya Toure and Pablo Zabaleta proved in vain as Van Persie marked his first…
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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