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 Infinito helps hotels in Thailand with revenue management
Maximising revenue and profit–isn’t that the ultimate goal for every business in the hospitality industry? If you run a hotel, you might have heard that revenue management is an effective way to boost your top-line revenue. It involves using data...
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Phuket crowds flock to Chalong Temple Fair
PHUKET: Despite traffic chaos, Phuket residents have been flocking to the annual Chalong Temple Fair that runs through to Sunday. The vibrant fair each year attracts thousands of visitors who come to sample the wide range of food, browse the market stalls and enjoy the variety of activities on offer. Besides the many famous singers and celebrities taking turns on…
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Two rushed to hospital after separate accidents in Phuket
PHUKET: A Phuket Airport employee returning home from work was seriously injured when her motorbike was hit by a passenger van full of tourists returning from a trip to Phang Nga yesterday afternoon. Thalang Police were notified of the accident at 3:35pm. Arriving at the scene, the turnoff to the airport on Thepkrasattri Road, police found 48-year-old Lamphong Losing lying…
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Phuket “spider men’ suspect brown widow in fruit vendor’s death
PHUKET: A team of officers from Phuket’s Khao Phra Thaeo Wildlife Sanctuary in Thalang today collected 10 different types of spiders from around the home of Wanchai Wonglakorn, who died on Monday of a suspected spider bite. The officers, led by Awat Nitikul, chief of the Environmental Conservation Division unit based at Khao Phra Thaeo, rummaged through the undergrowth around…
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Unidentified foreigner found hanged in Phuket
PHUKET: An unidentified man was found strangled in a hilly area near Freedom Beach in Phuket yesterday afternoon. Police believe he took his own life by hanging. Chalong Duty Officer Capt Nitikorn Rawang received a report about the body at about 5pm. Police found the body in a sitting position on the ground next to a pond. The body was…
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Phuket gets cooking with Local Food Festival
PHUKET: The 4th annual Phuket Local Food Festival kicked off at Saphan Hin in Phuket Town last night with the preparation of what is purported to have been the world’s largest pot of tom som (sweet and sour soup). The event was officially opened by Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha, who joined together with Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) President Paiboon…
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FC Phuket face extinction
PHUKET: FC Phuket Director Soranan Sanae has sent out a distress call to all wealthy football fans in Phuket to come to the rescue of the team, which is in urgent need of sponsorship, yet again. “If any football-loving foreigners or expat millionaires would like to support the team, they are more than welcome to step up,” he told the…
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Phuket likely to get Administrative Court
PHUKET: The Thai Parliament yesterday approved draft legislation to establish Administrative Court regional branches in Phuket, Petchaburi and Nakhon Sawan, Matichon has reported. Attached to the bills was a remark that the Administrative Court and all related agencies should expedite processing of all funding and legal issues so that all three courts would be up and running within three years…
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Eighth suspect, school kid, arrested for Phuket Pla-wan attack
PHUKET: Police have arrested an eighth suspect wanted in connection with the stabbing of Vorasit “Pla-wan” Issara, the general manager of the Sri Panwa resort who was attacked by staff at the Rachada pub in Phuket Town earlier this month. Phuket City Police deputy superintendent Jamroon Plaiduang released the name of the suspect but was unsure of his age. However,…
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Phuket Local Food Fair starts today
PHUKET: The Phuket Local Food Festival 2012 starts today at the central stage area at Saphan Hin Public Park in Phuket Town. The event, funded and organized by the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (PPAO), runs through Sunday night with a wide variety of staged entertainment, games and shopping opportunities. Most of the staged entertainment will be by children in schools…
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Work underway on Phuket’s newest police headquarters
PHUKET: Work is underway on the headquarters of Phuket’s newest police station, with some officers already taking up residence in barracks near what will eventually be the Wichit Police Station. The work follows an announcement by Phuket Provincial Police in early 2009 that it planned to establish two new independent police precincts in the south of the island. The move…
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Finnish tourists unharmed in Phuket bus fire
PHUKET: A group of Finnish tourists on a tour to Laem Phromthep had a sudden change of itinerary this morning when their Phuket tour bus burst into flames on a hilly stretch of road in Karon. The incident occurred at about 8:30am near to the entrance to Centara Grand Beach Resort Phuket on Wiset Road, a curvy coastal road that…
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Phuket Police chasing ‘missing money’ from currency exchange haul
PHUKET: Phuket Police are still investigating where the remainder of the two million baht in foreign currencies has disappeared to from the robbery of a currency exchange booth in Karon in November. At a press conference at Chalong Police Station yesterday, Phuket Provincial Police Commander Chonasit Wattanavrangku said his officers were still investigating where most of the money had gone,…
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Phuket fruit vendor died of spider bite: wife
PHUKET: A Phuket fruit vendor died yesterday from a severe allergic reaction to a spider bite, his pregnant wife believes.Mrs Piyanan Boonsri, 30, took her husband Wanchai Wonglakorn from their home in Mai Khao to Thalang Hospital on Sunday evening after he complained of soreness in his arm. Eight month’s pregnant, the young wife said her husband returned from work…
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Henan Acrobatic Troupe dazzles Phuket
PHUKET: Thousands of people who attended a Chinese New Year celebration in Phuket Town last night were spellbound by a performance by one of the world’s top acrobatic troupes. The fun began in the late afternoon, as scores of Thai and foreign tourists dined on a huge variety of local dishes on offer by vendors lined up under a walkway…
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Phuket Live Wire: The best apps for iPad owners on the island
PHUKET: Continuing my series of articles answering questions that I hear most often… it seems like half the people I know have got an iPad recently. The question I’m hearing over and over: What apps should I put on my iPad? There’s no definitive answer because the iPad ecosystem changes faster than a Republican primary. At last count, you had…
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Myanmar Concert 2012 touted in Phuket
PHUKET: Many Burmese residents of Phuket are expected to head north to Phang Nga on Sunday for the first-ever Myanmar Concert 2012, part of the annual Phang Nga Red Cross Festival. Performers will include R Zar Ni, Zaw Paing, Wai Su Khine Thein, Yae Lay, Yae Bakar Win and Chan Chan. Posters publicizing the event have been put up at…
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Chinese New Year celebration in Phuket Town tonight
PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) has organized a Chinese New Year celebration tonight at Sanam Chai to see in the Year of the Dragon. A special appearance at this free event will be the stunning “new style” acrobatic show from China’s Henan province starting at 7:35pm, followed by a fireworks display at 8:35pm After that will be musical…
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Fire breaks out at Phuket official’s residence
PHUKET: Phuket firefighters extinguished a fire at the Thalang District Office compound in the early hours of this morning. The fire was reported to Thalang Police at about 2:15am. Thepkrasattri Municipality firefighters took about half an hour to extinguish the blaze, which gutted a room on the second floor of a wooden home used as the residence of a government…
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Phuket ATM scams: Even professionals get caught out
Special Report: Patong Police report at least four people recently being ripped off by gangs scanning their ATM cards and stealing money from their accounts. The Phuket Gazette reports. PHUKET: Alan Robinson, 71, has been living in Phuket for 17 years. As he is a former vice-president of a Swiss bank’s national branch in Japan, one can only imagine his…
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Phuket land probe: witness found hanged
PHUKET: A security guard questioned by government officials about the ownership of land at Freedom Beach in Patong has died of what appears to be a suicide, a local Phuket newspaper has reported. A report in today’s edition of Siangtai Daily newspaper identified the deceased as 54-year-old Narong Piromrak, a native of Nakhon Sri Thammarat province. The death was reported…
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Phuket Business: Hotel leaders to confer at Thailand Tourism Forum
PHUKET: Thailand’s hotel leaders and international experts will discuss the state of the hospitality sector at the Thailand Tourism Forum (TTF) 2012, to be held on February 2 at the InterContinental Bangkok. Key event participants include Chanin Donavanik, chief executive officer of Dusit Hotels and Resorts, Dillip Rajakarier, CEO of the Minor Hotel Group, and Peter Henley, CEO and president…
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Phuket Projects: ‘Benefits’ at odds with people’s choice
PHUKET: The results of the most recent Phuket Gazette readers’ poll reveal that a clear majority want “airport bus” services to Phuket’s west coast resort towns as the tourism development project to move ahead above all others this year. [See page 11, current issue of the Gazette. Digital subscribers click here to download the full newspaper.] The results indicate that…
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Phuket Police name “mastermind’ suspect behind “Ae Inside’ murder
PHUKET: Police today announced the name of the man they believe masterminded the assassination of Wisut “Ae Inside” Tangwitthayaporn, who was shot dead in rush-hour traffic while driving to Phuket Town on January 12. Maj Gen Chonasit Wattanavrangku, superintendent of Phuket Provincial Police, this morning confirmed that arrest warrants had been issued for Atsadakorn “Pod” Seedokbuab (pictured above), 48, and…
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Phuket’s Luangpor Daeng passes away, age 79
PHUKET: More than 1,000 people, including the Phuket Governor, attended a memorial service for Luangpor Daeng, the revered abbot of Mai Khao Temple since 1978. Originally from Nakhon Sri Thammarat, Luangpor Daeng was ordained at Wat Khunapanangtun Temple in Phattalung in 1967. He was appointed abbot at Mai Khao Temple in 1978, serving as a teaching abbot there until his…
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Phuket’s Patong Immigration office to reopen
PHUKET: Phuket Immigration Office Superintendent Panuwat Ruamrak has confirmed to the Phuket Gazette that the Immigration Office in Patong will reopen next week. The news comes amid rumors that the Patong Immigration Office, which is located right next door to the Patong Tourist Police Volunteers office, had been closed permanently. “The Patong Immigration Office has not been shut down. It…
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Kamala Festival 2012 underway in Phuket
PHUKET: Kamala Festival 2012 got underway this morning with a fishing competition on Kamala Beach. A wide variety of fun activities throughout the weekend are expected to draw tourists and residents from across Phuket. Organized and funded by the Kamala Tambon Administration Organization (Kamala OrBorTor), the center of activities is Chalermprakiat 100 Pee Park on Kamala Beach, where staged events…
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Flirting with the Blues
PHUKET: ‘It’s like flirting with a girl. Perhaps she will resist you at first, but if you continue to ask her out, it always ends well. Never give up.” Zhu Jun describes negotiations with Chelsea to sign striker Didier Drogba for his side, Shanghai Shenhua. Drogba could be joining forces with former team-mate Nicolas Anelka as the Chinese club moves…
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“Safety boost’ at death bend not working: Village chief
PHUKET: The village headman of Baan Kho En has called for officials to install more safety features at the notorious “death bend” on Thepkrasattri Road where the small community resides in the north of Phuket. Somnuek Patee made his plea on Thursday at a high-powered meeting held to review the slew of safety measures put in place on the lethal…
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Officials warn of “fake monks’ targeting Phuket tourists
PHUKET: The ‘monk police’ of Phuket are warning everyone on the island of con men who are impersonating Buddhist monks and tricking locals and tourists into giving them money. Chatpawit Jinapong, Director of the Phuket branch of the National Office of Buddhism, which operates directly under the Prime Minister’s Office, spoke with the Phuket Gazette about these fraudulent “monks”. “High…
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Phuket dive crew rescues seven from blazing catamaran
PHUKET: Quick action by the crews of a Phuket dive-boat and another vessel saved the lives of seven foreigners when their chartered catamaran caught fire and sunk in the waters off Koh Rok last night. The crew of the Sailing Yacht (SY) Diva Andaman were interrupted during their beach barbecue on Koh Rok, an island about 30 kilometers southwest of…
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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