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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Ahoy Phuket! Ao Chalong Yacht Club calls for assistance to get ship shape
PHUKET: The Ao Chalong Yacht Club is calling for volunteers to lend a hand at a “working bee” on Saturday, March 3 – and is putting on free beer and a sausage sizzle for those who turn out to help. “Some of the jetty floats need replacing urgently because they are sinking. Floats that are being used to jack up…
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Phuket sports: Weekly round-up by The Golf Guru
PHUKET: The World Golf Championship (WGC) was played this week in the US. In fact 66 per cent of the World Championships have been played in the States which seems strange as it’s meant to be the World championships. I won’t go on about the old chestnut of the World Series baseball being for only American teams! The 2012 World…
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Norwegian man confesses to ‘accidentally killing’ Phuket girlfriend
PHUKET: The Norwegian man arrested last night after the gruesome remains of a human body were found in his Phuket home has confessed to “accidentally killing” Rungnapa Suktong, his girlfriend of nine years. Stein Havard Dokset, a 50-year-old retired car dealer from Oslo, Norway confessed to officers at Chalong Police Station today. “I did it, but it was an accident,”…
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Phuket Live Wire: An update on international download speeds in Phuket
PHUKET: Time for an update on how Phuket’s doing for real world, measured international internet speeds. I’m not talking about the advertised 10 megabits or 100 megabits-per-second lines that only exist in marketing drivel and a few internet service provider’s fantasies. I’m talking about speeds that you and I are measuring, in the wild, right here, every day. The short…
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Phuket welcomes newborn elephant “Pang Saifon’
PHUKET: The owners of the Kinnari Elephant Camp in Rawai this morning announced the birth of a baby elephant at the camp. Pang Saifon, born at 1:49am, is the second elephant to be born at the camp. The newborn weighs 75 kilograms and is in perfect health, said Jirayu Nirunwiroj, a veterinarian from the Phuket Livestock Office’s Animal Health Development…
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Phuket Tourist Police Volunteers warn of bag snatchers
PHUKET: Following a spate of snatch thefts, the Phuket Tourist Police Foreign Volunteers today issued an advisory warning tourists to keep close watch on their valuables and be on the lookout for potential bag-snatchers. Bruce Anderson, Team Leader of the Phuket Tourist Police Foreign Volunteers, told the Phuket Gazette that there have been more bag snatchings reported by foreign tourists…
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Swedish Gripen jet fighters in tests over Phuket
PHUKET: The Royal Thai Air Force is conducting high-speed aerial flyovers of Phuket Town today and tomorrow in order to test its radar installation at Khao Mai Thao Sip Song, the island’s highest point, in Chalong. Following reports by concerned residents in Phuket Town, the Phuket Gazette contacted the Phuket Air Traffic Control center run by Aerothai at Phuket International…
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Phuket’s Soi Dog Foundation expands into Bangkok
PHUKET: Phuket’s renowned animal welfare charity Soi Dog Foundation (SDF) has joined forces with the Bangkok-based Soi Cats and Dogs organization (SCAD) to launch operations in the Thai capital. SCAD, a well established and highly regarded Thai foundation, will be integrated into SDF and Phimpakarn Petpichetchien appointed General Manager of the new operation, SDF’s founder John Dalley announced in press…
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Phuket road victim identified as Aussie model
PHUKET: The young woman who died in a motorbike accident in Phuket early on Saturday morning has been identified as Lana O’Connell, a successful young model from the Gold Coast, Australia. Miss O’Connell was riding a motorbike along Patak Road toward Chalong Circle with her long-term partner Kenneth Trivett at about 3:30am when they struck a motorbike with sidecar. Mr…
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Jet-skis, rip-offs and noise pollution: Phuket’s honorary consuls go through the motions
PHUKET: Jet-ski scams, noise pollution in Patong and real estate rip-offs were among the issues raised by honorary consuls during their quarterly meeting with Phuket government officers yesterday. The meeting, held in the main meeting room of Phuket Provincial Hall, was chaired by Phuket Vice Governor Sommai Prijasilpa. Dr Sommai, the first-ever person to chair the meeting in English, was…
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Two baby elephants seized in Phuket
PHUKET: Two baby elephants seized in Phuket today will be sent to an elephant reserve in the Northern Thailand province of Lampang. Meanwhile, investigators are continuing their probe into whether three elephant camps near Phuket’s Big Buddha image are encroaching on protected forest land. The transfer of the two baby male elephants – Popeye and Joey – follows officials from…
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Phuket sports: Golf guru weekly round-up
PHUKET: THE media hype around the USPGA tour this week wasn’t enough to get Phil Mickelson into the winner’s circle two weeks in a row. The Riviera Country Club, Pacific Palisades, California was the venue for the Northern Trust Open, formally known as the Los Angles Open, less than a block away from Sunset Boulevard. The Riviera C.C. is a…
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Shakers and Rugantino in the mix for Phuket Super Six
PHUKET: Round two of the Phuket Super Six League (PSSL) produced more evenly contested matches last week at Football Island, but the goal count continues to rise. The first fixture saw league leaders Pita Bar Phuketeers and the experienced Morning Star, in their first league outing, play a guarded game that ended with honors divided. After a goaless first half,…
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Underpass plans start driving forward
Phuket: Highways Department officials last week presented to local residents their preferred option for a two-lane underpass at the Bang Khu Intersection, north of Phuket Town. The news received mixed reviews, as the initial proposal was to build a flyover at the busy junction, which handles nearly all traffic to and from the airport. Krabi Office of Highways Deputy Director…
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Prompong pushes for 10bn baht rail link
PHUKET: Government spokesman Prompong Nopparit has voiced his support for a 10-billion-baht extension of train lines from Surat Thani to just north of Phuket. Currently, rail passengers and freight bound for Phuket can travel only as far south as Surat Thani. The extension would be about 160 kilometers long, stretching from Keereerat District in Surat Thani province to Baan Thanoon…
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Phuket hotel barman dies in motorbike crash
PHUKET: A hotel barman died instantly last night when his motorbike slammed into a utility pole in Koh Kaew, north of Phuket Town. Phuket City Police were notified of the accident, opposite the Isuzu showroom on Thepkrasattri Road, at about 11:45pm. Phuket Kusoldharm Foundation rescue workers rushed to the scene to find 40-year-old Phichit Masmalai lying face down on the…
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Phuket beer garden fire not arson: owners
PHUKET: The owners of a beer garden that went up in flames in Phuket early this morning are denying rumors that the blaze was set by a disgruntled former employee. It took six fire engines about an hour to extinguish the fire that gutted the Kamala Beer Garden on the main road through Kamala before dawn today. Owners Chollada Nakballang,…
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Phuket Boat Lagoon to launch weekend market
PHUKET: Phuket Boat Lagoon will launch a new weekend market catering to boat owners on the weekend starting Saturday, March 10. The Weekend Boat Market is the brainchild of Boon Yongsakul, a member of the Phuket Boat Lagoon management team and a descendant of Phuket Boat Lagoon founder Kanit Yongsakul. The main concept of the market is a new shopping…
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Australian, Swede die in accidents in Phuket
PHUKET: Two foreign tourists, one Australian and one Swedish national, died in separate accidents in Phuket last night. Matthias Andersson from Sweden died after falling three storeys at a resort in Karon, where he was staying with family members. Staff at Vachira Phuket Hospital said the apparent cause of death was a head injury sustained in the fall, which occurred…
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Groundbreaking movement on Phuket Bus Terminal impasse
PHUKET: Construction workers this morning began work to remove the median strip in front of Phuket Bus Terminal 2 on Thepkrasattri Road in Rassada, raising hopes the long-dormant facility might go into operation soon. Workers were at the site at 8am, putting up warning signs to alert motorists of the work, which will close two lanes to traffic during work…
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Another Phuket student dies in motorbike crash
PHUKET: A Phuket teenager returning from school was killed yesterday when he lost control of his motorbike and hit the back of a pickup truck parked by the side of the road in Srisoonthorn.Thalang Police were notified of the accident at 5:20pm. At the scene, on Srisoonthorn Road westbound in front of The Valley 2 residential estate, they found the…
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Phuket Rotary Club rolls out high-tech devices for the disabled
PHUKET: The lives of nine disabled people from Phuket and Phang Nga took a turn for the better on Thursday when they took possession of high-tech wheelchair “pullers” donated by local and international chapters of Rotary International. The handover ceremony, at Queen Sirkit Park on Thalang Road, was presided over by Sanguan Kunaporn, head of the Rotary Club of Tongkah…
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Phuket Gazette: Tourists go ape for Krabi bus stops
PHUKET: Tourists to Phuket’s neighboring Krabi Province are impressed by a new two million baht network of bus stops that feature a striking monkey design, the province’s transport chief says. Worawut Ma-in, an expert in logistics and acting chief of the Krabi Transport Office, says construction of the 13 stops has just been completed. The project was launched at the…
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Bangers bring home the bacon to Phuket
PHUKET: They’re here! The ‘Bangers on Bikes’ Bangkok to Phuket charity bike riders crossed the Sarasin Bridge just after 11am and a Gazette photographer was on hand to witness their arrival on the island. After losing four riders to exhaustion by the end of day four, the group had recouped one determined pedalist for the home leg between Takuapa and…
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Red light confusion ends in Phuket pickup sideswipe
PHUKET: A two-vehicle collision in Thalang last night was likely the result of one pickup braking for a red light, only to be slammed from behind by a second pickup whose driver expected him to run through it, Phuket Police said. Each of the vehicles had two passengers, none of whom were injured in the crash. Thalang Police were notified…
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Bangers bike riders hightail it to Phuket
PHUKET: Four days of hard pedaling has taken its toll, but the 2012 Bangers on Bikes Bangkok to Phuket Charity Bike Ride is nearing the final leg while the hardy cyclists are on their last legs with only 140km to go. On Monday, 11 riders and five support crew left Bangkok on a 916km saddle mission to raise 500,000 baht…
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DAM! Taxi driver forgets handbrake, plunges car into Phuket reservoir
PHUKET: A taxi driver from Khao Lak, the coastal tourist town in Phang Nga to the north of Phuket, this morning found his chicken and sticky rice too tasty to remember to put his handbrake on.The result being his Honda Civic plunging into the reservoir behind Phuket Rajabhat University.“I often come to Phuket to visit my brother, who lives here,”…
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Phuket theater worker found hanged
PHUKET: A depressed theater worker took his life by hanging in a rented room in Phuket last night, leaving behind a farewell note and money for his parents. Phuket City Police were called to a rented room on Soi Samkong 1, Rassada, just before dusk. Arriving at the scene they found the body of Naphong “Ton” Boonnuam suspended by the…
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Phuket Court launches night, weekend hearings
PHUKET: Faced with thousands of unresolved cases, Phuket Provincial Court on Tuesday launched a “night court” service in an effort to reduce the backlog. Phuket Court Acting Chief Justice Audthakarn Foojaroen and fellow justices yesterday held a press conference at the courthouse to announce the night court hours, which run Monday to Friday from 4:30pm to 8:30pm. The night court…
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Beauties and the beach: Indian pageant contestants hit Krabi
PHUKET: The white-sand beaches and stunning limestone karsts of Krabi Province have some competition in the beauty stakes this week following the arrival of 23 contestants from the Miss Indian Princess 2012 pageant. The beauty queens received a warm welcome when they touched down on Thai Airways flight TG241 at Krabi Airport on Tuesday. The guests seemed impressed when they…
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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