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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Robbie “God’ Fowler to play in Thai Premier League
PHUKET: Former Liverpool and England striker Robbie Fowler is set to play for reigning Thai Premier League champions Muang Thong United. Ronnarit Suevaja, general manager of Muang Thong Utd, announced today that Fowler will arrive in Thailand tomorrow. He will undergo a physical examination and fitness test at 3pm before finalizing details with the club. “If that goes well, we…
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Pathum Thani woman dies in Phuket crash
PHUKET: Three women rushing to catch a flight off Phuket last night crashed their rented car into a power pole, leaving one dead and the others injured. The crash occurred on Thepkrasattri Road northbound, near the Esso service station in Thepkrasattri subdistrict. Arriving at the scene with Kusoldharm volunteer rescue workers at about 8:30pm, Thalang Police found that a group…
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Phuket Live Wire:Where is True going with its Ultra hi-speed internet?
PHUKET: After looking at True’s new Cable TV-technology internet connections last week, this week True’s plans are becoming more clear, and the results are interesting – even exciting – if True ever gets the kinks worked out of its system. True is running cable, probably fiber, to various places on the island. The cable is attached to black box switches…
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Six of the best for Queensland
PHUKET: Australian rugby league fans in Phuket and especially those from Queensland were treated to a fantastic display of football skills in the State of Origin’s deciding game played in Brisbane yesterday. The end game and result were never much in doubt even with New South Wales (the Blues) winning the second encounter in Sydney two weeks ago. Queensland (the…
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Phuket plans parks at two reservoirs
PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Administrative Organization (OrBorJor) is looking to develop tourist parks and facilities at two dam sites. A public hearing was held on Tuesday to gauge public opinion on a plan to turn areas surrounding Bang Wad Reservoir and Bang Neaw Dam Reservoir into eco-tourist destinations. “The areas have good potential. They are accessible by main roads and…
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Body of missing Aussie tourist found
PHUKET: A Phuket lifeguard this morning found the body of missing Australian tourist Jennifer Laidley. Uten Singsom, head of the Phuket Lifeguard Club contingent assigned to patrol Karon beach, said the discovery was made by fellow lifeguard Phachoke Jamjareonjan at about 8:15am today. The body, recovered about one kilometer offshore from Nong Harn Lagoon at the north end of the…
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Phuket man killed instantly in motorbike crash
PHUKET: A road sign intended to save lives became an instrument of death last night when a Phuket motorcycle rider crashed into it at high speed and was killed instantly. Thalang Police were informed of the death at 10:20pm. Arriving at the scene, on the southbound lane of Thepkrasattri Road near the Tha Reua Chinese Shrine, police found the body…
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Lomas make international rugby final
PHUKET: Youth rugby shone on the international stage recently when the Phuket Lomas took on teams from around the world and reached the final of Touraid’s UK tournament held in Manchester. The Lomas lived with appointed host families and during their stay they enjoyed academic and leisure activities at Wright Robinson Sports College and met with celebrities such as Chester…
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FC Phuket v Sri Racha Suzuki FC tonight at Surakul
PHUKET: Toyota League Cup play advances to the final 16 tonight, with FC Phuket set for a challenge from struggling Thai Premier League (TPL) side Sriracha Suzuki FC. The competition now changes to a two-leg (home and away) format, with Phuket enjoying home advantage in this first encounter. Next Wednesday, Phuket travel to play the second leg at Sriracha’s Suzuki…
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Phuket’s Paiboon presses Pheu Thai for progress
PHUKET: The president of the Phuket provincial council has wasted no time in appealing to Yingluck Shinawatra’s new Government now taking shape to tackle the problems from the rising cost of living as soon as possible. Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) President Paiboon Upatising made his appeal through the media yesterday. “I would like to ask the new Cabinet to…
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Phuket lifeguards continue search for missing Aussie tourist
PHUKET: The search for missing Australian tourist Jennifer Laidley, feared drowned, continued off Karon Beach today. Lifeguards searched throughout the day using their jet-skis to comb the waters of Karon Bay, said Uten Singsom, head of the Phuket Lifeguard Club contingent assigned to patrol Kata-Karon. He still holds on to a glimmer of hope she may be found alive, but…
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Phuket car thief hears “God’, surrenders to police
PHUKET: Overwhelmed by a guilty conscience, a woman with 14 outstanding arrest warrants for car theft surrendered herself to Phuket Police yesterday. The woman, 32-year-old Cherry Piwsa-ard (whose name translates as “Cherry Clean-skin”) told officers at Patong Police Station last night that “God” had appeared to her in a dream and ordered her to surrender herself to authorities. Police Duty…
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Filipino injured in Phuket motorbike crash
PHUKET: The dimly lit Baan Don – Layan road in Cherng Talay was the scene of yet another Phuket accident last night in which a Filipino man was injured. Teddy Dilag, the 38-year-old assistant operations manager at the Phuket & Marbella Villa Rental Management Company, suffered a broken arm when his motorbike and a pickup truck collided near the entrance…
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Guns, fights and ganja – but no election violence: Police
PHUKET: The police crackdown in Phuket in the run-up to the July 3 election landed a bumper haul of guns, drugs and arrests – but resulted in no arrests for violence related to the election. A total of 45 factory-made and homemade guns were seized and 350 people were arrested for drugs since May 12, according to statistics issued today…
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Phuket Democrats line up parliamentary agenda
PHUKET: Raywat Areerob, the elected Democrat Phuket MP for the Phuket 2 constituency, this afternoon identified traffic, crime and drugs as voters’ three most-pressing issues that need to be addressed. “While I was campaigning, people told me that the top three problems they need us to urgently solve are traffic congestion, increasing crime and drugs, especially in Pa Khlok and…
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Mother’s Phuket plea for help in finding son Michael Carlberg
PHUKET: A Swedish mother has appealed for help in finding her adult son, who has not been in contact since arriving in Thailand two months ago. Writing from Sweden, Lise-Lott Carlberg informed the Gazette she had not heard from her 24-year-old son Michael since he landed in Bangkok on May 5. “We know that he has been located in Bangkok,…
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Jealous Phuket cop kills wife, self
PHUKET: A jealous policeman shot his wife point-blank then turned the gun on himself in the latest murder-suicide in Phuket. Patong Police identified the victim as 25-year-old Suchapha Saman-iam, wife of Snr Sgt Maj Boonsuk Saman-iam, 39. According to eyewitness accounts, the shooting took place at about 8pm at the couple’s home on Nanai Road, where they operated the Yaris…
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Wimbledon dream for Djokovic
PHUKET: “This is my favourite tournament, the tournament I always dreamed of winning, the first tournament I ever watched in my life. I think I’m still sleeping, I’m still having my dream.” Serbian Novak Djokovic claims the Wimbledon Men’s Singles Tennis title after a four set victory (6-4 6-1 1-6 6-3) over Spain’s Rafael Nadal in Sunday’s Final. By reaching…
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Election Thailand: Democrats win Phuket
PHUKET: While Pheu Thai will form the next Thai government after winning at least 262 seats in the general election, Phuket remained firmly Democrat with incumbent MPs Anchalee Vanich Thepabutra and Raywat Areerob retaining their seats by huge margins. Mrs Anchalee secured the Phuket 1 constituency by receiving 50,881 votes. Wisit Jai-arj of Pheu Thai secured 16,179 votes. Weerasak “Ko…
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Pheu Thai in potential landslide after half the votes are counted
PHUKET: No results have been announced for Phuket yet, but nationwide the votes have been counted to the extent of 48 per cent and the Pheu Thai Party appears to be well in the lead, having garnered 255 MPs. The Democrats came second with 164 MPs, according to the count by the Royal Thai Police and the Election Commission as…
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FC Phuket call for Choi’s return
PHUKET: FC Phuket are demanding the return of South Korean player Choi Jai Won, following reports that he was preparing to leave the team for Thai League Division 1 rival Saraburi FC. FC Phuket allowed Choi to leave the team for a trip home to his native Korea, where his wife had a miscarriage, it was previously reported. However, the…
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Phuket politician cleared of vote-buying allegation
PHUKET: Five days after it was seized, over half a million baht has been returned to a former Phuket politician cleared of vote-buying allegations. Prasong Trairat, a former president of the Thepkrasattri Tambon Council, today went to Cherng Talay Police Station to collect 542,000 baht in assets taken from his home in Thepkrasattri by a provincial police anti-vote-buying task force.…
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World’s largest floating book fair heading back to Phuket
PHUKET: After six years since their last visit aboard the MV Doulos, the crew aboard the MV Logos Hope will be returning to Phuket, bringing with them more than 5,000 books as part of their “global mission to serve humanity”. The Logos Hope is twice as large as any previous vessel operated by German-based charity GBA Ships, including the Doulos,…
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Phuket Police doubt British woman’s rape allegation
PHUKET: CCTV images and other evidence have cast doubt over a British woman’s claim that she was raped at knifepoint by a Phuket tuk-tuk driver, Phuket Police say. The 21-year-old woman reported the alleged assault to Cherng Talay Police on Tuesday. The woman said she hired a tuk-tuk in Patong to take her back to her room at a resort…
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Land Dept claims 90% of prime Phuket land controlled by foreigners
PHUKET: Phuket leads all of Thailand in the amount of land held by foreigners, with up to 90 per cent of prime beachfront land being illegally held through Thai nominees, claims one of the country’s top land officials. Speaking at a recent seminar on legal issues relating to land ownership, Land Inspector Sriracha Charoenpanit said Thailand’s positive characteristics, friendly people…
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Aussie family doubt suicide claim by Phuket police
PHUKET: The family of Australian tourist Marc Gerard Hoy, 34, who fell to his death from the sixth floor of a Phuket hotel last weekend, have expressed doubts that he committed suicide. “His relatives in Australia are finding it difficult to believe that he jumped off the building, but I told them that I have CCTV footage as evidence and…
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Contador’s Tour de force
PHUKET: “The idea victory could be taken away if I win, I just find ridiculous.” Alberto Contador vents his frustration at being left in limbo before the start of this year? Tour de France. The most famous bicycle race begins this Saturday. The three-time Tour de France champion was cleared by the Spanish Cycling Federation over a positive clenbuterol test…
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Korean charged over drunk driving death
PHUKET: A Korean man is facing a manslaughter charge after a head-on collision resulted in the death of Rik Johannes de Jong , 51, from the Netherlands. Mr De Jong is well known among foreign expats as the restaurateur of The Secret Cove restaurant at Ao Yon, which he ran with his Thai wife since 2009. Mr De Jong was…
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Rolling boulders crash into Phuket resort
PHUKET: The management of an upscale hillside villa resort in Phuket has filed a police complaint after huge boulders tumbled down from a road construction project last Saturday, causing property damage and frightening guests. Wassana Yukhunthon, public relations manager at the luxury L’Orchidee Residences off Phra Barami Road Soi 4 at the north end of Patong, told the Phuket Gazette…
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High hoops for youth basketball in Phuket
PHUKET: THE PHUKET Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) and the Phuket Basketball Club’s second annual provincial basketball competition is now underway. The opening ceremony of the “Basketball PPAO Phuket Junior League 2011” was held at Saphan Hin, Gymnasium 1, on June 25 and the league will run until September 23 with matches starting at 4pm every Friday. OrBorJor President, Paiboon Upatising,…
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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