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.
-
Sponsored 5 ways retirees in Thailand lose money (and how to stop it)
Retiring in Thailand can be affordable and enjoyable, but many retirees lose money due to common mistakes. High living costs, scams, and unexpected expenses can quickly drain savings. There are five ways that retirees in Thailand can lose money and...
-
Phuket rain blamed for “Saturday night spins’
PHUKET: Heavy rains in Phuket’s Thalang District on Saturday night left a passenger van on its side and a pickup truck badly damaged in separate incidents. All five occupants walked away with only minor injuries. One of the crashes occurred on Route 4027 in Pa Khlok at about 11am. A silver passenger van driven by 31-year-old Suthee Jareornpakdee was transporting…
-
Phuket Boat Burglars: Another yacht owner offers reward to catch the culprits
PHUKET: The owner of yet another yacht anchored in Chalong Bay has stepped forward with an offer of a reward. Horst Lakits, owner of the well-known Phuket yacht Big A, told the Phuket Gazette this afternoon that, “I have been living in and around Phuket since 1991, and this is the first time [my boat] has been broken into [here].…
-
Phuket Conundrum: Can greed and thuggery win the battle for tourists?
PHUKET: Issues affecting tourist safety and welfare in Phuket and other popular destinations in Thailand have rightly dominated the news in this week’s issue of the Phuket Gazette. It is difficult to overestimate the importance of tourism to the Thai economy. The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) recently announced that it plans for a record number of tourists, over 17…
-
Millions of krill blanket Phuket beaches, spark tsunami fears
PHUKET: Millions of krill yesterday washed up on the shores of Kata and Karon Beaches on Phuket’s west coast, sparking fears among local residents of an impending tsunami. The krill were first noticed at about 4pm. Onlookers told the Phuket Gazette that some were still alive at that time, but later died. “They were orange and each had a pair…
-
Mother watches as her son drowns in Phuket lagoon
PHUKET: A mother watched helplessly today as her son drowned in a tin mine lagoon behind the family home north of Phuket Town. Kusoldharm Foundation rescue workers and Phuket City police officers arrived at the scene, in Soi Haad Saen Suk 2 in Rassada, at about 10:30am. It took them about an hour to retrieve the body of Weeranan Sae-Ong,…
-
Phuket yachts harried by spate of break-ins
PHUKET: A 20,000-baht reward is being offered but Phuket police are still at a loss as to who is committing the thefts from yachts anchored in Chalong Bay. An estimated 12 yachts have been broken into in the past month, with one yacht – the 20-million-baht S/Y Smoke – having suffered a reported US$6,000 in equipment losses. Roger Harris, the…
-
Three girls saved from Phuket rip tide
PHUKET: Three teenage girls were spared the dangers of a strong rip tide at Nai Harn Beach yesterday afternoon. All three were on family trips to the beach, explained the mother of one of the girls. “We were waiting for our somtam on the shore while the three girls went swimming. “A few minutes later, I heard someone blowing a…
-
Phuket police nab notorious “Junior’ gang
PHUKET: Police last night arrested six members of a teenage gang known for allegedly committing many robberies and often threatening to kill their victims if they did not co-operate. Known as the “Junior Gang”, the four teenage men and two teen women were charged with committing gang robbery and being in possession of unlicensed firearms. All six confessed to the…
-
Phuket officials tackle taxi, tuk-tuk blockades
PHUKET: A long-term solution to the repeated blockading of Phuket Deep Sea Port by local taxi drivers is to be in place by mid-May, a meeting of local leaders announced today. This morning marked the first gathering of representatives from 17 government agencies and private sector groups who are to establish a formal committee to deal with tuk-tuk and taxi…
-
Phuket tourist forced to pay 180,000 baht in jet-ski repairs
PHUKET: A group of foreign tourists enjoying the Songkran festival in Phuket found out the hard way that the much maligned jet-ski insurance scheme doesn’t cover all repair costs if a jet-ski is badly damaged. After negotiations with police and the jet-ski owner, British national Nicola Ross Morton agreed to pay an astounding 180,000 baht for damages to a jet-ski…
-
Phuket tourism industry rakes in B800mn over Songkran
PHUKET: The Phuket tourism industry enjoyed a solid performance during the recent Songkran holidays, with hotel occupancy rates averaging about 70% across the island, officials say. Bangonrat Shinaprayoon, director of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) regional office in Phuket Town, said an estimated 800 million baht (US$ 26 million) in generated revenue over the week met TAT projections. Some…
-
Don’t forgot the Phuket Punchline – it’s tomorrow!
PHUKET: It’s that time of the month again – no, not that – when Phuket expats head for Patong for an unadulterated dose of one-liners from a trio of comedians. Yes, the Phuket Punchline Comedy is here – well – Wednesday night at the Holiday Inn Patong to be more specific. For more specific specifics, read on. Three very different…
-
Phuket navy base assists Krabi flood victims
PHUKET: Officers from the Royal Thai Navy Third Area Command in Phuket distributed relief packages to people suffering from floods and landslides in parts of Krabi earlier this month. Group Capitan Parinyatham Pulpitaktham, head of the Disaster Mitigation Center’s civilian affairs and public relations department, led the effort to badly hit locales from April 12 to 17. Areas receiving assistance…
-
FC Phuket trounce Chiang Mai, 4-0
PHUKET: FC Phuket rebounded from two tough road losses to demolish Chiang Mai FC by a score of 4-0 at Surakul Stadium yesterday. Crowd favorite Sarach Yooyen, just returning to play after suspension, got the scoring underway at seven minutes, finishing a good delivery from Rapeepan Poonsawat. Just before the end of the first half, Nirun Phunthong set up Nene…
-
7 dead, 52 injured in Songkran road accidents in Phuket
PHUKET: Seven people died and 52 were seriously injured in a total of 43 reported road accidents in Phuket during the ‘Seven Days Of Danger’ road safety campaign. Six of the dead, a group of Burmese and their Thai driver, perished on Sunday when the overloaded pickup they were in lost control on a curve on the steep access road…
-
Brake failure, overloading cause Phuket hill crash: DDPM
PHUKET: An official report issued by the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation office in Phuket (DDPM-Phuket) stated that the cause of yesterday’s crash that killed six people in the Chalong hills was brake failure and overloading. A total of 14 people were injured, seven severely. The names of the dead were listed as the driver, 41-year-old Thongdaeng Piwjun, and…
-
Head-on smash on Phuket’s Big Buddha hill leaves at least three dead
PHUKET: Eyewitnesses to a head-on smash between a pickup carrying about 20 people and a safari bus carrying tourists up Big Buddha hill say the accident has left at least three people dead, including one baby. Australian tourist Alessia Nuccitelli, 19, told the Phuket Gazette that she saw a pickup carrying about 20 Burmese people speeding downhill from the Big…
-
FC Phuket play Chiang Mai tomorrow
PHUKET: Former league leaders FC Phuket will take on Chiang Mai at Surakul Stadium tomorrow night, hoping to find the winning touch again after two tough road losses that have seen them slide from first to sixth in the 18-team Thai League Division 1. They are coming off consecutive losses at Bangkok United and PTT Rayong. FC Phuket went into…
-
Songkran 2011: Phuket records first road death
PHUKET: Phuket’s dream of keeping the road accident death toll to zero throughout the Songkran holiday’s ‘Seven Days of Danger’ safety campaign came to an abrupt end in Thalang this morning when a van hit a motorbike with a sidecar, killing one man and injuring another. The accident occurred at about 5:30am on the Muangmai-Airport Road, near Thalang Technical College.…
-
Another Phuket Suicide: Man found hanged from tree in Chalong
PHUKET: Family are accepting as suicide the death of a man found hanged in a dense patch of jungle off Soi Nakok in Chalong, south of Phuket Town, this morning. Duty officer Chianchai Duangsuwan of Chalong Police arrived at the scene at 10:30am to find the body of 47-year-old Samer Wongmuang hanging from a tree. Tied around his neck was…
-
Phuket rides high as Songkran road deaths remain at zero
PHUKET: With just over two days to go in the Songkran ‘Seven Days of Danger’ road-safety campaign, Phuket still has yet to record a single death.“It’s better than last year. There have been fewer accidents,” said Lt Col Narong Kittipongwiwat, chief of the Phuket City Traffic Police. Most accidents involved motorcycles, he said. “The roads have been wet and slippery…
-
Soldier faces court martial over Phuket pub shooting
PHUKET: The man who opened fire in a Phuket pub early this morning, killing one person and injuring four others, is a soldier and will be handed over to the Military Police to face a court martial in Narathiwat tomorrow morning. The news was confirmed by Deputy Commissioner of Region 8 Police Pisan Chuldilok, who arrived in Phuket this afternoon…
-
One dead, four injured in Phuket pub shooting
PHUKET: One man is dead and four others, including a woman, are injured after a pub brawl ended in a shooting frenzy in Phuket early this morning. Lt Col Somkid Khaosang of Cherng Talay police station said police received a call at 1am saying people had been shot at the Return Pub, across the road from Cherng Talay Witthayakom School.…
-
Asean meet rescheduled for Phuket
PHUKET: The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit with dialogue partner countries, delayed following anti-government protests in April last year, has been tentatively rescheduled to take place in Phuket in June this year, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has announced. PM Abhisit said Thailand would first consult with the countries involved to confirm whether their leaders would be free to…
-
Phuket celebrates Songkran with “Icy Road’ and Pod of Modern Dog
PHUKET: The Phuket office of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is celebrating Songkran (Thai New Year) with a host of activities and stage performances in front of the TAT office at Queen Sirikit Park in Phuket Town. The celebrations, from today through Friday, are part of an island-wide program of events expected to draw an estimated 60,000 tourists to…
-
Phuket Songkran road fatalities still on zero
PHUKET: After two days of the Songkran ‘Seven Days of Danger’ road safety campaign, not a single person has died in a road accident in Phuket, but that hasn’t stopped drunk drivers from spilling onto the roads and into the hospitals. According to the Phuket office of the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM), which is compiling road-toll statistics…
-
No late closing times for Phuket bars during Songkran
PHUKET: All bars in Phuket must close at their regular closing times tonight and throughout the Songkran holidays, Governor Tri Augkaradacha has announced. “We have no policy to allow bars and entertainment venues to extend trading hours during this Songkran,” Governor Tri told the Gazette. “It is not like holidays during the high season, when we allow them to stay…
-
Phuket father of three claims malpractice left wife in coma
PHUKET: A distraught husband has complained to the local media that his wife is now in a coma following complications after a Cesarean-section childbirth operation at a well-known private hospital on the island. Arthit Boonnark, 47, told reporters gathered at Bangkok Hospital Phuket yesterday that his wife, 38-year-old Pariporn Jantarothai, fell into a coma not long after giving birth to…
-
Phuket raises B12.6mn for Japan, flooded South
PHUKET: The Phuket provincial fund-raising effort for victims of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami and the flooding in the South totaled nearly 13 million baht. The handover ceremony, held at the Royal Phuket City Hotel on Sunday night, was chaired jointly by Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha and Anchalee Vanich Thepabutr, Secretary-General to Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva. Among the many…
-
Songkran takes to the sky over Phuket
PHUKET: PHUKET is in for a spectacular treat this afternoon and tomorrow (April 13) when the island’s first “Sky High” show occurs over Patong Beach – weather permitting. The highlight of the show will see world renowned stunt pilot Les Vorosmarthy performing breathtaking aerobatcs in his 350 horsepower, Extra 300L stunt plane. Les will be performing spins, stalls, slips, slides,…
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.
Don't forget to check out some other things to do in Thailand - get help starting a business or finding a job in Thailand, buy Thailand property, rent a yacht or book a medical procedure worldwide.