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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Man shot dead outside Phuket pub
PHUKET: A man was shot to death outside a bar in Chalong early this morning. Police believe the shooter to be a man he argued with at another bar earlier the same evening.Superintendent Wichit Intorrason led Lt Col Anukul Nuket and other Chalong Police officers to the ‘Say Yes’ pub on Patak Rd at about 4:30am today after receiving a…
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Phuket police warn of snatch bandits
PHUKET: Chalong Police are urging all women riding motorbikes to be wary of snatch bandits after a young woman had her gold necklace stolen in broad daylight yesterday. Thitiporn Somjan, a 23-year-old from Sakhon Nakhon, told police she was riding along Soi Na Yai with a work colleague at about 3pm when she was robbed. They were returning to their…
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Phuket cop sought over bar demolition
PHUKET: Chalong Police are looking to question a fellow police officer over his alleged role in the demolition of a bar in Kata.Boonlert Thamsue, owner of what was until recently the ‘So Nice’ bar near Club Med, told police that Pol Maj Wichan Suwannasit arrived around 8am yesterday with four other men and pulled down his bar.Chalong Police said Maj…
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Free Wi-Fi in two Phuket Town parks
PHUKET: Phuket City Municipality is now providing free Wi-Fi internet access at Saphan Hin and testing a similar service at Queen Sirikit Park on Thalang Road.The TOT has signed a contract to provide 24-hour access in both areas for three years, the municipality agreeing to paying 180,000 baht annually for the service.Phuket City Mayor Somjai Suwansupapana said the project targets…
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Phuket Vegetarian Fest to generate 200 million baht
PHUKET: Tourists coming to Phuket for the annual Vegetarian Festival from October 8-16 are expected to pump at least 200 million baht into the local economy during the nine-day festival. Occupancy rates in Phuket Town stood at 50%-60% on Tuesday, but many hotels in the island’s capital district were already fully booked for the last three days of the event,…
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Global warming seminar in Phuket tomorrow
PHUKET: The Thailand Environment Institute (TEI) will tomorrow hold a seminar on global warming, bringing together key Phuket businesspeople and local government leaders to raise awareness of climate change and the possible consequences for Phuket and its tourism industry. The seminar, to be held at the Phuket Merlin Hotel in Phuket Town from 8:30am to 4:30pm, is being organized under…
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‘Mud Garden’: Phuket residents protest mudslides, flooding
PHUKET: Residents of Rock Garden Phase 5 project in Rassada, who have watched in anguish as muddy floodwaters inundated their homes in recent weeks, will have to wait several more weeks before flood prevention work begins. Following yet another major flooding late last month, the fourth in two years, about 50 residents on September 26 staged a protest over the…
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Phuket IT update: ‘Facebook for business’ clinic in Patong
PHUKET: Software Park Phuket is giving a special encore presentation of its “Using Facebook to Drive Business” seminar, a free clinic designed to introduce Phuket businesses to using Facebook to augment their online sales campaigns. Sitthichai “Mr. X” Laoveerakul, director of PhuketSchool.com, originally gave the presentation last month at a Software Park Phuket meeting. Local computer expert Woody Leonhard and…
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Phuket Vegetarian Festival 2010: a lot of bang for the baht
PHUKET: Phuket Town residents might want to invest in safety goggles and industrial earplugs, as the Phuket Police will not try to control the use of firecrackers and more powerful fireworks during the upcoming Vegetarian Festival. Phuket Provincial Police Commander Pekad Tantipong said today the use of fireworks is a long-standing spiritual tradition that would be allowed during the nine-day…
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Phuket Police crack motorbike theft gang
PHUKET: Phuket City Police on Sunday night arrested a member of a local motorbike theft gang. Phuket City Police on September 15 received a report from local resident Nawapon Khanom that his Yamaha Fino motorbike was stolen at 3am that day. Discovering a vehicle with no license plate parked in front of an apartment block in Rassada at 9:30pm on…
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Westin Phuket defers taxi decision
PHUKET: Management at the Westin Siray Bay Resort and Spa, a local affiliate with global resort giant Starwood Hotels, has deferred announcing its decision on whether to allow a local taxi counter inside its new luxury resort on Koh Sireh in Phuket. The announcement was made at a meeting on Saturday between the resort management team and representatives of local…
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Phuket to lead Veg Fest spending of 33.5 billion baht
PHUKET: Thais are expected to splurge 26.3% more, 33.5 billion baht altogether, on this year’s vegetarian festival, researchers in Bangkok said yesterday. “More people feel that they would like to participate in the Vegetarian Festival as the sentiment in the Kingdom this year was bad after the political turmoil,” said Saowanee Thairungroj, vice president for research at the University of…
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Phuket defence volunteer shoots romantic rival
PHUKET: A Chalong civil defense volunteer has been charged with attempted murder following a jealousy-inspired shooting outside the home of a romantic rival last night. Chalong Police were notified of the shooting at about 11:30pm. Arriving at the scene, in front of a house on Soi Nakok in Chalong, police found a 7.65mm pistol and a bloody sword known in…
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Phuket poll: Vegetarian Festival 2010
PHUKET: Phuket is busy making final preparations for the annual Vegetarian Festival, which officially gets underway with the arrival of the new moon on Friday. A great number of Phuket Town residents dress in white and observe 10 days of physical and spiritual purification by abstaining from meat, alcohol and other things viewed as contaminants by devotees. Those who choose…
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Phuket poll: Price-fixing not the answer to hotel price war
PHUKET: Fewer than 20% of Phuket Gazette readers think setting minimum standard room prices at small hotels and guesthouse in Patong is the answer to the current price-cutting war going on there. In the last Phuket Gazette readers’ poll, participants were asked: Do you think setting minimum standard room prices is the answer to price-cutting wars among small hotel and…
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Phuket helmet crackdown to cover entire island from January 1
PHUKET: Police across Phuket are preparing to take the helmet crackdown campaign beyond Phuket City Police District to cover the entire island, effective January 1. Phuket Provincial Police Commander Maj Gen Pekad Tantipong told the Gazette the move to enforce the traffic law island-wide follows the success of the campaign launched in Phuket Town. “Since [the campaign was launched on]…
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Six survive after car plunges into Phuket pond
PHUKET: Six people narrowly escaped with their lives early this morning after a young woman drove her new Honda Jazz into the pond at Saphan Hin after a night of clubbing in Phuket. Phuket City Police were notified of the accident at 3am. At the scene they found a white Honda Jazz almost completely submerged in the saltwater pond, not…
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Phuket Vegetarian Festival 2010 marches on
PHUKET: The Tourism Authority of Thailand office in Phuket has released the schedule of street processions by participating Chinese temples in the upcoming Vegetarian Festival. The festival will get underway with an opening ceremony near the Tin Mining Monument in Saphan Hin Park at 9am on October 7. The traditional raising of go teng poles to welcome the Chinese gods…
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Phuket launches oil-recycling drive
PHUKET: In a bid to stop boat owners from dumping used motor oil into Chalong Bay, the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (PPAO) has set up waste-oil collection drums at Chalong Pier. Speaking to a group of boat operators at a meeting at the Chalong Sunrise Restaurant at Chalong Pier on September 25, PPAO Chief Mechanic Wasana Rongphol implored boat owners…
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Phuket agency helps Burmese workers go legit
PHUKET: Many of the Burmese citizens working in the construction industry in Phuket are highly educated and “just as talented as Thai people,” according to the owner of a company specializing in legalizing the island’s foreign laborers. Thanadech Supasuwan, who runs the Noom Broker agency in Rassada, said that the younger generation of Burmese on Phuket aspire to work in…
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Trawler net kills giant Phuket turtle
PHUKET: A 250-kilogram male leatherback turtle was found dead at Phuket’s popular Bang Tao Beach in Cherng Talay yesterday afternoon. “The 2.5-meter-long turtle had died at least two weeks earlier. Its body was tangled up in a large section of trawler fishing net,” Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC) biologist Dr Kongkiat Kittiwattanawong told the Gazette. “People found the turtle floating…
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New Phuket Governor to focus on tourism development
PHUKET: Tri Augkaradacha, who today officially became Phuket’s 43rd governor, has announced tourism development as his top-priority in office. Having served as a vice-governor of Phuket since December 2006, Governor Tri is well aware of the many complex issues facing the island. The 58-year-old is a bachelor’s degree graduate in political science from Chiang Mai. He also holds a master’s…
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Phuket’s Patong claims another suicide victim
PHUKET: A half-Thai, half-Japanese teenager is the latest person to take his own life in Phuket’s popular beach resort of Patong. Kathu Police were informed at 8:30am today of the apparent suicide by hanging at a guesthouse on Soi Patong Resort, off the beach road. Capt Veerapong Sukito of the Kathu Police identified the victim as a 17-year-old whose name…
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Thailand plans Phuket bid for Asian Beach Games
PHUKET: Thailand looks likely to bid for Phuket to host the fourth-ever Asian Beach Games in November 2014, following a high-level meeting at the Ministry of Sports and Tourism.The 500-million-baht event would take place between November 15 to 24. Events would include handball, kabaddi, takraw, volleyball, sailing, paragliding, football, water skiing, bodybuilding, windsurfing, jet-skiing, triathlon, woodball, swim marathon, boat racing,…
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Phuket Blues Fest star tops blues download chart
PHUKET: Phuket International Blues Rock Festival star Rich Harper is now Number 1 on Airplaydirect.com worldwide blues radio downloads for September with his new “LIVE in Scandinavia” CD. “Downloads for Harper’s music last night passed even the mighty Charlie Musselwhite and his new CD ‘The Well‘, which was recorded on the world’s largest blues label, Alligator,” said organizer Andy Anderson.…
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New Phuket incinerator to burn off landfill waste
PHUKET: The days of the landfill behind the Phuket City Incinerator at Saphan Hin may be numbered, following confirmation that a new incinerator now under construction at the site will use any extra burning capacity to reduce the huge stockpiles of trash. Phuket City Deputy Mayor Thaworn Jeeraphat told Gazette that project contractor PJT is contracted to burn at least…
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Asian Hospitality & Travel Show starts tomorrow in Phuket
PHUKET: The three-day Asian Hospitality & Travel Show, the first Asian trade exhibition bringing together suppliers and exhibitors of every facet of the hospitality and travel industry from all over Asia, kicks of tomorrow at the Häfele Design Center Phuket on the bypass road southbound. The show, proudly sponsored by the Phuket Gazette, will bring together more than 100 exhibitors…
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Phuket businessman and companion die in car crash
PHUKET: Well-known Phuket businessman Pornchai Sawasri and a female companion died in a car accident in Thalang last night when Mr Pornchai lost control of his vehicle and hit a power pole after swerving to avoid a dog. Thalang Police were notified of the crash at 9:30pm. At the scene, on a curved section of Thepkrasattri Road northbound opposite the…
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Phuket police identify horror smash victim
PHUKET: Police have identified the victim of yesterday’s horror smash at Tesco-Lotus junction as Miss Orrasa Pethpattana, a 19-year-old native of Nakhon Thai District in Pitsanuloke. Case investigator Capt Kittiphum Tinthalang of the Phuket Provincial Police told the Gazette Miss Orrasa was riding riding pillion on the motorbike driven by her boyfriend, 27-year-old Yutthapong Deepakdee, when they were hit by…
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Thai police pounce on prolific panty perv
PHUKET: A motorbike taxi driver caught red-handed with a bag full of used bras and panties was later found in possession of thousands of women’s undergarments at his home. After arresting 46-year-old Phanu Phloisuwan on September 26, Samut Prakarn City police found a trove of more than 5,000 undergarments, mostly stolen from washing lines over a two-year period. Most 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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