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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Grand ambitions: Phuket teen joins Women’s Tennis Association tour
PHUKET: Local tennis player Helen De Cesare looks set for stardom after winning a place on the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) tour at just 15 years of age. Confident she can advance to the highest echelons of the sport, Miss De Cesare has her sights set on eventually breaking into the world’s top 10. “One day, I want to win…
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Phuket motorcade to support “100% helmet use” campaign
PHUKET: About 500 Phuket motorbike riders are expected to make their way along the beach road in Patong on November 16 to highlight the importance of wearing safety helmets. Kathu Police Superintendent Arayapan Pukbuakhao said the motorcade of “safe riders” is part of an island-wide campaign to raise road-safety awareness. The motorcade comes before the January 1 deadline when Kathu…
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Songkhla flooded, tropical depression headed to Phuket
PHUKET: A tropical depression that made landfall in Songkhla yesterday is expected to bring heavy to very heavy rain to Phuket. The latest weather advisory issued by the Southern Meteorological Center (West Coast) at 6am today said the depression was centered over Krabi province at 5am, moving westward at a speed of 15kmh. The system is expected to pass over…
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UPDATE: FC Phuket star clings to life at Bangkok Hospital
PHUKET: Teammates of FC Phuket player Camara Ahmed were today camped out at Bangkok Hospital Phuket, where the star midfielder remains in intensive care after suffering cardiac arrest during Saturday night’s 1-0 playoff win over Chainat FC. FC Phuket advisor Paitoon Chutimakornkul told the Gazette this afternoon that expert care by staff at the hospital’s Cardiac Care Unit kept the…
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Phuket poll: Ice in beer, yea or nay?
PHUKET: The Phuket Gazette readers’ poll has covered some pretty serious topics in recent months, so, to add some lighthearted refreshment, our latest survey asks readers the age-old, simple question: Is it acceptable to put ice in beer? To have your say, click here or on the icon at the top-right corner of this page. We’ll be back to a…
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Phuket in for harsh weather: MET
PHUKET: The Meteorological Department this morning issued an advisory warning of heavy rain with the chance of flooding in Phuket. The warning, also issued for other southern provinces, comes as a tropical depression is passing over the region. The affected provinces were given as Pattani, Songkhla, Phatthalung, Nakhon Sri Thammarat, Satun, Trang, Krabi, Phuket and Phang Nga. The warning, issued…
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Phuket poll: Readers split on ‘White Hotel’ project
PHUKET: Gazette readers are somewhat dubious that a new “White Hotel” project being set up by Phuket City Police and local hotel operators will have the desired affect of reducing illegal drug use. One of the key elements to the initiative, still in its preliminary stages, would be mandatory, random drug testing of all staff at hotels, guest houses and…
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FC Phuket star fighting for his life
PHUKET: Celebrations of FC Phuket’s crucial 1-0 victory over Chainat last night have been muted by midfielder Camara Ahmed collapsing on field from a heart attack. The Ivory Coast midfielder, on loan from Muangthong United, collapsed during the second half of the game and was resuscitated en route to Bangkok Hospital Phuket. He is now in a coma in intensive…
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Breaking sports news: FC Phuket 1 – 0 Chainat
PHUKET: FC Phuket beat Chainat FC by a score of 1 – 0 tonight in the Thai League playoffs for promotion to Division 1. Chainat FC went into the match at the top of the table with two wins, but they were dominated by FC Phuket in the first half. FC Phuket scored on a brilliant header early in the…
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Cabinet approves Phuket Bt2.6b convention center
PHUKET: Cabinet has approved plans for the long-awaited International Convention and Exhibition Center (ICEC) in Mai Khao to go ahead, with construction likely to get under way mid-2012. That was the news at a public hearing for the mega-project held at the Phuket Merlin Hotel on Wednesday. “Cabinet approved the project on September 28 after the Treasury Department sent the…
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FC Phuket ready for showdown with Chainat FC
PHUKET: FC Phuket will take on Chainat FC tomorrow in a crunch match that will be crucial to their chances of being promoted to Division 1 of the Thai League. “Chainat FC is currently favorite to win our group in the playoffs. The game tomorrow is expected to be an interesting one – and exciting,” said FC Phuket Coach Ajharn…
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Halloween celebrations underway in Phuket
PHUKET: Although Halloween is not widely celebrated on the island, the resident expat community and their kids had a good time dressing up, trick-or-treating and taking part in other fun activities earlier today. Several schools held Halloween events today, the last school day before the actual celebration on Sunday. At Kajonkietsuksa School, secondary students organized fun activities for their nong…
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Finn dies in Phuket hotel room
PHUKET: A Finnish tourist died in Patong late Tuesday night after a heavy drinking session, police said. Kathu Police duty officer Jakkapong Luang-aon said the Finn, 58, had been in Patong to celebrate the birthday of his Thai girlfriend. At the party that evening he drank a great deal, witnesses said. His girlfriend left him alone in his Patong hotel…
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Four drownings in two months: Phuket Lifeguard Club
PHUKET: At least four people have drowned in the rough monsoon surf at Phuket beaches over the past two months. The Phuket Lifeguard Club’s latest incident report says two died in 371 “incidents” between September 26 and October 25. The number of incidents was up sharply over the previous four weeks, when 184 incidents were reported. As usual, foreigners were…
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Phuket Governor warns developers of flood, landslide risks
PHUKET: Governor Tri Augkaradacha has urged officials and local agencies to be vigilant in preventing flooding and landslides near construction sites and at recently completed housing projects. The call followed the Thai Meteorological Department on Wednesday issuing a wet weather warning for 15 provinces in southern Thailand through the end of the month. Heavy rains caused by a monsoon trough…
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Phuket water woes prompt weir construction
PHUKET: A pilot project in the hills of Kathu is aimed at alleviating water supply woes at the Prince of Songkla University campus in Phuket (PSU-Phuket). The project, headed by Bangkok Hospital Phuket (BHP), involves three weirs, or “mini-dams”, being built on hillside streams to trap and divert runoff. The first weir, which is already completed, fills three 6,000-liter tanks…
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American student found dead in Phuket
PHUKET: An American man studying to become an English teacher was found dead in his Phuket Town hotel room last night. Phuket City Police said it appears that Peter Williams, a 39-year-old from New York State, committed suicide in his room at Roongrawee Mansion, near Vachira Phuket Hospital on Yaowarat Road. Yesterday evening at around 11pm, four friends went to…
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Phuket truck accident: 45 gas cylinders hit the road
PHUKET: A tire blowout on a delivery truck left Phuket’s central artery strewn with 45 filled gas cylinders this morning. Fortunately none of the vessels exploded and there were no serious injuries. The accident occurred at around 9am on Thepkrasattri Road southbound in Mai Khao, near the entrance to Blue Canyon Country Club. By 9:30am local police, firefighters and rescue…
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Phuket IT update: ‘Facebook for Business’ seminar on Saturday
PHUKET: Computer guru Woody Leonhard will speak at two upcoming IT seminars in Phuket, starting with an encore of the popular Phuket Software Park seminar Using Facebook to Drive Business in Patong on Saturday morning. PhuketSchool.com director Sitthichai “Mr X” Laoveerakul gave the Facebook presentation last month at a Software Park Phuket meeting. Khun Woody and several Computer Clinic members…
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Culture update: The slow death of the Phuket dialect
PHUKET: Developed over generations in isolation from the mainland, Phuket’s unique version of the southern Thai dialect is dying out, diluted by the huge influx of migrant workers, the tourism boom, mass media and a slew of other factors. The Phuket dialect is unique. Compared with other versions of southern Thai, it tends to be slower and more flowing than…
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Phuket Software Factory wins APICTA 2010 award
PHUKET: A Phuket-based software development company was among six Thai firms winning an APICTA 2010 information and communication technology award last week. The Phuket Software Factory won a merit award in the “e-Health” category of the Asia Pacific Information and Communication Technology Awards (APICTA) 2010, held in Malaysia. The Phuket Software Factory was founded by Dr Kongkiat Kespechara to improve…
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New international hospital under construction in Krabi
PHUKET: A new private hospital under construction in Krabi Town has prompted talk among local residents of less reliance on medical facilities in Phuket. The 120-bed facility, under construction by Krabi Nakharin Company, will be located on Pisalpop Road. The management company has links with, but is independent from, the group that runs the 135-bed Nakharin Hospital in Nakhon Sri…
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Increase in violent crime reports in Phuket
PHUKET: There has been a sharp increase in violent crime over the past 12 months, recently-released statistics by the Phuket Provincial Police reveal. The figures compare the numbers of reported crime cases for fiscal year 2009 and fiscal year 2010, which ended on September 30. The statistics show a 72.9% increase in reported cases of “heinous crimes”: group muggings, armed…
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Bt1.5b resort to open in Phuket in 2012
PHUKET: A new 350-room, five-star luxury resort will open in the South Patong hillsides of Phuket by the end of 2012. News of the 1.5-billion-baht project was announced by Bangkok-based hotel and resort consultants Mai-BS (Thailand). The firm is headed by Klaus Rauter, former general manager at Andara Villas and Suites. “We are extremely proud of having been selected and…
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Arson suspected in Phuket Town car blaze
PHUKET: Police are investigating a presumed arson attack that turned a parked car into a ball of flames in Phuket Town last night. First on the scene, a soi off Phuket Road near Bang Neaw Shrine, were emergency rescue workers from the Kusoldharm Foundation. Although equipped with three chemical sprayers, they could do little but watch as the flames completely…
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Kajonkiet to open international school in Phuket
PHUKET: Phuket parents seeking English-language education for their children will have a new option from May next year, when a new Kajonkiet international school is scheduled to open in Kathu. The Kajonkiet group of schools, already the largest provider of private bilingual education in Phuket, hopes to open its first international school in time for the start of the international…
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Highway robbery in Phuket
PHUKET: Three teenagers held up a pair of young women at gunpoint in Thalang early Sunday morning and stole their motorbike. News of the hold-up was reported to Thalang Police by Wirach Rawdboot, the older brother of one of the victims. The woman, with a female friend riding pillion, was driving her Yamaha Fino home from work along a quiet…
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Phuket ramps up flood-relief efforts
PHUKET: The People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) in Phuket has joined the relief effort for flood victims in Thailand’s north and northeast. Charoensamanakij Temple, behind Phuket Provincial Court, is the collection point for supplies. The group is liaising with the Kusoldharm Foundation to arrange transport for the supplies to hard-hit areas. PAD Phuket coordinator Aparat Chartchutikumjorn said donated items include…
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Asia’s best golfers signed up for Phuket Pro-Am charity event
PHUKET: More than 20 international golf stars are confirmed to play in Phuket’s first-ever Pro-Am golf charity event on November 5. With more pros signing up, organizers of the 2010 Phuket Property Dot Com Pro-Am Invitational expect a total of about 30 professionals to take part. Among the star-studded lineup are Simon Yates (Scotland) and Scott Hend (Australia) – each…
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Phuket poll: Will the drug testing of hotel staff help?
PHUKET: The Gazette on Friday reported that Phuket City Police and hoteliers in Phuket City Police District will launch a “White Hotel” project that will eventually subject hotel staff to mandatory drug testing. Do you think this could be an effective step toward reducing the problem of illegal drug use? Have your say in the latest Phuket Gazette readers’ poll…
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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