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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Phuket’s neighbor Krabi needs more flights: tourism chief
PHUKET: The Chairman of the Krabi Tourism Association, Ittirit Kinglake, recently told the TTR Weekly that Krabi needs more airlines to support the hotel industry, a situation similar to that facing Phuket during the early months of this year. Room capacity in Krabi is running ahead of airline seat supply, and there are not enough flights to Krabi for tourists…
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Bangkok Airways to launch Phuket – Trat flights
PHUKET: Bangkok Airways has announced the launch of its new Phuket – Samui – Trat flight service, which is set to begin on December 2. This extension of the carrier’s existing Phuket – Samui service will make it easier for holidaymakers to travel from Phuket to the resort island of Koh Chang or pass overland into Cambodia. Round-trip flights aboard…
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Huge increase in Phuket vehicle numbers
PHUKET: There has been a nearly 600% increase in the number of new vehicle registrations being made in Phuket each month, according to the Phuket Land Transport Office (LTO). Phuket LTO director Kanok Siripanichkorn told the Gazette that 500 to 600 automobiles are being newly registered on the island each month, compared to just 50-100 per month at the same…
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Englishman commits suicide in Phuket hotel
PHUKET: An Englishman found dead in his Patong hotel room yesterday morning apparently died from an overdose of prescription drugs. Police are treating the case as suicide. Kathu Police duty officer Jongserm Preecha identified the deceased as Brian Bibby, a 57-year-old originally from Wigan in the UK. Staff at The Gallery hotel on Soi Jintana in Patong reported the death…
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Road record: British fire engine “Martha’ makes it to Phuket
PHUKET: A team of Britons who are attempting to circumnavigate the globe in their fire engine “Martha” rolled into Patong this afternoon. Since setting out from London on July 18, Steve Moore and his “follow that fire engine” team have passed through 20 countries, clocking up over 12,000 miles. By the end of their trip the team will have driven…
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Fire walking at Phuket shrines tonight
PHUKET: Things are really heating up in the 2010 Phuket Vegetarian Festival, with several participating shrines staging their Fire Walking demonstrations this evening and the street procession for Phuket’s most famous Chinese shrine set to take place tomorrow morning. Fire walking takes place at the following locations and times tonight: 8pm: Jui Tui Shrine, held at Saphan Hin Park 8pm:…
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Phuket dive boat goes up in flames
PHUKET: Fire gutted a dive boat operated by a well-known Phuket dive tour operator this morning, leaving one man with serious burns and six others needing hospital treatment. Phuket City Police received a report that the Laddawan 2 liveaboard dive vessel belonging to West Coast Divers was ablaze at Rassada Pier at about 10:30am. Six fire engines were dispatched from…
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New artificial reef to be sunk off Phuket
PHUKET: An artificial reef project in Karon Bay has been given the final nod of approval, its second public hearing on September 29 passing without objection. The placement of hollow cubic structures made of concrete on the sea floor is set to begin in mid-2011. The hearing, held at the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMCR) office, was chaired…
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Phuket yachties to get ‘Data Center’
PHUKET: As part of a project to set up a ‘data center’ for the local yachting industry, Prince of Songkla University researchers have set up a website intended to serve as a central database and information hub. The new website was unveiled yesterday at a seminar at the Phuket Merlin Hotel in Phuket Town. The “Yachting Seminar on ICT Infrastructure…
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Phuket tourism resilient in the face of strong baht
PHUKET: Thanks to rising tourist arrival figures overall, the Phuket economy has thus far not been too badly affected by the recent surge in the baht against major currencies.However outbound tour operators nationwide expect the strong baht to cause a 13% increase in the number of Thais traveling abroad.Charoen Wangananont, president of the Thai Travel Agents Association (TTAA) that monitors…
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FC Phuket promotion bid starts Sunday
PHUKET: Football fans will be in for a treat over the next few months, as FC Phuket vie against top teams from the AIS Regional League Division 2 for promotion to Division 1 of the Thai League. The “mini-league” fixtures were announced at a meeting of the coaches of the 12 qualifying teams held on September 29 at the Sofitel…
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High tide blues: Phuket village pleads for new seawall
PHUKET: Residents at Haad Saen Suk in Phuket Town continue to petition City Hall to rebuild a broken seawall that once protected their homes from flooding at high tide. Adun Yonjamrun, one of village leaders, said homes in the neighborhood flood every time heavy rainfall coincides with high tide. The flooding is often at its worst in the morning, he…
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Thailand not ready to upgrade English
PHUKET: It’s too soon to declare English as Thailand’s second language for teaching in schools, says Tongthong Chandransu, secretary-general of the Office of the Education Council (OEC). News reports late last week said the Education Ministry planned to declare on October 22 that English is officially the second language for teaching in Thai schools. But Tongthong denied there would be…
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Charity paddle: Father, daughter to circle Phuket by kayak
PHUKET: If there were any father-and-daughter team you would place money on being able to paddle 120 kilometers around Phuket by kayak, it would be Les Bird and his daughter Victoria.Iron-man athlete Les, 59, and seven-time triathlon champion Victoria, 11, plan to circumnavigate Phuket over three days in an effort to raise money for charity.Victoria, a seventh-grade student at the…
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Phuket to welcome Qatar Airways tomorrow
PHUKET: With the high season for tourism fast approaching, international airlines have been launching new – and more – flight services to Phuket, with some starting this month. Phuket International Airport Director Prateung Sornkham confirmed that from tomorrow, October 12, Qatar Airways will operate a new flight from Doha to Phuket, via Kuala Lumpur. Qatar’s new service will see three…
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Puppet haven: Joe Louis Thai Restaurant opens in Phuket
PHUKET: Bangkok’s loss is Phuket’s gain, as the Joe Louis troupe of traditional Thai puppeteers has a new home at the Jungceylon shopping complex in Patong. The troupe, founded by the late grand master puppeteer and National Artist Sakorn “Joe Louis” Yangkhiawsod, remains the sole guardian of the dying art form known as Hun Lakhon Lek, Thai traditional small puppet…
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Phuket crime statistics: September 2010
PHUKET: According to the latest crime statistics released by the Phuket Provincial Police, crime in September fell year-on-year. The number of crimes reported in most categories last month dropped compared with the number announced for September 2009. The only major increases were in the number of gambling cases reported. Gambling: 160 people arrested in 59 reported cases, a 47.5% increase…
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Climate change: fatal for Phuket
PHUKET: Phuket’s environment will be destroyed and the island “totally ruined” within 10 to 20 years, the senior director of Thailand Environment Institutes (TEI) said yesterday. Chamniern Paul Vorratnchaiphan – who is also the Rockefeller Foundation’s Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience Network (ACCCRN) project director for TEI – made the comments at a one-day ACCCRN seminar organized by the TEI…
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Crime surge greets Phuket Veg Fest
PHUKET: Just days after Phuket’s top police officer warned crime would increase during the Vegetarian Festival, the island appears to be facing a wave of criminal activity. Yesterday alone saw at least two burglaries, the theft of a motorcycle and the arrest of a Burmese man for possession of krathom leaves. Bike theft: At around 6.30pm yesterday a school teacher…
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Phuket Poll: Will medical certificates improve road safety?
PHUKET: Cabinet recently approved a request by the Ministry of Transport that will make it mandatory for anyone applying for a Thai driving license – or even renewing a Thai driving license – to submit a doctor’s certificate along with their application. For the previous report click here. While some hospitals take the process seriously, some clinics in Phuket have…
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Phuket Vegetarian Festival underway
PHUKET: The Phuket Vegetarian Festival 2010 officially got underway with the arrival of the new moon early this morning. Activities to welcome down the Nine Chinese Warrior Gods from their celestial realm actually took place last night with the raising of go teng poles at participating Chinese shrines, most of which are located in or near Phuket Town. There will…
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Phuket Police investigate mystery crash fatality
PHUKET: A Phuket man died early yesterday morning in a mysterious motorbike accident on Thepkrasattri Road. Thalang Police were notified of the road fatality at about 3am yesterday. At the scene, near the Muang and Thalang district borderline, police found the body of Worrawit Thaksin, 25, lying dead at the side of the road with a badly broken jaw and…
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Phuket babies may need to carry ID cards
PHUKET: The House of Representatives yesterday passed the first reading of a Bill to require one-year-old babies nationwide to have an identification card. The bill, proposed by the Interior Minister. would lower the requirement age for carrying an ID card from 15 to one year. Following a debate of more than an hour, the Bill was approved, with 222 to…
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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 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 drivers face new layer of bureaucracy
PHUKET: Phuket drivers be warned: all new driver’s license applicants are now required to have a doctor’s certificate in order to ensure that health conditions will not adversely affect driving performance, the state-run National News Bureau of Thailand has reported. Deputy Government Spokesman Supachai Jaisamut revealed the news after a draft Transport Ministry regulation was passed by Cabinet. The Transport…
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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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‘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…
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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