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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Yala FC shock FC Phuket, 2-0
PHUKET: FC Phuket lost 2-0 at home to Yala yesterday in a surprise result that is a setback to their otherwise impressive bid to win the Football Association of Thailand’s Division Two South title. FC Phuket went into the game at the top of the table having taken maximum points from every home match so far this season. Yala, by…
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‘It was an accident’: Wanphen’s killer tells Phuket press
PHUKET: Retired US Navy serviceman Ronald Fanelli, who confessed to stabbing to death bar hostess Wanphen Pienjai last month, described the killing as a “terrible accident”, saying he never intended to harm her. Clean-shaven and appearing somewhat disoriented, Ronald Fanelli, 37, was presented in handcuffs to the media at a press conference chaired by Phuket Provincial Police Commander Pekad Tantipong…
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American confesses to murder of Phuket bar hostess
PHUKET: The American man arrested for the murder of bar hostess Wanphen Pianjai has confessed to charges, police say. Ronald Fanelli, 36, was arrested by a team of officers led by Police Region 8 Commander Weerasak Meenawanich early yesterday evening at his newly-rented home in Karon. The successful manhunt was one of the most intense in Phuket in recent years,…
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Wanphen Pienjai murder: American arrested in Phuket
PHUKET: Phuket Police last night arrested an American man for last month’s brutal stabbing murder of bar hostess Wanphen Pienjai. Phuket City Police Superintendent Wanchai Ekpornpit this afternoon confirmed the identity of the suspect as 36-year-old Ronald Fanelli, a US citizen. Mr Fanelli was arrested at his home in the Thanthong Village housing estate in Chalong at about 6pm last…
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Phuket gov warns businesses over trading in stolen goods
PHUKET: Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop on Wednesday took time out from his regular schedule to focus his attention on stolen goods being traded in Phuket. Addressing about 300 business operators at a special seminar held to brief shop owners on their legal obligations under the Auction Sale and Antique Sale Control Act BE 2474, Governor Wichai said, “If the [business] operators…
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Phuket tsunami buoy found, recovery underway
PHUKET: After being adrift nearly a month and a half, Thailand’s tsunami direct detection buoy was discovered by Royal Thai Navy warship Bang Pakong 456 at about 6:30 this morning. Commodore Suchart Thammapitakwaech, Director of the Naval Civil Affairs Department at the Royal Thai Navy Third Naval Area Command at Cape Panwa, confirmed the buoy was located 194 nautical miles…
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Phuket tsunami buoy: recovery mission launched today
PHUKET: Thailand’s early warning system for tsunamis has taken a big step backward with the revelation that its only tsunami direct detection buoy is not only inoperable, but adrift on the high seas. Royal Thai Navy warship Bang Pakong 456 was due to leave its port at Phang Nga Naval Base late this afternoon in a bid to locate the…
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Oh my Buddha! Culture crackdown underway in Phuket
PHUKET: The Phuket office of the Ministry of Culture is on the lookout for the inappropriate use of Buddha images following the shocking revelation that one foreign restaurant owner modified a Buddha image to serve as a garden fountain – one that spouted water from the crown of its head. Phuket Culture Office director Tawichart Intorrarit said on Wednesday that…
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Kusoldharm Phuket protest update
PHUKET: The Kusoldharm Foundation’s board met on Wednesday to address the recent protest by some of its volunteer rescue workers, but have yet to release any information about the meeting’s conclusions. Embattled Kusoldharm Foundation President Benjawan Tamphanuwat told the Gazette by telephone yesterday that she did not want to comment on the dispute at the time, but that the board…
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Phuket Police take down another drug dealing ring
PHUKET: Phuket City Police have arrested a man and his pregnant girlfriend for drug dealing, seizing over 1,000 ya bah (methamphetamine pills) in the process. The arrests were announced at a press conference at Phuket City Police Station this morning. Presenting the suspects were Phuket Provincial Police Commandaer Pekad Tantipong and Phuket City Police Superintendant Wanchai Ekpornpit. The arrests resulted…
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Phuket Aquarium work on schedule
PHUKET: Phuket Aquarium’s 2.2-million-baht renovation project is on schedule to finish this month, officers at the Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC) have confirmed. PMBC officer Surapong Banjongma-nee said Bangkok-based Aquatic Company began work repainting the facility walls on February 22. The work involved draining the large viewing tank with a glass walk-through viewing tunnel, as well as work on five…
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Phuket teens at risk from illegal abortions
PHUKET: A warning issued by the head of the Phuket Public Health Office (PPHO) indicates that illegal abortions are quite common in Phuket. PPHO Director Narinrach Pichyakamin recently told the state-run Thai News Agency that many of the cases involved teenage girls who have abortions without their parents knowledge or permission. Women getting illegal abortions risk complications including hemorrhage, renal…
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Phuket Immigration launches on-line alien tracking project
PHUKET: Phuket Immigration will conduct a training session for hotel staff and apartment owners taking part in an Internet-based tracking system of foreigners living in Phuket. Phuket Immigration Superintendent Panuwat Ruamrak said his office is already at work creating a database of accommodation establishments catering to foreigners. Owners of these establishments will then be able to more easily report the…
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Murdered Wanphen cremated in Phuket
PHUKET: The body of slain bar hostess Wanphen Pienjai was cremated at a small ceremony at Wat Kitti Sangkaram (Wat Kata) at noon today. The simple ceremony was attended by about 10 friends and relatives of the deceased, whose remains were discovered stuffed into a suitcase in a remote area off Chao Fa Thani Rd in Wichit on the morning…
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Kusoldharm Foundation Phuket in disarray
PHUKET: Kusoldharm Foundation top-level management are meeting this afternoon to negotiate a settlement to a nasty dispute over a number of issues facing the public-benefit foundation, the largest and most well-funded charity on the island. Relations between management and staff appear to have taken a turn for the worse three months ago following the re-installment of Benjawan Tamphanuwat as president.…
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Ad Carabao, ‘Parn’ give free concert in Phuket today
PHUKET: Central Festival Phuket and HomeWorks are holding a free concert this afternoon featuring Ad Carabao and RS Promotions recording artist Thanaporn “Parn” Waekprayoon. The Ministry of Culture last July named Parn as Thailand’s best female singer. Mr Carabao’s musical achievements are the stuff of legend, but he is perhaps best known among foreign residents for the song “Welcome to…
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Phuket packaged in smiles by Nok
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily digest of news from around the world compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community. PHUKET: Nok Air has relaunched its Smile Packages to Phuket, but this time they are grouped into categories — ‘Free and Easy’, Adventure’, ‘Discovery’ and ‘Sightseeing’. The promotion is valid until September 30. According to TTR Weekly, the packages…
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Phuket Ironman scales Mont Blanc; then goes off to swim The Channel
PHUKET: Ironman athlete Les Bird made it safely to the 4,810 meter summit of Europe’s highest mountain, Mont Blanc, on Saturday. He spent the next two days getting back down. For our previous report click here: British-born Les and climbing partner Harry Taylor arrived back at their base camp in the Chamonix Valley on Monday. But before he could even…
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Phuket Gov to lead delegation to Nice, France
PHUKET: Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop will lead a delegation of government officials and private sector representatives to Nice, France to discuss ways of improving links between the two locales, which have been “sister cities” for over two decades. The visit, scheduled to run from July 16 to 23, follows receipt on July 9 of an official letter of invitation issued by…
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Old Phuket Town cable project: phase II starts in August
PHUKET: Having passed the public hearing process with almost unanimous approval, the second phase of the project to bury electric cables in Old Phuket Town will get underway in August, with scheduled completion in March 2011. The project contractor will have 240 days to complete the 57.4-million-baht job, which will cover: – 250 meters of Krabi Road, between Yaowarat and…
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Phuket hotels urged to discount
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily digest of news from around the world compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community. PHUKET: The Thai Hotels Association (THA) will launch a Buy-One, Get-One-Free promotion this month to match the time frame of the Amazing Thailand Grand Sale 2010, TTR Weekly reports. Phuket hotels are being encouraged to participate in the promotion.…
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Family file assault charges against Phuket policeman
PHUKET: The parents of a teenage boy are considering legal action against a Phuket policeman they allege assaulted their son outside a municipal school in Phuket Town. Anchada Tabkrai visited the Phuket Reporters’ Club office at Phuket Provincial Hall at about 2.30pm on Thursday to announce that her son, 15-year-old Atthaporn Tubklai, was hit on the head repeatedly by the…
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Phuket Police nab thieving rapist
PHUKET: Phuket City Police held a press conference on Wednesday to announce the arrest of a Wichit man arrested for raping a young woman at gunpoint and then stealing her computer. The suspect was identified as Phuket resident Wuttikrai ‘Nueng’ Prasopsorn, aged 25. On the night of June 29, the victim reported that a man entered her rented room with…
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FC Phuket beat Pattani FC, 3-1
PHUKET: FC Phuket came three points closer to their dream of promotion with a strong 3-1 win on the road at Pattani yesterday. The road win, the Southern Sea Kirin’s first this year, came as the second-place Satun United “Witch Doctors” were unable to work their magic against Surat Thani FC, going down 3-1 on the road. Surat Thani FC…
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IP crackdown underway in Phuket
PHUKET: A Crime Suppression Division (CSD) intellectual property rights unit from Bangkok is leading local police in crackdowns on intellectual property (IP) violators in Phuket this weekend. Officers at Phuket City Police Station last night were busy counting up a large haul of counterfeit CDs, DVDs and music videos seized in a raid on four stalls at the Phuket Variety…
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Phuket named best Asian yachting capital
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily digest of news from around the world compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community. World Cup? Get instantaneous scores and news updates right here on the Gazette Online (fed directly from FIFA). PHUKET: Phuket, voted as the Best Asian Maritime Capital 2010 in May, will bring in US$306 million in revenue from boating…
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Phuket Raceweek Photo Contest: Deadline looms
PHUKET: As the island gears up for Six Senses Phuket Raceweek, to be held in and around Chalong Bay from July 21-25, the Phuket Gazette‘s Phuket Raceweek Amateur Photo Contest is offering budding photographers the chance to win a five-night stay at an exclusive Phuket resort – free of charge. But hurry; the deadline for entries is Thursday, July 15.…
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World Cup: Phuket likes Spain over Holland
PHUKET: There was a lot of activity at the Phuket post offices this morning as people from all walks of life dropped off batches of postcards bearing their picks on who will win the World Cup 2010 final that kicks off in South Africa at 1:30am on Monday. A clear majority think Spain will win the match. The punters are…
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Plant Fair underway in Phuket
PHUKET: The 18th annual Phuket Ornamental Plants & Flowers Fair got underway with an opening ceremony at 5pm today.Held at Saphan Hin, the event will run through July 18.Organized by the Phuket Provincial Agricultural Office, Phuket City Municipality and Phuket Provincial Administration Organization, this year’s fair will feature Phuket Pineapple exhibitions, pineapple peeling and processing competitions, and flower decoration contests.Various…
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Phuket Ironman: ‘I’m alive!’
PHUKET: Friends and family of a Phuket Ironman athlete currently climbing Europe’s highest peak will be praying for his safe return after hearing that two climbers fell to their deaths in the same area earlier this week. Cherng Talay resident Les Bird, 59, is attempting to reach the 4,810-meter summit of Mont Blanc in the French-Italian Alps. He is climbing…
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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