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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Four arrested for aquarium fish smuggling in Phuket
PHUKET TOWN: Four residents of a Sea Gypsy community in Rawai were arrested yesterday for smuggling protected marine species. The suspects, 34-year-old Pichit Bangjak and three minors, were arrested at 11am in a pickup truck parked along Thepkrasattri Road in Rassada, near the Phuket Highways Department Office. A search of foam coolers in the bed of the truck uncovered 250…
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Teen charged for fatal stabbing of boyfriend in Phuket
PHUKET TOWN: A teenager charged with manslaughter said she was acting in self-defense when she stabbed her boyfriend to death early this morning. The suspect, 18-year-old Songkhla native Duangrat Romyen, was presented along with other criminal suspects at a press conference at Phuket City Police Station this morning. Miss Duangrat told police that her boyfriend, 32-year-old Phuket native Jamlong Soongnern,…
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Phuket Police nab murder suspect
PHUKET TOWN: Police on Saturday arrested a man wanted for the rape and strangling murder of 24-year-old Supercheap employee Thipkasen ‘Khwan’ Heep-phech last month. The suspect, identified as Nakhon Sri Thammarat native Sutthiporn ‘Khao’ Morasin, was arrested as he tried to leave the island at the Tah Chat Chai checkpoint at 5pm on Saturday. He has denied all of the…
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German collapses, dies in Kata
KATA, PHUKET: An elderly Caucasian tourist died in the sea off Kata Beach on Friday. Witnesses said the man collapsed in the water at around 4pm. Tourists pulled him out but he was already dead. The man is believed to be a 69-year-old German who was staying at the Kanjana Guesthouse on Nanai Road in Patong. German Honorary Consul Dirk…
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Dream delay: Phuket kayakers’ dream paddle on hold
PHUKET TOWN: Two Phuket-based men who were set to paddle a kayak 14,000 miles from Phuket to California have been forced to postpone their trip due to ‘financial constraints’. American Ryan Doran, 26, and Piya ‘Mr X’ Sukunthai, 28, were due to leave Phuket on March 10 aboard their 20-foot wooden kayak Say-Lee. The pair insist that their dream trip…
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NEWS Hound: Sabotage worries over Thailand protests
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily, pocket-sized packet of news from around the world, compiled by Phuket Gazette reporters for foreigners who want it short, sharp and straight to the point. PHUKET: The Thai government’s Situation Monitoring Committee has received information indicating possible acts of sabotage, aimed at creating chaos during the March 14 political rallies in Bangkok. PM Abhisit…
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NEWS Hound: Thailand traffic concerns during protests
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily, pocket-sized packet of news from around the world, compiled by Phuket Gazette reporters for foreigners who want it short, sharp and straight to the point. PHUKET: In preparation for Thailand’s mass political rally scheduled for Bangkok next Sunday, authorities will cite traffic law to ban the ‘red shirts’ from bringing in their E-taen farm…
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Phang Nga plans world mass dive record in April
PHUKET: Phang Nga Province, Phuket’s immediate neighbor to the north, is asking divers from all over Thailand to pack their fins, tanks and regulators and head to a diving festival in Thai Muang District on April 3, when there will be an assault on the world record for a mass dive. Thai Muang is about a one hour drive from…
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Historic building to become Phuket Peranakan museum
PHUKET TOWN: The Phuket Peranakan Association is seeking donations to help transform the old Standard Chartered Bank building into a 50-million-baht cultural museum. When completed, the classic two-story Sino-Portuguese building at the corner of Phuket and Phang Nga Roads in Phuket Town will be designated as the ‘Phuket Provincial Baba Museum’. Phuket Peranakan Association President Dr Kosol Teng-uthai said the…
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NEWS Hound: Officials concerned about Phuket as terrorism rises in deep south
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily, pocket-sized packet of news from around the world, compiled by Phuket Gazette reporters for foreigners who want it short, sharp and straight to the point. PHUKET: Thai and U.S. officials are preparing for another year of unrest due to the continuing insurgency in the Muslim Malay-dominated provinces in Thailand’s ‘deep south’. Officials are bracing…
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Phuket leukemia patient bank info
PHUKET: A number of Gazette readers have expressed interest in donating money to help a schoolboy suffering from leukemia in Phuket. Jenarong Tupklaeng, 16, was diagnosed with leukemia one year ago and has been unable to attend classes at Dowroong Wittaya School since. For our previous stories, click here and here. Anyone wishing to help Jenarong can transfer funds, in…
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US consular outreach trip: Phuket
PHUKET: The Consular Section of the American Embassy in Bangkok has announced a consular outreach visit to Phuket on March 19. Consular staff will be available to provide consular services for American citizens at the Hilton Phuket Arcadia Resort and Spa from 8am to 12 noon on Friday, March 19. The following consular services will be available during the outreach…
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Phuket Chinese cemetery fire set by spiritual arsonists
PHUKET TOWN: Arson was the cause behind a fire that raged among the graves of the Chinese cemetery near Rang Hill in Phuket Town yesterday. A villager living nearby said the fire started around 3pm. Phuket City Municipality firefighters put the blaze out, but it reignited again in the evening. It was set deliberately, the man said. “It normally happens…
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Burmese labor extortionist busted in Phuket sting
PHUKET TOWN: A man posing as a government official was arrested on Wednesday for extorting money at a Burmese construction workers’ camp. Leading the arrest was Thammarong Chuy-aksorn, deputy chief administrative officer of Thalang District, who led a team of 14 undercover officers to carry out a sting operation at the camp. Mr Thammarong said the action followed numerous complaints…
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Heroines’ Memorial Fair starts tomorrow in Phuket
PHUKET: Phuket’s annual Thao Thepkrasattri and Thao Srisoonthorn Fair starts tomorrow in Thalang. The fair, which runs until March 20, will take place at Thalang Victory Memorial Park near the Heroines’ Monument. Highlights will include a theatrical performance recreating the two heroines’ famous victory. The pair, known as Jan and Muk before they were ennobled with the title ‘Thao,’ led…
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Three US navy vessels in Phuket
PHUKET: Another three United States Navy vessels with over 500 crew members are in Phuket for five nights of rest and relaxation. The amphibious transport dock ship USS Cleveland and amphibious dock landing ship USS Rushmore docked at the Phuket Deep Sea Port at Cape Panwa on Tuesday, followed by the smaller USS Patriot the following day. All three vessels…
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Phuket taxi drives off with Finnish tourist’s bag
PHUKET: A Phuket taxi driver drove off with a Finnish tourist’s bag while she and her parents were carrying shopping back to their hotel room on Tuesday. The taxi picked up Sini Kukkonen, 17, Lauri Kukkonen, 61, and Tanja Kannerua, 59, on the bypass road between Central and Big-C around 10pm. While they were unloading their shopping at the Phuket…
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NEWS hound: Phuket to benefit from big airline sale
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily, pocket-sized packet of news from around the world, compiled by Phuket Gazette reporters for foreigners who want it short, sharp and straight to the point. PHUKET: AirAsia is conducting another big sales promotion this month, offering more destinations, including Phuket, at even lower fares than their previous sale last August. Phuket is one of…
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Well-known DJ found dead in Phuket
PATONG, PHUKET: A DJ at the popular Boat Bar in Patong was found dead in his bedroom above the venue last night. Police believe 35-year-old Ratchanon Bawonsakulchart, known as ‘DJ Nat’, died of chronic health problems. Colleagues found Mr Ratchanon, who was from Bangkok, dead on his bedroom floor at around 8pm. Boat Bar, located on the access road to…
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Phuket water plant worker dies in freak accident
PHUKET: An employee at a desalination plant in Karon died yesterday when he was sucked into a high pressure intake hose at the facility. The worker, 40-year-old Tannit Pramungij, accidentally fell into a large vessel containing sea water while performing routine maintenance at the REQ Water Services plant about 2:30pm on Tuesday. Mr Tannit was sucked into a 30-meter length…
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Thai police seize internet chat logs
PHUKET: More than 20 police from the Economic and Cyber-Crimes Division (ECOTEC) have raided the offices of Thai state-owned telecommunications company CAT Telecom and confiscated chat-room conversation records and a server. Police Lieutenant General Tha-ngai Prasajaksatru, commander of ECOTEC, said the raid at CAT Tower yesterday focused on the Internet data center and was in response to a radical pro-Thaksin…
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More aid for young leukemia patient in Phuket
PHUKET: Several more organizations have donated additional funds to help the 16-year-old leukemia patient in Phuket who wrote a letter to HM The King asking for help. Jenarong Tapklaeng’s mother Wasuthida collected checks totaling 36,000 baht at Phuket Provincial Hall yesterday. The money included 30,000 baht from Lions Club of Phuket Andaman Sea, 2,000 baht from Phuket Social Welfare Office,…
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NEWS Hound: Thai MPs opt for bullet proof vehicles
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily, pocket-sized packet of news from around the world, compiled by Phuket Gazette reporters for foreigners who want it short, sharp and straight to the point. PHUKET: Members of Thailand’s Council of Ministers have begun swapping their official sedans for bullet-proof vehicles following a warning by Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva. According to ThaiVisa.com, this was…
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Kapek almost kaput in Phuket
PHUKET: A rare type of wild rice introduced to Phuket more than 60 years ago is in danger of disappearing from the island, officials say. Four years ago there were seven farms growing Manchurian wild rice – known locally as kapek – for commercial purposes. Now there are only two left, said Pradub Chusakulvong of Kathu Agricultural Office. “The main…
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NEWS Hound: Songkran celebrations Phuket style
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily, pocket-sized packet of news from around the world, compiled by Phuket Gazette reporters for foreigners who want it short, sharp and straight to the point. PHUKET: The annual Songkran festival, to be celebrated nationally April 13-15, will again see turtles to the fore at Phuket’s beaches. Releases of hundreds of hatchlings of the endangered…
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Phuket to benefit from continuation of stimulus package
PHUKET: Less than one month after Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed Thaivisa.com that the free tourist visa scheme would end on March 5, 2010, the Thai Government has announced that the tourism stimulus package will continue for another year, along with US$10,000 worth of free riot insurance for tourists. The extension of the stimulus package was approved by the…
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Phuket tuk-tuk driver returns Russian tourist’s wallet
PATONG, PHUKET: A tuk-tuk driver last week returned a lost wallet to a Russian couple on holiday in Patong. At about 2pm on February 26, sharp-eyed Seree Yodthueng noticed the wallet in the back of an unmanned tuk-tuk belonging to a fellow member of the Patong Taxi Federation. The tuk-tuk was parked along Phang Muang Road, behind Jungceylon. The wallet…
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FC Phuket Sea Kirin pick up first-ever home win
PHUKET TOWN: FC Phuket recorded their first ever home win on Sunday, scoring two dramatic late goals to down Nakhon Sri Thammarat 3-1. Nakhon Sri Thammarat went into the Sunday afternoon match hoping for a repeat of last year’s success, when they beat Phuket FC 4-3. It was not to be. Strengthened by the return of Ivory Coast midfielder Ali…
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NEWS Hound: Another Phuket Island in the Philippines?
Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily, pocket-sized packet of news from around the world, compiled by Phuket Gazette reporters for foreigners who want it short, sharp and straight to the point. Business Mirror Banyan Tree’s $300-million development project to turn the 60-hectare Diwaran Island, Philippines, into the next tourist paradise in Southeast Asia should start very soon with the release…
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New Phuket Bus Station to open mid-2010, at the earliest
PHUKET TOWN: The Phuket Land Transport Office appears resigned to run the new Phuket Provincial Bus Terminal by itself after two local governing bodies have lost interest in operating the facility. Work on the new station was completed in early December, but efforts by the Transport Office to find a local government body to administer operations there appear to have…
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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