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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Trawling fingered as threat to Phuket dolphins
PHUKET: Trawling by fishermen in the seas off Phuket and other parts of Thailand has led, it is charged, to the deaths of around 20 dolphins since the beginning of this year.Two more turned up dead last week in Satun province, on the southern border with Malaysia, and one was found on Saturday, badly injured in the surf off Nai…
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Seven-year-old drowns in Phuket pool
RASSADA, PHUKET: An unsupervised seven-year-old boy drowned in a swimming pool at the Top Land housing estate on Saturday.Police were alerted to the incident about 2pm by residents of the estate, located near the Tungka elementary school in tambon Rassada.They rushed to the scene with emergency workers and found the boy, identified as Prawit Manapreecha-ngamlert, a student at Ketho School,…
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Phuket coastal developments under scrutiny
PHUKET: Phuket governor Wichai Phraisa-ngob has backed concerns raised in an environmental impact assessment report that claims continued, unchecked development of Phuket coastal areas would destroy marine life and negatively impact local communities.The governor’s comments came after the release of the report last week compiled by a panel of Phuket-based environmental experts, including scientists from the Phuket Marine Biological Center…
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Phuket based celebrity chef Keith Floyd passes away
PHUKET: The Phuket Gazette has learned that Phuket-based celebrity chef Keith Floyd, owner of Floyd’s Brasserie at Burasari Resort Patong, Phuket, has died following a heart attack on Monday at his home in Dorset in the UK.He was 65 years old. — Gazette Reporters
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Air crash simulation at Phuket Airport
MAI KHAO, PHUKET: A full-scale air crash simulation took place at Phuket International Airport this morning under the banner of the Emergency Plan Exercise 2009. From 9.00am to 12pm officials from the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department, Phuket Provincial Police, Tourist Police, Marine Police, airline staff and other local government and private sector agencies combined efforts to evaluate their readiness…
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Phuket public transport goes Paiboon pink
PHUKET CITY: Phuket Provincial Administration Organization President Paiboon Upatising was ‘tickled pink’ to present a new fleet of buses to the media today. The new 16-million-baht fleet is painted bright pink – Mr Paiboon’s campaign color. Eight of the 16 new songtaew (two-row) buses started services today, and will be joined by the remaining eight in two months. The new…
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Phuket police hunt ‘ballot box killer’
PA KHLOK, PHUKET: Phuket police are hunting a killer who stabbed a 26-year-old man to death before straddling the body and carving a bizarre symbol into the torso with a knife.Pornsit Pongsakornsopa’s corpse was found on Sunday morning in the middle of Srisoonthorn Road, opposite Boom Boom Karaoke, about 100 meters from Heroines’ Monument.There was some disagreement over the exact form of…
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JJ in new Phuket jet-ski dispute
PATONG, PHUKET: New footage has emerged showing Phuket’s infamous jet-ski man, Winai ‘JJ’ Naiman, in another dispute with marines – this time from the US Navy. The video, released by British TV producer Gavin Hill, shows police officers standing by as Thai jet-ski operators demand cash for damage to a vehicle. The footage ends with one US serviceman handing over…
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Hydrofoils the latest boon for Phuket
PHUKET: At present it sits on the quay at the Phuket Deep Sea Port in Ao Makham, looking like it’s just waiting for Buck Rogers or Dan Dare to come aboard and blast off into space. It’s not quite that exotic, however. This is the first of three hydrofoils that will whisk passengers off to Phi-Phi, Krabi, Koh Lanta or…
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Phuket’s infamous jet-ski man bailed
PATONG, PHUKET: Winai ‘JJ’ Naiman, the jet-ski operator arrested on extortion charges in Phuket this week, was bailed yesterday. An officer at Phuket Provincial Court said Mr Winai had posted a land title deed worth 700,000 baht to secure his release. Footage of Mr Winai, 28, threatening a group of British Royal Navy Marines with a gun was broadcast on…
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Phuket police seize almost 4,000 ya ba pills
THA CHAT CHAI, PHUKET: Phuket police arrested a 26-year-old man in possession of almost 4,000 ya ba (methamphetamine) pills at Tha Chat Chai checkpoint yesterday. Mr Pakorn Sa-nguansin told police he was a courier delivering the pills to a customer in Mai Khao. He picked up the drugs from a Burmese man in Phang Nga, he said. Tah Chat Chai…
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Appeal for help from Phuket’s divers
PHUKET: The Department of Marine and Coastal Resources is appealing to Phuket’s dive industry for volunteers to take part in its ‘Reef Watch’ surveying program. The program aims to assess the health of Thailand’s coral reefs. The collected data will be used as part of World Ocean Day 2010, and all findings will be available to the public. The research…
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Phuket jet-ski operators face insurance scheme
KATHU, PHUKET: Phuket’s jet-ski operators will soon have to insure their craft for damage, the Phuket governor told a crowd of industry representatives at a crisis meeting at Patong Municipality offices yesterday. The measure is aimed at ending the island’s infamous ‘jet-ski scam’, in which unsuspecting tourists are made to pay thousands of baht for spurious repairs to the vehicles…
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Phuket Airport to get Asean upgrade
MAI KHAO, PHUKET: Phuket may have lost out to Hua Hin in the race to host October’s Asean Summit, but a 30-million-baht upgrade of Phuket Airport planned to help cope with the meetings will go ahead anyway, the Gazette has learned. The improvements, which include increasing the number of channels through Immigration, adding X-ray machines and expanding the car park,…
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New Phuket airline launches regional flights
PHUKET: A new Phuket-based airline has announced the launch of daily flights between Phuket and Haad Yai along with a new weekend Phuket-Langkawi route. The newly-launched Happy Air will begin operating flights from Phuket next month with its 34-seat Saab 340A aircraft. The daily 40-minute Phuket-Haad Yai flights are currently scheduled to depart from Phuket at 9:30am and arrive in…
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Landlocked Chinese eye up Phuket’s beaches
PHUKET CITY: Representatives from three landlocked Chinese provinces were in Phuket this week to examine the island’s appeal as a tourist destination for their sand- and sea-deprived residents.The delegates from Yunnan, Hunan and Guizhou provinces, which have a combined population of over 150 million, held talks with Phuket Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop and other officials at Provincial Hall yesterday.The six Chinese…
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Phuket parents make the most of lucky number nine
PHUKET: Many Phuket couples tied the knot yesterday in wedding ceremonies specially arranged to take place on the auspicious date 09/09/09. Many expectant mothers also considered it fortunate to give birth on the day considered especially lucky by Thais. Seventeen Thai women and one Burmese gave birth at Vachira Phuket Hospital yesterday, ten of them naturally, the rest by Cesarean…
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Chinese celebrate Por Tor festival in Phuket
PHUKET CITY: Phuket’s ethnic Chinese community celebrated the annual Por Tor festival in style over the weekend with ceremonies at the new Phuket City Fresh Market 1 on Ranong Rd. Science and Technology Minister Kalaya Sophonpanich presided over the opening of the festivities, which featured Thai and Chinese cultural shows on a stage in front of the market. It was…
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Movie to entice more Koreans to Phuket
PHUKET: A new 5-million-baht short film about Phuket aims to tempt more Korean tourists to visit the island. The film, simply entitled Phuket, stars a well-known Korean movie star, Im Soo Jung, and Thai actor Sorapong Chatree. Phuket will be previewed at the Pusan International Film Festival 2009 next month and screened on board airlines, including THAI and Korean. The…
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Phuket Lifesaving Carnival in Patong next month
PHUKET CITY: The Phuket Lifesaving Carnival is set to return to Patong next month after the original event in July was postponed because of bad weather. The carnival is now scheduled to take place on October 3. Carnival organizers are hoping to attract between 40 and 60 international entrants and as many as 80 local participants. Events will include a…
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Phuket prepares for lucky number nine
PHUKET: Tomorrow – the ninth day of the ninth month of the year 2009 – is considered a highly auspicious day by Thais.In Phuket, Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop will preside over a ceremony attended by his deputies and other government officials at Phuket Community Hall to mark the special date.A large number of couples will also register marriages at Phuket’s registry offices…
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Phuket president cleared of vote-buying
PHUKET CITY: Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (PPAO) President Paiboon Upatising has been cleared of vote-buying following an Appeals Court ruling earlier today. Mr Paiboon said he would return to work ‘immediately’ following the ruling by the Region 8 Court of Appeals in Bangkok. The verdict overturned a ‘yellow card’ ruling by the Election Commission (EC) in Bangkok, which found there…
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Big Phuket birthday party for ‘World’s oldest man’
PHUKET CITY: More has been revealed about the amazing life of Luang Pu Supha, claimed by adherents to be the oldest man in the world. Luang Pu Supha, abbot of a temple named after him in Chalong, is preparing to celebrate his 113th birthday in Phuket next week. Government-issued identification records presented to the Gazette show he was born on…
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Phuket Land Office announces February deadline
PHUKET CITY: Holders of Sor Kor 1 land possession papers have only until early February to apply for upgrades to full land title deeds, the Phuket Provincial Land Office has announced. Land Office chief Paitoon Lertkrai said that all Sor Kor 1 papers, which allow holders to use land for commercial purposes, will expire on February 6 next year. “To…
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Phuket’s police find nothing in drug raids
PHUKET CITY: Phuket Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop, some top officials and a lot of police officers crashed some of Phuket City’s most popular parties on Friday night – on the hunt for drugs and weapons. But those who fret about the loose morals of Thailand’s youth of today will be relieved to find out the police came out empty-handed. Gov Wichai,…
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‘Mermaid’ baby passes away at Vachira Phuket Hospital
PHUKET CITY: The Burmese infant born in Phuket with ‘mermaid syndrome’ has died of kidney failure after a month-long struggle for survival, doctors have confirmed. The infant, named Nichapa, was born at Vachira Phuket Hospital on July 9 after just 35 weeks of gestation. She suffered from the rare congenital condition known technically as Sirenomelia, which is found in approximately…
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Phuket road project still on hold
PHUKET CITY: The Phuket Governor and three of Phuket’s top politicians on Thursday traveled to Bangkok to lobby Cabinet to endorse a controversial plan to allow construction of a new road to Saphan Hin through protected mangrove forest. Phuket Governor Wichai Phraisa-gnop made the trip with Phuket MPs Tossaporn Thepabutr and Rewat Areerob, as well as appointed Senator Phummisak Hongyok,…
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Phuket police report rise in prostitution
PHUKET CITY: Police reported a rise in arrests for prostitution in Phuket during August 2009, with 164 arrests representing a 70.8% increase over the same month last year. Statistics for August released by the Phuket Provincial Police show that drug-related offenses were the most common crimes, with 208 people arrested in 179 cases. The figure is a 50.4% increase year-on-year.…
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Phuket Police to earn “coffee money’
PHUKET CITY: Phuket City Police Superintendent Wanchai Ekpornpit has a passion – other than fighting crime, of course. Col Wanchai is mad about coffee. That’s why he came up with the idea for ‘The Seat’, a new coffee shop under construction next to Phuket City Police Station. The Seat is a ‘police welfare project’ aimed at supplementing the ‘meager income’…
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Panic in Phuket: Supercheap roof collapse
RASSADA, PHUKET: Shoppers at discount retailer Supercheap got a scare early this morning when three sections of roof blew off and fell onto the merchandise below, causing considerable damage and a public panic. Fortunately, there were no deaths or injuries. The collapse saw around 200 square meters of roof fall on three different departments: seafood, compact discs and baby clothes.…
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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