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.
-
Quantum Racing snatches victory in King’s Cup Regatta
KATA: In fresh winds gusting up to 20 knots yesterday morning, Ray Roberts’ Quantum Racing team snatched victory from Neil Pryde’s Hi Fi and Winkelman and Dodd’s Island Fling to win the final race of the Racing class in the 22nd annual King’s Cup Regatta. In one of the tightest competitions ever in the King’s Cup, the win moved Quantum…
-
Island Fling retakes lead in King’s Cup Regatta
KATA: Despite Ray Roberts’ Quantum Racing winning both races on Friday, December 5 in the Racing class of the 22nd King’s Cup Regatta, being held off Kata Beach, Winkelman and Dodd’s Island Fling has retaken the lead in the class with consistently good sailing. Before starting the day’s racing, the 94-boat fleet this morning staged a “sail-past salute” past the…
-
Work on new bus station underway
RASSADA: Work is underway on Phuket’s new bus terminal, which is scheduled to open in early 2010. Phuket Provincial Land Transport Office chief Sompong Thosawat said the new bus terminal will occupy a nine-rai plot of land on Thepkrasattri Rd southbound, about 300 meters south of Supercheap. The site is suitable for the new station as it is located outside…
-
Neil Pryde and Hi Fi move into first in Racing Class
KATA: Proving that this year’s 22nd King’s Cup Regatta competition is tighter than ever, today saw the third leader in as many days of racing. Neil Pryde and his crew on Hi Fi scored a first place in the Racing class as the fleet swept around the southern end of Phuket, powered by strong and steady headwinds in the morning.…
-
Dead dugong thought victim of fishing gear
LAEM PANWA: More bad news for Phuket’s tiny dugong population came early yesterday morning, when the carcass of an immature female was found floating less than a kilometer offshore from Laem Ka, up the coast from the Sea Gypsy Village in Rawai. Dugong researcher Kanjana Adulyanukosol from the Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC) said the carcass was recovered at about…
-
Phuket Airport begs PAD to cease protest
MAI KHAO: Phuket International Airport Director Wicha Nernlop is begging the anti-government People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) to end its siege of Bangkok’s two commercial airports, saying the revenue lost already dwarfs the amount lost through corruption during the Thaksin years.Speaking to the Gazette this afternoon, Mr Wicha said that the number of travelers stranded in Phuket has now reached…
-
Phuket PAD: “No plans’ to close airport
THALANG: The Phuket branch of the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) has “no plans” to close down Phuket International Airport again, according to a spokesman. The number of unscheduled flights in and out of Phuket has been increasing in recent days, with foreign governments arranging special flights for people stranded in Thailand by the closure of Suvarnabhumi and Don Muang…
-
Phuket to host Suzuki Cup
PHUKET CITY: Phuket has been designated as the new Thai venue for Group B play in the AFF Suzuki Cup. Formerly known as the Tiger Cup, the tournament is the biggest in Southeast Asia and the only regional football competition to feature senior squads of all Asean nations. A spokesperson for the Football Association of Thailand (FAT) confirmed that Phuket…
-
Double homicide claims 20-year-old girls
KOH KAEW: Phuket City Police are searching for a man who shot and killed two young women on a motorbike early on Friday. At about 2 am on November 28, Phuket City Police were notified that two women had been found murdered at the mouth of the access road to Laem Hin in Koh Kaew Village 7, Muang District. Police…
-
Governor urges police to quash trade in sex, pirate goods
PHUKET CITY: Fearful that foreigners will view Phuket as a “sex tour” destination and center for trade in counterfeit goods, Phuket Governor Preecha Ruangjan has urged police to take a more serious approach in enforcing prostitution and intellectual property laws. At the monthly meeting of the Provincial Committee for Social Stability held at Phuket Provincial Hall on November 27, Gov…
-
100,000 passengers miss flights in 3 days
BANGKOK: Nearly 100,000 passengers have missed flights since protesters shut down Bangkok’s two main airports on Tuesday and the total could hit 300,000 as the shutdown continues, Tourism and Sports Minister Weerasak Kowsurat said yesterday. “The total number could hit 300,000. When Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang airports are cleared, it will take 24 to 48 hours to verify aviation standards.…
-
Advice for British citizens
PHUKET: Amid increased tensions this morning at Bangkok’s two airports, both under seige and rendered inoperable by PAD protesters since Tuesday, the British Embassy has called for publication of the following information: “For any British Citizens requiring assistance or advice, please telephone the British Embassy in Bangkok, 02 – 3058333, or, in case of extreme emergency, the British Honorary Councilor…
-
Coral Reef Squadron: 9 down, 1 to go
BANG TAO: Phuket Governor Preecha Ruangjan yesterday went to personally inspect progress on the sinking of the “Coral Reef Squadron”, an artificial reef project being sunk about two kilometers off the coast at Bang Tao Bay. Like many newcomers to Phuket, the new governor, who comes from landlocked Phichit province, is allocating some time here to learn how to dive.…
-
King’s Cup racing delayed
PHUKET: The King’s Cup Organizing Committee has this afternoon announced a change in the racing schedule for this year’s regatta. Racing will commence Tuesday, December 2 and will continue through to Saturday, December 6. There will be no lay day. The delay in starting the regatta is to allow those held up by the Bangkok airport closures to reroute their…
-
Travelers stranded by Bangkok airport closures exempted from overstay fines
PHUKET CITY: Phuket Immigration Police Superintendent Chanatpol Yongbunjerd has confirmed that any travelers stranded in Thailand by the closure of Bangkok’s two airports will be exempted from paying overstay fines. Immigration headquarters in Bangkok has instructed immigration officers nationwide to extend “special assistance” to stranded travelers, just as it did in the wake of the 2004 tsunami disaster, he said.…
-
Tomorrow’s Gazette on time despite airport closure
PHUKET: At a time when few major newspapers are available on the newsstands of Phuket, the Gazette will be out on schedule tomorrow morning, November 29, with all deliveries completed by 2pm – despite the shutdown of Bangkok’s Suvarnaphumi airport and limited service out of Don Muang. To ensure that our commitment to readers continues uninterrupted, a tradition started with…
-
Capital increasingly tense as coup rumours spread
BANGKOK (The Nation): The situation in the capital was extremely tense yesterday as coup rumours prompted reaction from anti-government protesters and their rivals. Both camps mobilised their supporters for street fighting, while government and business offices suggested their staff get out early. Newspaper offices were flooded with phone calls inquiring or giving “tips” about an imminent coup. A source claimed…
-
Battle brewing over U-turn closure
RASSADA: Residents of Village 2 are threatening to protest if Rassada Municipality moves ahead with a plan to permanently close down the U-turn on Thepkrasattri Rd, just north of Supercheap. At a meeting of Village 2 residents and local officials yesterday morning, residents led by spokesman Anurak Hongwongpaisarn said the plan to close the U-turn announced by Rassada Municipality last…
-
No end in sight for Patong Hospital staffing crisis
PATONG: Service at Patong Hospital continues to suffer, with no doctors on its permanent staff and no reinforcements expected until the middle of next year. Hospital Director Dr Taveesak Netwongse explained that the 60-bed hospital continues to get by with a skeleton crew of doctors on loan from other state-run hospitals including Vachira Phuket Hospital, Thalang Hospital and some in…
-
Thailand hammered by world travel warnings
PHUKET: Countries around the globe yesterday issued warnings to their citizens about traveling to Thailand – a country the Philippines said was lacking in “political maturity”. The comment from President Gloria Arroyo’s spokesman, Anthony Golez, was prompted by the seizure of Suvarnabhumi Airport by protesters. Asked to explain his comments, Golez said, “Our people have reached a high degree of…
-
4,500 travelers hit by Suvarnabhumi Airport closure
MAI KHAO: Almost 4,500 travelers have had flights canceled from Phuket International Airport (PIA) today following the closure of Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok. Protests by the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) forced authorities to close Suvarnabhumi to all air traffic at 4 am today. Bangkok’s Don Muang airport remains open, though it is understood there have been cancellations there too.…
-
B39.7m approved for “Patong Tunnel’ study
PATONG: Patong Municipality’s recently approved 271-million-baht budget for fiscal year 2009 includes 40 million baht to conduct a detailed study into the possible construction of a tunnel to connect the town with Tambon Kathu. Thanin Attasup, President of the Patong Municipal Council, stated that the recently-held third ordinary meeting of the council for 2008 was attended by Patong Mayor Pian…
-
Kathu man confesses to grisly murder of neighbor while drunk
KATHU: A Kathu man confessed to the shooting and stabbing to death of a neighbor on the morning of November 23. Under questioning at Tung Tong police station, Wichian Choosri, 38, stated that he killed 39-year-old Nitti Limboot while in a drunken rage earlier that morning. A neighbor of Mr Wichian reported the murder to the police, who arrived at…
-
Toilet paper warehouse goes up in flames
CHALONG: It took firefighters about an hour-and-a-half to extinguish a blaze that broke out in a warehouse on Soi Sanjaotaead in Chalong at about 11:30 am today. Four firetrucks and a cherry-picker were dispatched from the Wichit and Chalong Fire Departments to the warehouse, located in a residential area off Soi Taiad, about 200 meters behind the Phuket Spa and…
-
Baan Rim Pa founder Tom McNamara passes away
PHUKET: Prominent local foreign resident Tom McNamara passed away last night at the age of 62. The Gazette this morning received from the Baan Rim Pa restaurant group confirmation reading as follows:“On behalf of Thomas McNamara’s wife, Khun Pensri and children Casey, Fleur and Pure, it is with great sadness I must inform you that Tom, a long term resident…
-
192 kilos of illicit drug ingredients seized
PHUKET: Thai and Australian law enforcement officials yesterday afternoon joined Phuket Governor Preecha Ruangjan at Phuket City Police Station to announce the arrest of a drug suspect and the seizure of 192 kilograms of pseudoephedrine (PSE), the chemical compound used to produce methamphetamines. Officers from the Royal Thai Police Narcotics Suppression Bureau and Phuket Provincial Police arrested 38-year-old Thai National…
-
800 Phuket PAD members to join protest in Bangkok
PHUKET CITY: At least eight buses will leave from Phuket late this afternoon to transport Peoples’ Alliance for Democracy (PAD) members and supporters to join a huge anti-government protest in Bangkok tomorrow. Phuket PAD spokesman Natjarong Ekpermsup told the Gazette this morning that the buses will leave from the Esso service station opposite Satree Phuket school at 5 pm. At…
-
Police nab bike thieving teens
PHUKET CITY: Phuket City Police have arrested three youths for motorcycle theft. Phuket Provincial Police Commander Apirak Hongtong presented the three 16-year-old suspects, along with a wide variety of motorcycle specialty parts and three stolen motorcycles, to the Gazette outside Phuket City Police Station this morning. The arrests were made after police spotted a blue Yamaha Mio, which had been…
-
Phuket second highest HIV infection rate in Thailand
PHUKET CITY: Phuket now ranks second among Thailand’s 76 provinces in terms of HIV infection, with the large number of nightlife entertainment venues and the sex industry seen as the cause. Dr Wiwat Sitomnoch of the Phuket Public Health Office reported that the incidence of HIV infection among teenagers and young adults in Phuket is rising, as are the number…
-
Emergency medical training course for scuba staff
PHUKET CITY: The Badalveda Diving Medicine Network, on behalf of the TDA Diving Association (Thailand) and Bangkok Phuket Hospital, has announced the presentation of an Emergency Medical Management Training Course to be offered to the general scuba diving community. The course will include Basic First Aid, Oxygen Provider, and Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) training that can improve the emergency medical service…
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.
Don't forget to check out some other things to do in Thailand - get help starting a business or finding a job in Thailand, buy Thailand property, rent a yacht or book a medical procedure worldwide.