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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Singaporean airlines offer Phuket deals
PHUKET: A couple of days after THAI Airways angered the tourism industry by abruptly dropping all of its flights from Singapore to Phuket, airlines in Singapore are doing precisely the opposite, by offering special deals to travellers.In a joint promotion with selected hotels in Phuket, Krabi and Langkawi, SilkAir is offering travellers special-value packages to these holiday destinations, valid until…
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Samui speedboat crash toll rises to 14
KOH SAMUI: Rescue services have today recovered a further seven bodies from the waters around Koh Samui, bringing the official number of dead following Tuesday morning’s speedboat crash to 14. Pol Cpl Pongkasem Thanawanitnam, Koh Samui Police Station spokesman, told the Gazette that there are now two people still posted as missing.Koh Samui Hospital gave the names and nationalities of…
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Scandi tour firms to spread the good word
PHUKET CITY: An inspection team representing major Scandinavian tour companies Star Tour, MyTravel & Tour, and Apollo Tours, yesterday announced that they will return home and spread the word that Phuket and the other Andaman provinces are safe tourist destinations.The team of five yesterday wrapped up a week-long inspection tour that took in some 80 hotels in Phuket and Krabi,…
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Help offered for coping with tsunami trauma
PHUKET: Two psychotherapists, Dr Victor Adam from Singapore and David Foster, a Phuket-based Englishman, are to conduct free group sessions to help those in Thailand traumatized by the tsunami. The sessions are expected to begin on February 2. The owner of a house on the Loch Palm Golf Course has generously offered the use of it as a venue for…
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Tsunami bodies arrive in Mai Khao
TAH CHAT CHAI: Interior Minister Bhokin Bhalakula and Phuket Governor Udomsak Usawarangkura today visited Mai Khao Cemetery, to which the bodies of foreigners who died in the December 26 tsunami are being moved for identification and repatriation.The mass transfer of tsunami victim corpses from Phang Nga to Mai Khao Cemetery, at the north end of the island, began yesterday with…
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Search continues for 16 missing in speedboat smash
KOH SAMUI: Police have identified five of the people who drowned between Koh Samui and Koh Pha-Ngan after the speedboat they were in sank in the early hours of yesterday morning.The search continues for another 16 people who have been reported as missing by family or friends.Police are not, however, discounting the possibility that some of the missing might have…
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Court declines to move on Van Treeck extradition
PATTAYA: Despite widespread media reports that murder suspect Sam Van Treeck is back in his native Belgium, the Pattaya Provincial Court has ruled that it will not follow up on the issue or seek his extradition unless he fails to turn up at a scheduled court appearance in December.Van Treeck was 24 years old when he was arrested for the…
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THAI slashes Phuket flights
PHUKET: Thai Airways – whose website ironically announces “THAI’s Full Support On Tsunami Aftermath” – confirmed today that it is making drastic cuts to both domestic and international routes serving Phuket, with effect from February 1.However, the airline’s District Sales Manager for Upper-Southern Thailand, Kalayapha Panich, told the Gazette today that although the carrier would suspend all international flights serving…
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Tsunami dead moved to Phuket
PHUKET: Work began today to move the bodies of more than a thousand non-Asian victims of the tsunami from Phang Nga to the Mai Khao Cemetery in Phuket.The cemetery is close to Phuket international Airport, and the move is intended to make it easier for bodies, once identified, to be repatriated by air.Bodies believed to be Asian will remain in…
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World Tourism Organization to meet in Kata
KATA: The World Tourism Organization (WTO) Executive Council will hold an emergency meeting at the Kata Beach Resort on January 31 and February 1, to draw up plans to accelerate the recovery of tourism industries affected by the December 26 tsunami.Kata Group President and Phuket Chamber of Commerce Chairman Pamuke Achariyachai said today, “The WTO has invited national and international…
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Mystery over Kamala body
KAMALA: Police have so far been unable to identify an apparent murder victim whose body was discovered by villagers in Kamala last weekend.The body was discovered by residents of Kamala village 6 on the sands of Nai Yea Beach, at the south end of Kamala Bay, at about 6 pm on Saturday night. A worker with the Kusoldharm Rescue Foundation,…
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Speedboat sinks, 7 dead, others missing
KOH SAMUI: Seven people have drowned and another six or seven are still missing after a speedboat returning to Koh Samui after a full moon party on Koh Pha-ngan abruptly capsized and sank early this morningSpeaking with the Gazette at midday today, Pol Col Arkom Saisamai, Superintendent of Samui Police Station, told the Gazette that about 35 passengers were aboard…
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90 firms to exhibit at Home Show Asia
PHUKET CITY: More than 90 of Thailand’s top homeware, interior design and décor specialists are due to take part in the first Home Show Asia, to be held in Phuket from March 25 to 27. The show, at the Royal Phuket City Hotel, will feature the latest in contemporary Asian living, ranging from soft furnishings to high-end furniture to state-of-the-art…
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Govt help needed fast – tourism bodies
KARON: “We’re trying to help ourselves, but we can’t do it on our own.” That was the message sent out to the government by representatives of the six tsunami-hit provinces of Thailand after they met in Phuket.Delegates from tourist associations in all six provinces told the Andaman Tourism Restoration Committee meeting at the Hilton Phuket Arcadia Resort & Spa how…
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“Mick the Pom” murder case adjourned
PHUIKET CITY: Briton Michael John Taylor – known as “Mick the Pom” – appeared before Phuket Provincial Court this morning in the first hearing in his trial for the stabbing murder of his girlfriend, 28-year-old Jantra Weangta, on August 17 last year.The judge was told that both prosecution and defense lawyers needed more time to interview witnesses in the case.Prosecution…
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Prison governor dies in road accident
KRABI: The man appointed Chief of Phuket Prison just two months ago has been killed in a road accident.Saree Udom died when his car collided with a motorcycle then hit a tree, on Kho-Tor Rd in Krabi on January 22.K. Saree was on his way from Phuket to his house in Surat Thani. It is thought he died instantly, although…
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B200m center to honor King’s grandson
PHUKET CITY: A 200-million-baht rehabilitation center for autistic children will be built at Wachira Phuket Hospital as a memorial to tsunami victim Bhumi Jensen, the 21-year-old grandson of HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej who was killed by the tsunami.Dr Jessada Chungpaibultatana, Director of the Wachira Phuket Hospital, told the Gazette that the budget to build the five-story building will be provided…
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Patong remembers victims
PATONG: About 500 people attended an interdenominational memorial service held at Loma Park this morning for the victims of the tsunami. The ceremony, organized by The Patong Business Operators’ Club, Patong Hospital and Patong Municipality, was to remember those who perished in the tsunami and to help bring peace of mind to those still suffering from its after-effects. Clerics from…
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Search for missing Austrian child
PHUKET: The International Victim Coordination Center (IVCC) has appealed for help in tracing a three-year-old girl from Austria who is believed to have surivived the tsunami but been mistaken for a Thai child.MR Supinda Chakraband, of the IVCC, told the Gazette, “It is thought the little girl, who calls herself “Anita” and “Alexandra”, survived the tsunami but she is now…
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Singapore President honors tsunami dead
PHUKET: The President of Singapore, S R Nathan, yesterday visited Phuket and took part in a Buddhist ceremony for the victims of the tsunami.Pres Nathan was accompanied to the ceremony, at Wat Srisunthon in Thalang, by Thai Foreign Affairs Minister Surakiart Sathirathai.The merit-making was also attended by Phuket Governor Udomsak Usawarangkura and Phuket Provincial Administration Organization President Anchalee Vanich-Thepabutr.Pres Nathan…
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Vendors appeal against ‘smart Patong’ plan
PATONG: Vendors and operators of other businesses have tried to persuade Phuket Governor Udomsak Usawarangkura, TAT Deputy Governor for Marketing Santichai Euajongprasit and Patong Municipality Mayor Pian Keesin to allow them to trade on Patong Beach as they did before the tsunami.Around 300 fishermen, jet ski owners, beach masseurs, renters of umbrellas and beach beds, motorbike rental businesses and beach…
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Phuket moved, or maybe it didn’t
PHUKET: There is no proof that Phuket has shifted 15 centimeters to the southwest following the December 26 earthquake, according to Dr Adichart Surinkum of the Geotechnic Division of the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR).“Evidence is still being collected and displacement modeling is continuing to determine if movement took place,” he told the Gazette today. “Surveying all the areas involved…
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Relief coordination group launched
THALANG: Some 85 people attended the first meeting of the Thailand Tsunami Recovery Group (TTRG) at Blue Canyon Golf Club, and three sub-groups were set up to help coordinate various aspects of the volunteer relief operation. Mark Weingard, who convened the meeting, explained that the TTRG would not be a charity itself, would not raise funds, and would not direct…
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Global IT leaders expected to attend Phuket conference
KARON: About 1,000 leaders in the global information technology (IT) industry, including Microsoft Senior Vice President Craig Mundie, are expected to attend a three-day conference in Phuket next month in order to restore international confidence in Phuket’s IT infrastructure after the December 26 tsunami.Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Minister Dr Surapong Suebwonglee was quoted on the Software Industry Promotion Agency…
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Tsunami-struck firms “need more help’
PATONG: The President of the Phuket Tourist Association has called on the government to do more to help the tourism industry recover from the tsunami.Pattanapong Aikwanich told a seminar yesterday at Club Andaman Beach Resort, Patong, called to discuss restoring Phuket’s spa businesses, “We are about 90% ready to do business now, but occupancy is currently only about 10%. We’re…
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Family fears for “missing’ survivor’s safety
PHUKET: The family of Isabell Eriksson, a 24-year-old Swedish woman, have made a plea for information regarding her whereabouts, after receiving reports from two sources that she survived the tsunami.Ms Eriksson was, according to her family, staying with three friends at a hotel in the Khao Lak area when the tsunami struck. The family told the Gazette that the friends…
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FantaSea to close again until February
KAMALA: Phuket FantaSea opened its doors today for a special booking, but will close again from tomorrow until February 1, and possibly beyond that.The prominent tourist attraction closed on January 8, after the number of bookings plummeted following the tsunami.At that time, Managing Director Pin Kewkacha said that FantaSea had sustained damage totaling 60 to 70 million baht, and that,…
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TAT woos HK tour firms and media
KATA: Representatives from 50 media organizations and tour agencies in Hong Kong are in Phuket on a post-tsunami inspection tour intended to restore faith in Phuket’s tourism industry.The visit was organized by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) in conjunction with Katathani Phuket Beach Resort and Evergloss Tours of Hong Kong.At a press conference, TAT Region 4 Director Suwalai Pinpradab…
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Anti-malaria campaign launched
PA KHLOK: The Phuket Provincial Health Office (PPHO) today launched an anti-malaria campaign at the football field in Pa Khlok.Officers from the PPHO, local villagers, teachers and students, as well as volunteers and members of the Pa Khlok Tambon Administration Organization (OrBorTor), joined forces to clear up places where standing water would allow mosquitoes to breed, and fumigated areas to…
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Meeting to organize long-term aid
PHUKET: A meeting is to be held on Thursday evening (January 20) in an attempt to bring together the dozens – if not hundreds – of volunteer groups currently providing aid to tsunami victims. The convener of the meeting, Mark Weingard, explained that the meeting will focus on long-term help for the victims, with all parties working together “to ensure…
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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