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.
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Police warned they must reform
PHUKET CITY: Police in Phuket were told yesterday that they must make big changes to the way they work and the way they are perceived by the public, or face having massive and humiliating change imposed on them. Speaking to a meeting of officers at the Royal Phuket City Hotel, Pol Lt Gen Somsak Buppasuwan, commander of Police Region 8…
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Spy network to tackle road safety
PHUKET: A new road safety campaign aims to recruit volunteers from government departments, schools, factories, transport operators, private companies and even villages – a large proportion of the island’s population – to look out for and report violations of traffic laws. The scheme was launched last week by the newly-formed Phuket Land Transport Security Center (PLTSC) under instructions from the…
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18,889 register as poor in Phuket
PHUKET CITY: A total of 18,889 people registered as poor in Phuket between January 5 and the registration deadline yesterday. The registration process also brought to light 5,881 people who do not have Thai IDs. It is believed that most of them are sea gypsies, supposedly the original inhabitants of Phuket. People were able to list one or more reasons…
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Marina finally breaks ground
KOH KAEW: The Royal Phuket Marina took its first step toward construction this morning with a ceremonial ground-breaking and the placing of the first stone. Phuket Governor Udomsak Usawarangkura was the guest of honor at the ceremony, presided over by the marina’s president, Gulu Lalvani. Mr Lalvani told the Gazette that he hopes the marina will attract anyone who enjoys…
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Som Tam Express wins Champagne Run
ANDAMAN SEA: The Rebak Champagne Run 2004 was a race of extremes, from lulls that left the boats lurching in sloppy waters making no headway, to fresh breezes of 10 to 15 knots. Fifteen boats registered for the Phuket-Langkawi race, the 120-nautical-mile precursor to the Royal Langkawi Yacht Club Regatta, while others joined in unofficially. As with most yacht races,…
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Sipa branch launches cyber future
PHUKET CITY: After years of promises, Phuket today moved one step towards the goal of becoming a center for information technology with the opening of a branch of the Software Industry Promotion Agency (Sipa) at Saphan Hin. The opening aligns Phuket with Sipa headquarters in Bangkok and puts the local branch in control of software development throughout southern Thailand. It…
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Third party enters municipal poll
PHUKET CITY: A third party entered the Phuket City Municipality race this morning, on the final day for registration. The Pattana Baan Rao (“Develop Our Home”) Party is led my mayoral candidate Thanapong Kho-udom, 53, who explained the late entry: “We came to register on the last day because we didn’t want to compete [for the number 1 on ballot…
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Illegals top Feb crime stats
PHUKET: Illegal immigration topped crime statistics for February 1 to 23 with 203 illegal migrants arrested, according to figures just released by the Phuket Provincial Police. Arrests for gambling coming in second, with 194 people taken into custody in the course of 106 raids. Police apprehended another 46 people for prostitution and made 34 arrests for possession or use of…
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Beach chair protest falls on deaf ears
KHAO LAK: An angry crowd of about 200 beach chair renters and other residents of the Bangniang area of Khao Lak blocked the road to Bangniang Beach from 9 am to 5 pm yesterday to protest the removal of beach chairs and umbrellas from the beach. Police and military personnel moved all the chairs and umbrellas from the beach earlier…
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Sipa to bring “e-life’ to Thailand
PHUKET CITY: Kruewal Somana, Adviser to Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Minister Surapong Suebwonglee, today explained the aims of the Software Industry Promotion Agency (Sipa), which will open an office on Monday at Saphan Hin. At a seminar in the Royal Phuket City Hotel this afternoon, she said that Sipa will support all sectors of society by bringing them the…
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2004 Thailand Tourism Awards launched
PHUKET CITY: The Thailand Tourism Awards 2004 were given their regional launch yesterday at the Royal Phuket City Hotel, showcasing the dual themes of environmental conservation and sustainable tourism. The Director of the local office of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), Suwalai Pinpradab, said that the fifth annual tourism awards competition will also encourage greater competitiveness vis a vis…
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New benchmarks for central funding
PHUKET CITY: Provincial projects must meet meet one of two new criteria if they to receive funding from the central government: profit or “communal benefit”. Speaking at Phuket Provincial Hall this morning, Gov Udomsak Usawarangkura told provincial government department chiefs that only projects that make money or that offer benefits to other provinces will be considered when it comes to…
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Two more boat taxes dropped to zero
PHUKET CITY: In the wake of the dropping last week of customs duty on yachts comes more good news for the local yachting industry with the announcement that excise tax has been reduced from 5% to zero. A third impost on yachts, the Ministry of Interior Tax, which is calculated as a percentage of excise tax, also automatically falls to…
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Province requests B2.5bn for expo center
PHUKET CITY: Phuket Province and the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) have jointly requested 2.5 billion baht in funding from the central government for construction of the proposed International Convention and Exhibition Center (ICEC) at Saphan Hin – a site still seen by most island residents as inappropriate for such a project. Speaking after a planning seminar at the Royal…
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Beach encroachment survey begins
CHERNG TALAY: Around 40 restaurateurs and café owners at Lay Pang Beach will find out soon whether their premises are encroaching on public land. Officials from Thalang District Office and Cherng Talay Tambon Administration Organization (OrBorTor) began a cadastral survey of 17 rai of the Lay Pang area yesterday in order to define boundaries in preparation for taking court action…
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Langkawi Regatta draws 70 entries
LANGKAWI: The BMW Royal Langkawi International Regatta 2004 (RLIR) will be contested from March 3-6 in waters off the Royal Langkawi Yacht Club in Kuah, Langkawi. The organizers say that almost 70 boats from Switzerland, Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Brazil, the US, Alaska, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Hong Kong and Vanuatu have registered to take part. The official closing…
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Crime fighters set up in Phuket
PHUKET: In a bid to tackle serious crime around the country, the Bangkok-based Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) has formed local crime-fighting forces for each police region, CIB Deputy Commissioner Pol Maj Gen Chatchawal Suksomjit announced on Sunday. Gen Chatchawal has been appointed chief of the CIB office for Region 8, based in Phuket and covering Ranong, Krabi, Phang Nga, Phuket,…
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A flap but no bird ‘flu
PHUKET: The Chief of Phuket Provincial Health Office confirmed today that a hospital patient originally suspected of having bird ‘flu had been allowed to go home after doctors found he was free of the disease. Virat Hongsib-paed, 33, a garbage man employed in Kamala, was admitted to the Mission Hospital Phuket on Friday after feeling ill for several days. Concern…
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Warehouse blaze causes B2m damage
PHUKET TOWN: An electrical fire this morning caused damage estimated at two million baht in a recently built warehouse belonging to furniture company Phuket Intercraft Co Ltd, on Chao Fa East Rd. Police at first suspected arson until they were told that the building was not insured. Nutchanart Benchakij, owner of the company, told the Gazette that no one was…
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Drive against alcohol and tobacco
PHUKET CITY: In a scene reminiscent of the US in the 1920s, some 100 people turned out this morning to burn cartons of cigarettes and smash bottles of alcohol. The “No tobacco, no alcohol for a better life” project was organized by the Kalyanamitra Organization, Phuket, along with Rajabhat University Phuket, where the bottle-smashing was staged. The message of the…
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First small step toward Cyber-Paradise
PHUKET CITY: A branch of the Software Industry Promotion Agency (SIPA) will open on March 1 at Saphan Hin – the first small step toward the island’s much-imagined golden future as an IT hub. Manoo Ordeedolchest, President of SIPA, told the Gazette, “The Board of Investment and the provincial government will be responsible for setting up and running a one-stop…
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Yacht customs duty dropped to zero
PHUKET TOWN: Phuket’s marine leisure industry broke out the Champagne today as the government finally dropped the customs duty on imported boats to zero, following publication of the change to the tax law in the Royal Gazette yesterday. Theera Paesathitthavorn, Deputy Chief of the Phuket Customs Office Region 5, told the Phuket Gazette today that he anticipates an increase in…
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“Waters fee’ back with a vengeance
CHALONG: After insisting five days ago that the reintroduction of the “waters fee” applied only to boats mooring in Ao Chalong, officials of the Chalong Tambon Administration Organization (OrBorTor) admitted today that the infamous fee actually applies to all boats mooring anywhere around Phuket. The fee was reintroduced on January 1 after a hiatus of about a year, and has…
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Phuket Town is now Phuket City
PHUKET TOWN: Unlucky for some, but lucky for sign-makers and big-thinkers: on Friday, February 13, the Interior Ministry officially upgraded Phuket Town Municipality to Phuket City Municipality. The Chief Administrative Officer of the new Phuket City (and formerly Chief Admin Officer of Phuket Town), Veerun Hangsawat, told the Gazette today, “The structure and responsibilities of Phuket Town qualified it for…
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B300m to be spent on Phuket’s roads
PHUKET: Almost 300 million baht is to be spent improving the island’s roads as part of a campaign by the Phuket Provincial Highway Office (PPHO) to reduce road deaths and injuries. One of the biggest projects will be the enlargement of the eight-kilometer bypass road to four lanes, or possibly even six. This will cost 112 million baht and take…
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Protesters seek to stop early closing
PHUKET TOWN: About 1,000 workers and business owners from the entertainment industry gathered outside the Phuket Provincial Meeting Hall this afternoon to stage a peaceful protest against tighter restrictions on opening hours. The protesters caried banners and placards criticizing the 1 am closing time that is scheduled to be imposed on the island from March 1 as part of the…
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Chicken back on the menu
PHUKET: Phuket is starting to recover its appetite for chicken but the importation of live birds to the island is still banned, Sunart Wongchawalit, Chief of the Phuket Provincial Livestock Office, said today. Only four companies out of 140 that had been checked were currently being allowed to bring processed chickens onto the island. Since the avian ‘flu outbreak hit…
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Computer causes cupid consternation
PHUKET:A total of 138 couples chose to marry on the island on Valentine’s Day – though a computer glitch meant that some of them had a lot of time to think about whether they really wanted to go through with it. The introduction of new computers at the Kathu District Office led to problems that meant couples had to prove…
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New TAT boss outlines strategy
PHUKET TOWN: The uniqueness of Phuket’s culture and events such as the Vegetarian Festival will prove to be new attractions for tourists, according to the new Director of the local office of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), Suwalai Pinpradab. “We will campaign for residents and tourists alike to wear white clothes during the festival to make it unique and…
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Singapore property show wins go-ahead
SINGAPORE: The first Singapore Phuket and Samui Property exhibition will be held at the Raffles City Convention Centre in the Swissotel The Stamford, Singapore, from March 5 to 7. Exhibition Director Graham Doven said, “We have been under constant pressure from many major developers in Phuket and Samui to get to Singapore, which has shown strong growth [in sales] over…
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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