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.
-
Sponsored Boost your business in Thailand: 5 powerful benefits of using BoostedByPeople
As a business owner in Thailand, you know how tough it is to stand out online. Ads get skipped, scrolled past, or flat-out ignored. People are more sceptical than ever about what they see on their feeds. And even when...
-
Dramatic drop in motorcycle mayhem
PHUKET: An increased police presence on Phuket’s roads has been credited for a dramatic drop in the usual motorcycle mayhem during the July-August period. Nine people died in motorcycle incidents between July 20 and August 20 – well down on the 14 deaths during the preceding period and a huge drop on the 26 motorcycle deaths in April-May. Ampaipan Pawawattananusorn,…
-
HRH the Crown Prince to visit Phuket
PHUKET TOWN: HRH Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn will visit Phuket later this month to officiate at the opening ceremony of the new Phuket Provincial Court building. On September 12 at 5 pm His Royal Highness will lay a foundation stone and unveil a plaque to officially open the building.
-
Deadbeat vehicle owners urged to pay taxes
PHUKET: The Chief of the Phuket Land Transportation Office (PLTO) has reported that his office is owed a staggering 141 million baht in overdue vehicle tax, more than half of it due from motorcycle owners. PLTO Chief Prasit Amrapal revealed the numbers at the regular Governor’s press conference at the Phuket Provincial Public Health Office yesterday, and urged those in…
-
Ombudsman “works for all’
PHUKET TOWN: Anyone in Thailand – including foreigners living here or visiting the country – may take complaints of malfeasance by government officials to the Ombudsman, a seminar was told today. Pramote Chotimongkol, General Secretary to the Ombudsman, said, “Whenever action or inaction by government employees causes harm, damage or injustice to an individual or to the general public, the…
-
Tambon elections go smoothly
PHUKET: Elections for 12 of Phuket’s 13 Tambon Administration Organizations OrBorTor ran smoothly on Saturday with a voter turnout of 62.67% and no evidence of vote-buying or cheating, according to Prapa Kayee, President of the Phuket Election Committee. Karon had the best turnout at 84.82% of voters, she told the Gazette, while Rassada had the lowest, with 47.42%. She said…
-
Overseas calls, Internet costs to be slashed?
PHUKET TOWN: The Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) wants to drastically reduce the cost of overseas calls and high-speed Internet connections in Phuket, ICT Minister Surapong Suebwonglee said yesterday. Acknowledging complaints by IT-related companies in Phuket that connection costs are too high, Dr Surapong said that he would talk with the Communications Authority of Thailand (CAT) and other…
-
Watch out for strangers, says Wan Nor
PHUKET: Interior Minister Wan Muhamad Nor Matha today urged local people to be on the lookout for strangers in their communities. Some of these people, he said, might be posing as relatives or friends of community members in order to avoid staying at hotels because of current increased security checks. “I have told Governor Pongpayome [Vasaputi] to tell local community…
-
Man killed in karaoke brawl
THALANG: A young man died after being stabbed and stomped in a brawl with six others in front of a karaoke bar on Srisoontorn Rd last night. Pol Lt Col Whuttichai Chumput, Deputy Superintendent of Thalang Police Station, told the Gazette that the victim was Winai Yumduang, a 21-year-old factory worker. Col Whuttichai said witnesses had told police that K.…
-
UK killer gets suspended sentence
PHUKET: A Briton who confessed to murdering his Thai girlfriend in Phuket in January has been freed on a two-year suspended sentence, a British newspaper has reported. The Exeter Express reported that 48-year-old Mark Leighton Storey was back in England, a free man despite confessing to charges of killing his Thai girlfriend, 30-year-old Rattanaporn Pimkot, on January 16. A local…
-
Scaled-down dog pound gets go-ahead
THALANG: The four-rai mega-pound for stray dogs at the Bang Kanoon forestry plantation in Thalang has been approved, Sunart Wongchawalit, Chief of the Phuket Provincial Livestock Office (PPLO), told the Gazette today. Construction will start soon and the pound, which will cost about 2 million baht to build, is expected to open in November, he said. “[The site] is far…
-
Silver medal student feted in Phuket
PHUKET TOWN: Phuket student Nawanol Theera’ampornpan returned to Phuket from the International Science Olympiad in the United States today with a silver medal for computer sciences. Nawanol, 18, from Phuket Wittayalai School, was one of four students who represented Thailand in the competition, held in Wisconsin. A student band and about 50 friends greeted him with music, cheers and garlands…
-
Movies, porn nabbed in raid
PATONG: Officers led by the Deputy Commander of Phuket Provincial Police, Pol Col Apirak Hongtong, seized fake and smuggled goods valued at 1 million baht in raids in Patong last night. The haul consisted of 4,500 foreign movie and music CDs and 100 porn film VCDs. The owner of the shop, on the beach road, was arrested. Three other shops…
-
Phuket to be anti-piracy pioneer
PHUKET: Phuket will become one of five pioneering provinces as Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra pursues a government campaign to obliterate the manufacture and sale of fake goods in Thailand. Imitation brand-name clothing, watches and CDs have become something of a traditional attraction for tourists to Thailand. But the PM plans to replace the cut-price fakes with something genuinely traditional: goods…
-
Sharp rise in tourism predicted
SYDNEY: Asia will see strong performance in aviation, travel and tourism in the final quarter this year, according to an industry report just released. While Thailand is not singled out, the report says Asia has made an “unexpectedly rapid recovery” from the Sars virus scare and accelerated air traffic should ensure a “very positive” outlook. Pent-up demand should drive the…
-
Diamond Cliff row “must be solved fast’
PHUKET TOWN: Conflicts between hotel workers and their employers should be resolved quickly in the interests of the Phuket tourism industry, a conference heard today. Union leaders and other interested parties met for the first time to discuss worker-boss relations in the island’s increasingly unionized hotel industry. A focus of their attention was a dispute at the Diamond Cliff Resort…
-
Guides protest against foreign tour staff
PHUKET TOWN: Some 300 Phuket tour guides gathered at the Lan Nawamin square on Phuket Rd this morning to protest Cabinet’s resolution last Tuesday to allow tour agencies that bring in more than 5,000 tourists in the preceding year to hire 10 foreign workers. The resolution also stated that Cabinet would consider reducing the threshhold to 1,000 tourists a year.…
-
Pakistanis cleared of terrorist links
PHUKET TOWN: Two Pakistani men arrested on Saturday night for illegally entering the country have been cleared of links with terrorist groups. Police named the men as Abid Khan and Bashir Mehmood, both 23. Officers found that Khan had entered Thailand on an Israeli passport while Mehmood had entered the country on a Portuguese passport. The men were also found…
-
Phuket Town green team wins award
PHUKET TOWN: Phuket Town Municipality has won top honors in a contest run by the Thai Environment and Community Development Association (Tecda) for having the most outstanding recycling project of 85 government offices and private businesses. Phuket Town Mayor Phummisak Hongsyok explained, “Phuket Municipality was chosen because of its well-organized project plans, which are administered by the project committees.” The…
-
“Intelligent’ traffic lights switched on
PHUKET TOWN: The island’s capital stepped up to a new level of technology yesterday with the switching-on of an “intelligent” traffic light system at the intersection of Thepkrasattri Rd and Komarapaj Rd. Phuket Town Mayor Phummisak Hongsyok explained that the Komarapaj Rd intersection is the location of the town’s longest traffic delays, which was why it was chosen for trials…
-
Korean store busted for dodgy drugs
PHUKET TOWN: A Taiwanese man was arrested this morning for illegally selling traditional Thai and Korean medicines. The arrest came when officers, led by the national Commander of the Tourist Police, Pol Maj Gen Panya Maman, raided a store on the bypass road after complaints from tourists. Gen Panya said that officers moved to raid the store after the South…
-
Indonesians cleared of terrorist links
PATONG: The three Indonesian fisherman who washed ashore at Kalim Beach yesterday morning have been cleared of connections with the terrorist organization Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), Pol Maj Narong Laoprathumviroj, an Inspector at Kathu Police Station, has told the Gazette. “They were all investigated and we have verified that they did not come to stage acts of terrorism in Thailand during…
-
Pirate goods blitz continues
KATA-KARON: Some 1,400 fake items with a street value of 1.4 million baht were seized in raids on eight vendors in Kata and Karon yesterday evening, Tharadol Thongruang, Deputy Director of Phuket Commercial Affairs, said today. At 6 pm, police officers simultaneously raided two shops and two stalls opposite Mom Tri’s Boathouse & Villa Royale in Kata. Officials then moved…
-
Airport to get B200m makeover
PHUKET: In a move to improve Phuket International Airport, 200 million baht will be spent upgrading the docking aprons, improving the terminal facilities to cope with more travelers and doubling the cargo area, the airport’s director told the Gazette today. Lt Cdr Boonchart Prompoon, Director of the Airports Authority of Thailand, Phuket, explained that the upgrade will be implemented in…
-
Fishermen survive 5 days adrift
KALIM: Three Indonesian fishermen who spent at least five days adrift without food after their boat was caught in not one but two storms, washed ashore at Kalim Beach this morning and are now recovering at Patong Hospital. Pol Maj Narong Laoprathumviroj, an Inpector at Kathu Police Station, told the Gazette today, “Three men and their fishing boat washed ashore…
-
Cracking start to safety campaign
PHUKET TOWN: Four-hundred motorcycle riders turned out today to exchange their substandard headgear for free safety helmets of life-saving quality. In a ceremony at Phuket Town Provincial Hall, officials used hammers to crack some of the old helmets as a way of demonstrating their ineffectiveness. The safe-riding campaign, which urges motorcyclists to use quality helmets and to ride with headlamps…
-
Two gangsters die in shootout with police
PHUKET TOWN: Two gangsters were shot and killed during an ambush by plain-clothes police that turned into a motorcycle chase after bullets ripped the twilight at Saphan Hin last night. The drama came as police moved in on four men believed to be members of a gang at the top of the Most Wanted list, suspected of murder, bag-snatchings, rape…
-
Subsidized computers scheme launched
PHUKET: A nationwide scheme to allow Thais to get laptop computers more cheaply has been launched as a way to boost computer literacy and skills. Applications to buy the state-subsidized “Notebook ICT” computers are being accepted at Thai post offices across the country until the end of this month. Seven different models are available, including machines by Jade Quantum, SVOA,…
-
Four arrested for reporter’s murder
PATONG: Police yesterday arrested four more people they believe were involved in the execution-style murder of newspaper and TV reporter Surapong “Od Patong” Rittee in Patong six months ago. One of those arrested is a police officer who was formerly stationed at Kathu Police Station. K. Surapong, 43, was gunned down by two .38 rounds fired close to his left…
-
Island security stepped up for Apec
PHUKET (Gazette, Nation): A team of 150 officers from Region 8 police headquarters in Surat Thani are in Phuket to bolster security during Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meetings, Pol Col Ronapong Saikaew, Superintendent of Investigation Police Region 8, said today. Col Ronapong told the Gazette, “There are 150 investigation and inspection policemen covering every area where Apec [meetings] will take place…
-
Italian tourist dies under bus
PATONG: Italian tourist Michael D’Aries, 31, was run over by a tour bus and died in front of the C&N Resort in Patong at about 3:15 am yesterday. Pol Lt Col Pisit Chunpet of Kathu Police Station told the Gazette that Mr D’Aries was driving a rented JDR scooter along Sirirat Rd with a Thai woman riding pillion. They were…
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.