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 Which is the best copy trading platform?
Copy trading has become increasingly popular with investors around the globe over the past decade. It's considered a simple way to capitalise on market opportunities with little effort. But is it really a shortcut to making big bucks in the...
-
Safari firm ordered to move elephants
RAWAI: Baanchang Safari Phuket was today given until October 1 to remove its 13 elephants from premises next to a local school, or face prosecution. The order was given at a meeting at the offices of the Rawai Tambon Administration Organization (OrBorTor). “Muang Phuket School lodged an official complaint about the elephants and we asked for them to be removed…
-
Governor coy over CEO appointment
PHUKET: Governor Pongpayome Vasaputi today deflected questions about Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s plan to turn Phuket into an experimental province with a Chief Executive Office, or CEO, instead of a governor. At his bi-weekly press briefing, Gov Pongpayome pointed out that the name of the CEO will be announced by the government at the end of next week. “Don’t ask…
-
Thailand and Burma discuss narcotics
CAPE PANWA: High-level talks between top officials from Thailand and Burma on narcotics problems started today at the Cape Panwa Hotel. The two-day meeting, between officials from Thailand’s Office of the Central Narcotics Board and its Burmese counterpart, the Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control, is the fifth such meeting. The venue alternates between the two countries. Gen Thammarak Isarangura,…
-
Call for flood-relief donations
PHUKET TOWN: The Phuket Provincial Public Welfare Office (PPWO) today urged the public to donate water, food, clothing and cash for the thousands of people left homeless by the recent floods in northern Thailand and Isarn. Worst hit in the floods were seven villages in Phetchabun province’s Lom Sak district. Agence France Presse reported this afternoon that 90 corpses have…
-
Christina Aguilar booked for StarAid 2001
CHERNG TALAY: One of Thailand’s most popular singers, Christina Aguilar, will be headlining this years’ StarAid 2001 charity gala dinner, which will be held at the Sheraton Grande Laguna Phuket on September 29. Ms Aguilar will perform two 30-minute sets, accompanied by her own band and four dancers. Also performing will be the Phuket-based Safari Band. In addition to the…
-
Man found dead with 37 stab wounds
KOH SIREH: The body of a murdered man was found washed ashore near the Rassada Fishing port on Thursday morning. Pol Lt Khaneung Pitakkullatorn of Phuket Town Police Station said that he arrived at the scene at 8.30am to find the 25- to 30-year-old man lying face up, dressed only in a blue T-shirt and green underwear. He had been…
-
Major drug dealers busted
THALANG: Acting on a tip-off, police yesterday arrested Thanakrit Channum and his wife Aroon, and Rorchad Utsaha, and seized 11,720 tablets of ya bah (methampthetamine) with a street vale of around 1.75 million baht. Thalang police had been informed that a lot of ya bah was circulating in Baan Pru Somparn and that one of the traffickers was a police…
-
Murder-suicide in Kuku
PHUKET TOWN: Two bodies were discovered yesterday morning in a rented room on Soi Tah Cheen, Baan Kuku, apparently the victims of a murder-suicide. Pol Lt Kanuang Pitakkulthorn of Phuket Town Police Station told the Gazette that police broke down the door to the room after receiving complaints from neighbors about a bad smell. Inside, they found the body of…
-
Phuket chosen for experiment in bureaucracy
PATTAYA: Phuket is one of five provinces chosen for a one-year experiment in bureaucracy that will see them run, not by governors, but by Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) who will have much greater autonomy. At a seminar on bureaucratic reform in Pattaya over the weekend, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra proposed the idea of provincial CEOs with greater flexibility to manage…
-
Dead man was stabbed 25 times
PHUKET: The body of an unidentified man was found yesterday in a tin-roofed shack near the deserted Phya Thai Phuket Hospital building. Pol Lt Parichat Jaturonpun of Phuket Town Police Station said that the victim, estimated to have been between 25 and 30 years old, had been dead for at least seven hours when found. He said that the body…
-
Expo Center to be at Mai Khao
MAI KHAO: It has now been confirmed that the site for Phuket’s international convention and exhibition center will be a spread of 2,800 rai of state-owned land near the Sirinart National Park on Mai Kao beach, in the north of the island. Local officials confirmed that an inspector from the Interior Ministry was in Phuket today to survey the land.…
-
German tourist drowns at Nai Harn
NAI HARN: Olaf Gerlach, a 30-year-old German tourist, drowned off Nai Harn beach on Wednesday afternoon. Pol Maj Jetsada Sangsuri told the Gazette that a Thai local resident saw Mr Gerlach swimming alone around 4 pm. He was pushed underwater by a large wave and then a current carried him out to sea. The Thai man took a speedboat out…
-
Thaksin cleared of financial wrongdoing
BANGKOK (AFP): By the tightest of margins, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was this afternoon found not guilty in a historic assets concealment case that threatened to bar him from political office. In a surprise decision, the Constitutional Court’s 15-member panel voted eight to seven to clear Thaksin of the charges. “Thaksin will continue to be prime minister, by a vote…
-
Governor suspends seven bars
PHUKET: Phuket Governor Pongpayome Vasaputi today announced the temporary closure of seven entertainment venues for breaking a variety of laws and regulations. In Phuket Town, the Pe-Tai, near Saphan Hin Stadium, will be closed from August 4 to August 18 for staging lewd shows. The Candy Pub, on Ong Sim Phai Rd, will be closed from August 4 to August…
-
TOT launches B0.50-a-minute service
PHUKET: The Telephone Organization of Thailand (TOT) has raised the bar in its battle against fixed-line and mobile phone rivals by chopping prices for those using its Y-tel 1234 service. It is now offering long-distance calls within Thailand for as little as 50 satang a minute during August and September. The 50-satang charge applies on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays,…
-
Gambling still the No. 1 vice
PHUKET: Gambling remains Phuket’s favorite illegal pastime with 276 people being arrested in 82 raids between July 1 and July 25, according to the latest statistics released by police. Narcotics held the No. 2 spot with a total of 79 arrests for the period, of which 61 involved ya bah (methamphetamine). The statistics show that 781 tablets of the drug…
-
National players dominate volleyball contest
SAPHAN HIN: One hundred and thirty-two volleyballers blocked, dug and spiked their way through the First Annual Phuket Town Municipality Beach Volleyball Competition, which was held at Saphan Hin over the weekend. The tournament was dominated by the three Cheua Saphan Ruam teams, each of which included players from Nakhon Sri Thammarat who are in the Thai national squad. In…
-
Boat import taxes demystified
PHUKET: Taxes for importing a yacht into Thailand have long been a matter of confusion, discussion, argument and speculation. Now, however, Gazette inquiries with the Customs Department, both in Phuket and in Bangkok, have uncloaked the way that the various taxes are applied. For a start, it has been confirmed that there is no such thing as a “luxury tax”…
-
Chain of raids nets 1,800 ya bah pills
PHUKET TOWN: The arrest on Friday afternoon of a woman found in possession of four tablets of ya bah led to Phuket Town police arresting three more people within hours and netting more than 1,800 tablets of the drug. The chain of seizures started with the arrest of Omaporn Sornnon, 26, from Khon Kaen, at 2 pm on Friday, after…
-
Thais dominate Malaysia in friendly sports
PHUKET: About 200 Malaysian immigration officers were in Phuket on Tuesday to compete in the now traditional friendly clash, the Annual Thai-Malaysian Immigration Department Games, at the Saphan Hin sport center. The games consisted of badminton, table tennis, sepak takraw, bowling, soccer and golf. The home side dominated the badminton, winning the men’s and women’s singles, the men’s doubles and…
-
TAT launches Phuket web site
PHUKET: The local branch of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) today announced the launch of its own web site, https://www.phukettourism.org. The web site contains tourism-related information such as details of hotels, festivals, events, businesses and tourism services in Phuket, Phang Nga and Krabi. Patpong Abhijatapong, Deputy Governor for Marketing of TAT, told a press conference at the Royal Phuket…
-
Two sites short-listed for expo center
PHUKET: The province’s plans for the construction of an international convention and exhibition center (CEC) have taken one step closer to realization with the short-listing of two potential sites – one near the Sirinart National Park on Mai Kao beach, in the north of the island, and the other in the area around the Provincial Mineral Resources Office in Phuket…
-
State land to be freed for development
PHUKET TOWN: The Treasury Department will at the end of August call for tenders to develop two plots of government-owned land in Phuket Town. Prasit Seubchana, Phuket Provincial Treasurer, explained that the private development of such land is one of the policies of the Thaksin government, which sees it as a way to encourage investment and generate revenue for the…
-
Gov to stay in Phuket for now
BANGKOK: Despite strong lobbying for Phuket Provincial Governor Pongpayome Vasaputi to be appointed Director of the Southern Border Administrative Center (SBAC), the Cabinet has handed the controversial job to the front-runner, Banyat Jansena. Muslim community leaders and teachers in the South of Thailand had lobbied for Gov Pongpayome to get the job because of his track record of dealing with…
-
Judge denies bail for ex-mayor
PHUKET TOWN: Accompanied by a heavy police escort, the former mayor of Patong, Dr Anan Ananthanawat, yesterday made his first appearance in the Phuket Provincial Court on charges relating to the slaying of an ex-policeman in Phuket Town in December 1998. Pol Col Paween Pongsirin, superintendent of Phuket Town Police Station, told the Gazette that the police requested that the…
-
Governor backed for top job in the South
BANGKOK: Powerful forces appear to be lobbying for Phuket Provincial Governor Pongpayome Vasaputi to be promoted to Director of the Southern Border Administrative Center (SBAC), a senior position with the Ministry of Interior. The previous holder of the post, Palakorn Suwannarat, resigned in mid-July amid criticism of his handling of a recent spate of bombings in the South of Thailand,…
-
Fugitive ex-mayor surrenders to police
PHUKET TOWN: The former mayor of Patong, Dr Anan Ananthanawat, surrendered to police on Saturday, nearly two years after a warrant was issued for his arrest on charges of involvement in the murder of an ex-policeman. Pol Col Paween Pongsirin, superintendent of Phuket Town Police Station, told the Gazette that he received a phone call from Dr Anan’s lawyer on…
-
Vicious murder at fishing port
KOH SIREH: The body of a viciously murdered man was found washed ashore behind Asia Stannum Co Ltd at Laem Tokkae, near the fishing port, on Thursday. Pol Maj Jiradaej Kawinkij of Phuket Town Police Station said that he arrived at the scene to find the 25- to 30-year-old man lying face down. The victim was dressed in a black-and-white…
-
Urgent call for O-negative blood
PHUKET TOWN: Wachira Phuket Hospital has made an urgent appeal for donations of type O negative blood for 66-year-old Nard Hamekeaw. Potential donors are asked to report to the reception desk at the hospital or call 076-217293-8.
-
Yacht burns and sinks
PHUKET: A 6-million-baht yacht, the Brulon, belonging to a local dive company, burned to the waterline and sank yesterday in Bang Tao Bay. Pol Lt Col Narong Natebutra of the Phuket Marine Police told the Gazette that he received a report at around 3:30 yesterday afternoon that a yacht was on fire about nine kilometers off Cherng Talay. “The boat…
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.