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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Deputy PM slams tourism greed
CHALONG: Deputy Prime Minister Pongpol Adireksarn today voiced concern over local attitudes that he said threaten to damage tourism. Speaking before leaving on an inspection tour of the Phi Phi islands, he said, “I wanted to go to Phi Phi because we’ve been advertising it a lot, but once tourists get there they are disappointed. “Patong is the same,” he…
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Boatman arrested for killing tourist in Krabi
KRABI: Police arrested a suspect this morning in connection with the murder of the 21-year-old German student, Cao Ghu, who disappeared Monday morning and was found floating face-down in the sea near Koh Gai two days later. Cao Ghu, who was Vietnamese by descent, was an Asian Culture major at Bonn University. She was visiting Thailand for the fourth time…
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Newlyweds in hostage drama
PATONG: Police from Kathu Police Station were called to the Jaranya Guesthouse on Rat-U-Thit Rd on Tuesday to find a honeymooning Briton standing in his wrecked hotel room, holding a broken beer bottle to his bride’s throat. Pol Capt Ampolwat Sangruang told the Gazette that his officers rushed the man, Mark Francis O’Reilly, 36, and managed to free his 18-year-old…
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German fugitive arrested
PATTAYA (AFP): A German fugitive wanted on sex procurement charges in his home country faces deportation from Thailand after his arrest at a seaside resort today. Oliver Jürgen Hesse, 33, was arrested at his condominium in Pattaya after Thai police acted on an international warrant issued in Berlin, police said. Pol Lt Gen Chat Kuldilok said Hesse and his Thai…
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Third Fleet gets new commander
TAB LAMU: The outgoing Commander in Chief of the Royal Thai Navy Third Fleet (RTN3F), V/Adm Sathirapan Keyanon, this morning handed over command to his successor, V/Admiral Pairoj Theerachai, formerly a Deputy Chief Staff Officer. The hand-over took place at a military ceremony aboard the guided missile frigate HTMS Kraburi, docked at the Royal Thai Navy’s shore base at Tab…
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Star Aid raises B1.55m for charity
CHERNG TALAY: The StarAid gala dinner at the Sheraton Grande Laguna Phuket on Saturday evening raised just under 1.55 million baht for charity, an increase of more than 400,000 baht on last year’s event. All 510 seats for the dinner were sold out as Phuket’s socialites shelled out 1,250 baht a head for tickets and more for raffle tickets and…
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Burglars raid Post Office
PHUKET TOWN: Thieves broke into the main Post Office in Phuket Town on Sunday night and stole 200,000 baht in cash. Pol Lt Parichat Jaturonpun of Phuket Town Police Station told the Gazette the burglars came in through a ventilation window on the first floor of the building while the security guard was on the third floor. They took 200,000…
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Deputy PM to open Chalong Pier
PHUKET: Deputy Prime Minister Pongpol Adireksarn is to attend the official opening ceremony of the Chalong Pier on Friday. After that event, which gets under way at 10 am, K. Pongpol and his entourage will board a Fisheries Department boat for an inspection trip to the Phi Phi Islands. At 8:30 pm, the party will begin a tour of Patong…
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Police crack mobile phone racket
PHUKET TOWN: Nine people were arrested yesterday in a series of raids by police from Phuket and Bangkok on people offering cheap phone calls. The raids on the phone call kiosks – small tables offering calls to anywhere in Thailand for 2 baht a minute – were part of a joint taskforce operation to crack a criminal ring using forged…
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Officials ordered to save energy
PHUKET: The Governor of Phuket, Pongpayome Vasaputi, has ordered government officers to save energy, as a way to anticipate economic problems that may follow on from the terrorist outrages in the United States and the inevitable retaliation. Gov Pongpayome was relaying the new policy from Interior Minister Purachai Piemsombun. The aim is to save energy, especially electricity. The target of…
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Fall in arrests of illegal workers
PHUKET: The latest crime statistics issued by the police, for the period from September 1 to 24, show the number of arrests of illegal immigrants dropping dramatically to 47 compared with 230 in the same period in August. The decrease is largely a result of the current Employment Services Office drive to register all foreign workers on the island. Pol…
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Bosses urged to register foreign labor
PHUKET: Governor Pongpayome Vasaputi called yesterday for employers to register their foreign laborers at the Provincial Employment Service Office (ESO). His appeal came after the ESO said that it estimated that 4,000 Burmese, Laotians and Cambodians working in Phuket had still not been registered. Speaking at the monthly meeting of senior provincial officials yesterday, Gov Pongpayome said, “I’m worried about…
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Gay cook suicides over missing fiancé
PHUKET TOWN: In the third suicide reported in Phuket within a week, heartbroken Jitpanu Pattana-anusorn, a 26-year-old cook at the Boonlert Beer Garden on Chana Charoen Rd, committed suicide on Tuesday because, police surmised, he had been abandoned by his gay lover. Pol Capt Anukul Nookate of the Phuket Town Police Station told the Gazette that he received a call…
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Medium found hanged in monk’s hut
PHUKET TOWN: The body of a medium, who used to give people numbers for upcoming illegal lotteries, was discovered hanging in an abandoned monk’s hut behind Wat Lang San on Damrong Rd on Sunday. Pol Capt Pin Inmark, of Phuket Town Police Station, told the Gazette that the man, who had been identified as 41-year-old Boonroat Suwandee, had been dead…
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Muslims “back Thai support for US’
BANGKOK (AFP): Transportation and Communications Minister Wan Muhamad Nor Matha said yesterday that after talks with Muslim leaders in southern provinces, the government had won their support in joining the US-led alliance against terrorism. Wan said he had explained the government’s position and its reasons for aligning with the United States. “There are no problems,” he told reporters. “We have…
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New Vice-Governors named
PHUKET: The Ministry of Interior (MoI) has announced the names of Phuket’s three new Vice-Governors, who will take up their positions on October 1. They are Vinai Buapradith, currently a vice-governor of Ranong; Manit Watanasen, now a vice-governor of Phang Nga; and Niran Kalayanamit, a Director of the Foreign Affairs Division of the Office of the Permanent Secretary for the…
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Ten monks held in drug bust
BANGKOK (AFP): Five Thai monks have been defrocked after confessing to using methamphetamines (‘ya bah’), while another five caught in a drug raid also face being ousted from religious life, police said this morning. Acting on a complaint from local worshippers, police yesterday carried out urine tests on 26 monks living at a temple in the central province of Ratchaburi.…
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Thai Muslim patriarch slams terrorists
BANGKOK (AFP): The spiritual leader of Thailand’s Muslims, Sawas Sumalyasak, today expressed his support for an international alliance against terrorism, saying the perpetrators of the outrages of September 11 were “destroyers of religion”. Sawas, the head of the Central Islamic Committee of Thailand, said plans by the United States to launch military action to avenge the attacks on New York…
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Bridge completion delayed
PHUKET TOWN: Completion of the new bridge over the Klong Bangyai on Kra Rd will take 70 days more than originally scheduled. Fawn Boonkatunyu, Chief of the Technical Office of the Phuket Town Municipality, explained, “We found that a sewer runs right under the place where one of the legs of the bridge is supposed to be anchored, so the…
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Loch Palm set for championship finals
KATHU: Surin Bumrungpon scored 67 off a handicap of 4 to win the third and final round of the Loch Palm Golf Club Championship preliminaries, which was held at the club on Saturday. Manoon Ouanpokhlang won Flight A with his score of 69 points off a 12 handicap, beating Blair Speers’ score of 70 points (10) and Dr Kitthipat Pongpet’s…
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Urgent debate over national park fees
BANGKOK: With the concessionary scheme on national park entry charges for tour and dive operators about to come to an end, operators around the country have urged the Royal Forestry Department (RFD) to reconsider the full fees, which they regard as being too high. On October 1 last year the RFD introduced new park entry fees for foreigners: 200 baht…
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Maldivian wins Kata surfing contest
KATA: Hussain Areef of the Maldives won the shortboard division of the third annual Quiksilver Phuket Surfing Contest, held at Kata Yai Beach at the weekend. Areef outscored 47 other competitors from all over the world. Briton Lee Dowse came second while another Maldivian, Mohamed Fayaz, came third. Local surfing prodigy, 12-year-old Simon de Maria, who has competed in the…
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Korean tour guide beaten and robbed
PHUKET TOWN: Police are looking for a man who beat and robbed a 30-year-old Korean tour guide off Sakdidet Rd early on Saturday morning. Pol Maj Pitsanu Punwong, of Phuket Town Police Station, told the Gazette that the guide had asked that her name be kept confidential, but that she was working for a Korean travel company in Panthep Condotown.…
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Crackdown on students in Internet shops
PHUKET TOWN: The owners of 25 Internet shops have agreed to impose greater controls on youngsters using their facilities, Pol Col Paween Pongsirin, superintendent of Phuket Town Police Station, said today. Speaking at a meeting with the press, he explained that police had received complaints from parents that their children were spending too much time playing computer games in the…
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Kathu police got mail
PATONG: The Kathu Police Station now has an email address for people who wish to ask questions or make suggestions to the police. Pol Col Chalit Thintanee, superintendent of Kathu Police Station, told the Gazette, “I think this will be good for people who want to contact us to complain or make suggestions about the problems in Patong. We will…
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Memorial service for US terror victims
CHERNG TALAY: An short memorial service will be conducted by Father Richard at the Laguna Beach Resort tomorrow (Thursday) evening for those lost in yesterday’s terrorist attacks in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania. Everyone is welcome to join in the service, which begins at 5 pm at the Layan Ballroom. For more information, call O. B. Wetzell at 01-8929207. Meanwhile,…
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CEO to have power to move district chiefs
PHUKET: The Ministry of Interior has announced that the Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of five provinces, who will take over from provincial governors on October 1 in an experimental program aimed at giving provincial leaders more autonomy, will be able to authorize the transfer of district office chiefs who are deemed not to be doing their job properly. Under the…
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US Embassy closes after NY carnage
PHUKET (Gazette, AFP): American citizens have been asked to refrain from calling their embassy in Bangkok following the carnage in New York City and Washington. Will Hebler, American Consular Warden in Phuket, told the Gazette, “I have received a call to say that the US embassy in Bangkok is closed until further notice. “A desk is manned, but US citizens…
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Ya bah dealer dies in shoot-out
THALANG: Bunyat Tangman, 34, wanted by police for his involvement in ya bah trafficking, was found dead this morning in a rubber plantation near the Shell Gas Station on Thepkrasattri Rd, after a shoot-out the previous evening with undercover police. Pol Lt Col Wuttichai Khamphut, Deputy Superintendent of Thalang Police Station, in charge of investigations, said that police officers had…
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Government tells doomsayers to hush up
BANGKOK (AFP): Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra today admonished bankers and economists for a rash of gloomy pronouncements on the economy, saying their comments were inaccurate and damaging. “You don’t know more than the government, and your comments are based only on feelings,” he said. “It will affect the country and it will make the public feel discouraged.” The Bangkok…
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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