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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Austrian drowns at Patong beach
PATONG: Austrian Herbert Kodat, 60, drowned off Loma Park at Patong Beach on Monday afternoon. According to witnesses, Mr Kodat went for a dip to cool off after sunbathing. He swam out about 30 meters from the shore. A jet-ski operator sitting on the beach saw Mr Kodat waving for help and went to rescue him, but by the time…
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18 Burmese “waitresses” arrested
PATONG: Phuket Immigration Police officers last night arrested 18 Burmese “waitresses” at the Phatpong Karaoke on Taweewong Rd. They also arrested Wicharn Sakatekarn, 32, the manager of the establishment, on charges of harboring illegal immigrants. Pol Col Apirak Hongthong, superintendent of the Phuket Immigration Office, said he had received a tip-off that there were Burmese women working illegally at the…
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Economic recovery facing severe challenges
BANGKOK (AFP): Thailand’s nascent economic emergence from the depths of the crisis is in jeopardy. Recently released indicators provide stark evidence that falling exports are crippling the recovery. The slump has been spurred by a decline in demand in the United States as the economy there slows, but it also reflects a failure to stimulate fresh investment, analysts say. “Foreign…
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One dead, four injured in plane fire
BANGKOK (AFP): At least one person was killed and four others were injured when a Thai Airways Boeing 737-400 burst into flames this afternoon on the tarmac at Bangkok’s domestic airport, police and airport officials said. Police Major General Amnuay Ditkavee, Bangkok’s deputy police commissioner, told reporters at the airport that the dead body of a Thai Airways crew member…
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Work permits: Governor gets tough
PHUKET: With effect from yesterday, a new multi-department committee will vet all work permit applications in Phuket, Provincial Governor Pongpayome Vasaputi announced today. The committee will also check extensions and renewals, and all information will be added to a central database accessible to all the departments whose chiefs are members of the committee. These departments are the Commercial Registration Office…
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Tourist figures up by 10.7pc
BANGKOK, (AFP): International tourist arrivals to Thailand grew 10.7% last year, to 9.57 million, according to figures released by the Tourism Authority of Thailand. Although the average length of stay decreased slightly, to 7.7 days, tourist spending in Thailand was up, at 3,850 baht a day. The TAT estimates that tourism generated revenue of 292.6 billion baht in 2000, up…
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Swiss man stabbed to death
PATONG: Dokkaew Niyonrum, 38, from Buri Ram, has been charged with the murder of a 40-year-old Swiss national named by police as Christoph Albert Hartmann. Dokkaew is alleged to have stabbed Mr Hartmann in the chest during a fight in their home on Sai Nam Yen Rd in the early hours of Sunday morning. Pol Maj Komdech Poathong of Patong…
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Bookmaker gunned down
PHUKET TOWN: A restaurant owner, who was also a bookmaker specializing in gambling on soccer matches, was murdered on Tuesday morning outside his restaurant on Phuket Rd. The victim, Supachart “James” Panumassakul, 36, from Phuket, owned the Khrua New James restaurant, opposite the Imperial hotel on Phuket Rd. A witness told police that she was waiting for a friend on…
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Slow start to Governor’s email hotline
PHUKET: Governor Pongpayome Vasaputi’s entry into cyberspace at the beginning of the month has so far received a lackluster response. “We receive only one or two emails a day,” the Governor’s secretary, Boonchai Somjai, told the Gazette. Every morning, K. Boonchai checks the email and then prints copies of relevant messages for the Governor’s in-tray. About 70% of the email…
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Villagers find hanged man
PHUKET TOWN: Villagers found the hanged body of an unidentified man on Monday evening on a hill about two kilometers to the east of Kuan Din Dang Rd and Soi Panieng, in Tambon Rassada. Pol Capt Chaum Kaosrisuwan of Phuket Town Police Station said he was informed by Sataporn Pokaboot, phuyai baan of Moo 6, Tambon Rassada, that the villagers…
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New ‘geezer visa’ rules come into effect
PHUKET: The Immigration Department has recently started applying changes in the regulations covering retired foreigners residing in Thailand. In particular, the department is strictly applying the rules on how much a retiree must have in his or her Thai bank account. The changes were brought into law in October 1998 but it has taken more than two years for them…
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Employment Services Office moves
PHUKET TOWN: The Phuket Provincial Employment Service Office (ESO) – which, among other activities, issues work permits – yesterday moved from Phuket Villa 1 to purpose-built premises on a one-rai site on Soi Sakdidet 1. Kopit Temsongsai, the ESO chief, said the move had been made because the old offices were too small and the department wanted to have its…
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Canadian pedestrian killed
PATONG: A Canadian pedestrian died after being hit by a motorbike on Thursday evening while crossing the beach road in Patong. Pol Lt Serm Khannimit of Kathu Police Station told the Gazette, “Michel Luc Ladouceur, 44, was crossing the road in front of the Patong Valentine’s Day Fair at about 10 pm when Teera Muangkalee, 24, from Sukhothai, crashed into…
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Thai press: New government a disappointment
BANGKOK (AFP): Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s new cabinet was poorly received today by the Thai press who saw only a few promising figures among the discredited veterans and inexperienced newcomers filling its ranks. Thaksin won the January 6 elections after campaigning on a platform of new and unorthodox ideas as well as promises of an administration free from the corruption…
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Motorbike injury toll hits five figures
PHUKET: The number of people injured in motorcycle accidents went into five figures for the first time last year, with 10,359 needing treatment, according to statistics supplied by the Wachira, Thalang and Patong government hospitals. The number of people injured represented an increase of 4.6% on the previous year’s 9,903. In 1998 the toll was 9,681 and in 1997 it…
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Love beats disenchantment, 254 to 1
PHUKET: Love was in the air yesterday, as 254 couples formalised their marriages at the island’s registry offices on the year’s most romantic day. With 167 couples, Muang District saw the highest number of registrations for Valentine’s Day, while 57 couples were married in Thalang District and 30 in Kathu. “Our district gave flowers made from fish scales to the…
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Forged 500-baht notes found
KATHU: The manager of a gas station found two forged 500-baht notes on Monday morning while counting the cash taken overnight. Sopit Chaijit, manager of a Caltex station on Wichitsongkram Rd, reported to the police that the two 500-baht notes were lighter in color than normal. Her counting machine also rejected the notes, she said. The notes were received sometime…
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Toddler killed in motorbike smash
KARON: The three-year-old daughter of an American expatriate was killed in a motorcycle accident in Karon early on Saturday afternoon. Herman Bachmann, 69, better known to Phuket residents as Shankar, was riding his bike along Patak Rd in Karon, heading toward Phuket Town, with his maid on the back and the child in front. In front of the Karon Tong…
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French resident dies in head-on smash
PATONG: A French resident, 27-year-old Laurent Robert Beauvais, was killed when his motorcycle smashed head-on into a jeep on the bypass road in the early hours of yesterday morning. The investigating officer, Pol Maj Songwut Khunjan of Phuket Town Police Station, told the Gazette that the accident happened opposite the Daihatsu showroom at about 3.20 am. The jeep’s driver, 30-year-old…
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Gambling cases top crime stats again
PHUKET: Gambling cases once again topped the crime lists in Phuket for the period between January 1 and 15, according to statistics released yesterday by the Phuket Provincial Police. A total of 163 people were arrested for gambling in the course of 96 police raids. Following close behind were illegal immigrants; 94 were caught in the same period. Drugs also…
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Scheduled blackouts announced
PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Electricity Authority (PPEA) has announced the following scheduled blackouts for the month of February: The PPEA will be clearing tree branches and installing orange insulating covers on power lines in these areas. The blackouts will last from 9 am to 4 pm. February 13: Chao Fa Nai Rd from the Kwang Rd intersection to the Tah…
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Airport passenger figures still rising
PHUKET: The number of passengers arriving at and/or departing from the island via Phuket International Airport continues to rise, according to the latest figures released by airport officials. Passenger throughput in December last year rose to 347,720, an increase of 13.51% over the figure for December 1999. The number of passengers on domestic flights increased by 14.16% to 205,939, while…
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Malaysia to build free trade zone at Thai border
KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) – A free-trade industrial zone costing three billion ringgit (789 million dollars) is to be developed near the Malaysian/Thai border over the next decade, a senior official said today. The “ASEAN Industrial Metropolis”, covering 2,400 hectares (5,928 acres), will be built at Bukit Kayu Hitam in the northwestern Malaysian state of Kedah, the state’s chief minister, Syed…
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Activist’s alleged killer arrested
THALANG: Bancha Noppawong, 34, from Songkhla, was arrested yesterday evening on a charge of murdering environmental activist Jurin Rachapol in Pa Khlok on January 30. K. Jurin died after being shot three times while searching for cashew leaves in a forest near to the Wachara Prawn Farm in Pa Khlok. Contrary to earlier assertions by an official that Bancha had…
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Unpaid fornication hits “sex workers’
BANGKOK (AFP): The advent of casual sex is bad news for Thailand’s prostitutes who are going idle as their customers increasingly engage in pre-marital sexual relationships, according to a government report. The Ministry of Public Health said a study of 10,000 sex workers revealed each woman had on average only one customer a night, compared to an average of 1.5…
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Dengue fever arrives early
PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Health Office (PHO) has warned that there is an increased risk of dengue fever infection this year. From January 1 to 26, 11 cases of dengue fever were reported in Phuket, all in the Muang and Thalang districts. The highest number of patients was reported in Tambon Rassada, followed by Tambon Wichit and Tambon Mai Khao.…
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Prawn farm boss out on bail
PHUKET TOWN: The owner of the Wachara Prawn Farm in Pa Khlok, Somsak Wongsawanond, was today released on bail of 500,000 baht. Somsak was initially denied bail when arrested two days ago on charges of illegal possession of a weapon and discharging a weapon in a public area. He denied both charges. Meanwhile, the Thalang District Chief, Kanthee Silapa, told…
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Prawn farm owner arrested
PHUKET TOWN: The owner of the Wachara Prawn Farm in Pa Khlok, Somsak Wongsawanond, 36, from Songkhla, reported to police in Phuket Town Police Station last night after a warrant was issued for his arrest on one charge of illegal possession of a weapon and another of discharging a weapon in a public area. The warrant was issued last week…
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Governor goes into cyberspace
PHUKET: The Governor of Phuket, Pongpayome Vasaputi, now has his own email address for people who wish to make suggestions to him. He has also launched the provincial government’s new website at https://www.phuket.go.th, in line with a Ministry of Interior policy to have every province set up a presence on the Internet. The website, which is currently in Thai only…
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Dry season for Phuket Island Lager
PHUKET: Lovers of Phuket Island Lager will have to exercise some restraint over the coming week; distributors are being rationed after an unforeseen surge in sales resulted in demand outstripping supply. “We’re not completely out of stock, but we can’t match demand,” said Ekaraj Intravisit, general manager of Phuket Island Trading Co. “If a customer wants 10 boxes of beer,…
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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