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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City bus service “to start next month’
PHUKET TOWN: Phuket Town’s first real bus service – originally scheduled to start in May last year and then postponed to January this year – is expected finally to be up and running some time in April. Introduction of the service has been delayed because PB Holdings, the bus operator, was not able to find 26 buses of the right…
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Death sparks “dangerous road’ warning
KATA: Police have warned about the dangers of the road outside the Marine Cottage resort after a 22-year-old motorcyclist, Supit Kaminkaew, died there on Sunday afternoon, after she was run over by a bus. Supit is the fifth person to die on that stretch of road in the past few months. Pol Capt Chana Sootthimat of Chalong Police Station said…
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Schmid proves he’s top mountain biker
PHUKET: Switzerland’s Marco Schmid, 28, stormed to victory in Sunday’s 30-km Muang Chaofa Mountain Bike Race, repeating his victory a week ago in Surat Thani over Thailand’s Satit Ruanpae. Third was Direc Pamornchat. Satit finished in one hour, 18 minutes and 19 seconds, seven minutes and 10 seconds behind Schmid’s 1:11:09. Direc clocked 1:20:22. The super-fit Schmid admitted he could…
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THAI domestic fares to rise 13pc
PHUKET: Thai Airways International (THAI) is to raise fares for all domestic flights by about 13% on April 20. The one-way airfare for the Phuket-Bangkok service will be raised by 13.5% from 2,000 baht to 2,270 Baht for economy class, and by 10.8% from 2,770 baht to 3,070 baht for business class. The hike was originally approved by THAI’s Board…
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12 die in bus crash
KANCHANABURI (AFP) – Twelve Thais were killed and eight seriously hurt when a tour bus traveling to a Buddhist temple near the border with Burma plunged into a deep ravine, police said today. The bus, carrying 45 mainly elderly people from Bangkok, left the road and plunged 50 meters before coming to a stop in Kanchanaburi province’s Sangkla district early…
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CAT to hike prices for EMS delivery
PHUKET: The Communication Authority of Thailand (CAT) is to raise the charges for domestic deliveries by its Express Mail Service (EMS) with effect from Wednesday. For mail weighing less than 20 grams, the fee will be increased from 15 to 20 baht. For mail between 20-100 grams, the fee will be increased from 17 baht to 25 baht. For those…
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Ten arrested for illegal immigration scam
PHUKET AIRPORT: Two Malaysian women, a Singaporean woman and a Thai man were arrested yesterday at Phuket International Airport for involvement in an attempt to sneak six Chinese illegal immigrants out of Thailand and into Singapore. The six Chinese were also caught. Pol Lt Col Annop Suwanchatri, an immigration inspector at Phuket International Airport, said there were actually 12 people…
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Burmese boys escape detention center
PHUKET TOWN: Three Burmese boys escaped from the Juvenile Observation and Protection Center near Saphan Hin early yesterday morning. Two were recaptured within hours but the third is still at large. The escape, according to Pongsura Krainara, the center’s chief, took place at around 6 am when the three boys were detailed to help a guard at the center carry…
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Chinese cadres head for Phuket
PHUKET: After the brief holiday enjoyed by China’s President, Jiang Zemin, in Phuket last year, it seems that the island is becoming a vacation choice for senior communist cadres from the People’s Republic. Tomorrow sees the arrival of 17 communist officials, led by the president of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Li Tieying, who is also a member of…
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Industrialists may become more “eco-friendly’
PHUKET TOWN: Wiboolchai Na Ranong, managing director of Toyota Pearl Co Ltd, was elected on Tuesday as the new president of the Phuket chapter of the Federation of Thai Industries, and immediately pledged to steer the chapter’s members toward being more eco-friendly. After being elected, K. Wiboolchai said that his first priority is to get more people, especially businesspeople in…
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Microsoft apologizes for Bangkok sex slur
BANGKOK (AFP): Microsoft has apologized to Thailand for describing Bangkok as a commercial sex center in the Deluxe 2000 version of its Encarta Encylopedia CD. “I regret any misrepresentation that the Encarta segment may have caused,” said Robert Bach, vice-president of Microsoft’s Home and Retail Division, in a letter to local media. “As soon as we were made aware of…
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Dead man in woods “killed himself’
KARON: The man who was found dead in the woods to the east of Karon two days ago has been identified as Prasert Chuwong, 42, a former cook at Chao-Kuen Restaurant in Kata. According to Pol Col Sati Malakanond, the superintendent of Chalong Police Station, Prasert was left jobless after the restaurant went out of business some time ago. Based…
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Banana forager finds skull
KARON: A local man looking for wild bananas in woods to the east of Karon yesterday afternoon found something rather less appetizing: a human skull. Pol Maj Thanate Poungmanee of Chalong Police Station told the Gazette that the man immediately reported what he had found to officials of Tambon Karon, who in turn reported the discovery to Chalong Police Station.…
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Dragonflies fell All-Stars in fund-raiser
PHUKET TOWN: Mang Por Lor Kluen – “Wave-Playing Dragonfly” – beat the All-Star Actors 3-2 on Saturday in front of a large crowd at a special fund-raising soccer match between the two teams of Thai celebrities. Pop singer “Teh” Utane Prommin took the first goal for the All-Stars just before half time at Surakul Stadium in Phuket Town. The Dragonflies…
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Japanese tourist stabbed four times
PHUKET TOWN: A Japanese tourist who wanted to call his family – to tell them he had arrived safely in Phuket – was robbed and stabbed four times just after midnight yesterday, on his way to make the call. Pol Maj Adul Nirapai of Phuket Town Police Station said that Terai Osamu, 27, came to Phuket with friends and was…
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Two men seriously ill in radiation alert
BANGKOK (AFP) – Two Thai men are seriously ill in hospital with radiation sickness after being exposed to a highly radioactive substance in a Bangkok shop, health officials said this afternoon. “These two people are suffering seriously from burns to the hands. They are losing their hair and have very low white blood cell counts,” a public health ministry spokesman…
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Grass fire frightens Chuanchuen Lagoon residents
KOH KAEW: A fire at Chuanchuen Lagoon that shook the up-market community two days ago was just grass burning, firefighters said today. Pol Maj Amnuay Kraiwootthinan of Phuket Town Police Station said he received a phone call at 8:30 pm on Wednesday from an unidentified person reporting that there was a big fire burning at the old deserted tin factory…
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Parliament acts to drive out evil spirits
BANGKOK (AFP) – Authorities held a multi-faith exorcism in parliament today to drive out evil spirits believed to be responsible for a recent spate of deaths among members of parliament. Since elections in November 1996, eight of the 393 MPs have died in accidents or of natural causes while 11 more have resigned. Yesterday, an MP from the ruling Democrats…
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OrBorTor member held for theft of cigarettes
PHUKET TOWN: The police in Phuket Town were astonished when they managed to arrest three burglars who broke into the Phuket Provincial Cooperative Office’s store on Yaowarat Rd last Saturday and stole 59 boxes of Thai cigarettes worth about 897,000 baht. It wasn’t the theft that surprised them, nor the speed with which they caught the robbers – two on…
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23 die in bus crash
NAKHON PHANOM (AFP): Twenty-three people were killed and 37 injured today when a bus and a truck collided in the northeastern province of Nakhon Phanom, 20 kilometers from the town of Kalasin. No details were immediately available on the identities of those killed or the condition of those injured.
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Marine police capture fuel smugglers
PHUKET: Six Thai fuel smugglers were arrested in the Andaman Sea on Saturday afternoon and 110,000 liters of low-grade diesel, worth about 330,000 baht, was seized from their vessel, the Fakthong 47. Pol Gen Narongwit Thaithong, Deputy Commissioner of the Royal Thai Police, said that the modified fishing vessel was stopped near Surin Island, 21 nautical miles off the coast…
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184 couples marry on Valentine’s Day
PHUKET: The island set a record for marriages on Valentine’s Day this year. The number of couples tying the knot on the year’s most romantic day increased from 143 in 1999 to 184 this year. Of these, 115 got hitched in Muang District, 31 in Kathu and 38 in Thalang District. The Assistant District Officer of Thalang, Samapol Koontong, said…
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Defections add spice to first OrBorJor meeting
PHUKET TOWN: A couple of defections and an unexpected challenge for one of the top posts disrupted the first meeting of Phuket’s newly elected Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) today. Before the meeting, the dominant group in the new council, the Kao Mai Party, was expected to call the shots, believing it had lined up all the necessary support. In the…
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Lucky boss gets money and pistol back
PHUKET TOWN: Construction boss Prayoon Janpetch is careful when he goes about collecting money from clients. Apart from anything else, he carries a pistol in case someone tries to rob him. But last week K. Prayoon, manager of the Saowaree Civil Engineering Partnership on Thepkrasatree Rd, Thalang, was less careful than usual. He left a bag containing 300,000 baht in…
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Abandoned baby dies
PHUKET: The baby girl found abandoned in grassland off Sakdidet Rd in Moo Baan Muang Thong Thani on February 3, died the same evening, a nurse at the Wachira Phuket Hospital has told the Gazette. The nurse said that the baby was too young to be left in the sun for a prolonged period – she is believed to have…
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Baby born in motorcycle sidecar
PHUKET TOWN: A woman on her way to hospital to pick up the body of her husband, who had died of a heart attack the day before, gave birth early yesterday in a motorcycle sidecar at the edge of the Bypass Rd. “A man called us at around 1:20 am and told us that there was a woman about to…
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Tourist kills himself at shooting range
CHALONG: A 50-year-old Japanese tourist yesterday killed himself with a pistol he rented at the Phuket Shooting Range near Chalong Circle. Pol Capt Chockchai Sutthimek of Chalong Police Station said Yoichi Hashimoto went to the Phuket Shooting Range on Wednesday morning. He looked around and left. He returned the following morning. According to a witness, he hung around until the…
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Girl kidnapped from hospital by former boyfriend
PHUKET TOWN: A 26-year-old man was in custody tonight, charged with kidnapping his former girlfriend from the bedside of her ailing mother, in the Phuket Adventist Hospital. Pol Maj Adul Nirapai of Phuket Town Police Station told the Gazette that Kittisak Raksue walked into the hospital at 4 am, pulled out a gun and started to drag Tukta Kapansit out…
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Losing OrBorJor party “will stay neutral’
PHUKET TOWN: The Pattana Tongtin Party, which failed in Saturday’s election to preserve its domination of the Provincial Administrative Organization (OrBorJor), will remain “neutral” and allow the victorious Kao Mai Party to form a majority coalition, Pattana Tontin’s leader, Banlur Tantiwit, told a press conference. Banlur, formerly President of the OrBorJor’s three-man central council, was a shock loser in the…
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Kao Mai likely to dominate new OrBorJor
PHUKET TOWN: Following a meeting today organized by the victorious Kao Mai party, which took nine of the 15 Provincial Administrative Council (OrBorJor) seats allocated to Phuket Town in Saturday’s elections, its appears that the party’s leader, Dr Prasit Koysiripong, will become President of the new council. Kao Mai has put together a coalition that includes the Thalang Group Party,…
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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