Phuket News
Phuket news, politics, business, tourism, and nightlife—stay updated with breaking stories, events, and expat updates from Thailand’s top island destination. Get the latest from The Thaiger, your trusted Phuket news source.
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Sponsored Smooth travel to Belgium and the Netherlands: Visa tips & tricks!
Make Belgium and the Netherlands your next destination with the right visa in hand. Explore the iconic tulip fields, cruise through Amsterdam’s scenic canals, or stroll through the historic streets of Bruges. Don’t forget to enjoy some authentic Belgian chocolate...
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Shining Stars – brightening young minds since 2008
Sponsored Article Shining Stars Kamala is excited to open its doors for its thirteenth year in the community. Shining Stars Kamala is a small progressive preschool and kindergarten located in Phuket, Thailand. This school offers an English-intensive curriculum for local and international students situated between the lush jungle hills and the west coast beach of Phuket. This small school allows…
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Teen sought in fatal Phuket stabbing yesterday turns himself in
A brutal stabbing yesterday in Rawai resulted in an 18 year old Thai man being killed and a manhunt for the 19 year old man accused of stabbing him. Now Boonyapat ‘Not’ Petcharat has turned himself in to the Wichit Police Station seeming to be confessing to the crime. He turned himself in at 3 am and also surrendered a…
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Teenager stabbed to death at Phuket home
An 18 year old was stabbed to death in a fight last night in the Rawai neighborhood of Phuket and officers are now looking for those involved. When emergency responders arrived to the home at around 7pm and found Nakarin Somboon unconscious on the floor and severely bleeding from 10 stab wounds, including a deep cut to his right chest.…
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AirAsia flights from Kuala Lumpur to Phuket return for Sandbox scheme
AirAsia has announced that it will resume its flight from Kuala Lumpur to Phuket. This comes in the wake of Thailand’s reopening to international travelers on November 1. This flight will allow visitors to enter the country through the Phuket sandbox programme. The first flight was an Airbus A320 that took off from Kuala Lumpur at 11:15am. The route is currently…
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First flight from Russia lands in Phuket today with 275 travellers
Phuket just welcomed the first international flight arriving from Russia as an Aeroflot flight from Moscow landed at Phuket International Airport today. 275 passengers rode the inaugural flight since Russia was added to the list of 63 approved Test & Go countries that can travel to Thailand without quarantine (aside from an overnight wait for a negative RT-PCR test in…
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Phuket officials prepare for road accidents with 17 new banners
Phuket disaster officials are working on a public awareness campaign to try to reduce road accidents, especially with an expected influx of tourists after Thailand’s reopening on November 1. The plans were drawn up in Phuket Town at the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Center Region 18 headquarters during a meeting of the Phuket Road Safety Committee. The meeting…
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Thailand’s reopening expect to boost Phuket’s tourism industry
The reopening of Thailand on Monday is expected to boost Phuket’s hard-hit tourism industry. Yesterday, the President of the Phuket Tourism Association said that the island is expected to receive up to 10,000 visitors a day in December, and as many as 1 million arrivals in the first quarter of 2022. This comes after the recent Airports of Thailand announcement…
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Studying in Phuket As Foreigner – Education Visa
The Thaiger offers the following deal on Education Visas… Every year, millions of tourists flock to Phuket for the weather, beaches, culture, food, and shopping. Many of them are long-term guests who have come to spend their vacations here. This country has so many facets that it would be hard to see everything in one or two three-week vacations. Many…
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New Phuket order: alcohol in restaurants until 11 pm, no bars
Phuket Governor Narong Woonciew issued an order with revised Covid-19 rules ahead of tomorrow’s reopening, allowing restaurants to sell alcohol until 11 pm, but keeping nightlife entertainment venues like bars and clubs closed until at least November 15. The order was issued publicly last night though it was signed October 25 and goes into effect tomorrow for the November 1…
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Flights to Phuket from Kazakhstan hub Almaty resume today
Today marked the return of Air Astana flights to Phuket from Almaty, the largest city in Kazakhstan, as 165 travellers arrived on a plane this morning. The flight marks a resumption of travel from the former Soviet Union republic and the current 9th largest country in the world by area. Air Astana plans to continue and ramp up the route…
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Did the Sandbox impact on Phuket’s property market?
property newOver 42,000 travellers, in the months from July 1 to September 30, used the Phuket Sandbox as an international gateway to enter Thailand. For the island’s broad real estate sector, which has been challenged by the drawn-out, 18 months of the pandemic there have been a series of notable pivots within the residential property sector. With investment-oriented, yield-focused hotel…
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Phuket small businesses disadvantaged by SHA+ call for an end
It’s not just travellers frustrated by the SHA+ accommodation requirements to enter Thailand internationally. In Phuket, a group of small hotel owners, transportation drivers, and small tour operators have rallied together to call for the government to cancel the SHA+ requirement that they call a killer for all but the wealthiest of businesses. The province has achieved over a 70%…
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November 1 re-opening of Thailand – The Fine Print
And now for some of the fine print, answering questions you may have had about re-entry to Thailand from next Monday, November 1. Who can travel to Thailand? Travellers will be categorised into 3 groups… • The first are fully vaccinated visitors from 46 countries (www.thaiembassy.com). They must stay one night in either a SHA+ certified hotel or an ASQ…
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Phuket taxi drivers told to be fair, safe, friendly ahead of reopening
Authorities are urging the taxi drivers of Phuket, along with other transportation providers, to be more professional as Thailand’s full reopening launches in 3 days. Ahead of the November 1 reopening to international tourism, a meeting at Phuket city hall yesterday included plans to hold taxi drivers to certain standards in order to make Thailand more welcoming. The Permanent Secretary of…
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BlackPink’s Lisa says “no” to Phuket New Year countdown event
Grand plans by the Tourism Authority of Thailand, to attract international acts for a New Year countdown concert in Phuket, has come crashing down today now that YG Entertainment in South Korea, the management for the K-pop star Lalisa “Lisa” Manoban, made an official statement saying she won’t be coming. The ‘BlackPink’ Thai-born star was a hot ticket for the…
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Finnair launches nonstop flights from Stockholm to Phuket
Finnair has launched its nonstop flight service from Stockholm to Phuket, with the first flight arriving on October 25. The Nordic region has traditionally brought many big-spending tourists to Phuket and Thailand, and Finnair will operate flights twice a week from Sweden’s capital to Phuket. The flights are great news after reports that many international carriers are dropping their slots…
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Tourism Ministry to invite K-pop megastar to perform at Phuket NYE celebration
Thai-born K-pop star Lalisa “Lisa” Manoban, from the band Blackpink, is being invited to perform during New Year celebrations on the southern island of Phuket. The cost won’t be cheap, but the government is defending the move. Tourism Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn says the superstar’s presence will help promote Thailand’s re-opening to the world. “The main key reason for bringing global…
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Thai PM defends plan to spend 100 million baht on New Year’s Eve celebrities
The Thai PM is standing firm amid fierce criticism of a plan to spend 100 million baht on 2 global singing stars for New Year’s Eve festivities in Phuket. Prayut Chan-o-cha has defended the government’s plan to spend around US$3 million dollars to secure Italian tenor, Andrea Bocelli, and Lalisa “Lisa” Manobal, from the K-pop band, Blackpink. The Bangkok Post…
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Thailand’s bars and beach parties remain strictly closed (cough)
Will some of Thailand’s most popular hotspots ever come back to life? It appears that the bars and beach parties will never restart as these photos reveal darkened streets and deserted beaches. Last week’s Full Moon Party was curtailed after initially getting the go-ahead from Koh Pha Ngan police. It eventually went ahead but in a vastly reduced ‘covid-era’ form…
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“Together Phuket Stepping Forward”: tourism plan after Sandbox
“Together Phuket Stepping Forward” is the new tourism campaign designed to be the successor to the Phuket Sandbox now that the government is firming their plans to open without quarantine to a newly-expanded list of 46 countries. The plan grew out of a town hall meeting yesterday with private and public agencies along with the Phuket Tourist Association. Phuket Governor…
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Governor says income distribution essential to Phuket recovery
The Governor of Phuket announced in a speech yesterday that his goal was to maximize income distribution as the island begins to open up more. Phuket is expecting an influx of tourists to arrive after the November 1 reopening, and a campaign is being launched to make sure that the benefit from the increased tourism can be shared by all.…
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Bangkok Airways to resume Phuket-Hat Yai direct service flights
Bangkok Airways is resuming its direct service flights between Phuket and Hat Yai starting October 31. According to The Phuket News, the service will be operated by an ATR72-600 aircraft, starting with 1 flight daily. The outbound flight PG298 departs Phuket airport at 9:45am and arrives at Hat Yai airport at 10:50am. The inbound flight PG299 departs Hat Yai at…
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Phuket’s Life Home Project Foundation becomes partner of GlobalGiving
Phuket’s Life Home Project Foundation has recently become a recognised global partner of GlobalGiving. The non-profit organisation announced that they had graduated from the GlobalGiving Accelerator program after successfully raising funds for one of their projects. That project called “Help HIV+ Thai Children finish the school year 2021-2022,” saw donations from 43 unique individuals in the amount of US$7,805. The…
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Police in Phuket increasing checkpoints, cracking down on moving violations and crime
Phuket police have warned that anyone driving dangerously through checkpoints will be ticketed. This announcement comes after a report from a Thai news source said that the Tha Chatchai police had received an order to issue more traffic tickets. This was followed by a flurry of posts on social media warning drivers in Phuket that police at the Phuket Check…
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Chiang Mai ready to re-open despite new cluster of infections
The governor of Chiang Mai says the province is ready for the planned November 1 re-opening to foreign tourists. Despite a new cluster of infections being detected at the large market of Talad Muang Mai, Prajon Pratsakul insists the northern province is ready to re-open. The Bangkok Post reports that 478 Covid-19 cases have been traced to the market, which…
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Return of the tar balls on Phuket’s northern beaches
The tar balls are back. During a scheduled beach clean yesterday along Phuket’s north-coast Nai Yang Beach, volunteers noticed the return of the mysterious tar balls that were washing up along the coast in the weeks before Phuket’s Sandbox started on July 1. Michelle from Sustainable Mai Khao Foundation contacted The Thaiger this morning with the news of the return…
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Phuket, Samui to ease entry restrictions for domestic tourists from this weekend
From this weekend, entry restrictions for the islands of Phuket and Samui are being eased for fully vaccinated domestic tourists. Local travellers who can show proof of being fully vaccinated will no longer need to submit to Covid-19 testing to enter Phuket and will no longer have to quarantine after arriving on Samui. The move comes as the government launches…
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Phuket tourism operators banking on 5 billion baht recovery fund
Businesses on the resort island of Phuket are counting on a 5 billion baht fund to revitalise the decimated tourism sector. Thanet Tantipiriyakit from the Phuket Tourism Council says tourism operators on the island are pinning their hopes on the fund being created. “We’re keeping our fingers crossed that the fund will materialise. With the money, we can breathe a…
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Phuket sandbox has welcomed 42,000 international arrivals since July 1
Since the launch of the Phuket sandbox scheme on July 1, the southern island has welcomed over 42,000 foreign visitors to its shores. The Tourism Authority of Thailand has got the calculator out again and according to TAT Phuket director, Nanthasiri Ronnasiri, over 2 billion baht has been generated for the economy. “We set the target at 100,000 visitors because…
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Phuket Vegetarian Festival kicks off, poles raised to call spirits down from the heavens
The famous Phuket Vegetarian Festival kicked off yesterday, with its traditional ceremony to welcome spirits to descend from the heavens, but under Covid-19 restrictions. Go Teng poles were raised at participating shrines as a call for the Jade Emperor and Nine Emperor Gods to come down to earth. During the festival, some will practice self-mutilation, such as tongue slicing or…
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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