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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MP shot after censure debate session
BANGKOK (AFP): An MP from Thailand’s governing Democrat party was ambushed and shot after leaving the censure debate in Parliament, party officials said today. Parnawat Liangpongpan, an MP from Buriram province in Isarn, was attacked by a gunman outside his apartment in Bangkok as he got out of his car in the early hours of this morning. “He was shot…
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Blue Canyon wins international award
PHUKET: The Blue Canyon Country Club was named Asian & Pacific Golf Resort of the Year 2000 in the recent Hertz International Golf Travel Awards ceremony, held in Portugal. It was also nominated in two other categories: Asian & Pacific Golf Course of the Year 2000, and Worldwide Golf Resort of the Year 2000. In last year’s Hertz awards, it…
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Type A Negative blood urgently needed
PHUKET TOWN: Bangkok Phuket Hospital has issued an urgent appeal for Type A Negative blood for an Austrian tourist who is bleeding internally. Alfred Edlinsel, 41, was rushed to the hospital yesterday with a ‘terrible’ stomach pain that subsequently deteriorated into gastric and intestinal bleeding. Mr Edlinsel’s medical record shows that he has had a stomach condition for years. The…
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Seminar to promote Phuket to foreign investors
PHUKET: The Phuket Chamber of Commerce will conduct a seminar to encourage foreign investment in Phuket at a Board of Investment Fair that will be held in Bangkok from February 3-17. Charn Wongsatayanont, President of the Phuket Chamber of Commerce, says, “The seminar will provide Phuket with an opportunity to point out the island’s strengths and potential as a place…
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CAT slashes Internet and video conference fees
PHUKET: The Phuket Telecommunications Center (PTC), a division of the Communication Authority of Thailand (CAT), has announced a 50% reduction in the fees charged for two of the services it provides. Internet connection fees have been cut from one baht a minute to 50 satang (the three baht fee for the first minute will remain unchanged). With a CATNET card,…
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Two dead, one injured in Patong shooting
PATONG: Two men were shot dead yesterday evening in a bar in the Royal Paradise complex on Rat-U-Tit Rd. A 16-year-old boy was severely injured by a stray bullet as he walked along the street outside. Pol Col Kokiat Wongworachart, Superintendent of Kathu Police Station, told the Gazette that Somkiat Nakwong, 25, and Somnuek Fahwan went to the bar together…
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Phuket’s power system said to be “Y2K-ready”
PHUKET TOWN: The island’s Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) is now ready for whatever the Millennium may throw at it, says PEA vice president Kumnueng Tadsri Khun Kumnueng says the entire computer system has been upgraded to comply with standards set by the General Accounting Office. All elements of it have been tested and are Y2K-ready. But just in case the…
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Five Westerners may be released from local prison
PHUKET: As many as five Westerners are expected to be on the list of people to be released from Phuket Provincial Prison in the next couple of days, in accordance with the nationwide amnesty declared to mark HM the King’s 72nd birthday. Exact numbers have yet to be ascertained, but Preeda Nijsiri, commander of Phuket Provincial Prison, said that the…
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Swiss dies in fall from mast of yacht
PHUKET TOWN: Schmucki Gilgian, 58, from Switzerland died when he fell from the mast of his yacht while repairing it at the Boat Lagoon on Tuesday. Pol Capt Anukul Nookate told the Gazette that Mr. Schmucki died shortly after being admitted to the intensive care unit of Bangkok Phuket Hospital with severe chest and head injuries. A funeral is scheduled…
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Karaoka victorious in King’s Cup Regatta
KATA: The King’s Cup Regatta ended today with Ray Ordoveza’s Karaoka winning the Racing Class division. Second place honors went to Pla Loma, while Australia Challenge finished third. The Regatta, which had been without controversy, didn’t end that way. At the start of yesterday’s Performance Cruising division race, Monsoon Blue was sunk when struck in the stern by Stormvogel. In…
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Nine arrested for gasoline smuggling
PHUKET: Marine Police on Wednesday seized two vessels and 116,000 liters of smuggled gasoline. Nine crew members of the two vessels were arrested. Pol Col Misakawan Buara, Superintendent of Phuket Marine Police said that his men had seized the Chockkrating 222, a modified fishing boat, with 110,000 liters of fuel on board, along with the Suapisarn 10 which had on…
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Rises in Immigration fees put on hold
PHUKET: The Phuket Immigration Office, like all other Immigration offices in Thailand, has rescinded steep rises in visa and other fees which were introduced recently. The rises, which quadrupled the existing fees, were contained in a new immigration law brought into force on November 12. However, a subsequent notice from Immigration headquarters in Bangkok on November 29 ordered the new…
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1999 sees higher than normal suicide rate
PHUKET: The number of suicides in Phuket this year has been higher than in most previous years, Dr Boonriang Chuchaisangrat, Chief of the Phuket Health Office, told the Gazette today. In previous years, between 12 and 20 suicides a year have been recorded, he said, but this year so far there have been “more than 20”. Of these, the highest…
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“Too sexy’ policewomen get a dressing-down
BANGKOK (AFP): Policewomen in Thailand were today ordered to cover up, after a top police chief complained that too many officers were wearing miniskirts and body-hugging uniforms. “A number of policewomen wore too tight uniforms with short skirts, colorful makeup and have dyed hair,” said a government statement. Pol Lt Gen Somchai Milindangkura said a special team had been established…
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Fickle winds for second day of King’s Cup
KATA: The King’s Cup fleet arrived in Phuket yesterday after two days’ racing, the first between Krabi and Phi-Phi and the second from Phi-Phi to Phuket. The day started well, with promising 10-knot winds. But these died away during the afternoon. In the evening, with all the boats moored off Kata beach and the crews onshore sampling a variety of…
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Tough contest brewing for municipal seats
PHUKET TOWN: December 25 will see hot competition between 54 candidates from three political parties – the Young People’s Party, the People’s Party and the Creative Party – and four independent candidates for the 18 seats on the Phuket Town Municipal Council. The Municipality, which is expecting about half of Phuket Town’s 42,417 registered voters to make their mark, has…
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Man hangs himself after wage cut
PHUKET TOWN: A man was found dead yesterday morning, hanging from a beam in the room he rented in Tambon Rassada, a half-empty tube of glue on the floor nearby. The body of Anucha Foythong, 21, a native of Phang Nga, was discovered when a neighbor looked through a window and saw him hanging from the rafter. The dead man…
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Swiss snorkeler drowns off Racha Noi
PHUKET: A Swiss man drowned on Friday while snorkeling with family and friends off Racha Noi Island. The man, Carlo Wellinger, 45, was on holiday in Phuket, staying at the Sheraton Grande Laguna Beach in Bang Tao. Police said it appeared that Mr Wellinger fainted while swimming. Before he could be pulled from the water, a wave dragged him under.…
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Memory loss holds Gazettes to a draw
SAPHAN HIN: The Phuket Gazettes and the Bangkok British Club (BBC) battled to a 5-5 draw on Saturday in their annual 15-a-side match. Victory would have gone to the Gazettes, were it not for a mental lapse by Thiti Tandavanitk. Toward the end of the third quarter, he made it past the BBC tryline but forgot to touch down, much…
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Refinery fire put out, death toll rises to five
SI RACHA (AFP): Thai firefighters yesterday finally put out a fire which had raged at an oil refinery for 35 hours. By that time the death toll had risen to five, with the discovery of more bodies at the site of the initial explosion and subsequent fire. The blaze started after the blast ripped through a storage tank at the…
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Gambling again tops crime statistics
PHUKET: Gambling cases once again topped the crime lists in Phuket for the period November 1 through 25, according to statistics released today by the Phuket Provincial Police. A total of 184 people were arrested for gambling in the course of 94 police raids. Following close behind were illegal immigrants, 173 of whom were caught in the same period. Drugs…
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Two dead, 15 hurt in refinery explosion
SI RACHA (AFP): A huge fire devoured millions of litres of oil today after a string of explosions ripped through a refinery here, killing two people and injuring 15. Sheets of flame soared 100 meters into the air as hundreds of firemen battled to stop the blaze from engulfing the entire structure run by Thai Oil Co, some 70 kilometers…
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Phuket MP to press for probe into immigration laws
PHUKET: Anchalee Vanich-Thepabutr, Phuket’s Member of Parliament, has agreed to help foreigners living in Thailand by pushing for a top-level inquiry into the way the country’s immigration laws are applied. Khun Anchalee was shown Section 5 of the Alien Registration Act which – as reported in the Gazette on October 15 – requires all foreigners to register with police and…
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Dead whale examined by biologists at Cape Panwa
CAPE PANWA: A dead whale was brought by fisherman from Phang Nga Bay to the Phuket Marine Biological Center this morning for an autopsy. Kongkiat Kittiwattanawong, a biologist at the Center, identified the 4.3 meter long animal as a Bryde’s Whale of one to two years of age. He told the Gazette that the ‘fragrant’ whale had been dead for…
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Police issue sketch of foreign gunman
CHERNG TALAY: Thai police have issued a sketch of a Western gunman wanted for murdering Thai restaurateur Lor-man Karnjanasadoong last Tuesday at Bang Tao Beach. The gunman is described as being about 170 cm tall, with pale skin and a silver cap on an upper right tooth. Police believe the man goes by the name “Oliver” and that he is…
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Singapore, Thailand sign deal on civil servants
SINGAPORE, Nov 28 (AFP): Singapore and Thailand have signed an agreement to improve ties and exchange ideas about civil servants, the Sunday Times reported this morning. It said the agreement, signed yesterday, is aimed at upgrading the quality of civil servants in “both” countries. The Thai government has been slow to upgrade its civil service, one of the most bureaucratic…
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Healthy elephant contest held in Phuket
CHERNG THALAY: “Jintana”, a magnificent 30-year-old cow from the Lagoon Elephant Trekking Club, was declared “Phuket’s healthiest elephant” and given an award and cash prize by Phuket Governor Charnchai Soontharamut in a ceremony held at the Dusit Laguna Resort on Thursday night. The occasion was organized by the Elephant Help Project, a charity created to promote and oversee the well-being…
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Sketch of murder suspect hits glitch
PHUKET: Composition of a police sketch of the foreigner wanted for killing a Thai restaurateur three days ago has hit a snag: the computer used to create the sketches is unable to handle Western faces. Pol Maj Gen Kongpol Suwannaraks, commander of Phuket Provincial Police, told the Gazette that “Yesterday my officers took the witness [the dead man’s wife] to…
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Ranong crossing reopens for visa runs
RANONG: Following a visit to Myanmar by Thai Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan on Monday, border crossings between Thailand and Burma reopened yesterday afternoon, allowing foreigners from Phuket once more to take a long-tail boat from Ranong Town to the Burmese side to renew their visas. Although some media announced that all border crossings had opened yesterday morning, Ranong was initially…
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Indonesia arrests 56 Thai ships
JAKARTA (AFP): The Indonesian navy has arrested 56 Thai ships and 1,276 crewmen for illegally fishing in the country’s waters, the official Antara news agency reported earlier today. “The 56 Thai ships with their 1,276 crew have been arrested and taken to Sabang from Rusa island in Western Aceh,” said Colonel Syahrin Abdurrahman, who heads the navy base in Sabang…
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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