island

  • Covid-19 News

    Phuket reports 7 new coronvirus cases (Friday March 27)

    7 new Covid-19 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Phuket, bringing the total confirmed cases on the southern resort island to 41. All appear to originate from the Soi Bangla walking street entertainment area of Patong district. None of the cases is considered critical at this stage. The new cases comprise… • Case 35: A 22 year old Thai woman…

  • Covid-19 News

    Phuket reports 3 new coronavirus cases (Wednesday)

    Newshawk Phuket reports 3 new cases of the Covid-19 coronavirus on the southern Thai island of Phuket. 2 Chinese patients have recovered and been discharged, bringing the total remaining cases to 27. 98 people are still in hospital in Phuket, with 71 awaiting test results. The new cases are… An English traveller who arrived in Phuket on March 19 via…

  • Covid-19 News

    Phuket reports 9 new coronavirus cases (Tuesday)

    Local media outlet Newshawk Phuket today reported 9 new cases of the Covid-19 coronavirus on the southern resort island of Phuket, bringing the total to 26, up from 17 yesterday. • Case 18 is a 33 year old Thai woman, a waitress at Soi Bangla in Patong district. She fell sick on March 16. • Case 19 is a 56…

  • Covid-19 News

    13 cases in Phuket, official

    13 cases of Covid-19 coronavirus have now been confirmed in the southern Thai island of Phuket. 6 new cases have been announced in the past 24 hours. On Friday the Phuket Governor admitted to five cases on the island – 2 Chinese visitors in early February and 3 current cases involving a Danish family. 188 new cases have been announced…

  • Covid-19 News

    25 Covid-19 cases awaiting test results in Phuket, 5 cases confirmed yesterday

    At a tetchy meeting of the Provincial Communicable Diseases Committee in Phuket Town yesterday, Phuket’s Govenor Phakaphong Tavipatana finally admitted to five cases of Covid-19 on the holiday island, three of them still active. After weeks of obfuscation and denying active cases of the coronavirus in Phuket, the Governor finally came clean after repeated questions from a frustrated Phuket press…

  • Covid-19 News

    First cases of Covid-19 announced in Phuket

    News sources in Phuket are widely reporting 5 cases of Covid-19 in Phuket. The ‘confirmation’ has been reported by The Southern News, Phuket People’s Voice, Phuket Andaman News and Newshawk Phuket. Before today the Phuket Governor has not confirmed any cases on the island. In a meeting at the Centres of Disease Control in Bangkok (below), officials tried to avoid…

  • Crime News

    Bouncer allegedly kills 1, wounds 2 in Koh Samui

    A security guard at a pub in Koh Samui has allegedly opened fire on guests yesterday, killing one and injuring two. The shooting was the result of an argument over a group of men who were allegedly bringing in drinks from outside. 42 year old Kongkiatkorn, also called “Yant”, died at the scene. He had been shot in the head…

  • Tourism News

    Top 10 things to see and do in Phu Quoc, Vietnam

    Phú Quốc is a Vietnamese island off the coast of Cambodia in the Gulf of Thailand (aka. Vịnh Thái Lan in Vietnamese). The island is actually closer to Cambodia than Vietnam. Phu Quoc is a rising star in the island destinations of south east asia. It has big ambitions and will catch up quickly with some key infrastructure already in…

  • Covid-19 News

    No confirmed coronavirus cases in Phuket, six tourists under observation

    A this stage, no one in Phuket has been confirmed as infected with the coronavirus. Director of Vachira Hospital’s Dr Chalermpong Sukontapol brought local media up to date in his media scrum at the hospital yesterday. But he announced that 6 more tourists are currently under observation but are, as yet, unconfirmed to be carrying the novel coronavirus. One of…

  • Covid-19 News

    No confirmed cases in Phuket, 10 remain in hospital awaiting tests

    Ten patients in Phuket were still waiting for test results confirming if they had the coronavirus or not yesterday. Up to yesterday afternoon there have been no confirmed cases detected on the island in southern Thailand. The director of Vachiraphuket Hospital in Phuket Town, Dr Chalermpong Sukhonthapol, confirmed that since January 5 health officials had identified 23 people with “suspicious…

  • Tourism News

    Crunching the numbers on Phuket’s hotels – 2020

    PHOTO: Travel 141 Bill Barnett from c9Hotelworks, crunches the numbers and reports on some challenges for Thailand’s largest island and most popular tourist destination, outside of Bangkok. Robust passenger arrivals in the second half of 2019 highlighted by growth in Indian tourists helped rebalance the island’s tourism sector, according to the C9 Hotelworks newly released Phuket Hotel Market Update (link…

  • Property

    Wyndham adds two more hotels for Phuket’s south

    PHOTOS: Artists impressions of the new Wyndham Nai Harn Resort Phuket Global hotel group Wyndham has announced two more Phuket pipeline hotels. The announcement follows a long list of new developments and openings over the next few years on the island. First for Wyndham, is a 353 key property named the Wyndham Nai Harn Resort Phuket at the popular southern west-coast…

  • Tourism News

    Indian visitors to Phuket surge whilst total numbers drop

    by Bill Barnett from c9hotelworks.com The soaring number of Indian visitors to Phuket for the first seven months of 2019 has propelled Indian tourists into the Top 5 arrivals for the first time. Arrivals from India from January – July, compared to the same period in 2018, grew 354%, amassing a total of 186,360 arrivals. Mainland Chinese arrival figures continue…

  • Thailand Weather Updates

    Swimmers at Surin Beach left without lifesavers as Council removes funding

    The President of the Cherng Talay OrBorTor (municipality), Ma Ann Samran, has not renewed the monthly contract for lifeguards protecting Surin Beach on Phuket’s west coast. As of yesterday, there are now no duty lifeguards keeping swimmers out of the water when the waves become dangerous, or saving them when they get into difficulty. Police arrived late yesterday afternoon at…

  • Tourism News

    Koh Samui is looking to the skies, an island tethered to an airline

    by Bill Barnett “I’m looking to the sky to save me. Looking for a sign of life” There is much to be said about the Thailand’s phenomenal rise in tourism over the past decade and that trend has eclipsed the borders of the Kingdom into other Southeast Asian countries like Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines. Fueled by a rising Asian consumer…

  • Tourism News

    Japan’s Okinawa takes on Bali and Phuket

    by Bill Barnett While Okinawa is often called the Hawaii of Japan, a changing Asian travelscape driven by low-cost airline carriers is seeing the resort destination attract a rising number of regional tourists. Last year, arrivals hit 9.84 million which is now elevating the market to the likes Asia’s twin resort icons, Bali and Phuket. Summing up the current shift…

  • Tourism News

    Wreck of the Lady D could be a new recreational diving attraction off Koh Racha Yai, Phuket – PHOTOS

    by Guy (Charlie) Lidureau Officials, unable to get water to the ‘Lady D’ as it burnt out of control on Wednesday morning, were forced to tow it away from the Ao Po Grand Marina. The burning superyacht was cut adrift and towed offshore to Koh Thanan, near Ao Po. Unfortunately, the damage done by the fire on Wednesday morning, is completely…

  • Koh Samui News

    Monk builds Buddhist pagoda on Koh Pha Ngan out of beer bottles

    PHOTO: kohphangannews.com When Buddhist monks have to figure out the gritty engineering problems to construct a pagoda for their spiritual enlightenment, they have to consider using bricks, timber, concrete, or maybe even beer bottles. When you’re building a pagoda on Koh Pha Ngan you have a ready supply of beer bottles from the monthly influx of tourists for the Full…

  • Environment News

    Injured sea turtle rescued by tour boat operator in Phuket – VIDEO

    PHOTO: Nikorn Marine An injured sea turtle has been rescued by a tour boat operator in Phuket today. The boat crew of Nikorn Marine found a sea turtle while sailing the ‘Nichakorn 2’ near Coral Island, off Chalong. The turtle was found injured, trapped in a fishing net, with its rear left flipper missing, though the wound seemed old and…

  • Crime News

    Phuket police crackdown nets over 20,000 meth pills and weapons

    PHOTO: khaophuket.com Police have nabbed drug dealers in Phuket with more than 20,000 methamphetamine pills plus other drugs and weapons. On July 23, Phuket police announced a drug crackdown. Police have ended up seizing more than 20,000 methamphetamine pills, crystal methamphetamine, kratom and a gun. In the first case, police arrested 21 year old Arunrat ‘May’ Jirapongpitak and 25 year…

  • Environment News

    Phuket’s looming high season water crisis

    PHOTOS: Siraphat Kanphonngam Water shortages are almost a certainty for Phuket in the next high season with the rainfall for this year’s wet season well below average. The island’s three main catchments – Bang Neow Dam off Srisoonthorn Road, Bang Wad dam in Kathu and Khlong Kratha dam in Chalong – have all increased in their water levels since the dams dropped to…

  • Phuket News

    19 year old dies after big bike accident in Kathu, Phuket

    PHOTOS: เทศกิจ 201(กะทู้) อุทิศ 5811 / อาสาของประชาชน A 19 year old was pronounced dead at Vachira Phuket Hospital after being seriously injured in a sports bike (Honda CB 650cc) accident in Kathu. Rescue workers report that they were notified of the accident at 1.45pm yesterday on the Phra Phuket Kaew Road near Bang Jak petrol station. Emergency responders arrived at the…

  • Thailand Weather Updates

    Phuket’s recent rains allow PWA to restore mains pressure around the island

    The Chief of Phuket’s Provincial Waterworks Authority says that water pressure to most areas across the island has been restored (but The Thaiger is still getting reports from residents in Kamala and parts of Kathu about low flow or still no water mains pressure). Phuket Town recorded nearly 80mm of rainfall on Saturday night when heavy rains, the first for…

  • Krabi News

    Investigation into mine explosion on a Phang Nga Bay bird’s-nest concession island

    by Sittichai Sikhawat Police have launched an investigation into an explosion at a bird’s-nest concession area in Phang Nga bay, where one man was killed and another injured on Monday night. The island is Koh Lao Dua, six kilometres north of Koh Yao Noi. Story HERE (one man has died since The Thaiger story). 25 year old Boodrod Thongdee died…

  • Best of

    Top 10 restaurants in Phuket (2020)

    There are many excellent restaurant experiences in Phuket in 2020. Now Phuket has a broad and sophisticated range of restaurants that befit a Michelin guide dedicated to the region’s best. From floating restaurants to fine-dining, southern-style Thai cuisine to European fusion, Phuket’s got some of the best these days. Here, in no particular order, is the list of the Top 10 restaurant…

  • Phuket News

    Phuket ‘Seven Days of Danger ‘ – final toll of six deaths

    PHOTO: Sad death of a one month old in an accident on Thepkasttri Road, four days ago According to statistics issued by the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation, Phuket Office, the island registered 4 accidents, 5 injuries and zero deaths on the final day (January 2) of the annual seven day road and marine safety campaign – the Seven…

  • World News

    The new-Boracay opens with a whole new set of rules

    It’s open again. Boracay Island, forced to close after being described by Philippine President Duterte as a ‘cesspool’, has undergone a major makeover of infrastructure and opens with new rules to help control tourist growth in the future. Tourists flooded back onto the island today as the island re-opened. Suffering the same problems as Maya Bay and southern Thai islands,…