Phuket News
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Phuket Governor warns developers of flood, landslide risks
PHUKET: Governor Tri Augkaradacha has urged officials and local agencies to be vigilant in preventing flooding and landslides near construction sites and at recently completed housing projects. The call followed the Thai Meteorological Department on Wednesday issuing a wet weather warning for 15 provinces in southern Thailand through the end of the month. Heavy rains caused by a monsoon trough…
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Phuket water woes prompt weir construction
PHUKET: A pilot project in the hills of Kathu is aimed at alleviating water supply woes at the Prince of Songkla University campus in Phuket (PSU-Phuket). The project, headed by Bangkok Hospital Phuket (BHP), involves three weirs, or “mini-dams”, being built on hillside streams to trap and divert runoff. The first weir, which is already completed, fills three 6,000-liter tanks…
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Top Buddhist scholar to give workshop in Phuket
PHUKET: The Phuket International Academy Mind Center (PIAMC) will host a three-day workshop by leading Buddhist scholar Dr Jeffrey Hopkins in December. Taking place over the weekend of December 3-5, the program is based on the Dalai Lama’s enlightening book, How to Expand Love: Widening the Circle of Loving Relationships, which provides everyday guidelines for transforming self-centered energy into outwardly…
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American student found dead in Phuket
PHUKET: An American man studying to become an English teacher was found dead in his Phuket Town hotel room last night. Phuket City Police said it appears that Peter Williams, a 39-year-old from New York State, committed suicide in his room at Roongrawee Mansion, near Vachira Phuket Hospital on Yaowarat Road. Yesterday evening at around 11pm, four friends went to…
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Phuket IT update: ‘Facebook for Business’ seminar on Saturday
PHUKET: Computer guru Woody Leonhard will speak at two upcoming IT seminars in Phuket, starting with an encore of the popular Phuket Software Park seminar Using Facebook to Drive Business in Patong on Saturday morning. PhuketSchool.com director Sitthichai “Mr X” Laoveerakul gave the Facebook presentation last month at a Software Park Phuket meeting. Khun Woody and several Computer Clinic members…
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Culture update: The slow death of the Phuket dialect
PHUKET: Developed over generations in isolation from the mainland, Phuket’s unique version of the southern Thai dialect is dying out, diluted by the huge influx of migrant workers, the tourism boom, mass media and a slew of other factors. The Phuket dialect is unique. Compared with other versions of southern Thai, it tends to be slower and more flowing than…
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Deadline for Phuket ‘yellow pages’
PHUKET: Businesses wishing to appear in the 2011 Gazette Guide, Phuket’s ‘yellow pages’, have until 6pm on Friday, November 12, to enter (or update) their listings. Entries after that date will appear in the Gazette Guide Online only – not in the hard-copy book for 2011. The 400-page book, with details of more than 4,700 businesses serving the international community…
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Phuket Software Factory wins APICTA 2010 award
PHUKET: A Phuket-based software development company was among six Thai firms winning an APICTA 2010 information and communication technology award last week. The Phuket Software Factory won a merit award in the “e-Health” category of the Asia Pacific Information and Communication Technology Awards (APICTA) 2010, held in Malaysia. The Phuket Software Factory was founded by Dr Kongkiat Kespechara to improve…
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Increase in violent crime reports in Phuket
PHUKET: There has been a sharp increase in violent crime over the past 12 months, recently-released statistics by the Phuket Provincial Police reveal. The figures compare the numbers of reported crime cases for fiscal year 2009 and fiscal year 2010, which ended on September 30. The statistics show a 72.9% increase in reported cases of “heinous crimes”: group muggings, armed…
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Bt1.5b resort to open in Phuket in 2012
PHUKET: A new 350-room, five-star luxury resort will open in the South Patong hillsides of Phuket by the end of 2012. News of the 1.5-billion-baht project was announced by Bangkok-based hotel and resort consultants Mai-BS (Thailand). The firm is headed by Klaus Rauter, former general manager at Andara Villas and Suites. “We are extremely proud of having been selected and…
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Work on Phuket landmark delayed
PHUKET: Work on the “Patong City” welcome sign project is more than a month behind schedule, but should be ready sometime next month, officials say. Construction work was abandoned during heavy rains last week, Patong municipal officer Siwapong Chechang told the Gazette. “It is too dangerous to continue work when it rains heavily so the project is going much slower…
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Arson suspected in Phuket Town car blaze
PHUKET: Police are investigating a presumed arson attack that turned a parked car into a ball of flames in Phuket Town last night. First on the scene, a soi off Phuket Road near Bang Neaw Shrine, were emergency rescue workers from the Kusoldharm Foundation. Although equipped with three chemical sprayers, they could do little but watch as the flames completely…
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Highway robbery in Phuket
PHUKET: Three teenagers held up a pair of young women at gunpoint in Thalang early Sunday morning and stole their motorbike. News of the hold-up was reported to Thalang Police by Wirach Rawdboot, the older brother of one of the victims. The woman, with a female friend riding pillion, was driving her Yamaha Fino home from work along a quiet…
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Phuket ramps up flood-relief efforts
PHUKET: The People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) in Phuket has joined the relief effort for flood victims in Thailand’s north and northeast. Charoensamanakij Temple, behind Phuket Provincial Court, is the collection point for supplies. The group is liaising with the Kusoldharm Foundation to arrange transport for the supplies to hard-hit areas. PAD Phuket coordinator Aparat Chartchutikumjorn said donated items include…
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FC Phuket draw with Rayong FC, 1-1
PHUKET: FC Phuket drew on the road at Rayong FC last night, making success in this Saturday’s home match against undefeated Chainat FC crucial to their chances for promotion to Division 1 of the Thai League. In last night’s game in the AIS Regional League “mini-league” playoffs, FC Phuket went in with one point following a road draw at Samut…
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Asia’s best golfers signed up for Phuket Pro-Am charity event
PHUKET: More than 20 international golf stars are confirmed to play in Phuket’s first-ever Pro-Am golf charity event on November 5. With more pros signing up, organizers of the 2010 Phuket Property Dot Com Pro-Am Invitational expect a total of about 30 professionals to take part. Among the star-studded lineup are Simon Yates (Scotland) and Scott Hend (Australia) – each…
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Phuket drivers ‘the worst’: Gazette poll
PHUKET: Phuket drivers don’t think much of fellow road users, with more than 80% saying they are worse than drivers abroad, the results of the latest Phuket Gazette reader’s poll reveal. In the poll launched a week ago, readers were asked: How would you rate the overall behavior of motorists in Phuket compared to those in other places, outside of…
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Phuket flood aid on its way to Lopburi
PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Office yesterday dispatched more than 100,000 baht in donated funds and other aid to help the tens of thousands of people affected by flooding in Thailand’s central and northeastern regions. Thus far, at least 17 people have been killed from the deluge in central and northeast Thailand, with tens of thousands displaced and in need of…
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Phuket City hotel staff to face mandatory drug testing
PHUKET: Mandatory drug testing is part of an initiative by Phuket City Police aimed at ridding the district’s hotels and guesthouses of illegal drugs. Representatives of 75 accommodation establishments met yesterday for a briefing on the initiative, dubbed the “White Hotel” project. The scheme is the brainchild of Phuket City Police Deputy Superintendent Chaiwat Auykham, who wants to create a…
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Phuket sea gypsies protest water shortage
PHUKET: Phuket Police and local officials are in meetings with leaders of the Rawai Sea Gypsy community this afternoon following a street protest that held up traffic for about an hour this morning. About 250 members of the community took part in the protest, which began at about 8:30am on a section of Wiset Road near Rawai Pier. At the…
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Relatives of Aussie fall victim in Phuket notified
PHUKET: Relatives of the Australian tourist who died of head injuries sustained in a bathroom fall in Patong earlier this week have been notified, the Australian diplomatic mission in Thailand has confirmed. Australian Honorary Consul for Phuket Larry Cunningham told the Gazette this morning that relatives of the deceased, Joseph Edward Thoms, were notified of his passing at 9:30pm yesterday.…
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Sexual assault claim a “misunderstanding’: Vachira Phuket Hospital
PHUKET: Vachira Phuket Hospital has concluded that a sexual assault charge against one of its staff members was the result of a “misunderstanding”. The hospital investigation began after a woman filed a complaint with Phuket City Police on Tuesday that she had been sexually assaulted by hospital staff while undergoing an x-ray examination. Lt Col Sian Kaewthong told the Gazette…
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Phuket flood relief ready to roll
PHUKET: Two trucks loaded with disaster relief supplies for Northeast flood victims will roll out of Phuket today, with a third set to leave tomorrow. The first load of donations, collected by the Kusoldharm Foundation, will leave Phuket this afternoon for flood-stricken Nakhon Ratchasima province. More donations collected by the Red Cross at Provincial Hall will depart Phuket by truck…
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Aussie tourist dies in Phuket bathroom fall
PHUKET: An Australian tourist died of a head injury apparently sustained after he slipped and hit his head on the bathroom floor in a Phuket guesthouse. Kathu Police at 4:20pm yesterday received a report that a foreign man was discovered dead in the bathroom of his rented room on the third floor of the Vech Guesthouse on Rat-U-Thit 200 Pi…
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Body of Russian tourist recovered off Phuket
PHUKET: Local fishermen have found what they believe to be the body of missing Russian tourist Alexey Agaponov, who went missing off Nai Thon Beach Monday afternoon. Phuket Marine Police Lt Jirayuth Onthong told the Gazette that local fisherman called in the gruesome discovery at 6:30pm yesterday. The body was found in a rocky area at Koh Krata, a small…
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Phuket tourism update: TAT to strengthen Aussie, Kiwi markets
PHUKET: In a bid to encourage more visitors to Thailand after the recent political turmoil, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has introduced new products and packages to 30 key travel operators in Australia and New Zealand. The overall package was announced yesterday by TAT governor Suraphon Svetasreni. Australia and New Zealand were chosen as the first overseas mission for…
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Phuket’s Patong Municipality gets UN award for disaster management
PHUKET: In an unexpected development , the United Nations has named Patong Municipality in Phuket as a “role-model city” for disaster management planning. The award ceremony, attended by Patong Deputy Mayor Chairat Sukhabaan, was held on October 13, which is designated as both International Day for Disaster Reduction and the ASEAN Day for Disaster Management. The Municipality was selected because…
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Phuket Marine Police continue search for missing Russian’s body
PHUKET: Marine Police are still searching for the body of Russian tourist who disappeared in rough surf at a Phuket Beach on Monday afternoon and is now presumed dead. Alexey Agaponov disappeared off Nai Thon Beach the same day the Russian Embassy in Bangkok confirmed that a 50-year-old Russian had drowned at Surin Beach, further south down the Phuket coastline.…
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Phuket pitches in for JW Marriott world record Thai dining attempt
PHUKET: There are still seats left at the tables throughout Phuket tonight for what organizers expect to be the world’s largest-ever Thai dinner party. Marriott chefs have created a Thai menu that will be served up simultaneously to diners in 3,400 Marriott hotels in 69 countries. Thus far about 80 people have made reservations for the meal at the JW…
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JSSL Arsenal soccer school returning to Phuket
PHUKET: THE JSSL Arsenal soccer school is returning to Phuket for the third year in a row for the annual Phuket 7s Tournament. Over 220 parents and children are expected to travel to Phuket with the Singapore-based soccer school this December. The tournament, for local and international teams alike, will kick off on December 12. JSSL Arsenal is Singapore’s largest…
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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