Phuket News
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Sponsored Travel vs international health insurance: Which coverage do you need overseas?
The Thaiger key takeaways Travel insurance is ideal for short-term trips, covering emergencies, cancellations, and lost luggage, but not routine care. International health insurance suits expats and long-term residents, offering full medical coverage, including checkups, maternity, and chronic care. Choosing...
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Letter from Phuket to the World Boxing Council
PHUKET: The Phuket Gazette‘s editorial this week comes in the form of an open letter to World Boxing Council (WBC) President Jose Sulaiman on the topic of race-based pricing at the world title fight held at the Bangla Boxing Stadium in Patong, Phuket on May 29. Dear Mr Sulaiman: As you are no doubt aware, WBC champion Oleydong Sithsamerchai recently…
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Loan shark gang preys on Phuket sea gypsies
RAWAI, PHUKET: Police arrested a gang alleged to be loan sharks when they were attempting to collect money from members of the Rawai sea gypsy community at about 1am on Thursday.The arrests were made by Chalong Police after they received a report from the community that members of the gang had entered the community to forcibly collect on outstanding loans…
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Phuket Lions club a roaring success
PHUKET: The Lions Club of Patong Beach celebrated their Charter Night on May 29. Almost 80 Lions from clubs throughout Thailand watched on as Charter President Lion Rohn-Napa Kanjanayothee and First President Claude de Crissey were officially presented with their club Charter by former district governor Somchai Chirayus.Lions Clubs International has more than 1.4 million members in over 44,500 clubs…
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Paiboon’s fraud case starts June 23
PHUKET CITY: The Region 8 Court of Appeals will on June 23 examine witnesses and preliminary evidence in the electoral fraud case against suspended Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (PPAO) president Paiboon Upatising and teammate Sawat Muchawej. Mr Paiboon and Mr Sawat were handed yellow cards by the Election Commission (EC) in Bangkok on March 19. For our previous report, click…
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Frenchman and Thai drown in Phuket
KARON, PHUKET: A Frenchman and his Thai companion drowned while swimming in heavy surf off Karon Beach yesterday afternoon. After the deaths were reported to Chalong Police, rescue workers from the Phuket Ruamjai Kupai Foundation, Phuket Tourist Rescue Center and Karon Hazard Prevention Unit rushed out on surfboards and boats to find the victims. After about 20 minutes they found…
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17 killed, 30 injured in Krabi bus accident
PHUKET CITY: A chartered bus taking officials of the Samut Prakan Provincial Administrative Organization on a study tour overturned in Krabi this morning, killing 17 and injuring 30 passengers. The accident occurred at 6:30 am on the Phanom-Khao Tor Road in Krabi’s Plai Phraya district. Twelve passengers died at the scene; five more died at hospitals. Thirty other passengers were…
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Aussie family narrowly avoids drowning in Phuket
KARON, PHUKET: A family of Australian tourists who ignored red warning flags narrowly escaped drowning at Karon Beach on Tuesday afternoon. Chalong Police identified the victims as Mr Samir Mourad, 58, his daughter Zeinab, 16, and Mr Mourad’s wife, whose first name and age were not reported. According to the report, Mr Mourad was sunbathing while his wife and daughter…
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Free concerts by Montana State University in Phuket
PHUKET CITY: The Montana State University Symphony Orchestra will be performing two free concerts in Phuket over the weekend; one on Saturday at Rama IX Park (Suan Luang) on Chao Fah East Rd in Phuket City and another on Sunday at Phuket Rajabhat University in Rassada. The Phuket concerts are part of the orchestra’s Southeast Asia goodwill tour. A complement…
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Phuket porker: mutant or miracle?
SRISOONTHORN, PHUKET: The talk of the town in Thalang in recent weeks is the birth of a deformed piglet that locals feel bears a striking resemblance to Ganesha, the elephant-headed Hindu deity worshiped by many Thai Buddhists. The reason for their conviction is a large growth of tissue protruding from the piglet’s head that bears a striking resemblance to an…
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Phuket jungle walk marks World Environment Day 2009
PA KHLOK, PHUKET: More than 50 Phuket students on Monday morning completed an eight-kilometer jungle trek all the way from Bang Pae Waterfall to Ton Sai Waterfall, located inside Khao Phra Thaeo National Park. The event was organized jointly by PTT Exploration and Production Co (PTTEP), Radio Thailand, and the Phuket Public Relations Department. PTTEP External Relations Manager Sidhichai Jayant…
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New Phuket Chief Justice urges more mediation
PHUKET CITY: The new Chief Justice of Phuket Provincial Court held a press conference yesterday to promote greater use of the court mediation system to settle legal disputes, the backlog of which is overwhelming the provincial court system and leading to long delays between trial dates. Phuket Provincial Court Chief Justice Varangkana Sujaritkul said she will promote the use of…
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Monkey business at Phuket Provincial Hall
PHUKET CITY: A brazen monkey wandered onto the grounds of Phuket Provincial Hall this morning, making off with a belly full of fresh cucumbers after a standoff with a stunned food vendor. The unusual visit came at about 9:30 this morning at an open-air curry stall on the grounds of Phuket Provincial Hall. The monkey, one of the many pig-tailed…
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Phuket Governor orders probe into illegal quay at Ao Por
PA KHLOK, PHUKET: Resort developers have converted a section of seaside jungle into a 200-meter-long quay at Ao Por without official permission, it has emerged.The developers used heavy machinery to uproot trees and remove earth from the hillside to create an artificial quay in Tambon Pa Khlok, near village 6.Although the work began at the start of 2008, it has…
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Phuket City begins cable work on Thalang Rd
PHUKET CITY: Work on the project to bury power cables along Thalang Road in Old Phuket Town got underway yesterday morning, with workers marking lines near the pavement to mark the trench that will house the conduit. The narrow trench, about half a meter wide, will run along the right-hand side of the one-way road, once the heart of Phuket’s…
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Thai Immigration crackdown on border runners
BANGKOK / PHUKET: In a crackdown on foreigners who “abuse” the tourist exemption rule allowing15-day visit extensions at border entry points, the Immigration Bureau has confirmed and informed ThaiVisa.Com of the following new regulation, which went into effect yesterday: A foreigner who has entered the kingdom four consecutive times on 15-day tourist exemption stamps will not be allowed to leave…
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Czech checks bag bandit and bites back
PHUKET: Authorities in neighboring Phang Nga province are revamping registration procedures for Burmese migrant workers while closely monitoring their activities after a worker attempted to rob a foreign dive instructor yesterday. Provincal governor Yiamsuriya Phalusuk said measures to be taken include more police patrols and possibly stricter regulations on workers traveling at night. Any Thais or employers found to provide…
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Bt119m for new Rajabhat Phuket commencement hall
RASSADA, PHUKET: Work is well underway on a 119 million baht conference room and commencement hall complex on the grounds of Phuket’s Rajabhat University. A contract between the university and Bangkok-based contractor Kumjornkij Construction Co Ltd was signed in mid-November last year. The scheduled contract completion date is December 27, 2010. The project’s oversight director is Rajabhat Phuket University Associate…
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Fourth swine flu case confirmed in Thailand
BANGKOK / PHUKET: While there have been no confirmed cases of A-type (H1N1) in Phuket, the Ministry of Public Health yesterday confirmed its fourth case of the disease in Thailand – a Thai man who just returned from the US. The A-type (H1N1) flu has already hit 53 countries, killing 99. Thai Public Health Minister, Witthaya Kaewparadai, said the 50-year-old…
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Asean reaffirms regional confidence in Phuket
KARON, PHUKET: The Asean Senior Officials meeting held at the Movenpick Resort and Spa from May 18 to 21 resulted in a number of agreements in addition to the previously reported agreement to hold the twice-postponed Asean Summit in Phuket next October. Manasvi Srisodapol, deputy director-general of the Foreign Ministry’s Department of Asean Affairs, told the Gazette that the Phuket meetings…
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Phuket hammered again: Thai justice under fire
PHUKET: One of the many interesting aspects of being a journalist in Phuket is observing the way that stories we break here are picked up by foreign media outlets – and the spin that these outlets put on them. Smaller countries often adopt an ‘us-against-them’ mentality when one of their own gets arrested in Thailand, rushing to defend the suspect…
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Phuket Health and Wellness Festival 2009
PATONG, PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Public Health Office in association with the Phuket Spa Association, public and private hospitals, and government agencies in Phuket will hold the “Phuket Health and Wellness Festival 2009” from June 11 to 13 at the Jungceylon Shopping Complex in Patong. The event is aimed at promoting Phuket as a hub for Thai and foreign tourists…
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Englishman collapases, dies in Rawai
RAWAI, PHUKET: An Englishman living in Phuket collapsed and died of apparent heart failure at a pharmacy in Rawai on Wednesday afternoon.According to witnesses, 59-year-old John Powell entered the pharmacy to buy some medicine but then collapsed.Chalong Police were notified of the death at about 3:30pm.They rushed to the scene, a pharmacy in the Baan Saiyuan residential estate, with rescue…
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Phuket remains free of swine flu
PHUKET CITY: While the viral disease chikungunya continues to spread in Phuket, the island has yet to record a single case of infection with the A(H1N1) virus that causes swine flu, PPHO Director Dr Pongsawas Ratanasang told the Gazette today. Two foreign tourists – one Australian and one Norwegian – were briefly quarantined and tested for A(H1N1), but both tested…
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Phuket FC tryouts rescheduled for Monday
KATHU, PHUKET: Following the last-minute cancellation of the expat football trial scheduled to take place yesterday, the Phuket FC manager has announced that the trials will now to take place on Monday, June 1, at the Prince of Songkla University stadium, off Wichit Songkram Road in Kathu. The trial will begin at 4.30pm. It is hoped that Friday’s last-minute cancellation…
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Phuket youth incarceration: German ambassador speaks out
PHUKET CITY: German Ambassador to Thailand Dr Hanns Schumacher has spoken out in defense of the German teenager currently incarcerated in the Phuket Juvenile Observation and Protection Center on charges of sexually abusing minors. In an interview with the Gazette, Dr Schumacher said he believed the evidence against the youth justified the investigation, but expressed hope that the court would…
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Punchup in Phuket: Oleydong defends WBC belt this afternoon
PATONG, PHUKET: WBC straw-weight champ Oleydong Sithsamerchai has been busy shedding pounds to meet the 105lb limit for his WBC title defense against Muhammad Rachman of Indonesia this afternoon. At a press conference held at the the Bangkok Residence Hotel on Soi Sansabai on Tuesday, Oleydong and Rachman posed for photos with Phuket Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop. The fight will take…
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Incarcerated German youth’s mother died on Phuket
PHUKET CITY: The mother of the German youth incarcerated in the Phuket Juvenile Observation and Protection Center on charges of sexually abusing minors died last month, the Gazette has learned. The woman, who will not be named in order to protect the youth’s identity, died in Vachira Phuket Hospital on April 23. She was 56 years old. The youth was…
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Nike to host running clinic at Laguna Phuket
CHERNG TALAY, PHUKET: Sportswear giant Nike and Laguna Phuket will host a free running clinic and shoe trial on Saturday, June 6, as part of pre-event activities for the upcoming 2009 Laguna Phuket International Marathon. The clinic, from 4pm to 6pm at the Laguna Beach Resort tennis courts, will feature 2002 Bangkok Marathon winner Jason Mayeroff of the US as…
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Land purchase through Thai spouse forbidden: Land Dept
PHUKET CITY: The director general of the Land Department has reiterated that foreigners using Thai nominees to buy land anywhere in the country will have their land title deeds revoked if caught – even if the nominee in question is a lawfully wedded spouse.Land Department Director Anuwat Meteewiboonwut made the comments during a recent stop in Phuket as part of a…
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Phuket PO Box 101 is a hit, says governor
PHUKET CITY: The number 101 is a cinch to remember for those who have read George Orwell’s grim parable of totalitarianism Nineteen Eighty-Four or taken a freshman college class. Whether this fact figured in Phuket Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop’s thinking when he launched PO Box 101 – an address any Phuket resident can use to inform the governor, anonymously, of crimes…
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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