Phuket News
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Patong bag-snatchers nabbed “within minutes’
PHUKET: Police arrested two men on the streets of Patong early this morning after a spate of bag-snatch thefts were reported within minutes of each other. Theerayut Dalem, 22, and Sarawut Apichai, 19, both from Kantang, Trang, were arrested shortly after 3am, explained Col Jirapat Phochanaphan of the Patong Police. Mr Theerayut was arrested on the beach road at about…
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NFL Week 15: Cardinals grind out win over Chiefs
PHUKET: The Arizona Cardinals won their second straight game on Thursday night football by grinding out a 12-7 home win over a lackluster Kansas City Chiefs (7-6), but the win saw their quarterback Drew Stanton leave the game with a worrisome right knee injury. The injury came as a big setback for the Cardinals, now 11-3, who had the best…
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Phuket police rescue Cambodian kids from human-traffickers in Patong
PHUKET: A 10-year-old Cambodian boy and his 6-year-old sister are under close watch by welfare officers after being rescued from human traffickers by Patong Police on Thursday. “The children are now safe in one of our shelters. We will talk to them more on Monday about what is going on, and that may lead us to more suspects,” said Sirumporn…
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Girl remains in ICU after truck crashes into Phuket sinkhole
PHUKET: A 7-year-old girl remains in Vachira Phuket Hospital’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU) after the pick-up truck she was riding in crashed into a massive sinkhole in a road in northern Phuket on Thursday. The sinkhole first started to form last month when heavy rains washed away part of Rural Road 4008 off Thepkrasattri Road, near Bang Jo Prison in…
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Officials move to revoke Phuket developers’ land titles
PHUKET: Officials are calling for 17 land title deeds to be revoked for about 5 billion baht worth of property deemed to be within Sirinath National Park. The call follows an investigation, first launched in 2012, into 379 plots suspected of encroaching on park land. “Of the plots we investigated, 17 had NorSor 3 or Chanote land documents that were…
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Phuket police search for B7mn vanishing cream fraud suspect
PHUKET: A total of 17 people yesterday filed a complaint to Phuket City Police against a woman who had allegedly disappeared with 7 million baht that was intended to pay for vanishing cream. Chonticha Jampa-ngern, 32, told police that she had invested an undisclosed sum with her friend Netwimon, 31, so that Ms Netwimon could start selling the beauty cream.…
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Eastin Yama property makes inroads into Phuket tourism market
PHUKET: Perched on the top of a hill, a prime piece of real-estate in the heart of Kata, Eastin Yama Hotel Phuket’s idyllic location already gives it an advantage over rival resorts in the area. Part of the Absolute chain of hotels, the four-star Eastin Yama opened for business in October, but its savvy approach and innovative, sophisticated style has…
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Hundred-strong task force begins Phuket park probe
PHUKET: A task force of 100 officers arrived in Phuket this morning to begin examining hundreds of land documents for more than 2,000 rai of land in Sirinath National Park for suspected encroachment. The national-level task force was created to look into the suspect Phuket plots by Nipon Chotiban, director-general of the Department of National Parks Wildlife and Plant Conservation…
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Down at the dojo: Phuket martial arts club finds a new home
PHUKET: The Phuket Martial Arts & Buerki Judo Club group has found a new home at the FunStart Family Sports and Leisure Club, and is calling on the island’s youngsters to put down the video games and pick up the powerful martial arts of judo, jujitsu, aikido and aikijitsu. The judo club has been established on the island for years,…
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Phuket police hunt for suspects in drive-by motorbike shooting
PHUKET: Police are searching for two male suspects involved in a drive-by motorbike shooting that left one Phuket construction worker dead late Wednesday night. Vuthisak Pungsombut, 19, was driving a motorbike with his coworker Pongsak Sukjam, 44, riding pillion, back to the workers’ camp where they live after watching a football match at a nearby shop in Srisoonthorn, Lt Col…
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Laguna Phuket launches initiative to help struggling beach vendors
PHUKET: Laguna Phuket has announced the launch of a beach vendor support center to assist those who lost their jobs as a result of the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) beach cleanup campaign earlier this year. The “Local Vendors Support Center” will comprise shops from which vendors and other service providers, including masseuse and tour-desk operators, can continue…
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Uber gains legal traction in Phuket
PHUKET: The Department of Land Transportation (DLT) came to terms with Uber this week, making it clear that the taxi-booking firm was legal, but that any promotion of illegal taxi drivers in Phuket or elsewhere in Thailand was banned. “We are not banning the use of the Uber application, but we are banning the use of black-plate vehicles, because they…
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Phuket truck slams into Patong Hill power pole after brakes fail
PHUKET: A six-wheeled truck loaded with cinder blocks slammed into a Phuket power pole on Patong Hill after the vehicle’s brakes failed this morning. Police arrived at the scene at about 10am. No one was injured in the accident, police officers told the Phuket Gazette. The driver told police that he was delivering the cinder blocks from Phuket Ka Cement…
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Bus ban ignored: Phuket tour bus plunges down Patong Hill
PHUKET: A Phuket tour bus carrying Chinese tourists plunged down Patong Hill yesterday afternoon, obliterating a police box before crashing into a temple wall. The driver Pirom Joppromraj, 49, told police that the brakes failed as he descended the steep slope into Patong at about 5:15pm – during big vehicle restricted hours. A Patong Hill bus ban was put in…
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Video Report: Phuket’s HomeWorks re-opens amid promises of safe shelves
PHUKET: HomeWorks, the busy home-improvement store on Phuket’s bypass road, re-opened to shoppers today amid promises that the shelves had been inspected and were safe to use. A shelf collapse at the store on Sunday resulted in a family of three, including an 11-year-old girl, being rushed to hospital with injuries after they were pummeled by falling paint buckets (story…
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Phuket Cricket: Laguna notch up win in season opener
PHUKET: Laguna opened their account in the new Phuket Cricket Group (PCG) senior league by outfoxing Thalang in the opening match of the season, played at the Alan Cooke Ground (ACG) last Sunday. As is tradition, the first match of the season was between last season’s finalists. Laguna, who had a disappointing T20 season, were looking to make amends after…
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PM Prayuth to lead tsunami memorial services
PHUKET: Prime Minister Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha will lead foreign envoys and relatives of the 2004 tsunami victims in a memorial marking the 10th anniversary of the disaster in Khao Lak, north of Phuket, on December 26. Sihasak Phuangketkeow, permanent secretary of the Foreign Ministry, announced yesterday that his office, the Interior Ministry’s Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department and the Thai…
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Phuket Beach Club owners face charges for blocking demolition
PHUKET: The owners of The Beach Club restaurant in Nai Yang are facing charges for obstructing officers after they tried to prevent the demolition of their building yesterday – deemed illegally built on public land last month. Owners Aroon Prewphanchoo and Sanya Trirongthong parked a 10-wheeled trailer and several cars in front of their restaurant before officials from the Sakoo…
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Social networks buzz with Phuket police brutality allegations
PHUKET: Social networks are buzzing with allegations of police brutality at a checkpoint in Phuket Town on Saturday night after video footage surfaced of rescue workers treating an injured man. The stir comes from the video footage in which Chaiyarong Trongtor, 25, asks rescue workers, “Why did you hit me with a baton?” “When I arrived, after my team, Mr…
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Phuket learns: database swimming with leopard sharks [video]
PHUKET: The database for Spot the Leopard Shark Thailand has grown to more than 500 photographs after the conservation project was launched in August last year (story here), it was announced at a meeting hosted by Siam Diving Enterprises in Phuket last week. “We had the presentation to inform the dive community about the project, as well as about the…
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Video Report: Phuket police face probe for abuse of martial law
PHUKET: Hundreds of people turned out at Phuket Provincial Hall today to support a complaint against Cherng Talay Police allegedly abusing their position of power under martial law in a raid on a family home last week. Srisoonthorn Mayor Worrawut Songyot and his niece Hathairat Songyot today filed the complaint to Phuket Governor Nisit Jansomwong. The complaint states that a…
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Phuket coach conquers 10km keepie-uppie journey in honor of The King
PHUKET: A local football coach played keepie-uppie, the act of juggling a football without allowing the ball to hit the ground, for 10 kilometers along Phuket’s coast in honor of HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s 87th birthday on Friday. Praphan Khongmuean, coach at Republic Phuket and keepie-uppie marathoner, started juggling the ball at Kata Beach Resort and Spa at 7am and…
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Phuket Police: No foul play suspected in death of English-Thai toddler
PHUKET: Police do not suspect foul play in the death of a Phuket toddler who was found dead in a pool outside of his family’s house in Rawai on Friday. Marcus Pandragon Pearce, 16 months old, was discovered floating in the pool by his mother, Malida Pearce. “Mrs Pearce told us that her English husband, Jass Pearce, had gone out…
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Speed warning issued after Phuket cop crashes car
PHUKET: A rainy-weather driving-speed warning was issued today after a Phuket police officer flipped his car on the way to Phuket International Airport early yesterday morning. Lt Nikom Keawnu of the Cherng Talay Police and his female passenger both walked away unharmed from the accident on the new airport road. “The accident occurred when it was raining. We were on…
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Egat ramps up push for Krabi coal-fired power plant
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Egat ramps up push for Krabi coal-fired power plant The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) is pushing ahead with its plans to build a coal-fired power plant in Krabi, across Phang Nga Bay from Phuket, by 2019. Despite public…
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Hong Kong teams dominate top classes at Phuket King’s Cup Regatta
PHUKET; The final day’s racing of the 28th King’s Cup Regatta was set up beautifully to host some epic, close-quarters King’s Cup clashes. Winds were good, crews were psyched, and the final day didn’t disappoint. Saturday saw all classes come to a close with a total of 123 keelboat races taking place during the week, in addition to 27 dinghy…
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NFL Week 14: Cowboys crush Bears, 41-28
PHUKET: Quarterback Tony Romo and his Dallas Cowboys blew out a hapless Chicago Bears team 41-28 at Soldier Field in Chicago on Thursday Night Football, the first game of Week 14 of the NFL season. The win raised the Cowboys’ record to 9-4, guaranteeing them their first winning season in five years following a string of three mediocre 8-8 seasons.…
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Opinion: Phuket umbrellas return to paradise
PHUKET: The recent lifting of the ban on tourists bringing umbrellas onto island beaches is a step in the right direction, one the Phuket Gazette hopes will eventually lead to a comprehensive and sustainable solution that meets tourists’ needs while continuing to protect our beaches from encroachment. However, Ma-ann Samran, president of the Cherng Talay Tambon Administration Organization (OrBorTor), made…
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Fire breaks out on Phuket’s Soi Bangla
PHUKET: Firefighters have put out a fire that erupted at a tailor shop in Phuket’s famous nightlife district – Soi Bangla – this morning. No injuries or fatalities have been reported. Police were notified of the blaze by a tuk-tuk driver who saw smoke pouring out of the shop at about 10:30am. “The driver and a friend attempted to quell…
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Phuket Gazette bumper issue packed with holiday gifts
PHUKET: The Phuket Gazette begins the annual festive-season early this week with a record-breaking feast of 124 pages of reading for your enjoyment. We’ve been busy with major foreign media leaders to bring you news supplements from the countries and the markets that matter most – now and in the future – to Phuket. Inside this week’s Gazette, on newsstands…
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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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