Phuket

  • Environment NewsCoral off Phuket suffering from bleaching

    Coral off Phuket suffering from bleaching

    by Thai PBS Corals have started to bleach off the coast of Phuket. The problem is due to the warming of the sea, according to reports from the Phuket-based operations centre of the 2nd National Marine Park. Marine scientists at the centre conducted a survey of coral reefs off Nai Yang beach in the Sirinat national park last Thursday and…

  • Hot NewsIndiGo pulls non-stop flights between Phuket and Bengaluru

    IndiGo pulls non-stop flights between Phuket and Bengaluru

    ‘Commercial non-viability’ is the official reason given for the pulling of the twice-weekly non-stop flights between Bengaluru, India and Phuket by IndiGo Airline. The airline’s six weekly non-stop flights between Delhi and Phuket will continue. “Phuket is a key market for IndiGo and we see great potential in the growth of tourism between India and Phuket. We will explore various…

  • PropertyBuyback Option at VIP KATA Condominium by Phuket9

    Buyback Option at VIP KATA Condominium by Phuket9

    Phuket9 Company announces a buy-back option for VIP KATA Condominium Project with a rental return of 56% over 8 years. The first two buildings of VIP KATA Condominium were launched in July 2018. After one month in August 2018, Phuket9 commenced construction of the second phase – 2 more buildings including 209 apartments, 2 common swimming pools, rooftop gardens, restaurants and a kids club.…

  • Things To DoPhuket ranked sixth Best Destination in the World – Trip Advisor

    Phuket ranked sixth Best Destination in the World – Trip Advisor

    PHOTO: Patong Beach. Phuket was the only Thai destination in the 2019 list of the World’s Best Destinations Last year’s royal wedding between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle has put the Brexit-obsessed London on top of a list of the World’s Best Destinations in the TripAdvisor’s annual Traveler’s Choice Awards. London beat its close European counterparts, Paris and Rome in…

  • Thailand Weather UpdatesPhuket faces critical water shortages if the monsoon doesn’t arrive soon

    Phuket faces critical water shortages if the monsoon doesn’t arrive soon

    Phuket is now, officially, experiencing water shortages, with water in the province’s three catchments just enough for the supply of tap water until the end of May, and the condition is expected to get worse if the annual monsoon doesn’t kick in soon. The annual south-west monsoon usually starts dragging in moist air and the ‘wet season’ begins sometime around…

  • Phuket NewsPhuket’s water supply in a critical situation

    Phuket’s water supply in a critical situation

    Phuket’s water lords are now admitting the island’s water situation is in a critical situation – a situation they have had the power to avert but have chosen instead to ‘hope’ for monsoonal rains and go in search of alternative water sources to top up the dwindling catchment resources. Phuket is now in the throws of a water shortage. The…

  • Phuket NewsSlow loris released back into Phuket forest

    Slow loris released back into Phuket forest

    PHOTOS: Department of National Parks Officers from of the Khao Phra Thaeo Non-Hunting Area have helped in the release of a slow loris back into the wild yesterday. The Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation reports that the head of Khao Phra Thaeo Non-Hunting Area, Pongchart Chueahom, yesterday released the slow loris to the Khao Phra Thaeo Non-Hunting…

  • Phuket NewsSeastead structure dragged back to shore by Royal Thai Navy

    Seastead structure dragged back to shore by Royal Thai Navy

    A floating seastead has today been towed by a naval vessel back to the Port of Phuket in Cape Panwa. Meanwhile the Deputy PM Wissanu Krea-ngam is challenging the owners and builders of the structure to take the Thai Government and Navy to the International Court of Justice. The Royal Thai Navy’s Third Fleet ventured out with a group of…

  • Hot NewsThe 5th Annual Stargazer talent contest returns to CC’s Hideaway

    The 5th Annual Stargazer talent contest returns to CC’s Hideaway

    This year the winner will receive 35,000 baht in prize money! CC’s Hideaway, located in Kata, proudly presents its fifth ‘Stargazer Talent Contest’ which will take place on April 27 between 6 pm and 11 pm. The goal of Stargazer is to create an opportunity for new individuals and groups to perform and promote their special talents and, with media…

  • Phuket NewsPhuket seastead will be removed today

    Phuket seastead will be removed today

    The Third Naval Area Command will remove the seastead stationed off Phuket south-east coast today, belonging to an American bitcoin investor and seasteading innovators Ocean Builders. Thai authorities plan to seize the structure as evidence in a criminal case. They fear the structure will continue to be a navigation hazard if left there. US national Chad Elwartowski and his Thai…

  • Phuket NewsImmigration police interview Phuket’s ‘seasteader’

    Immigration police interview Phuket’s ‘seasteader’

    Immigration police says they’ve have questioned the American bitcoin investor who was involved in the setting up of the “seasteading” structure off the coast of Phuket and is facing criminal charges related to the waterborne homestead. Chad Andrew Elwartowski and his Thai girlfriend, Suprenee Thepdet (aka Nadia Summergirl), launched their seastead project on February 2 off the coast of Phuket…

  • Thailand Weather UpdatesPhuket’s water lords confident of supplies and back-up plans

    Phuket’s water lords confident of supplies and back-up plans

    PHOTO: Welcome to the moonscape – Bang Neow Dum off Srisoonthorn Road Well in to the second half of April in Phuket and the water situation is still dire, despite repeated assurances from the Provincial Irrigration Office and the Phuket Water Authority. The most recent assessment of the island’s three main catchments were that there was 2.8 million cubic metres of…

  • Hot NewsBitcoin Seastead backer in battle with Thai authorities

    Bitcoin Seastead backer in battle with Thai authorities

    A ‘seastead’ project, launched by an early bitcoin adopter off the coast of Phuket island in Thailand’s south is running into trouble with local government authorities. The Royal Thai Navy and Phuket Maritime authorities boarded the structure on Sunday, saying that the structure violates criminal law and poses a navigation hazard. ‘sea-stead’, noun – a permanent settlement on a structure…

  • Phuket NewsReport filed against Italian expat following Phuket boat collision

    Report filed against Italian expat following Phuket boat collision

    Relatives of a seriously injured fisherman have filed a report with the Chalong Police relating to an Italian expat who was allegedly helming a boat that collided with a long-tail fishing boat yesterday off Rawai, Phuket. Emergency responders were notified of the accident near Koh Bon off Rawai at 10am yesterday. The injured fisherman is 45 year old San Malee,…

  • Phuket NewsNavy files report against ‘seasteading’ structure off Phuket

    Navy files report against ‘seasteading’ structure off Phuket

    The Royal Thai Navy has filed a report against an American/Thai couple for their ‘seasteading’ structure off the coast of Phuket. Read more about the concept and structure HERE. The ‘seasteading’ couple, that have set up a structure some 15 nautical miles south east of Phuket’s southern coast, are the subject of an official complaint by the Thai Third Naval Area…

  • Business NewsPhuket hotel watch – trends in 2019

    Phuket hotel watch – trends in 2019

    by Bill Barnett of C9Hotelworks.com At the beginning of the year Phuket’s tourism and hotel sector was cautiously optimistic after a strong first half of 2018 and humbling second half. Key terms that kept popping up were Mainland Chinese, Thai Baht Appreciation, Elections and Supply Concerns. So today, with five months of performance under the belt in 2019 what are…

  • Phuket NewsPatong transformer short-out escalates into massive shop fire – VIDEO

    Patong transformer short-out escalates into massive shop fire – VIDEO

    PHOTOS & VIDEO: Phuket Traffic Office People were hastily cleared from around Banana Walk and Patong’s Beach Road was closed off as emergency crews battled to bring a growing fire under control. What started as a simple electrical short in a roadside transformer, quickly escalated into an inferno engulfing nearby roadside shops and nearby buildings. https://www.facebook.com/tim.long.9235199/videos/10156093448431516/ Firefighters and emergency responders…

  • Phuket News‘Seastead’ set up off coast of Phuket

    ‘Seastead’ set up off coast of Phuket

    PHOTOS: Nation TV A Thai couple has successfully set up a ‘Seastead’ near Phuket. Seasteading is aiming to build floating societies with “significant political autonomy”. Nearly half the world’s surface is unclaimed by any nation-state, and many coastal nations can legislate “seasteads” in their territorial waters (like a “homestead” but wetter). The nation TV reports that website ‘Bitcoin.com’ and ‘Ocean.builders’…

  • Thailand Weather UpdatesSituation critical for Phuket’s water supply

    Situation critical for Phuket’s water supply

    Phuket has an acute water shortage. But there has been no warnings or even suggestions of restrictions from the Phuket Water Authority. Instead residents are heading to the local media to vent their frustration. On February 6 the PWA foreshadowed odd/even day water restrictions for some residential areas of the island, only to rescind the action the next day saying…

  • Phuket NewsMotorbike passenger dies after being crushed by bus in Kathu – VIDEO

    Motorbike passenger dies after being crushed by bus in Kathu – VIDEO

    A motorbike passenger has died at hospital after being crushed by the rear wheel of a bus in Kathu yesterday. Kathu Police were notified of the incident at Seekor Intersection on Phra Phuket Kaew Road in Kathu at 9.25 am yesterday. Emergency responders arrived to find the damaged motorbike along with the driver, 19 year old Sahassawa Churat. He had…

  • Krabi NewsBomb making equipment discovered in Krabi cave

    Bomb making equipment discovered in Krabi cave

    Krabi officers have discovered bomb-making equipment inside a cave in Krabi. Yesterday officers raided the cave on Koh Talu in Ao Lueak, Krabi after they found that the cave is part of an area of a company who received a concession to produce and farm bird nets. To men died from their injuries after stepping on mines along the shores…

  • Phuket NewsPhuket policeman shoots himself, dies in hospital

    Phuket policeman shoots himself, dies in hospital

    A Vichit policeman has shot himself at a house in Rassada early today. Police were notified about the incident just after midnight at a house in Rassada, east of Phuket Town on the island’s east coast. Police and emergency responders arrived to find the man on the floor of his bedroom surrounded by pools of blood. A bullet wound was…

  • Phuket NewsGuyanese arrested over ‘magic’ bank note scam in Phuket

    Guyanese arrested over ‘magic’ bank note scam in Phuket

    PHOTOS: Surachete Hakparn A Guyanese man has been arrested in Phuket after the owner of a local language school reported a money scammer with an unusual scam. The Immigration Bureau Chief Lt Gen Surachate Hakparn reports that they have arrested the Guyanese man named Abdul Kalam Azad Sattaur at a mansion in Phuket Town last Friday. The arrest follows a Thai…

  • Business NewsHermès opens its first store in Phuket at Central Floresta

    Hermès opens its first store in Phuket at Central Floresta

    Hermès has opened of its first store in Phuket at Central Floresta, the newly opened lifestyle shopping destination in the heart of the island, opposite Central Festival. As Hermès’ first venture outside the Thai capital, the new Hermès Phuket store makes a significant statement of expansion and confidence in the market. The new address in this world-renowned island will allow the…

  • Phuket NewsPhuket’s hotel and property players look north

    Phuket’s hotel and property players look north

    by Bill Barnett of c9hotelworks.com One of Greater Phuket’s real estate and hotel market’s that has a decided buzz of late is the area north of Phuket over the Sarasin bridge in Phang Nga. In Natai Beach, the entry of the Baba Beach Club and nearby Akyra has created renewed visibility for the broad West Coast stretch of white sand beach,…

  • Phuket NewsBaby flying lemur and injured slow loris rescued in Phuket

    Baby flying lemur and injured slow loris rescued in Phuket

    PHOTOS: Pongchart Chueahom/DNP The Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation reports that the head of Khao Phra Thaeo Non-Hunting Area, Pongchart Chueahom, has checked in to see the progress of a baby flying lemur and injured slow loris which are being treated at the Department’s wildlife facility. “They are both healthy and the Loris is recovering well. They…

  • Phuket NewsWoman crushed under a truck, two others injured, truck speeds away, Kata Hill

    Woman crushed under a truck, two others injured, truck speeds away, Kata Hill

    A motorbike driver has died after slipping on oil spilled on the road. The woman fell off the motorbike and was crushed by a water truck in Kata last night. Two others motorists also sustained injuries. Police are searching for the truck driver. The incident happened on Patak Road on Kata Hill at 6.50pm last night (Wednesday). Police and emergency…

  • Phuket NewsGerman man dies in Phuket motorcycle crash

    German man dies in Phuket motorcycle crash

    A German man has died after a motorbike crash in Thalang. The Thalang Police were notified of the incident last night on Srisoonthorn Road in Baan Manik, Thalang. The German man, 53 year old Carsten Elfried Koch, was the driver of a motorbike and sustained critical injuries as a result of the crash. He died at the scene. Police believe…

  • Thai LifePhuket 1988: Thai expat digs out his old Super 8 movies

    Phuket 1988: Thai expat digs out his old Super 8 movies

    David Barrett gets out his Super 8 projector for another film night – this time we see Patong in 1988, already quite developed even though mass tourism was still more than a decade away. The few high-rise are certainly not cluttering up the skyline at this time. David is sharing his early Super 8 movies with us as we wallow…

  • Things To DoTop 10 things to see in Phuket, on a budget (2019)

    Top 10 things to see in Phuket, on a budget (2019)

    PHOTO: The Trick Eye Museum in Phuket Town We can’t all afford to stay in the lap of luxury in five star properties, and spend our Sunday’s at extravagant hi-so brunches. Good luck to those who can! In Phuket you can have fantastic experiences that either cost you nothing or not much more. Here is, in no particular order, our…