Phuket News
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Phuket police tighten drug checks for Electric Daisy Carnival
Phuket police are set to intensify their measures to prevent drug entry at the Electric Daisy Carnival (EDC) concert, in response to two fatalities at last year’s event. Phuket Provincial Police Commander Sinlert Sukhum announced that more than 200 officers will be deployed to safeguard the venue, with stringent drug checks at all entry points. Authorities stressed that these checks…
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Tourists warned: Monkey bites pose rabies risk in Phuket
A British volunteer in Phuket, Vinnie Modell, who founded the Rescue Team Volunteers Phuket, is urging tourists to exercise caution around local monkeys due to risks of injury and potential rabies transmission from bites. Modell reported that at least ten tourists received treatment for monkey bites during the recent Christmas and New Year holiday period. These incidents underscore ongoing risky…
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Russian man arrested in Phuket for illegally working as tour guide
Thai police arrested a Russian man illegally working as a tour guide at a pier in Phuket yesterday, January 7, just moments before escorting tourists on an Andaman Sea excursion. The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) said officers from the Phuket Marine Police arrested 33 year old Lapa at a pier in Phuket province and charged him with working without a…
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Saudi tourist fined, deported over public indecency in Phuket
A Saudi Arabian tourist has been fined and is set to be deported following an incident of public indecency in Patong, Phuket. The tourist, identified only as Alharbbi, was seen in a video recorded on Soi Paradise, Kathu district, engaging in inappropriate behaviour with another foreign man. The incident reportedly occurred around 5am on January 4. Locals who witnessed the…
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Fire damages at least 10 speedboats at Chalong Bay in Phuket
A fire broke out in the early hours of today, January 7, damaging at least 10 speedboats docked at Chalong Bay in Phuket province. Officers from Chalong Police Station were alerted to the incident at around 4am and coordinated with firefighters to investigate and control the blaze. Upon arrival, police reported that flames and thick smoke covered the bay and…
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Phuket entertainment venue operators demand probe into alleged bribery
A group of entertainment venue operators in Phuket called for an investigation into government officials after rumours circulated online alleging that some officials sought bribes from business operators. The vice president of the Patong Beach Entertainment Venue Association, Apichet Phulsong, together with around 30 association members, met the Phuket governor to submit an official petition requesting an investigation into the…
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Foreign motorcyclist slammed for revving engine, causing smoke in Phuket
Thai netizens condemned a foreign motorcyclist after a video showed him repeatedly revving his motorcycle engine on a road in Phuket on Saturday night, January 3. The incident came to light after a Thai witness filmed the foreigner’s actions and shared the footage online. The video was later reposted by several local news outlets. The exact time and location of…
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Tourists filmed in public lewd act in Phuket renew visa-free concerns
Two foreign tourists were caught on camera engaging in a lewd act on a public street in Patong, Phuket, prompting online criticism and renewed debate over Thailand’s visa-free entry policy. The incident occurred in a nightlife area near Bangla Road. According to initial reports from the Phuket Times, the individuals, identified by the page and eyewitnesses as men of Middle…
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Phuket records four road deaths during New Year ‘Seven Days of Danger’
Phuket recorded four road deaths and 39 accidents between December 30 and January 2 during the annual ‘Seven Days of Danger’ New Year road safety campaign, according to the Phuket Road Accident Prevention and Reduction Operations Centre. Two fatalities occurred in Mueang Phuket district and two in Thalang district, while no deaths were reported in Kathu. Mueang Phuket recorded the…
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Sea of Trash: Garbage covers Patong beach after New Year countdown
PHUKET — The morning sun on the first day of the year revealed a grim scene at Patong Beach, one of the world’s most famous tourist destinations. Instead of pristine white sands, a mountain of garbage buried the shoreline following the previous night’s New Year’s Eve celebrations. Images shared by the local news page “แรงจัง ภูเก็ต” exposed the extent of…
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Patong restaurant fires staff after telling customer to “Wash the pot yourself”
PHUKET — A heated online controversy involving a popular restaurant in Patong has concluded with the immediate termination of a staff member. The employee had sparked outrage after challenging a customer to “wash the pot yourself” if she wished to be served. The incident, which went viral on TikTok, occurred at the “Sam Chor Chern Chuan Chim” restaurant (Patong Branch),…
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2 Phuket men pose as police and extort foreigners with fake donation
Police arrested two Thai men for allegedly posing as police and extorting foreigners in Phuket through a fake donation campaign claiming to support police and soldiers stationed at the Thailand–Cambodia border. Officers from Chalong Police Station announced the arrests on their official Facebook page yesterday, December 29. The suspects, identified as Pariphat and Suriya, targeted foreign residents and tourists in the Rawai…
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Thai motorcyclist injured in Phuket road dispute, foreign suspect flees scene
A Thai man turned to the online community for help in identifying a foreign man who allegedly assaulted him during a road dispute in Phuket before fleeing the scene. The incident was reported by local news outlet Newshawk Phuket on its Facebook page yesterday, December 29. The post included a video showing the injured Thai man wearing a white T-shirt,…
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Phuket workshop boosts efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 9.6%
Government agencies, community groups, and educational institutions in Phuket recently participated in a comprehensive workshop focused on enhancing awareness and engagement in reducing greenhouse gas emissions as part of Thailand’s Low Emission Support Scheme (LESS). The training event took place at Plukpanya Municipal School in Phuket Town on December 23 and was inaugurated by Chanthira Duangsai, Director of the Environmental…
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Patong sidewalk upgrades on track, says Mayor Lalita
Mayor Lalita Maneesri of Patong has assured both residents and visitors that ongoing efforts to enhance sidewalks along Patong’s beachfront and major roads are proceeding as scheduled. These improvements aim to ensure safe pedestrian access in this bustling tourist area. Mayor Lalita acknowledged the receipt of complaints regarding the condition of footpaths on Thaweewong Road, a location currently undergoing significant…
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Chaos erupts on Phuket road after foreign man allegedly slaps Thai woman
A foreign man allegedly slapped a Thai woman in the face, prompting her to fight back and triggering chaos on a street in the Patong area of Phuket yesterday morning, December 23. The incident was first brought to public attention by a Thai witness, Jeerawut Wangnurak, who shared video footage of the altercation on his Facebook account at around 6.30am.…
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Chinese gold mine owner arrested in Phuket over deadly flooding case
Thai police arrested a Chinese businessman and his wife in Phuket after they fled China to avoid legal responsibility following a deadly flooding incident at a gold mine. Officers from Immigration Bureau Division 1 were contacted by Chinese officials requesting assistance in locating a wanted suspect, 56 year old Liu Hongbo. Liu was reported to be the owner of a…
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Thai man and British national arrested with cocaine in Phuket
Phuket administrative officers arrested a Thai man and a British national for cocaine possession during a sting operation in the Patong area on Saturday, December 20. The Special Operations Unit of the Phuket Provincial Administrative Office launched the operation after receiving complaints about the sale of cocaine near Patong Beach. According to officials, most customers were foreign tourists. The complainant…
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Phuket boy calls police after drunk father allegedly shoots mother
A young boy in Phuket called the police yesterday, December 21, after his father allegedly became drunk, fired gunshots into the air, and then shot the boy’s mother at their home in Thalang district. Officers from Thalang Police Station responded to an emergency call from the boy, who reported that his father, identified as 41 year old Thattaphong, had been…
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Phuket van driver faces fine and licence suspension for striking foreigner
A Thai van driver faced a fine of 1,000 baht and had his public transport driving licence suspended after he struck a foreign woman on the head with a plastic bottle outside Phuket International Airport during a dispute over rubbish left in his vehicle. The incident took place last week and quickly went viral on social media. The van driver,…
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Canadian mother arrested in Phuket for assaulting her two children
Chalong Police in Phuket are investigating an assault that occurred early yesterday morning in Rawai, resulting in injuries to two Canadian children, allegedly inflicted by their mother, who was later found with self-inflicted injuries. The incident took place in a house on Soi Saiyuan 11, Moo 7, Rawai, around 12.30am. A neighbour alerted the police after a teenage boy was…
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Phuket van driver strikes foreign woman with bottle over rubbish dispute
A Thai van driver struck a foreign woman on the head with a plastic bottle outside Phuket International Airport yesterday, December 18, following a dispute over rubbish allegedly left inside his vehicle. Footage of the incident quickly spread across Thai social media after it occurred at around 9pm last night. The confrontation took place near Entrance 2 of the passenger…
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Phuket Tourist Police help British woman in mental health crisis
Phuket Tourist Police officers shared their successful operation in which they helped calm and support a British woman who was suffering from stress and mental health issues at a hotel in the Patong area. The officers shared photos of the incident on the official Phuket Tourist Police Facebook page on Tuesday, December 16. In the post, they included the message…
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French tourists allegedly fabricate bad boat trip experience in Phuket for refund
French tourists allegedly used artificial intelligence (AI) to edit photos from a boat trip in Phuket in an attempt to claim refunds by portraying their experience as poor. The accusation was reported today, December 18, by the Facebook page Phuket Times. According to the page, a group of French tourists joined a boat tour in Phuket and took photographs of…
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Kazakh fraud suspect on Interpol Red Notice arrested in Phuket
Police arrested a Kazakh national wanted under an Interpol Red Notice after he fled a fraud case in his home country and went into hiding in Phuket. Officers from the Phuket Provincial Immigration Office were alerted to the presence of the wanted man, identified as Adilet, and launched an investigation to track down his whereabouts. On Monday, December 15, officers…
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Phuket woman pulls gun on finance agents over missed payments
A heated confrontation over missed car payments turned dangerous at a viewpoint in Phuket yesterday, December 16, when a woman allegedly threatened two finance company employees with a gun. The incident took place around 4:20pm yesterday at Khao Khad Viewpoint in Wichit, where two female employees of a private company working on behalf of a car finance firm were tracking…
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3 foreign motorcyclists abandon injured friend and woman after crash in Phuket
Three foreign motorcyclists fled the scene and abandoned their injured friend after running a red light and crashing into a Thai woman’s motorcycle in Phuket this morning, December 17. According to Phuket Times, the accident occurred at an intersection near the popular restaurant Go Benz Rice Porridge Phuket, where Patiphat Road meets Vichitsongkram Road. The crash happened after four foreign motorcyclists…
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Calls for legal action after foreigners spray-paint walls in Phuket
A Thai man called for legal action against two foreign men after they were seen spray-painting walls in Phuket without permission from property owners. The issue was raised by Facebook user Yotwadee Panthong, who shared photos of the two foreign men in a Facebook group of Phuket locals yesterday, December 15. In his post, Yotwadee criticised the men’s behaviour and…
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Two injured in separate knife attacks in Patong and Phuket Town
A man and a woman were injured in two knife attacks that took place hours apart in Phuket yesterday morning, December 14. The first stabbing occurred around 3am near Coral Beach Bridge, located at the southern end of Thaweewong Road in Patong. Patong Police were alerted at 4.02am by Patong Hospital staff after a man was admitted with a stab…
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Phuket man arrested for forcing tourists to pay for iguana photos
Phuket police arrested a Thai man on Friday, December 12, after he was accused of taking photos of tourists with his reptiles without consent and then forcing them to pay. Officers from Patong Police Station received complaints about a Thai man who allegedly targeted tourists, particularly foreigners, by encouraging or tricking them into posing for photos with his reptiles, reported…
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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