Phuket News
Discover the latest news and updates from Thailand’s most famous and beautiful island, The Thaiger’s hometown, having previously operated as the Phuket Gazette.
Our team brings you breaking news, in-depth analysis, and exclusive stories from Phuket, covering everything from local politics and business to lifestyle and tourism. Learn about the island’s stunning beaches, vibrant nightlife, and thriving expat community, as well as keeping updated on events, and attractions.
The Thaiger is your ultimate guide to staying connected with Phuket’s ever-evolving landscape. To keep up with the most reliable news source on the island, subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on social media.
-
Sponsored Leap into English mastery with Green Valley's LEAP Programme
For many years, St. Andrews International School, Green Valley’s students who did not speak English as their first language have typically participated in English as an Additional Language (EAL) programmes to build proficiency. However, the school has recently introduced a...
-
Phuket domestic travel rules need streamlining, officials discuss
Officials in Phuket met yesterday to consider ideas about how to ease travel restrictions for domestic travellers in hopes of enabling domestic tourism to grow. With current harsh restrictions, mostly people with an imminent need to travel in and out of Phuket can jump through the hoops to access the island. Many business owners say they have seen little benefit…
-
Covid-19 prison death yesterday the second this week in Phuket
Today’s Phuket Covid-19 updated reported one new death, and now details are emerging on it, the second death of an inmate in prison. Phuket Provincial Prison officials have confirmed that an inmate has died of a Covid-19 infection after an outbreak discovered 2 weeks ago. The death was a 24 year old man who had lived in Baan Bang Duk…
-
Phuket Covid-19: 1 Phuket Prison death, 1 Sandbox infection
Phuket saw one new death and one new Covid-19 infection from an international traveller who entered the island as part of the Phuket Sandbox programme as daily numbers hold steady and hospital bed occupancy continues to worsen. The one death was of an inmate at Phuket Provincial Prison, the second death that the prison has seen after a Covid-19 outbreak…
-
Local businesses say they aren’t profiting from Phuket Sandbox
While large resorts and big businesses in Phuket might be seeing revenue from the Phuket Sandbox, interviews with small local businesses suggest they are seeing little to no benefit from the reopening with its strong restrictions. Most business owners agree there won’t be any real income for most until there is a full reopening with fewer rules and more nightlife…
-
New centre proposed to provide ATKs cheap at Phuket entrance
To help aid people who need to travel frequently in and out of Phuket, the Phuket Provincial Administrative Organisation has approved a plan to create a centre near the Tha Chatchai Check Point that would provide ATKs. The plan would provide a cheap and easy way for those entering Phuket by land to provide a negative Covid-19 test before entering…
-
Phuket: 5 Covid-19 deaths, 2 Sandboxers, drop in hospital beds
Phuket experienced a record high of 5 new Covid-19 deaths yesterday as well as 2 new Sandbox infections, while the statistics show a big drop from yesterday’s figures in both occupied hospital beds and total available hospital beds, suggesting a restructuring of how the beds are counted or where patients are located. 15 deaths have occurred in Phuket in the…
-
Epidemiologists dispatched to Phuket to help curb the spread of Covid
Epidemiologists from Thailand’s Disease Control Department have been dispatched by the Ministry of Public Health to Phuket. The move is intended to help curb the spread of new Covid infections on the island; Phuket has regularly seen 200 cases a day over the last couple of weeks and hospital beds have reached 90% occupancy. Public Health Permanent Secretary Dr Kiattibhoom…
-
Phuket Vegetarian Festival gets “green light” to run from October 6 to 14
WARNING: The content below contains photos and videos of self-mutilation that some people may find disturbing. The annual Phuket Vegetarian Festival has been given the “okay” to be held from October 6-14. For those who haven’t heard of the festival, it’s not exactly known for the vegetarian food. It’s actually a very spiritual celebration where some practice self-mutilation to enter…
-
3 deaths and 2 Sandbox Covid-19 infections today in Phuket
Today in Phuket 3 new deaths brought the September total to 23 and the overall total since April to 43, while 2 new Sandbox travellers were infected with Covid-19 and daily infections remain above 200 for the 17th day in a row. There was a slight decrease in hospitalised patients pushing the number of available beds up to 276, just…
-
Aunjai Clinic planned to aid newly infected Covid-19 patients
Aunjai is a Thai word that means “peace of mind” and also the name of a new clinic at the centre of Phuket Governor Narong Woonciew and his team’s plan to deal with Covid-19 and the severe hospital bed shortage the island is experiencing, with less than 10% of beds currently available for infected patients. The goal of the new…
-
Phuket unveils new strategy for Covid-19, hospital shortages
After the release of official figures showing that Phuket is down to its last 10% of available beds for Covid-19 patients, Phuket Governor Narong Woonciew announced a revamping of the province’s strategy on the pandemic. The governor also insists that there’s plenty of beds in the hospitals and there is no shortage despite what the official numbers and math show.…
-
Phuket construction worker drowns after getting stuck under storm drain
A 40-ish year old construction worker was killed in Phuket yesterday after he got stuck under a section of a storm drain; he eventually downed after rescue efforts failed. The man had been working at a construction site for a flood protection project near the Patong Hospital. He has been identified only as “Mr Mahana” and the Pattaya news says…
-
Phuket Covid-19 totals: 40 dead, 91 Sandboxers, hospitals 90% full
Phuket has just about hit the 90% hospital bed occupancy rate as infections and hospitalisations climb with new beds not being added quickly enough to keep pace. There were 229 infections today, 20 less than yesterday, and no new deaths reported, though details were released of the 1 death confirmed yesterday. A 63 year old Thai man was the 40th…
-
2 new Covid-19 deaths in Phuket, only 15% of hospital beds open
2 new deaths and a reduction in total hospital beds lead the bad news on Covid-19 for Phuket today. The daily infections have held steady with 230 new infections, a few less than yesterday, but marking the 13th day in a row with infections above 200 per day. The total deaths in the last 8 days stands at 19, one…
-
Phuket plans to set up 10 more isolation centres as Covid concerns linger
The escalating Covid situation in Phuket has prompted officials to establish 10 more isolation centres. Phuket’s governor, Narong Woonsiew said yesterday that the rise in infections mirrors the Covid situation in Bangkok 2 months ago. Phuket has been averaging 200+ Covid cases a day for the past 13 days (between 206 and 258 new daily infections), which “represents a serious…
-
Phuket: Record 4 Covid-19 deaths in 1 day, hospitals nearly full
A record number of Covid-19 fatalities in Phuket today as last night’s Phuket Provincial Public Health Office report confirmed 4 deaths in 1 day. That marks 17 deaths in one week in Phuket, nearly doubling the total of deaths since the third wave of Covid-19 took hold at the beginning of April. In the 5 months since the start of…
-
Phuket: 2 deaths, 1 Sandbox infection, bed occupancy passes 80%
In the last week, Phuket has seen 13 fatalities due to Covid-19 with 2 new deaths reported today, as well as one new Phuket Sandbox international traveller infected. The daily infection numbers have declined for the third day in a row to 211, and the rolling 7-day infection numbers also fell slightly despite the island marking its 11th day in…
-
Saliva Covid-19 test kits not accepted for entry into Phuket
The Phuket Provincial Public Health Office is warning people arriving in Phuket that any antigen test kit they use as proof they don’t have Covid-19 needs to be a nasal cavity swab, and not merely a saliva test. The health officials warned they will not issue confirmation documents for ATKs that only use saliva and those who arrived with those…
-
Phuket officials keeping an eye out for crocodile, possibly a water monitor lizard
Phuket sandboxers have 1 more thing to keep track of as a crocodile may still be on the loose. Officials from the Sirinat National Park are still on the lookout for a crocodile in the region after a search yesterday did not uncover the scaly reptile. Officials speculate that the crocodile may actually be a water monitor lizard. Park officials…
-
Phuket police raid gambling den in Wichit, arrest 15 people
In Cape Panwa, Wichit late last night, Phuket police raided and shut down an illegal gambling den and arrested 15 people there. The raid came just after midnight early this morning or late last night as Region 8 Police captured 14 people, all aged between 44 and 58 years old. The police also confiscated hundreds of green cards and orange…
-
Officials talk turkey about size of Phuket Vegetarian Festival
With Covid-19 still infecting over 200 people per day in Phuket, organisers of the yearly Phuket Vegetarian Festival are fishing for an answer to how big the event planned for October 6 to 14 can be. Phuket Governor Narong Woonciew said the event’s scale will be based on the Covid-19 situation in the days leading up to the festival. If…
-
“Green” Covid-19 cases to move to Phuket community isolation centres
The Phuket Provincial Public Health Office Chief Dr Kusak Kukiattikoon has stated the province will deal with the struggle to maintain available hospital beds by moving mildly affected “green” Covid-19 patients into home quarantine and community isolation centres. Phuket has been adding hundreds of hospital beds every week, with 200 beds added yesterday, to keep up with the rising Covid-19…
-
Phuket update: 30 total Covid-19 deaths with 10 in the last 4 days.
With 234 new Covid-19 cases reported, the total infections in the Phuket Sandbox inches to nearly 6,000, deaths have seen a sharp rise on the island. 2 new deaths reported last night to bring the total to 30 Covid-19 deaths since April, a jump of 50% since Sunday. Over the last 5 months, 20 people had died of Covid-19 in…
-
Survey shows over half of Thai hotels are considering closing due to low demand
A survey conducted by the Bank of Thailand and the Thai Hotels Association shows that 52% of hotels are considering closing temporarily and 9% want to shut down for good. 62% plan to reduce their workforce costs as a result of the financial fallout from Covid-19, while 61% say they will cut expenditure elsewhere. The Bangkok Post reports that the…
-
Phuket plans new screening measures for visitors, effective Wednesday
Phuket is planning new screening measures for visitors starting Wednesday. The Phuket communicable disease committee announced the measures yesterday, which will require visitors who wish to see the island to provide evidence of where they are staying in Phuket with payment made in advance. Visitors will also be required to register through this website and show a QR code to…
-
No more sandbox: Phuket private sector calls for full re-opening by December 1
The vice-president of the Phuket Tourism Association says businesses on the island need it to fully re-open by December 1 if they are to survive. According to a Bangkok Post report, Nanthida Atiset says fully re-opening the island could generate over 210 billion baht in revenue, adding that the sandbox scheme is simply not enough. “Only over 20,000 tourists have…
-
Phuket Sandbox draws 28,000 travellers, 1.634 billion baht
The Phuket Sandbox has been lauded as a success and derided as a failure, but officials have released some raw data over the past few days that indicates the programme falls somewhere in between. Immigration and the Tourism Authority of Thailand have reported on total incoming travellers and their opinions, and the Economics Tourism and Sports Division of the Tourism and…
-
Jetstar launches weekly flights between Phuket and Singapore
Now that flight restrictions are finally easing, Jetstar Asia Airways has launched a weekly flight between Singapore and Phuket. The first flight departed Singapore Friday evening and arrived at Phuket International Airport an hour and 40 minutes later. The inaugural Jetstar flight was greeted with fanfare by various airport staff including the Deputy Director of Phuket Airport Operations and Maintenance. The…
-
Phuket Covid-19 passes 5,000 infections, bed occupancy up 5%
Covid-19 data for Phuket was fairly stable yesterday with no new deaths, no new international Sandbox travellers infected, and the total daily cases today were 242, just 7 more than yesterday. Those new infections pushed Phuket’s total number of infections since the start of the third wave of Covid-19 to surpass 5,000 today. Statistically, the most drastic Covid-19 figure was…
-
Phuket daily Covid-19: 235 infections, no death, no Sandboxers
As Phuket prepares to carefully allow domestic tourists back onto the island, Covid-19 numbers remain relatively stable. Daily infections were 235 today, with 6 of the last 7 days reaching above 200. No new deaths were reported and no new Sandbox infections were identified. With the influx of new hospital beds yesterday, the bed occupancy rate remained around 70% though…
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.
Don't forget to check out some other things to do in Thailand - get help starting a business or finding a job in Thailand, buy Thailand property, rent a yacht or book a medical procedure worldwide.