Hello, Phuket Express Readers and Supporters!

The following is our weekly feature in which we highlight the top local stories in our area of Phuket, from the past week. The number of stories differs from week to week.

These are chosen and curated by our editorial team and are designed for our readers to get a quick “catch-up” of important stories they may have missed. We publish many stories daily and it is easy to lose track of important events or changes in our area. We do national recaps in a separate article, this is only the top local stories in the Phuket province.

They are in no particular order of importance but roughly in order of publishing. These are from Monday, November 28th, 2022, to Sunday, December 4th, 2022.

Let’s get started and see what the top local stories were!

1. A French man who was arrested in Rawai last week for illegal possession of a whale’s skeleton claimed a seller told him it was made of wood.                                            Mr. Alain told officials that he bought the item from a market near Chalong. The seller told him it was made of wood. He used it to decorate the house and did not know it was a whale skeleton.
2. Russian tourists have hit the top of Phuket visitors with more than 50,000 visiting this month, November.

The Director of the Tourism of Thailand (TAT) Phuket office said “From January to October this year Phuket generated more than 119 billion baht. This number shows Phuket tourism has increased 80 percent even if we don’t have Chinese tourists.”

More than 900,000 foreign and Thai tourists visited Phuket since May 1^st.

Of those 914,746 are foreigners and 19,418 are Thai visitors.

3. A new local road from Kathu to Patong is officially opened today, Father’s Day, December 5th, 2022.

The road is now being used by motorbikes and smaller cars. Larger vehicles are not allowed to use the road. 

4. Law enforcement officers inspected multiple businesses in Phuket which are reportedly related to the alleged Chinese “mafia” boss ‘Tuhao’. Officers seized cars, beds, and computers.

The suspect’s real identity was disclosed by police as Chaiyanat Kornchayanant, a naturalized Thai citizen of Chinese descent.

Charges have been pressed against a caretaker for illegal possession of snakes at a company that is reportedly related to the alleged Chinese “mafia” boss ‘Tuhao’.

The caretaker was taken to the Wichit Police Station to face charges of illegal possession of wild animals as no licenses were found.

5. A 55-year-old Filipino man was arrested in Kathu for 252 days of overstaying his legal visa conditions.

He was taken to the Kathu Police Station to face overstaying charges and is waiting to be deported at his expense.

That is all for this week, as always thanks for your support!

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