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 Phuket.

They are in no particular order of importance but roughly in order of publishing. These are from Monday, January 29th to Sunday February 4th, 2024.

1. A foreign driver faced legal action after he allowed his foreign passengers to sit on a car’s windows in Karon.

The foreign driver said sorry to police and other road users who were concerned about road safety. He has promised not to let passengers sit on windows like that again.

2. A foreign motorbike rider was caught trying to break a chain which secured his illegally parked motorbike in Phuket Town.

The foreign rider viewed himself on the video and apologised to the police and promised not to do it again. He also asked on social media for a chance to be a good tourist in the future who follows traffic rules.

3. The Phuket International Airport has clarified after a photo of two foreign tourists wearing only swimwear has gone viral on social media.

The two male foreign tourists who wear wearing swimwear were dropped from a car in front of the international terminal. They put on clothes before entering the terminal proper.

4. A British teacher who allegedly took away a minor from her guardians and molested her in Phuket many years ago was arrested in Chiang Mai.

In 2014 -2015 he worked as a teacher at an international school in Phuket. He allegedly took a 16 year old female foreign student at the same school for obscene purposes.

5. A female foreign tourist was allegedly molested by a man inside a toilet at Phuket Bus Terminal.

CCTV footage taken at the scene shows a monk running to the toilet after he heard someone screaming for help.

6. A group of Russian men allegedly threatened a Russian couple and took them onto a van against their will to try to extort them for 30 million Baht in Bitcoins in Phuket.

Five foreign suspects are being held in custody after they were allegedly involved in an extortion attempt on a Russian couple for crypto-currency .

All five foreign suspects have not released any statements and as of press time are reportedly not speaking to law enforcement at all.

That’s it for this week. Be safe!