Phuket’s Biggest Stories From the Past Week: Crackdown on Foreigners Breaking Laws Continues, and More

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, March 25th to Sunday March 31st, 2024.

1. In Patong, two Russian nationals were apprehended on Monday, March 25th, for vandalism involving spray painting.

Witnesses observed two men defacing a footpath and a restaurant sign on Phra Baramee Road with the letters ‘HRDSRT’ and then quickly leaving the scene.

2. An Iranian and Indian man were arrested in Patong for drunk driving on Thursday (March 28^th).

The two foreigners arrested at the checkpoint were identified only as Mr. Yousefi, 37, Iranian national and Mr. Nikhil, 35, Indian national.

3. A video clip of an Asian female tourist urinating on the famous Bangla Road went viral in social media this week.

Witnessed to the video and incident reportedly said the female foreign tourist is Japanese but that isn’t confirmed as of press time.

4. Karon – An intoxicated Russian man drew the attention of the Karon Police due to his disruptive behavior in front of a hotel. The police arrived at the scene after receiving a notification on Tuesday, March 26th, just before midnight.

The video has since gone viral on social media here.

5. The Anti Trafficking in Persons Division (ATPD) raided a karaoke in the Rassada sub-district, Phuket City, over the past weekend where they reportedly uncovered 13 and 14-year-old commercially sexually exploited children.

The child sexual abuse victims will be taken to special service organisations to provide them assistance, said the ATPD.

That’s it for this week. Be safe!

The original version of this article appeared on our sister website, The Phuket Express, owned by our parent company TPN media.