Phuket’s Biggest Stories From the Past Week: South Korean Man Arrested with Six Kilograms of Crystal Meth, 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, October 21st to Sunday October 27th, 2024.

  1. A Thai man was arrested after he stole from a Russian woman at the Kata Beach.

Man Arrested after Stealing from a Russian Woman at Kata Beach

The bag was returned to the Russian woman which contained all her belongings such as cash, mobile phone, credit cards and jewelry.

2. A British man drowned after going swimming at Karon beach.

British Man Drowns at Karon Beach

The unconscious British man was pulled up from the water by a good Samaritan.

3. A second dugong was found dead on Kamala Beach.

Second Dugong Found Dead in Phuket

The cause of death of a second recently found deceased dugong could not be identified due to advanced decomposition.

UPDATE: Phuket Officials Unable to Identify Dugongs Cause of Death

The Phuket Express notes that the dugong is one of Thailand’s Reserved Animals which is nearly extinct. Trang Province is many dugong’s home due to having lots of sea grass.

4. Uzbek Man Arrested at Airport with Fake Passport Stamps

Uzbek Man Arrested at Phuket Airport with Fake Stamps on Passport

The Thai Immigration Bureau has confirmed that the departure stamps found by Thai Immigration on his passport was fake.

5. A South Korean male suspect was arrested with six kilograms of crystal methamphetamine valued at 1.8 million Baht at the Phuket International Airport.

South Korean Man Arrested with Six Kilograms of Crystal Methamphetamine at Phuket Airport

They found 30 boxes of soaps with crystal methamphetamine hidden in the containers.

6. A third dugong was found dead in Karon on Saturday.

Third Dugong Found Dead in Phuket

This raises many concerns among environmentalists and marine conservationists over what could be causing the sudden increase in deaths of dugongs in the area.

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.

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Goongnang Suksawat
Goong Nang is a News Translator who has worked professionally for multiple news organizations in Thailand for many years and has worked with The Pattaya News for five years. Specializes primarily in local news for Phuket, Pattaya, and also some national news, with emphasis on translation between Thai to English and working as an intermediary between reporters and English-speaking writers. Originally from Nakhon Si Thammarat, but lives in Phuket and Krabi except when commuting between the three.