In fact, many locals and tourists were shaking their heads in disbelief that so many were drawn into the hype.
Motorcycle taxi driver Sawang said he was amazed that people with much more education than him would believe such an absurd rumour.
"Just use your common sense and you will know that it is impossible," said Mr Sawang, a native to Patong Beach with a Prathom 4 education.
But as the rumour spread across the island, many tourists and Mr Sawang's customers decided to play it safe by leaving the island behind.
Since a 4.3-magnitude earthquake struck Phuket nearly two weeks ago, fears of earthquakes and tsunamis – among tourists and residents – heightened with the rumour that the island would face bad fortune and sink yesterday.
Mr Sawang had no idea where the rumour came from. The word was the two revered female warriors – Thao Thep Kasat Tri and Thao Sri Sunthon, who fought and saved Phuket from a Burmese invasion in the late 1700s – had told a person who communicates with spirits that the island would sink and people should leave.
Mr Sawang said he respected the two spirits but didn't believe the rumour because the island is too big to suddenly sink.
"It's not like a tree that you can cut down," Mr Sawang said.
Source: Bangkok Post, 29 April 2012
The story was also covered by Phuket News, 29 April 2012
