Thai Life
Thailand guides, travel tips, cultural insights, and essential local information—discover everything you need to know about living, visiting, and experiencing the Land of Smiles. Get the latest from The Thaiger, your trusted source for Thailand guides.
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Phuket Lifestyle: Saddle sore; Meditate for charity
Saddle sore but satisfiedPHUKET: On January 28 local expat James Mason left Tiger Muay Thai camp in Chalong (one of his main sponsors) to cycle 890 kilometers to Rainbow House, a home for disabled or abandoned children, in Bangkok. James, who used to weigh 235 kilos, was given five years to live by a doctor in the UK until joining…
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Escape from Boracay
PHUKET: Timing is everything, and my recent sortie to the Philippines for island hopping was ill advised. I’m stuck in the middle of what they are politely calling a ‘tropical depression’, or what could eventually become a typhoon. The depression thing reminds me of Tony Soprano and his psychiatrist: “So how are you feeling today Tony?” Yesterday’s highlight was a…
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Phuket Legal: Property purchase in the name of a Thai company
PHUKET: In many cases, foreign investors wish to register a company in Thailand with an eye toward purchasing property in the name of that company to use for business purposes, or simply to use as the company’s registered office. Although it is commonly believed that a Thai company with foreign shareholders cannot purchase and own land, or that it’s very…
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A classic urban legend
PHUKET: This is quite an old story, reckoned by folklorists to date back at least 70 years. It’s a comedy staple, in fact, having turned up in numerous recordings, radio shows, movies and novels since the 1930s. It was published as a “True Fact” by National Lampoon in 1986, when it also happened to be circulating as “office faxlore”. More…
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Phuket Entertainment: Stumble into the Walking Dead
PHUKET: If you haven’t seen the Walking Dead, let’s have a short recap – for you ‘dead heads’ out there – sit tight, we’ll be with you in a minute. Based on a comic book series of the same name, the Walking Dead is an American television drama about a small group of survivors searching for shelter in an inhospitable…
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Phuket Books: So it is with San Miguel
PHUKET: Anything by T Corahessan Boyle is worth reading. His first two novels – Water Music, about two African expeditions up the Niger by 18th century Scottish explorer Mungo Park, and Budding Prospects, about modern day marijuana growers in northern California – rank among the two funniest novels ever written in English – are wildly exuberant dances of demonic prose.…
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Phuket History: A journey from Aceh to Lipe
PHUKET: The Adang-Rawi archipelago is situated in the Andaman Sea, just 50 kilometers from mainland Satun province. The archipelago consists of more than sixty islands, of which Adang, Rawi, Lipe and Tarutao are the largest. The group of islands was designated as a marine national park in 1974. Today the pristine islands offer some of the finest beaches and dive…
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Phuket Gardening: A motley crew of variegated plants
PHUKET: When Shakespeare used the expression “motley”, he meant the multi-colored garb of the court jester, also known as the harlequin or fool. His role was to crack jokes, behave foolishly and thereby divert and amuse the King. In the nineteenth century, the Italian composer Leoncavallo told one of his characters in Il Pagliaggi to press “on with the motley”,…
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Phuket Property: Express your inner self
PHUKET: Holiday Inn Express has opened its first property on Phuket, providing savvy leisure travelers with affordable comfort in a prime central location. The Holiday Inn Express Phuket Patong Beach Central has all the characteristics that guests expect of the trusted global brand.The 277-room hotel defines “smart travel” by combining comfort and convenience with proximity and price. Only a few…
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Phuket Property Watch: And then came Layan
PHUKET: Thinking of owning property in an island paradise? Swaying coconut trees, tropical drinks in day-glow colors and of course the ultimate deal closer – the beach. Let’s take an example, someone named Dieter, snowbound in Bavaria, with subzero weather, a veritable glacier outside the front door and packs of wolves howling at the moon. Maybe the wolf thing is…
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Phuket Property: Tourism by the numbers
PHUKET: A dynamic shift in Phuket’s tourism market is pushing demand away from the beaches. Overseas tourists are pushing up numbers at the large malls, such as Central Festival and Jungceylon, where the top three nationalities of customers are Chinese, Russian and Australian. Last month, retail giant Central Retail Corporation announced a US$332 million expansion project in Phuket to include…
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Phuket Books: A life of crime
PHUKET: Dennis Lehane has written ten crime novels and the best of them – Mystic River, Shutter Island, Gone, Baby, Gone – have been made into superlative movies. His turf is Boston, specifically its tough Irish neighborhoods. His new novel, Live by Night (Little, Brown, New York, 2012, 403pp), opens brilliantly: “Some years later, on a tugboat in the Gulf…
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Phuket Dining: “Up’ market beach dining
PHUKET: What’s Up? Well, for one thing it’s a delightful new beach club at the southern end of Nai Thon beach. There have been a number of beach clubs popping up around Phuket, some successful, others less so but this recently opened Up Beach Club seems to have the mix just right. For one thing they have kept the concept…
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Phuket Humor: Why is English so hard to learn?
PHUKET: Let’s face it, English is a ridiculous language. There is no egg in eggplant, nor ham in a hamburger; neither apple nor pine in a pineapple. English muffins were not invented in England, nor French fries in France. Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which aren’t sweet, are meat. You cannot buy boots in Boots, you cannot buy virgins in…
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Phuket Health: Being strong and balanced
PHUKET: THE last article I wrote was about how to achieve goals and persist with New Year’s resolutions (click here for story). Every year, without fail, the resolution at the very top of most people’s list has to do with improving personal well-being, energy and health. This means being strong and healthy is inherently valuable to most of us. For…
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Phuket Lifestyle: Meet Marie G formerly known as HSL 1198
PHUKET: In the first quarter of the last century a brilliant engineer from England called Hubert Scott-Paine founded a company named Supermarine, which designed and built high performance aircraft, culminating in the legendary Spitfire of WW2 fame. By the end of the 1920s Scott-Paine wanted a change, so he sold his shares and invested in a new venture – the…
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Phuket Music: Kilgora’s mango metal invasion
PHUKET: Kilgora is a local metal band that joins together the forces of three European expats: Norwegian Jon Ramslie (guitar/vocals), Frenchman Stephan Audiger (bass), and Englishman Huwy Williams (drums). Based in Phuket, the band says their music reflects a variety of influences from “Stoner to Thrash Metal and Oriental music, all in a brutal and melodic melting pot lovingly termed…
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Phuket Property: Finding the balance between culture and a modern lifestyle
PHUKET: Highlighting Sansiri PCL’s confidence in the island’s condominium market, the Bangkok-headquartered firm has launched sales for ‘THE BASE Height-Phuket’ in the Sam Kong area of Phuket Town. As the third ‘THE BASE’ branded project on the island, following successful launches of the ‘Downtown’ and ‘Uptown’ projects also in Phuket Town, the ‘Height-Phuket’ is ideal for the young working generation,…
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Phuket Gardening: Variety is the spice of life
PHUKET: Every so often, readers of the Phuket Gazette pose questions which prompt other reflections, and ultimately require a fuller response than a mere email allows. Here is a recent, partly paraphrased example: A Kata apartment dweller has a sunny communal balcony, at present adorned with boxes of bougainvilleas. She says that some people would like to exchange these for…
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Phuket Books: One more head for the chopping block
PHUKET: In my last column, I reviewed Hilary Mantel’s extraordinary novel Wolf Hall, winner of the 2009 Man Booker Prize (click here), which chronicled the rise of Thomas Cromwell from a blacksmith’s son to trusted advisor to King Henry VIII. Three years later, Mantel won a second Man Booker Prize for her sequel Bring Up the Bodies (Henry Holt and…
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Phuket Lifestyle: A Rotary roundup; Golf tourney
PHUKET: Members of the Rotary Club of Patong Beach recently purchased some much-needed necessities for the Banjo school for migrant workers with money raised by the club. “Supercheap arrived at the school and assembled the goods one hour before they were expected,” said Club member Patricia Mitchell. “Consequently, Stewart and I arrived to find the children and teachers happy and…
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Phuket Lifestyle: Rally round the family
PHUKET: Gentlemen, start your engines. A family event dedicated to making a positive difference is racing back to Phuket for the third straight year. The Phuket Invitational Car Rally is a family day out like no other. You won’t need to pack a food hamper or fix the ski rack, just fill up with fuel, bring the family and make…
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Phuket Lifestyle: St. Valentine’s Day
PHUKET: According to classics professor Noel Lenski of the University of Boulder Colorado, the lovers’ holiday traces its roots to a raucous annual Roman festival where men stripped naked, used goat – or dog-skin – whips, and spanked young maidens in the hopes of increasing their fertility. The annual pagan celebration, called Lupercalia, was held every year on February 15…
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Phuket Lifestyle: Nishamon Paiboonnukulkij
PHUKET: Nishamon ‘Eve’ Paiboonnukulkij was in Phuket recently to meet prospective customers before launching an Italian furniture store, Natuzzi. The showroom is the latest branch of Euro Creations, a Bangkok-based leading retailer and importer of high-end home furnishing. Nishamon, the company’s marketing manager, is charged with driving Natuzzi forward and making it known. Nishamon, 27, holds a degree in education…
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Phuket Property Watch: Tourism heads off to the mall
PHUKET: ‘Bling bling’ goes the ringing in my head, as I frantically search out my missing car in the massive underground car park at one of the island’s ubiquitous shopping malls. I am not at all prepared for the event, which has taken on a real life adventure of Stanley and Livingstone proportions. Where is Indiana Jones when you need…
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Phuket Property: New deal for Marriott
PHUKET: Marriott International recently announced the signing of seven management agreements with TCC Hotels Group, which means the US hospitality company will operate seven TCC hotels across Thailand.These agreements make the TCC Hotels Group the largest owner of Marriott International hotels in Asia Pacific. The seven hotels are: The Imperial Queen’s Park Hotel, Bangkok, to be rebranded as Bangkok Marriott…
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Phuket Humor: Learning about the birds and bees
PHUKET: Today I’m going to tell you how I learned about the birds and bees. All you young whippersnappers out there need to know how we learned about this important topic way back in prehistoric times, even before the Rolling Stones. Nowadays it’s easy for a young person to learn about sex. All you do is log onto the Internet…
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Phuket Lifestyle: Local bands – global battle
UPDATE: The Phuket Gazette has recently learned from the organizer that the GBOB Thailand Phuket show has been cancelled as one of the main investors pulled out at the last minute, and therefore the show could not go on as planned. PHUKET: The Global Battle of the Bands (GBOB) – one of the world’s largest independent music competitions – is…
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Phuket Health – Reality check of New Year’s resolutions
PHUKET: So January 1 has quickly passed and I wonder how many of you are still on track with your new year’s resolutions? The good news is you still have time to create lasting goals and redeem yourself if you’ve all ready fallen off the wagon! First, a ‘Reality Check’: Staying motivated and committed toward accomplishing your dreams is often…
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Construction law practice in Thailand
PHUKET: Seeking a perfect home may be an arduous process but the complexities of building a property in Thailand are multiplied without a solid construction contract, as many homeowners and property developers will attest. A crucial part of any good contract is cost assessment and management. Many problems in construction projects occur because there is no written contract recorded between…
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