Opinion
The Thaiger Opinion Columns
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Sponsored 5 ways retirees in Thailand lose money (and how to stop it)
Retiring in Thailand can be affordable and enjoyable, but many retirees lose money due to common mistakes. High living costs, scams, and unexpected expenses can quickly drain savings. There are five ways that retirees in Thailand can lose money and...
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Opinion: Packed prison
PHUKET: Credit is owed to the government for finally coming through with funding to build a much-needed and long overdue new prison for Phuket. It is well known that the existing Phuket Provincial Prison is dangerously overcrowded. With a maximum capacity of just 800, the 115-year-old facility currently holds more than 3,000 inmates – a recipe for disaster if ever…
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Opinion: Sterilizing Phuket strays
John Dalley, originally from Leeds in the United Kingdom, is the president of the Soi Dog Foundation. John worked as a chemical plant manager for many years before retiring in 2002. In September 2003, he became involved with the Soi Foundation when it first started in Phuket. Here, he talks about the soi dog problem in Phuket, and Thailand, the…
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Opinion: Gambling in Thailand: Out with the old, in with the new
PHUKET: There has been a lot in the news lately about gambling. One recent Gazette article discussed the history that Thailand has had with this recreational activity and noted that it originally came here with Chinese immigrants. As late 19th century western leaders found gambling to be crude and thought it synonymous with crime, King Rama V led the government…
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Opinion: War on drink
PHUKET: Enforcement of Thailand’s Alcohol Beverage Control Act has been inconsistent since it was passed in 2008. Restricting it further will penalize those who play by the rules, while heaping more reward on those who do not. Some of the more rational aspects of the act, such as banning the sale of alcohol at roadside service stations, have been fairly…
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Opinion: Uphill safety battles
PHUKET: Accidents happen every day on the island – whether they are caused by drunk driving, running a red light or something else. I argue that the most serious accidents on our island occur during the rainy season on the hills in Patong, Kamala, Surin and Kata. Maybe some of these accidents are caused by ‘slippery roads’, as is often…
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Opinion: Use Article 44 to take down the dolphinarium
PHUKET: The Phuket Gazette endorses the recent call by SKAL and several other groups in petitioning Tourism and Sports Minister Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul to put to an end, once and for all, to the plans to open a “dolphinarium” in Chalong. In their letter to the minister, SKAL makes a succinct yet highly compelling 12-point argument against the dolphinarium, which has…
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Opinion: The lay of the land
Dr Sangdao Wongsai, 35, from Bangkok, is a professor at Prince of Songkhla University’s Phuket campus. She graduated with a master’s degree in chemical engineering from the King Mongkut University of Techonology in Thonburi, before earning a Doctorate in Applied Statistics from Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia. She now teaches statistics and researches geographic information systems (GIS) and remote sensing.…
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Opinion: Traffic bubble buster
PHUKET: There is a social glue that seems to be forcing more and more drivers to a complete standstill at red lights in Phuket than ever before. However, it only takes one weak link in the proverbial chain for old habits to kick in, along with first gear. Depending on how long ago you arrived on the island, the significant…
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Opinion: Bring back sun loungers, tourists will come again
Tommy Serban, 35, is the senior product manager of TUI Nordic, a tour operator in Scandinavia. He is originally from Copenhagen and has a master’s degree in business management. Mr Serban lived in Phuket from 2007 to 2010 and has been working with TUI Nordic for 14 years. Here, he discusses Nordic tourists’ concerns about Phuket, the current state of…
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Opinion: Soi animals: Good, bad, scary, weird
PHUKET: There are many tales told, time and time again, by Phuket residents of good, bad, scary or weird encounters they’ve had with stray animals who live their lives on the streets of this island. The stray dog problem was recently cast into the spotlight in Rawai and Nai Harn. However, this problem is not exclusive to the south of…
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Opinion: Human rights
PHUKET: The plan by Rawai Mayor Aroon Solos to ban migrant workers from keeping dogs is unlikely to have much of an effect on dog populations in the area; the scheme not only fails to address the main cause of the problem, but also shifts the blame to the most convenient scapegoat. Predictably, news of the proposed ban has set…
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Opinion: Accessing a world of change
Todd Lemons is the founder of InfiniteEARTH (infinite-earth.com), a Hong Kong-based project development company whose mission is “to move the world from an unsustainable extractive economy to a sustainable replacement economy by changing the way [we] view the consumption and pricing of goods…” Here is his commencement address to the Class of 2015 at the British International School Phuket last…
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Opinion: Lack of discipline
PHUKET: I have been driving various vehicles in Phuket on a daily basis for 12 years now. I started out riding a Honda Wave, before moving on to a car and a big bike. My 12 years of experience on the road has made me realize that people risk their lives every day because of their sheer lack of discipline.…
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Opinion: Last chance to rid Phuket of jet-skis
PHUKET: Officials’ reactions to efforts by one resort to spare its guests the annoyance and dangers posed by jet-skis indicate that this plague on Phuket’s tourism industry is highly-resistant, defying everything from common sense to existing Thai maritime law. It remains mystifying how this particular industry has somehow been spared the law-and-order crackdown that has gone a long way toward…
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Opinon: Life-saving lessons
Prathaiyut Chuayuan, 50, from Phuket, is the president of Phuket Lifeguard Club (PLC). He graduated from Prince of Songkhla University, Pattani campus, with a bachelor’s degree in physical education. He was involved in exchange programs in England and Australia related to life-saving services. He started his first job as a lifeguard at Le Meridien in Phuket in 1998. He has…
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Opinion: A stone’s throw
PHUKET: It is imperative that you have excellent defense driving skills in Phuket, especially if you are a daily commuter on some of the island’s busiest roads, such as Thepkrasattri. Drivers stop in front of you and park without warning, and people switch lanes without signaling and open car doors without looking. And, as I found out on my way…
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Opinion: Tackle criminals with technology
Col Kraithong Chanthongbai, 60, from Phang Nga province, is the superintendent of the Phuket City Police. He earned a PhD in public administration from Bangkokthonburi University, and has been superintendent since January this year. Here, he talks about the role of technology in the investigation process, problems Phuket police face in solving crimes, and different approaches taken in cases involving…
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Island View: For cyclists’ sakes
PHUKET: There has been a lot of talk lately about bike safety throughout the nation, with even the idea of cyclists needing some sort of licence being considered. Concerns were made ever more vocal after last month’s road deaths up north in Chiang Mai and Bangkok where a total of five cyclists were killed within a two-day span. It wasn’t…
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Opinion: Stop national park plunder
PHUKET: The recent request by the Sirinath Marine National Park chief to invoke Article 44 of the interim Charter in order to speed up the investigation and prosecution of long-standing land encroachment cases raises important questions and concerns. Use of Article 44 would speed up the judicial process in encroachment cases already in the court system and hasten the Land…
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Opinion: Think, then click
PHUKET: If you live on Phuket long enough, or pay attention to the news coverage while you are here, it becomes quite apparent how fascinated islanders – both Thai and foreign – are by horrific road accidents. The sheer number of road deaths that occur on Phuket put into sharp focus how dangerous the roads are and exactly how fragile…
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Opinion: Breaking down Phuket food prices
Prakong Rukwong, 56, from Songkhla, is the chief of the Office of Commercial Affairs in Phuket. He graduated from Ramkhamhaeng University with a Bachelor’s degree in international economics, and also earned a Bachelor’s in law from Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University. From there, he continued on to earn a Master’s degree in economics at Chiang Mai University. Here, he talks about…
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Opinion: NCPO battles Thai hydra of corruption
PHUKET: The National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) has taken swift action to show the European Union (EU) that it intends to do more to tackle the problem of illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing practices in Thailand and its territorial waters. Whether or not real order can be imposed within just six months on the huge hydra of…
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Opinion: Goodbye, Phuket
PHUKET: In 1997, we travelled to Thailand for the first time – to Bangkok and Hua Hin. It was love at first sight. We fell in love with this beautiful, wonderful country, the warm and heartfelt people, the beautiful beach and the food. The sun and heat made us so happy, as we are used to being in the cold.…
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Opinion: Road improvements to relieve Phuket’s traffic congestion
Samak Luedwonghad, 48, is the director of the Phuket Highways Office, under the Department of Highways. Originally from Nakhon Sri Thammarat province, he graduated from Mahanakorn University of Technology with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering. He has been the director of the Phuket Highways Office since 2012. Here, he talks about the ever-worsening traffic congestion on the island and…
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Opinion: Russian Return – just victims of ‘host fatigue’
PHUKET: Good news for Phuket’s all-important tourism industry comes with indications that the sharp downturn in arrivals from Russia in the first quarter of this year is expected to be short-lived, with a solid recovery for this important market sector projected for the fourth quarter, according to industry analysts. The huge increase in the number of tourists from Russia to…
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Opinion: Coming together in times of need
Phanuphong Limbuprasertkul, 46, is the president of the Phuket branch of the Thai-Nepalese Foundation, officially called the Shree Bhagawat Dhaam Sanatan Mandir Foundation, which is located in Patong. Mr Phanuphong was born in Kanchanaburi, and has lived in Phuket for the past 24 years. Here, he talks about how important it is for citizens of the world to come together…
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Opinion: Turn them off, folks
PHUKET: Because I’m an anxious flier, I have always been overly aware of my surroundings while taking commercial flights. With all the drama surrounding the ban of Thai carriers to Japan, South Korea and China following the United Nation’s International Civil Aviation Organization audit, which found that Thailand’s Department of Civil Aviation met only 21 out of 100 operational and…
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Opinion: AEC must address human trafficking, smuggling
PHUKET: The discovery of a mass grave of dozens of migrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh in Songkhla’s Sadao District, on the border with Malaysia, this week screams urgency for the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) to use its extraordinary powers to turn the tide against human trafficking in the Thailand. The order by Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha…
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Island View: Phuket immigration – For better or for worse
PHUKET: There is one annual Phuket event that I do not look forward to: my marriage visa extension application at the Phuket Immigration Office. I have read all the complaints and accusations levelled at Phuket’s Immigration officers, but, at the time I applied for my extension, there were well over 100 foreigners acting like headless chickens packed into that little…
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Opinion: Protecting Nepali victims in exodus
PHUKET: Island residents must come together to fully support local efforts by the Red Cross Society and private-sector groups to provide disaster relief to the suffering people of Kathmandu and other parts of central Nepal that have been devastated by the massive earthquake that struck there last Saturday morning. As of yesterday, the reported death toll had surpassed 6,000 and…
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