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: Keeping up the pressure to rid Phuket of jet-skis
PHUKET: All stakeholders in Phuket’s future should thank five visiting ambassadors who kept the pressure on the provincial government to do something about the island’s notorious jet-ski rental industry. As opined many times, this particular industry seems to possess a curious ability that allows it to somehow pass undetected through all barriers of law, order, courtesy and simple common sense.…
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Opinion: Celebrating Loy Krathong responsibly
Uhai Pattanapichai, 53, is the chief of the Phuket Cultural Office. Originally from Bangkok, she has been living in Phang Nga since 1992, taking up her position in Phuket last month. She graduated from Suan Dusit Rajabhat University with a Master’s Degree in business administration. Here, she looks beyond the celebrations of Loy Krathong to the meaning of tradition, emphasizing…
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Ministry of Farang Affairs: Cooling off beverages
The Ministry of Farang Affairs is a one-stop shop where foreigners in Thailand can learn all they need to know about living here. No, we’re not talking about work permits, visas or taxes. We’re talking about day-to-day life in the Land of Endless Shocks and Riddles, of Blur, Befuddlement and the Bizarre. Stay tuned for weekly insights from Minister Stephff.…
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Opinion: Time to mobilize Phuket speed traps
PHUKET: Efforts to crack down on speeding and other forms of reckless driving took a turn for the serious recently with the news that the Phuket Provincial Police Office is seeking assistance from the Royal Highway Police to set up radar-equipped ‘mobile units’ to help catch offenders (story here). Phuket has emerged as seventh in the nation for the most…
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Island View: Facebook an invaluable moving tool
PHUKET: Being a newcomer to the island, I can’t help but marvel at the relative ease with which the transition was made. I had visited Phuket a few years ago as a tourist and fallen in love with it. This year, I decided to move here to pursue certification for Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL). After a quick…
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Opinion: Phuket beach confusion never ceases to amaze
PHUKET: The establishment of Patong Beach as the first strand to implement the ’10 per cent’ rule on beach use brings yet another surprising development in the utterly confusing and unpredictable effort to restore some semblance of order and predictability to Phuket’s beaches. When the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) took power more than a year ago, the…
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Ministry of Farang Affairs: Secret masochists
The Ministry of Farang Affairs is a one-stop shop where foreigners in Thailand can learn all they need to know about living here. No, we’re not talking about work permits, visas or taxes. We’re talking about day-to-day life in the Land of Endless Shocks and Riddles, of Blur, Befuddlement and the Bizarre. Stay tuned for weekly insights from Minister Stephff.…
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Opinion: Creating cop camaraderie
Phuket Provincial Police Commander Teeraphol Thipjaroen, 56, is a Prachinburi native. He graduated from the Royal Police Cadet Academy and has been working in Phuket since 1983, except for brief postings to Krabi and Surat Thani. Here he talks about how building trust and offering support to Phuket’s police force will help create a happier working environment for officers, which…
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Opinion: Moving public transportation forward
PHUKET: More glimmers of hope have emerged that the days of the island’s notorious ‘tuk-tuk and taxi mafia’ may be numbered. Issues of democratic development aside, one of the National Council for Peace and Order’s (NCPO’s) greatest achievements has been its no-nonsense approach in breaking up the tourism-killing stranglehold that thuggish, self-entitled transport syndicates have maintained over the island for…
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Opinion: Tourism to the stars
Dr Utane Sawangwit, 33, has been an astronomer at the National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand (NARIT) since 2012. He is a Phuket native who earned a PhD in Physics from Durham University in the UK in 2011 and his Bachelors and Masters of Science from the University of Cambridge. Here, he talks about how astronomy should be incorporated into…
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Opinion: Parents the key to ending gang violence
PHUKET: The tragic shooting of a 15-year-old boy during the closing ceremony of this year’s Phuket Vegetarian Festival is yet another brutal reminder that the island’s increasing urbanization is having a dire effect on the cornerstone of any successful society: the family unit. The on-going investigation into the shooting of Thanakij Sawirum, who was apparently caught in the crossfire of…
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