Opinion
The Thaiger Opinion Columns
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The Great American Smokeout, held this year on November 17, is a nationwide event that encourages smokers to take their first steps towards a smoke-free life. If you’re an expat in Thailand, this day could be a timely reminder to...
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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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Island View: Surviving the Slump
PHUKET: Having lived on the island for three years, I have seen my fair share of people come and go. It’s easy to get in a slump when all of the friends you originally moved here with move on to new adventures, get married or become homebodies. The mentality of ‘been there, done that’ is rather consuming. So you end…
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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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Phuket Challenge: stickk to no bags for a week
PHUKET: I challenge you. Yes, you – whoever you are – to go one week in Phuket without using a single plastic bag. The number of foreign whingers who waddle onto this beautiful island shouting about Thai ignorance in double-bagging that fried sausage on a stick… and then go buy a double-bagged sausage on a stick is dumbfounding. It was…
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Ministry of Farang Affairs: Expensive is better
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: Effects of feeding monkeys
Kritkantatong Kantap, 46, has been a member of the research team at the SEA Monkey Project of Chulalongkorn University since 2010 where he is part of a team that studies monkey species in Thailand. He holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Ramkhamhaeng University. Here he talks about how feeding monkeys can be detrimental to their natural behavior and…
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Opinion: Fighting Andaman trash
PHUKET: The excellent work the Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC) has done over the years to try to save iconic ocean animals found washed up on the island’s shores deserves the full support of the community. However, as the head of the agency’s Endangered Species Unit has pointed out, the real solutions are preventative measures that see the community tackling…
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Letter from the Governor: Welcoming Governor Chamroen
Governor Chamroen Tipayapongtada arrived on the island on September 30 to take on his new position. Governor Chamroen is a Phuket native with a master’s degree in political and administrative science from the National Institute of Development Administration (NIDA) and served as the island’s vice governor from 2012 to 2014. Here he clarifies his role as a leader and supporter…
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Opinion: History of mob rule repeats itself
PHUKET: The Royal Thai Police must conduct a full and transparent investigation into the sad chain of events that led up to the riot at Thalang Police Station – all instigators must face justice. Issues of democratic development aside, one of the silver linings of living under de facto martial law for almost a year-and-a-half has been the dramatic reduction…
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Opinion: Funding national parks will lead to long-term results
Assistant Professor Thon Thamrongnawasawat, 49, is a member of the National Reform Council and a professor at Kasetsart University’s Faculty of Fisheries. He has a doctorate in Marine Science from James Cook University, Australia and is currently a writer, ichthyologist and an environmental activist. Here he talks about finding a balance between tourism and preserving the environment at national parks…
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Opinion: Government, police, families have much to answer for after riot
PHUKET: Violence of any kind, regardless of who is involved, should be condemned in the strongest terms. But in the case of the 12-hour riot on Phuket over the weekend, it’s hard not to have at least some sympathy for those who instigated it. The mayhem was the direct result of the killing of two alleged drug dealers who were…
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Opinion: Action against smog
PHUKET: The unprecedented expanse of smog blanketing Phuket in recent months has quite rightly trained the spotlight on Indonesia, where out-of-control forest fires continue to belch smoke into the atmosphere at a dangerous rate. Although illegal in Indonesia, ‘slash-and-burn’ land clearing techniques that set off these annual conflagrations have long been a source of friction between Indonesia and its neighbors,…
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Opinion: Fixing potholes and mindset
Kanin Raksaraj, 31, owns a recycling business in Paklok, Phuket. A native of the island, he is also currently studying toward a bachelor’s degree in political science at Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University. He and his friends are noted as the team who fixed the potholes on the bypass road. Here he talks about why he and his friends find this…
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Opinion: Moral conflict over tea money
PHUKET: There are always stories of people who allegedly slip the immigration police money in their passport to cross the border into Thailand, whether it’s because they don’t have proper documentation or are perhaps nervous about the police giving them a hard time. Recently a friend of mine went on a visa run to secure her non-B visa. She had…
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Opinion: Big smiles in the Land of ?
PHUKET: It is a pleasure to see that the ‘Ministry of Farang Affairs’ resonates with our readers, with each weekly installment serving up a new, and wry, view on the expat experience here in Thailand. Drawn up by well-known satirist Stephff at Gazette partner publication The Nation, these cartoons mark a considerable departure from his usual political work. They instead…
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First Person: A fond farewell to Phuket
Phuket Governor Nisit Jansomwong will soon take up a similar post in Nonthaburi to tackle new projects and challenges. After serving one year here, the governor, originally from Ratchaburi, stepped in with the aim to develop and make much needed changes in Phuket and its future. Here he reflects on his time in Phuket and the work that he is…
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Opinion: Free road accidents
PHUKET: Year after year, the vehicle population of Phuket has been growing rapidly, expressing itself dramatically in the island’s ever-worsening traffic problems. After 12 years here, I would say that the traffic is now worse than ever. It’s no wonder that the governor decided to spend money in order to reduce the congestion by building underpasses in certain areas. However,…
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Ministry of Farang Affairs: Flip-flop expats
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: Paddle boarder’s laudable mission
PHUKET: The efforts of Australian paddle boarder Damien Rider to raise awareness of child abuse, which is an important, yet seldom-discussed, topic deserves the support of everyone on the island. At first glance, an 800-kilometer solo paddle board expedition through some of the planet’s most notoriously shark-infested waters in Australia might seem an impractical and dangerous way to try to…
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Island View: Market for creativity
PHUKET: Having just moved to Phuket Old Town from Bangkok a couple of months ago, the huge difference between the great metropolis and this petite community is unavoidably on my mind. Of all its charming features, particularly the Sino-Portuguese architecture which harks back to the island’s long history, it is the Lard Yai Sunday Walking Street market which really delights…
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Opinion: Social media opens floodgates for gun trade
PHUKET: The wide-scale presence of homemade guns is nothing new in Phuket, but the increased ease with which potential buyers can source firearms through the social media should be a source of great concern for law enforcement agencies – as well as society at large. The revelation that these gun purchases are now often conducted through social media platforms, such…
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First Person: Saving Thailand’s sharks
Brendon Sing, from South Africa, has been actively involved with shark research and conservation for more than 15 years. He has taken more than 5,000 dives, many with a range of shark species across the world. Now, as one of the Directors of Shark Guardian, a United Kingdom-based charity for shark and marine conservation projects worldwide, he has been giving…
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Island View: Who said shark attack?
PHUKET: There is a great responsibility in the media to understand the impact and long-term effects of the language used in stories from ‘Negro’ to ‘shark attack’. The term Negro started to fall out of favor in the United States by 1966 and was completely taboo by the mid-1980s. Given the politically correct nature that balanced, main-stream media take, it…
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First Person: Weeding out touts
Suwat Suksiri, 43, has been Chief of the Thung Talay Non Hunting Zone since 2010. He is originally from Chumphon Province and earned his bachelor’s degree in Forestry from Sukhothai Thammathirat University. He has been working in the forestry field since 1993. Here he talks about why animal touting is a serious problem for foreigners and not locals, and how…
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Island View: End of circus show
PHUKET: I was deeply relieved to see justice served when the court in Phuket delivered a ‘not guilty’ verdict last week in the case against Chutima Sidasathian and Alan Morison of local news blog PhuketWan. Though there was a great amount of grandstanding, showboating and circus entertainment for the international media leading up to the trial, it was important that…
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Opinion: Monkey business
PHUKET: The recent arrest of a number of touts for the illegal possession of gibbons on Phi Phi Don Island reveals, yet again, the continuation of the pathetic practice of using exotic animals as props to make money from uneducated tourists in Thailand. On a somewhat brighter note, the fact that the arrest followed images being sent to the Gazette…
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First Person: Small hospital with big debt
Dr Sirichai Silpa-archa has been the director of Patong Hospital since 2013. Prior to becoming hospital director, he worked at Vachira Phuket Hospital for 26 years. He earned his medical degree from Chulalongkorn University, and later a specialist degree in urology from Chiang Mai University. Here he talks about the trials and tribulations of managing a small, local hospital trying…
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Opinion: Cyclocops roam
PHUKET: THE recent launch of two-wheeled ‘Beach Police’ patrols at every police district on the island is a small, yet potentially positive pedal forward for a provincial police force that has developed a dubious reputation for ensuring tourist safety along our world-famous shorelines. But it’s sad that the initiative, ordered by Police Region 8, had to come in direct response…
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Opinion: On same-sex marriages
Robert R Virasin serves as managing director of Virasin and Partners. He is a licensed United States attorney and a graduate of the University of California Los Angeles, the University of Houston Law School and Chulalongkorn University. Here he talks about the real issue with same-sex marriages and the legal obstacles that these couples face. PHUKET: After 15 years of…
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