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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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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Keep It Green: Beware of chemical pesticides
PHUKET: Readers can be immensely helpful, especially when they know more than you do. Come in, Victor Alvarez, who emailed me after I had sounded off about Roundup, the world’s most popular herbicide. I had recommended it in these pages for removing grass and weeds from the cracks in a local mountain road. In fairness, I did suggest that Paraquat…
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By The Book: Effective ways to sell your property
PHUKET: In our experience 15 per cent of sales will fail, become delayed, or end up incurring higher closing fees than necessary, due to sellers being unaware of the sales process, the documents required, and the options available to them. Before a buyer is found for your property and you begin negotiations, it is highly advisable to ensure that ‘your…
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Phuket cyclists bag numerous trophies in Tour of Friendship
PHUKET: Siam Bike Tours and Z-Coaching Phuket joined forces to produce a team of eight strapping cyclists, ready to take on the Tour of Friendship (TOF) five-day race from April 30-May 4. The event took place in Bangkok and Kanchanaburi, where the recent heat wave has been even more intense than in Phuket. Now in it’s 28th year, the event…
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Free mobile cinema to entertain Phuket crowds for a week
PHUKET: A mobile movie theater will be touring Phuket this month, airing free film screenings to school children and members of the public. The Cine Mobile, sponsored by the Thai Film Archive, will be on the island from May 26-June 1, before continuing its tour of the southern provinces. The mobile cinema will screen five films per day – at…
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Chillva Market brings fun, food and excitement to Phuket
PHUKET: After a successful soft-opening, Phuket’s newest container market is officially open to the general public. Located off of Yaowarat Road, the 20-million-baht Chillva Market’s piece de resistance is a shipping container park, situated around a central bandstand and pond. Phakanan Daowatthanakij, the owner, said that the market is arranged into three zones by stall type: a tent zone sells…
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Profile: Mayor Somjai toils for her hometown
PHUKET: Phuket City Mayor Somjai Suwansupana, 64, is a true Phuket native, born and raised in the heart of Phuket Town. Ms Somjai recalls her childhood fondly, but frankly admits that she wasn’t an outstanding student in her school years. However, she still chose to further her education after completing her basic education. She went on to obtain a bachelor’s…
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Royal Photographic Society of Thailand calls for photos for ‘The Fifth Chang Fine Art Photo Contest’
PHUKET: Thai Beverage Public Co Ltd (ThaiBev) and The Royal Photographic Society of Thailand are calling on photographers to prepare submissions for ‘The Fifth Chang Fine Art Photo Contest’. This year’s theme is ‘Social’ and photographers can enter submissions from June 15-30. The contest is free and open to the public regardless of age, race, nationality or gender. Candidates are…
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Law, Life and Society: Benefits of premarital agreements
PHUKET: In Thailand, it is not unusual to see established men marrying younger Thai women. There are also instances where couples are in their second relationship and both bring their own assets into a marriage. In these circumstances, it may be prudent to sign a premarital agreement. A premarital agreement outlines the division of the property, debts, and spousal maintenance…
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Family fun and adventure at Hanuman World
PHUKET: Zip-lining, abseiling and sky walking are among the adventurous activities on offer for thrill-seeking nature lovers at the recently opened Hanuman World, located in a forest off Chaofah Road in Wichit. The family-oriented treetop attraction is an opportunity for adventurous visitors to ‘fly’ through the forest and take in a bird’s-eye view, and if lucky, spot a rainbow across…
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On Deck: Phuket King’s Cup Regatta wins ‘Best Asian Regatta’
PHUKET: It was a big night at the recent Asia Boating Awards for Phuket and Thailand, with many of the country’s leading marine personalities being nominated for an award. In total, 12 Thailand businesses and events made it onto the short-lists, vying against companies from all around Asia for the 25 awards. Organized by Asia-Pacific Boating and China Boating magazines,…
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Property Watch: Impact of tourism on real estate
PHUKET: Statistics are regularly reported by tourism organizations – public and private, which break down the number of visitors arriving in Phuket. Are Phuket visitors domestic travelers, or business-people commuting? Do we count arrivals and departures, or just arrivals? How do we know the information received is accurate and are people leaving Phuket by other means? Just as this information…
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Profile: Adriano Trapani’s journey from Milan to Phuket
PHUKET: Adriano Trapani left Kamala Beach, heading up the steep northern hill, when the tsunami struck Phuket’s west coast. “Initially, I thought it was my bike breaking down again, so I stopped and checked it. Everything was fine with the bike, but soon after, people on foot, bikes and in cars started gathering around me, as I was in a…
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Video report: Volleyball’s dream girl gives back to community
PHUKET: If you have recently wandered along Karon Beach in the late afternoon, you will have seen a considerable number of volleyball courts stretched across the sandy lot between the road and beach. No, it’s not an international tournament coming to town – that was last month – this is the daily beach volleyball games instigated by one of Thailand’s…
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Blazing Saddles: Benefits of cross training
PHUKET: “The problem with cycling is it’s all legs and lungs boyo,” so said someone who really ought to know. I was cycling with a member of the Welsh national team some thirty years ago in the lung-bursting Brecon Beacons in Central Wales, and his comment has always reminded me of how important it is to balance pedal-pushing with other…
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Profile: Volleyball’s dream girl gives back to the community
PHUKET: If you have recently wandered along Karon Beach in the late afternoon, you will have seen a considerable number of volleyball courts stretched across the sandy lot between the road and beach. No, it’s not an international tournament coming to town – that was last month – this is the daily beach volleyball games instigated by one of Thailand’s…
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Looking back: Thao Suranari – a great Thai heroine
PHUKET: Thao Suranari is one of the great heroines who left a mark in Thai history. Formerly known as Lady Mo, Thao Suranari was born in 1772, during the reign of King Taksin the Great. When she was 25, she married Thong Kam, who would later be elevated to deputy governor of Korat. During the reign of King Rama II,…
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Crossfit trainer heads to Australia for challenge
PHUKET: A Phuket-trained CrossFit beast, 28-year-old Elise Hoefsmit, took top honors in Thailand in the Reebok CrossFit Games 2016 Open, advancing her to the regional competition in Sydney next month. “I’m over the moon. I put in hours of work to get to this point and I’m just beginning. You can’t fake hard work and it certainly pays off,” Ms…
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Where’s the new generation of sailors?
PHUKET: It was amazing how the ‘good old days’ stories kept popping up as I enjoyed after-race drinks at the Phuket Yacht Club (PYC). I could overhear, again: “Wow, the old sailors are really into it (as always), but what about the new generation? Where are they?” Well, they’re right under our noses, but are hardly seen or heard of.…
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Profile: Redefining the path to success
PHUKET: Prachoom Tantiprasertsuk has made her mark as a female general manager in the largely male dominated Phuket hospitality industry, and has done it with an ease and elegance entirely her own. Her unassuming demeanor belies her very real, very lofty accomplishments – becoming one of the youngest female hotel directors in Thailand when she was less than 27 years…
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Across the land: Unusual times in Phuket tourism
PHUKET: A typical ‘high season’ in Phuket is usually from November to April every year, with the ‘peak season’ being December and January. However, this has not been the case for 2015/2016, where the high season and peak season has passed by hitting a large speed bump. Almost all businesses on the island – tour companies, sailboat hires, hair &…
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Earth Day 2016 on the horizon
PHUKET: Next week, more than one billion people in 192 countries will take action to protect our shared environment. All across the globe, in big cities to small villages and everything in-between, people are organizing, demanding climate action, cleaning up their local communities, meeting with their elected officials, planting trees and teaching their children to protect our planet. This year,…
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Let’s not forget the younger expat sailors
PHUKET: There are plenty of young expats around that bring their own passion into the Southeast Asia regattas and races. Want a few names? Elizabeth Schoch, known as Liz to most, and her boyfriend, Alfie, who often crew on competing boats. They are true enthusiasts and communicate their passion for sailing with great vigor. How about Mig Wehrle and Meike…
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Appeal of traditional Songkran
PHUKET: For many visitors to Thailand in mid-April, Songkran festivities appear, on the surface, to be just a fun and boisterous way to keep cool, but the traditions of the Thai new year celebrations are rooted in a much gentler aspect of Thailand’s Buddhist culture. The four-day festival is a highly significant astrological event in the Buddhist calendar. It marks…
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Property Watch: The property name game
PHUKET: It’s hard to trace the origin of the practice of naming people, places and things. Arguably you could start with Adam and Eve, and perhaps that first gated-estate village called the Garden of Eden. Yes, the branding gurus were hard at work, even way back then. I’ve been reading about the current backlash in Mainland China against the increasing…
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Cracking Phuket’s hotel industry with reliable mega-data
PHUKET: Surveys are often seen as one of the lowest forms of data collection for a variety of reasons. Often respondents may not provide accurate answers or be comfortable providing answers that are perceived as unfavorable. Nonetheless, as STR Global has shown with more than 30 years of data collection in the hotel industry, important and valuable data can be…
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Keep it green: Water usage and disposal during Songkran
PHUKET: “Water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink” would do nicely as a motto for Songkran. When my son and his partner paid a surprise visit from London a few years ago, they unwittingly chose to arrive on the day of the water festival. The motorbike trip from Phuket City to Rawai, a mere 16 kilometers, took three hours.…
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Looking Back: Understanding the origins of Thailand’s water-filled New Year
PHUKET: Songkran is Thailand’s traditional New Year festival. The word ‘Songkran’ is derived from Sanskrit, meaning to pass or move into, which is appropriate because according to Brahman astrology, the sun changes position from the Aries constellation to the Taurus constellation during this period, between the 10th to the 18th of April. The Songkran festival has its roots dating back…
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Property Watch: Influence of crime on land value
PHUKET: Reading through the news each week for Phuket, we all see the stabbings; suicides; drive-by shootings; drug hauls; crazed mini-van and other public vehicle smashes; horrific murders and assaults. Some elect to comment on these stories in the hope that those who can do something about the levels of crime will take action not just to deal with crime,…
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Profile: Building high-end healthcare from grass roots beginnings
PHUKET: Dr Somrit Jantarapratin (MD, MBA) recently took on a new role as director of Bangkok Hospital Phuket. One might expect a position of such prestige to require extensive study and experience from foreign medical institutions, but this is not the case with Dr Somrit, who is an example of the world-class advancements that Thailand’s grass-roots medical institutions can help…
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Phuket to get two of eight new marinas planned for the south
PHUKET: Two new marinas are to be built in Phuket as part of the government’s plan to stimulate economic growth by turning Thailand into a marine leisure hub in the ASEAN region. The marina development plan, announced by Transport Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith, includes construction of eight new marinas – four in the Andaman Sea and four in the Gulf of…
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