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 Planning to extend your Thai visa? Why health insurance is more important than ever
If you plan to stay longer in Thailand, having health insurance is now more important than ever. Thai immigration often asks for proof of medical coverage when you apply to extend your visa. This applies to many types of visas,...
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On Deck: Dive ban to impact yachting
PHUKET: “Move to regulate diving industry” was a recent headline and front page story in the Phuket Gazette. At first glance I thought; ‘fair enough’, until I read further. Following a spate of deaths and accidents, the Ministry of Tourism and Sports (MOTS) Phuket Office, headed by Santi Pawai, has taken it upon themselves to improve safety in the dive…
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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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Gardening: Lest we forget the magic of orchids
PHUKET: At my age, time seems to whizz by – about the only form of awareness that does. Recently it was the doleful anniversary of the Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris. It seems only a couple of months ago, but memory plays strange tricks on the aging brain. For instance, when I checked, I found my last piece about orchids…
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Blazing Saddles: Back in the saddle at Bang Tao
PHUKET: Quiet corners of our increasingly frenetic island are often sought by the gad-about Lycra Lout, for some gentle, meditative pedalling amidst lovely scenery and with the opportunity for a cold sunset beachside drink at the end of the ride. One area of Phuket that still offers these charms is the hinterland around the Bang Tao Beach region. The gateway…
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Profile: Going against the cultural grain
PHUKET: DR. Rataporn de Jong, 41, is head of the Thai and Asean Studies program at the Prince of Songkhla University Phuket Campus. She has been a professor of sociology, anthropology, and ethnology for more than 15 years and has also conducted several studies related to ethnicity and group culture. Earning her doctorate degree from Heidelberg University, Germany, her thesis…
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Property Watch: Leasehold vs freehold – revisited
PHUKET: Leasehold versus freehold has been a livewire in Phuket and continues to be so. Over 14 years ago when I arrived in Phuket, I saw my first lease offered by a developer to a ‘buyer’ written in English and was shocked. I had been practicing as a commercial property lawyer in London for two years, looking at long leases…
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By the Book: Benefits of vendor financing
PHUKET: Although the property market has recently been slow in Phuket, properties are still selling. In previous years, buyers would pay full cash for properties. However, in today’s climate, sellers are being more flexible to achieve a sale. One of the main head winds Phuket’s property market faces is that the majority of foreign buyers do not live here all…
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Keep it Green: Protecting Our Precious Wildlife [video]
PHUKET: The recent brouhaha about Phuket Zoo’s ‘missing’ orangutan highlights – as every high profile incident does – Thailand’s patchy record with regard to wildlife conservation and care. The facts of Milo’s case are all too familiar to naturalists. Suffice to say that when the primate’s presence in the Phuket Zoo was questioned by animal-rights activist Vicki Kiely, the 13-year-old…
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Books: Our Man in Phuket – Autobiography of Alan Cooke
PHUKET: Our man in Phuket is the autobiography by Alan Cooke, a former British Honorary Consul to Phuket. Alan is a man who has done much for the island. He introduced the Hash House Harriers and British Businessman’s association. He helped build the deepwater port and create the PIMEX Boat Show. As consul, he was instrumental in getting the high…
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![[Video Report] Profile: Knight from the wrong side of the tracks | Thaiger](data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0naHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmcnIHZpZXdCb3g9JzAgMCAxNDMgMjIwJz48L3N2Zz4=)
[Video Report] Profile: Knight from the wrong side of the tracks
PHUKET: The last thing on the mind of 14-year-old Nick Faldo, when he was on his knees rummaging around in bushes looking for lost golf balls so he could practice his swing, was to one day be kneeling in front of the Queen of England to receive a knighthood. Hailing from ‘the wrong side of the tracks’ in Hertfordshire, England,…
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Video Report: Trends in Phuket’s Sustainable Hospitality
PHUKET: Grace Kang is a managing partner at Greenview, a Singapore-based sustainability advisory company that specializes in tracking and measuring sustainability performance for hotels, convention centers and commercial buildings. Ms Kang shared some pearls of wisdom on sustainable practices with local industry specialists at the recent American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM) meeting at the Keemala Resort, Phuket.During her talk on…
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Law and Order: Beware of double taxation
PHUKET: Clients who have businesses in multiple countries have called me in fear of the tax man. Their fears are based on the unknown. They don’t understand the tax laws in Thailand and fear the confiscatory powers of the revenue department for errors in their filings. For foreign nationals living in Thailand, Thai tax laws and forms are written in…
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Diving: Protect our new divers
PHUKET: Countless instructors have posted stunning images of the ocean with a phrase similar to: ‘Welcome to my office’. Such romantic, well-promoted images on social media, of course, resonate with us restless office junkies, drawing us out of our cubicles to the wonders of the open waters. However, a series of small neglectful actions and breaches in standards will not…
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Property Watch: Less is more for Koh Samui
PHUKET: We live in a world where percentages seem to matter and growth dominates our horizon. I still recall growing up and marking off on a wall in our house how tall I was. I could not wait to be older, and the irony today is how I wish that I could instead roll back the clock. In Phuket’s crowded…
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Profile: The Life of Pie – a profile of Susan Usher
PHUKET: The Aussie meat pie has an almost iconic status within the Pantheon of Australian idiosyncrasies, right up there with kangaroos (flying and earthbound) and Pom-bashing. How endearingly quirky it is then to find the quotidian Aussie meat pie well established here in Phuket, acting as an exotic taste of distant parts for some, while for others providing a comforting…
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Profile: Drifting from Australia to Asia
PHUKET: Anthony Cameron, originally from Melbourne, Australia has led an interesting life compared to most. Escaping from Melbourne in his early twenties to central Victoria, he designed and built a sustainable house and raised two sustainable children, before finally settling in Phuket in 2012. Over the years, Tony has worked as a sound engineer, fruit picker, tour manager, teacher, factory…
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Property Watch: Realities of a dream clubhouse
PHUKET: When we think of a clubhouse, many of us start to dream. Sipping cocktails overlooking the hills, or even facing the sandy beaches and sea. A place where an agreed set of rules are adhered to by all with a sense of what is right and proper. Ladies wear comfortable but appropriate attire and the gentlemen will be similarly…
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On Deck: Proposing a jet-ski solution
PHUKET: Jet-skis are back in the news again with rarely a week passing without some issue, complaint or accident. The skeptic in me thinks it could be a PR ploy to keep jet skis in the public eye, yet that would only be true if you subscribe to the adage “all PR is good PR”, which it isn’t. And I…
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AccorHotels spreads its wings
PHUKET: AccorHotels has teamed up with Avista Resort and Spa Patong Co Ltd to manage three properties in Phuket. The newly-inked agreement brings two existing Phuket properties in Kata and Patong under the new brand and management, and paves the way for the building of a brand new hotel in Karon. One of the two resorts will be re-branded as…
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Quality tourism trending
PHUKET: Last year was a favorable one for tourism in Phuket, boosting confidence throughout the hospitality and property sectors with a rise in ‘quality’ tourists and investors – a trend that appears set to continue in 2016. Arrivals at Phuket International Airport soared to 6.4 million – a record number of passengers passing through the province, according to the latest…
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Blazing Saddles: Dealing with the blazing heat
PHUKET: Whether we Phuket-based cyclists like it or not, the 2016 season is going to be one of the hottest on record with the El Nino effect continuing to bring the Andaman region all sorts of problems. To keep on enjoying your riding throughout 2016, there are a number of simple responses that local cyclists should make to the extreme…
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By the Book: What is property valuation?
PHUKET: Valuation is a process of estimation of the most probable price that would be paid for a property under typical market conditions applicable at the date of valuation. The value of a property is the present value of all future benefits expected to be obtained from possession of the property. The ability to provide a professional and accurate valuation…
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Sansiri offers unique promotions at Central Festival Phuket
PHUKET: Sansiri Public Company Limited has launched its ‘Uniquely You’ residential campaign at Central Festival Phuket, which ends tomorrow. “The purpose of this event is to promote our outstanding designs,” said Suriya Wannabuit, Sansiri’s executive vice president of project management and marketing department. “For example, Burasiri Koh Kaew is surrounded by trees and hills, whereas the Base Height in Samkong…
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Excuse Buster: Proper diet to battle cancer
PHUKET: In 2014 the British Journal of Cancer released a study that tested the relationship between a commonly used blood test for diabetics and pre-diabetics (HbA1c) and the development of several cancers. As has been widely published, diabetes increases the risks of developing several cancers, sotesting diabetes and pre-diabetes markers makes sense. The results concluded that high HbA1c did in…
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Looking Back: When two kings sat on the throne – Part II
PHUKET: In my last column, I spoke about Prince Mongkut’s journey before taking the throne. When Prince Mongkut was 47, he left the monkhood to reign as king. There was a problem, however, as Prince Chutamani had an equally legitimate claim to succeed to the throne. At the time of King Rama III’s death, some nobles claimed that Prince Chutamani…
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Ditching a brand for better marketing
PHUKET: Effective marketing is essential to securing occupancy numbers, both in high and low seasons, leading many resort and hotel owners to rely on established brands with loyal clientele. However, when those brands fall down on the marketing side, as one such international brand is perceived to have done for what is now known as the Amatara Resort and Wellness…
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Gardening: Dangers lurking in Eden
PHUKET: When I was knee high to a grasshopper in rural England, there were few dangers in the countryside. True, there were scary tales of deadly nightshade that would kill you if you ate the attractive purple-black berries, and of adders lurking in the hillside bracken with potentially lethal bites. Of course I was blissfully unaware that one third of…
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Keeping our sharks out of the soup
PHUKET: Movies and fascinating documentaries depict fierce predators lurking beneath the surface of azure waters just waiting to rip unsuspecting swimmers into fleshy ribbons with their hideous teeth. Well, that image is just plain wrong, according to Brendon Sing, spokesperson for Shark Guardian, a registered conservation charity. Brendon visited Palm House International School in Rawai last week to deliver this…
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Property Watch: Twinning yachting and property
PHUKET: Twins in any language are a strange brew, whether actual biological pairs, or the symbiotic kind. Whether it is yin, or yang, or any manner of kinship, there remains an undeniable connection. As I travel often between Asia’s resort islands, I’m fortunate to have a clear perspective of what’s right and what’s wrong with Phuket. Connecting the dots between…
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![[Video Report] Profile: Knight from the wrong side of the tracks | Thaiger](https://thethaiger.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/24_201632112850691_aIewlsBDzgxGqCcXQhXzItRXCdYqeVCEdgAPZCSY_jpeg.jpeg)
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