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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Woolf in shepherd’s clothing: Renowned clairvoyant stops in Phuket for a “look’
PHUKET: Lynda Woolf is a celebrated seer, clairvoyant and mystic who is currently visiting the Atsumi Health and Wellness Center in Rawai to dispense wisdom to those in need of her extraordinary services. Hailing from a stunningly beautiful corner of the US, Lake Tahoe, Lynda has called Singapore home since 1996, largely to facilitate her work as a psychic practitioner…
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Phuket’s property of tomorrow
PHUKET: The year 2014 saw a number of new property developments – most noticeably condominiums – emerge on the Phuket map, fundamentally changing the Phuket landscape. To find out what tomorrow holds for the island’s property market, the Phuket Gazette‘s Maciek Klimowicz talked to Uthai Uthaisangsuk, senior executive vice president of Business Development and Project Development Division at Sansiri, one…
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Gardening: Yes, we have bananas
PHUKET: I was talking recently with an English lady visiting Phuket about gardening, and the subject of bananas came up. “Do you know”, she enthused, “that banana skins put around the roots of rose bushes promote better growth?” “No,” I replied in surprise. But then I wouldn’t have known that, since bananas were like gold dust in my childhood, and…
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Mind Matters: Solution to island woes – re-brand Phuket
PHUKET: Marlboro has been the world’s number one cigarette brand since 1972. It is larger than its next three competitors combined and, in the United States, it is the number one cigarette brand in every state and the number one cigarette brand for men and women across all adult age groups. In 2009, Marlboro’s share was larger than the next…
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Expats target market for Thalang residential housing project
PHUKET: Following the completion of phase one of 59 European-style tropical townhomes in Thalang under the banner “Baan Tak r Kard”, local developer Living Vis has launched the second phase of its residential development under the brand “r homes”, in a bid to attract more expat buyers. “More than 80 per cent of the two- and three-bedroom homes in phase…
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Boating: New E-Visa on arrival for superyachts to Andamans
PHUKET: The Indian government has launched e-visas to enter the country at any of nine airports, a move that has been welcomed for facilitating visitors wanting to join their superyachts at the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. “Visa on Arrival Facility is now available at nine airports in India for those planning or those interested in cruising the highly intriguing superyacht…
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Gardening: Citrus celebrities – limeys and limes
PHUKET: No discussion of the kingdom’s leading fruits would be complete without looking at the citrus family, which plays such an important role in Thai cooking. I recall that in England more years ago than I care to remember, bright-yellow, oval lemons were treasured objects. Cut open and squeezed over sugar, they were used for Shrove Tuesday pancakes, or added…
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Looking back: Skulduggery in Ayutthaya
PHUKET: After Sukhothai, Ayutthaya was the second capital city of the Siamese Kingdom, founded in 1350. King Prasat Thong, who reigned from 1629 to 1656, was the founder of a new dynasty during the heydays of Ayutthaya. His father, Okya Sri Thammathirat, was King Songtham’s maternal uncle. King Prasat Thong himself held the title of Okya Sri Vorawong, a position…
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Balance Matters: Counseling, a first encounter of the helpful kind
PHUKET: Roughly one out of 15 people are affected by poor mental health at least one time in their life, but many don’t realize that they need help, that help exists, how it works or indeed how to find it. Most of us have heard of counseling (also referred to as therapy or psychotherapy), but that doesn’t help people understand…
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Phuket Pads: A hint of Europe in the South
PHUKET: Most villas available on the island are either in Thai or Balinese style and as the Thais say, “Same, same!” But this unusual and well-designed property stands out from the crowd with its European design. One of the main attractions is that it is a perfect family home in which to entertain and comes with great amenities. The house…
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Environment: Piscine pollution – killing fields
PHUKET: Some time ago a friend rang to say that the beach at Kata was littered with dead fish – mostly of an emerald green color. My guess was that they were reef-dwelling parrot fish and out of curiosity, I decided to venture down to Nai Harn Beach. A scene of carnage awaited me; there were hundreds of very dead…
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Island Fever: Hey you, get off my cloud
PHUKET: Over the years, old Mick and Keef have amazingly managed to somehow keep the rolling thunder of Rock ‘n’ Roll headed on the upward curve. Sure, it’s been a bit of a zig-zag at times, but still they remain intact. In a manner of speaking that is. I’d of course have a hard time naming a post-1990s Stones tune,…
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When in Rome, read Hughes
PHUKET: In the 1950s, Robert Hughes was part of a group of students at Sydney University – including Germaine Greer and Clive James – who went on to lead brilliant careers outside Australia. Hughes became a hugely influential art critic at Time magazine. Besides eight books about art, he wrote a wonderful history about Australia as a penal colony, The…
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Phuket Aviation: Hold your horses – flying car media frenzy is premature
PHUKET: There has been a great deal of buzz in the global aviation industry this month over the recent unveiling of the AeroMobil 3.0, hailed by many as a great leap forward in the race to create the world’s first practical, mass-produced “flying car”. The concept of flying cars has certainly been around for a long time – almost as…
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Across the Land: Building a sustainable home in Phuket
PHUKET: Chatting with a local architect who has designed and built homes in Phuket for the past 15 years prompted me to investigate sustainable materials used in home building. The architect had mentioned that current-day building materials have less maintenance issues and are more durable. Sure, the materials are more expensive, but in the long run they save the owner…
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Briefcases for backpacks: One couple’s story of trading a life of work for a life of travel
PHUKET: In the words of Mark Twain: “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” This advice resonated quite well with my wife, Farideh,…
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Excuse Busters: Remain a holiday hunk
PHUKET: So the festive season is here, as if you hadn’t noticed. Now, I’m not going to be Phuket’s very own Ebenezer Scrooge and tell you not to indulge and have fun (I’ll let Craig do that), but I will give you some tips on how to lessen the impact of excessive eating followed by vegging out in front of…
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Give me a virgin, please
PHUKET: Excessive drinking is a natural disaster waiting to happen. Where else will you run into earthquakes, mudslides, hurricanes and flaming volcanoes all in the same place except on a cocktail list? What else except booze causes otherwise stationary and benign items such as trees, power poles, telephone kiosks and the occasional parked police car to suddenly wrap around the…
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Excuse Busters: Drink cheats for New Year
PHUKET: I am mainly talking alcohol this week, because I honestly think that soft drinks are such a poor cheat option. By that I mean compared to alcohol, soft drinks give low rewards on a social level for high sacrifices of a physiological level because of the amount of sugar or artificial sweeteners which are in fact toxins. What about…
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Phuket Gardening: Egging you on… eggplants and aubergines
PHUKET: We expats think we are familiar with aubergines. You know, the large glossy purple ones which look for all the world as though they have been coated with varnish. But Thailand has so many more varieties, collectively called brinjal, all of them edible and all capable of being cultivated in your kitchen garden. But let’s start with what we…
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Diving: Herd of seahorses corralled off Mosquito Island
PHUKET: Off the north end of Mosquito Island, part of the Phi Phi archipelago, is a steep sloping hard coral reef. Happily, the staghorn corals there have not yet been destroyed by the anchors of speedboats just around the corner. However, it’s not these elegant hard corals that make this rarely visited dive site a must, it’s what lies beyond.…
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Phuket Pads: Beverly Hills of Thailand hidden in Nai Harn
PHUKET: The exclusive, very private and tranquil Baan Bua estate of over 60 rai is one of the best-kept secrets in Phuket. It could be described as the Beverly Hills of Thailand – hidden in Nai Harn, in the very south of the island, sheltered and surrounded by the hills on three sides with lakes and its own water supply.…
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Regent Bangtao targets Phuket holiday rentals
PHUKET: Expats in Phuket live in a tropical paradise, yet many work full time. Holidaymakers surround them while they divide their time between home and the office. Phuket can be a strange place to live – not to call it schizophrenic – but this dual character of island life comes with a distinct benefit, and The Regent Bang Tao is…
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Island Fever: The Bumpy Road To Mandalay
PHUKET: It’s impossible to travel to Myanmar and not wax lyrically about days long past. Just think of the storied nostalgia of Rudyard Kipling, George Orwell, Norman Lewis and Pablo Neruda, who transport their readers magically through time and space. This piece is set firmly in the present, so let’s focus on the emerging free market of 2014. Hitting the…
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Boating: Sydney Hobart classic promises a Boxing Day treat
PHUKET: With Christmas behind us and New Year still to come, on any given Boxing Day any Phuket-based sailors worth their salt will have their eyes keenly fixed on the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race. As is tradition, after a sail-past parade in Sydney Harbor at 10am on December 26, the fleet will go under the gun at 1pm Sydney…
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Environment: Oceans plagued by 5.25tn pieces of plastic
PHUKET: If you have been to a Phuket beach or beneath the Andaman Sea’s surface, you’ll know that discarded plastics are constantly present. Hardly a month goes by without a dive company, resort or local “green” group calling on volunteers to bag beach rubbish. Some groups, such as Clean The Beach Boot Camp, have regular campaigns to rid the beach…
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Thinking Green: I’m dreaming of an environmental Christmas
PHUKET: Only a few weeks ago, I appreciated the message on the front doors of Jungceylon which promoted “Zero Bags, Zero Waste”. “How commendable that action was taking place to help reduce the amount of waste that we have in our community,” I thought. Yes, it was only a promotion, but at least it promoted a good cause. Now with…
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Phuket artist highlights the evolution of fusion
PHUKET: Kathy Manthei Coulson arrived to Phuket in 1999. She has built her life on the island as an art teacher and a volunteer organizer for the Life Home Project, and has produced a significant body of visual art during the past 15 years. Her show at Villa Royale Gallery, which will be on display until mid-February 2015 (click here),…
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Gardening: No paucity of pawpaws – Phuket’s famous hermaphrodite
PHUKET: I first encountered papayas as an exotic item in colorful bowls of dessert served up along with slices of kiwi and dragon fruit, chunks of pineapple and mango. That was many years ago. The venues? High-society restaurants in London’s Mayfair where the management was frantically vying with rival casinos to attract high rollers with sumptuous free meals. Not that…
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Phuket Renaissance, giving peace a chance
PHUKET: Situated in Mai Khao, the Renaissance Phuket Resort and Spa is surrounded on all sides by the pristine nature of northern Phuket, “the island’s hidden gem”, explains Goetz Bauer, who joined the resort as general manager in April 2013. Designed by P49 Deesign Associates, considered to be one of Thailand’s foremost interior design practices, the hotel has been carefully…
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