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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Phuket Lifestyle: Enter the dragon
PHUKET: Just when you thought all the festivities linked to the New Year were over, here they come again in the guise of Chinese New Year with celebrations to go on for 15 days. Today we enter the 4,709th Chinese year and the “Year of the Dragon”, according to the Chinese zodiac. Chinese New Year, the most important of all…
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Phuket Property Briefs: Kata Group; Banyan Tree; Thai Smiles
Kata Group opens Khao Lak Resort in NovemberA new Greater Phuket resort called The Sands Khao Lak By Katathani will open this coming November. Katathani Resorts have a well known flagship property on Phuket’s west coast and the upscale villa resort The Shore at Kata Noi. Francois Huet leaves Banyan TreeOne of the island’s best known hotel faces, Francois Huet,…
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Phuket Property: Sansiri set to invest heavily this year
PHUKET: Residential developer Sansiri has earmarked 24 billion baht to launch 44 projects worth 46bn baht this year and to buy land for more projects next year. “This year we will expand our products to cover all market segments, including units priced lower than 2 million baht and over 10 million baht. This will stress our number one quality brand…
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Phuket Gardening: I say paw-paw, you say papaya
PHUKET: When I was young, papayas (pronounced papaiya) were considered very exotic, rarities that occasionally came along with other fresh fruit – mangoes and kiwi fruit, at the end of an expensive dinner. Here papayas (stress on the last syllable please) are the most available of fruit. In Isarn, a meal without green shredded papayas in the mix is almost…
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Phuket events / What’s on
A weekly digest of important events to be enjoyed in Phuket over the coming days, plus many more can be view here. New Year on January 23. The Cove Restaurant Take part in the festive celebration for prosperity, happiness and fortune. Enjoy our special Chinese buffet dinner with a great variety of delicacies such as whole suckling pig, Peking duck,…
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Phuket Lifestyle: First Green Globe for Phuket resorts
PHUKET: Mövenpick Resort & Spa Karon Beach Phuket recently achieved the Green Globe Certification, an internationally accepted standard for sustainability and the first Green Globe certified Hotel & Resort in Phuket, Thailand. The award highlights Mövenpick Resort & Spa Karon Beach Phuket’s commitment to conducting business in an environmentally, socially, and culturally responsible and more sustainable manner. “We believe that…
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Phuket Lifestyle: Cables and canopies
PHUKET: Zipping along with the sea on one side and forest on the other is something residents and visitors do everyday on the roads interlinking Phuket’s beaches. Now they can do the same thing while flying over 40 meters in the air, propelled by nothing more than gravity. The island’s newest adventure attraction opens a door into Phuket’s often overlooked…
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Phuket History: From tin to tourism
PHUKET: Compared to industries such as tin and rubber, tourism is relatively new in Phuket, although its growth over the past few decades has been phenomenal. The island has come a long way from the backpacker’s haven it once was and today has found its place amongst the world’s leading tourist destinations. Its white sand beaches and top class hotels…
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Phuket Lifestyle: Two sugars, please
Former England cricket international and celebrity Phil Tufnell spins a yarn or two at The Village Coconut Island Sport brings many different characters to the table from those who are utter professionals and perfect role models, for the general public at least, and those who are themselves on and off the pitch and exude character and charisma constantly. Phil Tufnell…
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Phuket Lifestyle: One night in Siam
PHUKET: For anyone interested in the cultural diversity and complex history of Thailand, an evening at the new Siam Niramit complex on the by-pass road, near Phuket Town, will be an enlightening and enjoyable experience. There are three different attractions to be seen. At the entrance, a Thai temple fair is being built around the popular crafts and games played…
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Phuket Lifestyle: The Yankees are coming!
PHUKET: Patong’s already wide selection of international cuisines just got a little larger, with the opening of its first New York-style delicatessen. Big Bill’s Deli, which officially opened for business in early December, is run by Dokmai “Flower” Khamkheukong, long-time companion of one of Phuket’s one-of-a-kind expats: William Sawyer. Better known as “Big Bill” or “Large William”, Mr Sawyer has…
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Czech beauties make a splash in Phuket
PHUKET: Fourteen finalists in the Miss Czech Republic Beauty Pageant 2012 who were busy doing photo shoots in Phuket and around Phang Nga Bay this weekend fly out of Phuket today. The beauties, who landed in Phuket last Wednesday, have spent the past five days taking part in publicity activities carefully orchestrated by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT). On…
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Phuket Movies: Leaving a lasting impression
PHUKET: The Millennium Trilogy has been a publishing sensation, selling millions of books and was adapted into film in its native Sweden in 2009. The original film adaptation was one of the most successful Swedish films ever made. Now Hollywood has made its own English-language adaptation with David Fincher (Fight Club, Seven, The Social Network) directing. Based on the Swedish…
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Phuket Property: Drilling for a response
PHUKET: Groundwater drilling operators have not received any response from the government to help solve the conflict with Natural Resources and Environment (NRE)’s. Udomsak Naddasena, managing director of Surat Badaal, a groundwater drilling service company, said, “We have not received anything back since I handed the official letters to Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha and the senate Pol Gen Sunthorn Saikwan,…
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Phuket property market is strong despite floods
PHUKET: Samma Kitsin, director-general of the Real Estate Information Centre (REIC), said recently “The floods last year are having a lingering effect on home-buyers’ decision-making this year.” But demand for homes in tourist destinations, especially Phuket, is still strong, according to a survey by the Agency for Real Estate Affairs (AREA). Samma said most home-buyers who are considering projects in…
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Phuket Property Watch: Stand up and deliver
PHUKET: Winter has hit the northern hemisphere and somehow the “Occupy Wall Street” movement looks to have lost momentum. Was it the chilly weather, or fractured interests of an aggravated monster with no head proverbially chasing its own tail? Round and round we go, and where we land, no one knows. It’s like bursting into a crowded room and shouting…
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Phuket Gardening: Enter the Dragon’s Eye
PHUKET: From blocked canals to poor flood management, the debate rages as to why Thailand suffered the floods of 2011. And while the arguments continue, the plight of many fruit farmers has attracted little attention, even though their livelihood has disappeared with the receding waters. Fruit trees, like most plants, suffocate through lack of oxygen if submerged for any length…
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Phuket Media Watch: Will Phuketians eschew meat?; Supalai eyes Phuket
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Phuket Lifestyle: Turning away from meat? Phuket Gazette / The Nation PHUKET: More and more meat eaters are turning their backs on steaks and even fish in favor of healthy vegetarian fare as part of their personal healthcare regime. However, many complain there are not many…
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Phuket Gardening: Stating the bleedin’ obvious
PHUKET: How often do we overlook the obvious? How many times have you gone shopping in Phuket City, or even to Bangkok, for an essential purchase, then discovered that you could have found exactly what you wanted just down the road? Maybe it’s just me.I’ve even found myself deciding to take holidays outside my adopted home country of Thailand and…
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Special Report: Caring for the unknown dead of Phuket
PHUKET: The unidentified body of a Caucasian male, recovered from the sea south of Phuket at the beginning of November, was finally laid to rest on December 14. The red-haired foreigner, dressed only in a black singlet and gray shorts, was discovered by the crew of Thai fishing boat Sor Naja as it sailed between Racha Yai Island and Koh…
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Phuket Property: Scribing the way to a clear handover
PHUKET: Once your dream home has been built, the builder or seller may require a swift inspection of the property and acceptance that all construction work has been completed. This is often the case as the acceptance of the construction works is typically the last hurdle making the final payment due. However, Phuket buyers normally want a physical due diligence…
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Phuket Lifestyle: Genesis turns out a revelation
PHUKET: When I was asked to review a new production on Soi Bangla, I was a little nervous as I have yet to learn how to gracefully fend off the many invitations from very lovely and much younger Thai ladies (or ladyboys) who suggest I spend a few hours in their company. What a surprise then when I approached the…
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Phuket Lifestyle: No reservations – the life of a hotel English teacher
PHUKET: Tucked away on the idyllic white sand beach of Kata Noi, a very chilled out and softly-spoken Jacob Ritter works as a communications specialist and English teacher for the Katathani Beach Resort. Flanked by palm trees and with an ocean sunset behind him, Ritter sat down with the Gazette to share his insights into the luxurious life of a…
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Phuket Lifestyle: The perfect steak out
PHUKET: In this so-called “New Age” of raw food fads, organic salads and whole grain sustainability sometimes it is necessary to go all out for what all macho real-red-meat- eaters really crave – a great big juicy steak. We hear there is a new steak venue on the island and as part of our New Year celebrations my male colleague…
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Phuket Lifestyle: Hogan’s hues of a brighter future
PHUKET: Having enjoyed a tour of the newly refurbished Angsana Laguna Phuket resort it was suggested to me by General Manager Jerry John, with a certain degree of pride, that the Kids Club was worthy of particular attention. While on holidays, every parent appreciates facilities for their children that provide entertainment, and are secure and well attended. Angsana’s Kids Club…
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Phuket Lifestyle: Take the art – leave the real antiques here
PHUKET: A dispute about the export of art and religious objects between the Thalang National Museum and a Phuket shop was tentatively set to rest after a meeting on December 15. The museum’s concerns that there was a risk of valuable national treasures being illegally exported from Thailand was looked into during the meeting headed by Vice Phuket Governor Somkiet…
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Phuket Gardening: Growing plants indoors and outdoors in water
PHUKET: When I first came to Thailand, I was, like everyone else from colder climes, astounded by the sheer range of plant life. Even more amazing was the way nature not only coped, but actually thrives in these hot, humid conditions, some of which seemed downright alien: smoggy air, poor soil, periods with either burning sun or bucketing rain. The…
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Phuket Books: Killing off the ‘Quiet People’
Phuket Gazette’s James Eckardt review of archeologist Brian Fagan’s book Cro-Magnon “How the Ice Age Gave Birth to the First Modern Humans”. Modern man, people like us, known as Cro-Magnon, entered Europe from the Near East around 45,000 years ago. Waiting on the scene were the Neanderthal shorter, stouter, much stronger but way less intelligent who’d had the continent to…
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Phuket Lifestyle: Where the seafood’s @
PHUKET: Kan Eang @ Pier is a Phuket institution and has been so for more than 30 years. Originally called ‘Kan Eang 1’, this famous Phuket seafood restaurant underwent a major renovation and name change in 2007. The sprawling grounds stretch more than 200 meters along Chalong Bay just south of the pier and here you’ll find several al-fresco and…
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Phuket international airport expansion set to bring 12.5mn visitors
PHUKET International Airport (PIA) will be able to receive 12.5 million visitors per year by 2014 following a planned 5.7 billion-baht expansion, Thailand’s deputy transport minister told reporters during a recent visit to the island. Kittisakdi Hathasongkorh said the airport’s runway would be lengthened by 700 meters to allow the new generation of “superjumbos”, the Airbus A380 and Boeing 747-8,…
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