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 Outdoor adventures in Thailand for adrenaline seekers
The Thaiger key takeaways Thailand provides a wide range of adventure activities, from whitewater rafting and rock climbing to ziplining, scuba diving, and skydiving, suitable for all skill levels. Macro and marine life exploration, Muay Thai camps, kiteboarding, ATV riding,...
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Sell now or sell later?
Property insights from Bill Barnett of c9hotelworks.com One of the most common mistakes by property developers in hot markets or with premium properties is the misconception that a fast sell-out is good. It’s often hard for real estate sales people whose mantra follow’s the ABC’s (always be closing) to understand the big picture, or more importantly the bottom line. Property…
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Khao Phra Theao – Phuket’s new eco-tourism destination
Phuket’s Governor, Noraphat Plodthong, has announced today (September 13), that after surveying the non-hunting area of Khao Phra Theao, he has planned to make it a destination for eco-tourism and a nature study route. The 22.28 square kilometers of lush rainforest mountain features a long list of wildlife such as gibbons, mouse deer, wild boar, wild fowl, green pit viper…
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Banana Beach by FAT MANGO
We love Phuket and we love our video partners, Fat Mango. We’ll post a video from them each week showcasing some of our amazing coastlines. Put Banana Beach on your destination list NOW!
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Urban push is on in Phuket’s Cherngtalay area
Phuket tourism is no longer just about the beach and the urban push is ‘game on’. One leading example is Cherngtalay which is near to the destination resort Laguna Phuket and Bangtao Beach. Upcoming in the fourth quarter of this year will be the X2 Vibe Bangtao that is set to usher in a rush of new ‘off beach’ properties. Within…
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Everything you need to know about Phuket’s ferry services
There are Phuket Ferries that leave all day to all different islands and tourists areas. See the search box below for Timetables, Destinations and Prices. Phuket is the biggest island in Thailand. The island receives millions of tourists every year. Some people visit Phuket for its popular nightlife scene while other people just want to enjoy a couple of days…
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Ranong Visa Run – a few things you should know
From time to time we need to do those pesky visa runs. The nearest land border to Phuket is about a five hour drive north to the Thai fishing port of Ranong. Just a 30 minute long tail boat ride away is Myanmar, but more about that later. There is a boring way to do the trip on an air-conditioned…
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Maya Bay – The silence, the turquoise waters, the serenity. The crowds!
Imagine visiting the set of a famous Hollywood movie. In this case “the Beach’ with Leonardo DiCaprio. The pristine sands of Maya Beach at Koh Phi Phi. The silence, the turquoise waters, the serenity. For Sarah Buthmann, her child-hood memories were about to be shattered with this raucous and probably rather sad visit to her dream beach movie set – Maya Bay. “When we…
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Is Bangkok’s property market cooling off? No, says Bloomberg.
An update on the Bangkok property market from Bloomberg. “We’re still undervalued as a country, compared to Singapore and Hong Kong. And China, in a lot of major cities.” Click the chart to watch the Bloomberg report on Thailand’s biggest property portfolio. PHOTO: fazwaz.com
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The Ripple Effect – becoming the hero of your own story
We all love a great story. The story that captures our imagination with; a tale of a hero, adversity or our hero triumphing over adversity. It sparks hope; that one day we can be courageous and heroic and become the hero of our own story. Hope is the spark for something better and a catalyst for a massive bleep on…
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Saphan Hin green upgrades and Old Phuket Town cabling goes underground
Phuket’s Mayor plans to make Saphan Hin Park the ‘lungs of Phuket’ and to put all the electric cables for the whole Phuket Old Town area underground. “Saphan Hin Park is a seaside public park that now needs renovation as it has been decayed because of the content exposure to salt water and the sea air damaging the stone retaining…
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New ‘smart visa’. No work permit, annual reporting.
We’ve just had the announcement of the new ten year ‘Geeza Visa’, the long-term ‘retirement’ visa. Now the Thai Cabinet has just announced plans for a new ‘Smart Visa’. Under the new Smart Visa, people can stay in Thailand, along with their spouse and children if applicable, for up to four years. The big change here is that you won’t…
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Vaping could get you ten years in a Thai prison
Vaping, the popular alternative to smoking cigarettes, might be OK where you come from, but in Thailand sucking on your favourite ‘vape’, or even bringing them into the country, could put put you in a Thai prison for ten years. It’s not a new law, with the import of electronic cigarettes and shisha being banned back in October 2014, but…
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What makes a good rental villa?
Not everyone who has gone through the process of owning or building a villa will want to rent it out. Even if you don’t, rentability can have a significant impact on the asset and resale value so it’s well worth being aware of a given property’s potential appeal to the rental market. Here are a few things to consider: Location…
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From Russia with Love. Russian buyers on the rebound.
From Russia with Love might is a James Bond 007 thriller but it has also been a mantra for island developers as the past nine months has seen a strong uptick in demand in Phuket real estate by Russian buyers. According to the recently released Phuket Russian Tourism Market report, over 51% of Russian travelers to Thailand come to Phuket.…
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Do we need a new airport at Phang Nga?
As Thailand’s Phang Nga Province recorded a record high of nearly 4.5 million visitors in 2016, the lack of a gateway airport is looking to be a key stumbling block, according to a new report by consulting group C9 Hotelworks. Annual arrivals growth has slowed since 2014, but the compound annual growth rate for the five years ending 2016 remains…
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Phuket Report Card August 2017
Story from c9hotelworks.com Phuket’s Provincial government is undertaking a large-scale initiative to tackle the problem of unlicensed hotels. Since the campaign started, a total of 1,007 hotels have now applied for official operating licenses with just six approved to date. The main challenges for the process are the strict regulations associated with the Building Control and Hotel Acts. Provincial Hall…
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Property Lawyer Matthew McEvily Passes Away
Well-known longtime Phuket real estate lawyer Matthew McEvily passed away in the United States on June 20th. He was 59 years old. McEvily was actively involved in the real estate sector in Phuket, Bangkok and Samui. For a number of years he was a a partner in McEvily & Collins law firm, and later on his own under McEvily and…
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Malaysia considers restricting foreign property purchases
A hot topic over the past month has been the Malaysian government’s review and possible increase of the set minimum of investment in property by foreign buyers.Currently the level for the most part is RM1 million (approximately USD225,000), The trigger of the issue has been the weakening Malaysian currency, the ringgit, which has been on the slide for a continued…
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Congratulations Mareeya Poonlertlarp, our new Miss Thailand 2017
25 year old Mareeya Poonlertlarp is a half-Thai, half-Swedish model, and has been crowned Miss Thailand Universe 2017 at Siam Paragon Hall in Bangkok. Marayee is 183cm tall, a postgraduate in marketing from the Stockholm Business School and claims to be fluent in four languages – Thai, Swedish, English and Mandarin. She has won one million baht, a diamond tiara…
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Island hopping in The Philippines
I’m never at my best at 5 o’clock in the morning. But here I am, bumping along the streets of Dumaguete in the Philippines, clinging to the seat of an open-sided bus as the sun tries to poke up over the houses and shops flashing by. Why? I’ve been promised leaping dolphins and a community on stilts in the sea.…
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Letter to Thai Immigration
Congratulations to the Thai Immigration Department for its forward thinking on helping to attract additional tourists by waving visa fees for some countries and halving the visa-on-arrival cost for others. A stroke of genius. I’m not sure how you will inform the citizens of these countries of your cunning plan to lure back the tourists in the wake of the…
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Mixing drinking with Facebook
A recent statement by Pol Gen Verachai Songmetta and its subsequent reporting by Thai Rath and the Bangkok Post has created an uproar. The police officer stated that anyone posting photos of alcohol on social media could face legal action resulting in a maximum fine of 50,000 baht. Some people joked that they deleted half of their facebook photos after…
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Hooper Trips Asia – Inle Lake Sunset
PHUKET: The Phuket Gazette has been a rock and a large part of documenting the island’s news and culture for many years. I have been an avid reader since the day I arrived in Phuket 13 years ago. I am so honored to have finally been a tiny part of it as it takes it’s final bow. So many of…
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Hooper Trips Asia: Inle Lake Boys
Life on Inle Lake flows on as if unaware of the modern world that is slowly encroaching upon it. The traditions are simple and honest. Hard working people and tight knit communities and families. Inle Lake is special. As I slowly puttered up the lake side in my long tail boat, I happened upon these two boys in absolute concentration.…
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Cape Panwa Hotel Phuket Raceweek 2017 set to welcome sailors from around the world
PHUKET: Entries continue to be received for the 14th Cape Panwa Hotel Phuket Raceweek which takes place July 19-23 off Phuket’s east coast. The four-day four-party format has proven popular with sailors from around the globe as the fleet is expected to grow to approximately 40 boats come race day, with up to 500 sailors from more than 25 countries…
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Excuse Buster: Importance of protein in our daily diets
PHUKET: I recently consulted with a client who was preparing for a triathlon here. It was clear from his lab results and symptoms (poor recovery and fatigue) that his protein consumption was too low. When we analyzed his daily protein amount, it was only about 50gs per day, when it was clear based on his weight and training routine that…
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Property Watch: Welcome to Phuket’s Darwinian season
PHUKET: I love nature, the environment, and all it has to offer. However, I know that my shark fin soup eating ways aren’t popular, and my Darwinistic sympathies applied to nature will be mocked on social media as simplistic and outdated. However, Darwin’s Theory and Phuket are linked. Phuket has it’s own environments – natural and economic, and these environments…
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Hooper Trips Asia: Mt Bromo Sunrise
As I sat in the darkness of the chilly pre-dawn morning, I just had a feeling that this day would be a special one. I had woken up groggily at 3:00am to start the long journey to this viewpoint that overlooks the incredible active volcano Mt Bromo in East Java, Indonesia. While sitting patiently waiting for the sun to shed…
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Hooper Trips Asia: Schwe Indein Pagoda Village Woman
I have always said that ‘wrinkles’ add character and show that someone has really lived a full and eventful life. On this particular afternoon in the remote waterways of Myanmar, I happened upon a fabulous example of life’s wrinkles. I had taken a very arduous longboat tour far up a tributary of Inle Lake as we were travelling to the…
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Hooper Trips Asia: Inle Lake Boy, Inle Lake, Myanmar
Life on Inle Lake hasn’t changed much in the last 150 years. It is an idyllic place in this modern world where life is far less complicated. It is not an easy life by any means; hard manual labor is commonplace, but the slow paced, easy going nature of the people is a treasure. Here a young village boy toils…
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