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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Phuket deli delights: A day at Delish Cafe
PHUKET: Delish lives up to its name. Since opening last December this little cafe in Rawai, next to Fisherman Way, has carved out a firm following with expats and tourists as the place to go for a fix of fresh. Here are 10 reasons why the Phuket Gazette tips its hat to Delish. Ice Coffee: Start the day straw-in-mouth slurping…
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Just a hop across the bay from Phuket
PHUKET: With traffic, construction and tourist arrivals all on the rise here in Phuket, its island paradise factor is easily lost amid the flurry of commerce. But Phuket is located in one of the most scenic regions on Earth, and little pieces of paradise do remain within very reasonable price – and boat – range. One such gem is Koh…
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Soi Dog Phuket facing closure, B5mn needed
PHUKET: THE Soi Dog Foundation’s future (SDF) on Phuket is uncertain. Currently situated on 11.5 rai in Mai Khao, the foundation, which has been tackling Phuket’s severe stray dog problem since 2003, purchased half of the site in 2009. They are now facing pressure from the landowner to buy the other half, which SDF currently utilizes, by October for 10…
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Phuket a haven for addicts
PHUKET: Although illegal, over-the-counter sale and purchase of benzodiazepine derivative drug like diezapam (Valium) and alprazolam (Xanax) is common in Thailand, and is even tacitly accepted by many local authorities. However the practice exposes buyers to health risks including addiction or overdose. Last year, a high-ranking source in the Phuket Public Health Office (PPHO) admitted to The Gazette that his…
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Bypass Bali, go for the Gilis
PHUKET: BALI is a bit overrated these days, having been bombarded by Eat, Pray, Love-inspired hippie wannabes and Australians on their version of spring break. From Ubud to Kuta, Bali’s understated charm is morphing into commercialized hell. But there’s a way to escape this: Bail out of Bali and head to the Gili islands. The “Gilis” comprise three small islands…
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Rapid rise for Phuket’s Chicky Net network
PHUKET: WHAT started out from a Phuket expat wanting to expand her social circle has grown into a commercial network of its own, connecting 1,400 women all over Thailand – in just two years. Chicky Net was launched in 2009 when Berthe Mandaat, 34, originally of the Netherlands, relocated to Phuket. The website started off as an online group for…
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Phuket’s Blue Elephant dazzles guests
PHUKET: Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide’s top salespeople were on Phuket earlier this month as part of the organizationn’s “Dazzling Thailand 2011” incentive trip. The once-in-a-lifetime incentive trip was part of hotel group’s annual reward program for sales people exceeding their targets last year. Accompanied by their partners, the hot-shot salespeople arrived on Phuket on May 3, and bedded down…
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Baby Tuptim’s year-long fight for life a tale of Phuket love
PHUKET: Tuptim is happy in the arms of her doting father Rattanachai “Kru Nai” as the Gazette arrives at Tiger Muay Thai in Chalong, where Kru Nai works as a trainer. A throng of beaming family friends faun over little Tuptim, eager to learn of her welfare. The eyes of Tuptim’s mother Soisuda “Nit” Pile are trained on her daughter,…
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Phuket dart league calls for new teams
PHUKET: Dart players of Phuket step forward: the Patong Darts League (PDL) is seeking one more team to round out the field to six in the next season of play, tentatively scheduled to begin on May 10. One of the longest-running competitive leagues on the island, the PDL has been enjoying games continuously for over a decade and has seen…
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Phuket Lifestyle: Thai firm aims to be e-book center for Southeast Asia
PHUKET: Dedicated readers of English-language books in Phuket and throughout Southeast Asia can now enjoy carrying a well-stocked bookstore with them wherever they go. Asia Books, the 42-year-old bookstore chain and distributor of English-language books in Thailand, has launched an e-bookstore service for its 150,000 existing members and newcomers. The company, which handles distribution for the Phuket Gazette in Bangkok…
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Phuket’s Home for Life: Now assisting more than 200 women, children with HIV/Aids
PHUKET: There aren’t many places to turn to in Thailand for the many thousands of destitute, HIV-positive women who have been cast out of their home communities due to ignorance, but the Life Home Project (LHP) on Phuket’s Sireh Island accepts such women from all over the nation, warmly welcoming them into their family. Last month, the LHP took in…
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Phuket’s Michael Venezuela is mad about fame, and bringing it here
PHUKET: He has danced with Jennifer Lopez, toured with Destiny’s Child, rubbed shoulders with OJ Simpson – in a Miami strip club – and talked his way into the Playboy Mansion. But why is Famous Nightclub’s Michael Venezuela so obsessed with fame and bringing celebrities to Patong? And why on earth does he wear that white suit? The former MTV…
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Phuket Delight: The scoop on ‘Pad Thai’ ice cream
PHUKET: If you fancy a scoop of Vienna with a Thai twist, there’s now a perfect little parlor for you in Patong – and they even serve a Pad Thai creation. Pad Thai, a dish of stir-fried rice noodles with eggs, tamarind juice, chilli pepper and any combination of bean sprouts, shrimp, chicken or tofu, is one of Thailand’s favorite…
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Phuket Reminder: It’s sink or swim for the leatherback
PHUKET: A dead 200-kilogram leatherback turtle washed up in Phuket earlier this month, adding to fears of the imminent extinction of the pacific subspecies. The male, which had not quite reached full maturity, ingested a plastic bag and died from intestinal blockage, an autopsy by the Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC) revealed. Sixty years ago, Phuket’s beaches were host to…
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Decoding Phuket’s Wat Chalong
PHUKET: Most people in Phuket have had a peek at Wat Chalong, but few know the temple was once the site of a rebellion and hosted one of the largest funerals in all of southern Thailand. Even deciphering the full meaning of the paintings, statues and different buildings can be tricky. But for Phuket expat Paul Whittall, who describes himself…
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Phuket to Koh Lanta: Mango House Festival a big success
PHUKET: Across the bay from Phuket, the streets of Lanta Old Town, a century-old Thai-Chinese fishing village on the Krabi island of Koh Lanta, came alive earlier this month with the uplifting, funky music of the Mango House Festival 2011. “We’re delighted with the phenomenal reaction we had to this event,” says Phuket-based event organizer Duane Lennie. Lennie estimates that…
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Phuket telephones: Phone booths dying but some to stay – for now
PHUKET: The last decade has seen rapid development in telecommunications technology, which has led to cheaper mobile phones and greatly reduced need for public land lines. Consequently many phone booths in Phuket, run by the TOT Public Company, have been removed. However, according to Chanwis Bunjongkarn, the TOT’s Senior Director for Phuket Customer Services, phone booths continue to provide an…
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PHUKET CHARITY: Blazing saddles, bangers and cash
PHUKET: Members of the Old Bangkok Bangers Rugby Club were in Phuket late last month after a mammoth cycle challenge in aid of a Phuket children’s charity. The eight fearless men set out from Bangkok on Valentines Day, and for five energy-sapping days labored on bicycles to reach Phuket in one piece – all in aid of raising 500,000 baht…
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Phuket’s little Bird on the water paddles her heart out
PHUKET: Rapturous applause and the roar of fog horns at Yacht Haven Marina signaled the end of 11-year-old Victoria Bird’s epic sea adventure – and a landmark moment in Phuket’s maritime history. Victoria, her Ironman athlete father Les, 59, and kayaking instructor Rob Ford paddled more than 120 kilometers around Phuket, completing the first recorded kayak circumnavigation of the island.…
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PHUKET DINING: Great value at vintage vamp Kopitiam
PHUKET: If you crave quality Chinese-accented Thai cuisine, and might like to savor it in a retro ambiance, you need to visit the latest addition to Old Phuket Town’s culinary scene. Kopitiam Cafe and Restaurant – a family-owned kitchen located at the Yaowarat Road end of Thalang Road – opened only three months ago but has already established itself as…
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‘Brand Phuket’ boosted by northern resort alliance
PHUKET: Dissecting the term ‘destination marketing’ has proved an enlightening experience. Wikipedia describes it as: “A proactive, strategic, visitor-centered approach to the economic and cultural development of a location, which balances and integrates the interests of visitors, service providers, and the community.” Despite its wordiness, this pretty much sums up what destination marketing is all about. For those not in…
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Saving Phuket’s cultural heritage
PHUKET: Old Phuket Foundation President Kawee Tansukatanon spoke last week to the Phuket Gazette about preserving the resort island’s traditions, community values, and unique heritage. Reporter Janpen Upatising, herself a Phuket native, filed this report: Smartly dressed and upbeat, Kawee exhales and furls his lips in a smile as he recalls growing up in Phuket in the late 1960s. He…
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Phuket tourist trapped in a gutter
Phuket Island View: The following lament was filed at the Phuket Gazette office last week by Phuket tourist Hans Skarholm: This is our first visit to Phuket and I would like to report something that has happened to my wife. On Friday afternoon we came back to Karon Beach on a local bus from a visit to Phuket Town. When…
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Phuket Tourism: Has Phuket been ruined by tourism?
PHUKET: British TV personality Phillip Schofield revealed in a recent Daily Telegraph interview that he thinks Phuket – in particular Promthep Cape – has been ruined by tourism. Recounting a recent trip to Promthep Cape with his wife, Schofield told the newspaper he was shocked by how much the place had changed for the worse since he visited in his…
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Phuket loves sun, sea, surf and… Singto
PHUKET: Thailand’s indie music scene is ambiguous. That is to say, there doesn’t appear to be any defined ‘scene’ as such. On the surface, the country’s live musical experience is a stable diet of tone-deaf karaoke yodelers screeching out Lady Gaga’s latest hit, or over-excited Thai jam bands churning out the same old predictable covers at deafening decibels. But scratch…
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Phuket Property: Eight new projects approved
PHUKET: Construction of eight new property projects was approved at a meeting of a Phuket provincial committee on residential estate development last week. The meeting, held at the Phuket Land Office, was chaired by Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha. All of the eight projects considered by the committee were approved, namely: 1. Jomthong Thalang, by Jomthong Property Co Ltd 2. Promphun…
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OLD PHUKET: Moseying on down to Phuket’s old quarter
PHUKET: It was the American philosopher Henry David Thoreau who once said, “A morning walk is a blessing for the whole day.” With this in mind – and in light of Phuket Town’s recent bid for UN Heritage status – I forwent a line-in last Saturday morning in favor of making friends with my feet to go explore the old…
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Hungry in Phuket? It’s kebab time in Rawai
PHUKET: THE Kebab House in Rawai has been open for a little over a week, but locals are already dining there and love it. Here are a few reasons why… Location: Simple. Kebabed between Serenity Terraces and the turnoff for Friendship Beach on Wiset Road. The Döner Kebabs (chicken 85 baht, beef 120 baht): Many a mouthful of spit-roasted meat…
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Phuket Bikers raise funds for Life Home Project
PHUKET: Phuket’s eight different motorcycle clubs came together at Nai Harn Lake last month to show off their big bikes, drink beer, sell the latest in biker fashion and, most importantly, to raise funds for the Life Home Project, Phuket’s shelter for women and children with HIV. “Super” Mark Johnson, founder of Phuket’s Bike Week, which draws thousands of biker…
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Finding a gem in Phuket’s neighbor Phang Nga
PHUKET: JUST an hour’s drive from Phuket there is a little-known gem called Raman Waterfall. The five-tier waterfall and its emerald pools can be found in Phang Nga, and is perfect for a day trip from Phuket. Raman National Park is home to the waterfall (Nam Tok Raman in Thai) and delivers tranquility, free-of-charge.The gardens, clean toilet facilities, simple tuck-shop…
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