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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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ways aren’t popular, and my Darwinistic sympathies applied to nature will be mocked on social media as simplistic and outdated.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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Profile: Georges Ciret – Tales from the wine cellar
PHUKET: Georges Ciret is currently the Wine Director at Mom Tri’s Villa Royale in Phuket. With more than 40 years of experience in wine making and hospitality, he brings unique skills to the craft that few others could boast of. “We have a big collection at Villa Royale, with more than 300 labels from all over the world. We always…
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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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Hooper Trips Asia: Pao Village Girls, Inle Lake, Myanmar
On the banks of the idyllic Inle Lake in Central Myanmar, the shores teem with life. Tribes from all over the region come down from surrounding villages to trade goods, fish, play, and of course gossip. These girls were deep into their stories as I happened upon them laughing on the Lake’s shore. The fantastic, rich colors of their headdress…
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By the Book: Property market ripe for a rebound
PHUKET: Timing in life is everything but timing markets is always difficult. Buy low and sell high is easier said than done. At the top of the market is when most are buying, media news is positive and the consensus is cheery, while at the bottom people are fearful the market will go lower still. For some time now many…
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Footloose: Exploring the wonders of Racha Noi
PHUKET: Racha Noi Island is located some 20 kilometers off the southern tip of Phuket. Unlike its big brother Racha Yai, Racha Noi is much smaller, more secluded and less frequented than Racha Yai. Construction is forbidden so it leaves Racha Noi with no hotels or accommodation. The island is covered in dense tropical jungle and is uninhabited by people.…
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Hooper Trips Asia: Novice Monks walking morning alms
PHUKET: To visit Bagan in Central Myanmar is to walk through a portal back in time. Life meanders at a much slower cadence here and it’s simple beauty can’t help but soak into your bones. For over 2,500 years the tradition of Buddhist monks walking morning alms has been rooted here. It’s a glimpse into the very fabric of Burmese…
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Excuse Buster: Health benefits of raw, natural cacao
PHUKET: “Basic science has demonstrated quite convincingly that dark chocolate, particularly with a cocoa content of at least 70%, reduces oxidative stress and improves vascular and platelet function,” commented Frank Ruschitzka, professor of cardiology and Director of Heart Failure/Transplantation at the University Hospital Zurich, Switzerland. Who doesn’t love consuming chocolate in one form or another? However, one question I often…
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Property Watch: The island that never gives up
PHUKET: Phuket is an island in which the motto “Never Give Up”, rings true. At one time, t-shirts and souvenirs could be seen listing the issues that businesses in Phuket had faced year after year, and yet through the human trait of perseverance and resilience, Phuket and its people carried on. So far as property investment is concerned, the same…
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Profile: Aaron Hooper – Striving for the joy of pure creation
PHUKET: Aaron Hooper is an award-winning chef, originally from the US. Having moved to Thailand and worked in the restaurant business for nearly 15 years in Phuket and Bangkok, he has recently refocused his interest toward writing and photography. Aaron was an English major in college, where he also studied photography. Choosing then to take a sabbatical, he travelled around…
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Infinity Condominium launches new project in Bang Tao
PHUKET: Infinity Condominium held the grand opening of its seven-storey condo project in Bang Tao late last month. The project will comprise of 78 units ranging from 59 square meters to 60.6sqm and include one bedroom, two bedroom, and two bedroom deluxe condominiums. “Construction will start by end of the year and is expected to be completed in two years.…
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Profile: Mexican Ambassador Jaime Nualart meets with the Gazette team
PHUKET: Jaime Nualart is currently the Ambassador of Mexico to Thailand. Born in Mexico City in 1952, Amb Nualart remembers his childhood with fondness. “I went to a good school and was among the top three students in my class. I had good friends, but I was also very shy. That is perhaps the reason my mother decided to enroll…
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Law, Life and Society: Collecting unpaid debt in Thailand
PHUKET: With the Thai economy stagnating, household debt is reaching record levels. According to the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, the average household debt reached nearly 300,000 baht in 2016. This amount is higher than the annual income of the average Thai family. In case of default, the first thing is to ensure that the loan is enforceable.…
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On Deck: Submersibles for the average Joe
PHUKET: Submarines are a hot topic in Thailand right now. These hulking underwater “monsters” have been top of the Royal Thai Navy’s shopping list for a long time and now, finally, they have been given the green light to buy. There’s been plenty of debate in the last few years, but previous attempts were ultimately shot down. The two main…
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Phuket wedding planners’ conference draws global vendors
PHUKET: Phuket hosted the 4th Annual Destination Wedding Planners’ Congress 2017 (DWP Congress 2017), a conference of global wedding planners that brought luxury destination wedding planners, leading suppliers and creative partners under one roof. More than 450 global wedding planners from 65 countries participated in the event, which was held from May 2-4 and was the first of its kind…
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On Deck: Phuket’s East coast offers year-round activities
PHUKET: Phuket’s tourism is very much West coast focused. The beaches are whiter and sandier, resorts and hotels aplenty. The East coast, however, is more of a year-round destination. What it may lack in beaches, it makes up for in islands, most of which are easily accessible by boat. This renewed interest is driven by the marine industry. Phuket’s four…
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Gardening: Shades of white in Phuket gardens
PHUKET: White has many associations, including innocence and purity. On the down side, it represents coldness and sterility. In Thailand, judging by the dominance of white in floral garlands, it brings good fortune. Most lucky leis contain white flowers – buds of jasmine and milkweed, plus a pair of creamy magnolias for good measure. The white spectrum is equally well…
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Property Watch: Thailand at a crossroads in property investment
PHUKET: Thailand is and will remain an attractive property market to invest in. The geography lends itself well to a good quality of life, especially if income to support that lifestyle isn’t an issue. However, it does have neighboring competition and is in the process of assessing its options to revise laws to continue developing its economy. The way in…
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Excuse Buster: Getting your kids to eat more vegetables
PHUKET: I am slated to give a talk on nutrition at one of Phuket’s international schools soon. One question I always get asked when speaking to parents is: “How do I get my child to eat vegetables?” Having two children myself, I know the struggles of encouraging children to eat more from this critical food group packed full of nutrients.…
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Across the Land: Luxury villa rentals picking up in Phuket
PHUKET: This year, the luxury villa rental inquiries are coming in early. By March, agents had already started calling around asking for rental rates over the holiday season of December 2017 to April 2018. Luxury villa rentals over the last two holiday seasons have been somewhat disappointing, with villa owners either not achieving any rentals for their properties at all…
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East meets West in bold new collection
PHUKET: Quattro Design, one of Thailand’s top importers and designers of exclusive furniture, recently launched a limited edition collection named ‘East Meets West’, and the philosophy behind it is to represent the relaxed, tropical lifestyle of Phuket. ‘East Meets West’ is a collaborative effort between Eichholtz (a home furnishing brand from the Netherlands that Quattro distributes) and Jim Thompson, the…
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By The Book: Property market trends in the second quarter
PHUKET: As we enter the second quarter of 2017, the real estate market in Phuket remains slow. There are ‘pockets’ of demand: there is demand for freehold condos and discounted resale properties. Inquiries from the Thai domestic market are picking up and the condo market in Bangkok is doing well, with many developers there reporting strong sales so far this…
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Recent highlights of Thailand’s marine industry
PHUKET: The Singapore Yacht Show, held just before Songkran, has become a leading marine industry event. It is a place where global brands are present and also where many from Thailand’s marine industry attend. With two-and-a-half days of conferences, it’s very much a business event, distinct from Thailand’s boat shows which focus more on the experience of owning a boat,…
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Profile: Achirawit Churmung – Seeing beauty in black and white
PHUKET: Achirawit Churmung is currently working as a professional photographer as well as a university lecturer teaching photography courses at Prince of Songkla University and Phuket Rajabhat University. He is also one of the organizers of ‘The Quiet Beauty’, a photography exhibition being held in Phuket till the end of this month, featuring more than 70 black and white photographs…
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A different style of celebration in Phuket
PHUKET has its own riotous version of Songkran, Thailand’s most important public holiday. Primarily a water festival, it celebrates the Thai lunar New Year and is held annually on April 13. Mostly an occasion for youthful exuberance, the whole island is turned into a war zone, as young people spend the day getting into water fights with anything from pump…
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Law, Life & Society: Have fun, but don’t break the law
PHUKET: Songkran was originally a Thai religious festival marking the beginning of the Buddhist New Year. Now it has morphed into a week-long holiday, water fights and parties. Large numbers of tourists come to Thailand to join in the festivities. It is a time where people let loose and civility is secondary. In response, Thai police are present in large…
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Keep It Green: Now is the time to act
PHUKET: Bad news for conservationists: the most powerful man in the universe is not only a non-believer in climate change, but is drastically reducing the US budget devoted to environmental issues. And one of Trump’s advisers calls ecologically aware people “like Hari Krishna… they’re glassy-eyed and they chant”. Big business and environmental concerns just don’t mix – globally or locally.…
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Profile: Manop Suwannachit ready to take on the Xterra challenge
PHUKET: Manop Suwannachit, 31, is the brand ambassador for ‘Xterra Asia Pacific and World Series 2017–Road to Hawaii’ which is being organized by Xterra Thailand and Active Management Asia (AMA) in Phuket today. Mr Manop is also participating in the races – he is a well-known sportsman who has won many competitions throughout his career. Last year, he took part…
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