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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Managing medical expenses in Thailand is important as healthcare costs continue to rise. The country’s healthcare system includes both public and private options, but even with the Universal Coverage Scheme (UCS) for citizens, many still face high out-of-pocket medical expenses....
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![Phuket Life: Smooth sailing on the USS Nimitz [VIDEO] | Thaiger](data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0naHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmcnIHZpZXdCb3g9JzAgMCAyOTMgMjIwJz48L3N2Zz4=)
Phuket Life: Smooth sailing on the USS Nimitz [VIDEO]
PHUKET: For anyone interested in military aviation, a chance to board the US aircraft carrier USS Nimitz is the opportunity of a lifetime – and a group of lucky Phuket reporters were invited aboard the mammoth floating airfield soon after it anchored off Cape Panwa recently. The Nimitz Strike Group includes the USS Princeton missile cruiser and nine flight squadrons.…
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Phuket Lifestyle: Rice – a whole grain of truth
PHUKET: Rice is the staple food of the Thai diet and one that is consumed in great quantities. From breakfast to dinner, and sometimes well into the night, no Thai meal is ever complete without rice. Nothing beats a bowl of freshly cooked, aromatic Jasmine rice. Considered by Thais the king of all rice, its perfume is redolent of the…
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Taking the long-term view for Phuket’s property market
PHUKET: I figured I might as well go ahead and embarrass myself right out of the gates by making a bold prediction about where Phuket’s property market is headed. Unfortunately for you, my prediction is probably much longer term than you might be hoping to hear. It is based on a few simple principles, and I dare say that if…
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Phuket Explore: A canter around Lanta – Blazing Saddles
PHUKET: Koh Lanta is about a four-hour drive south of the Sarasin Bridge and has been described by many as ‘paradise postponed’. The reason is that access to this lovely island is constrained by the need to cross two small pieces of sea by two extremely slow and decrepit vehicular ferries, which can take up to two hours to negotiate,…
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Phuket Gardening: “B’ is for bloomin’ beauties
PHUKET: Well not all bloomin’ beauties. Take bamboo or bambusa for example, it does produce a blossom; after all, flowers are a necessary prelude to the more important business of procreation by seed dispersal. However, bamboo isn’t cultivated for its flowers, but for entirely different reasons. It is grown to create the ramrod-straight canes used commercially in scaffolding, or for…
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Phuket History: Recalling a Thai-Malaysian legacy
PHUKET: One of the most famous historical figures in the history of Phuket and this region, is the late Khaw Sim Bee Na Ranong, better known on Phuket as Praya Rassada. He was the high commissioner of Phuket and the Southwestern region of Siam from 1900 to 1913. He was assassinated 100 years ago in May, 1913. To commemorate his…
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Phuket to host Asian animation summit
PHUKET: Organizers of the second annual Asian Animation Summit (AAS) have announced that the 2013 event will take place in Phuket from December 9-11, following the Asia Television Forum. A five-star resort and spa on Karon Beach, to be announced, will host the summit, which seeks to promote co-production and co-financing of animation projects. The AAS is an annual event…
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Phuket Property Watch: Beach blanket bingo at Bongo
PHUKET: I can hear the distant pounding of bongos in the night. Of course, once you get passed 50, there is the sudden moment of terror and then the notion your heart is going to thump, thump, thump you right into the afterlife. Are there bongos in heaven or hell? But no, it’s definitely bongo madness out there somewhere in…
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Phuket Property: Secure your home by phone
PHUKET: For many property owners in Phuket, security is a constant concern. If you are heading overseas or off-island for travel or business, there was previously no way to monitor your property while you were away. To increase their home security and personal convenience, many people are now turning to the increasingly affordable home automation and security products that have…
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New On On cherishes old memories
PHUKET: The On On Hotel on Phang Nga Road in Phuket Town is now a place you could recommend to your mother. Gone are the cars parked in the atrium, the scary hallways, the worn-out bedrooms whose appearance in the film ‘The Beach’ made it the world’s most famous dive and a magnet for backpackers. The renovation of the hotel,…
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Phuket Health and Fitness: Learn to feel good
PHUKET: Recently the island hosted the second Rawai-Nai Harn Health and Wellness Festival during which a gathering of highly qualified practitioners led various sessions designed to help us all lead healthier, happier, more well-balanced lives. Phuket is certainly privileged in having so many of these heath practitioners living and working here, but their presence begs the question: “Why choose Phuket…
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Phuket Gardening: ABC of plants – “A’ is also for almond
PHUKET: A couple of recent inquiries reminded me of another omission in my opening sorties on the subject of ‘A’ plants. Chris Sieber wrote to ask how he could find a source book where he could “find plant names in English, Latin and Thai.” And on the subject of almonds, he added: “About three years ago I brought three green…
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Fearless forecast for Phuket hotels; Branded residences capture investors’ interest
PHUKET: We are still less than five months into the Year of the Water Snake and as I sit at my desk on a rainy Sunday, my mood turns aquatic. I grind out any thoughts of the past, like stubbing out a spent cigarette with a worn heel of a scuffed pair of working shoes. Not content with only a…
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Phuket Property: A vision for Vista
PHUKET: Situated on a hill among lush landscape overlooking Nai Thon beach, Vista del Mar is an exclusive villa development bordered by landscaped tropical gardens. The recently launched second phase of the development will consist of four smaller villas – 300 square meters, compared to the larger 420 to 700 sqm first phase villas – complete with infinity swimming pools…
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Collaboration key element for Phuket’s Design and Decoration Exhibition
PHUKET: AAA Exhibition & Training Co Ltd, in collaboration with the Phuket Chamber of Commerce and Thailand Variety Construction Magazine, are ready to stage the inaugural Phuket Design and Decoration Exhibition. The event will take place in the Grand Ballroom on the 2nd floor of the Royal Phuket City Hotel (click here for map), from May 30 to June 2,…
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GiVE back!
PHUKET: IT’S not only about rapid off-plan sell-outs for Sansiri Pcl; the real estate market leader is also known for setting the bar high in the realm of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Complementing the success of its Iodine Please and Sansiri Academy projects over the past few years, the property firm has raised the CSR standard yet again, setting a…
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Phuket Food: Discover the delights of durian
PHUKET: The ineffable flavor of the durian has been a source of intense debate among locals and visitors to Southeast Asia for centuries. There have been countless attempts at describing the fruit’s pungent smell and unique taste; it has been likened to roast almonds, rotten onions, old gym socks and even turpentine. While everyone has a different way of describing…
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Airborne Virus spreads science across the globe
While many visitors arrived at Phuket International Airport in the run-up to last month’s Songkran Festival, a French couple, whose microlight aircraft landed there on April 11 for safety reasons, raised more than a few eyebrows at the busy facility. Stephen Fein reports:PHUKET: The couple, 31-year-old Adrien Normier and his fiancée Clementine Bacri, 28, are on an around-the-world journey of…
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A meal among Phuket’s mangroves
PHUKET: THE location of Chaiyo Seafood Riverside Restaurant is simply breathtaking. Situated in Bor Rae district of Phuket, beside Mudong Canal at the point where it meets the sea of Ao Yon Bay, Chaiyo is where diners come to enjoy local dishes and fresh seafood while watching the water ebb and flow. On the other side of the canal, the…
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Phuket Gardening: Alpha shrubs start with ‘A’
PHUKET: Last week we considered annuals, but today it is the turn of their big brothers – the shrubs and ornamental trees that form the backbone of any tropical garden (click here for last week’s article). Acalypha hispida, also known as the chenille plant or red cat’s tail, is alphabetically the first to come under scrutiny. Unlike its cousin, A.…
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Phuket Diving: Seahorse lovers asked to saddle up
PHUKET: Project Seahorse calls on all divers and marine enthusiasts to help with the recently launched three-year project aimed at studying the seahorses of Thailand. Seahorses were one of the first fish species to be added, in 2004, to Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which demands that countries…
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Phuket Education: Middle years program excels
PHUKET: In a recent edition of the British newspaper, the Weekly Telegraph (February 12-19, 2013), Suzi Dixon examines the lot of internationally mobile parents seeking an appropriate education for their children. Essentially, she compares International Baccalaureate (IB) programs with the International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE). Ms Dixon begins her article by noting that many schools use curricula specially…
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The future of Phuket’s residential market
PHUKET: According to leading real estate consultant, CBRE Thailand, Phuket’s residential market is experiencing a significant change in direction, which started late last year. The change is likely to be the most significant since the Asian crisis in 1997 and is driven by a number of factors – the entry of Bangkok-based and Thai public listed developers; the move towards…
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Phuket Property Watch: How same-same drove me insane
PHUKET: It was a rainy Tuesday night, just last week, when I rolled over in bed and casually glanced at my wife, enveloped in the dark shadows of sleep. Suddenly, my heartbeat turned staccato, as it dawned on me that the woman next to me had not the familiar face of my wife, but, shockingly, turned out to be my…
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Phuket Pets: As sweet as sugar
PHUKET: When browsing through markets in Thailand, it is always fascinating to come across a pet store and see which exotic animals they have on offer. Snakes, lizards, turtles, hedgehogs and even African cennec foxes can be found among the more usual cats and dogs. Walking through the Phuket Town weekend market recently, I discovered a pet shop selling sugar…
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Phuket Dog of the Week: Chico
PHUKET: Chico is a cream male poodle mix, so if you are looking for a low shedding dog that’s intelligent, sociable with other dogs and affectionate towards children then this is your dog! Chico is about eight years old, and is a wise old dude, with a very relaxed temperament. He doesn’t bark a lot and is trained to stay…
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Phuket On The Menu: The Art of food
PHUKET: When checking in on Facebook one often comes across photographs of food; meals about to be consumed at restaurants and in homes. With the advent of ‘smart phones’ it seems everyone now has a camera ready to snap a shot of their dinner or their cat, or even their cat’s dinner. Among my Facebook friends is local artist Jayda…
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Phuket Gardening: Running the gamut from A to A
PHUKET: When I hit upon the not so original idea of listing an ABC of tropical plants suitable for Phuket’s gardens, I accepted the fact that there would inevitably be some overlap with previous articles. Just a different kind of taxonomy. But what I hadn’t bargained for was the sheer volume of relevant plants. Uamporn Veesommia’s cryptically named “Plant Materials…
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Blazing Saddles: Pedaling with pasta
PHUKET: Silvano Amolini of the Dusit Thani Laguna Resort is one of Phuket’s preeminent chefs and is also a keen cyclist. Baz Daniel recently caught up with him for a ride around his Bang Tao Beach backyard, followed by some serious pasta-loading at La Trattoria Restaurant. One of the great unsolved mysteries of the universe is the seemingly irrevocable link…
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A festival of fitness for Phuket
PHUKET: The second Phuket Health and Fitness Festival, on May 18-19, will feature various events and activities, including yoga classes, lectures on well-being, raw food cooking classes, Zumba, a boot camp and the ultimate stand up paddle board (SUP) challenge. The event aims to give the local community a fun, informative weekend that appeals to all ages, and it is…
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