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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“Business Landmark’ in the works on Bypass Rd
PHUKET: Keep your eyes on the look-out – Bypass Biz Town, currently under construction right smack along the middle of one of the island’s most lucrative roads, is poised to be Phuket’s latest and greatest “Business Landmark”.Building on previous successes, reputable developer Boat Development Co Ltd, is fulfilling a much-needed real estate niche with its latest project, touted to be…
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Phuket Books – A slow death by flashbacks
PHUKET: Well-bred, highly educated and cosmopolitan, a new generation of African women writers – chief among them, the Nigerian novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie – has recently claimed their right of place in the publishing world. The newest entrant to this elite club is Taiye Selasi. Half Ghanaian, half-Nigerian, born in London, raised in Boston, a graduate of Yale and Oxford,…
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C’est la Fete! – It’s party time!
PHUKET: As the French saying goes – Un repas sans vin est comme un jour sans soleil – a meal without wine is like a day without sunshine. And even though there might not be quite enough sunshine in Phuket these days, there shouldn’t be a lack of wine and great food during the Bastille Day celebrations in Patong on…
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Phuket Gardening: Bromeliads offer a true taste of the tropics
PHUKET: I last wrote about bromeliads more than a year ago, but our focus on the letter “B” prompted a re-think. Apart from their deserved popularity as shade and house plants, I have re-focused my attention on this vast genus of more than 3,000 species for other reasons (click here for article). Recently I visited the Phuket Botanic Garden (click…
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Phuket’s Airshow and Family Picnic sets the bar with record turnout
PHUKET: The Airshow and Family Picnic held at Phuket’s Air Park over the weekend was a roaring success, with organizers estimating that nearly 7,000 people had attended by the time the two-day event closed last night. Navy League Phuket President Pat James, one of the key organizers, said the event was the largest of its kind ever staged in Southern…
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Traditions upheld at Baba Yaya wedding – Phuket Lifestyle [VIDEO]
PHUKET: The Peranakan Association and the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Phuket along with local government officials organized a mass “Baba Yaya” wedding ceremony recently at the Blue Elephant restaurant in Phuket Town. The event was held to celebrate over 200 years of local traditional weddings in the “Baba Phuket” style, and to promote the island as a wedding and…
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Phuket Lifestyle: Rockin’ Railay!
PHUKET: For travellers looking for an active holiday, both Phuket and Krabi offer many solutions, such as snorkeling trips, scuba diving or kayaking, but many travellers have yet to try an experience that is rapidly gaining in popularity – rock climbing! Krabi and Phang Nga provinces are literally packed with dramatic limestone formations. In the last ten years, spots like…
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Phuket’s Thanyapura serves chef weight loss
PHUKET: Successful restaurateur Eduardo Vargas is a man who enjoys the finer things in life, and this includes food. Originally from Peru, he left South America in 1989 to embark on a journey that took him to cooking school in Toronto; Georgetown University, America where he aquired a Business Administration degree; Singapore and now Shanghai as a restaurant owner. When…
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Industrial real estate demand on rise
PHUKET: This fiscal year, the Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand (IEAT) has forecasted sales and rentals to cover between 3,600 to 3,800 rai (1,440 to 1,520 acres) of land in both its own and privately owned industrial estates. The 2013 Thai fiscal year began on October 1, 2012 and will last until the end of September, this year. IEAT governor…
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How to legally own Thai land
PHUKET: I think there is a common misconception in Phuket, and in Thailand generally, that is often reinforced by many long term expats, who are always very eager to give their opinions to new-comers. It goes like this: As long as you remain a foreigner in this country, you will always have to use one of the available loopholes to…
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Phuket Regional Blood Center calls for life saving blood donations
PHUKET: The Phuket Regional Blood Center (PRBC), often called upon to save the lives of Thais and foreigners, is low on stocks of blood type A Rhesus-negative“As this is the beginning of [the Thai school] semester period, we got blood [donations] from students that makes us have sufficient stock of blood as we maintain a daily minimum stock of 200…
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Phuket airport’s expansion progress to ease overcrowding
PHUKET: The Airport Authority of Thailand (AoT) has accelerated the construction of a temporary terminal building at Phuket International Airport (HKT) in order to ease passenger overload ahead of the next tourism high season. Quoted in a recent report by BangkokBizNews, AoT Board Director Sitha Tiwaree announced that the construction schedule for the temporary terminal had been tightened due to…
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Aqua Villas: East coast luxury
PHUKET: Located down a quiet soi in Rawai, 150 meters from the beach, Aqua Villas will have nine luxury private villas with three or four bedrooms. The custom built four-storey tropical villas, ideal as holiday homes or permanent residences, will be designed to envelope owners in a totally unique tropical living experience that brings them closer to the natural seafront…
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The iron man of whimsy – Phuket Books
PHUKET: David Sedaris is a classic example of the American Dream. In 1992, he was a 36-year-old failure. College dropout, dabbler in crystal meth, lonely homosexual, drifting through lowly odd jobs in Chicago, New York and his native Raleigh, North Carolina. Sedaris was reading excerpts from his diary in a Chicago club when he was discovered by a radio host…
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The B-list: Exotics and also rans – Phuket Gardening
PHUKET: Barleria, bixa, begonia, bismarkia, bromeliad, brownia, brugmansia, brunfelsis. What do all these words have in common – apart from the obvious fact that each word starts with the letter B? Well, dear Phuket Gazette reader, of course, you got it in one. They are all tropical plants. Moreover, once you get away from these Latin-based botanical names, the list…
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Phuket Food: Inspired – Re-think Thai desserts [VIDEO]
PHUKET: A renaissance in the world of traditional Thai desserts has taken hold, away from the sand and seas of Phuket, in the heart of the province. Nestled in the center of the island, Ms Vachiraya “Yulie” Thitalohakul has turned back to her cultural heritage after years of working as a western-schooled patissiere. With over a decade of experience as…
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![New operations manager fits in at Phuket’s TSLC [VIDEO] | Thaiger](data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0naHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmcnIHZpZXdCb3g9JzAgMCAxNDYgMjIwJz48L3N2Zz4=)
New operations manager fits in at Phuket’s TSLC [VIDEO]
PHUKET: Brian Finniss, the newly appointed operations manager for Thanyapura Sports and Leisure Club lives by this simple motto: “Be committed to do what it takes to have what you want.” For many people, managing an international brand like Thanyapura is something that comes with age, but this young Canadian export is a definite exception to the rule. Mr. Finniss…
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Connext to work, life, play downtown
PHUKET: Local developer Phuket Thanee Co Ltd launched Connext Condo this week in its latest drive to transform “downtown” Phuket into a thriving residential community. When finished in December 2015, Connext Condo and Fit Sports Club will be part of the skyline on Sakdidet Road, near Sapan Hin and Suan Luang Park (click here for map), giving the area a…
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Siam Square most expensive for 8th straight year: AREA
PHUKET: The Thailand Real Estate Information Center recently published a report about Thailand’s most expensively valued urban, commercial zones, which as usual, were all in the central part of Thailand’s capital, Bangkok. Published by the Agency for Real Estate Affairs (AREA), topping the list were plots in the shopping district that is centered around Siam Square. The report notes that…
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Patong beachfront most expensive land on Phuket
PHUKET: THE beachfront in Patong Bay comprises Phuket’s highest valued roadside real estate, while the most expensive land plots in Phuket Town are valued only 7% less.According to Phuket’s official road and street-access land value summary covering 2012-2016, plots along Taweewong Road in Patong (the beach road), had been valued from 70,500 to 150,000 baht per square wa (sqw), which…
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Phuket’s Black & Blue brings those blues to you
PHUKET: You would think a great blues band would have its name rooted in some great emotional torment, a bruised heart or tragic love story. Soulful expat blues musicians Black & Blue, however, chose their name based on their stage outfits. “That was my idea,” rhythm guitarist Peter explains. “We were talking about how we were going to dress for…
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Organic living at Phuket’s Saiyuan Estates
PHUKET: The Attitude Club Co Ltd, who own Saiyuan Estate, are trying to reduce the environmental impact their developments have on Phuket. Saiyuan Estate is a new luxury boutique pool villa development nestled among the hills in Saiyuan, one kilometer south of Chalong circle. The Oriental Essence and Onyx Essence villas have been built with an environmental awareness that gives…
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Video Report: Ready for takeoff at Phuket Airpark
PHUKET: Thousands from across Greater Phuket – locals and expats alike – will come out to celebrate the USA’s 237th birthday with the grandest of family picnics and an airshow scheduled for July 6-7 at Phuket’s expansive Airpark in Pa Klok, just 6km east of the Heorine’s Monument. With this year also marking 180 years of official Thai-American diplomatic relations,…
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Bonsai, cacti, palms and ponds – Phuket Gardening
PHUKET: One article could hardly begin to catalog the sheer scope and variety of the Phuket Botanical Garden, with its 15 rai and an army of 30 gardening staff. There are more than 30 independent zones, ranging from Thai inspired mini-gardens to a Japanese style affair complete with miniature pagoda and red rectangular arch; even an English Garden with raised…
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Superyacht Rendezvous to rock Kata
PHUKET: Kata Rocks, one of Phuket’s premier oceanfront developments, has been chosen to become the official host sponsor for the 2013 Asia Superyacht Rendezvous event. “This is a logical move for two companies that cater to the lifestyles of individuals, to whom luxury, beauty and tranquility are of paramount importance,” commented organizer, Charles Dwyer. Charlie Dwyer of the Asia Superyacht…
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Phuket Pets: Unchecked aggression
PHUKET: We’ve all heard stories about aggressive dogs and perhaps you have one of these so labeled canines living next door. Many of us have read newspaper articles, here and abroad, depicting vicious attacks on youngsters, or other dogs, by these ‘aggressive’ or ‘bully’ breeds. Of course, we all know the breeds I’m talking about: Staffordshire Bull Terriers, Pit Bulls…
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Phuket’s Family festival funds allocated
PHUKET: Members of the fund raising committee for the Phuket Family and Gourmet Festival by Jagota met recently to allocate the second and final round of funding raised during the inaugural event held in February this year. The festival was a resounding success and raised one million baht to support various orphanages and children focused charities in the Greater Phuket…
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Phuket Property: Space solutions
PHUKET: Surging land costs and the resulting trend of ‘residential downsizing’ has been a boon for Phuket’s premier self-storage company, MY STORAGE Self Storage; with its ideally located Patong facility seeing an accelerated demand for its services. Speaking to the Phuket Gazette recently, owners Sukanda Chiaranussati and Robert Akerblom talked about residential market trends as well as their firm’s growth…
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Phuket Health: Back to the bare basics
PHUKET: Dr Thomas Walton is the newest member of the team at Thanyapura’s Integrated Health Clinic in Thalang. In addition to being a Chiropractic Sports Physician, Dr Walton, a native of Buffalo, New York, is also a US-licensed Massage Therapist and National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) certified Personal Exercise Trainer, with some 25 years experience in the chiropractic profession.…
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Phuket History: Early Portuguese forays into Siam
PHUKET: The Portuguese were the first European power to arrive in the Far-East and established a diplomatic relationship with Thailand, which at that time was known as the Kingdom of Siam. Portuguese diplomatic missions arrived in Siam in the early 16th Century. During that period the Kingdom’s capital and center of authority was based in the ancient city of Ayutthaya.…
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