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 Do foreigners get free healthcare in Thailand?
Thailand’s healthcare system is well-regarded across Southeast Asia, with options ranging from public hospitals to world-class private facilities. But when it comes to foreign residents or tourists, healthcare access isn’t as straightforward. So, do foreigners get free healthcare in Thailand?...
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RPM awarded for excellence
PHUKET: Another much-welcomed boost for Phuket’s tourism industry has come with Royal Phuket Marina being the first marina in Thailand to receive the TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence for 2015. Aside from winning the certificate, Royal Phuket Marina is also the first and only 5 Gold Anchor-awarded marina in Thailand. “We’re very proud to receive the TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence. Honoring…
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Property Watch: New chapter for Vietnam property
PHUKET: A few weeks ago I found myself, once again, on the central coast of Vietnam in Danang. Over the past decade, the city has undergone a massive transformation and despite the old school charm of tree-lined avenues and the penultimate buzz of Asian-flavored street life, towering skyscrapers are starting to dot the horizon. My first journey to Vietnam was…
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Phuket Business: Old money with new visions
PHUKET: Born to one of Phuket’s wealthiest families, yet successfully cruising ahead in new business directions, is none other than Boon Yongsakul, the brains and muscle behind the success of the Boat Avenue Community Mall, along with some very well-received housing projects. His grandfather, a Hokkien Chinese migrant who came to Phuket, laid the foundation for the Yongsakul family’s business…
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Up in the air: Bangkok Airways flies to Hat Yai
PHUKET: Bangkok Airways will launch a new service between Phuket International Airport (HKT) and Hat Yai International Airport (HDY) starting in late October. Tasara Taksinapan, the carrier’s media relations manager, recently confirmed the new route with the Gazette’s ‘Up in the Air’, but said that the carrier had yet to issue an official press statement about the service, which will…
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Excuse Buster: Shaping up gluteus maximus
PHUKET: I Swore I’d never write an article with topics as generic and common as ‘bigger biceps’, ‘five fat-burning secrets’ or ‘get quads of thunder’. I hate these types of articles. They are often 2,000 words and harp on about exercises that have been around for years, but are renamed and tweaked so that they are perceived as a brand…
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On Deck: When only Thai quality will do
PHUKET: Back in the pre-iPhone days when you went shopping for clothes and the label said ‘Made in China’, you would have sighed and thought, ‘What is the world coming to?’ Fast forward to the era of the iPhone, iPod, iPad not to mention self-driving Google cars, and nobody blinks an eye at the ‘Made in China’ tag anymore. Hey,…
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Property watch: All about crunching numbers
PHUKET: Part of the buzz of the property market in Phuket is that Phuketians, foreign and Thai, have land and property in their blood and love discussing values. However, there are other numbers and number-crunching functions involved in the property game. The functions of property have transformed radically over the last few decades and the basis on which people invest…
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Profile: Wild ride on hippocampus [video]
PHUKET: Etymological failures rarely re-direct a person’s life as drastically as a simple false assumption did for topflight seahorse expert and marine biologist Lindsay Aylesworth. Lindsay was ushered into the upper echelons of seahorse research while working on her doctorate with her adviser Amanda Vincent – recognized as the leading expert in the field – and Project Seahorse at the…
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The Deck condo zooms ahead
PHUKET: Major property developer Sansiri Plc’s new condominium, The Deck, is attracting interest from both Thai and international buyers. The draw is likely a result of the condo’s prime location in the heart of Patong and the fact that construction is now 100 per cent complete, with just the final stages of architectural and interior work left to be done.…
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Keep It Green: Cup of gold trumps angel’s trumpet
PHUKET: One of my all-time favorites is the datura, now fashionably known as the brugmansia. Its common moniker is angel’s trumpet, but in Thailand it’s known as lam pong. Although very tempting to do so, it is not going on the ‘top twenty’ list for one simple reason – it does not relish the climate in Phuket. On the slopes…
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In Focus: Chalong art evolution
PHUKET: Believe it or not, chaotic Chalong is slowly evolving into a destination where people want to live and tourists want to visit. Thanks to entrepreneurs like Oliver Schibli, who has opened his own art gallery, Bubu Collection, next to Wine Connection, people now have somewhere to go to look at beautiful creations. Oliver first arrived in Phuket from his…
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Blazing Saddles: Cycling: Not just for a healthy body
PHUKET: As if burning calories and improving cardiovascular fitness and body strength weren’t enough, a new study shows the brain-boosting benefits of biking, which begs the question: does cycling improve your sanity? I was recently out cycling in the south of Phuket with my usual riding buddies: four enthusiasts who regularly pound the pedals together, followed by just the occasional…
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Health: Dodging bullets with agility
PHUKET: Agility ladders, a staple of sports training when victory can hang on the athlete’s ability to turn quickly, have moved into mainstream gyms where fitness experts say they are helping everyday exercisers be nimble and quick. Jumping, running, marching and hopscotching through the grids on the floor have become an added feature in personal training and group fitness classes.…
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Looking back: Gambling through the decades
PHUKET: Gambling, in all its forms, is illegal in Thailand. But despite the fact that it has been outlawed for several decades, it is still a popular ‘recreation’ for many Thais. Underground gambling dens throughout the country do very well, and casinos, located in towns like Poipet, just over the Cambodian border, are mainly Thai owned and often packed with…
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Property: Middlemen scuttle many large property deals
PHUKET: After 12 years in Thailand helping international investment funds and property groups to buy big-ticket real estate, particularly hotels and resorts, the founder of ThaiEstate Asia Group knows too well that it is the middlemen who have ruined many a good transaction. Lars Lang chose his words carefully in voicing his frustration with middlemen and the way the market…
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Tank Returns: Phuket’s beloved DJ back on the scene
PHUKET: One of the island’s most beloved residents, Tom Saharut Somsanuk, perhaps more well known as ‘DJ Tank’, has been taking it easy after a health scare in April, but now he is all juiced up, ready to rock and raring to come back – harder, better, faster, stronger – to the Phuket party scene. With a larger-than-life personality and…
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Across the Land: Designing creative domiciles
PHUKET: It is interesting every year to see the new season’s designer-wear on the runways of Milan, New York, London and other haute couture centers. Creative designers show off their very latest fashions to the world on those runways and instantaneously these new designs are considered the hottest fashion trends. Designing clothes is of course very different from designing a…
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Keep it Green: Haunted by silence of the leaves
PHUKET: Anyone who travels around Phuket will have witnessed the infiltration of the oil palm as the area devoted to this species has increased three-fold since 2000. Moreover, it is the avowed aim of the government to add 400,000 rai of oil palm plantations every year to our island landscape. By 2028, the authorities anticipate that 10 million rai of…
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Tread carefully in budget condo market
PHUKET: Regardless of whether the Thai gross domestic product expands at the lower target of 3 to 3.8 per cent, as earlier expected this year, it would not help the Phuket budget condominium market, or that of other major provincial cities, as they have already been affected, Phanom Kanjanathiemthao, managing director of Knight Frank Chartered Company, said in an exclusive…
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Phuket pads: Escape to Coconut Island paradise
PHUKET: A rare opportunity is presenting itself on Koh Maprao, or Coconut Island, in the form of a piece of private, pristine beach front featuring a luxury, tropical villa ready for the taking. The essence of Asian simplicity is captured by this Balinese style villa, isolated on the enchanting beach front on Coconut Island, which is off the east coast…
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Property Watch: Tourism’s disruptive behavior
PHUKET: As the island rains have drenched the collective spiritual well-being of Phuket’s hotels and property people, a little step into the reality zone could be needed. There is little doubt that the months of May and June – well, throw in September – remain agonizing for those in the trade. I came to live here in 2000 and year…
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Profile: Hearing lizard voices in Phuket
PHUKET: I always wonder what people are listening to through their earphones while driving their motorcycles or walking around Central Festival. Are they all listening to the same music or are they just listening to their friends talk? I think I may now have the answer. Silvano Stabile arrived in Phuket several years ago, and was contracted by the Twinpalms…
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Up in the air: Passion for aviation: Part I
This month, Up In The Air presents the first of a two-part series chronicling some of the aerial experiences of well-known Phuket-based aviator Pat James, an American who completed two tours as a combat helicopter pilot during the Vietnam War. PHUKET: Most recreational flyers on the island know Pat James as the affable Texan in charge of flight and safety…
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Excuse Buster: Substituting never tasted sweeter
PHUKET: “Sweetness is the favorite taste for everyone. Eating too much sugar (sucrose) or artificial sweetener is not good for health. Nowadays, the natural sweetener from stevia is a good choice for sugar substitution because it is up to 300 times sweeter than sugar, non toxic and has no calories,” says Pisamai Kulkanjanatorn PhD, Pharmacist, Assoc. Prof, Department of Pharmaceutical…
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Profile: Foundation of education
PHUKET: Standing alongside eager students, the Chief Executive of Phuket International Academy (PIA) has started demonstrating how to build a bamboo shelter. As he knots the rope around two bamboo sticks, Julian Whiteley explains to the children how the hut will provide protection from the elements. His 30-minute lesson on basic survival skills cannot be taught properly in a classroom.…
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On deck: Not just another boating cliche
PHUKET: Let’s not beat around the bush: Phuket is Asia’s marine playground. Period. Whether you live in Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia or anywhere in the region, Phuket offers some of the best sailing grounds, a well-developed onshore infrastructure and is a great place to cruise, race or base your boat. And many do. It’s also a great place to buy…
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Property Watch: Innocent until proven guilty
PHUKET: The global hypocrisy of societies, governments, parliaments, judicial bodies, law enforcement agencies and even friends and acquaintances can be a fascinating subject. Hypocrisy exists everywhere in the world, including the Phuket property market. In recent months, there has been a notable and worthy attempt to clean up many issues here. This work is ongoing, and will take many years.…
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Books: Lusitania: The other Titanic
PHUKET: Erik Larson is an accomplished writer of non-fiction. I greatly enjoyed the fourth of his seven books: The Devil in White City, which contrasted the glories of the 1893 Chicago World Columbian Exposition with the sordid dealings of a charming serial killer. The contrast in his new book, Dead Wake (Crown Publishers, New York, 2015, 430pp) is between the…
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Gardening: Neem: A tree for all seasons
PHUKET: Back in February, 2009, the Thai government, in the guise of the Industry Ministry, issued a decree listing 13 herbs as hazardous plants and forbidding their use nationwide. The penalty? Six months in jail or a 500,000 baht fine. There was immediately and, quite properly, an outcry from farmers. Why? Because these ‘hazardous’ substances were all traditional, organically derived…
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Blazing Saddles: Safe cycling in Thailand
PHUKET: The tragic events of the past year have raised the title of this article, ‘Safe Cycling in Thailand’, from a mere eyebrow-raising non sequitur, to the status of a full-blown oxymoron. Following the litany of cyclists’ deaths on Thailand’s roads, many would say there is no such thing as safe cycling in Thailand and that the activity should be…
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