Thai Life
Discover the latest regional stories and happenings in Thailand with The Thaiger, your source of credible, informative, and reliable updates. Stay informed about important local events, political happenings, social issues, cultural highlights, and entertainment stories, all curated to ensure you never miss out on what’s happening in the Land of Smiles. Our journalists will keep you informed with all the essential Thai life updates and allows you to connect with the community and experience Thailand like a local.
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Sponsored A healthy tomorrow starts today: Celebrate the great American Smokeout day
The Great American Smokeout, held this year on November 17, is a nationwide event that encourages smokers to take their first steps towards a smoke-free life. If you’re an expat in Thailand, this day could be a timely reminder to...
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Blazing Saddles: Discovering pathways to better biking
PHUKET: Governor Nisit Jansomwong’s recent announcement that work on eagerly awaited bike lanes will start in October 2016 with an approved budget of over 50 million baht, is terrific news. The Governor said, “Over 30 million baht from the 2016 fiscal year budget has been approved for the development of the Bang Wad Reservoir, which will include the installation of…
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Phuket Pads: Bargain Karon condo with beach view
PHUKET: Karon beach is the third longest on Phuket Island and located on the west coast between Patong and Kata. Karon Beach is also the second favorite holiday destination in Phuket. Recently, the Lonely Planet Guide named Karon Beach as one of the Top Ten Family Beach Holiday Destinations in the world. With its long beautiful beach and all the…
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Supalai Lagoon a star performer
PHUKET: Making waves all the way to Bangkok is the recently launched Supalai Lagoon Condo because it has turned out to be one of this listed developer’s best performing condominium projects this year. Supalai Plc’s Chairman and CEO Prateep Tangmatitham said at an exclusive interview in the capital last week that it is this project’s good location, not only fronting…
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Looking Back: Seeds of turmoil in Rakhine State
PHUKET: Rakhine, formerly the Kingdom of Arakan, is a region in northwestern Myanmar. Today the region borders Bangladesh and is home to the heavily persecuted Rohingya Muslims. Historically, the Arakan Kingdom was an independent state. In the year 1406, however, Minyekyawswa, the crown prince of Ava, led a Burmese army to invade Arakan. Narameikhla Min Saw Mon, the Buddhist Arakan…
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RCoPB looking for new recruits
PHUKET: The Rotary Club of Patong Beach (RCoPB), Phuket’s only English speaking Rotary, is re-energizing its participation in the community and aiming to firmly debunk the image of Rotary as for older men only. We are doing this in two key ways: by actively aiming to increase the number of female members and by attracting younger members who can inject…
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On Deck: United front for greater good
PHUKET: Thailand’s marine industry has received intermittent support from the Royal Thai Government over the years – sporadic and rarely strategic. In 2004, when the astronomical taxes on importing boats to Thailand was reduced from more than 200% of the value of the boat to 0%, this happened on the back of a concerted effort by the marine industry to…
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Profile: Signs that real art still exists
PHUKET: Despite new technology and graphic design paving the way for creative printing reaching the masses, the art of hand-making signs is still alive and well. Pete Child, 59, from Atherstone, England, is a Phuket expat who has been keeping this art form alive since 1975. After moving to the island eight years ago with his sharp skills and handmade…
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Luxury real estate prospers
PHUKET: One thing that I love about Phuket is the ability for luxury to live side by side with abject casualness. You could be sitting next to a multi-millionaire or a packaged tourist on the bar stool, as the ties that bind are the flip-flops adorning your respective feet. Islands tend to have little social stratification, which can probably be…
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On your Mind: Phubbing phenomenon decoded
PHUKET: Ever had the unpleasant experience of seeing your dish of Pad Thai sitting at a pick-up window while your waiter spends time on his smartphone? How about lying barely clothed in a frosty room while your masseuse ‘preps’ for you by texting friends? Or maybe you’ve just gone to the local KFC with your buddies and are enthusiastically trying…
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Across the Land: Container homes anyone?
PHUKET: Researching shipping container homes on the internet was an eye opener and it was fascinating how cool and creative some of these homes can be. There are definitely sustainable benefits from building a home with recycled shipping containers, but can it be a real home? Well, it looks like some countries have taken shipping containers to another level. Out…
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Close encounter with the highly beautiful
PHUKET: In 1968, Jean-Claude Forest’s French comics were brought to the silver screen in the French-Italian science fiction film Barbarella: In the far future, a highly sexual woman is assigned to find and stop the evil Durand-Durand. Along the way, she encounters various unusual people. Nearly fifty years later, in Phuket, Thailand, Earth, a threesome of equally beautiful, futuristic space…
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Property Watch: Waking up the ever-looming giant
PHUKET: Technically there is no specific way to jump-start a snoozing behemoth. Sure, a stun gun might do the trick or a slap on the face, but look at poor little Jack who had to scamper down that beanstalk. In Thailand’s current property market there continues to be a strategic emphasis on fishing where the fish are. Look no further…
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Up in the air: Lucky Air launches Phuket service
PHUKET: Good news for Phuket’s tourism industry came with the July 16 launch of thrice-weekly services between Kunming and Phuket by Lucky Air, China’s fastest growing airline. Lucky Air, with its hub at Kunming Changshui International Airport (KMG), is 40 per cent owned by parent company Hainan Airlines Group. In operation since 2006, it has demonstrated phenomenal growth in recent…
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Myriad designs becoming more popular
PHUKET: As most villa projects in Phuket are individually owned and cater to the requirements of the individual buyer, one sees a plethora of interior designs ranging from very conservative to highly modern. However, those that are influenced by Thai architecture stand in sharp contrast to replicas of European styles. “Rightly called the Isle of Million Dollar Homes, Phuket has…
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Well being: Male eating disorders on rise
PHUKET: Low-self esteem, poor body image and a perception of not meeting the modern ideal of masculinity are driving more men to consume over-the-counter body-building supplements, constituting what researchers believe is an emerging eating disorder. Supplements such as whey protein, creatine and L-cartinine are used to improve athletic performance and physique and are sold in grocery stores, vitamin shops and…
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Food: Benny’s: a bite of classic Americana
PHUKET: Tucked away between four and five-star hotels by the sea in Surin, you’lll find Benny’s Cocktails and Grill. This eight-table eatery, created by gutting an old Thai-style house, offers a wonderfully intimate, cozy and comfortable ambiance, enhanced (somewhat uniquely for Phuket) by diner-friendly noise levels that enable conversation. “All of my cocktails are original recipes” says Italian proprietor Benedikt…
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Property Watch: Island remains worthy investment
PHUKET: Like many Phuketians, I took a ‘green season’ break with my family. I chose Sydney and the Gold Coast, and inevitably a visit of this nature leads to comparisons with my home island of Phuket. Property investors interested in Phuket will also conduct their own comparisons and therefore agents, developers and owners who wish to sell should take note…
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Profile: Surf star searches for balance
PHUKET: Grom surf star Annissa (‘Anni’) Flynn, 17, took the local surf scene by storm in her younger years, regularly beating older, more experienced board riders. Now she is competing in the top regional competitions, most recently at the Quiksilver Challenge, which took place in June at Canggu in Bali. “I placed sixth at Canggu,” she says with a shrug.…
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Books: Get lost in an epic Jamaican novel
PHUKET: Trinidad had V S Naipaul and Jamaica now has Marlon James through his third novel, A Brief History of Seven Killings (Riverhead Books, New York, 2014, 688pp), which is an epic tale of gang warfare in Jamaica, spilling over to Miami and New York and spanning the years 1976 to 1991. Like a Russian novel, a big cast of…
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Video Report: Sansiri launches mid-rise condo
PHUKET: There are panoramic views of the island with glimpses of the sea from the 14th floor of Sansiri Plc’s recently completed, mid-rise condominium The Base Height-Phuket, making it something truly special. With the starting price of a 30-square-meter unit, including all transfer expenses at the Land Office, coming to 1.99 million baht during a promotional period, this high-class condominium…
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Phuket International Women’s Club gives away B2mn in scholarships
PHUKET: The Phuket International Women’s Club (PIWC) will reached out to yet another flock of young minds with more than 2 million baht worth of scholarships on August 19. “We want to give a better future to students in financial need. We work closely with schools, colleges and universities as we move through the selection process,” said PIWC Scholarships Chairman…
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Blazing Saddles: Better biking with Olympian Nick Gates
PHUKET: At the end of 2014, Thanyapura Phuket launched their Cycling Academy headed up by former Olympian and Tour de France star Nick Gates. Nick hails from Sydney and has over 15 years of experience in pro-mountain bike, adventure, track and road racing. He twice competed in the Tour de France for the Lotto-Domo team and has won the Commonwealth…
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Phuket pads: Modern architectural masterpiece
PHUKET: Loch Palm Golf Course’s five-bedroom villa has got to be the most unique and unusual property in Phuket, breaking every design and construction norm. Architecturally, the conceptual inspiration was drawn from the site and situation. Located on the edge of the Loch Palm reservoir and golf course, the site is positioned between two geometrically flat, level surfaces and is…
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Hacking density laws with mixology
PHUKET: Tom Auttayatamavittaya, also known as Tom Funk, won first place in Thailand, top ten in Asia Pacific and 49th in a galaxy of 8,500 contenders at the bartending competition Bols Around the World 2015. He recently moved house, so to speak, from Yaowarat Road in Phuket Town to a bigger venue on Phang Nga Road, and is now defying…
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Avocado: Earth’s magical fruit
PHUKET: Returning back to the island from a holiday in Chiang Mai with five kilograms of Thai avocado is truly a nutritionist’s version of bringing souvenirs home. This fruit is without doubt at the top of my ‘favorite foods’ list for health and taste. Right now, all avocado fans in Thailand are blessed as the Thai avocado season is in…
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Penang, Phuket: islands of irony
PHUKET: Penang and Phuket share many historical and cultural similarities and recent similar events in their property markets show that the sister islands still have much in common. On a recent trip there, courtesy of Firefly Airlines, to join Penang’s heritage celebrations, I was introduced to a small Thai enclave in the northern quarter of Georgetown, not far from the…
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Royal Phuket Yacht Club to reopen
PHUKET: Excitement is building up across the island over the upcoming reentry of the iconic Royal Phuket Yacht Club in January. After an expansive 18-month upgrade, the Royal Phuket Yacht Club, which in 1986 was the island’s first luxury hotel, will now reopen under the name ‘The Nai Harn’ on January 16, 2016. Over the years, the 130-key luxury hotel…
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Fleming 58 added to Derani Yachts portfolio
PHUKET: Phuket-based Derani Yachts were appointed as sales agent and service center for Fleming Yachts in April this year, covering Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. Fleming Yachts offer four models: the Fleming 55, 58, 65 and 78. These semi-displacement, raised-pilothouse motor yachts are considered to be ‘the ultimate cruising yachts’ by boating journalists and yachting enthusiasts throughout the world, the company…
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Prab Keesin – the family business
PHUKET: The Keesin clan and Pisona Groups is a household name throughout Phuket, as the political powerhouse family from Patong has a number of developments and interests in the island’s primary party town. Most recently they found themselves caught in the limelight with a host of mafia-style charges being levied against them. The founder of the clan was the recently-deceased…
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By the book: Not all doom and gloom on Phuket
PHUKET: People who spend time on Phuket or reside here will surely have heard expats grumbling about the island’s property market. Of course there are some nagging issues: there is a lack of easily accessible information for buyers, similarly and most certainly a lack of regulation and there is no Multiple Listing Service [MLS]. However, while the market here is…
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