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.
-
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?...
-
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…
-
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…
-
Excuse Buster: Got milk? Need milk?
PHUKET: ‘Milk is good for everyone’ is a common statement from all government bodies around the world. However, most humans have never tasted fresh milk from any source other than their mothers for almost all of human history. According to the United States National Institute of Health, more than 65 per cent of the human population has a reduced ability…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
Keep it Green: Going to the zoo – part one
PHUKET: Today, I took the advice offered in the children’s nursery rhyme ‘Going to the zoo, zoo, zoo / How about you?’ It’s a long time since I did so. My last visit to Phuket Zoo some seven years ago resulted in my penning a piece which, while critical of some aspects of the place, made encouraging noises about others.…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
Profile: Rendezvous with Ae Peerasak
PHUKET: There is little doubt that Phuket Town is in the throes of a revolution made manifest by a tidal wave of innovation and reinvention that is re-making it into a trendy, happening destination for the young, hip and cool. Walk down any of the ancient Sino-Portuguese streets of the Old Town that are renowned for confusing and losing the…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
On Deck: “Deck drain’ for Thai sailing
PHUKET: Thailand has a very strong national youth sailing team based in Sattahip in the Gulf of Thailand. Run by the Yacht Racing Association of Thailand (YRAT) they have had increasing success on the international stage in recent years. The breakthrough happened in 2010 when a young Thai girl called Noppakao Poonpat won the Optimist World Championships. Not only did…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
Gardening: Sowing seeds: A classroom encounter
PHUKET: I recently received an unusual request. Would I talk to a class of pre-school children about plants? The name ‘pre-school’ is a bit of a misnomer since this United Nations of a class was already at the tender age of four to five attending school everyday. I hesitated for all of two minutes before emailing back and agreeing to…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
Going up: Baba’s five-bedroom villas
PHUKET: Kicking into gear on Na Tai Beach, across the bridge in Phang Nga, is Charn Issara Development PLC’s riveting joint-venture project Baba Beach Club. The sales gallery has now been built and construction crews are busy building five-bedroom villas. Vorasit ‘Wan’ Issara, managing director of Sri Panwa resort, said that Charn Issara, which is developing the 42-rai project with…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
On Deck: Tonnes of trash killing our future
PHUKET: The ‘crystal clear,’ ‘aqua blue’ sea off Phuket is a significant part of the island’s tourism offerings and attracts many visitors to this fair isle. Those iconic sea, island and beach snorkelling images from the Tourism Authority of Thailand [TAT] campaigns have been around the world more times than an inter-continental jet. Today’s reality, however, is somewhat different because…
-
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…
-
Keep it green: So much water, so little to drink
PHUKET: “And not a drop to drink”, bemoan the parched and stricken seaman drifting to oblivion on a windless sea in Coleridge’s ‘The Ancient Mariner.’ It is an irony not lost on any of us that, though most of the earth’s surface is covered by water, it is largely saline and undrinkable. However, even on so-called dry land, criss-crossed by…
-
Diving: Enforcing professional diving ethics
PHUKET: Almost every diver remembers his or her first dive instructor, as well as probably every instructor or dive master trained under since. Learning underwater skills is a bonding process; it requires a great deal of trust – but what about trusting the dive professional’s environmental-impact philosophy? There is no doubt that diving puts stress on the marine environment through…
Don't forget to check out some other things to do in Thailand - get help starting a business or finding a job in Thailand, buy Thailand property, rent a yacht or book a medical procedure worldwide.