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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The Destination Thailand Visa (DTV) is a great option for digital nomads, remote workers, and freelancers who want to stay in Thailand for a long time. This multiple-entry visa is valid for five years, allowing stays of up to 180...
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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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Sneak a peek: June 27 Cryptic Crossword answers
NOTATION:Abbreviations: UPPER CASE (if used as part of anagram, in brackets).Normal spelling: lower case. Anagrams: italic (indicated in clue by words ‘out’, ‘possibly’, ‘strangely’, ‘wild’, or similar). Letters left out: underlined. Across:9. PROVIDES: provedis 10. LOG: cut branch 11. IMAGES: games 12. BEARER: errbea 13. RAVIOLI: valori-1 14. TORN: to-R-N 15. STRAWBOARD: worstadrab 17. ORGANIZE: oringaze 18. QUARTER: traverse ground…
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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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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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Fraudulent designing in disguise
PHUKET: When purchasing new furniture, it is always wise to keep an eye open for poorly made or refurbished goods in disguise. Some seemingly brand new, imported furniture is in fact a renovated secondhand piece with a big price tag, says Niwat Aunprueng, interior designer and executive partner of PIA Interior Company. This means that overseas dealers and local importers…
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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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Property Watch: Phuket pivots into regional education
PHUKET: Sun, sand, surf and study is without a doubt an unlikely combination of S-phrases. That said, Phuket is maturing into a key Asian resort destination for international level education and the upward trend is showing no sign of stopping. This past week, Thanyapura, the umbrella complex of Phuket International Academy, announced plans to further expand their already considerable 3.5…
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Montara Hospitality Group eyes young, wealthy Chinese
PHUKET: Montara Hospitality Group, owner and operator of Thailand’s ultra-luxury resort brand Trisara is set to increase its presence on Phuket in a bid to capture emerging markets while also expanding locally and abroad for the first time. “More private villa hotels and luxury residences have been opened on Phuket island and that has brought even tougher competition. Many players…
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Phuket Pads: Hide out in Nai Harn home
PHUKET: A very unusual yet stunning two-storey, four-bedroom modern Thai-style home is hiding in Nai Harn, only 1 kilometer from the famous beach and beautiful Nai Harn Lagoon. This is one of the most coveted locations in which one can live on the island because of its access to upscale lifestyle venues. This home is extremely private, located alone in…
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Property: Building a better market
PHUKET: Although not visible across the island’s multi-fold property market, the dominance of re-sales over new developments is obvious in the luxurious, but not lavish segment, chairman of CB Richard Ellis Thailand David Simister said. Sitting just below the multi-million-dollar villa tier is this interesting segment, which has a number of quality properties in the range of 12 to 30…
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Gardening: Design an aerie in Eden
PHUKET: In a previous article, I wrote about an extraordinary mountain top project in Cebu, in the Phillippines. My brief for this project was to suggest plants for such an environment. We started with an obvious choice: bromeliads. Another very different kind of epiphyte (air plant) is the staghorn fern. Ferns traditionally grow in shade and need moisture – there…
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Explore: References for underwater world
PHUKET: Coming to Thailand from a landlocked country, there are few points of reference that we can use to mentally prepare for a PADI open water diving course. For those who have never been diving before, most of our context for the underwater world is derived from urban references: movies, books, advertisements and aquariums – we all know what a…
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By the book: Prep your property for rent
PHUKET: Many Phuket property owners purchase here with the intention of renting out their property. Historically, Phuket has provided owners with very attractive rental returns on their investments, a trend which is likely to continue as the island’s appeal to tourists and long-term expats continues to grow. Preparing a property for rent starts at the purchasing stage. A buyer must…
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Books: A great love story
PHUKET: Plot, characterization, dialogue, descriptive style – many elements combine to make a good novel, but the most mysterious is empathy, that magic emotional connection that makes a reader care passionately about fictional characters. In this, first-time novelist Atticus Lish succeeds magnificently. His Preparation for the Next Life (Tyrant Books, New York, 2015, 417pp) opens with this sentence: “She came…
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Up in the air: Revamp taking its toll
PHUKET: There has been little reported progress in the ongoing restructuring of Thailand’s Department of Civil Aviation (DCA), and the slow-moving bureaucratic revamp is taking its toll across the entire Thai aviation industry. At the top of the aviation food chain, some Thai-registered commercial carriers have been forced to scrap requests for new routes. A number of important tourist source…
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Excuse Buster: Making Maori mighty
PHUKET: Seafood – alongside avocados and coconuts – is my all-time favorite meal. After living in landlocked locations in the United Kingdom and Europe for the past 12 years, it is good to be living in Phuket – back by the sea, enjoying fresh seafood again. On the menu in the Burton house last week were mussels tom-ka style, with…
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Brides go gaga for Baba wedding in Phuket [video]
PHUKET: The Thai Peranakan Association and the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Phuket, along with local government officials, are organizing a mass ‘Baba Yaya’ wedding ceremony at Sukko Spa Resort with dinner to follow at 75 VT Nam Neaung Restaurant in Phuket Town on June 21. The event celebrates more than 200 years of local traditional weddings in the ‘Baba…
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Property Watch: Breaking down stats
PHUKET: Island condominiums continue to be the horse you have to ride, which is evident when you see mid-rise buildings coming up as far as the eyes can see. For the market though, talk continues to turn toward a bubble, a crash or at least a short break for a little ‘me’ time. So what’s up for Phuket property as…
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Property: Small condos boost in sales
PHUKET: A sea change set in for Phuket’s condominium market post-2008 with units smaller than 70 square meters now vastly outnumbering larger ones, according to in-depth research results by Knight Frank Thailand. Research director for Knight Frank Thailand, Risinee Sarikaputra, explained last month that prior to 2008, as much as 84% of Phuket’s condominium supply was larger than 70sqm, with…
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Gardening: Between a rock and a hard place
PHUKET: I was recently invited by my good friend Paul Maitland-Smith to Cebu, in the Philippines. Like Phuket, Cebu is an island, and on much the same latitude. It is, however, considerably larger, with mountains rising to 3,300 feet – twice the height of those in Phuket. Much of the tropical vegetation there prompted memories of the hillside rainforests in…
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Topping charter charts
PHUKET: Northrop & Johnson Asia won the distinguished ‘Best Asia-based Charter Company’ award at the 2015 Asia Boating Awards in Hong Kong earlier this month. Created by Asia-Pacific Boating and China Boating magazines in 2005, the annual Asia Boating Awards recognize the best in the Asian maritime industry and beyond. The awards serve as a benchmark for the industry in…
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Property Watch: Make change, not war
PHUKET: We may all well remember a court case involving a hot cup of coffee and a customer who sued the coffee shop for serving hot coffee. What a preposterous case, we may cry. How do people inhabit this earth and go about their daily lives, and yet still manage to create issues out of nothing by simply complaining about…
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Looking Back: Friar fights way to Siam
PHUKET: Throughout his life, King Naresuan fought many wars with the Burmese in order to liberate Siam from their control. Toward the end of his reign, in the year 1600, Siam had recovered its independence and peace was restored. During this time, the king worked to restore foreign trade for the Kingdom. Due to ongoing wars between Burma and Cambodia,…
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Southern Asian, Arabic visitors lift Phuket rental market
PHUKET: Although a plunge in the number of Russian visitors hit Phuket’s rental market hard this high season, the unsettling gap narrowed slightly through a small increase in Southern Asian and Arabic travellers, said Dexter Norville, Jones Lang LaSalle’s director for Thailand. This rental market is made up of the usual crowd of Europeans, Australians and Russians, but now more…
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Excuse Buster: Right kind of pressure
PHUKET: The word is out about self myofascial release – foam rolling – and, no, Phuket people, this doesn’t have to do with a ‘soapy’ or ‘happy-ending release’. Foam rolling was once a secretive technique used by professional coaches and therapists, but has become a regular practice for people across the spectrum of fitness levels. Self myofascial release is in…
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Blazing Saddles: Bicycling in Bangkok
PHUKET: I have long believed the bicycle represents something of a magical chariot with the ability to unleash serendipitous experiences at many turns. So it proved on my last visit to Bangkok, where I had flown to spend some time with my 22-year-old daughter, Olivia, who stopped there en route from Sydney to London. Now it’s probably no coincidence the…
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In Focus: Pity the poor pangolin
PHUKET: The Phuket Gazette recently reported a gruesome find: a couple strangled and left to rot in a dense rubber plantation in Krabi. People were guided to the spot by the stench; the couple had been dead for about five days. This man and wife were pangolin hunters and the likely explanation for their demise – so far not confirmed…
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Gardening: Laying down the lawn
PHUKET: Michael Hickman, an experienced Kalim gardener, has some questions about grass. The first concerns grass varieties, their availability and maintenance. “We laid the lawn in our garden six years ago and have tried to keep it regularly cut, weeded and fertilized,” Michael said. “However there are areas where we have lost the battle against some invasive grass type”. Michael…
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