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 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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When in Rome, read Hughes
PHUKET: In the 1950s, Robert Hughes was part of a group of students at Sydney University – including Germaine Greer and Clive James – who went on to lead brilliant careers outside Australia. Hughes became a hugely influential art critic at Time magazine. Besides eight books about art, he wrote a wonderful history about Australia as a penal colony, The…
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Phuket Aviation: Hold your horses – flying car media frenzy is premature
PHUKET: There has been a great deal of buzz in the global aviation industry this month over the recent unveiling of the AeroMobil 3.0, hailed by many as a great leap forward in the race to create the world’s first practical, mass-produced “flying car”. The concept of flying cars has certainly been around for a long time – almost as…
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Across the Land: Building a sustainable home in Phuket
PHUKET: Chatting with a local architect who has designed and built homes in Phuket for the past 15 years prompted me to investigate sustainable materials used in home building. The architect had mentioned that current-day building materials have less maintenance issues and are more durable. Sure, the materials are more expensive, but in the long run they save the owner…
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Briefcases for backpacks: One couple’s story of trading a life of work for a life of travel
PHUKET: In the words of Mark Twain: “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” This advice resonated quite well with my wife, Farideh,…
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Excuse Busters: Remain a holiday hunk
PHUKET: So the festive season is here, as if you hadn’t noticed. Now, I’m not going to be Phuket’s very own Ebenezer Scrooge and tell you not to indulge and have fun (I’ll let Craig do that), but I will give you some tips on how to lessen the impact of excessive eating followed by vegging out in front of…
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Give me a virgin, please
PHUKET: Excessive drinking is a natural disaster waiting to happen. Where else will you run into earthquakes, mudslides, hurricanes and flaming volcanoes all in the same place except on a cocktail list? What else except booze causes otherwise stationary and benign items such as trees, power poles, telephone kiosks and the occasional parked police car to suddenly wrap around the…
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Excuse Busters: Drink cheats for New Year
PHUKET: I am mainly talking alcohol this week, because I honestly think that soft drinks are such a poor cheat option. By that I mean compared to alcohol, soft drinks give low rewards on a social level for high sacrifices of a physiological level because of the amount of sugar or artificial sweeteners which are in fact toxins. What about…
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Phuket Gardening: Egging you on… eggplants and aubergines
PHUKET: We expats think we are familiar with aubergines. You know, the large glossy purple ones which look for all the world as though they have been coated with varnish. But Thailand has so many more varieties, collectively called brinjal, all of them edible and all capable of being cultivated in your kitchen garden. But let’s start with what we…
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Diving: Herd of seahorses corralled off Mosquito Island
PHUKET: Off the north end of Mosquito Island, part of the Phi Phi archipelago, is a steep sloping hard coral reef. Happily, the staghorn corals there have not yet been destroyed by the anchors of speedboats just around the corner. However, it’s not these elegant hard corals that make this rarely visited dive site a must, it’s what lies beyond.…
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Phuket Pads: Beverly Hills of Thailand hidden in Nai Harn
PHUKET: The exclusive, very private and tranquil Baan Bua estate of over 60 rai is one of the best-kept secrets in Phuket. It could be described as the Beverly Hills of Thailand – hidden in Nai Harn, in the very south of the island, sheltered and surrounded by the hills on three sides with lakes and its own water supply.…
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Regent Bangtao targets Phuket holiday rentals
PHUKET: Expats in Phuket live in a tropical paradise, yet many work full time. Holidaymakers surround them while they divide their time between home and the office. Phuket can be a strange place to live – not to call it schizophrenic – but this dual character of island life comes with a distinct benefit, and The Regent Bang Tao is…
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Island Fever: The Bumpy Road To Mandalay
PHUKET: It’s impossible to travel to Myanmar and not wax lyrically about days long past. Just think of the storied nostalgia of Rudyard Kipling, George Orwell, Norman Lewis and Pablo Neruda, who transport their readers magically through time and space. This piece is set firmly in the present, so let’s focus on the emerging free market of 2014. Hitting the…
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Boating: Sydney Hobart classic promises a Boxing Day treat
PHUKET: With Christmas behind us and New Year still to come, on any given Boxing Day any Phuket-based sailors worth their salt will have their eyes keenly fixed on the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race. As is tradition, after a sail-past parade in Sydney Harbor at 10am on December 26, the fleet will go under the gun at 1pm Sydney…
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Environment: Oceans plagued by 5.25tn pieces of plastic
PHUKET: If you have been to a Phuket beach or beneath the Andaman Sea’s surface, you’ll know that discarded plastics are constantly present. Hardly a month goes by without a dive company, resort or local “green” group calling on volunteers to bag beach rubbish. Some groups, such as Clean The Beach Boot Camp, have regular campaigns to rid the beach…
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Thinking Green: I’m dreaming of an environmental Christmas
PHUKET: Only a few weeks ago, I appreciated the message on the front doors of Jungceylon which promoted “Zero Bags, Zero Waste”. “How commendable that action was taking place to help reduce the amount of waste that we have in our community,” I thought. Yes, it was only a promotion, but at least it promoted a good cause. Now with…
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Phuket artist highlights the evolution of fusion
PHUKET: Kathy Manthei Coulson arrived to Phuket in 1999. She has built her life on the island as an art teacher and a volunteer organizer for the Life Home Project, and has produced a significant body of visual art during the past 15 years. Her show at Villa Royale Gallery, which will be on display until mid-February 2015 (click here),…
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Gardening: No paucity of pawpaws – Phuket’s famous hermaphrodite
PHUKET: I first encountered papayas as an exotic item in colorful bowls of dessert served up along with slices of kiwi and dragon fruit, chunks of pineapple and mango. That was many years ago. The venues? High-society restaurants in London’s Mayfair where the management was frantically vying with rival casinos to attract high rollers with sumptuous free meals. Not that…
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Phuket Renaissance, giving peace a chance
PHUKET: Situated in Mai Khao, the Renaissance Phuket Resort and Spa is surrounded on all sides by the pristine nature of northern Phuket, “the island’s hidden gem”, explains Goetz Bauer, who joined the resort as general manager in April 2013. Designed by P49 Deesign Associates, considered to be one of Thailand’s foremost interior design practices, the hotel has been carefully…
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Boating: Phuket inspires whole new breed of luxury RIBs
PHUKET: Phuket has inspired a new ride on the waves. It’s rigid, it’s inflatable… and it’s a boat. The new 13m tender by Acronautic is ready to ensure that every superyacht sojourn starts and finishes in luxury. The first of its kind is about to be built in the UK under the project name Thetis, with a design conceptualized by…
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Balance Matters: Phuket knows the many faces of infidelity
PHUKET: Over the past 42 years, I have listened to stories of infidelity, both from the victims’ and betrayers’ perspectives. Whether from clients, my own personal experience or those of family and close friends, infidelity frequently washes up on our shores. Most victims that I have worked with become plagued with self doubt and intense anger. They frequently question their…
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Environment: CSR project helps Phuket crab catchers cut out middlemen
PHUKET: Phuket is one of the most charming and popular tourist destinations in the world, well-known for its gorgeous beaches. The number of people coming to Phuket increases every year, and while this is great for the economy, it has a direct impact on the environment, as well as local communities. However, there are positive aspects to being a world-renowned…
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Island Fever: Phuket bows to smartphones
PHUKET: Heads bowed in silence have always seemed to elicit a tacit sense of reverence. Be it from religious fervor, or perhaps a strict upbringing, but some one-on-one time with God, the J-man or whatever icon takes your fancy remains a voice heard around the world. These days, though, tilted heads and quiet means only one thing: the invasion of…
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Gardening: Phuket, some call it “fuk thong’
PHUKET: Halloween, the eve of All Hallows Day, has come and gone. Long ago, my family spent a year in California, where the kids made lanterns with ghoulish faces and scary costumes for the evening house-to-house visitations. Here in Phuket, there has been no “trick-or-treating”, no Jack-o’-lanterns, no pumpkin pie, no monster pumpkins. Incidentally, the world record weight for a…
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Phuket artist steals famous faces
PHUKET: Monthian Yangthong is one of Phuket’s most talented artists, known for his ability to create art using a variety of mediums. Currently, one of his collections – a series of woodcuts of the faces of well-known Western artists – is on show at Boathouse by Montara. “I find working with wood-cuts very interesting, as it’s possible to create a…
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Excuse Busters: How cheating can be good
PHUKET: The perfect diet is the diet which gets you results and suits your personality and lifestyle. I want you to know that you can cheat during a diet and still see the results you want. How strict do you really need to be to get great results? This, in my opinion, is one of the most important questions you…
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Excuse Busters: Make goals, hit goals – stay beautiful Phuket
PHUKET: Have you ever started a fitness program and then quit? If you answered yes, you’re not alone. Many people start fitness programs and end up stopping when they get bored or if it takes too long to see results. Here are a few tips to keep you motivated and looking good for those beautiful beach days in Phuket. SET…
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History: Nakhon Sri Thammarat – The short-lived kingdom of the South
PHUKET: Nakhon Sri Thammarat was a powerful city in the south of Siam during the 18th century. Foreigners often called the city “Ligor”. The ancient city spread its influence over many of the smaller towns in the region. Although powerful, Nakhon Sri Thammarat was never truly independent. The city’s governor answered to the King of Ayutthaya. In the year 1765,…
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Phuket Pads: Southern properties on the rise
PHUKET: The northwest region of Phuket has been the most popular area on the island for residential properties over the past 15 years, due to the many west coast beaches, the Laguna complex encouraging further nearby construction and the convenient proximity to Phuket International Airport. This high demand has led to the average three-bedroom villa along this stretch of coast…
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Video Report: Phuket Superyacht Rendezvous making history
PHUKET: To say that the Asia Superyacht Rendezvous, at just 14 years old, is soaked in history would be an understatement. As spectators look out across the bay from the Kata Rocks, the event’s host sponsor, this December 16-18, one boat sure to catch the eye is SY Sunshine, built as the “third sister” of the original Sunshine, floated 114…
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Video Report: Phuket children go far in Thanyapura’s Junior Challenge
PHUKET: Triathlon is up there with the most demanding, high-performance sports. The idea of combining an intense swim, a high-speed bicycle ride and a long run into one, exhausting race is not for the faint-hearted. Or is it? More than 200 children aged between 6 and 18 took part in the Thanyapura Junior Challenge on Saturday, proving that a triathlon…
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