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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Absolute World names new head of real estate
PHUKET: Absolute World Group has announced the appointment of Stuart Coakley as director of the group’s real estate division. Based at the property developer’s Thailand headquarters in Phuket, Mr Coakley is tasked with overseeing the group’s real estate division and growing future real estate strategy for the mixed-use resort developers and fractional and vacation ownership pioneers. Mr Coakley has experience…
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Etihad Airways commences daily non-stop flights to Phuket
PHUKET: Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, has commenced daily non-stop flights between Abu Dhabi and Phuket, the airline’s second destination in Thailand. The inaugural flight – EY430 – departed Abu Dhabi International Airport at 8:40am local time on Sunday, October 26, and touched down at 6:00pm the same day at Phuket International Airport, where it…
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Qatar Airways launch direct daily flights from Doha
PHUKET: Qatar Airways non-stop daily flights to Phuket International Airport from its Doha hub began yesterday, with the airline making good on its announcement last month. “The start of non-stop services from Doha to Phuket offers travellers from around the world access to the popular tourist destination in a reduced time, from across our expanding global network,” said Qatar Airways…
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Indigo Pearl Phuket cashes in on big-spending tourists
PHUKET: Indigo Pearl Phuket has added unique products, developed sales channels and worked with quality agents, as part of its strategy to capture the high-spending travel market. The hotel is the flagship property of the long-established, Phuket-based hospitality firm, Pearl Group. Wichit Na-Ranong, owner of the hotel, said that since the group rebranded from Pearl Hotel at Nai Yang Beach…
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Phuket body transformation: And so it begins
PHUKET: Moving to Phuket has taken its toll on my weight and health. Almost 10 kilograms is what I have gained since I moved to the island a little over one year ago. How come? There are a number of reasons for this mishap. The love of Thai food It doesn’t take a nutritionist to figure out that stuffing yourself…
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Phuket Health: Get the skinny on fats
PHUKET: Recently, the Public Health Ministry published a report warning of the dangers of heart disease, claiming that six Thais succumb to it every hour. Similarly, a World Health Organization (WHO) report proclaimed heart disease as the leading cause of premature death in Thailand. A diet of high-fat foods has often been named as the culprit for the spike in…
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A moto-venture to Koh Yao Noi
PHUKET: With only a few days to work with, I had an opportunity to escape Phuket for a quick, albeit necessary, change of scenery. Drawing a radius around Phuket left a number of viable and tantalizing options, which were eventually distilled down to the final decision – Koh Yao Noi. A decision made really for no particular reason other than…
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Boating: Asia Superyacht Rendezvous to float in fine fettle on Phuket waters
PHUKET: The exquisite waters of the Andaman Sea surrounding Phuket will once again usher in stunning superyachts from Asia and around the world at the 14th annual Asia Superyacht Rendezvous from December 16-18. The largest gathering of boat and motor superyachts in Asia, the Rendezvous will soon welcome some of the world’s most captivating vessels, which can also be seen…
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Phuket Health: Cracking the Crossfit code
PHUKET: With Crossfit becoming more and more popular worldwide, I am often faced with the questions: Is Crossfit good, or is it bad? Have I done it? Would I recommend it? In short, I think it’s both good and bad. Yes, I have done it and still do. And yes, I would recommend it, but not to everyone. So what…
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Property Update: Urban-style condo launched in the heart of Phuket
PHUKET: Location, location, location is every property expert’s mantra, and Sansiri knows it well. They prove it with their latest Phuket project – THE BASE, located in the very heart of the island. Situated on five rai of land on the bypass road, THE BASE Uptown is in the middle of Phuket’s retail action, just a stone’s throw away from…
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Thailand Property Awards recognize Phuket developers
PHUKET: Phuket developers and developments won the lion’s share of acclaim at this year’s Thailand Property Awards with four wins and six Highly Commended awards. Most notable among award winners was Point Yamu Villas by COMO Hotels & Resorts who won Best Villa Development and Best Hotel Architectural Design, and were Highly Commended for Best Residential Interior Design. Setting a…
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Shaking off the crime beat with a Phuket spa treatment
PHUKET: As a hard news reporter, who witnesses the dirty side of Phuket daily, a good massage and spa treatment is essential after a week on the beat. A spa is the one place where everyone, including me, can escape the stress of the outside world and enjoy an hour or two of being under the spell of a masseuse…
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High fructose corn syrup and its effects on health
PHUKET: I moved out of Perth some 20-odd years ago, and apart from short stints back in my hometown I haven’t spent much time there since. Every time I do return though, it is incredible to see the changes the town has undergone, like the ever-increasing pace of life and city growth. Apparently, these changes are nothing compared to Phuket.…
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Phuket’s pedaling pioneer
PHUKET: Martin Brot, the owner of Siam Bike Tours, is an extraordinary man. He is undoubtedly one of the pioneers of long-distance recreational cycling in Thailand, and his company has built an international reputation which lures hundreds of cyclists to Thailand and Phuket, every year. Meeting Martin is a joy in itself… he’s a vital, energetic ball of wiry fitness…
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As fate would have it
PHUKET: Our lives are rife with twists and turns. Many of us wander down paths which we would never have expected to find ourselves on. Chiang Mai native Jessi Cotterill hadn’t an inkling that she would one day forgo her English teaching position at Chiang Mai University and ease into domestic life in Chumphon, only to end up as a…
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Best Western Patong – quality and affordability reunited
PHUKET: It’s easy to spend big bucks in Phuket. Those who arrive to the island with the popular misconception that “Thailand is cheap” might be sorely disappointed when faced with local prices. They can be easier to swallow when you get what you pay for, such is the case of many high-end resorts and restaurants. Less so, though, when the…
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Boating: Peeking behind Phuket’s Boatshed
PHUKET: Alan Giles from the UK initially came to Phuket 14 years ago to be a sailing instructor for Sunsail. As the years passed, he finally made the move to become a permanent island resident, and to open Phuket’s own Boatshed brokerage. Testament to the name on the door is the assortment of boating goodies in the office at the…
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Diving: House reefs – providing junkies their dive fix
PHUKET: Most of us have only a few precious days a year to get a fix for our diving addictions. Of course, those in the profession spend more days in the water than out of it, but for the rest of us, it comes down to one or two diving holidays a year. After six months of day dreaming about…
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Phi Phi: To party or not to party?
PHUKET: Koh Phi Phi Don – better known by the nickname Phi Phi – is loaded with surprises no matter why or how you end up there. Despite being less then an hour’s journey from Phuket by speedboat, or a two-and-a-half-hour ferry ride, Phi Phi is in Krabi province. It is composed of two main islands: Phi Phi Don and…
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Phuket Health: Let your three planes of motion take flight
PHUKET: A few weeks ago, I tried to convince members of the Phuket fitness community to ditch the gym and convert to functional training. When I was explaining what exactly functional training is, I mentioned something called the three planes of motion (story here). Since then, I have received a slew of comments and questions regarding the three planes of…
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Phuket Health: The secret to anti-aging and disease prevention
PHUKET: Phuket has become recognized for its spectrum of health and wellness retreats that have sprouted up offering fasting, detox programs, raw food diets and anti-aging therapies. As adults, we all want to look and feel younger, and this quest has led researchers to look for ways to slow, and even attempt to reverse, the aging process. One such researcher…
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Opinion: Set a baseline for Phuket’s reef research
PHUKET: Southeast Asia’s reefs are next on the list for “street view” mapping, Richard Vevers, executive director of the Catlin Seaview Survey and CEO of Underwater Earth, told Sci-Tech Today earlier this month. The Phuket dive community, and industry, must push for the Similans and our other reefs to be at the top of the list when the surveyors arrive.…
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Property Watch: Too tents? Back to the romance of nature
PHUKET: I’m not quite sure what happened to the age-old art of counting sheep, which can effectively – and quickly – put one in a blissful slumber. This was of course in days past, before Xanax. Looking back at romantic notions – such as the classic folk adventures of Aladdin and Sinbad in One Thousand and One Nights – you…
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Gardening: Hydrophilic herbage along the isthmus of Thailand
PHUKET: Many of you will know that the narrowest bit of the Kingdom – within touching distance of both the Andaman Sea and the Gulf of Thailand – has among the heaviest rainfall in the country. This week I drove to Ranong and the windscreen wipers had no respite for the entire journey. Once there, the heavens stayed open for…
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Escaping urbanization at Vijitt resort
PHUKET: Blanketing 44 rai of luscious hillside above Friendship Beach in Rawai, lies the Vijitt Resort Phuket. Although the sprawling beachfront resort was subjected to a US$15 million (480mn baht) make-over in 2008, it has an enduring legacy reaching back 38 years. What began in the 70’s as a small family vacation getaway, has been transformed into a top-notch boutique…
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Phuket Health: Don’t just cast away cardio
PHUKET: Cardio has been getting a bad rap in the fitness industry lately, and with all the strength and conditioning gyms popping up on the island – Unit 27, Titan, TFW and more – there have been less and less joggers frequenting the path around Nai Harn Lake. The rumors about cardio came about when members of the fitness community…
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History: The Thai army’s struggle for power over the navy
PHUKET: Thailand has witnessed many attempted and successful coups since the end of absolute monarchy in 1932. In 1938, Field Marshall Plaek Phibunsongkhram, a military strongman, rose to power and became Thailand’s prime minister. Phibunsongkhram, or as many Western historians prefer to call him, Phibun, was a controversial figure. He led Thailand into the Second World War by openly siding…
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Samui’s tourism market hits mid-year glitch
PHUKET: While many of Thailand’s resort destinations think they are immune to what happens in Bangkok, the reality is that they are sadly mistaken. There is little doubt that the events which played out in the nation’s capital had a profound impact on tourism. Be it from martial law or the globally publicized curfews, there has been fallout in the…
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Boat insurance: Better safe than sorry
PHUKET: If there’s one thing boating enthusiasts let sail off into the wild blue yonder, it’s the thought of liability insurance. The lure of the sea apparently does not account for taking out appropriate coverage. “One of the most alarming facts about the marine industry in Phuket, and the rest of Thailand, is that there is very little compulsory liability…
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Phuket Well-Being: To soy or not to soy?
PHUKET: With a multitude of media sources voicing arguments both for and against soy products, it is very easy to become confused about what’s best for your body. However, given the mounting evidence against soy as a healthy diet option, I urge everyone to be very cautious about accepting the ‘big soy’ spin as nutritional gospel – especially in a…
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