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.
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Cycling on coconuts
PHUKET: I FIND myself writing increasingly about the concept of “escape” from Phuket these days. Talking to fellow cyclists and other residents alike, the need to find a sanctuary away from the everyday hassles, stress, traffic and urbanization of Phuket keeps coming up. It seems that the work week is taking its toll on people living in Phuket and so…
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Gone in the blink of an eye
PHUKET: Humans blink 10 to 15 times a minute. Start rolling out the time-line and you start edging up over 20,000 blinks a day or more harrowing yet, perhaps 40 million blinks in a lifetime. Ferris Bueller said, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop to look around once in a while, you could miss it.” Proverbially, the things…
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Moving away from the mass market
PHUKET: Founding member of the Phuket Real Estate Association (PREA) and president of Phuket-based developers The Onella, Sam Sethi, is a Phuket native and part of a successful family-run business on the island with a strong record in residential and hospitality development. Over the past 20 years, Sam has focused on developing mixed-use commercial and residential properties that are a…
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Sansiri unveils resort-style condominium Dcondo Creek
PHUKET: Sansiri PLC recently unveiled Dcondo Creek, their latest completed development in Phuket, which is described as a resort-style condominium situated in the heart of the island. “Dcondo Creek is the third Dcondo development in Phuket to be completed after Dcondo Kathu and Dcondo Kathu-Patong. Dcondo Creek’s resort-style concept is inspired by nature – a spacious design that provides comfortable…
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Video Report: Fight for your rights – Don’t drink more, drink better
PHUKET: Two critical issues plague the Phuket drinking scene: terrible drinks, and terrible service. The number of watered-down something-or-other and cokes served on this island that take 20 minutes to get, and are delivered with anything but a smile, is abysmal. “Just because you’re on a beach in Phuket doesn’t mean you should be satisfied with a [expletive] drink,” says…
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H&M fashions arrive at Central Festival Phuket
PHUKET: Hundreds of shoppers are expected to line up at Central Festival Phuket early this Saturday morning to be among the first to get their hands on the latest threads from global fashion house H&M as it launches its first store in southern Thailand on two floors of the shopping mall. H&M is giving away more than 80,000 baht worth…
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Soap suds: A sidelong glance at Thai melodrama
PHUKET: Any “farang” who lives with a Thai partner will be familiar, possibly all too familiar, with the rarefied world of television soap opera. As I watch, I wonder what impact these soaps are having on the Thai psyche. That they are amazingly popular is beyond doubt. Viewing figures are massive; they are watched religiously in most households, and especially…
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Last Gasp of a humorist
I used to have high hopes for PJ O’Rourke as the Fresh Prince of American Journalism. If Tom Wolfe had invented the New Journalism in the 1960s, and Hunter S Thompson Gonzo Journalism in the 1970s, PJ O’Rourke broke new ground in the 1980s with Holidays in Hell, fiercely funny dispatches from chaotic hellholes and communist sumps around the world.…
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Hoping to heal from Heartbleed
PHUKET: On April 1, 2014 one of Google’s security team members reported a disturbing discovery. Don’t be misled, what was found to be a very serious security breach affecting half-a-million websites across cyberspace was, in fact, not a computer virus. It was a simple programming code mistake which turned out to have far-reaching implications for, what was thought to be,…
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Feel-good football
PHUKET: On April 24, about 40 students from the Good Shepherd Learning Center had the opportunity to visit Phuket FC’s recently completed Republic Phuket football training complex. The event was a cooperative effort between Phuket FC fan club the ‘Mushy Peas’, and the Grumpy Old Man’s Society (GOMS) in conjunction with the Good Shepherd Learning Center and Phuket FC. The…
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All tied up: The art of cowboy rope tricks
PHUKET: With more people on the planet, nearly infinite methods of communication and a travel culture that sees people from all walks of life turning up in the most unsuspecting places, there is no telling where you might find influences from foreign cultures. For example, if Phuket entertainer Manoo Suwanmaneesilp hadn’t somehow gotten the chance to see old black-and-white westerns…
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Putting the ‘I’ in your Phuket garden
PHUKET: You probably hadn’t noticed that I was plowing my way through the botanical alphabet before getting distracted by more alluring prospects, or the pressing horticultural needs of a four-month- long drought. Well, anyway, most of the tropical plants listed under the letter “I” are in the index by virtue of an Indian designation: Indian banyan, Indian cork tree, Indian…
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Emerald pools and more just across the bay from Phuket
PHUKET: Typically, upon hearing any reference of Krabi, the first thing that springs to mind is the stalactite-studded Railay, party-island Phi Phi or any one of the other 154 awe-inspiring islands that draw millions of visitors a year to this quiet province on the Andaman Sea. Without a doubt, visitors who come to this little corner of the world would…
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![SY Silolona confirmed host of the 2014 Asia Superyacht Rendezvous opening party [Video] | Thaiger](data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0naHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmcnIHZpZXdCb3g9JzAgMCAzMjggMjIwJz48L3N2Zz4=)
SY Silolona confirmed host of the 2014 Asia Superyacht Rendezvous opening party [Video]
PHUKET: Asia Superyacht Rendezvous 2014 organizers have confirmed that the event’s opening cocktail party will be hosted aboard a luxury superyacht. “As the Asia Superyacht Rendezvous starts preparations for another spectacular event in 2014, we are happy to announce that the opening night cocktail party will be held aboard the stunning superyacht SY Silolona,” said Lucy Powell, Asia Superyacht Rendezvous…
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Kid Expo: Everything a family needs
PHUKET: QSI International School Phuket will hold its first-ever “Kid Expo” this month, on April 27, from 1-5pm. The event will bring together dozens of local businesses that offer services and activities for children, aiming to provide “everything a family needs” in one place, so parents can see what is available for their children to do here on the island.…
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Seacon Group plans three new villa projects in Phuket worth Bt1 billion
PHUKET: Seacon Group plans to launch three new villa projects worth 1-billion baht in Phuket, aiming for sales growth of about 5 per cent this year as the property market in Bangkok has declined. The group’s executive director Piya Sosothikul said the company predicted that demand for homes in Phuket would grow by 15-20 per cent annually over the next…
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Central Festival holds Songkran fair
PHUKET: Central Festival Phuket has transformed the ground floor of the mall into a traditional temple fair for the Thai New Year holidays. At the main entrance shoppers can have a splashing good time enjoying traditional fun and games including greasy pole boxing, dunking damsels and building s sand Chedi at the Table Spoon Cafe. Songkran shoppers at Central Festival…
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Phuket Bike Week rolls into town
PHUKET: On April 11, Patong Beach welcomed thousands of motorcyclists and enthusiasts to Phuket Bike Week. With two decades of successful Bike Week’s under their belts, Phuket’s party-central has pulled it off again with a full schedule of activities amid a sea of bikes, babes and brews. Hawker stalls lined the boardwalk north of the stage, offering everything from alligator…
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![BISP students showcase their artistic talents [video] | Thaiger](data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0naHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmcnIHZpZXdCb3g9JzAgMCAzOTAgMTk3Jz48L3N2Zz4=)
BISP students showcase their artistic talents [video]
PHUKET: The British International School Phuket (BISP) Year 13 Visual Arts Exhibition was officially opened earlier this month, and students’ work will be available for viewing until April 24. The exhibition includes 48 unique pieces by three different student artists. In addition, the Year two students will have their elephant prints on display. The following is a transcript of the…
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Bicycling for barflies
PHUKET: Bicycling Baz is only too aware that his is not the only opinion when it comes to cycling in Phuket. With this in mind, he asked his erstwhile drinking associate, Hugo Barfly, to write an alternative viewpoint from the perspective of a well-padded bar stool in Rawai. Here’s Hugo’s take on cycling in Phuket. So, I was sitting there…
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Expat Business: Rocket Scientist and Phuket entrepreneur Don Battles tells his story tonight at RPM
PHUKET: NASA rocket scientist, farmer, entrepreneur, intellectual and whiskey-drinking former Phuket resident Don Battles will launch his autobiography ‘Merchant of the Orient’ tonight, 6:30pm, at the Speakeasy bar in Royal Phuket Marina. Now living in Chiang Rai in his 30th year of Thai residence, Don will also tell us what he thinks a foreigner needs to do – and not…
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At the mercy of the sea
There are two crazy Frenchmen sailing around the world on a tiny boat and they are here in Phuket but leaving in one hour. That was the first word we heard at the Gazette of the adventurers who were in Phuket on a brief hiatus from their voyage in Poseidon’s watery world. Scenes from great ocean-faring tales were instantly resurrected…
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Phuket’s Bike Week expects to host 50,000 riders
PHUKET: The 20th annual Phuket Bike Week starts next week in Phuket and is expected to draw 50,000 bikers from more than 30 countries. The six days of activities, stretching from April 11 to 19, will include stunt-riding shows, group rides, concerts, a beauty pageant, tattoo competition and on Songkran day, water play. From April 11 to 14, events will…
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Don Battles: Author of the Orient
PHUKET: From growing up in a poor family after the great depression, to rocket engineer during the Cold War missile and space-race era, to entrepreneur in Thailand during the turbulent 1997 financial crisis, and to successful chili farmer in China and Northern Thailand – Don Battles’ life could fill many books, but for now, one will have to suffice. The…
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Soi Dog Foundation completes Phuket stray dog sterilization program
PHUKET: The Soi Dog Foundation has completed a campaign to sterilize stray dogs in every area of Phuket with the aim of creating a healthy, sustainable canine population on the island. The program was completed last week, the foundation said. With cooperation from the province’s local authorities, the Soi Dog Foundation has sterilized and vaccinated more than 15,000 dogs and…
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![‘Music is My Life’ party kicks off tomorrow night at Diamond Beach Club [Video] | Thaiger](data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0naHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmcnIHZpZXdCb3g9JzAgMCAzOTAgMTQ0Jz48L3N2Zz4=)
‘Music is My Life’ party kicks off tomorrow night at Diamond Beach Club [Video]
The ‘Music is My Life’ party kicks off tomorrow night at Diamond Beach Club in Surin. Well known local club DJs Taz (Phuket House Mafia), Nemo (resident of Catch), James Dougall (Evil Twins) and an international DJ (former music director at Bed Supperclub in Bangkok) are set to perform some killer sets in tribute to DJ Josh Ezelle, a former…
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Whale shark and manta ray sightings abound in waters north of Phuket
PHUKET: Whale sharks and manta rays are the climax for divers’ wet dreams – though admittedly most divers’ dreams are wet. Unfortunately, the probability of sharing ocean space with both of these majestic marine creatures on a single trip is absurdly low, yet just north of Phuket at the Similan Islands, that’s exactly what’s happening. While many of us are…
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Wine evolution or wine revolution? – Dinner at the Boathouse Bar & Grill
PHUKET: There is more to question about the glass of wine on your dining table than the usual “Is it half full or half empty?” The world’s thirst for wine has turned fermented grape juice into a precious commodity, and what used to be, and luckily in many places still is, considered art, has been turned by the forces of…
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Phuket Music: Celebrating a life in music
PHUKET: The recent tragic death of well-known and respected club DJ Josh Ezelle in a motorcycle accident, which left his four-month-old son Christian fatherless, has inspired fellow DJs and performers who worked alongside him to organize an event to celebrate Josh’s life and gather support for the young family he left behind. The event titled “Music is my Life” will…
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Phuket Events: Phuket Bike Week 2014
PHUKET: Just in time for Songkran comes this year’s Phuket Bike Week 2014. Celebrating its 20th year, the event is expected to attract huge crowds of “rolling thunder” for the six days of festivities in Patong and Phuket Town. The first four days of the event will be hosted at Loma Park in Patong, from April 11-14. Activities will include…
![SY Silolona confirmed host of the 2014 Asia Superyacht Rendezvous opening party [Video] | Thaiger](https://thethaiger.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/3_201441815418332_qkRvQLEhNjoIsQmTVrTXmPmHurgDDcktcKslDpQt_jpeg.jpeg)
![BISP students showcase their artistic talents [video] | Thaiger](https://thethaiger.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/22_2014411144942941_LVltJRUBpgAMvddIyFNposURCVgyCscwlDtWqsLx_jpeg.jpeg)
![‘Music is My Life’ party kicks off tomorrow night at Diamond Beach Club [Video] | Thaiger](https://thethaiger.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/22_20143271638789_skDuzSiFgVjLRGtBRlVyEKkScLdOteSSGqzjmOsK_jpeg.jpeg)
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