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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    ICONSIAM launches 'Extraordinary Experience' campaign with iconic Thai street food

    ICONSIAM, a global landmark along the Chao Phraya River, offers a unique and diverse range of experiences to fulfil every need in an unprecedented way with the campaign "ICONSIAM Extraordinary Experience." This campaign aims to provide customers with unique and...

  • Phuket Health: Back to the bare basics

    Phuket Health: Back to the bare basics

    PHUKET: Dr Thomas Walton is the newest member of the team at Thanyapura’s Integrated Health Clinic in Thalang. In addition to being a Chiropractic Sports Physician, Dr Walton, a native of Buffalo, New York, is also a US-licensed Massage Therapist and National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) certified Personal Exercise Trainer, with some 25 years experience in the chiropractic profession.…

  • Phuket History: Early Portuguese forays into Siam

    Phuket History: Early Portuguese forays into Siam

    PHUKET: The Portuguese were the first European power to arrive in the Far-East and established a diplomatic relationship with Thailand, which at that time was known as the Kingdom of Siam. Portuguese diplomatic missions arrived in Siam in the early 16th Century. During that period the Kingdom’s capital and center of authority was based in the ancient city of Ayutthaya.…

  • Phuket Books: Whitey – Life of a Boston mob boss

    Phuket Books: Whitey – Life of a Boston mob boss

    PHUKET: In Martin Scorsese’s celebrated film, The Departed, Jack Nicholson turns in a bravura performance as a Boston Irish crime boss, throwing a maniacal rant against ‘rats’ (informers) in which he scrunches up his face and flashes rodent-like incisors. It’s one of the great moments of movie history. Ironically, Whitey Bulger, the real Boston mobster upon whom Nicholson’s character was…

  • Phuket Life: A botanical cornucopia – Gardening

    Phuket Life: A botanical cornucopia – Gardening

    PHUKET: I have just paid my first visit to the Phuket Botanic Garden. It is a relatively new enterprise, and in the way of novel horticultural enterprises, I did not expect to discover an extensive, superabundant or mature garden. Wrong on all counts. When I emerged two hours later, I felt overwhelmed by the sheer scope and size of the…

  • In focus: Staying safe at Phuket’s beaches

    In focus: Staying safe at Phuket’s beaches

    PHUKET: With the return of the annual southwest monsoon conditions, Phuket’s popular tourist beaches are at their most dangerous. Members of the fledgeling Phuket Livesaving club have once again warned tourists and locals to be vigilant about swimming safety. Lifeguards last year saved 333 swimmers. Video: PGTV Rip currents and powerful waves can easliy catch novice swimmers unaware, and even…

  • Phuket Health: Damage in a glass

    Phuket Health: Damage in a glass

    PHUKET: Newspaper articles often extol the potential health benefits of so-called moderate drinking, but while very small amounts can have some minimally beneficial effects, alcohol is a substance that does far more damage than good. For example, alcohol consumption can induce up to 60 diseases; is the third leading lifestyle-related cause of death; and, in the USA alone, is responsible…

  • Phuket Health: Doctor’s orders – Eat more chocolate!

    Phuket Health: Doctor’s orders – Eat more chocolate!

    PHUKET: Who doesn’t like dark chocolate? While the bitter taste of an 80 per cent variety might not be to everyone’s taste, recent studies from Harvard Medical School, Boston University School of Medicine, and the German Heart Journal, have shown that dark chocolate intake is associated with a 39 per cent lower risk of heart problems and stroke – that’s…

  • Phuket Life: Smooth sailing on the USS Nimitz [VIDEO] | Thaiger

    Phuket Life: Smooth sailing on the USS Nimitz [VIDEO]

    PHUKET: For anyone interested in military aviation, a chance to board the US aircraft carrier USS Nimitz is the opportunity of a lifetime – and a group of lucky Phuket reporters were invited aboard the mammoth floating airfield soon after it anchored off Cape Panwa recently. The Nimitz Strike Group includes the USS Princeton missile cruiser and nine flight squadrons.…

  • Taking the long-term view for Phuket’s property market

    Taking the long-term view for Phuket’s property market

    PHUKET: I figured I might as well go ahead and embarrass myself right out of the gates by making a bold prediction about where Phuket’s property market is headed. Unfortunately for you, my prediction is probably much longer term than you might be hoping to hear. It is based on a few simple principles, and I dare say that if…

  • Phuket Explore: A canter around Lanta – Blazing Saddles

    Phuket Explore: A canter around Lanta – Blazing Saddles

    PHUKET: Koh Lanta is about a four-hour drive south of the Sarasin Bridge and has been described by many as ‘paradise postponed’. The reason is that access to this lovely island is constrained by the need to cross two small pieces of sea by two extremely slow and decrepit vehicular ferries, which can take up to two hours to negotiate,…

  • Phuket Lifestyle: A great grill experience

    Phuket Lifestyle: A great grill experience

    PHUKET: When we organized our visit to The Grill at Regent Cape Panwa, the newest luxury resort on the cape, I was intrigued by general manager Brice Borin’s offer to show us the “Regent experience” as he put it. Later that week, sipping a cool drink at the open-air rooftop bar, watching a cruise liner sail off towards the horizon…

  • Phuket Gardening: “B’ is for bloomin’ beauties

    Phuket Gardening: “B’ is for bloomin’ beauties

    PHUKET: Well not all bloomin’ beauties. Take bamboo or bambusa for example, it does produce a blossom; after all, flowers are a necessary prelude to the more important business of procreation by seed dispersal. However, bamboo isn’t cultivated for its flowers, but for entirely different reasons. It is grown to create the ramrod-straight canes used commercially in scaffolding, or for…

  • Phuket to host Asian animation summit

    Phuket to host Asian animation summit

    PHUKET: Organizers of the second annual Asian Animation Summit (AAS) have announced that the 2013 event will take place in Phuket from December 9-11, following the Asia Television Forum. A five-star resort and spa on Karon Beach, to be announced, will host the summit, which seeks to promote co-production and co-financing of animation projects. The AAS is an annual event…

  • Phuket Property Watch: Beach blanket bingo at Bongo

    Phuket Property Watch: Beach blanket bingo at Bongo

    PHUKET: I can hear the distant pounding of bongos in the night. Of course, once you get passed 50, there is the sudden moment of terror and then the notion your heart is going to thump, thump, thump you right into the afterlife. Are there bongos in heaven or hell? But no, it’s definitely bongo madness out there somewhere in…

  • Phuket’s BIS students look to the future

    Phuket’s BIS students look to the future

    PHUKET: Students from the British International School Phuket (BIS) were all smiles on Friday, May 24 as they celebrated their graduation from the school’s International Baccalaureate (IB) program. There were 47 students in the Class of 2013 and no doubt all of them felt relieved to have completed the intensive two-year IB course. Students now begin the nail-biting wait to…

  • Phuket Property: Secure your home by phone | Thaiger

    Phuket Property: Secure your home by phone

    PHUKET: For many property owners in Phuket, security is a constant concern. If you are heading overseas or off-island for travel or business, there was previously no way to monitor your property while you were away. To increase their home security and personal convenience, many people are now turning to the increasingly affordable home automation and security products that have…

  • Phuket Health and Fitness: Learn to feel good

    Phuket Health and Fitness: Learn to feel good

    PHUKET: Recently the island hosted the second Rawai-Nai Harn Health and Wellness Festival during which a gathering of highly qualified practitioners led various sessions designed to help us all lead healthier, happier, more well-balanced lives. Phuket is certainly privileged in having so many of these heath practitioners living and working here, but their presence begs the question: “Why choose Phuket…

  • Phuket Gardening: ABC of plants – “A’ is also for almond

    Phuket Gardening: ABC of plants – “A’ is also for almond

    PHUKET: A couple of recent inquiries reminded me of another omission in my opening sorties on the subject of ‘A’ plants. Chris Sieber wrote to ask how he could find a source book where he could “find plant names in English, Latin and Thai.” And on the subject of almonds, he added: “About three years ago I brought three green…

  • Phuket Books: An education of life in the East

    Phuket Books: An education of life in the East

    PHUKET: Jerry Hopkins was present at the creation of Rolling Stone magazine and the early hippie days of West Coast rock. After penning the definitive biography of Jim Morrison – No One Here Gets Out Alive – he took off for a long sojourn in Hawaii. He’s been in Thailand now for 20 years, still writing books, three dozen of…

  • Fearless forecast for Phuket hotels; Branded residences capture investors’ interest

    Fearless forecast for Phuket hotels; Branded residences capture investors’ interest

    PHUKET: We are still less than five months into the Year of the Water Snake and as I sit at my desk on a rainy Sunday, my mood turns aquatic. I grind out any thoughts of the past, like stubbing out a spent cigarette with a worn heel of a scuffed pair of working shoes. Not content with only a…

  • Collaboration key element for Phuket’s Design and Decoration Exhibition

    Collaboration key element for Phuket’s Design and Decoration Exhibition

    PHUKET: AAA Exhibition & Training Co Ltd, in collaboration with the Phuket Chamber of Commerce and Thailand Variety Construction Magazine, are ready to stage the inaugural Phuket Design and Decoration Exhibition. The event will take place in the Grand Ballroom on the 2nd floor of the Royal Phuket City Hotel (click here for map), from May 30 to June 2,…

  • GiVE back!

    GiVE back!

    PHUKET: IT’S not only about rapid off-plan sell-outs for Sansiri Pcl; the real estate market leader is also known for setting the bar high in the realm of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Complementing the success of its Iodine Please and Sansiri Academy projects over the past few years, the property firm has raised the CSR standard yet again, setting a…

  • Service-minded sailors to shore up

    Service-minded sailors to shore up

    PHUKET: As the end of May draws near, the crews of the USS Nimitz, a prominent American Navy supercarrier, along with the USS Princeton, a Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser, are set to moor off Phuket for three days of shore leave – but it’s not just leisurely R&R that the crews have their sights on. Faithful crew, male and female,…

  • Phuket Food: Discover the delights of durian

    Phuket Food: Discover the delights of durian

    PHUKET: The ineffable flavor of the durian has been a source of intense debate among locals and visitors to Southeast Asia for centuries. There have been countless attempts at describing the fruit’s pungent smell and unique taste; it has been likened to roast almonds, rotten onions, old gym socks and even turpentine. While everyone has a different way of describing…

  • A meal among Phuket’s mangroves

    A meal among Phuket’s mangroves

    PHUKET: THE location of Chaiyo Seafood Riverside Restaurant is simply breathtaking. Situated in Bor Rae district of Phuket, beside Mudong Canal at the point where it meets the sea of Ao Yon Bay, Chaiyo is where diners come to enjoy local dishes and fresh seafood while watching the water ebb and flow. On the other side of the canal, the…

  • Phuket Gardening: Alpha shrubs start with ‘A’

    Phuket Gardening: Alpha shrubs start with ‘A’

    PHUKET: Last week we considered annuals, but today it is the turn of their big brothers – the shrubs and ornamental trees that form the backbone of any tropical garden (click here for last week’s article). Acalypha hispida, also known as the chenille plant or red cat’s tail, is alphabetically the first to come under scrutiny. Unlike its cousin, A.…

  • Phuket Cinema: Funny ghost love story breaks Thai box office records

    Phuket Cinema: Funny ghost love story breaks Thai box office records

    PHUKET: Thailand’s top grossing movie of all time, ‘Pee Mak Phrakanong’, stars five war buddies with black teeth and silly hairstyles. One still wears a toddler’s topknot of the Rattanakosin period, explaining, “I got sick when I was a kid and mom vowed that if I recovered I’d keep this hairstyle forever.”They face a fierce enemy together, suffer terribly, and…

  • Phuket Diving: Seahorse lovers asked to saddle up

    Phuket Diving: Seahorse lovers asked to saddle up

    PHUKET: Project Seahorse calls on all divers and marine enthusiasts to help with the recently launched three-year project aimed at studying the seahorses of Thailand. Seahorses were one of the first fish species to be added, in 2004, to Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which demands that countries…

  • The future of Phuket’s residential market

    The future of Phuket’s residential market

    PHUKET: According to leading real estate consultant, CBRE Thailand, Phuket’s residential market is experiencing a significant change in direction, which started late last year. The change is likely to be the most significant since the Asian crisis in 1997 and is driven by a number of factors – the entry of Bangkok-based and Thai public listed developers; the move towards…

  • Phuket Property Watch: How same-same drove me insane

    Phuket Property Watch: How same-same drove me insane

    PHUKET: It was a rainy Tuesday night, just last week, when I rolled over in bed and casually glanced at my wife, enveloped in the dark shadows of sleep. Suddenly, my heartbeat turned staccato, as it dawned on me that the woman next to me had not the familiar face of my wife, but, shockingly, turned out to be my…