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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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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Phuket Reminder: AMCHAM meeting to shed light on Phuket history
PHUKET: This evening the Phuket Chapter of the American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM) is proud to promote the island’s heritage through the launch of Colin Mackay’s new book, A History of Phuket and the Surrounding Region, one of the first publications of record to so thoroughly examine the little-known history of the island and its neighboring provinces in the Andaman…
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Phuket People: Chanchai Doungjit
PHUKET: As the director of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) office in Phuket, Chanchai Doungjit needs no introduction. In a province where tourism is the main livelihood for most of the population and the industry’s marketing needs to be robust, the director is always in the media.Just before our interview, Chanchai had been in a weekly meeting with the…
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Phuket Lifestyle: Saddle sore; Meditate for charity
Saddle sore but satisfiedPHUKET: On January 28 local expat James Mason left Tiger Muay Thai camp in Chalong (one of his main sponsors) to cycle 890 kilometers to Rainbow House, a home for disabled or abandoned children, in Bangkok. James, who used to weigh 235 kilos, was given five years to live by a doctor in the UK until joining…
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Escape from Boracay
PHUKET: Timing is everything, and my recent sortie to the Philippines for island hopping was ill advised. I’m stuck in the middle of what they are politely calling a ‘tropical depression’, or what could eventually become a typhoon. The depression thing reminds me of Tony Soprano and his psychiatrist: “So how are you feeling today Tony?” Yesterday’s highlight was a…
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A classic urban legend
PHUKET: This is quite an old story, reckoned by folklorists to date back at least 70 years. It’s a comedy staple, in fact, having turned up in numerous recordings, radio shows, movies and novels since the 1930s. It was published as a “True Fact” by National Lampoon in 1986, when it also happened to be circulating as “office faxlore”. More…
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Phuket Property: Centrio condominium to be launched in town
PHUKET: Property developer, Able Asset Co Ltd are excited about their upcoming development in Phuket Town, Centrio, a condominium to be built on 2,100 square meters of land close to Central Festival, comprising three eight-storey buildings with a total of 504 units. Kasidit Manopinives, managing director of Able Asset Co Ltd, spoke to the Phuket Gazette about Centrio and his…
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Phuket Entertainment: Stumble into the Walking Dead
PHUKET: If you haven’t seen the Walking Dead, let’s have a short recap – for you ‘dead heads’ out there – sit tight, we’ll be with you in a minute. Based on a comic book series of the same name, the Walking Dead is an American television drama about a small group of survivors searching for shelter in an inhospitable…
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Phuket Books: So it is with San Miguel
PHUKET: Anything by T Corahessan Boyle is worth reading. His first two novels – Water Music, about two African expeditions up the Niger by 18th century Scottish explorer Mungo Park, and Budding Prospects, about modern day marijuana growers in northern California – rank among the two funniest novels ever written in English – are wildly exuberant dances of demonic prose.…
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Phuket Gardening: A motley crew of variegated plants
PHUKET: When Shakespeare used the expression “motley”, he meant the multi-colored garb of the court jester, also known as the harlequin or fool. His role was to crack jokes, behave foolishly and thereby divert and amuse the King. In the nineteenth century, the Italian composer Leoncavallo told one of his characters in Il Pagliaggi to press “on with the motley”,…
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Phuket Property: Como at Yamu
PHUKET: COMO Hotels and Resorts, the award-winning five-star hotel group based in Singapore, is to develop and manage a new property on the Yamu peninsula of Phuket. This property is the tenth member of the COMO family of unique destinations and is scheduled to open in November this year. Point Yamu offers 109 rooms, including 30 private villas, with panoramic…
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Phuket Property: Express your inner self
PHUKET: Holiday Inn Express has opened its first property on Phuket, providing savvy leisure travelers with affordable comfort in a prime central location. The Holiday Inn Express Phuket Patong Beach Central has all the characteristics that guests expect of the trusted global brand.The 277-room hotel defines “smart travel” by combining comfort and convenience with proximity and price. Only a few…
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Phuket Property Watch: And then came Layan
PHUKET: Thinking of owning property in an island paradise? Swaying coconut trees, tropical drinks in day-glow colors and of course the ultimate deal closer – the beach. Let’s take an example, someone named Dieter, snowbound in Bavaria, with subzero weather, a veritable glacier outside the front door and packs of wolves howling at the moon. Maybe the wolf thing is…
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Phuket Books: A life of crime
PHUKET: Dennis Lehane has written ten crime novels and the best of them – Mystic River, Shutter Island, Gone, Baby, Gone – have been made into superlative movies. His turf is Boston, specifically its tough Irish neighborhoods. His new novel, Live by Night (Little, Brown, New York, 2012, 403pp), opens brilliantly: “Some years later, on a tugboat in the Gulf…
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Phuket Gardening: The ‘who’s hue’ of ornamental leaves
PHUKET: Foliage plants, as we noted last week, are cultivated mainly for their ornamental leaves. But such a bald statement requires qualification. After all, many flowering plants also have attractive foliage, and this is especially true in the tropics where the tendency is for most leaves to be evergreen and glossy. Nor am I thinking of foliage plants, which originate…
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Phuket Dining: “Up’ market beach dining
PHUKET: What’s Up? Well, for one thing it’s a delightful new beach club at the southern end of Nai Thon beach. There have been a number of beach clubs popping up around Phuket, some successful, others less so but this recently opened Up Beach Club seems to have the mix just right. For one thing they have kept the concept…
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Phuket Humor: Why is English so hard to learn?
PHUKET: Let’s face it, English is a ridiculous language. There is no egg in eggplant, nor ham in a hamburger; neither apple nor pine in a pineapple. English muffins were not invented in England, nor French fries in France. Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which aren’t sweet, are meat. You cannot buy boots in Boots, you cannot buy virgins in…
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Phuket Lifestyle: Meet Marie G formerly known as HSL 1198
PHUKET: In the first quarter of the last century a brilliant engineer from England called Hubert Scott-Paine founded a company named Supermarine, which designed and built high performance aircraft, culminating in the legendary Spitfire of WW2 fame. By the end of the 1920s Scott-Paine wanted a change, so he sold his shares and invested in a new venture – the…
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Phuket Pets: Shaving your hairy dog
PHUKET: I’ve written about this before, and it’s a hot topic (no pun intended) among dog owners in Phuket. The key question is, “Can I shave my dogs’ fur coat?”. It seems logical – we look at our panting dogs and think that we couldn’t cope with a fur coat all day, so clearly they can’t. But we’re applying human…
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Phuket Music: Kilgora’s mango metal invasion
PHUKET: Kilgora is a local metal band that joins together the forces of three European expats: Norwegian Jon Ramslie (guitar/vocals), Frenchman Stephan Audiger (bass), and Englishman Huwy Williams (drums). Based in Phuket, the band says their music reflects a variety of influences from “Stoner to Thrash Metal and Oriental music, all in a brutal and melodic melting pot lovingly termed…
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Phuket Property: Finding the balance between culture and a modern lifestyle
PHUKET: Highlighting Sansiri PCL’s confidence in the island’s condominium market, the Bangkok-headquartered firm has launched sales for ‘THE BASE Height-Phuket’ in the Sam Kong area of Phuket Town. As the third ‘THE BASE’ branded project on the island, following successful launches of the ‘Downtown’ and ‘Uptown’ projects also in Phuket Town, the ‘Height-Phuket’ is ideal for the young working generation,…
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Phuket Books: One more head for the chopping block
PHUKET: In my last column, I reviewed Hilary Mantel’s extraordinary novel Wolf Hall, winner of the 2009 Man Booker Prize (click here), which chronicled the rise of Thomas Cromwell from a blacksmith’s son to trusted advisor to King Henry VIII. Three years later, Mantel won a second Man Booker Prize for her sequel Bring Up the Bodies (Henry Holt and…
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Phuket Diving: A communal recovery from the myths of DCS
PHUKET: Recovered from her diving accident, Nicole still combs through the details of the day, searching for the tiny factors that might have contributed to the serious case of neurological decompression sickness (DCS Type II) she faced a year and half ago after a 22-meter dive in the Similan National Park. Unless it’s a ruthless horror story about DCS, where…
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Phuket Lifestyle: A Rotary roundup; Golf tourney
PHUKET: Members of the Rotary Club of Patong Beach recently purchased some much-needed necessities for the Banjo school for migrant workers with money raised by the club. “Supercheap arrived at the school and assembled the goods one hour before they were expected,” said Club member Patricia Mitchell. “Consequently, Stewart and I arrived to find the children and teachers happy and…
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Phuket Lifestyle: Rally round the family
PHUKET: Gentlemen, start your engines. A family event dedicated to making a positive difference is racing back to Phuket for the third straight year. The Phuket Invitational Car Rally is a family day out like no other. You won’t need to pack a food hamper or fix the ski rack, just fill up with fuel, bring the family and make…
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Phuket Lifestyle: Nishamon Paiboonnukulkij
PHUKET: Nishamon ‘Eve’ Paiboonnukulkij was in Phuket recently to meet prospective customers before launching an Italian furniture store, Natuzzi. The showroom is the latest branch of Euro Creations, a Bangkok-based leading retailer and importer of high-end home furnishing. Nishamon, the company’s marketing manager, is charged with driving Natuzzi forward and making it known. Nishamon, 27, holds a degree in education…
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Phuket Property: Travel summit votes on key issues
PHUKET: The nation’s pre-eminent gathering of tourism and travel industry experts has concluded that while Thailand looks headed for its best year for tourist numbers and revenues ever, action to legalize gaming, improve infrastructure and attract ‘quality’ travellers was urgently needed ahead of moves to introduce the Asean Economic Community (AEC). More than 350 tourism industry movers and shakers attended…
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Phuket Property Watch: Tourism heads off to the mall
PHUKET: ‘Bling bling’ goes the ringing in my head, as I frantically search out my missing car in the massive underground car park at one of the island’s ubiquitous shopping malls. I am not at all prepared for the event, which has taken on a real life adventure of Stanley and Livingstone proportions. Where is Indiana Jones when you need…
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Phuket Property: New deal for Marriott
PHUKET: Marriott International recently announced the signing of seven management agreements with TCC Hotels Group, which means the US hospitality company will operate seven TCC hotels across Thailand.These agreements make the TCC Hotels Group the largest owner of Marriott International hotels in Asia Pacific. The seven hotels are: The Imperial Queen’s Park Hotel, Bangkok, to be rebranded as Bangkok Marriott…
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Phuket Lifestyle: Local bands – global battle
UPDATE: The Phuket Gazette has recently learned from the organizer that the GBOB Thailand Phuket show has been cancelled as one of the main investors pulled out at the last minute, and therefore the show could not go on as planned. PHUKET: The Global Battle of the Bands (GBOB) – one of the world’s largest independent music competitions – is…
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Phuket Blazing Saddles: The power of Yao
PHUKET: This week we head off Phuket to a quieter parallel universe called Koh Yao Noi where time seems to stand still and the cycling is relaxed and easygoing. For even the most party-loving souls, Phuket is becoming frenetic, crowded and often stressful. If you are a cycling aficionado this is especially true as pedaling around Phuket is always challenging…
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