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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Phuket Books: The Cambodian book of the dead
PHUKET: A veteran journalist on the Asian beat, Tom Vater certainly knows Cambodia. In the crime novel The Cambodian Book of the Dead (Crime Wave Press, Hong Kong, 2012, 287pp), his descriptions of Phnom Penh, Kep and Siem Reap are spot on. The hero is Maier (no first name) who grew up in East Germany under the communist government, where…
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Phuket Property: Tri Property launch Zcape X2 concept
PHUKET: Urban lifestyle condo concept developer Tri Property launched sales of the Zcape X2 Condominium in Cherng Talay on December 15, boasting unit reservations totalling more than 60 per cent over the first weekend of the two-week pre-sales period. Touted as perfectly priced condo units in a prime location, Tri Property CEO Adisorn Vivakanond said the Zcape X2 concept was…
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Phuket Property: The start of “Hobbit housing’ in Phuket
PHUKET: Jingle Bill, Jingle Bill. The very merry season is here again – already! Apparently so, given the greenscape in every retail space my eyes come to rest on. This year the epic film the Hobbit is upon us. Hobbits and Asian real estate have been simpatico for quite some time. Certainly this year in Thailand ‘entry-level condominiums’ have dominated…
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Phuket Property Watch: A home for the holidays
PHUKET: ‘Tis the season, here on the sunny island of Phuket yet again. I’m not quite sure exactly when the vanishing point starts to loom over life’s passage. Could it be 40? That’s well and truly passed like the aftertaste of one of those deadly tequila shooters that often ends a long night of social drinking. You can always recall…
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Phuket Lifestyle: Going for a “grubby’ Christmas
PHUKET: The holiday season is here and the Phuket geese are getting nervous. But tropical heat and looking good on the island’s beaches may require something a little lighter than all that turkey and Christmas pudding. As an alternative consider a Holiday Season dinner comprised of the local creepy-crawlies that many Phuketians love to eat. The Locust EatersInsects are full…
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Phuket Lifestyle: Flower power at Boathouse
PHUKET: Anyone who has ever tempted fate by trying the ersatz vegetarian food at Phuket’s annual Vegetarian Festival will more than likely agree that it’s all deep fried; it’s not actually very good for you; and while it may look like a sausage or a chicken drum-stick, it actually tastes like soaked cardboard.So when word got out that Marco Westmass,…
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Phuket Lifestyle: Children’s Christmas wishes
In the mouths of babes, sweet truths are laid… just behind the list for Santa.The Phuket Gazette asked local kids what they would like in their stockings this Christmas. PHUKET: There are, of course, quite a few iPads on Phuket wish-lists this year, but the Gazette tried hard to convince these choosy children that other brands were equally good and…
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Phuket Lifestyle: The trouble with Christmas tech
PHUKET: Choosing the best tech gadget for your Christmas treat can bring on the same sort of excitement a child exudes when he or she rips open their first present beneath the tree. Making an educated decision as to which of the range of gadgets is best for you can be a daunting task, especially when tech no longer comes…
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Asia Superyacht Rendezvous over for another year
PHUKET: The final day of the Asia Superyacht Rendezvous started with the second race around the bay. Captains and crew were slightly concerned that the wind would be too light, but eventually it started to blow and the fleet set off.Twizzle finished first, just four boat lengths ahead of Yanneke Too, with Asia following closely behind in position three. Once…
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Phuket Arts: Wolfe goes after blood
PHUKET: Tom Wolfe made his name with four collections of magazine stories published in rapid succession between 1965 and 1970 that chronicled the wild 1960s in hyperventilated prose, replete with ellipses, italics and… exclamation points! These grandiose ‘New Journalism’ stylistic tics have persisted throughout the decades. Wolfe is now 81. But give him credit for honest, dogged research. His book…
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Phuket Gardening: Gift-wrapped for gardeners
PHUKET: Garden tools. Ah…Hardly romantic, but, even at Christmas, likely to be appreciated by the hands-on horticulturalist. At the risk of sounding sexist, more for the men in your life. A simple choice would be a pair of secateurs. It doesn’t matter if the intended recipient has a pair – she can always keep another pair handy in the car.…
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Phuket Property Watch: Weary wayward night owls
PHUKET: My mother always said, “nothing good happens after midnight”. For travellers, the witching hours, between the dead of night and the dawn, are a subtle or shall we say ‘sublime’ last call. In past lives I’ve worked the night shift; as a bartender, blackjack dealer and hotel clerk. It’s a unique microcosm of the secret lives of strangers. I’m…
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Phuket Gardening: Native and imported plants
PHUKET: For the aspiring or experienced gardener, it’s always a good idea to go on a reconnaissance patrol to see what plants are thriving in your territory. And I refer not only to other gardens in Phuket, but also to everything else that fosters greenery – from roadsides, shore-lines, tree-clad slopes and scrub-land to plant nurseries. If a species is…
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Phuket Arts: The story of a teenage refugee
PHUKET: When Chris Cleave’s second novel The Other Hand (Sceptre, London, 2009, 378pp) was first published in the UK, it sold a mere 3,000 copies in hardback. Word of mouth spread, however, and by the time the novel was published in the US it became the top New York Times best seller. I had never heard of it, but a…
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Phuket Food: Three steps from heaven
PHUKET: Trisara is a very imposing but undeniably beautiful resort: Set on 40 acres of hillside lushness on the northwestern coast of Phuket, every one if its pool villas afford gorgeous sea-and-sunset-views out to a mysterious looking rocky promontory in the Andaman Sea. The resort is the sort of place that celebrities come to and, well, disappear for a few…
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Phuket Explore: Blazing Saddles
PHUKET: Welcome to Blazing Saddles as we take you on one of Phuket’s most famous and favorite bike rides, down to the charming southernmost beach on the island’s west coast, to Nai Harn. It’s a bleary 6am start as you clamber into your Lycra biking attire, adjust the funny codpiece bulging at the front of your shorts and wheel your…
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Phuket Diving: Building the reefs of the future
PHUKET: The texture from the flaking, oxidized iron of the 1700s hand grenade is a novelty in itself as we sit at five meters on the 1724 Guadalupe Underwater archaeological Preserve. The Dominican Republic “wreck” complete with ancient pieces of broken amphora pottery, ballast stones, cannons and other artifacts from the period, was developed as an underwater museum exhibit available…
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Phuket Lifestyle: Robin Gillow, the wandering artist
PHUKET: Robin Gillow’s paintings, now on display at Boathouse, remind the viewer of a disappearing style of country life found in Thailand.This talented South African began showing her drawings and paintings while still in school. She learned her craft while attending what’s now known as the National School of the Arts, in a program that included industrial design, sculpture, painting…
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Phuket Property: Lakeside living
PHUKET: The Lake House is a development of seven villas, located close to Laguna. Four of the villas are to be designed in a Thai-Balinese style and are ideal affordable homes for families. The villas will look out across a lake and come with a private swimming pool, jacuzzi, lush tropical gardens and an open sala entertainment area next to…
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Phuket Gardening: Marginal choices
PHUKET: There has been lots of hot air expended about marginals during the run-up to the American presidential election. In political terms, “marginals” are states where a few key votes may swing all the seats either in a Republican or Democratic direction. In the case of Florida, all 28 members elected to Congress. Marginals can be very important. In the…
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Phuket Property Watch: Lifestyles of the rich and famous
PHUKET: News reports from around the world have lamented the passing of the actor Larry Hagman, who was best known as TV villain JR Ewing. Now trending across the world-wide web, it’s somewhat surprising how global the JR brand still is, despite being missing from the airwaves for more decades than I care to count. Villains, tycoons, bad guys, and…
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Phuket Business: Thai property firms’performance up
BANGKOK: Recovering demand for home purchases in the third quarter boosted the financial results of most of Thailand’s top 10 listed property firms over the same quarter of last year. As a result, financial performance in the first nine months also improved, though some firms did report reductions in revenue and net profit in the first nine months. However, these…
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Phuket Diving: Exploring SSI
PHUKET: There are almost a hundred dive training agencies in the world. Over a dozen specialize in cave diving, even more in technical diving. However, the market is dominated by recreational dive training agencies. Even the second largest agency in the world is hardly more than a name to many divers on Phuket. Scuba Schools International (better known simply as…
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Phuket Books: An English literary institution
PHUKET: The Man Booker Prize is a big thing for the Brits. The Americans used to have the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction till that turned insufferably stodgy and was eclipsed by the National Book Award. But it still does not compare to the Man Booker. A great deal of fanfare goes into announcing the long list of candidates, then the…
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Phuket History: Ancient air-con
PHUKET: Historic architecture is fascinating. Architecture surviving from a particular time in history can tell us a lot about that period. For example, the cultural influences of the period, the way people lived, their religious beliefs and a lot more. One of the most interesting aspects of historical architecture is the clever designs and features that are purposely built into…
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On The Menu: Very Versace
PHUKET: Versace is a name synonymous with quality and style and so it is with Le Versace restaurant lounge bar, which is perched high on the northern hills above Patong. This brand new venue officially opens next month, offering not only fine dining, but one of finest views of Patong available. Its not often I get to feel like a…
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Phuket Lifestyle: Giving thanks to the goddess of water
PHUKET: Thailand is beginning preparations for Loy Krathong tomorrow, one of the most colorful Thai festivals. It is a time to give thanks to the goddess of water and seek forgiveness for past misdeeds. The festival always occurs on the evening of the full moon of the 12th Thai lunar month which this year falls on November 28. Loy literally…
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Phuket Pets: The power of your pet’s senses
PHUKET: Dogs inherited keen senses from their wolf ancestors, and its these attributes that enable them to play such a massive role in our lives. With their phenomenal sense of smell, dogs are being used to sniff out illegal narcotics, explosives – even pirate DVDs. Their sight and hearing capabilities help to assist the blind or deaf live more independent…
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Phuket Property: Courting Phuket’s LGBT community
PHUKET: CC Bloom’s Hotel has been re-opened under the name ‘CC’s Hideaway’, a 42-room luxury full service hotel nestled in the hills overlooking the Andaman Sea in Karon, Phuket. CC’s Hideaway will be celebrating their grand re-opening party on Friday November 30, with an event called ‘Rise of the Phoenix Party’ featuring Ultra Nate from the USA, along with other…
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Phuket Property Watch: Finding the center of gravity
PHUKET: When I was in school, science classes usually just elicited a big yawn and most likely you’d find me ditching the enforced boredom for a smoke out back of the gym. Be it biology, physics or even branching out to those other affiliated headaches like algebra, calculus. My short breaks became afternoon off’s. Ferris Bueller only dabbled in this…
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