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 Where to shop for sports gear at Jungceylon Phuket
Phuket might be known for its beaches and nightlife, but the island also has a thriving fitness culture. From Muay Thai gyms to beach runs at sunrise, staying active is part of daily life for many who live here (as...
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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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Phuket Property: B1bn condominium in a prime location
PHUKET: The recently founded, Bangkok-based Able Asset developer group has announced plans to launch a billion baht, low-rise condominium project on a centrally-located parcel of prime Phuket real estate. Touted to be the biggest project of its kind on the island, the ‘Centrio’ condo will be developed on a plot that spans some 2,100 square meters, just opposite Central Festival…
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Phuket Books: A head-spinning adventure
PHUKET: So far, Colin Cotterill has written seven novels in the Dr Seri Series, which tell of the misadventures of the National Coroner of Laos who emerges from thirty years in the jungle with the Pathet Lao after their victory in 1975. Now he’s has switched to a new Jimm Juree series in modern day Thailand. Jimm Juree is a…
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Phuket Lifestyle: Drug addiction – Yassine’s cautionary tale
PHUKET: Morocco over the years has been romanticized by Hollywood and through the prose of numerous authors. It’s a place that conjures up images of bazaars, palaces and bustling market squares. But the vision of Morocco from those looking in, is a lot different to the one Yassine Darkaoui endured while looking out from the Northern city of Tangiers. Yassine…
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Phuket Lifestyle: Life Home Project preps for World AIDS Day
PHUKET: At the British International School (BIS), CAS students are making Christmas cards for Life Home Project, a Phuket-based charity that cares for mothers and children affected by HIV/ AIDS. CAS stands for ‘Creativity, Action, Service’ and is an integral part of the school’s IB program as CAS student Visnu Khanijou explained: “We are making the cards to help raise…
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Phuket Lifestyle: SKÃ…L members give up their shirts for charity
PHUKET: Phuket’s Skål club is planning some playful revelations at their gala charity fundraiser on Saturday, December 8, at Bliss Beach Club on Bang Tao beach. The Full Monty is the name of the event and yes, it means that some of the island’s most attractive hotel managers will be taking it all off to benefit both the club’s scholarship…
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Phuket Property Watch: The secret lives of wallflowers
PHUKET: A few days ago I fell off a cliff. Never mind the ominous sounding fiscal cliff that is now the global buzzword as we move into Obama Part 2. Hopefully the Pres can keep on walking the tightrope as he has deftly done for the past three years. Apparently Teflon doesn’t tarnish. My perilous downfall was much more surprising,…
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Phuket Lifestyle: Blazing Saddles
PHUKET: THE thought of cycling around Phuket probably enters most people’s minds about as frequently as wondering what it would be like to thrust a live cobra down the front of their underwear.However, cycling around Phuket is undoubtedly growing in popularity, despite the obvious challenges associated with the endeavor. On most days in the early dawn mist you’ll see phalanxes…
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Phuket Diving: Dive Bunny takes plunge
PHUKET: A lion fish is out in the open just over the sands of Kata Beach, but before a photo can be taken there is a sudden commotion. Dive instructor ‘Scuba Nick’, eyes wide-open, rips off his mask and reaches for his student’s regulator. Ex-British military, Nick is a big guy, with big hands going for the second stage of…
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Phuket Lifestyle: Watching the birds disappear
PHUKET: As we left Chao Fah Road and turned onto a dirt path, a truck carrying sand drove past, bobbing under its own heavy weight as it negotiated muddy potholes, made as a result of the recent heavy rainfall.“This sand is ‘pillaged’ from the lagoons around here,” says my nature photographer friend Rat, emphasizing the word ‘pillage’.We are here to…
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Thai Gallery: Charn Ditkajan
PHUKET: The young tattooing master, Charn Ditkajan, exudes an air of grace and calm authority. He has just performed a four-hour-long tattoo inscription for an Italian gentleman, but shows no sign of fatigue. “I silently chant mantras during the session to keep me focused and restore my energy,” he explains with a distinguished Supanburi accent known among Thais for its…
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Phuket Property: How to acquire Thai property
PHUKET: Separating emotional excitement from the need to impartially assess the risks of an important investment when purchasing a dream home is not easy. A real estate agent may have shown the purchaser glamorous photographs and conducted a personalized tour, so the desire to sign on the dotted line might impair the purchaser’s judgment. The real estate industry in Thailand,…
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Holiday Inn opens in Ao Nang
PHUKET: The Holiday Inn brand has arrived on the coastline of Krabi with the company taking over the 55-guestroom Sala Talay Resort and Spa on Ao Nang beach recently. “We are pleased to announce the initial phase of the opening of our first Holiday Inn property in this beautiful region of Krabi.” says Steve Ng, the general manager of the…
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