Thai Life
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Multihull winners announced after a brisk day’s racing
PHUKET: With podium places on the line, the nervous excitement and anticipation of a great day’s sailing was clear to see by the feel at the breakfast tables around the Phuket Yacht club. What made it even better, Mother Nature decided to grace Chalong Bay with a westerly breeze of 10 to 12 knots, which promised to grow throughout the…
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Profile: Simon James – Phuket’s jet-setting race officer
PHUKET: The yachts may change, the weather always, but one constant in the Phuket yacht racing firmament is Race Officer Simon James. Up at the crack of dawn and ready on the start line as the racers roll out their sails, Simon James has officiated at almost every regatta in the Andaman and the Gulf of Thailand since the turn…
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B9mn allocated for pier improvements
PHUKET: A budget of 9 million baht has been allocated to spruce up Chalong Pier with plans to improve facilities for the hundreds of tourists who visit the ferry point daily. Transportation Division Chief Prasit Yotharak of the Phuket Provincial Administrative Organization (PPAO) said last week that renovation plans include more seating, more toilets, shower stalls and a Muslim prayer…
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Across the land: Expats hit by Brexit fallout
PHUKET: Two days after the United Kingdom held a referendum to leave the European Union (EU), now famously known worldwide as ‘Brexit’, the global financial markets suffered US$3 trillion in paper losses. The aftermath is eerily quiet. The consequences of Brexit will unfold in the coming months and years ahead, and they will be far-reaching. Good or bad, they will…
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Property Watch: Implications of Condo Act and Hotel Act for Phuket
PHUKET: It can be completely legal to operate a hotel in a condominium, but there are lots of laws, regulations and requirements to comply with and meet. Recently, there has been controversy stirred up by announcements of enforcement of existing laws where unlicensed and non-compliant hotel operations are being thrown out of condominiums. I note it is often those who…
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Profile: DJ Retro hits the Phuket stage
PHUKET: Jeff Retro, a DJ from a top night club in Las Vegas, performed for thousands of guests at Illuzion night club in Patong on July 9. Jeff has been a DJ for about 15 years now. He was born in Ohio and comes from a musical background. He was raised by a single mother who majored in music in…
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Excuse Buster: Energizing smoothie to jump start your day
PHUKET: A lot of people ask me about how to make the perfect smoothie. Here are my steps on how to build a great green smoothie that is a meal containing fibrous carbs (veggies), protein and good fats, and is packed full of nutrition. A lot of my clients start the day with this formula and tweak it to suit…
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Blazing Saddles: Cycling and your sex life
PHUKET: There is no doubt that cycling is tremendously beneficial for your body and you only have to look at the fine physiques of such super-cyclists with strong Phuket associations as Chris McCormack, Clint Kimmins, Belinda Granger and Anan Duangsopa in order to see how true this is. But how good is cycling for your sex life and does it…
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Suffering for the sake of education
PHUKET: Just by reading this you are doing something 611,000 children in Thailand cannot do, which is to read at the most basic level. The Asia Center Foundation is a well-established organization doing great work here in Phuket. They provide basic education as well as safe houses for the poorest of the poor – helping not only Thai but Burmese…
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On Deck: BREXIT and the Phuket marine industry
PHUKET: Rather a lot has changed since my last column, at least in Europe. BREXIT. Lots has been said and written – lies, assumptions, crystal ball gazing and all the political back-biting that comes with such a momentous decision. I won’t go through the details here – there are many better qualified than myself for that – but I will…
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Profile: Trailblazer in Phuket journalism
PHUKET: Janjira Sittabutr, originally from Songkhla, is the president of the Phuket Reporter Club. She has been working at Manager Newspaper for more than 20 years. She’s written many articles about Phuket, especially in-depth and developing stories during and after the 2004 tsunami. “I never expected to end up being a reporter. But it’s been so long that it feels…
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Keep It Green: Care for the natural environment
PHUKET: I was once sitting in an open-air Chalong eatery when six uniformed girls arrived for lunch. Obviously part of a team, they ordered a communal dish, which duly arrived: a large steaming bowl of “tom yam kung” and six smaller bowls. One girl took it upon herself assiduously to clean each bowl by rubbing it with three pink tissues.…
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Land & Houses brings new residential project to Koh Kaew
PHUKET: Property developer Land & Houses has opened new doors for families in Phuket with the residential development ’88 Land & Houses Koh Kaew’. Construction of the gated community is set to be completed by 2018. About 50 per cent of the 140 units have already been sold and new owners have started to move in. Located on Thepkrassatri Road,…
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Hair-raising experience at Hollow Mountain
PHUKET: Hollow Mountain Extreme Adventure Park in Krabi has a perfect score on Trip Advisor, with 54 five-star ratings out of 54 ratings. That’s no feat to scoff at – particularly not these days when everyone wants free wireless internet and zero mosquitoes wherever they go – and it’s especially impressive considering that they’ve only been open for one year.…
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Thai animal cruelty campaign wins top honors at Cannes
PHUKET: An awareness campaign by Bangkok-based advertising agency Ogilvy & Mather won five awards at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity held late last month. Their video shows ‘Leatherworks’, a typical pop-up shop of luxury goods located inside a large shopping center in Bangkok. Unsuspecting shoppers are filmed browsing through rows of snake-skin shoes and crocodile-skin handbags, but once…
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Diving: To splurge or not to splurge
PHUKET: Like most people new to freediving, as well as many experienced divers, I have a desire to go deeper to set new personal bests. Also, like many divers, my head is so full of inaccurate and misleading information that a faulty premise on how to do this is floating in my mind: “I need to buy stiff, carbon fiber…
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Properly maintaining granite counter tops
PHUKET: If you buy new or upgrade, most likely you will choose granite counter tops. First remember that not all granite is equal. Granite is a lot harder than marble and easier to maintain, but experience shows, liquids can soak in to polished granite. If you notice a spill, clean it up right away and you may not be left…
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Ready, steady, get Footloos
PHUKET: The multi-billion-baht Phuket tourism industry caters to adventurers and wellness seekers from across the globe, with a seemingly endless stream of tour companies offering a multitude of services. Now imagine if you could get all these services in a few clicks on a single platform. That, in short, is the idea behind Footloos, an online marketplace dedicated to an…
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Unemployed primate released into wild due to ‘depression’
PHUKET: Pom, an eight-year-old unemployed monkey raised by a Bang Jo couple since he was two, has been let go because the family who owned him could not bear to see him depressed. Pom used to work as a coconut picker and also helped to peel coconuts at his owner’s coconut oil factory. A few months ago, coconut prices shot…
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Boat Pattana announces new luxury villa project
PHUKET: Boat Pattana Co Ltd announced a new ‘limited edition’ high-end villa construction in progress in Phuket on June 13. “The project, named ‘Deva Escape’, will be located on the Bypass Road (Chalermprakiat Ror 9 Road) near IKEA, starting at 34 million baht for villas ranging 1157.6-1642.92 square meters,” said Panupong Kritchanarat, chief executive officer of Boat Pattana Co Ltd.…
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Property Watch: Unanswered questions in the Thai property market
PHUKET: I will admit, to anyone who asks, that consultancy services often involve assisting people with the kind of matters for which they should perhaps go to the authorities to receive assistance and guidance. Nevertheless, for one reason or another, consultancy services often involve providing advice to clear up uncertainties over laws, rules and regulations that are difficult to understand…
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Smart Life: Foundations of the next technological age
PHUKET: This is the first in a series of articles designed to engage the ultimate architects of smart cities: the mums and dads, the social workers, the councilors, small business owners… really the people that make up the city. The next technology revolution has the potential to manage, and maybe even unwind the damage caused by the last one. Many…
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Profile: Phuket’s Deputy Chief Judge Boonjuan Panich
PHUKET: Boonjuan Panich from Trang Province is the current deputy chief judge of the Phuket Court. He is also the president of the Trang-Phuket Club – a group of Trang natives living and working in Phuket. Now 49 years old, Mr Boonjuan has achieved much from a humble childhood as the second son of a rubber plantation worker in rural…
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Lub d hostel opens in Phuket
PHUKET: Lub d Phuket Patong is a new hostel set to open on July 19 with the aim of attracting modern-day backpackers who are looking for a laid back, affordable and convenient travel experience. Although the concept is a relatively new one for Patong accommodation, it is the latest in a line of similar successful hostels in Bangkok: Lub d…
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Tsunami survivor’s tale turned into Regent’s Park stage production
PHUKET: The Regent’s Park Open Air Theater in London staged its largest-ever performance last month, inspired by a true story of resilience, courage and man’s relationship with nature. The play is set during the Indian Ocean tsunami that struck Phuket, and devastated large areas in Southeast Asia more than a decade ago. A cast of more than 50 exceptional young…
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Blazing Saddles: When in Phuket, do as Brisbane does
PHUKET: Queensland’s capital city of Brisbane has a population of 2.3 million people, some four times the official figure for Phuket. Yet driving around Brisbane, as I did recently, you could be forgiven for thinking you were in a quiet country town. The traffic flows efficiently and there are rarely any bottlenecks, or congestion, with which to contend. Certainly Brisbane…
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Profile: Jiradech Chittawong – Born with the healing touch
PHUKET: Jiradech Chittawong, or Charlie Arm, as he is better known to his friends, is a physiotherapist from Hat Yai. Just 23 years of age, his clients refer to him as a ‘miracle worker’. He graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in physiotherapy from the Prince of Songkla University (PSU) Hat Yai Campus two years ago. “I spent my last year…
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Looking Back: A Brief History of Thong Dee (Part 2)
PHUKET: Picking up from where I left off in part one of the history of Thong Dee, in 1765, the Burmese invaded Siam with the aim of crushing Ayutthaya. King Ekkathat tried desperately to defend his country from the invaders. When Ayutthaya came under siege, the king sent word to Phraya Taksin for assistance. Taksin assessed the situation and believed…
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Excuse Buster: Effects of cortisol on your body
PHUKET: The hormone cortisol is considered the ‘stress’ hormone because it plays a major role in the function of our body during times of stress. Cortisol is secreted by the adrenal glands. You have probably heard of the term ‘adrenal fatigue’, otherwise known as ‘burnout’, and may have suffered from this common 21st-century condition. Well, this hormone appears to play…
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By the Book: Benefits of professional real estate photography
PHUKET: Professional real estate photography is more essential than ever before, when marketing any type of property for sale. Between 2008 and 2012 real estate searches on Google grew over 253 per cent, with 90 per cent of buyers beginning their searches online (nearly 30 per cent of those using mobile devices). Listings with professional photos generated an average of…
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