Phuket Culture | The Phuket News

Duals with the Dutch - The Honourable East India Company in Siam

Monday 10 September 2018 09:00 AM

In late December 1600, as the winter dark fell over the drizzling, grim but bustling streets of London, passersby may have heard a cheer emanate from the lamp-lit windows of a building in Leadenhall St. Inside were some of the city’s leading lords and merchants who had just agreed to form a joint stock trading company for undertaking eastern trade, the Honourable East India Company or HEIC, which was given a monopoly by the king over all eastern trade.

Slave to the rhythm - The natural phenomena of entrainment

Phuket Life / Culture

Saturday 8 September 2018 09:00 AM

It was in Paris, 1666, that Christiaan Huygens, the Dutch physicist, became rather baffled. Huygens had invented the pendulum grandfather clock, along with a wide range of classic mechanics and mathematical physics formula for which he would become renowned. But his attention had turned to a surprising observation on the behaviour of two swinging pendulums.

Sunk Cost Error - The irrationality behind decision making

Phuket Life / Culture

Saturday 1 September 2018 09:00 AM

Here’s the scenario. Last week you thought it was a really smart manoeuvre to purchase tickets to see a new-fangled guitar band at a venue in Patong. Now it’s Friday night after a long week at work and sitting in rush-hour traffic. The concert starts in two hours, and whatever rock demon that possessed you to buy the damn ticket in the first place has left the building. And if it couldn’t get any worse, you’re south of the Chalong Circle. Great. In truth, you’re less than enamoured about the whole affair.

Hungry ghosts, red turtles - The Por Tor Festival

Phuket Life / Culture

Friday 31 August 2018 12:00 PM

The Twenty-four Filial Exemplars is a classic Chinese text of Confucian family piety written by Guo Jujing during the Yuan dynasty (1260–1368). The text is an example of, in certain cases, extreme actions to fulfilling familial obligations. From killing offspring to free up their ration of food, breastfeeding toothless grandparents to tales of rather gruesome self harm, it’s not without its controversy nor for the faint of heart.

All for one, one for all - Why gay marriage has been a no-go in Buddhist Thailand

Phuket Life / Culture

Monday 27 August 2018 09:00 AM

Although once thought of as a ‘gay man’s paradise,’ Thailand has done a lot in recent years to dispel that notion. There is still no gay marriage to be found here and many foreign guests, dignitaries and tourists would like to know why… and, as usual, the answer all comes down to culture.

Rainbow Unicorns - How to make out marketers and not be influenced by them

Phuket Life / Culture

Saturday 18 August 2018 09:00 AM

“Sure you can sell vulnerable people some total **** and make a killing. You can also shove old ladies to the ground and snatch their purses. Same thing, scumbag.” - Buster Guru (Ethical Marketing Blogger)

Joy to The World! Buddhism spreads around the globe.

Phuket Life / Culture

Sunday 12 August 2018 09:15 AM

For any of you tourists out there who just got to this sunny little mountainous rock astride the Andaman Sea that is otherwise known as ‘Phuket’, you will find that we have great reason to celebrate.

Reach of the ancient empire. Were the Greeks or Romans in Phuket or the Peninsula?

Phuket Life / Culture

Friday 10 August 2018 09:00 AM

“The beautiful vessels, the masterpieces of the Greeks, stir white foam on the Periyar River … arriving with gold and departing with pepper.”

The masked dance of The Khon, Thailand’s National Epic Drama.

Phuket Life / Culture

Thursday 19 July 2018 12:00 PM

The Khon is a traditional Thai dance drama which includes part masked dance and part play. Originally the Khon was only performed at the royal court. Traditionally, similar to Shakespearean dramas, the roles were played merely by men wearing masks and by narrators who told the Ramakien story on which the Khon is mainly based.

Sirinya’s World: Taking life in a stance

Phuket Life / Culture

Sunday 1 July 2018 10:00 AM

Representations of the Buddha can be found throughout Thai temple compounds. The Buddha is represented as either a statue or in mural painting as an idealized image of the Great Buddha who lived in northeast India in the 6th century BC. He is commonly shown in either of the following four positions: seated, standing, walking, and reclining. The Buddha’s hand gesture and posture refer to important events in his life.

All About Buddhism: Somewhere over the rainbow

Phuket Life / Culture

Sunday 17 June 2018 02:00 PM

Have you ever taken the time to ask yourself why it rains? It’s a question that many people answer very differently. In last month’s AAB, we spoke about suicide. But, in this month’s column we are going to talk about something that is quite the opposite… a place that I like to call “over the rainbow”.

Phuket History: Sex in early Siam

Phuket Life / Culture

Sunday 17 June 2018 11:00 AM

Many early observers of local culture in Phuket and the surrounding areas noted that women played the dominant role in commercial trade as well as within their private households.

Phi Ta Khon Festival in Loei begins

Phuket Life / Culture

Saturday 16 June 2018 02:22 PM

LOEI: The Ministry of Culture is set to host Phi Ta Khon, also known as the ghost mask festival, in Loei province this weekend, with the three-day festival starting today (June 16).

Phuket History: Indians have long sailed the monsoon winds to trade on the Andaman coast

Phuket Life / Culture

Sunday 3 June 2018 02:00 PM

The annual monsoon winds in Asia take their name from the Arabic word “mausim”, meaning seasonal. They are caused by the heating up and rising of the air over the hot central Asian landmass in the summer.

All About Buddhism: Suicide is not painless

Phuket Life / Culture

Sunday 3 June 2018 10:30 AM

The date is May 14, 2014 and a man is giving a stand-up lecture. Far from being an academic, he’s actually a retired police officer. During his career, he had the unique responsibility of patrolling San Francisco’s famous Golden Gate Bridge.

Sri Thanonchai: The clever trickster

Phuket Life / Culture

Sunday 20 May 2018 03:00 PM

Sri Thanonchai is a clever trickster who appears in ancient Thai folktales and is popular to this today. The first printed version of these stories was published in around 1890.

Phuket History: Rough justice Siamese style

Phuket Life / Culture

Sunday 6 May 2018 01:00 PM

Captain Alexander Hamilton leaves us a most colourful account of the workings of a Siamese law court in the 18th century. He first tells us the official punishment for rebellion in Siam at the time.

Vipassana meditation: Experience reality as it truly is

Phuket Life / Culture

Friday 20 April 2018 10:33 AM

Today I would like to introduce you to Vipassana meditation (or Buddhist insight meditation) in the tradition of Ajarn Tong Sirimangalo, which I discovered for myself a few months ago. In the past, I had not been great at meditation and the techniques that I tried before had not really captured or convinced me. However, since practising Vipassana, I meditate daily for some hours at home – doing both sitting and walking meditation.

All About Buddhism: Songkran then and now

Phuket Life / Culture

Friday 13 April 2018 09:00 AM

In All About Buddhism last week, we discussed the Prince of Charity as well as a man who antagonised him named Chuchok. The Buddha lived as the Prince of Charity in a past life just prior to the life in which he would reign as Buddha. The Prince of Charity is celebrated for giving away all of his possessions to the poor. Mr Chuchok bought the prince’s children but mistreated them, which makes him a bad person.

All About Buddhism: A look back at the history of Thai New Year celebrations

Phuket Life / Culture

Sunday 8 April 2018 02:15 PM

If you’re visiting Thailand as a tourist, chances are you’re in town to celebrate Songkran. Songkran is the word for the traditional Thai New Year.

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