Shopping / Windows and doors

Dinner 6.30-11pm
Sunday Brunch 11.30am-3.30pm

A trip to Phuket is not complete without visiting one of the island’s many markets, where you can shop until you drop, eat as much delicious food as you want and even experience a day in the life of local residents. While fresh markets are dotted across the island and quite easy to find, it’s Phuket’s trendy hip markets that are raising the standard when it comes to the overall ‘market shopping experience’ in paradise.

If you’re looking for an exciting atmosphere with a bit of a bohemian vibe, then these hip markets are a definite must-visit while in Phuket. Each of these teeny markets has something unique to offer in the way of what is for sale, market setup, location and entertainment – as well as location and selection of local Thai street food and favourite snacks.

Here at Window on Phuket, we love a good market and we’re happy to highlight our favourite trendy markets on the island.

Phuket Indy Market
Adjacent to Limelight Avenue shopping mall, Phuket Indy Market is a compact market that appeals to the younger crowd. The market is vibrant and creative, and a place where many of Phuket’s young artists display their handmade creations. Phuket Indy Market features live music as well as a decent choice of street food. It’s a fun, young atmosphere and the place to find a unique gift for a friend or loved one.

When: Wednesday, Thursday & Friday
Where: Phuket Town
Time: 4 - 10pm

The best way to experience Issan is by road. The region is the least developed in Thailand and although cities like Ubon Ratchathani, Khon Kaen and Udon Thani are rapidly developing, the vast majority of Issan comprises swathes of arable land and misty mountain ranges intercepted by roads of varying standards that connect the many small villages. Public transport is surprisingly effective, extensive and affordable, but to really get up close and personal with these roads less travelled, rent a vehicle and go explore on your own.

"Public transport is surprisingly effective, extensive and affordable, but to really get up close and personal with these roads less travelled, rent a vehicle and go explore on your own.."

A good place to start is in Ubon Ratchathani. The city, in the easternmost part of Thailand close to the border with Laos, is anything but a backwater – except perhaps in conventional tourism terms – and visitors will perhaps be surprised to see hip cafés and stylish boutiques next to traditional wet markets and modest street kitchens.

Whisky is probably the most recognised spirit in the world and is manufactured in over 20 countries under that generic name, and a lot more under regional names. It is also the most discussed form of alcohol after wine, with just as many opinions – and pretensions.

Once the preserve of the medical community as a cure for colic and smallpox, whisky (or whiskey) is made from a fermented grain mash, usually barley or wheat, but it can also be maize or rye, which is then aged.

Scottish Whisky can only be made in Scotland and must be aged in wooden barrels, normally oak that has been used previously to store bourbon or sherry, for a minimum of three years.

The different varieties of barley used give different whiskies their unique flavours, along with how it is prepared, the barrel that the whisky is aged in and the aging period. No artificial colourings are permitted so the different colours you see in whisky bottles are all from the wooden barrels.

There are six recognised regions from which Scottish Whisky can come. They are: Highlands, Speyside, Islay, Campbeltown, Lowlands and the Islands.

According to some, the best whiskies are aged single malts from a single cask or barrel. There would usually be only around 250 bottles produced, making that flavour profile totally unique. The next time the cask is used it will have a different profile.

In reality, the best whisky is the one that you have in your hand at the moment and are about to drink. Sláinte

Content provided by Whisgars Tasting Room Phuket, Phuket Boat Lagoon, Phuket’s only dedicated whisky cigar lounge. www.facebook.com/WhisgarsPhuket

In this issue of WINDOW on Phuket, we bring you a selection of boutique hotels, resorts and villas from around Thailand. Trawling through booking sites to find just the (boutique) place you’re looking for can stretch your patience, so we were delighted when we discovered boutiquehotel-thailand.com
Founded in 2013 by internet gurus Ted Valentin and Jonotan Heyman, their objective was to “...create a collection of the best boutique hotels in Thailand. Hotels that are so unique and beautiful that you do not want to leave your room.”

I’d say they’ve mostly succeeded. It’s a valuable resource that picks out the key points of each property, backed up by lots and lots of photos. That “mostly” is because there are some in their listings that are stretching the ‘boutique’ moniker just a bit. But, hey, nobody’s perfect. Although there’s a booking ‘button’ on each listing, it clicks through to one of the big booking sites where you can take care of business; or you could, just as easily, shop around having identified a shortlist of perfect places.

Rates shown below were the lowest bookable rates bookings at the time we prepared this information.

1. The Boathouse Phuket
Kata Beach, Phuket from THB 4,230
The ultimate beachfront boutique property – and yes it sits right on one of Phuket’s best beaches – with a reputation for excellent dining and an award-winning wine cellar. Completely refurbished in 2017, the facilities are first rate, the all-sea-facing rooms unique and the service reminiscent of a bygone era.

That many guests have been returning for extended stays since the hotel first opened speaks volumes.

2. The Pavilions
Layan Beach, Phuket from THB 5,650
Overlooking Layan Beach and the Andaman Sea, The Pavilions intimate hilltop retreat is truly the lap of luxury. Superbly appointed villas with private infinity pools are hidden away on the jungle-covered hillside. The two dining options include Firefly, the poolside restaurant that sees regular events including art exhibitions, jazz evenings and more. The fine dining restaurant, The Plantation, recently launched ethically sourced, sustainable new menus, including the ‘Plantation Journey’ – a nine-course discovery of Thailand’s rich cooking culture.

The area surrounding The Pavilions is rich with dining and shopping opportunities, not to mention the long beaches that run for kilometres. Of course, when you’re staying in heaven, you may not want to leave.

Those who work, or have worked, will be familiar with the creatures of inefficiency in their most basic form – the slacker colleague or employee, the overly bureaucratic administrator in a bank or government department or the taxi driver that refuses a fare when legally obligated to accept it.

However, aside from the annoyance that such inefficiency can cause, there is a wider economic effect and impact that many members of the population are unaware impacts on their economic and general wellbeing. This also applies to legal interactions between private-private and public-private parties.

In legal negotiations, for the purchase of a new property, the re-sale of an existing property, the arrangement between a hotel operator and hotel owner or in a commercial contract or corporate buy-out scenario, the quality of the actors involved can seriously impact not only the principals instructing the lawyers, but also the third party stakeholders in the transaction, as well as the wider economy.

I have found in practice that many of the actors involved in a process can adopt ‘Guerilla Tactics’ which may hypocritically contravene or contradict their purported support of ‘Collectivism’ over ‘Individualism’ in social-political ideology and, in the case of nationalists, may actually damage ‘their’ countries’ economies and those with interests in it – well beyond the boundaries of the small transaction in which the tactics are adopted.

Here is a short snapshot sample of the wide ranging worst economic efficiency burning tactics and behaviour that I see regularly, and some methods for combatting and mitigating their impact:

1. Deliberately over-elaborating and prevaricating non-binding contractual negotiations
If two parties have struck a deal, then unless the deal is unviable, or there is fundamental misunderstanding in the key commercial terms, the encapsulation of that deal into a memorandum of understanding or letter of intent should be straightforward.

However, some actors in the transactional process, including lawyers, will have complete disregard for the wishes of the parties, and instead adopt the ‘smartest person in the room’ validation technique to attempt to ‘win’ points that do not need to be won in the context of a non-binding agreement.

Mitigation strategies: Ask the parties to draft the commercial terms for lawyers to frame into a contract. Avoid ‘termination’ clauses for non-binding arrangements. Make any key terms that will definitely be required in a full contract, clearly referenced in the non-binding arrangement.