Latin dancing has taken Thailand by storm over the last few years, and although the trend has slowed, there is now an entrenched dancing scene in town. Before you dust off your dancing shoes and join in, however, you might like to find out about what the style of dancing is, where some of the…
Read moreNo more squinting
Whether you wear glasses and put off going to get your script checked, or you’ve never worn glasses before in your life, it’s worth considering whether a trip to an optician or opthamologist might be beneficial. What’s the difference? Opticians or technicians usually work in shops selling glasses and contact lenses, while opthamologists are qualified…
Read moreThrow away your glasses
More and more Thais are gleefully throwing away their glasses, thanks to developments in the refractive surgery industry. Technology is improving, and prices are falling as competition among centres increases. What does refractive correction surgery involve? "Lasik" (laser in-situ keratomileusis), the latest development in refractive surgery, can correct myopia (short sightedness), hyperopia (far-sightedness) and astigmatism…
Read morePedicures for punished feet
They’re easy to forget about, but your feet deserve some special attention occasionally: the average person walks more than six kilometres per day, or an astounding 184,000 kilometres in a lifetime. And bearing the brunt of this are those two complex but compact anatomical networks at the end of your legs, containing 26 small bones…
Read moreProtein makes perfect
With lifestyles changing and hair colouring being more popular than ever before, your hair could benefit from adding a regular salon protein treatment to your hair care routine. "It depends on what you expect from a treatment," says stylist Schai from Schai Coiffeur. "Nowadays nearly everyone has a colour, perm or some kind of chemical…
Read moreSupport for breast cancer sufferers
"It was like the end of my world," says twenty-eight year old Penkhra Jitjamnong, of being told two years ago that she had breast cancer. "I had so many questions, like why me? There were no right answers. I didn’t know what to do, and I didn’t know what to say when people would ask…
Read moreBreast cancer in Thailand
Worldwide, it affects millions of women: It killed 385,000 women globally in 1997 and one in nine American women will have it by the age of 85. But there is some good news on breast cancer: with an increasing awareness of the disease, and more sophisticated technology, the early detection and treatment of breast cancer…
Read moreWhere to do yoga in Bangkok
Although the history of yoga stretches back some 5,000 years, in Bangkok yoga has been taught formally for only around 40 years – rather surprising if you consider that some scholars assert that yoga practice is central to Buddhism. There are many different styles of yoga, with the main differences stemming from what component is…
Read moreThe benefits of yoga
Do you sometimes feel like you’re operating at half-speed? Are you stressed out? Or perhaps you’re feeling like you just don’t get enough exercise, but the thought of working out at a gym utterly bores you to tears. Practising the ancient art of yoga can not only help with various health problems, it can also…
Read moreAre skin whiteners safe?
It’s difficult to avoid seeing those advertisements for skin whiteners plastered across billboards, those images of smiling Thai women with snow-white skin shown on TV and in cinemas, in magazines and newspapers. In western countries, there’s little demand for whiteners; but in Asian countries, they’re big business. According to the Thai Farmers Research Centre, in…
Read more