Guides
Thailand guides on travel, culture, cuisine, and lifestyle—discover top destinations, hidden gems, visa information, and essential tips. Plan your journey with The Thaiger, your trusted source for expert Thailand guides.
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Sponsored Hot Phuket property deal: Arise Vibe launches limited offer on only four units, now from 2.5m baht
Phuket's property market is full of big names and high prices, but some of the most exciting opportunities are happening just outside the spotlight. That’s where you’ll find Arise Vibe. Set in Si Sunthon, one of Phuket’s fastest-growing areas, this...
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Riding and renting a motorbike in Thailand | Top 10 tips | VIDEO
Motorbikes and scooters are the most popular mode of transport in Thailand, and most of south east Asia. In many cases, they’re the ‘engine’ for the local economies. Most of them just go and go and go, they’re astonishingly reliable. Getting around on a motorbike is easy enough and will get you to your destination faster, whilst the cars and…
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Travel businesses told to prep for long stay tourists, with an October kick-start looming
The first round of long-stay tourists on the newly approved visa will be able to enter Thailand by the start of October and the Tourism Ministry is pushing for tourism business to get ready now (get ready for a predicted 1,200 tourists per month?!). On the other hand, not much as been said about the thousands of foreigners who are…
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Government tentatively approves visa amendments to bring in more investments
In an attempt to bring in future investments to the country, the government has tentatively approved amendments to the criteria of granting permanent residence and smart visas to foreigners. The Centre for Economic Situation Administration says the new amendments may allow foreigners who purchase condominium units under certain rules to gain permanent residency. Such stipulations, however, include applicants purchasing the…
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Tourists on the new Special Tourist Visa will have to arrive on charter flights
After months of pondering when some tourists might actually come back through the turnstiles, the Thai Immigration Bureau says they’re dusting off the finger-print ID and cameras at arrival booths in Bangkok in preparation for the first wave of ‘general’ tourism back to Thailand. But the projected flow of around 1,200 incoming passengers under the new Special Tourist Visa will…
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Long stay tourist visa approved
A long stay tourist visa has been approved by the Cabinet for those entering Thailand. Those issued the visa would be allowed to enter Thailand and stay up to 9 months. Visitors will be issued a Special Tourist Visa, known as STV starting next month, according to “Thai Enquirer”, but no exact date has been announced. Each visa will cost 2,000…
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Trials and tribulations 3. Returning to Thailand in the Covid era – on the home straight
by David Jackson Monday morning and I’m on the home straight assuming I pass my final Covid test that I took yesterday morning. The situation hasn’t been too bad over the weekend as I was allowed outside into the hotel’s garden area for 40 minutes each day. On Saturday the threat of rain caused the nurse to request my early…
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Miss airplane travel? Here’s some flight experiences that don’t leave the ground
Since international travel is still on pause, some are getting their flight experience on the ground. Airplane cafes and flight experiences are becoming more and more popular. Thai Airways has not only opened a pop-up café to sell airplane food, but they are also offering flight simulations to the public. The stimulator flying experiences start at 12,000 baht for 30…
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Long-term tourist visa in the works, Thai Cabinet to discuss next week
A special long term visa is set to be discussed next week. If approved, it would allow visitors entering Thailand to stay for up to 9 months. The 90 day visa would be allowed to be renewed twice, adding up to a maximum stay of 270 days. Tourism Authority of Thailand, or TAT, governor Yuthasak Supasorn says the Cabinet will…
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Thai Airways offers special international flights this month
Need to leave the country? Just as that visa amnesty is coming to an end (September 26 if you forgot), Thai Airways is offering 1-way flights to 7 international destinations this month. The flights leave from Bangkok and are destined for Munich, Frankfurt, London, Paris, Copenhagen, Taipei and Hong Kong. The special flights are for foreigners needing to go back home…
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The end of the visa amnesty – get your house in order
Up to 500,000 foreigners are now thought to have been part of the Thai government’s visa amnesty which was introduced in April for foreigners, both on tourist and other visas, who were stuck in Thailand and unable to leave. Around the world, planes had been grounded and Thailand closed its borders at the time. Six months later, and following 2…
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Immigration to provide 30-day extensions after ‘visa amnesty’ ends, in some circumstances
The Thai cabinet has approved a number of concessions on the situation for people stranded in Thailand under any form of tourist visa after September 26. The Thai Immigration Deputy Commander announced that…. • Tourists unable to return home after September 26 (the end of the tourist amnesty), due to sickness or are unable to fly, are to apply for…
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Top 10 ways life is different in the Covid Era
Get used to it. Things have changed. There is no ‘new normal’, there is just NEW. We’re living in the Covid era and all having to adjust to economic calamity, changed schedules and some things, previously easy, are now difficult, or banned altogether. What are some of the things that have changed? Wearing masks Like it or not, the wearing…
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Students mock Culture Ministry guidelines on how to talk to elders
As political differences continue to divide the generations, Thailand’s Culture Ministry has weighed in on the matter, issuing guidelines on how the younger generation should interact with their elders. “Stand straight, hold hands below your waist, bow slightly. Do not stand too close or too far from pooyai. If receiving orders, stand straight, with arms by your side. In other…
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Top 10 English-language news sources in Thailand (2020)
This post is mainly for newbies, tourists and people-interested-in-Thailand news and views. Locals probably already have their favourite daily news sources, or trawl through many of these. All these Top 10s do it well, in their own way. Some do it better than others, whilst punching out daily news. We think they’re all stars because doing media in Thailand, in English,…
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Don’t break the law, Thai education minister warns student protesters
The education minister is warning students to abide by the law when protesting. If they break the law, they can be arrested on campus, he says. The grim advice comes from someone who has been there, done that. Back in 2014, Education Minister Nataphol Teepsuwan was arrested as a protest leader for the People’s Democratic Reform Committee. Teepsuwan slipped in…
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Beware bogus beef – online sales and vendors caught with suspicious steak
Buying beef online? Is it real beef or faux beef? Almost all of the samples of ‘beef” ordered online, or taken as samples from schools in Bangkok and Prachinburi province, were found to be fake. The Halal Science Centre at Chulalongkorn University did the checks and was astonished to find that much of the beef bought online was actually cheaper…
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Pattaya students get toilet training
Students in Pattaya’s’s Nongprue district attended a unique training course this weekend – on how to properly use public toilets in the Covid-19 era. The course took place yesterday at the Wat Suthawas school. Nong Prue municipality teachers led the training, which several dozen students attended. The course focused on keeping proper hygiene as well as 7 steps for proper…
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Thai farmers mystified as government classifies harmless herbs as “hazardous”
Following a backlash from the country’s farmers, Thailand’s Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry has agreed to update its list of “Type 2” hazardous substances to remove 13 herbs and vegetables. The government says it will instead move these to the “Type 1” list, meaning farmers don’t have to be registered as producers, but will still have to inform officials when exporting…
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Opposition party threatened with boycott over comments about “haircut” teacher
The president of The Association of Secondary School Administrators says the group will boycott the Kao Klai party unless one of its members apologises for comments he made about the teacher at the centre of the “ugly haircut” debacle. In a report in Thai PBS World, Ratchachai Sornsuwan calls Wirote Lakhana-adisorn’s comments offensive and demands an apology. The MP has…
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Teacher made to apologise after forcing student to undergo “ugly” haircut
A teacher who forced a pupil to submit to a haircut when he deemed her hair too long, has been reprimanded and made to apologise. The unnamed teacher is accused of humiliating the young girl by chopping off her hair in front of other pupils during assembly, leaving her with one side dramatically shorter than the other. The incident took…
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Bangkok running enthusiasts enjoy new pop-up track at Central World
As Bangkok residents enjoy the freedom of Covid restrictions being lifted, the city’s Central World mall has unveiled a pop-up running track to help people get back in shape after lockdown. The mall’s managment team has installed a 500 metre track, which is open to the city’s runners every evening from 5 pm to 8 pm, until July 22. The…
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Thai virology expert says no need to panic over new swine flu threat
One of Thailand’s leading virologists says that while the new swine flu recently discovered in China does have the potential to become a pandemic, there is no reason to panic at this stage. However, Dr. Yong Poovorawan adds that the catchily named G4 EA H1N1 virus is a mutation of the H1N1 virus, which took hold back in 2009. Because…
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Thailand may ease up on medical cannabis restrictions
Thailand may be getting a little more cannabis-friendly. The Food and Drug Administration has drafted a bill to allow private companies to produce medical marijuana. Another stipulation would allow international travellers to bring medical cannabis for personal use if they have the proper import and export license. Attorney Wirot Poonsuwan wrote an article for Khaosod English explaining the legislations that…
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Chon Buri coffee shop in a converted aircraft ordered to close temporarily – VIDEO
A novel coffee shop set up in a decommissioned Airbus 330 has been ordered to close temporarily after the business simply became too popular after going viral on social media. It’s understood thousands of customers a day were arriving for a latte or cappuccino from “Coffee War” in Sattahip, a district in the south of Chon Buri province. Manager Suttipong…
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Thailand disease expert says salmon cannot be infected with Covid-19
Fish lovers can relax, says the deputy director-general of Thailand’s Disease Control Department. “It is not possible for salmon to be contaminated with Covid-19.: Dr. Thanarak Palipat’s reassurance comes amid reports that chopping boards used for imported salmon at a market in China could carry the virus. Beijing’s Xinfadi Market is at the centre of a new Covid-19 outbreak, with…
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Schools, colleges, universities to reopen, restaurants and hotels can serve alcohol from Monday
The spokesman for the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration announced yesterday that schools, colleges and other educational institutes will be allowed to re-open on Monday, and alcohol can again be served in restaurants and hotels, but NOT in pubs, bars or other entertainment venues. The national curfew is also being lifted as of Monday. International schools and tuition schools are…
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Bangkok schools to cut class sizes
Bangkok schools will need to shrink classes down to 20 students per class with a maximum of 400 students per day to ensure social distancing and prevent the return of the coronavirus. There are 437 schools under supervision from the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, or BMA. Schools with more than 400 students will need to split students into two groups or…
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Thai schools prepare for nationwide reopening July 1
Thailand’s distance-learning experiment has been declared a failure, after the Education Ministry’s surveys found 60-70% of students aren’t ready to use television as the main channel for their studies. Now the ministry and schools are gearing up for classrooms to reopen nationwide. Thailand’s education minister says the ministry had to adjust its plan of airing lessons via television for long…
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6 guidelines issued for schools to re-open in July
The government is considering allowing schools in Covid-19 infection-free areas to open in July, and the Public Health Ministry has issued 6 guidelines to schools nationwide on how to guard against the spread of virus among students and faculty once they reopen. The Department of Health’s director-general made the announcement yesterday. “The first point that must be emphasised is preventing…
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Top 10 countries for investment in Covid era – World Trade Group
“Where to invest?”. Where is the next ‘good thing’ as the world starts to look to opportunities and new business models? Looking around the world, and perusing stock markets, there continues to be some traditional businesses failing but others thriving during the Covid-19 era. Investors look to countries with economical and political stability when choosing to invest money and unveil…
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