Events

Stay up-to-date with the latest events in Thailand at The Thaiger, your destination for all noteworthy happenings in the Land of Smiles. Our coverage features local festivals, cultural celebrations, business conferences, and engaging social events that cater to both travelers and residents alike. Discover the rich tapestry of Thai traditions, modern lifestyles, and world-class attractions through our extensive events coverage that makes Thailand a vibrant and colourful destination.

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    Promoting sustainable tourism at Blue Tree Phuket: Initiatives and impact

    Blue Tree Phuket has been offering experiences that are both fun and environmentally conscious for many years. The comprehensive entertainment hub and waterpark has implemented numerous programs to enhance the sustainability of its practices, with its most recent endeavour being...

  • Pattaya Fireworks Festival hoped to boost economy over upcoming weekend

    The Pattaya Fireworks Festival is approaching with many hoping it will boost the economy over the upcoming weekend. Stacked with long fireworks shows and some hotels offering promotional fares for advance bookings, officials say they hope it will wake up the weekend as Thais and foreigners alike take part in the annual short list festival. The festival runs over November…

  • PTT pays millions in compensation after Samut Prakan gas pipeline explosion

    The Thai petrol company PTT paid millions of baht in compensation to those affected by the Samut Prakan natural gas pipeline explosion last month which killed 3 people and injured more 60 people. The explosion at an industrial estate in the Bang Bo district killed 3 people, including 2 elderly women, and severely injured 10 people. Another 21 people were…

  • Bangkok locations for Loy Krathong – float away the woes of 2020

    The Loy Krathong festival is tonight, this year coinciding with Halloween. If you’re living in Bangkok you’re spoiled for choice with launching locations. There is no equivalent word in English for ‘krathong’. You might hear it described as a small boat or vessel. Many shops, market and roadside stalls will display ready-made krathongs, or in parts so you can assemble…

  • Happy Loy Krathong Phuket. Where to launch your krathong tonight

    Happy Loy Krathong Phuket. But this year authorities are saying ‘only floating Krathongs thanks’. No polystyrene, no steel pins – keep it natural and plant-based please. This year Loy Krathong in Thailand co-incides with the annual Halloween celebrations on October 31. Authorities are also urging people to choose, or make, their krathongs using natural materials only. The latest craze for…

  • Some Thai students decide to boycott their graduation

    Their Majesties the King and Queen of Thailand will attend Thammasat University’s graduation ceremonies tonight and tomorrow evening. But there’s been a growing contingent of graduates who are boycotting the ceremony as a personal protest in relation to current rallies around Thailand about government and constitutional reform. The night, the biggest night of a student’s schooling, is a special event…

  • Phuket’s annual Vegetarian Festival lowers flags, spirits return to the heavens

    WARNING! Content below contains photos of self-mutilation that some may find disturbing. The flags on Go Teng poles were lowered on Monday, ending Phuket’s annual Vegetarian Festival and symbolising that the spirits have returned the heavens. The flags are raised at the start of the festivities each year at participating shrines, calling on the spirits to descend from the heavens.…

  • Thai PM orders investigation into Samut Prakan gas pipeline explosion, 3 dead

    Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha is ordering an investigation into yesterday’s explosion of a gas pipeline in Samut Prakan, just south east of central Bangkok. At least 3 people were killed. Among the dead, 2 elderly women were killed, plus at least 28 confirmed injuries when the PTT gas pipeline exploded in the coastal Bang Bo district. The prime minister has also…

  • St Mark’s International School ‘breaks ground’ with their new Bangkok campus

    St Mark’s International School celebrated a groundbreaking event last Saturday by literally ‘breaking ground,’ by conducting a ceremonial dig on their new proposed campus in Bangkok. The successful Christian International School has been operating out of their current Rama 9 Campus for the last 20 years and is now planning to expand exponentially when the new campus in Sri Nakarin Road…

  • 44 years on – the 1976 Thammasat University Massacre

    An exhibition has been assembled to commemorate the 44th anniversary of the Thammasat University Massacre that occurred on October 6, 1976. The ‘pop up’ museum has been assembled at the University’s Tha Prachan campus, right next to the front gate of the University, and only metres away from where the events of that fateful day occurred. The exhibition attempts to…

  • Deals and discounts for expats at Bangkok wellness tourism event

    Expats in Thailand will be offered discounts and promotions at a 2 day fair focusing on health and wellness travel, including deals on flights, accommodation and spa packages. Domestic flights start at 490 baht, and if the booking is made on the spot, customers get a free 15 kilogram baggage allowance. There will also be many deals for health and…

  • Pattaya to host eating contest next weekend, everyone welcome

    Pattaya will host a big eating contest next weekend with everyone welcome to join in the fun. Registration is now open for 4 person teams as well as individual contestants to participate in “The War Eating Contest 2020 #1.” The event will be held at the Royal Garden Plaza shopping centre with prizes worth more than 100,000 baht. Even organisers…

  • Phuket’s annual vegetarian festival. Put it in your diary – VIDEO

    WARNING: The content below contains photos and videos of self-mutilation that some people may find disturbing. Phuket’s annual vegetarian festival is on this month. Officials say they are asking participants to strictly observe social distancing. Good luck with that! For those who don’t know, despite its name, the festival isn’t exactly known for the vegetarian food. It’s better known, even infamous,…

  • Phuket’s ‘Boat Splash’ welcomes everyone for some fun in the sun

    Disabled Sailing Thailand are organising Phuket’s first Boat Splash on October 21 off Phuket’s east coast. An on-water meet-up that’s open to everyone, Boat Splash will take place in the waters between Rang Yai Island off Phuket Boat Lagoon and Royal Phuket Marina, and Cape Yamu. What originally grew from an idea to offer people with disabilities a safe opportunity…

  • Bangkok expo planned to fill 1 million job vacancies

    Thailand has a lot of job opportunities. About a million. The Labour Ministry is hosting an expo to connect job seekers, especially recent university graduates, with companies. For recent graduates, a new government initiative co-payment system will take care of half the salary. Job Expo Thailand 2020 will run from September 26 to 28 at Bangkok International Trade and Exhibition Centre,…

  • Pattaya tipped to stage huge airshow in 2023

    Officials in Pattaya confirmed this week that the resort town is slated to hold a major international airshow in 2023 at the U-Tapao airport. The event is expected to attract tens of thousands of visitors and to be the biggest-ever airshow in Asia. A spokesman for the Pattaya City Business and Tourism Association confirmed the announcement and said the show…

  • Up to 10,000 gather in massive Bangkok pro-democracy rally

    Special guest writer Will Langston Up to 10,000 pro-democracy supporters attended a rally at Bangkok’s Democracy Monument yesterday. The crowds started swelling from around 3pm. Prior to the event, one of the organising groups, Free Youth, promoted the rally via their massive Facebook page following of over 350,000 followers. While the demographic of the crowd mainly consisted of high school and…

  • Happy birthday to Her Majesty Queen Mother Sirikit

    Thailand celebrates Mother’s Day and the birthday of the Queen Mother, HM Queen Sirikit, today. A lot of Thai people will be heading down to their local temples, district and provincial offices to join in ceremonies and other activities to mark her 88th birthday. Many will ‘tam boon’ (make merit) for the Queen Mother on this auspicious day. Queen Sirikit was…

  • After outcry, foreigners will be allowed to run in Bangkok Midnight Marathon

    The Bangkok Midnight Marathon and its organisers were scorched online yesterday after banning foreigners from entering the race, for reasons not made clear. BMM’s Facebook page and social media accounts were inundated with angry comments. The Thaiger, alone, accumulated some 20,000 people seeing the post and around 170 comments, mostly unhappy with the ban. The BBM – which Thai authorities…

  • Bangkok Midnight Marathon 2020 bans foreigners

    It’s official. The Bangkok Midnight Marathon 2020 is closed to foreigners. Popular blogger and Samut Prakan school employee Richard Barrow posted the news last night saying… “For some reason, the organisers of this year’s Bangkok Midnight Marathon have decided not to allow foreigners to run. I hope this doesn’t become part of the ‘new normal’.” Unsurprisingly, the social media outrage was…

  • PHIST – Asia’s largest online tourism event, returns this September

    PHIST, the Phuket Hotels for Islands Sustaining Tourism, is set to break down boundaries again with a “virtual” version of Asia’s largest sustainable travel and hospitality event on September 7. Over 1,200 of the industry’s leading figures are expected to attend this socially-distant online gathering. The online event will include keynote addresses, interactive sessions, educational workshops and a green exhibition.…

  • Chiang Mai performance artists demonstrate for free speech

    PHOTOS by Will Langston With anti-government protests dotting the nation for over a week, performance artists in Chiang Mai took to the streets yesterday evening with a different type of demonstration – in favour of free speech. As the sun began setting, artists at each corner and junction of the old city’s moat could be found waiting to perform. At…

  • Best wishes to HM King of Thailand on this auspicious occasion

    Today is the 68th birthday of His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn. The Thaiger wishes His Majesty another year of continued good health and service to the Thai people. His Majesty has been the King of Thailand since October 13, 2016. He is the only son of former King Bhumibol Adulyadej and Queen Sirikit, the beloved monarchs who served Thailand from 1946…

  • Police meet to discus legal action against pro-democracy protesters and organisers

    Following Saturday’s large protest at Bangkok’s Democracy Monument on Saturday afternoon and evening, Bangkok police are now pondering whether to prosecute the organisers for defying the emergency decree – the part of the law that prohibits large public gatherings. The protesters were demanding the dissolution of Parliament, the drawing up of a new Constitution and an end to official limitation…

  • Police say they are gathering evidence to arrest ringleaders of Saturday protest – VIDEO

    Whilst the police attending the mostly-peaceful protest, on Saturday afternoon and evening around Bangkok’s Democracy Monument, they didn’t intervene and break up the crowd. But they were taking plenty of photos. Now Bangkok Police have announced that they were gathering evidence to press formal charges against the leaders of the pro-democracy protest. Chief of the Metropolitan Police Bureau, Lt. Gen. Pakkapong…

  • Thai sports minister optimistic about Olympic boxing gold

    Thailand’s minister of tourism and sports says he’s optimistic that Thai boxers will win a gold medal at next year’s Tokyo Olympic Games (if the Games are held at all). Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn visited the national team’s training camp at the National Sports Training Centre in Saraburi province, northeast of Bangkok. He was accompanied by the governor of the Sports Authority…

  • 900 million budget for MotoGP gets Cabinet nod

    The Cabinet today gave the green light (pun intended) to the Tourism and Sports Ministry’s proposal to earmark 900 million baht for MotoGP race from 2021-2025. The ministry predicts the races will generate at least 3 billion baht in revenue. The licences for holding the motorbike races cost the government 100 million baht annually. Authorities paid 300 million for licences…

  • Two years ago – remembering Phuket’s Phoenix boat tragedy

    “There were 13 children that died in this disaster. Many were later found dead, floating face down, not far from their deceased parents.” On an otherwise ordinary afternoon, two tour boats, Phoenix and Serenata, were heading back to Phuket after a half day tour of snorkelling near Koh Racha. The weather forecast was for seasonal monsoonal SW winds and waves,…

  • Today is Asanha Bucha Day – Why is the day special for Thai Buddhists?

    Asanha Bucha Day is a special Buddhist holiday in Thailand marking the day when the Lord Buddha delivered his first sermon at Benares in India over 2,500 years ago. The exact date of the holiday is determined by the waxing moon and the lunar months, but is usually held in July or August each year. In 2020 it falls on…

  • Q&A with David Barrett on travel, tourism and MICE

    Industry expert and respected marketeer David Barrett chatted with travel writer and media consultant Andrew J Wood on the recovery from the impact of Covid-19 on Thailand’s formidable travel and tourism industry. AW. As Thailand starts to emerge from lockdown what do you believe are the most important points to consider to ensure success? DB: As we begin to recover,…

  • Partial solar eclipse today, starts just after 1pm

    A partial solar eclipse will be visible this afternoon, if your local weather allows. Bu in some other parts of Asia and Africa, residents will be treated to a spectacular total eclipse. If you miss this phenomenon today, the next solar eclipse, a total eclipse, on view in the Thai skies will be on April 20, 2023. For Bangkokians, the…