Thai Life
Thailand guides, travel tips, cultural insights, and essential local information—discover everything you need to know about living, visiting, and experiencing the Land of Smiles. Get the latest from The Thaiger, your trusted source for Thailand guides.
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Sponsored Long-term life in Thailand? 5 reasons private health insurance pays off in the long run
Thailand is a great place for expats and retirees, offering a warm climate, affordable living, and rich culture. However, healthcare can be tricky for foreigners since they aren’t eligible for public health coverage, and private care can be expensive. Private...
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Finance Ministry wants to give 1,500 baht to each domestic traveller
The Finance Ministry says they are launching a new stimulus package to boost the country’s domestic tourism by giving Thais 1,500 baht each to spend when they travel to 55 provinces under the promotion campaign. Under the campaign, Thais aged 18 and over can register for the program. The government will then deposit 1,500 baht into their accounts though the…
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Patong’s trash hero rewarded for collecting garbage in filthy canal
PHOTOS: Patong Police / Theeraphong Penmit / Newshawk Phuket A Phuket boy has been rewarded after setting an excellent example for the rest of the Patong community. 8 year old Kosin Ta-ngam, who is studying at Sai Nam Yen School in Patong in Pratom Suksa Three, has been collecting garbage in the filthy Pak Bang Canal and along Patong Beach…
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Reservations now open for ‘Twinpalms MontAzure’ with enticing promotions
Celebrate the grand opening of Phuket’s newest beachside hotel by booking now to snap up fantastic deals. Twinpalms MontAzure in Kamala is offering irresistible packages ideal for both short and long-haul getaways for those who book directly from their website. Guests may choose to enjoy three nights and pay for just two and for those who are looking to book…
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K-Pop dominating YouTube records – BTS and Blackpink
BTS, Blackpink, YouTube, Boy With Luv Last week’s Blackpink single-day YouTube viewing record has been beaten by fellow K-Pop supremos BTS notching up 78 million views for their “Boy With Luv” music video within its first 24 hours of hitting the video site. (Three days later it’s on 129 million with 7.8 million ‘likes’ and still going…) K-pop rival Blackpink…
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BTS smashes YouTube records with ‘Boy With Luv’ music video
BTS, Halsey, Boy With Luv, YouTube, record A YouTube record has been surpassed. No… SMASHED. Korean pop kings BTS’ video for their 2018 “Fake Love” received 35.9 million views in its first 24 hours, making it the biggest 24 hour debut of 2018 and the third biggest 24 hour debut of all time. But that’s nothing compared to the impact…
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Thailand swelters under the Songkran sun
Temperatures are soaring around the country, right on time, as the Songkran holiday kicks in. People are heading home for the annual Thai New Year break whilst the tourists are flooding into the main hot spots for the water fights. The annual celebration is meant to provide a ritual washing of Buddha images, ‘gentle’ splashing of family and friends and…
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Will music history repeat itself this Saturday? The Beatles vs BTS
Beatles, BTS, Boy with Luv, Persona, Saturday Night Live February 19, 1964 was a big day in music history. The most popular show in the US at the time, and musically extremely influential, was the Ed Sullivan Show. What now seems to be a rather stiff, old-fashioned variety show was, at the time, a maker and breaker for new music…
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BTS conclude their record-breaking Love Yourself world tour in Bangkok
Seven young South Koreans came to Bangkok over the weekend to complete a sell-out world tour and the finish of a year that saw them rise from a K-Pop anomaly to a global pop sensation. BTS (Bangtan Sonyeondan – Bulletproof Boyscouts) have toured the world with their ‘Love Yourself’ tour in an eventful year that has seen them break through…
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Six arrested for drug use after raid on illegal Bangkok pub
Six customers have been arrested in a raid early today after troops and police, led by the Internal Security Operations Command, raided a Bangkok pub. The 2.30am raid on the New Jazz 2 pub in the Bangkok Noi district was made following complaints that it violated closing hour law and disturbed the neighbourhood. The six customers were arrested on drug charges.…
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Bangkok’s bye bye to Boyzone and hello to BTS
by Kitchana Lersakvanitchakul and Tim Newton In a stark reflection in the massive changes in musical tastes, music business models and the spread of world music in the last 20 years, Bangkok has witnessed the passing of one boyband icon and welcomes the next frenzy, all within 10 days. In both cases, Irish crooners Boyzone and South Korea’s BTS (Bangtan…
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Luxury beachfront suites at The Bay & Beach Club
The Bay & Beach Club boasts luxurious beachfront accommodation in the heart of Patong. Situated right on the soft sands of the beach in an area lined with palm trees, the resort is just a few steps away from the clear waters of the Andaman Sea. The Bay & Beach Club offers luxurious accommodation all designed with the finest contemporary…
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Facebook: The engagement is over
Facebook, and why your posts aren’t being seen much anymore… If you’re posting on Facebook these days you’re likely getting a much lower response than in the past. There were the golden days of Facebook, say 4-8 years ago, when the followers just kept stacking up and the engagement was high. Now it’s much more difficult to find new followers,…
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Bangkok Motor Show opens as Thai car sales move online
PHOTO: New Nissan all-electric LEAF, on display at the Bangkok Motor Show by Kingsley Wijayasinha “Despite the increase in sales online, including new automobiles, we’re not worried that fewer people will show up at the event to purchase vehicles.” More than 1.6 million visitors are expected at this year’s Bangkok International Motor Show, which kicks off today at IMPACT Muangthong…
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Child drowning cases – dramatic drop over two decades
The leading cause of death in Thai children, below the age of 15, is drowning. “Even though the cases have recently fallen to an all time low, it’s still not low enough.” “In nearly two decades there have been 22,700 drowning cases, that’s between the years 2000 and 2018. That averages nearly 1,300 child drownings every year.” These numbers from…
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Event Round-Up – April 2019
by The Sponsorship Experts – Paul Poole (South East Asia) The first ever ASEAN Gastronomy Tourism Fair will kick off on April 9-10 at CW Tower Ratchadapisek Bangkok. Hosted by the Ministry of Tourism and Sports, it is the first time all 10 member states of ASEAN will come together to build a strong foundation for gastronomy tourism in the…
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K-Pop star arrested over sex tape scandal
K-pop star Jung Joon-young has been arrested over allegations he shared sexually explicit videos of women filmed without their consent. He appeared at a court hearing yesterday where he apologised to the victims for his actions. An arrest warrant was issued a few hours later. 30 year old Jung, who was first questioned by police last week, spoke to the…
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Sold over 2.6 million copies and it’s not even released. Map of the Soul, BTS.
The new album Map of the Soul: Persona has already sold 2,685,030 copies. That was in just four days up to March 17. And it’s not even being released until April 12. It also came to light that the same band had the second and third best selling albums in the world for 2018, according to the International Federation of the Phonographic…
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Siam Songkran Festival lights up this year’s Songkran in Bangkok
Sick of running around Bangkok with your 200 baht Tesco water pistol? Combine the annual water festival with a world class music festival instead. Welcome to Siam Songkran, Thailand’s newest four-day Songkran festival set to be held April 12 – 15 at Bangkok’s largest city centre entertainment zone, SHOW DC Arena. A time of tradition, Songkran is also a time…
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Six per cent of Thai university students have attempted suicide
Recent research reveals a disturbing finding that over 6 per cent of university students have attempted suicide. The study findings have been highlighted after several students killed themselves in recent weeks. “From research on university students’ depression during the past three to four years, it can be concluded that 6.4 per cent of students turned suicidal and tried to take…
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A new visa paperwork problem for some expats?
We get occasional emails from expats relating their various problems with Immigration as they apply for new visas or renewals. The common thread is that applying for, and renewing visas, is becoming unnecessarily complicated. This one seems complex. Names have been withheld for privacy. “I am a British citizen and my baby’s visas were renewed without an issue, but the…
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WARNING: Dengue cases four times worse than last year
A nationwide alert has gone up about a big rise in Dengue cases across the country. Hospitals nationwide are being ordered to set up emergency facilities to deal with the worrying rise in cases of dengue fever since the start of 2019. Workpoint News reports that, in January alone, there were four times as many cases of the disease compared…
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Another Yong bites the dust – K-Pop in crisis
Another K-pop star has been forced to quit their band after admitting he watched sex videos received from another idol. 29 year old Yong Jun-hyung is the third singer to be engulfed in the scandal sweeping South Korea’s squeaky clean music industry. The member of boy band Highlight, formerly known as B2ST, admitted that he watched a video of singer…
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Alcohol ban this weekend and the following weekend of the election
There will be a 24 hour alcohol ban this weekend as well as on the weekend of the general election on March 24. Sunday, March 17 will feature a day of pre-voting where alcohol sales and distribution will be forbidden from 6pm on Saturday, March 16 until 6pm on Sunday, March 17. That will precede the ban on the following…
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Cabinet supports bid for southern ‘Nora’ dance to be included in UNESCO heritage list
“The Thai government will nominate Nora at UNESCO’s upcoming meeting. “Nora, a southern traditional dance, has been given the nod to seek a place on UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage representatives list.The Culture Ministry has been striving to preserve the unique Thai dance after ‘Khon’, the masked dance drama, was registered on the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity list at a…
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Phuket 1988: Thai expat digs out his old Super 8 movies
David Barrett gets out his Super 8 projector for another film night – this time we see Patong in 1988, already quite developed even though mass tourism was still more than a decade away. The few high-rise are certainly not cluttering up the skyline at this time. David is sharing his early Super 8 movies with us as we wallow…
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Ocean Property launch first Phuket development
Thai real estate developer, Ocean Property, are continuing to expand outside of the capital with the launch of their first real estate development in Phuket – a townhome and modern commercial home office project “Ocean Town Muang-Ratsada”. Located in the heart of Phuket providing owners with easy access to all major infrastructure and island facilities, prices start from just 2.69…
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Cooking spotted eagle ray is OK – Fisheries spokesperson
“The use of spotted eagle rays as a main ingredient in a reality TV cooking show is not illegal, though the aquatic animal should be conserved rather than consumed.” This from the Deputy Fisheries Department Director General Arunchai Puthcharoen. He referred to controversy over the use of eagle rays as the main ingredient in the Thai MasterChef program, raising concerns…
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“Measles vaccine doesn’t cause autism” – conclusive Danish study
Even as measles outbreaks continue to mount among clusters of unvaccinated children around the world, in developed countries as well as a concentration in Thailand’s southern provinces, yet another large study finds NO association between the measles vaccine and autism – a reason often parroted by parents for refusing vaccination for their children. Measles infected 2,280 people and killed 18…
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Event Round-Up – March 2019
The month kicks off with one of Thailand’s most unique and bizarre festivals and celebrations, that of the Tattoo Festival in Nakhon Chaisi in the province of Nakhon Pathom, around 50 kilometres west of Bangkok. Held at the Wat Bang Phra temple on 2 March, the festival also goes by the name Wai Kru Sak Yant after the spiritual tattoos…
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Parents urged to monitor children on ‘Momo Challenge’
PHOTOS: NBT / NNT The Mental Health Department is urging parents to closely monitor children’s online activities due to the ‘Momo Challenge’ reports. The Nation reports that ‘Momo Challenge’, associated with a grotesque bird, has sneaked into YouTube and its YouTube Kids platform and coerced young watchers to take up risky, potentially deadly challenges. The Momo Challenge, dismissed by many…
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