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 Limited-time deal: Save 20% on Cigna's expat health plans forever
Starting a new life abroad is exciting—new culture, new lifestyle, and new chances to grow. But living far from home also means taking steps to protect your health in unfamiliar surroundings. Without the right coverage, even small health issues can...
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2,800 small Thai schools facing consolidation
2,800 small Thai schools with fewer than 40 students will be merged – this from the chairman of the Basic Education Commission. Associate Professor Dr Ekkachai Kisukphan says not all 18,000 small schools under the Office of Basic Education Commission that are located near one another would be merged. But the OBEC wanted to merge small schools each with fewer than…
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Most Thai motorcycle riders don’t wear crash helmets
Only 45% of Thai motorcycle users wear crash helmets, that includes riders and pillion passengers. With young people under 18 the results are a pitiful 22% of users wearing any head protection, even less for children. Dr. Werapan Supanchaimart, vice chairman of the Thai Health Promotion Foundation, said at a seminar yesterday that the Thai Roads Foundation and Road Safety Watch…
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Laguna Phuket launch entry-level condos
Laguna Phuket has launched a new entry-level condominium project named SkyPark. Pre-launch pricing ranges from 2.9 to 4.3 million baht for fully furnished units. The SkyPark development has three condominium blocks of approximately 140 units each, so 420 units in all. Unit types start at studios (28 square metres), one-bedroom (30-39 square metres) and two-bedroom (40-60 square metres). Features include rooftop…
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More tickets go on sale today for the Bangkok theatre performances of The Lion King
Due to high demand, the Bangkok theatre season of The Lion King live at Muangthai Rachadalai Theatre has been extended. Bookings are open for the extended season today. The Lion King is on its way to Thailand for the first time for an exclusive season of performances starting September 14 and will now run until October 27. For more details about…
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Bangkok’s expat rental trends changing
The number of Japanese expats in Thailand dropped to lower than 20% of the total expats in Thailand for the first time, dropping to 34,133 as of April 2019, a 4% decline year on year, according to CBRE. CBRE are reporting a change in demand and an impact on the rental apartment sector in Bangkok, despite a healthy performance. Typically, they…
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“The Great Hack” makes you think twice about how you use social media
It’s a documentary about Cambridge Analytica. You know, that dodgy company you’d never heard of until The Guardian and New York Times did some real reporting and dug into the deep, deep hole we’ve dug for ourselves by leaping into social media without reading the fine print. It’s a Netflix production as the online streamer continues to become a mainstream…
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Co-working spaces in Bangkok are re-shaping small to medium business office options
PHOTO: The Great Room Co-working spaces are opening up around Bangkok and providing a more flexible framework for businesses to grow. Advances in technology, a more mobile workforce, and unpredictable economic growth are reshaping the business environment. In the Bangkok office market, a traditional three-year lease with options to renew and the tenant fitting out the space remains the typical way…
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Residential projects launched in June up, but sale 15% lower than May
As many as 47 new residential projects were launched in Bangkok and its suburbs last month (June), 16 more than in May. This from the Agency for Real-Estate Affairs. The projects combine 13,943 units worth a total of 57.25 billion baht, with per-unit prices averaging at 4.1 million baht, the survey added. The sale of new projects launched in June…
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Frisky teenagers warned that they are being watched whilst in Thai cinemas
PHOTO: ร่วมแสดงความคิดเห็น Smile, you’re on Chiang Mai’s candid camera. Chiang Mai cinema staff are watching you while you are watching movies at the cinema. But, according to a source at one of the leading northern cinemas, the same is happening around Thailand. And some of the amorous advances are being caught on camera and shared on social media by staff. Chiang…
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Property developer confidence takes a dive in second quarter 2019
A measurement of real estate developer confidence for the Q2 2019 (April to June) has dropped to 42.2 points from 50.4 points for Q1 2019 (January to March). Thai PBS reports that the second quarter confidence index has fallen below the 50 point median index, reflecting developers’ declining confidence in the economic situation and investment in Thailand. Real estate developers…
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Thai school lunch program must be investigated – PM
The Thai PM has ordered the Education and Interior minister to fully investigate the free lunch program for kindergarten and primary school children after allegations of corruption have re-surfaced at some schools. Deputy government spokesman Lt-Gen Werachon Sukondhapatipak says that the PM has received a report from the National Anti-Corruption Commission about alleged corruption concerning the program in the northeastern…
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Love gone wrong in Thailand – another cautionary tale
by Nanthapong Siwilai – TMN Cable TV A Swiss man has shared his story of love-gone-wrong-in-Thailand to TMN Cable TV in Pattaya. It’s a story of riches-to-rags, a story all to common and another cautionary tale of expats seeking love and companionship in the Land of Smiles. Now Tony Niko, originally from Switzerland, is sweeping up at a temple in…
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Luxury condos change the face of Sathorn Road in Bangkok
by Somluck Srimalee, The Nation From Sathorn junction to Taksin Bridge, the riverside section of Sathorn Road has been transformed from a strip of shophouses to luxury residential condos in a gentrification that added 8,000 new apartments to the area. As well, the businesses have shifted to a more modern trade to replace the traditional trades. With the market trend, listed…
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Thai energy billionaire becomes the second richest person in Thailand
Sarath Ratanavadi has swiftly climbed up the list of Thai billionaires to become the nation’s second-richest man. Sarath owns the Gulf Energy Development which is outpacing most of the world’s power companies. According to Bloomberg, Sarath’s net worth rose to $6.3 billion after a 28% rally in Gulf Energy in the past three months, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The utility,…
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Enterprising young Cambodian impresses with multi-lingual skills
Young vendors become very resourceful at extracting money from tourists. All in the quest of making an honest living and bringing some money to their families. But this enterprising young boy seems to have knowledge of at least seven languages, obviously representing the most popular languages spoken by the tourists he speaks to during his daily rounds. Netizens are impressed…
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Thai car manufacturers upbeat about sales
PHOTO: Chevrolet’s proposed SUV ‘Blazer’ to replace the Captiva Car sales for the first five months of this year stood at 437,722 equating to a year-on-year rise of just over 9%. Sales for May alone were 88,097 units, up 3.7%. But May’s growth slowed from the double-digit rise that the sector experienced between January and April, 2019. • By brand sales…
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Thailand Post’s no-go list
Twenty years ago postal services were thought to he going out of fashion as email and social media began to replace people sending letters in the post. But that’s all changed now as online retail services are making the world’s postal services busier than ever. Including Thailand Post. If you’re wishing to avoid problems with Thailand Post and would like…
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Surachate won’t be returning to Royal Thai Police
Thailand’s deputy PM Prawit Wongsuwon has dissed rumours that former Immigration chief Surachate Hakparn is poised for a return to the Royal Thai Police. Read The Thaiger’s weekend story HERE. Over the weekend Thai media reported that the former high-profile policeman and eventual Immigration Chief, was set for a sensational return and was about to be appointed to a senior…
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Surachate Hakparn, your friendly neighbourhood crime-fighter, is back!
PHOTO: posttoday …well, according to enthusiastic reports in the Thai media. Thailand’s favourite police poster boy and friendly neighbourhood crime-fighter, Surachate Hakparn, is poised to make a return to the front line. Thai media are reporting that he may be about to be appointed to the post of Assistant Commissioner of the Royal Thai Police. In April he was side-lined from…
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Nattaporn needs you help – nine year old Thai amputee wants a prosthetic leg
The mother of a young amputee in Phichit, who lost her left leg two years ago because of cancer, is asking for help to get her daughter a prosthetic leg for better mobility. The mother, Plubpueng Butrnoi, says doctors had to amputate the left leg of her 9 year old daughter Nattaporn two years ago to save her life. Phichit…
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Chinese move their purchase power away from Bangkok condo market
Chinese condo buyers are veering their purchase power away from the Bangkok property market citing the strong Thai currency, overpricing and a supply glut. 2015 – 5.8 Yuan to the Thai Baht 2019 – 4.4 Yuan to the Thai Baht The rise of the baht and the weakening of the Chinese Yuan over the past four years, have culminated in…
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From ‘Sawadee’ to ‘Pad Thai’. Who was Phibun?
by Dan Brook Thai culture is ancient and one can even see evidence of its beautiful bronze-age civilisation in Ban Chiang, near Udon Thani in Isaan, Thailand’s lesser-visited north-east region. But not everything in Thai culture is quite so old. In fact, some major things closely associated with Thailand are relatively recent — and all of them are related to…
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Thai PM acts on illegal and unlicensed hotels and accommodation
Owners of shop-houses, rented properties, even entire floors of condos – running them as defacto hotels – are about to get the Article 44 treatment. The PM, acting in his capacity as the head of the NCPO (in the days before it is dissolved), says he will bring an estimated 20,000 illegal hotels and accommodations around the country under control…
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Wai Khru – setting a bad example for the future. Thailand’s demand for respect from its young
Hazing (US English), initiation ceremonies (British English), bastardisation (Australian English), ragging (South Asia), or deposition, refers to the practice of rituals, challenges, and other activities involving harassment, abuse or humiliation used as a way of initiating a person into a group including a new fraternity, sorority, team or club. In Thailand, hazing is not only rife, it’s seen as a rite…
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In 12 months Future Forward has grown into a leading Thai political force
“If anyone talks about fear, we should tell them that, if we are afraid, we will never be able to step forward.” Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, Future Forward’s 40 year old leader, assured the public yesterday that the party is not aggressive and will not seek to turn everything upside down and inside out “but move Thai society forward whereby democracy is…
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Patong businessman blames “State sponsored extortion” for town’s latest tourism woes
Patong’s best known businessmen and local identity Pisona Groups’s Peechawut ‘Prab’ Keesin, son of long-serving Patong Mayor Pian Keesin, has posted claims saying that “state sponsored extortion”, in the form of taxes, is forcing prices up for tourists. His post, along with photos of empty Patong streets, says the charges are forcing businesses out and tourists to leave. “Patong is…
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“We were robbed of victory” – Future Forward’s Thanathorn
Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, the 40 year old Future Forward leader who was up against Prayut Chan-o-cha for the position of PM yesterday, says that the pro-democracy alliance hasn’t conceded defeat but, he says, were “robbed of their victory”. He is vowing to work harder outside parliament to prove that to the people. “This election is just one battle in the long journey…
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Goodbye iTunes, hello new dedicated Apps
In January 2001 Apple announced iTunes. It changed everything in the music industry and has gone on to spawn other more modern forms of music purchases and sharing. It was a true ‘disrupter’ for the time. Then, just eight months later would come the iPod which fundamentally changed the way we listen to music as well. Now Apple is introducing…
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Toon takes to Thailand’s roads again for more charity runs
Artiwara “Toon” Kongmalai is one of Thailand’s most popular rock stars and celebrities. He fronts the band ‘Bodyslam’. He’s also become somewhat of an inspirational fund-raiser, principally running to raise awareness of Thailand’s health system and raise funds for the poorer hospitals and provinces. In 2017 he famously ran from from the southernmost to the northernmost tips, raising money for some…
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Risland plans new developments in Bangkok and Phuket
PHOTO: Artist impression of the new Cloud Thonglor-Phetchaburi Hong Kong-based property developers Risland Thailand say they will spend 8 billion baht launching five residential projects in Bangkok and Phuket. The investment budget of 8 billion baht is an increase from 5 billion in 2018 and 3 billion in 2017, the first year Risland operated in the country. From June to…
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