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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  • The Good Shepherd Phuket Learning Centre requires urgent funding

    The Good Shepherd Phuket Learning Centre requires urgent funding

    The fate of the Good Shepherd Learning Centre Phuket is a matter of concern. The Centre has an urgent need to obtain sustainable funds to continue operations as its initial period of regular, committed funding will cease in May 2018. At The Good Shepherd Learning Centre they provide basic education i.e. science, mathematics and language skills in Thai, Burmese and…

  • British International School Phuket Hosts Scholarship Bake Off

    British International School Phuket Hosts Scholarship Bake Off

    PHUKET – BISP Scholarship Bake Off The IWA Phuket Team together with the Year 10 – 12 students of British International School Phuket hosted a bake off on Sunday at the Outrigger Laguna Beach Resort Phuket, all to raise money for the IWA a student lead initiative, funding girls in education. All the participating baking teams showcased their talent, the…

  • TOONS TUNES – Bon Jovi “Walls”

    TOONS TUNES – Bon Jovi “Walls”

    Checking new and amazing music for The Thaiger everyday with Donna Toon Toons Tunes for today features American rock band Bon Jovi and the latest release from their expanded edition of their 2016 studio album “This House is not for Sale” the track is called “Walls”. The song is politically motivated and the music video is equal parts performance and…

  • The world’s top 25 luxury hotels

    The world’s top 25 luxury hotels

    Luxury hotels. Sure, we plenty of those in Phuket and around Thailand. But where are the world’s best luxury hotels? Out of the top 25, only one is in Thailand. The votes are in by the people who visit and stay in these expensive but ornate and luxurious accommodation offerings. Trip Advisor guests have stayed in them and voted. The…

  • TOONS TUNES – John Legend “A Good Night”

    TOONS TUNES – John Legend “A Good Night”

    Checking new and amazing music for The Thaiger everyday with Donna Toon Toons Tunes for today features American singer John Legend and DJ Bloodpop and his latest release called “A Good Night”. The music video is a play on the dating app “Tinder” where a hot lady is walking through a nightclub and being approached by a number of men…

  • Phuket luxury villa sales surging

    Phuket luxury villa sales surging

    Phuket appears to be on an upward swing in the property market following a few years languishing with slower sales. According to a recent report from CBRE Thailand, around 155 resort villas were sold in Phuket during 2017. CBRE, which opened an office on the island back in 2004, says the results last year represent a growth of 21 percent…

  • TOONS TUNES – Maren Morris “Rich”

    TOONS TUNES – Maren Morris “Rich”

    Checking new and amazing music for The Thaiger everyday with Donna Toon Toons Tunes for today features American singer and songwriter Maren Morris and the latest release from her debut studio album “Hero” called “Rich”. It’s a change up in genre for Toons Tunes today, as I wouldn’t describe myself as a country music fan, but this track verges on…

  • TOONS TUNES – The Weeknd “Wasted Times”

    TOONS TUNES – The Weeknd “Wasted Times”

    Checking new and amazing music for The Thaiger everyday with Donna Toon Toons Tunes for today features Canadian singer and songwriter The Weeknd and the latest release from the extended play studio album “My Dear Melancholy” called “Wasted Times”. If you are a follower of Toons Tunes you will know that I am a huge fan of The Weeknd and…

  • Nai Harn Phuket celebrates the 2nd anniversary of Rock Salt

    Nai Harn Phuket celebrates the 2nd anniversary of Rock Salt

    On Friday, April 20, The Nai Harn Phuket marked the second anniversary of Rock Salt, the resort’s stylish, laid back stand-alone beachfront bistro. The team at Phuket’s only member of Leading Hotels of the World celebrated the occasion with a Whispering Angel Rosé Party during which guests were served a welcome glass of wine from a 3 litre double magnum…

  • New 101 villa luxury property heading to Mai Khao, Phuket

    New 101 villa luxury property heading to Mai Khao, Phuket

    PHOTO: Viagens e Férias Global hospitality group Melia Hotels International has signed a new 101 villa luxury property in Mai Khao, Phuket. The developer of the property is the Phuket Villa Group. Each of the hotel villas feature private pools. Slated for 2021, the group will enter the Phuket market with an exclusive luxury resort on the idealic Mai Khao beach, at the…

  • TOONS TUNES – Janelle Monae “Pynk”

    TOONS TUNES – Janelle Monae “Pynk”

    Checking new and amazing music for The Thaiger everyday with Donna Toon Toons Tune’s for today features American singer Janelle Monae and the latest release from her third studio album “Dirty Computer” called “Pynk”. Janelle Monae has caused quite a stir with her new music video – not with the song itself, but rather the clip’s content, which includes the…

  • The 110cc power plant of South East Asia

    The 110cc power plant of South East Asia

    Please ensure that you are properly licensed and wear a helmet anytime you hire or ride a motorbike in South East Asia. Whenever you visit South East Asia one thing becomes immediately apparent – the economies would never survive without the ubiquitous 110cc step-thru motorbikes. Some may have bigger engines, some might have been ‘modified’ and some might have been…

  • Boracay – Last one out, turn the lights off

    Boracay – Last one out, turn the lights off

    Philippines officials are sending in the troops to keep tourists off the island and deter potential protests as Boracay Island prepares for closure from April 26. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has branded the tourist magnet island and its white-sand beach a “cesspool”. In a move that’s sent tour operators, hotel chains and locals into a panic, the island will be…

  • Private investors being wooed over planned marina for Samui

    Private investors being wooed over planned marina for Samui

    Samui is looking to establish the island’s first marina and is currently looking to investors for the project in the Gulf of Thailand. Asia Pacific Superyachts reports that Koh Samui has succeeded in attracting international five-star brands, a strong luxury villas market as well as quality golf courses. The report says that superyacht sailors are now coming to the region…

  • Hainan Island: 30 day visa-free for 59 countries starting May 1

    Hainan Island: 30 day visa-free for 59 countries starting May 1

    China will adopt a new 30 day visa-free policy in Hainan province (Hainan Island, south west of Hong Kong) for people from 59 countries starting May 1, in an attempt to lure more tourists to the southernmost province. Hainan has been trying to tempt travellers away from the popular south east asian tropical hot spots to the south China island…

  • Failure to turn browsers into buyers – online travel booking

    Failure to turn browsers into buyers – online travel booking

    A report from Ve Global indicates that there are far more travel browsers than travel buyers. The report shows that the dropout rate is as high as 95.5% when it comes time to paying online for a travel service. The data, advertising and marketing technology company’s report shows that every sector of the travel industry is plagued with massive on-site…

  • Founding partner of Pavilions Himalayas honoured for charitable work in Nepal

    Founding partner of Pavilions Himalayas honoured for charitable work in Nepal

    One of the founding partners of The Pavilions Himalayas, Douglas Maclagan, is to be honoured for his work helping underprivileged children in Nepal. The award is considered as the Nobel Prize for Children, and endorsed by UNICEF. World of Children, which provides funding and assistance for vulnerable children worldwide, has selected Mr Maclagan as a Humanitarian Alumni Honoree for 2018,…

  • Will you be booking a flight with standing plane seats?

    Will you be booking a flight with standing plane seats?

    PHOTO: Aviointeriors They’ve threatened charging ‘fat’ people more for their aircraft seat, even smaller seats and zero-recline seats. Anything the bean-counters running the world’s airlines can do to increase their bottomline, whilst discomforting ours, it seems, they will try. The idea of a ‘standing seat’ was posited nearly a decade ago but was considered a bridge too far at the…

  • TropOut is back in Phuket all this week

    TropOut is back in Phuket all this week

    TropOut – the stylish international gay beach festival – is returning to Phuket from April 15 – 22. The festival debuted in Phuket in 2016 and was headlined by DJ Robin Schulz who performed a memorable set at Xana Beach Club. The 2018 Phuket edition of TropOut will host parties at Dream Beach and Cafe del Mar, as well as a…

  • World’s best airlines – People’s Choice, Trip Advisor

    World’s best airlines – People’s Choice, Trip Advisor

    PHOTO: Singapore Airlines Trip Advisor has compiled the world’s best airlines from the data and votes of their users around the world. No panel of judges here – the people have spoken. Not surprisingly, Singapore Airlines has come out on top, again. The Singaporean national airline is a consistent winner of best airline competitions over a number of decades. Air…

  • TOONS TUNES – Rudimental “Rumour Mill”

    TOONS TUNES – Rudimental “Rumour Mill”

    Checking new and amazing music for The Thaiger everyday with Donna Toon Sometimes I hear a track and think oh I like that, “Shazam” it and then find out it’s not new and actually is a couple of years old. This of course is the case for Rudimental’s 2015 song “Rumour Mill” featuring Anne Marie and Will Heard. The song…

  • The spirit of Songkran – Ajarn Pranee

    The spirit of Songkran – Ajarn Pranee

    By Pranee Sakulpipatana, AKA Ajarn Pranee Songkran is one of the happiest festivals celebrated by Thais. When I was young and lived in Phuket, I always found the Songkran celebrations in other provinces such as Chiang Mai to be very unique and beautiful. Over the years Phuket has grown into a hub filled with Thais from all corners of the…

  • Songkran activities around the country

    Songkran activities around the country

    Songkran is celebrated across Thailand. It’s the annual celebration of the Thai New Year – a farewell to the hot season and a welcoming of the coming wet season. But it is celebrated in many different ways, from the insane water-fights in Patong, with elephants in Ayutthaya or the Sand Pagoda Ceremony in Chonburi. The word “Songkran” has its origins in…

  • Phuket’s Grand West Sands Resort – massive makeover

    Phuket’s Grand West Sands Resort – massive makeover

    by Bill Barnett from c9hotelworks.com One of Phuket’s largest integrated hospitality resorts, the Grand West Sands Resort and Villas is underway on a massive makeover drive. Aligning with Hong Kong’s Langham Hospitality Group, the hotel offering is being split into separate four and five star offerings. The top end hotel will be renamed to Langham’s Cordis brand with 198 villas and suites,…

  • TOONS TUNES – Keala Settle “This Is Me” Alan Walker Remix

    TOONS TUNES – Keala Settle “This Is Me” Alan Walker Remix

    Checking new and amazing music for The Thaiger everyday with Donna Toon If you have been living under a shoe box and haven’t managed to watch the award winning movie “The Greatest Showman” then block yourself a couple of hours and get the popcorn ready, as it really is a show. The soundtrack to the story of P.T. Barnum’s Circus…

  • MontAzure helps fund the Muslim Foundation’s Tonkla-Kamala Camp

    MontAzure helps fund the Muslim Foundation’s Tonkla-Kamala Camp

    The developers of Phuket’s MontAzure in Kamala, is helping fund the Kamala Muslim Foundation’s Tonkla-Kamala Camp 2018 as part of the company’s ongoing support for the local community in Kamala. The annual educational camp takes place from April 5-20 and is designed to help local children learn important skills that will be useful to them in their personal and professional…

  • TOONS TUNES – James Bay “Us”

    TOONS TUNES – James Bay “Us”

    Checking new and amazing music for The Thaiger everyday with Donna Toon Today’s edition of Toons Tunes comes from British singer / songwriter James Bay and an acoustic version of “Us”. After James Bay’s debut album The Chaos & The Calm became the biggest-selling debut of 2015, Bay previously admitted that the sound of his second record was influenced by…

  • The world’s busiest airports 2017

    The world’s busiest airports 2017

    So which airport is the busiest in the world? Perhaps surprisingly, the busiest airport is not in Asia, but in the US in Atlanta, Georgia – the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. The city is within a two-hour flight of 80% of the United States population of more than 300 million people. But it’s reign at the top of the world chart…

  • Ranong Visa Runs – a few things you should know

    Ranong Visa Runs – a few things you should know

    The situation for visa runs changes all the time. Check before embarking on your Ranong journey to see if you are eligible for a visa run at that destination. From time to time we need to do those pesky visa runs. The nearest land border to Phuket is about a five hour drive north to the Thai fishing port of…

  • Vendors hit back at criticism of Bangkok’s Mae Klong market

    Vendors hit back at criticism of Bangkok’s Mae Klong market

    by Kachorn Phonimthai Vendors at Mae Klong, also known as Rom Hup – one of Thailand’s landmark markets – have defended its quirkiness and surroundings after coming under criticism online. They have spoken up to defend the world-famous market after several foreigners made critical comments on a BBC News video clip titled “The train that drives through a market”. Uploaded…