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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  • BTS match long-standing Beatles’ record and reach the Top 6 in 26 countries with new album

    BTS match long-standing Beatles’ record and reach the Top 6 in 26 countries with new album

    South Korean band BTS is making waves across music charts around the world. Their new album ‘Map of the Soul – Persona’ has matched a long-standing Beatles record of having three number one albums on the US Billboard chart in one year. The all-male band comprises RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V and Jungkook, all aged between 22 and 27…

  • Buyback Option at VIP KATA Condominium by Phuket9

    Buyback Option at VIP KATA Condominium by Phuket9

    Phuket9 Company announces a buy-back option for VIP KATA Condominium Project with a rental return of 56% over 8 years. The first two buildings of VIP KATA Condominium were launched in July 2018. After one month in August 2018, Phuket9 commenced construction of the second phase – 2 more buildings including 209 apartments, 2 common swimming pools, rooftop gardens, restaurants and a kids club.…

  • Bangkok home prices among the cheapest in the Key Global Cities report

    Bangkok home prices among the cheapest in the Key Global Cities report

    Hong Kong maintains its position as the world’s most expensive residential city, while Bangkok ranks at #33 out of 35 global cities surveyed. In the fifth annual Global Living Report, CBRE profiles the property markets across 35 key global cities. The results highlight that investments in urban areas such as transport infrastructure, connectivity, retail, cultural centres and housing are key…

  • In love with the lottery – The Thai obsession with the national lottery

    In love with the lottery – The Thai obsession with the national lottery

    Thais love their national lottery. On the first and sixteenth of each month the lottery numbers are announced and people’s favourite numbers either come up, or they don’t – usually not. You will see the lottery ticket vendors either on the pavement or wandering through restaurants selling a once in a lifetime dream of winning the lottery. The National Statistical Office…

  • ‘Endgame’ proves a marvel on opening day

    ‘Endgame’ proves a marvel on opening day

    The Avengers are annihilating the competition. And that’s even before the 22-film franchise’s last hurrah reaches US movie theatres. “Avengers: Endgame” features the entire Marvel Universe of superheroes and has proven an effective weapon for Disney at destroying old opening-day records across Asia, specifically in China. The movie raked in US$169 million on its first day of screening when it…

  • Raid on 18 foreign-owned Koh Samui hotels, owners arrested

    Raid on 18 foreign-owned Koh Samui hotels, owners arrested

    FILE PHOTO Army, police and municipal officials have raided 18 hotels on Koh Samui claiming that they are illegally owned by foreigners. The hotels in questions are on a mountainside on the Gulf island, the second largest island in Thailand. Officials carried out the search and raids on Chaweng Noi Mountain in Moo 6 village in Tambon Bophut and found…

  • Finance Ministry wants to give 1,500 baht to each domestic traveller

    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…

  • Patong’s trash hero rewarded for collecting garbage in filthy canal

    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…

  • K-Pop dominating YouTube records – BTS and Blackpink

    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…

  • Phuket hotel watch – trends in 2019

    Phuket hotel watch – trends in 2019

    by Bill Barnett of C9Hotelworks.com At the beginning of the year Phuket’s tourism and hotel sector was cautiously optimistic after a strong first half of 2018 and humbling second half. Key terms that kept popping up were Mainland Chinese, Thai Baht Appreciation, Elections and Supply Concerns. So today, with five months of performance under the belt in 2019 what are…

  • BTS smashes YouTube records with ‘Boy With Luv’ music video

    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…

  • Thailand swelters under the Songkran sun

    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…

  • BTS conclude their record-breaking Love Yourself world tour in Bangkok

    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…

  • Surachate Hakparn: Sidelined and sent back to the operation centre of the RTP

    Surachate Hakparn: Sidelined and sent back to the operation centre of the RTP

    Thailand’s headline policeman, former Immigration Chief Pol Lt Gen Surachate Hakparn, aka. Big Joke, has been transferred to the Operation Centre of the Royal Thai Police. The order was signed by the Thai Police Chief Chakthip Chaijinda. The order was signed and executed last night. As of today, his social media account – Facebook and Twitter – plus the Immigration…

  • Six arrested for drug use after raid on illegal Bangkok pub

    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.…

  • Bangkok’s bye bye to Boyzone and hello to BTS

    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…

  • Facebook: The engagement is over

    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,…