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 Why retirees in Thailand are choosing long-term health insurance over quick fixes
Retirees in Thailand are increasingly seeing the importance of health insurance in protecting their well-being during retirement. With insurance requirements for retirement visas and rising healthcare costs, many are moving away from short-term plans and choosing long-term coverage. Long-term health...
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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…
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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…
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TOONS TUNES – Meghan Trainor “No Excuses”
Checking new and amazing music for The Thaiger everyday with Donna Toon Toons Tunes for today features American singer and songwriter Meghan Trainor and the lead single from her third studio album “No Excuses” called “No Excuses”. Retro in style and retro in sound, Meghan Trainor has returned back to her old fashioned 50’s roots. The song is upbeat and…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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Swedish DJ Avicii Dies After Illness
Popular record producer and DJ Avicii died over the weekend after what appears to be a short illness, it has been reported. Avicii was found dead in a hotel room in Oman on April 20, 2018. No details were released about his death, but his publicist said: “It is with profound sorrow that we announce the loss of Tim Bergling,…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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Another month, another surge in tourists to Thailand
Thailand’s tourist arrivals clocked up 3.4 million visitors in March 2018, an improvement of over 16 percent year-on-year. The Ministry of Tourism and Sports has confirmed March finished with 3,497,260 visitors. Earnings for March were estimated at 189,158 million baht, up 22 percent year-on-year. Pongpanu Svetarundra, permanent secretary for the tourism ministry, noted that East Asia continued to dominate the tourist…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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The Thailand Travel Mart heads to Pattaya this June
Pattaya will host the annual Thailand Travel Mart this June. The show was hosted in Pattaya back in 2001, followed by years in Bangkok before it moved to Chiang Mai in 2016 for a two-year stint. Now the annual B2B event, that showcases travel content from across the country and neighbours in the Mekong Region, moves south to Pattaya’s Ocean…
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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,…
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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…
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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…
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TOONS TUNES – Kygo & Miquel “Reminding Me To Forget”
Checking new and amazing music for The Thaiger everyday with Donna Toon If you are a Toons Tunes regular you will know my favourite artist currently is Norwegian record producer and DJ Kygo, he is joined this time by American singer Miquel for the brand new track called “Remind Me To Forget”. The song features on Kygo’s second studio album…
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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…
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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…
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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,…
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Developers rush to provide better retirement options in Thailand
Retiring in Thailand has always been a double-edged sword – on one hand the lifestyle, inexpensive living and culture. On the other, the prospect of lonely later years without the trampoline safety of adequate healthcare and services. But there are now a growing list of companies looking to address the needs of the growing expat and retiree population attracted to…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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TOONS TUNES – David Guetta & Sia “Flames”
Checking new and amazing music for The Thaiger everyday with Donna Toon Award winning French DJ David Guetta has collaborated with Australian singer Sia, for the new upbeat song released on the 22nd March called “Flames” a worthy track for today’s Toons Tunes. David Guetta gained worldwide success after the release of his 2009 “One Love” which featured mainstream tracks…
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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…
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New GLOW for Ao Nang, Krabi
by Bill Barnett of c9hotelworks.com Thailand’s InVision Hospitality has debuted their GLOW brand in Krabi with a 130 room boutique hotel. Located in the popular tourism area of Ao Nang, this is the fifth GLOW hotel in Southeast Asia, and third in Thailand. Krabi has swiftly expanded its tourism market, between 2006 to 2016, airport arrivals surged from just over 240,000 up to…
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The economic impact of closing down Maya Bay for four months
So what impact will closing down Maya Bay for four months have? Will it be cataclysmic for Phi Phi and Krabi tourism? Will tourist operators survive? Pullawat Pitigraisorn from SCB’s Economic Intelligence Centre has done the sums and estimates that tourist earnings for Krabi Province will only suffer a 6 percent drop as tourists will continue to come to the…
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