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 How to reduce out-of-pocket medical expenses in Thailand?
Managing medical expenses in Thailand is important as healthcare costs continue to rise. The country’s healthcare system includes both public and private options, but even with the Universal Coverage Scheme (UCS) for citizens, many still face high out-of-pocket medical expenses....
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Green Day heading back to BKK in 2020
Green Day, five-time Grammy Award winners, are embarking on a global tour in 2020, including a stop-over in Bangkok during March. The rock ‘n’ roll Hall of Fame inductees will perform a series of concerts throughout Europe, UK, North America and Asia. “Green Day Live in Bangkok” takes place on March 11, 2020 at Impact Arena, Muang Thong Thani. But…
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500 people own 36% of equity in Thai companies
Roughly 36% of Thailand’s corporate equity is held by just 500 people, highlighting wealth inequality in the Kingdom, according to a study released by the Bank of Thailand’s research institute. Each of these 500 amass some 3.1 billion baht (102 million USD) per year in company profits, according to the report from the Puey Ungphakorn Institute for Economic Research. In…
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Sex Reassignment Surgery in Thailand (male to female) – a quick guide
MONTAGE: People Magazine Thailand has a well-deserved reputation for excellence in sex reassignment surgery and the before and after care of patients. The country has a long relationship with Kathoeys, affectionately referred to in Thailand as ‘ladyboys’, and consequently, a well-developed approach to quality surgery in this area. The following article has been prepared by My Medi Travel. Kathoey or…
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Study shows most Thai people live hand to mouth
PHOTO: eTamping Nearly half of Thailand’s citizens aged 18-65 are spending everything they earn on monthly bills and living expenses, leaving them with nothing to put aside as savings. A study carried out by GoBear, an international financial comparison site, reveals that the highest percentage of people living paycheck to paycheck (53%) are those in the 36-45 age group. 51% of…
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The K-pop Olympics: performers battle in the K-pop festival
by Claire Lee On the streets, in parks and garages, seven Cuban youngsters spent seven months practising K-pop moves to secure a spot on their dream stage: an appearance in South Korea to imitate their idols. 13 final teams from 80 countries are competing in the 2019 event. At the grandly titled and government-funded Changwon K-pop World Festival contestants from…
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‘Always Smile Journey’ raises fund to provide free English classes for underprivileged people
On October 18, the ‘Always Smile Journey’ group and its partners will host an exhibition with plenty of fun activities at the Yak Yai Market, near Chalong Circle, in Phuket. This event was designed to raise funds to provide free English classes for underprivileged people on the island of Phuket on Saturdays and Sundays. The group does not accept donations…
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Professor: Military government too interested in tourism – not people’s welfare
A professor of Rangsit University has criticised the previous military government for focusing too much on tourism and not enough on the welfare of the Thai people. The professor was speaking at Chulalongkorn University at a seminar discussing street stalls and urban development. She questioned the National Council for Peace and Order’s policy of clearing street vendors in all but a…
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Tale of two cities – Hua Hin vs Pattaya
by Kornrawee Panyasuppakun Property buyers looking to buy a seaside villa or condo in a coastal town in Thailand, relatively close to Bangkok, confront one question – should I buy a property in Hua Hin or Pattaya? And rightly so, because these two choices have similar aspects. Both have kilometres of coastline, good beaches, and are just a couple of…
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Phuket’s Surf House team head to South Korea for Flowboarding Worlds
PHOTO: Making waves in flow boarding around the region – SurfHouse Phuket The Surf House brand in Thailand is synonymous with being exceptional in the world of competitive Flowboarding. And 2019 has been a stellar year for competitors who have been broadly supported by SurfHouse over many years. Bringing home the gold from Flow Tour Asia 2019 held in Chong Qing, China is…
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Stricter controls and paperwork putting brakes on residential property market
The honorary president of the Thai Housing Business Association, Atip Bijanonda, is tipping the local residential market may fall by up to 10% this year starved of economic confidence, the global economic slowdown and the loan-to-value limits. But he also believes the situation is far from the situation leading up to the 1997 economic collapse. The Greater Bangkok residential market…
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BTS first foreign artists to perform solo concert in Saudi Arabia tonight
PHOTO: BTS performing in front of 60,000 fans during their “Love Yourself” tour in Hong Kong – SCMP No band has ever commanded a concert stage, alone, in Saudi Arabia. Remarkable but true. But South Korea’s BTS is breaking down yet another barrier with tonight’s stadium concert in the Kingdom. Aside from being their first ever concert in Saudi Arabia,…
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Helsinki to Singapore, by bike
PHOTO: Aurelie and Marco, now heading south through Thailand Aurelie and Marco are 36 years old, married, and passionate about cycling. She’s French and he’s half English/half İtalian. Together they have decided to live their lifelong dream; to cycle across the globe. Their chosen path is taking them from Helsinki to Singapore. The pair arrived in Chiang Mai yesterday and…
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Property Perfect launch promotion to boost flagging condo sales
Thailand’s property market will grow only 3 – 5% this year and the condo market is likely to end up 25% down – the executive director of Property Perfect claims it’s the the most severe situation in 10 years. The Nation reports that Wongsakorn Prasitwipat is primarily blaming the loan-to-value measures imposed by the government on Thai banks last April, along…
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Bangkok land prices plateau, new tax on the way
Land prices in the Thai capital are forecast to plateau, or even drop this year. This would be the first time in more than ten years that Bangkok’s land prices have levelled off. So what is causing the sudden surge in land becoming available? Property and real estate consultants say the changes can be blamed on the general economic slowdown…
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BTS will have to break up, whether they like it or not, and fans are not happy
Even though they’ve been making music since their debut back in 2013, it’s the last two years BTS, aka Bangtan Boys (or Bangtan Sonyeondan for Korean pronunciation), have gone from zero to hero in the pop music world. Now they’re riding their success on the crest of a wave that has defied conventional pop marketing and ‘western’ white-washed music standards.…
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14% of condos around Bangkok are empty – good time to buy
Looking for a condo around Bangkok? Now might the right time to take the plunge with the head of the Appraisal and Estate Agents Foundation saying some areas have between 8-14% vacancy rates, some areas of Bangkok up to 17.5%. Dr Sophon Pornchokchai made the remarks at a news conference yesterday. “Adding developer price wars, plus inducements to purchase, this…
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Prachin Buri roadside flower seller gives yesterday’s earnings to Thai flood victims
PHOTOS: INN News A roadside flower seller in Prachin Buri, just to the north east of Bangkok, is giving all his earnings from yesterday to help flood victims in Thailand’s north east provinces. INN News reports that he was wearing a sign… “All earnings from today will be given to flood victims”. Flower sellers are often seen at red lights…
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Nepali climber pushing for record 14 peak record attempt
PHOTO: Don Bowie “This is not about me… it is to show what the human body can do. To establish a paradigm shift in perception of human potential.” by Paavan Mathema The current record for climbing the world’s 14 tallest peaks is almost eight years. Now Nepali climber, Nirmal Purja, who served in the British special forces, has set a…
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Lilly wages war on Thailand’s plastic
PHOTOS” AFP “Mindsets have started to shift this year with the deaths of several marine mammals whose stomachs were lined with plastic, stirring emotions.” by Sophie Deviller Skipping school to glide through a dirty Bangkok ‘klong’ on a paddleboard, Lilly fishes out rubbish in her mission to clean up Thailand, where the average person uses eight plastic bags every single…
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Historic discovery of earliest sound films shot in Thailand
PHOTO: Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation / University of South Carolina “Film historian Dome Sukhawong discovered the films in 2018, in the University of South Carolina archives.” Four films made nearly 100 years ago are believed to be the first sound films recorded in Thailand. The films were screened at the Thai Film Archive for the first time on Monday. Film…
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Australian newspaper reports on Thai minister’s criminal drug past
The Deputy Agriculture Minister Thammanat Prompow has had his accounts about his role in a 3.2 kilogram heroin-smuggling ring challenged by an Australian newspaper. The events back in 1993 landed Thammanat in a Sydney jail for four years. Thammanat Prompow is the Palang Pracharath MP for Phayao province in Thialand’s north. The article by the respected Sydney Morning Herald, “From…
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Wyndham adds two more hotels for Phuket’s south
PHOTOS: Artists impressions of the new Wyndham Nai Harn Resort Phuket Global hotel group Wyndham has announced two more Phuket pipeline hotels. The announcement follows a long list of new developments and openings over the next few years on the island. First for Wyndham, is a 353 key property named the Wyndham Nai Harn Resort Phuket at the popular southern west-coast…
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Thai monks receive alms then sell them back to traders… mmmm
PHOTOS: Sanook Just another day in Thailand with a social media post about monks seated along a city street appealing for alms at the Asoke market in the business hub of Bangkok. Sanook reports that there were many monks on the footpath as mostly Chinese tourists paid their respects and offered the monks food bought at the market. But an online…
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Thai school girls – longer skirts, bigger blouses
The Thai Education Ministry is telling teenage female students to dress “appropriately” and stop wearing dresses that are too skimpy. The Ministry has made amendments to the Child Protection Act to codify the length of dresses and the tightness of blouses, rather than leaving it up to school boards to come up with their own guidelines (you can imagine those…
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Hua Hin property market stabilises
The condominium market in Hua Hin is returning to a “balanced state” thanks to a slow down in the launch of local developments in the coastal town. This follows the opening of many developments in 2011 and 2012, causing demand to fall behind the supply. Knight Frank Thailand’s director of research Risinee Sarikaputra says that in the middle of 2019, the…
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Taylor Swift ลอก แพ็คเกจอัลบั้ม BTS – ARMYs เชื่อ
ARMYs เชื่อ Taylor Swift-Love ลอก แพ็คเกจอัลบั้ม ของ BTS : K-POP “ ไม่ว่าเทเลอร์จะรู้จัก K-Pop หรือไม่ดูเหมือนว่าเธอจะได้รับอิทธิพลจากบรรจุภัณฑ์ของบีทีเอส” BTS เทเลอร์ สวิฟต์ – หลังจากกรณี “Taylor Swift” เทเลอร์ สวิฟต์ นักร้องสาวชื่อดัง อดีตเจ้าหญิงเพลงครันทรี พบปัญหาข้อพิพาทที่ 6 อัลบั้มก่อนหน้าของเธอถูกขายลิขสิทธิ์ไปให้ สกูเตอร์ บรอน(Scooter Braun) ไม้เบื่อไม้เมาของเธอ แต่เทเลอร์ก็กำลังจะแก้เผ็ดกลับด้วยการอัดเพลงใหม่ 6 อัลบั้มก่อนหน้าทั้งหมด เพื่อดึงลิขสิทธิ์เพลงที่เธอแต่งกลับมา พร้อม ๆ กันนี้ เทเลอร์ สวิฟต์ ได้ออกอัลบั้มที่ 7 “Lover” ภายใต้แพ็คเกจอัลบั้มที่สวยหวานฟรุ้งฟริ้ง มีซิงเกิลนำอย่าง you need to calm down Koreaboo รายงานว่า เมื่อเช้าเน็ตเกาหลีบางรายได้เห็น แพ็คเกจอัลบั้ม Lover ของเทเลอร์ ก็เกิดประเด็นขึ้นทันที ชาวเน็ตเกาหลีบอกว่า “Limited Lover Box…
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New hotel and condo developments flood Phuket’s property market
by Bill Barnett The continuing wave of developers bringing hotel investment grade real estate to the Phuket real estate market is escalating. Notable new entries include 74 units at the Melia Phuket Karon Residences that are now for sale. Pricing for one and two bedroom units starts at 8.4 million baht. A 7% three-year guarantee is offered with 30 days owner usage. Meanwhile,…
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Digital technology is drastically reshaping Thai media
“…journalism has never died despite the disruption. It’s just that media organisations and reporters are unable to survive because they cannot adjust to changes.” The Thaiger is a news and information portal, just one of a growing number of ‘disruptive media’ replacing traditional media and news outlets. It would be a very brave businessperson (with deep pockets) in the 2019…
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Asia’s trash couture – Thailand and China’s recycling supermodels
“He inspires others to challenge the norm, to break the mold, and to explore new and exciting possibilities.” Apichet “Madaew’” Atirattana grew up among the rice fields in Thailand’s Isaan region. Growing up as a teenager anywhere is a challenge. But deciding to take your village trash and turning it into high-fashion was always going to turn heads. That’s what…
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MS Siam Tower opens on Rama III
The first premium office building at the corner of Rama III & Industrial Ring roads with an investment value of 2.6 billion baht. Thunsrisiam has announced the official opening of “MS Siam Tower”. The Board of Thunsrisiama and guests held the Grand Opening last Friday in the front of the office building before embarking on a walking tour on the…
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