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 Where to shop for sports gear at Jungceylon Phuket
Phuket might be known for its beaches and nightlife, but the island also has a thriving fitness culture. From Muay Thai gyms to beach runs at sunrise, staying active is part of daily life for many who live here (as...
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The legalisation of cannabis for medical use – more questions than answers
by Laura Villadiego “Despite what looks to be the biggest step in decades towards legalisation of cannabis in Thailand… the use of cannabis in Thailand without a licence is still punishable with jail terms.” Unclear licensing rules have given rise to fears foreign firms might apply for patents and squeeze out local players There are concerns the public might think…
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30% rise in drink driving incidents
FILE PHOTO Despite all the hoopla, promises, checkpoints on all major roads and extensive media campaign, drink driving remains the leading cause of accidents over the first three days of the New Year holiday road safety period – aka. The Seven Days of Danger. Police report a 30% rise in drink-driving arrests up to last Saturday. 6,000 breathalysers and radar…
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The Bay and Beach Club – Welcome to The Bay!
With a coveted location on Phuket’s infamous Patong Beach, The Bay and Beach Club is an elegant new resort which features 26 brand new luxury rooms. The resort boasts a prime beachfront location – The Bay and Beach Club is set right on the sands of Patong Beach in an area lined with towering palm trees. If tropical luxury is what…
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Buddhist blessings ring in the new year for ASEAN
by Phatarawadee Phataranawik With Thailand chairing ASEAN throughout 2019, the Culture Ministry is fostering unity among the bloc’s 10 members by bringing to Bangkok relics and statues of the Buddha from around Asia to be ritually blessed. “Thailand is for the first time hosting this grand annual New Year blessing ceremony,” said Kittiphan Phansuwan, director of the ministry’s Religious Affairs…
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Thailand now in world’s top 100 most expensive places to live for expats
Singapore and Thailand are among the fastest risers in a survey of most expensive locations in the world for expats. Asian Correspondent is reporting that multinational human resource consultants ECA International, in its recent Cost of Living survey, revealed that Thailand rose 32 places this year to enter the top 100 most expensive locations in the world. Lee Quane, the…
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Thai business tycoon buys Fortune for $150 million
Photo: Fortune Chatchaval Jiaravanon, son of the executive chairman of Thailand’s biggest conglomerate (the Charoen Pokphand Group) and part of the richest family in Thailand has bought Fortune for $150 million (4.8 billion baht). Publisher giant Meredith confirmed the sale on Friday, saying it will use the money to pay off down debt. The Thai business tycoon – executive chairman of…
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Road toll drops but still 60 deaths a day
The good news is that Thailand is no longer in the top couple of countries for road death tolls in the world. The bad news is the toll is still horrendous with an average of 60 deaths every day. Thailand has seen fewer road casualties this year and is now listed as the world’s ninth-most dangerous nation when road accidents…
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Orient Express luxury brand announces first hotel in Mahankhon
The King Power Mahanakhon Building in Bangkok, Thailand’s tallest, will have the world’s first Orient Express Hotel. At 78 storeys high, the Mahanakhon Building is currently the tallest building in Bangkok, pushing the slightly shorter Baiyoke Tower into second place. Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha, CEO of King Power Group, said they spent over 100 million baht on the new hotel. The new…
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Fine tuning on same-sex Bill before it goes to Cabinet next week
by Kornrawee Panyasuppakun The Life Partnership Bill has been updated to recognise more rights for same-sex couples before it heads to the Cabinet for approval next week. The latest version of the bill now includes a phrase that says non-heterosexual couples will have the right to “make medical decisions” and “hold a funeral” for their incapacitated or deceased spouse, both…
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Pulp Fiction – Phuket tourism by numbers
by Bill Barnett This week netizens have been captivated over a photo in the blogosphere proclaiming that “Phuket high-season was dead as a dodo.” Excuse me as I digress for just a minute on the subject of dodo’s, which is clearly something I know nothing about, hence putting myself on par with the individual proclaiming the ‘end of days’ for…
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Plain tobacco packaging by September 2019
The Thai government has made a new legislative announcement regarding plain packaging for cigarette packets, making it the first country in Asia, and first low and middle-income country to do so. This legislation adds to the 2017 Tobacco Control Act, which currently mandates an individual must be 20 or older to purchase tobacco, bans tobacco advertising in the media, sponsorship,…
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Hua Hin expat postpones attempt to cross the Gulf. On a paddle board!
A Russian living in Hua Hin is attempting to cross the Gulf of Thailand. And he’s not going on the daily ferry. His mode of transport is just a paddle board. Vladimir Kruchinin was scheduled to depart on Monday from the shores of Pattaya, according to his Facebook page. “Exciting times at 4am for the start of our Pattaya to…
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Phuket vs Penang – The two pearls go head to head
…including some reflections by guest writer TravellingMitch There was a time when Penang was the ‘Pearl of the Orient’, for some western travellers the only ‘orient’ they would know outside of Singapore and maybe Hong Kong. It was the 1950s and 60s when jet travel had just started making the world smaller and the western middle class were in search…
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The new Galaxy Roof Club opens in Patong
The new Galaxy Roof Club Patong had its official launch as Patong’s first and only roof club under the slogan “Where all stars meet.” Dr. Josef Kastenberger – Owner, Ms. Olga Kotelenets – Managing Director and Mr. Nunthidej Phatanachinda – Advisor to Galaxy Roof Club Patong, are offering a new experience as the first and only roof club in Phuket…
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Digital driving license coming to Thailand next year
Stopped at a checkpoint? Fossiciking around in your bag for your license and ID? A new app will be launched in January in which motorists will be able to show their credentials to any law enforcement officer in Thailand. This means you will no longer have to carry a physical license with you.The police will be able to scan a…
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“Meute” House/Techno marching band at Wonderfruit
PHOTO: Steffi Rettinger Just drums and brass, that’s all they need. Hailing from Hamburg, Germany this modern take on the marching band concept is comprised of eleven musicians and, boy, are they good! With their iconic red jackets this group dares to rearrange house and techno music to bring it to the street. Started in 2015 by trumpet player Thomas Burhorn, this…
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Well Hotels signs new Pattaya resort on Phratamnak Hill
Well Hotels & Resorts has announced the signing of a management contract for a new boutique property that will be branded Phratamnak Well Resort Pattaya. The property is set to open in late 2019 with 78 rooms and suites. According to the agreement, Well Hotels & Resorts will take on the responsibility for the pre-opening and full operational management. Phratamnak…
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New WHO world road death report – Thailand drops to number 8 but still high
Thailand’s roads remain some of the deadliest in the world. But the Kingdom has dropped from its previous number two position to number eight, behind a collection of backwater African states and other undeveloped countries. A new report by the World Health Organisation shows that the road safety situation in Thailand hasn’t improved. The shocking news is outlined in a…
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John Mayer coming to Bangkok for the first time
IMAGE: John Mayer Instagram, Billboard.com John Mayer will be playing in Bangkok on April 3, 2019 for his newly announced ‘Australia & Asia Tour 2019’. The 41 year old American, hailing from Connecticut isperforming for the first time in Thailand. Tickets will be released at a later date but put a circle in your calendar. Mayer’s most famous songs include…
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Who is Miss Thailand, last weekend’s runner-up in the Miss World competition?
PHOTOS: Sereechai Puttes/Time Out Bangkok “Beauty is seen in action and how much you give to society. Beauty is what you do for other people and what you say to other people to make them feel better about themselves.” She was the runner up in this year’s Miss World competition held at Santa, China last Saturday night. She was also…
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Dystopian Thai film approved by censor board
A new Thai movie ’10 Years Thailand’ will screen nation wide next week after having finally been approved by the censor board last Monday. The film is a dystopian anthology made by four Thai film makers and is based on the 2015 Hong Kong film ‘Ten Years’. The film is directed by Aditya Assarat, Wisit Sasanatieng, Chulayarnon Siriphol and Apichatpong…
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Tail-rotor control failure linked to Vichai helicopter crash
A British investigation centered on the helicopter of the late Thai billionaire Vichai Srivaddhanprabha, reports that his helicopter had spun and lost control only moments after clearing the stadium’s roof. The investigation found that the blue and white helicopter was used for most home matches as Vichai would always land and take off from the centre. The report indicates that…
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Free Wi-Fi available at 30 BTS stations in Bangkok
Alt Telecom has launched its free Wi-Fi service in 30 BTS stations and secured the management rights to all commercial areas on Bangkok’s skytrain stations. Future plans involve providing free Wi-Fi to all BTS stations in the capital. This follows on Alt Telecom’s new concession agreement with Spotwerks (Thailand), who are currently in charge of service delivery and income generation…
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Remembering King Bhumibol, the musician
In remembrance of the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej The Thaiger is proud to share one of His Majesty’s many talents, his musical prowess. A renown Jazz musician, he started at age ten with the clarinet and, due to his talent, learned to play the saxophone and trumpet as well. Late in his life he jammed alongside some of the jazz greats…
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Government poised to cast tax net over online transactions
As the world continues its relentless move online, and away from traditional retail, governments are having to find new ways to track and tax online transactions. The Thai Revenue Department is poised to cast a wider net over online vendors and other businesses that have been evading taxes. The National Legislative Assembly (NLA) is soon to approve amendments to the…
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How much should you be paid working in Thailand?
The Thailand Board of Investment has an entire website listing key jobs and the wages that should be expected to be earned in the land of smiles. The webpage also lists years of experiences, penalty rates, public holidays, overtime payments and severance entitlements. So, as a Senior accountant, with five years experience, you should be earning up to 80,000 baht…
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Even Chris Hemsworth hates Bangkok traffic
MONTAGE IMAGE: Coconuts Once again it seems that even the gods must succumb to one of life’s most dreaded challenges, traffic. Even worse, Bangkok traffic. Last month in a previous post from India, Chris Hemsworth is seen in his car trying to deal with the traffic of Ahmedabad, amazed the Australian actor and Marvel’s cinematic universe ‘Thor’ is heard saying “beautiful…
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The Long March towards electric cars
by Syed Mansur Hashim – The Daily Star They’ve sold 770,000 electric vehicles last year, up 50% on the year before. And there’s already 352,000 electric buses on their roads already. When it comes to electric vehicles (EVs), the world has some catching up to do. According to Forbes magazine, Chinese manufacturers produced and sold 770,000 EVs in 2017. This…
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Measles outbreak closes Tak school
A school near the Myanmar border in Tak’s Mae Ramat district has been closed indefinitely after local public-health officials discovered 13 students were contagious with measles. Tak is on Thailand’s central west border with Myanmar. Six of the students from the New Road Learning Centre are currently in serious condition in hospital. Most of the school’s students are Burmese children…
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Minister promises a year of ‘Khon’
“The ministry will next year nominate nuad thai (Thai massage) and the southern traditional dance nora for inclusion on the UNESCO list.” The Culture Ministry is planning a year of activities to further promote ‘khon’, the classical masked-dance theatre that has now been added to UNESCO’s list of ‘Intangible Cultural Heritage’. Members of the UN Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organisation…
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