Thai Life
Discover the latest regional stories and happenings in Thailand with The Thaiger, your source of credible, informative, and reliable updates. Stay informed about important local events, political happenings, social issues, cultural highlights, and entertainment stories, all curated to ensure you never miss out on what’s happening in the Land of Smiles. Our journalists will keep you informed with all the essential Thai life updates and allows you to connect with the community and experience Thailand like a local.
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Sponsored Do foreigners get free healthcare in Thailand?
Thailand’s healthcare system is well-regarded across Southeast Asia, with options ranging from public hospitals to world-class private facilities. But when it comes to foreign residents or tourists, healthcare access isn’t as straightforward. So, do foreigners get free healthcare in Thailand?...
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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…
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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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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…
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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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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…
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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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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…
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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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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…
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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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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…
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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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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…
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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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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…
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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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