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.

  • Sponsored

    5 ways retirees in Thailand lose money (and how to stop it)

    Retiring in Thailand can be affordable and enjoyable, but many retirees lose money due to common mistakes. High living costs, scams, and unexpected expenses can quickly drain savings. There are five ways that retirees in Thailand can lose money and...

  • TOONS TUNES – 5 Seconds of Summer “Want You Back”

    TOONS TUNES – 5 Seconds of Summer “Want You Back”

    Checking new and amazing music for The Thaiger everyday with Donna Toon Toons Tunes for today features Australian pop rock band 5 Seconds of Summer and the latest release as the lead single from their upcoming third studio album “Youngblood” the track is called “Want You Back”. The band’s debut single in 2014 “She Looks So Perfect” topped the charts…

  • AKSARA Collection appoints new Director of Hotels and Resorts

    AKSARA Collection appoints new Director of Hotels and Resorts

    The Pattaravornee Family of Phuket are very proud to announce that Mr. Matthew C Hindmarch, who joined the company as General Manager for Kata Sea Breeze Resort and part of the development team of The SIS Kata Phuket four years ago, has been promoted to position of Director of Hotels and Resorts. In this role, Khun Matthew who has been…

  • May Event Round-Up

    May Event Round-Up

    with Paul Poole (South East Asia) May is typically the month of the popular Hua Hin International Jazz Festival and this year is no different. For two days from 18-19 May, the seaside resort transforms into a mecca for jazz lovers with performers and fans arriving from all over the world. This year’s highlights include Austrian-born Simone Kopmajer and New…

  • TOONS TUNES – Lauv “Chasing Fire”

    TOONS TUNES – Lauv “Chasing Fire”

    Checking new and amazing music for The Thaiger everyday with Donna Toon Toons Tunes for today features American singer and songwriter Lauv with his latest release “Chasing Fire” which is a non album single release. Lauv rose to fame in 2015 after the release of his debut studio album “Lost in the Light” which feature hit song “I Like Me…

  • Tenants and landlords. Things change from today.

    Tenants and landlords. Things change from today.

    If you rent property in Thailand there are new guidelines for tenants and landlords that come into effect from today. Mostly good news but there are a few exceptions that you will need to be aware of. The days of the unscrupulous landlord may be partly over. With thanks to Thailandproperty.news and Tilleke & Gibbons, leading south east asian lawyers, here’s a…

  • TOONS TUNES – Lady Gaga “Your Song”

    TOONS TUNES – Lady Gaga “Your Song”

    Checking new and amazing music for The Thaiger everyday with Donna Toon Toons Tunes for today features American singer and songwriter Lady Gaga with her rendition of Elton John and Bernie Taupin’s 1970 hit song “Your Song” from the dedication album “Reimagining the Songs of Elton John and Bernie Taupin, REVAMP” The actual original song was released by rock band…

  • The Good Shepherd Phuket Learning Centre requires urgent funding

    The Good Shepherd Phuket Learning Centre requires urgent funding

    The fate of the Good Shepherd Learning Centre Phuket is a matter of concern. The Centre has an urgent need to obtain sustainable funds to continue operations as its initial period of regular, committed funding will cease in May 2018. At The Good Shepherd Learning Centre they provide basic education i.e. science, mathematics and language skills in Thai, Burmese and…

  • British International School Phuket Hosts Scholarship Bake Off

    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…

  • The world’s top 25 luxury hotels

    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…

  • TOONS TUNES – Meghan Trainor “No Excuses”

    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…

  • TOONS TUNES – John Legend “A Good Night”

    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…

  • Phuket luxury villa sales surging

    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…

  • TOONS TUNES – The Weeknd “Wasted Times”

    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…

  • Swedish DJ Avicii Dies After Illness

    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,…

  • Nai Harn Phuket celebrates the 2nd anniversary of Rock Salt

    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…

  • New 101 villa luxury property heading to Mai Khao, Phuket

    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…

  • The 110cc power plant of South East Asia

    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…

  • Another month, another surge in tourists to Thailand

    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…

  • Boracay – Last one out, turn the lights off

    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…

  • Private investors being wooed over planned marina for Samui

    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…

  • Failure to turn browsers into buyers – online travel booking

    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…

  • The Thailand Travel Mart heads to Pattaya this June

    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…

  • Founding partner of Pavilions Himalayas honoured for charitable work in Nepal

    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,…

  • Will you be booking a flight with standing plane seats?

    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…

  • World’s best airlines – People’s Choice, Trip Advisor

    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…

  • TOONS TUNES – Kygo & Miquel “Reminding Me To Forget”

    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…

  • TOONS TUNES – Rudimental “Rumour Mill”

    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…

  • The spirit of Songkran – Ajarn Pranee

    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…

  • Phuket’s Grand West Sands Resort – massive makeover

    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,…

  • Developers rush to provide better retirement options in Thailand

    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…