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Why Siam’s Royal dried fruit snacks are the perfect Thai souvenirs

You did it! You conquered Bangkok’s heat, devoured enough street food to feed a small army, and maybe even braved a tuk-tuk ride. Now, with your trip coming to an end, it's souvenir time. While the predictable Thai souvenirs, like Chang beer singlet or fridge...

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  • Run out of money? Here’s the ‘how to’ guide to Begpacking.

    Run out of money? Here’s the ‘how to’ guide to Begpacking.

    PHOTO: backslackers.com “Aren’t you technically homeless? Why shouldn’t YOU cash in too. Why shouldn’t other people pay for you to travel? Begpacking (or beg packing) is a way for backpackers like you to earn money while you travel by begging for money or busking around the world.” Thailand has its fair share of ‘beg packers’ …

  • South East Asia tops travellers’ lists

    South East Asia tops travellers’ lists

    by DataLeads – Asia News Network The Asia Pacific region accounts for 30 per cent of the world’s international tourism receipts. The region outperforms all other regions in terms of growth, with international tourist arrivals increasing an average 7% per year compared to the world average of 4%. China remains one of the leading destinations in Asia. …

  • Day 4 – Phuket Vegetarian Festival processions ramp up the ‘crazy’

    Day 4 – Phuket Vegetarian Festival processions ramp up the ‘crazy’

    PHOTO: At least he’s taking sun shade wherever he goes – Kritsada Mueanhawong It just gets crazier as the days go by. With the shackles off this year (last year the festivities were subdued due to the impending grand Funeral for HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej), the Vegetarian Festival is back up to full speed. The impression …

  • Instagrammer apologises for doing handstand at Wat Pho

    Instagrammer apologises for doing handstand at Wat Pho

    A foreign tourist has apologised on his Instagram page for posting a photo of himself doing a handstand in front of a key Buddha image inside the Wat Pho in Phra Nakhon, Bangkok. The tourist, whose Instagram account is soseguri that has 546 followers, deleted the photo and published an apology early on Friday. “I …

  • Regular boat checks being enforced on Phuket

    Regular boat checks being enforced on Phuket

    Thailand’s Marine Department says it has assigned more officers to check boats at every port and pier on Phuket. It’s part of a campaign to tighten regulations for tourist boats and also improve marine security after the tragic boat accident that killed 46 Chinese tourists in July. According to a report filed by the Tourism …

  • AirAsia integrates AI to become a travel technology company

    AirAsia integrates AI to become a travel technology company

    by The Star – Asia News Network AirAsia is integrating Google Cloud’s machine learning and AI (artificial intelligence) technologies into every aspect of its business, as part of its transformation into a travel technology company. Speaking at the Google Cloud Next London event, AirAsia group CEO Tony Fernandes said, “It’s a huge mission, but we’ve never …

  • Over 400 flights affected after THAI Jumbo skidded off runway

    Over 400 flights affected after THAI Jumbo skidded off runway

    In the wake of Monday’s slip-sliding Jumbo that ended up in the grass verge after skidding off the main runway at Suvarnabhumi, it’s been revealed that the wayward Thai Airways 747-400 delayed 448 arriving or departing flights. The plane ended up with some of its wheels submerged in the soft grass. Transport Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisit …

  • Airport tips for cheapies – Bangkok

    Airport tips for cheapies – Bangkok

    Heading out of Bangkok and looking for a few financial short-cuts? Getting to the airport, Don Mueang or Suvarnabhumi, needs a bit of planning. To get to Don Muaeng from the Bangkok on time a taxi is probably going to be your best bet. If it’s in one of the peaks the taxi can take …

  • Maya Bay compromise: “We’ll meet halfway”

    Maya Bay compromise: “We’ll meet halfway”

    The scientists say Maya Bay must remain closed until it has recovered from the rampant tourist ‘love’ and protective walkways and new landing piers can be constructed on the other side of Koh Phi Phi Ley. Tour operators say they’re going to suffer with the loss of the region’s most popular tourist attraction from their …

  • Event Round-Up – October

    Event Round-Up – October

    by Paul Poole – The Sponsorship Experts The end of the Buddhist Rains Retreat or Buddhist Lent is marked in October with a range of religious ceremonies across the country. One of them, the Chong Para Festival in Mae Hong Son from October 20-22, is particularly colourful. Wooden towers are decorated with colourful paper and fruit …

  • Japan tops Thailand as Chinese tourists’ top choice for Golden Week

    Japan tops Thailand as Chinese tourists’ top choice for Golden Week

    Watch out Thailand. Japan is stealing our tourists. Japan has now overtaken Thailand as Chinese vacationers’ top choice for the 2018 Chinese Golden Week holiday. This according to Ctrip.com, one of the biggest travel websites in China. This is the first time Thailand has lost its top destination status to Japan during the holiday season …

  • Three alternatives to Maya Bay

    Three alternatives to Maya Bay

    “Stop complaining and take tourists somewhere else – National Park officials.” National parks officials, looking after the Phi Phi islands, say there are plenty of other great locations to visit besides just Koh Phi Phi Ley’s Maya Bay. They were responding to complaints from both tourists and tour operators. Tour operators say that the move …

  • No vegetables are safe – Phuket Vegetarian Festival

    No vegetables are safe – Phuket Vegetarian Festival

    The most colourful and vibrant celebration of the ninth lunar month of the Chinese calendar, the Phuket Vegetarian Festival 2018, is held from October 9-17. It also coincides with the Nine Emperor Gods Festival. In accordance with tradition, many religious devotees will strictly adhere to a vegetarian diet to ensure purification of the mind and …

  • You’re in the drivers seat, in your BKK hotel

    You’re in the drivers seat, in your BKK hotel

    The MeStyle Garage Hotel Bangkok, a new themed boutique hotel, is taking guests on an offbeat journey to experience a new dimension in design – ‘garage funky’ – inspired by its founder’s passion for cars. The hotel is the latest project from MeStyle Property Co, based in the Huay Kwang district of Bangkok. About 800 …

  • Maya Bay’s long road to recovery

    Maya Bay’s long road to recovery

    by Kornrawee Panyasuppakun and The Thaiger Phi Phi tour operators are crying foul and seeking assistance from authorities after the local tourist magnet, Maya Bay has been declared ‘closed indefinitely’ pending further rehabilitation of the corals around the bay. The Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) is extending the closure of Maya Bay’s …

  • Whale watching season starts off Phetchaburi coast

    Whale watching season starts off Phetchaburi coast

    The Bryde’s whale has returned to the waters off Phetchaburi and reporters and tourists boarded boats on Monday for the official opening of the official whale-watching season, with about 10 of the huge animals obliging them on the first day. Boonyod Maklai, mayor of Tambon Haad Chao Samran in Muang Phetchaburi, led the outing on …

  • ‘Charm Offensive’ awaits at Don Mueang for Chinese passengers

    ‘Charm Offensive’ awaits at Don Mueang for Chinese passengers

    Knee-jerk reaction #48. The Tourist Police Bureau have dispatched a team of officers to attend to passengers, especially Chinese passengers, at Don Mueang International Airport. More Chinese tourist arrivals are expected to arrive for their Golden Week holiday starting today. The Deputy Commissioner of the Tourist Police Bureau, Pol. Maj. Gen. Surachete Hakparn, says additional …

  • Breakfast in Rome. Dinner in Bangkok.

    Breakfast in Rome. Dinner in Bangkok.

    Air Italy has touched down in Bangkok for the first time as it launches four weekly services into the Big Mango. The company intends to increase services to five weekly by the end of October. Bangkok is Air Italy’s third new international route launched this summer following launches in New York and Miami. It’s the airlines’ …

  • Airbnb partners with Thailand Boutique Accommodation Trade Association

    Airbnb partners with Thailand Boutique Accommodation Trade Association

    PHOTO: Mike Orgill, Airbnb Country Manager for Southeast Asia (left) and Suparerk Soorangura, President of TBAA and Advisor to the Thai Travel Agents Association (right) signing the MoU. Airbnb, the world’s leading community-driven hospitality company has announced its industry-first partnership with the Thailand Boutique Accommodation Trade Association (TBAA) to promote creative, people-powered Thai hospitality. Through the …

  • Police swarm into Koh Phangan for tonight’s Full Moon Party

    Police swarm into Koh Phangan for tonight’s Full Moon Party

    Authorities are out in force at tonight’s Full Moon Party on Hat Rin, the beach-home of the monthly Full Moon party on Koh Phangan. The Office of the Narcotics Control Board has arrived in the Surat Thani province to crack down on drugs in the popular archipelago of islands off the Surat Thani province coast. …

  • Natural alternative to elephant tourism in Prachuap Khiri Khan

    Natural alternative to elephant tourism in Prachuap Khiri Khan

    An elephant-tourism alternative has made headlines near Hua Hin. A Prachuap Khiri Khan hamlet where visitors can leisurely observe about 200 wild elephants has been selected as one of 50 Otop “Local Way of Life” tourism villages. Kui Buri district chief Chatree Chanweerachai says that Ban Ruam Thai, adjacent to Kui Buri National Park, had …

  • Bangkok’s gone to the dogs

    Bangkok’s gone to the dogs

    by Wong Chun Wai, The Star, Malaysia PHOTOS: TrueLove at Neverland The routine holiday to Bangkok, Thailand, for seasoned Malaysian tourists (like me) will probably include eating, massages and shopping. We have visited most of the tourist spots, and they are no longer appealing. Yes, we’ve been there, done that… you know the drill. It’s become …

  • Eating your way around Songkhla

    Eating your way around Songkhla

    by Pattarawadee Saengmanee – The Nation Weekend As we come in for landing at Hat Yai International Airport, I see clear sky reflected in the azure waters of the Gulf of Thailand. Despite the weather App warnings, the sun was out. Sightseeing is first on the agenda though and after a pleasant 40-minute drive from …

  • Hua Hin’s Centara Grand Beach Resort make it into list of best heritage hotels

    Hua Hin’s Centara Grand Beach Resort make it into list of best heritage hotels

    Creaky wooden floors, teak antiques, afternoon tea, marble staircases. There’s just something magical about a hotel with some history. From Yangon to Hong Kong, many of Asia’s most beautiful heritage hotels emerged during the 19th and early 20th centuries. And one of them is in Hua Hin. TTR Weekly reports that one of Thailand’s iconic and …

  • NokScoot adds Bangkok to Osaka flights

    NokScoot adds Bangkok to Osaka flights

    NokScoot is launching another service with a four-flights-a-week schedule between Bangkok and Osaka, Japan. The announcement follows the start of the airline’s Bangkok to Tokyo service which started in June. The low-cost international carrier is launching the service to Kansai Airport on October 28. Kansai Airport, closed until today following storms which damaged the land-bridge …

  • Begpacking – ‘How to’ guide for aspiring travelling beggars

    Begpacking – ‘How to’ guide for aspiring travelling beggars

    PHOTO: backslackers.com “Aren’t you technically homeless? Why shouldn’t YOU cash in too. Why shouldn’t other people pay for you to travel? Begpacking (or beg packing) is a way for backpackers like you to earn money while you travel by begging for money or busking around the world.” Thailand has its fair share of ‘beg packers’ each …

  • A Mandarin for Phuket

    A Mandarin for Phuket

    PHOTO: The Mandarin Hotel Sanya Island One of Asia, and the globes, leading luxury hotel brands, Mandarin Oriental has inked a deal for a Phuket property. Mandarin Oriental, Phuket will be located on one of the undeveloped beachfront sites still to be found on ‘Millionaire’s Mile’ on the west coast of Phuket island. It will occupy …

  • Record first seven months for tourist arrivals

    Record first seven months for tourist arrivals

    by Thammarat Thadaphrom The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has announced visitor arrivals of about 22.65 million from January to July 2018, up by 11% compared to the same period of 2017. Estimated visitor expenditure rose by over 14% to 1.18 trillion baht. The top ten source markets of visitors to Thailand during the first seven …

  • New ferry service between Prachuap Khiri Khan and Sattahip under discussion

    New ferry service between Prachuap Khiri Khan and Sattahip under discussion

    Prachuap Khiri Khan officials have met to discuss plans for a new ferry terminal just south of Hua Hin in Pak Nam Pran. Banmuang reports that the new terminal will accommodate a car ferry and link Prachuap Khiri Khan with Sattahip in Chonburi. Estimates discussed at the meeting say the journey would take around two hours, …

  • Thailand’s winners in the Conde Nast Traveller awards

    Thailand’s winners in the Conde Nast Traveller awards

    PHOTO: Conde Nast Thailand has been voted the world’s Best Country for People by readers of Conde Nast Traveller magazine in the 2018 Readers’ Travel Awards. Thailand was voted into third spot in the ‘Best Country’ category behind European winners Italy and Greece. But Thailand scored Number One in the ‘Best Country For People‘ category. But …