Bangkok has a reputation for bright lights, gleaming high-rises and seething nightlife, but on the west side of the Chao Phraya River in Thonburi, the city’s softer, simpler and more creative side hangs loose. Embodying this better than anywhere, the canal-side community of artists at Khlong Bang Luang posseses a homegrown artistic spirit that pervades … read the full post

Garra rufa fish spas have been used in the Middle East for centuries but Southeast Asia has fairly recently jumped on the bandwagon and you’ll find them right across the region, including in Thailand. These little freshwater fish originate from the river basins of several Middle Eastern countries; they also go by the name of … read the full post

As a going away gift for my first backpacking trip one of my comical mates gave me a travel tips book. This wasn’t your normal travel manual by any means. It included topics like how to stop a runaway camel and how to avoid dying in an airplane crash. The best way to avoid crashing … read the full post

On its official website, the monstrous Chuchaiburi Sri Amphawa luxury hotel-in-the-making boasts, “Reflecting the community’s values, our hotel cherishes Amphawa’s cultural heritage and aspires to preserve and pass it on for future generations.” It’s a shamefully off-base claim given how this lavish hotel construction project is levelling homes that are more than a century old … read the full post

Wat Sri Suphan is a worthy addition to our current Chiang Mai temple coverage — it’s a good one and its location adjacent to the Wualai walking street market makes it very convenient to combine the two. With Wualai being Chiang Mai’s traditional silver-making district, the temple’s claim to fame is unsurprisingly its silverwork. Having … read the full post

Na Muang One Waterfall at Baan Thurian, about 10 kilometres south of Nathon, is a popular tourist attraction on Ko Samui that can easily be reached by vehicle. The turnoff is well signposted along the 4169 Ring Road, and from the parking lot, it’s only a walk of a few hundred metres to get there. … read the full post

A short ferry ride to the pocket of countryside known as Phra Phradaeng (or Khung Bang Kachao) — right across the Chao Phraya River from south Bangkok — and you could be falling asleep to the sound of crickets and frogs rather than karaoke and tuk tuks. While those like luxe should head straight for … read the full post

Still one of Bangkok‘s best kept secrets, the Phra Phradaeng peninsula (aka Khung Bang Kachao) is an unlikely pocket of countryside just south of the city that makes for a refreshing escape from the concrete jungle. Despite being only a short walk and ferry ride from a BTS sky train station, the area has remained … read the full post

If you read anything about the mountaintop town of Mae Salong, you’ll be told that it doesn’t resemble a typical Thai town at all and that you’ll feel like you’re in northern Laos or southern China. That’s very true; the reason being it was founded in 1961 by remnants of the Kuomintang, (KMT, or Nationalist … read the full post

Learning a new language is hard enough at the best of times and Thai is so different from English and the Romance languages that for a farang (Westerner), learning Thai can seem a little overwhelming. Anyone wanting to stay in the country for more than a few months however would be wise to pick up … read the full post