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Thailand
Based in Thailand since 2011, I'm a writer, photographer and keen Thailand watcher, especially in the areas of tourism and environmental issues. I'm currently seeking freelance commissions in travel, news and commercial writing while working on Thai Island Times, an e-newsletter sharing the beauty, distinctive identities and challenges of Thai islands and coastal areas.
[email protected]
Despite delivering an intensely flavorful cuisine to go with serene Mekong valley scenery and a strong list of natural and historical attractions, Thailand's northeast Isaan region drew only a small fraction of the numbers of foreign tourists who flocked to other Thai destinations before the pandemic.
Look away from your device right now, if you can, and picture a trip you've taken. Any trip, be it to a Thai island or elsewhere in Asia or anywhere at all, at any time in your life. Don't sort through your travel memories like a file cabinet, trying to pick one out.
Covering 109 islands in Thailand clustered into six zones, this is the definitive guide for the traveller looking to find the right Thai island for them
David Luekens September 18, 2019 Modern Asia's first medical cannabis clinic blends into a concrete hospital complex in Prachinburi, a languid town 100 km east of Bangkok. Dotted with fish farms and shaded by tamarind trees, the muddy Bang Pakong River flows by out front. Somewhere out back, cannabis is growing.
More than a century ago, boat-loving people turned a tropical archipelago into their home and lived off the sea and jungle. After a while, outsiders pushed them aside in a burst of state-sanctioned conservation and profit-driven tourism, two things that are more related than you might think.
After years of discussion, it's finally happening. Bullet trains are coming to Thailand. But with one project under construction, another approved and others being considered, many in the country are debating whether high-speed rail (HSR) will be the right fit.
Waves slap the seawall as I jog the footpath that curves alongside Noppharat Thara Beach. Raindrops and the pine-like needles of son trees fall overhead. Few other people are out along the seafront on this stormy afternoon in June 2018, but I do see napping dogs and dozens of snails slithering over the damp ground.
Right around dusk, the longtail ferry shoved off as the azure blue and indigo of the sky reflected on the Andaman Sea's teal surface. It was one of the most calming scenes I'd ever been a part of - and we hadn't even reached the island yet.
Battles, coups, elections and revolutions are what typically come to mind when I think of pivotal moments in national histories. Would you believe that one key event in the history of Siam/Thailand was a full solar eclipse observed at a beach in what is now Prachuap Khiri Khan province?
With tourist arrivals expected to reach 40 million this year in (CNN) - Thailand, the country's most popular islands are buckling under the pressure of mass tourism. Yet the kingdom has hundreds of quieter islands, some lined by beaches with a wow factor to match any of the popularity contest winners.