A resort marathon for the family. Laguna Phuket Marathon attracts a record turnout for 14 June race
What makes the annual Laguna Phuket International Marathon, 14 June, different from most other races is the variety of categories that encourage all family members to join in the fun. Sure there is a serious side to the run, particularly, when last year’s winners in the men and women’s categories are keen to keep their crowns and better last year’s course times.
But alongside the serious are the fun runners, even children who jog the most scenic route that takes them around the Laguna’s lake and tropical gardens. Kids get to run 2 km, while the morning is still fresh. Grown-ups have to slog it out for the honour of completing 42 kilometers, perhaps even beating their own record on this very attractive, but tough course. Read More
To Promote Bangkok as a City of Smile. The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) and the Federation of National Film Associations will co-organize the World Comedy Film Festival 2009 for the first time in Thailand and Asia. The event will showcase comedy films by leading comedian actors internationally to make you laugh, from 10-16 June, 2009, at Siam Paragon Cineplex and the SF World Cinema at Central World.
The World Comedy Film Festival is to be staged as part of a public relations campaign to promote Thailand as a country where hospitality and smiles comes naturally, helping to boost Thailand’s image as an established industry hub for filming in Asia. The World Comedy Film Festival attracts a group of people in film industry and all interested parties including Thais and foreigners, building trust and confidence to invest in Thailand. Read More
This has to be the Southeast Asia’s most famous zoo after global TV networks turned their lens on a remarkable new born baby; a female panda born at Chiang Mai Zoo, late May.
Mum and Dad, Lin Hui and Xuang Xuang, have lived at the northern Thailand zoo for the last six years, under a loan agreement with the Chinese Government that lasts just 10 years.
TV cameras from all major channels focused on the tiny tot made all the more famous because it was conceived by artificial insemination and marked a first for the Thai veterinarian team. Thailand joins the US and Japan as the only countries to breed pandas in captivity. Read More
Bangkok Mass Transit System (BTS), the operator of Bangkok’s Sky Train — a rail based mass transit system, has launched the new 2.2-kilometre extension linking the Saphan Taksin Bridge Station to Krung Thonburi Station and Wong Wian Yai Station on the Thonburi side of Bangkok. Thailand’s Prime Minister, HE Mr Abhisit Vejjajiva, presided over the inauguration ceremony held on Friday May 15, 2009.
This new service links Sathorn Road, one of Bangkok’s prime business districts, to Thonburi on the west bank of the Chao Phraya River. The extension is the first of its kind across the Chao Phraya River and provides commuters with a welcome alternative to having to drive bumper-to-bumper across the bridge during the rush hour.
The service to and from Krung Thonburi Station and Wong Wian Yai Station operates from 6 am till midnight daily. The Wong Wian Yai station is the last station on the Silom Line. Read More
Conditions during tropical monsoon rains can make travel within national parks difficult and hazardous. Weather conditions can change very quickly. Fog and low clouds tend to hang low over the landscape. Cliffs may collapse under their own weight when the soil underlying the sandstone cap is eroded by heavy rain. Heavy rains can also cause landslides and flash floods in the streams which flow down the mountain slope.
For safety reasons, specific areas within the national parks on the following list issued by the National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department will be closed from the date specified until the end of the southwest monsoon season. This also provides a much-needed break from tourism activity and allows the natural environment, flora and fauna to revive and regenerate. Read More
Spotlights and TV cameras will focus on Pattaya, mid-May, as the resort’s most famous transvestite show hosts the annual Miss Tiffany Universe contest.
It started off as a local contest, a natural extension of the fantasia that acts out, nightly, on the stage of the Tiffany theater. But largely due to the attention it gained from the likes of CNN and BBC it quickly grew into a well organized beauty contest.
TV channels love it for its obvious shock and entertainment value. It’s a reality show that takes our minds off an otherwise slate of bad news. Miss Tiffany Universe is on the map and it helps to provide Pattaya with miles of media promotion. Read More
The underlying logic and science behind the famous rocket festival, scheduled for 8 to 10 May, in the unassuming northeast town of Yasothon, is not to be found in a chemistry laboratory.
While the rocket owners pack as much as 25 kg of black powder into plastic or bamboo pipes to give their homemade missiles take off, the blueprints for this exceptionally noisy festival are traced in the mystical skies ruled by gods.
Approaching rain clouds signal the start of the rice planting season, but according to northeastern folklore the first raindrops fall only when the gods are in the mood for love. They need encouragement hence the importance of the Bun Bang Fai, or rocket festival, to stir the mythical community, resident in the heavens, to bless earth with fertility and rain. Read More
A wedding is a once-life-time experience that every bride and groom wants to be unforgettable, unique, amorous and special. Anantara Koh Samui presents couples with an amazing underwater wedding location full of coral and of course colourful fish as the witnesses.
The unique marine ceremony takes place at the world renowned dive site near Koh Tao island, just a short trip by speedboat across the beautiful waters of the Gulf of Thailand from Koh Samui. The bride and groom will descend into their marine paradise and after a short, bubble-blowing ceremony culminating in the exchanging of rings, the newly weds will ascend back to the surface and board the speed boat where cocktails and champagne are prepared and the cake-cutting takes place. Read More
The interviews are taken on April 2009, from international tourists at Bangkok, Pattaya and Phuket regarding the political situation. Upon interview, tourist states the situation has not affected their visit to Thailand.
While the water splashing will flourish, the traditional values of Songkran are the focus of the 2009 celebrations.
Songkran is without doubt the most popular of all Thai festivals and rightly so. It marks the beginning of a new astrological year and its exact dates are determined by the old lunar calendar of Siam.
This year the three-day festival falls on 13 to 15 April.
Traditionally, April 13 is known as “Maha Songkran Day” and marks the end of the old year, April 14 is “Wan Nao”, while April 15 is “Wan Thaloeng Sok” when the New Year begins.
While the festival has its roots in Buddhist heritage, the washing of Buddha images, merit making, traditional family values and the sprinkling of water in respect for elders, it is best known for the fun and “sanook” everyone gains from splashing copious quantities of water on all who happen to pass by. Read More
A resort marathon for the family. Laguna Phuket Marathon attracts a record turnout for 14 June race
To Promote Bangkok as a City of Smile. The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) and the Federation of National Film Associations will co-organize the World Comedy Film Festival 2009 for the first time in Thailand and Asia. The event will showcase comedy films by leading comedian actors internationally to make you laugh, from 10-16 June, 2009, at Siam Paragon Cineplex and the SF World Cinema at Central World.
This has to be the Southeast Asia’s most famous zoo after global TV networks turned their lens on a remarkable new born baby; a female panda born at Chiang Mai Zoo, late May.
This new service links Sathorn Road, one of Bangkok’s prime business districts, to Thonburi on the west bank of the Chao Phraya River. The extension is the first of its kind across the Chao Phraya River and provides commuters with a welcome alternative to having to drive bumper-to-bumper across the bridge during the rush hour.
Spotlights and TV cameras will focus on Pattaya, mid-May, as the resort’s most famous transvestite show hosts the annual Miss Tiffany Universe contest.
The unique marine ceremony takes place at the world renowned dive site near Koh Tao island, just a short trip by speedboat across the beautiful waters of the Gulf of Thailand from Koh Samui. The bride and groom will descend into their marine paradise and after a short, bubble-blowing ceremony culminating in the exchanging of rings, the newly weds will ascend back to the surface and board the speed boat where cocktails and champagne are prepared and the cake-cutting takes place. 
