Local narrative & heritage
Stories Across Thailand
25 stories published
From Fishing Village to Global Resort: The Story of Pattaya
From a legend about King Taksin's army to a sleepy fishing bay and, within a few decades, one of Thailand's biggest resort cities — here's how Pattaya kept finding new reasons for people to come.
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Pattaya Gets You Here. Jomtien Gives You a Reason to Stay.
Many travellers first come for Pattaya's energy. Then they cross Pratumnak Hill and discover Jomtien: a long beach, easy food, unhurried evenings and a social scene of its own — the place next door that quietly turns a holiday into something longer.
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Two Airports, One Megacity: The Story of Bangkok's Airports
Bangkok has never had just one airport story. From a grass racecourse and a hundred-year-old airfield to a satellite terminal built on a former swamp, here's how Don Mueang and Suvarnabhumi became two of Asia's busiest gateways — and why a third may be on the way.
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From Quiet Island to Full Moon Legend: How Koh Phangan Became Famous
How a fishing island in the Gulf of Thailand became world-famous because of one beach, one night a month, and a party nobody can quite agree on the origins of.
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From Remote Island to Tropical Icon: How Koh Lipe Was Discovered
Long before backpackers found it, the Urak Lawoi already knew every reef around Koh Lipe. This is the story of how the wider tourism world finally caught up.
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Bangkok's Weekend Island: How Koh Samet Became the Capital's Beach Escape
Not the most remote island in Thailand, but almost the opposite — close enough to Bangkok to become part of the capital's weekly rhythm.
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From Backpacker Island to Dive Capital: How Koh Tao Changed
How a remote, prison-era island reachable only by fishing boat became one of Southeast Asia's busiest scuba-diving centres, built entirely around what lies beneath its reefs.
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How Ayutthaya Became One of Asia's Great Trading Cities
Ayutthaya's ruins are quiet today, but the living capital was once one of the world's great cosmopolitan trading cities. Rivers, diplomacy and merchant communities connected Siam with China, Japan, India, Persia and Europe.
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Wear Black If You’re Single? Inside Bangkok’s Benjakitti Park Dating Trend
Bangkok has plenty of places associated with dating. Then there is Benjakitti Park, where a playful social-media idea says that wearing black might signal that you are single.
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From Provincial Town to Thailand's Sports City
How Buriram added football stadiums, MotoGP and international motorsport to a provincial identity already rooted in Khmer heritage and Isaan culture.
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From Frontier Town to Art Capital: How Chiang Rai Found a New Identity
How Chiang Rai added a striking contemporary-art identity to centuries of Lanna history — through the White Temple, Black House, Blue Temple and a new creative generation.
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From Walled Kingdom to Creative City: How Chiang Mai Kept Reinventing Itself
Stand at one of Chiang Mai’s old moat corners and two cities appear at once: a seven-century-old Lanna capital and a modern city of universities, cafés, galleries and creative studios. This is the story of how Chiang Mai kept reinventing itself without ceasing to be recognisably Chiang Mai.
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From Naka Market to the World Stage: The Phuket Story of Nene Royal and OZONE
Long before millions of viewers discovered 16-year-old Nene Royal on America's Got Talent, Phuket had already been watching her grow as a musician — through market stages, guitar competitions, a remarkably young rock band and years of playing to anyone willing to stop and listen.
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From Royal Retreat to Thailand's Original Seaside Resort
Hua Hin became famous before Thailand had a mass-tourism industry. Railway access, royal interest, a purpose-built hotel and pioneering golf infrastructure came together here unusually early, creating the country’s original modern seaside resort.
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The Coast That Started Again: Khao Lak Before and After 2004
How a young Andaman resort coast grew at extraordinary speed, was devastated in 2004, and rebuilt with tourism, memory and disaster preparedness side by side.
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The City That Education Built: How Khon Kaen Became a Regional Powerhouse
How a university founded to serve the Northeast helped turn Khon Kaen into one of Isaan's leading centres for education, medicine, business and public services.
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The Island That Chose Slow Tourism
How geography, local communities, protected land and dispersed beach development helped Koh Lanta grow into an island associated with a slower style of tourism.
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From Backpacker Paradise to Global Icon: How Koh Phi Phi Changed Forever
How backpackers, Hollywood, the 2004 tsunami, reconstruction and conservation transformed Koh Phi Phi into one of Thailand's most recognisable island names.
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Koh Chang: The Elephant Island Before the Crowds
I first reached Koh Chang in 1999 by small boat, stepping into shallow water onto an island of rough roads and simple tourism. This is how Elephant Island grew into one of Thailand's best-known island destinations without entirely losing the landscape that shaped it.
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From Coconut Island to Global Resort: How Koh Samui Changed Forever
Before Koh Samui became an international resort island, coconut farming shaped its landscape, livelihoods and identity. Backpackers arrived first; then bungalows, ferries and an airport transformed the scale of tourism without erasing the island that came before.
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Why Korat Became the Gateway to Isaan
The geography, railway and roads that turned Nakhon Ratchasima into northeastern Thailand's great crossroads.
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From Limestone Cliffs to Global Icon: How Krabi Became Krabi
Krabi's global identity was shaped long before tourism arrived. Limestone cliffs, caves, islands and boat-only beaches determined how people moved through the coast — and later became the very landscape that made Krabi famous.
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The City Bangkok Swallowed - But Never Quite Absorbed
How Bangkok's urban expansion made Nonthaburi part of one continuous metropolis without erasing its own four-century history, river culture and identity.
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From Tin Mines to Beach Resorts: How Phuket Became a Global Island
Long before Phuket became synonymous with beaches, resorts and international holidays, the island was already looking outward. Tin, trade and migration connected it to the wider world; later, roads, bridges, aviation and tourism gave that outward-looking character a completely new form. This is the story of how Phuket reinvented itself without losing the traces of what came before.
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From Air Base to Regional City: How the Vietnam War Changed Udon Thani
How a Cold War air base accelerated Udon Thani's economy, infrastructure and international connections — and helped shape the regional city that followed.
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