Filipino Expats Blog in Thailand

We always receive emails from fellow Filipinos asking where is the best place to go in Thailand on a budget? How to get there safely and cheap. What is the best budget hotel/hostels that you can recommend which is located near the city or the nearest BTS or MRT train stations? And how much is the budget?

As much as we want to answer all of those questions, we are always limited by what we learn from hotel directories, heard from other Filipinos in Thailand or from first hand experience our Filipino Forum members.

So what I did is to find some useful programs to help out kababayans with their travel research. Below are twelve budget hotels in Thailand that you can check out. Hope you find the one that suit your needs best.

Read the rest of this entry »

So far this is the latest advisory we have taken from the Department of Foreign Affairs website.

Written By: Hedda (http://www.heddatan.com)

Visiting Thailand would require one to have good knowledge of Thai culture, for apart from the similarities in our appearances and geography, the culture of the Thais and the Filipinos are as different as night and day.

The following bits of information are a combination of years of experiences living in Thailand of Siam Pinoy administrators, contributions in the forum discussions by Siam Pinoy members, and brochures from numerous sites visited by Siam Pinoy admins over the years of enjoying Thai hospitality.

Ours is an attempt to simply make any visitor to Thailand, Filipino or otherwise, be aware of certain important aspects of Thai culture so he/she may fully enjoy his/her stay in the Kingdom of Smiles. The Thais are a very hospitable people, ready to befriend a foreigner, but could also be offended if we don’t follow certain ways of conduct while we are enjoying such hospitality and friendliness.

Enjoy your stay in the Kingdom of Thailand! And to the Filipino visitor or expat, learn as much as you can from this article, and hopefully, as you discover more about this amazing country, you will also be generous towards others and contribute your knowledge in our forum. Please find the link to our forum threads here.

Apart from knowing how and when to do the “wai” (the standard Thai greeting) the next 2 most important cultural tidbit anyone wishing to visit and/or live in Thailand ought to know of are “chai yen yen” and “mai pen rai”.

Read the rest of this entry »

Songkran is one of the most fun and exciting festival in Thailand. It always never fails to attract thousands of foreigners and locals to join in and splash water among each festival goers.

But the big question for some is, Can Filipinos Travel to Bangkok now? I guess it’s safe to say that it is. Just make sure that you stay away from places where there are some demonstrations going on like the Phan Fa Bridge going to Democracy Monument and Rajaprasong Intersection where the main rally stage are located.

Of course, once you are with friends enjoying the festival, just always make sure to keep safe while having a great Songkran fun.

If your idea of a party includes a walk on a red carpet and being photographed like a Hollywood celebrity, then you would have enjoyed the grand launching of Hotel Vista last August 28, 2009, in Soi 4, Pattaya. Hotel Vista’s owners, the Vannaying family, sure know how to give a blast of a party!

There was an endless flow of wine and cocktail drinks and the food would have passed a guest’s discriminating taste. Guests were entertained from early evening till the wee hours of the morning with a variety of activities. Highlights of the night included song performances from jazz, to pop, to ballads, and to disco, which led on to lively dancing from mostly the lovely ladies of the Filipino community.

Read More

Kapuso Mo Jessica Soho came to Thailand to do a special feature about Thai Elephants, Thai Food, Thai Culture and Sex Change. This shot was taken at Yanhee Hospital after interviewing Dr. Naypa Director of International Section.
Read the rest of this entry »

The following are photos taken during our last visit to Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai Thailand. These places are the Baguio City of Thailand. We went up there to meet some wonderful Filipinos who worked as teachers and musicians. Please click more to view the rest of the photos.

Read the rest of this entry »

This photo was taken during a Filipino Photographer’s meet-up at Central World Plaza, Bangkok, Thailand.

Damnoen Saduak Floating market is the most famous Floating Market in Thailand. It is located in Ratchaburi province down in the southern part of Thailand.

It’s a famous tourist destination for Filipino travelers.

This photo won 2nd Place in Lonely Planet’s Vintage Competition. It was taken a few years back at the Rama II Park about couple kilometers away from Damnoern Saduak (Floating Market).