Built during the reign of King Rama V, Surawong Road is one of Bangkok’s most vibrant and historic business neighborhoods.

​Connecting to the first road ever built in Bangkok, The Charoen Krung Road, and also to the banks of the Chao Phraya River, Surawong Road is revered as the Creative District. Thanks to its heritage, classic architecture, contemporary designs and authentic local food, this road is a cultural yet contemporary tourist destination. Here are 9 highlights of this area that you should not miss. 

Koh Samui has long been one of the world’s favorite holiday destinations. The tropical island in the Gulf of Thailand is renowned for its palm-fringed, white-sand beaches and mountainous interior forests. Here visitors have chance to enjoy natural splendor both above and below the waterline. Samui likewise is a place where you’re sure to have loads of fun hanging out with friends while making new ones day and night.
 
But there’s always been one problem for a certain type of visitor to Samui: the clued-up independent traveler who, while keen to find good-value accommodation, doesn’t want to go too basic. A thatch-roofed hut with hard bed might save you money, but at cost of your being tired, cranky and altogether out of sorts. Some bargains aren’t worth it. And although the island has many high-end hotels and swish resorts, a couple nights there and your socializing and entertainment budget soon gets zeroed out. There was a gap to be filled.
 
Presenting Lub d Koh Samui Chaweng Beach, the island’s comfortable yet affordable new spot – a sweet spot – for sleeping well, having fun and making connections.
 
Lub d Koh Samui Chaweng Beach is situated on one of Chaweng’s last stretches of seafront large enough for a beach club setting. And because the hotel has preserved surrounding natural island flora, guests stay connected with nature as well. Add to that a design providing Gulf of Thailand views from just about anywhere, and at Lub d Koh Samui Chaweng Beach there’s always a feeling of being connected with the sea and surf, of being a part of beach life and society.
 
A trusted brand in Southeast Asia with properties in Thailand at Bangkok and Phuket as well as in neighboring Cambodia and The Philippines, Lub d now brings its “social hotel” concept to Samui Island. This is where the switched-on cool kids will be heading – both the young and the young at heart – who want a totally different kind of beach club experience while on holiday.

THE most basic definition of an airport is ‘‘a place where aircraft take off and land’’. To the surprise of many, public records show that there are 81 or more facilities that fit this description in Thailand, at least one in 51 of the country’s 76 provinces – as and Bangkok and more than one in 20 provinces.
 
These range in size from airfields that may consist of just a single narrow landing strip and perhaps a small adjoining structure, to the sprawling complex comprising Suvarnabhumi International Airport, which in 2017 accommodated almost 61million domestic and international travellers.
 
There are 24 airports with scheduled commercial service and 11 that function as international airports. About 18 airports are strictly for military use, reserved for the Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF), Royal Thai Army (RTA) or Royal Thai Navy (RTN). Fourteen others are joint public/military airports. Six airports are operated by the Airports of Thailand Public Company Limited (AOT), a government-owned company, and apparently 30 are operated by the Department of Airports (DOA), under the Ministry of Transport. There are also a number of private airports in the country, for example three owned and operated by Bangkok Airways Public Company Limited (BA).
 
There are also a number of airports constructed in the ‘middle of nowhere’, some with relatively long runways and associated structures. Looking at these isolated aviation centers on a map, it’s hard to come by a reason for their existence. An inevitable question arises: Could some of them be used for illicit activities? On a more positive note, however, it is comforting to know they are available to a pilot looking for a place to land in an emergency situation. 

February 16 and 17, 2019 Patana Sports Complex, Sukhumvit Sol 105 Entry is free
 
THE largest and most festive rugby spectacle in the region is about to kick off again. The Bangkok International Rugby Tens tournament will be held on 16-17 February 2019 and will once again play host to rugby teams from around the world.
 
The event is organized annually to raise funds for Nak Suu, a charity that helps underprivileged children in the slums of Bangkok. Children in these areas are being subjected to substance abuse, prostitution, lack of education and poverty.
 
Not only does Nak Suu provide the children with a meal, English learning and something positive to look forward to, the programme also encourages and educates children in constructive life choices, values and skills, through a sports-based programme, in this case rugby.

JOHN GRAY is a giant of a man, both in reputation and personal stature. He’s affectionately known as ‘The Caveman’ for his pioneering work in bringing the adventure sport of sea kayaking to the caves, lagoons and hongs of Phang Nga Bay in southern Thailand.
 
Alternatively, you’ll hear him teasingly called ‘Ling Yai,’ literally ‘big monkey’ in Thai. He’s certainly big (close to two metres tall and weighing 110 kilos) and indeed he is rather hairy and even aged 72, John still has great strength and dexterity, so the monkey moniker is pretty apposite!
 
There have been endless documentaries and films made about his exploits and his passionate stance on environmental protection. The Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, National Geographic magazine, all the big names have come calling upon the Andaman and the Cavemen’s door to seek out and promote this larger-than-life personality and his amazing kayaking adventures.
 
John hails from southern California and had an extraordinary upbringing being totally immersed in environmentalism and adventure from an early age. John’s parents met on a Sierra Club outing, and his mother was tremendously important in John’s early life.
 
“She was the greatest influence on my life and was truly a visionary. We were a sixth generation Los Angeles family and I remember when I was about five that our house was the local drop off point for the Audubon Society. It was a menagerie full of birds and abandoned or damaged animals. Ma would lavish tender care on all the animals and teach us about them at the same time. My love of Nature comes directly from her.”
 
John’s mother was also a very forward looking free thinker with strong egalitarian principles. “When I was twelve,” Ma said,” I was old enough to go ‘religion shopping’.

She took me around, Sunday after Sunday, to all the churches in the neighbourhood. She helped me understand what each religion had to offer and believed, and then left it up to me to decide for myself.
 
“So what religion are you now, fifty odd years later?” I asked. John laughed mischievously, “Oh, a bit of a humanist, with a dash of agnostic and a side sauce of Buddhism.”

Background
 
“I studied political science at the Pontifical Catholic University in Buenos Aires, Argentina, with a bachelor´s degree in political science and international relations. In 1980 I entered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and graduated from the Institute of Argentine Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Worship in Buenos Aires. In 1982 I had my first post as diplomat in Switzerland. It was at the General Consulate of Argentina in Zurich,” Ambassador Sonschein said.
 
“From the beginning of my studies I knew that I wanted to become a career diplomat and this is what I have been
doing all these years of my life. Being Ambassador of Argentina to the Kingdom of Thailand is a dream come true as I considered Thailand my second home, and I love prathet Thai and kon Thai so much!
 
“I arrived in Thailand for the first time in 1998 on a tourist trip with my husband, and it was love at first sight. I visited the country a couple more times and then, in 2008, I was sent as Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy in Bangkok. I stayed until 2012 and then came back every year for holidays passing through Bangkok to go to India or Bhutan.
 
“I was appointed by Argentine President Mauricio Macri as Ambassador to Thailand in August 2016. Argentine ambassadors have no set terms. When our President recalls us, we end our mission abroad. But normally the time is four to five years in the post.
 
“Before coming here I worked in different places at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as Departments of Cooperation, Politics, and Human Resources. But I spent most of my time at the Protocol Department heading the Direction of International visits, which dealt with the visits of high-ranking officials and head of states from all over the world including when our President went abroad.
 
“That post allowed me to travel around the world and visit places that normally tourists cannot have access to. I’ve been to Moscow, St. Petersburg, Canada and China, many times in the USA, Singapore, India, Japan, the Vatican, Rome, Switzerland, and several other countries in Europe as well as in Latin America.
 
“Normally I arrived at destinations before the president and his delegation in order to prepare and arrange all details of the official visit with the local protocol department. It was extremely challenging and risky, but I enjoyed it so much. It was very nice meeting different people from other countries and speaking other languages.
 
“However, my career was not homogeneous or a classic diplomatic career. I got married to an ambassador, so I decided to follow him. When he was posted abroad I took leave of my duties as a diplomat and became an ambassador’s wife. So, I swapped my ‘chapeau’ in Buenos Aires and started a different kind of work. I enjoyed so much being with him and complementing his posting. We were the perfect diplomatic couple. He was an outstanding senior diplomat with a lot of experience, culture and knowledge. I learned many things from him and we shared so many interesting experiences.
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“We stayed in Dublin, Ireland, and actually we got married there; I have fabulous memories… Next we went to Belgrade, Yugoslavia. The first two years were very interesting, as the Balkan countries have a special charm. But then the Kosovo war started and my husband refused to leave the capital even though the government allowed us to do. So I decided to stay with him. We spent 72 days under the NATO bombardment. It was a very tough period but we survived and it was an extraordinary experience.”

Restaurant & Hotel Address: Luna La Pran Restaurant
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Open daily from 11:00 AM. - 11.00 PM.
 Sheraton Hua Hin Pranburl Villas, 9/22 Moo 5, Pak Nam Pran, Pranburl, Prachuab Khiri Khan, 77220, Thailand
T: +66 (0)32 909 900 ext. 3135
www.marriott.com/HHQPS
www.facebook.com/LunalapranRestaurant​​

FOR more than a century, Hua Lamphong has been Bangkok's grand railway station, transporting untold millions of Thais and foreign tourists to the far corners of the country. 

Designed by Italian maestros Mario Tamagno and Annibale Rigotti, the station actually opened in 1916 on the express suggestion of King Rama V, who had been impressed with Frankfurt Train Station while on a trip to Germany in 1907.
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Now a Bangkok landmark thanks to its handsome Italian Neo-Renaissance design, especially the iconic front entrance and vast column-free interior, Hua Lamphong is a much-loved and admired city feature, the inspiration for countless travellers’ tales and source of incredibly poignant stories of everyday life in Thailand.