Local Vibes

Thai Fighting Spirit Get to know Muay Thai, the art of combat that fought its way around the world Words: Mimi Grachangnetara When you step into a Muay Thai gym, it isn’t the clipped bark of trainers-hands wrapped in decades of scar tissue-nor the smack of shin...

Designed by Nature How a Samui local is turning a once-troubled landscape into a quiet blueprint for sustainable living Words: Sky Fitzgerald Photos: Bella Luna By the time the sun begins its languid descent over Khao Pa Na Lay (Hills Forest Field Sea) – a laid-back...

A Glittering Future Woven by Hand On Koh Samui, where craft is often overshadowed by tourism gloss, one woman stands out as the island’s only glitter-batik artist. Her work – measured and rooted in tradition yet unmistakably her own – mirrors the pateh sarong’s...

Hope Floats If you’re visiting Samui during April or May, ask a local about Loy Kroh. You may be led not to a beach club or spa, but to the shoreline itself—where one of Thailand’s most quietly moving rituals unfolds, and where misfortune is set gently adrift. Words:...

Water for Life With World Water Day observed globally and Thailand readying itself for Songkran, the water-soaked Thai New Year, water emerges as both a source of joy and a measure of how we care for the world ahead. Words: Mimi Grachangnetara Photography:...

Unplugged in Samui Turn off your phone and slip off your shoes. Between sunrise swims, jungle waterfalls and long, salt-tinged afternoons, Thailand’s perennial “paradise island” offers something rarer than escape — the space to slow down, breathe deeply and truly...