Open on all four days from 10am to 8pm, the expo is the largest brick themed event ever held in Southeast Asia, with more than a million Lego bricks and covering an area of over 4,000 square metres.

It offers an interactive experience, divided into zones, allowing visitors to get their hands on a huge range and variety of different Lego elements, see rare collections, as well as getting a closer look at lifesize models including tuktuks, ninjas, and the Krunk bear.

Tickets cost Bt300 and Bt500 at Thai Ticket Major counters and online at http://www.ThaiTicketMajor.com.

So much “Bird”

“Fan Ja the Musical”  a musical inspired by Thai superstar Thongchai “Bird” McIntyre’s songs – is being staged at the Muangthai Rachadalai Theatre from August 15 to September 2.

The jukebox musical presents several of the superstar’s hits including “Lao Soo Kan Fang”, “Fan Ja”, “Duay Rak Lae Pook Pan”, “Mai Khaeng Ying Phae”, “Than Fai Kao”, “Boomerang” and “Too Much So Much Very Much”. They’ll be performed by some of Thailand’s bestknown singers, among them Nanthida Kaewbuasai, Charas Fueangarom, and Nueng ETC.

Tickets costing from Bt500 to Bt3,000 are now on sale at Thai Ticket Major.

All that jazz

The Fabrizio Sotti Trio featuring three of the most dynamic and mature jazz players of the current generation, is set to perform two concerts, the first at the auditorium of Bangkok University on Tuesday at 7pm and the second the following night at the Bamboo Bar of Mandarin Oriental Hotel starting at 8.30pm.

The trio is led by guitarist, composer, producer Fabrizio Sotti, and features Peter Slavov on bass and drummer Clarence Penn.

The concerts at part of the ongoing Italian Festival so admission is free but reservations must be made at http://www.EventBrite.com.

Find out more at Facebook.com/italianfestivalthailand.

Remembering Elvis

Vasu Sangsingkaew, Jaruek Viriyakit and Arthur Husain mark the 41st anniversary of the death of Elvis Presley in the tribute concert “The Legend of Elvis” being staged in the Main Hall of TOT Headquarters on Chaeng Wattana Road on August 26 at 4pm.

The concert will present the hits of 1950s to 1970s by Tim Welch, the great Elvis impersonator from Las Vegas and also feature an exhibition.

Tickets cost from Bt900 to Bt2,500 to Bt900 available at Thai Ticket Major.

To coincide with the artist’s final shows of the European leg of his Revival tour, the rag & bone X Eminem capฌsule was unveiled in London two weeks ago.

The awardwinning artist, who has sold over 125 million albums worldwide, worked closely with the brand to develop “The Icon Hoodie”, It’s available in three colours and is 100percent made and manufactured in America using premium ribknit. The unlined, lightweight sweatshirt was codesigned with Eminem to make his perfect hoodie.

Michael learns to ‘ror’

Michael Kors is introducing a capsule colฌlection of watches, handbags and footwear embellished with an original piece of hardฌware. The “Rory” collection features three handbags, three pairs of shoes and two watches.

Inspired by Leo, Kors’ astrological sign, the Rory detailing is a lion’s head wearing aviator sunglasses. Ruled by the sun, Leos are known for their charismatic personality, playful energy and confidence, making them the most expressive sign of the zodiac. The collection will be available in Michael Kors stores next month.

Send Mum trekking

With Mother’s Day around the corner, Tumi is making its travel, business and lifestyle essentials available for all mothers on the go. The travel cases, daybags and accessories are perfect gifts for Mum.

Socialite Pimpisa Chirathivat chose the Voyageur collection for her mother Chanadda – the Bryce and Rivas Backpacks and Aberdeen Crossbody.

The Rivas backpack offers a padded tablet pocket, multiple organisational pockฌets and a twoway handy side zip that allows easy access to the main compartฌment. It’s available in black, navy and mink.

Off to the races

Tissot, represented by the Swatch Group Trading (Thailand), has launched the TRace MotoGP Limited Edition 2018, designed in celebration of Thailand hosting the MotoGP at the Chang International Circuit in Buri Ram from October 5 to 7, for which the watchmaker has been the official timekeeper since 2001.

The sleek and agile watch features toughness and high precision and mimics in its structure the frame and other parts of motorbikes in its black body and striking red details. Both the Quartz and Automatic movements utilise ETA Calibre C01.211. Encased in a helmet box, only 3,333 pieces are on sale worldwide.

For the ninth consecutive year, Wacoal has joined forces with the National Cancer Institute, regional cancer hospitals under the Department of Medical Services, Bangkok Hospital Group and Samitivej Hospital Group for customers showing His & Her cards when purchasing Wacoal lingerie products worth a combined Bt12,000 net between now and October 31 will receive a VIP mammogram and ultrasound exam card.

The service is provided at 28 participating hospitals until December 31. Those who do not want to use the privilege can give the card to a person you care for or forward it to underprivileged women through the Charity Mammogram Project by the National Cancer Institute.

The 28 participating hospitals include the National Cancer Institute, Maha Vajiralongkorn Thanyaburi Hospital, Chonburi Cancer Hospital, Lopburi Cancer Hospital, Lampang Cancer Hospital and Ubon Ratchathani Cancer Hospital.

Breast cancer is the No 1 life-threatening disease for every women, whether they are single or married, with more than 13,000 new cases have been diagnosed each year. The figure is on the rise in all age groups owing to changing lifestyles.

Regular breast checks are key in minimising the risk and maximising healing opportunity. Mammogram and ultrasound examination is considered the most effective breast cancer screening method to date because it can detect cancerous lump as small as two millimetres in diameter, an early stage with virtually no apparent symptoms.

For more information, please contact the Call Centre on (02) 296 9979.

For the first time, visitors will get the first-hand interactive and augmented reality experience of the arctic story through the mission of taking a polar bear cub home.

“The Adventures of a Polar Bear Cub” tells the tale of the cub’s mission setting out to find his lost mother and siblings in the arctic through an explorer’s looking glass – through learning spaces in the underwater world of Sea Life.

Beginning by helping the cub track his mother’s paw prints amid the falling snow in the Arctic Circle, explorers get to discover what it is like to live in the Arctic – dipping your hands into the iced cold water to learn how polar bears hunt via Time to Eat activity.

Continue the journey to see A Fellow Explorer and watch their story in the Explorer Talk role play about how he successfully tracked the whereabouts of the lost cub and return him to the nature.

Here, explorers are granted a chance to come close to the animatronic polar bear cub, who wriggles around in the arms of the Fellow Explorer for all to cuddle, stroke, and take a photo with.

Following the real touch and feel to the area behind the iceberg, explorers will finally get to see the cub popping up from behind the ice, with the Northern Lights dancing in the background.

The well-designed augmented reality technology brings all explorers face to face with the cub onscreen – giving them the chance to play with him. The journey comes to a happy ending with the beautiful reunion of the mother bear and the cub at last – walking paw in paw back into the icy landscape they call home.

Sea Life Bangkok is at Siam Paragon and the entrance fees are Bt990 for adults and Bt790 for kids three to 11 years old.

For details, visit http://www.SeaLifeBangkok.com.

Continue the journey to see A Fellow Explorer and watch their story in the Explorer Talk role play about how he successfully tracked the whereabouts of the lost cub and return him to the nature.

Here, explorers are granted a chance to come close to the animatronic polar bear cub, who wriggles around in the arms of the Fellow Explorer for all to cuddle, stroke, and take a photo with.

Following the real touch and feel to the area behind the iceberg, explorers will finally get to see the cub popping up from behind the ice, with the Northern Lights dancing in the background.

The well-designed augmented reality technology brings all explorers face to face with the cub onscreen – giving them the chance to play with him. The journey comes to a happy ending with the beautiful reunion of the mother bear and the cub at last – walking paw in paw back into the icy landscape they call home.

Sea Life Bangkok is at Siam Paragon and the entrance fees are Bt990 for adults and Bt790 for kids three to 11 years

WITH NEW 9.5-inch iPad, the Apple Pencil, and GoodNotes 4, you can easily take notes by hand.

You simply use the Apple Pencil stylus pen to write and draw smoothly with this flexible app from Time Base Technology.

GoodNotes not only let you take beautiful handwritten notes, but it also allows you to annotate PDF documents.

The hand-written notes are also searchable. They’re created using a vector ink engine, so your notes will look beautiful even on high-resolution displays.

And the apps support iCloud sync, so your documents in GoodNotes will synchronise between your iPad and iPhone automatically.

The app is really flexible. Apart from using the Apple Pencil to write, you can type using the keyboard and also insert images or draw shapes. You can insert PDF docs inside your notebook and rearrange or delete pages as you like.

The app is useful for students as it can be used to annotate PDF documents so they can underline important parts while reading their school text books in digital format.

GoodNotes can also be used to fill in and sign forms and it conveniently supports Microsoft Word and PowerPoint can be used for coordination on projects and works. A nice feature for people with eyesight problems is its powerful zoom window feature that allows you to write quickly with your fingers or a stylus in a large area. And your handwriting will be shrunk automatically.

The app has a lasso tool that will let you move things around or resize them so that you can correct mistakes at any time. A digital rubber is also provided.

If you have accidentally deleted something, you can use the trash function to undelete it. You can also back up your “Notebooks” or files to Box, Dropbox, Google Drive or OneDrive automatically.

During the test, I found that the app ran fast and smoothly on the new 6th Generation iPad and was able to write surprisingly quickly with the Apple Pencil.

When you first open GoodNotes, you will be presented with an empty library.

The library lets you manage your files – called notebooks – visually. You can simply tap a plus button to create a notebook and you can choose from a variety of covers and paper templates by tapping on the preview. Each template is designed in vector format. There’s lined paper, graph paper, musical scores and lots of notebook covers to choose from.

The toolbar above the app screen provides several tools for you to choose, including Pen, Highlighter, Eraser, and Shape-Recognition tool.

The pen is the default tool when you open the app so that you can start writing away. The Shape-Recognition tool is useful because it will make your drawn shapes, such as triangles, rectangles, squares and circles, perfect.

The Highlighter is useful for highlighting PDFs and text boxes.

A feature that is very useful is the palm rest function. This function lets you rest your palm on the screen while writing so your palm won’t interfere with what you’re writing.

GoodNotes also has a powerful feature for teaching and presenting. When you connect your iPad to an external screen, GoodNotes will show only the content of your Notebook file and hide all user interface elements.

GoodNotes can be bought and downloaded from the App Store for only Bt279 – and after trying it, I can assure you it’s worth a whole lot more.

>> Seller: Time Base Technology

>> Size: 201.4 MB

>> Category: Productivity

>> Compatibility: Requires iOS 8.0 |or later. Compatible with iPhone, |iPad and iPod touch.

>> Languages: English, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Traditional Chinese

>> Age Rating: Rated 4+

>> Price: Bt279

THE APPLE PENCIL has finally found its way to the most affordable and popular-size iPad, making the new 9.7-inch tablet versatile and portable, and a great choice for students, teachers and, yes, office workers and executives too.

Better still, the new 9.7-inch iPad (6th generation) is much more powerful than its predecessor thanks to the inclusion of the A10 Fusion chip.

That chip is a powerful processor, enhancing the performance of the tablet to bring it up to desktop level. Apple says the A10 Fusion Chip delivers up to 40-per-cent faster CPU and 50-per-cent faster graphics performance than the A9 chip in the previous generation iPad. That’s because it’s built on Apple’s fourth-generation 64-bit desktop class architecture.

Best of all, the A10 Fusion chip consumes less battery so the new iPad delivers up to 10 hours of battery life.

The extra power means that apps launch more quickly and multitasking is seamless. The new iPad is also ideal platform for advanced games, thanks to the processing power and good graphics delivered by the chip.

The pixel-perfect precision and low-latency Apple Pencil stylus adds a lot of use to the tablet. Designers and illustrators working on iPads will find it indispensable while its versatility makes it very valuable for other users across a wide range of apps and tasks.

And Apple iOS11 now allows Apple Pencil to be used in Notes and Mail so that you can use your own handwriting to write notes and draw sketches in the two apps.

You can now also use the Mark up-Annotation Expert app to quickly and naturally annotate photos, PDFs and screenshots.

The pre-loaded Pages, Numbers and Keynote apps also support the Apple Pencil on iPad. Pages come with Smart Annotation in beta version that allows you to add comments and notations with Apple Pencil that dynamically anchor to your text.

There are currently more than 1.3 million apps on the App Store for iPad and many work with the Apple Pencil. These include Linea Sketch, Pixelmator, Procreate, Adobe Photoshop Fix, Adobe Photoshop Mix and GoodNotes.

With the new powerful iPad, Apple Pencil, iOS 11 and apps that support the stylus, you have the power to handle a workflow that previously would only have been possible on a computer. And the power of A10 Fusion chip allows you to run multiple apps at once.

For example, you can take photos on your iPad, edit them with Pixelmator and Apple Pencil, and then share them in a Keynote presentation. Or your kids can work on their school science project that includes shooting video of the experiment with the built-in camera, capturing the stats in Numbers or Excel. They can even edit the 4K video using iMovie, and collaborate using FaceTime while they finalise their video report.

The new iPad comes with Retina display with 2048×1536 pixel resolution and the display has a fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating.

The beautiful Retina display with high resolution graphics is good for using with augmented reality (AR) apps that transform how you or your kids work, learn, play and connect with almost everything around you.

The large and immersive display provides an ideal lens to interact with AR apps and the A10 Fusion chip’s fast processing power and powerful graphics engine.

The iPad’s eight-megapixel camera joins the virtual objects in AR apps to the real world to create fun experiences.

The tablet also has built-in sensors, including the three-axis gyro, accelerometer and GPS, which help the device to respond quickly and smoothly to your movements. Several AR apps are available on the App Store, including Complete Anatomy and Froggipedia.

I was impressed with the power of the iPad during the test. Its touch screen and menus were very responsive and, as promised, it worked very well with Apple Pencil.

I used the AnTuTu Benchmark v7.0 to measure its performance and the new iPad got a high score of 206,944 points.

Setting up the new iPad for first use was a breeze too. The iOS 11 allows it to take up your Apple ID account settings from your current iPhone or iPad that runs on iOS 11. You simply need to bring the new iPad to your iPhone or iPad that runs on iOS 11 and your current device will ask if you want to use your Apple ID to set up the new device. You will then have to use the camera of the new device to scan the blue animation on the display our current iPhone or iPad and the setup will be done.

I had no problem trying Apple Pencil to draw with Procreate app. I also wrote and drew in the Notes and Pages app fast and smoothly. Most apps and games ran fast and smoothly.

The Retina display of the new iPad is really beautiful for viewing photos and watching HD movies. I watched HD movies streamed from TrueID TV and iflix apps and I was delighted with the picture quality. For example, I watched World Cup 2018 matches with impressive picture quality through the TrueID TV app.

There are both Wi-Fi-only and LTE 4G versions of the new iPad. I had my hands on the LTE version with 128GB of storage. I tried the Internet connection on TrueMove H’s LTE network and the download speed was fast.

I used the Ookla Speedtest app to measure the data connection speed and I found that the new iPad achieved a download speed of 75.1 Mbps and upload speed of 29.3 Mbps.

The new iPad Wifi with 32GB of storage retails for Bt11,500 while the one with 128GB retails for Bt14,900. The new iPad with LTE connection and 32GB storage retails for Bt16,500 and the LTE version with 128 storage retails for Bt19,900. The Apple Pencil has to be bought separately for Bt3,400.

>> OS: iOS 11.4

>> Processor: A10 Fusion chip with 64-bit architecture, Embedded M10 coprocessor

>> Display: 9.7-inch Retina display LED-backlit |Multi-Touch display with IPS technology with 2048-by-1536-pixel resolution

>> Cameras: 8 MP front camera with f/2.4 aperture lens; 1.2MP FaceTime HD camera with f/2.2 lens

>> Connector: Lightning

>> Cellular and Wireless: Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n/ac); dual band (2.4GHz and 5GHz); HT80 with MIMO; Bluetooth 4.2; GSM/HSPA+/LTE

>> Location: Digital compass, Wi-Fi, Assisted GPS and GLONASS, Cellular, |iBeacon microlocation

>> Sensors: Touch ID, |Three-axis gyro, Accelerometer, Barometer, Ambient light sensor

>> Battery: Built-in |32.4-watt-hour rechargeable lithium-polymer battery

>> Dimensions: 240×169.5×7.5mm (HxWxD)

>>  Weight: 478 g (for LTE version), 469g (for WiFi version)

>> In the Box: iPad, Lightning to USB Cable, USB Power Adapter

RECYCLING and its close cousin upcycling have caught in recent years but here in Thailand, few companies are taking on the enormous amounts of waste generated by hospitals.

That’s changing thanks to Kasetsart University’s Scrap Lab run by inveterate recycler Assoc Professor Dr Singh Intrachooto. He’s collaborating with Bangkok Metropolitan Administration General Hospital in finding ways to upcycle all the products the hospital no longer wants with the aim of reducing medical waste while also creating new products for the market.

Assoc Professor Singh Intrachooto, head of the creative centre for eco design at Kasetsart University, presents a lightweight and easy-to-use spoon specifically designed for hospital patients and the elderly. 

“I started to work with BMA General Hospital four years ago looking how to reduce the 196,282 pieces of waste the hospital was generating every single month. Nearly half of those are clean products, among them the PVC bags used for dialysis solution, which tend to be dumped in the infectious waste pile even though they cannot be classified in that category. So I joined with the hospital team to figure out that can be recycled and what cannot,” Singh tells The Nation.

A tote made from the plastic bag used for dialysis solution

Now, five years on, his team has successfully turned about half the waste into useful products. Those bags used for dialysis solution have morphed into different kinds of totes, as have the wrappers of surgical equipment, while paper has been turned into handy scrapbooks.

Scrap Lab hasn’t stopped there either. In an effort to make the lives of staff and patients a little easier, the team has developed a range of others products too. These include 4,000 sets of tableware especially designed for the elderly, which have now been distributed to hospitals under the management of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration and the Aspen Tree.

A bag made from the wrappers of surgical equipment is design for keeping the patient’s personal care items.

“We’ve developed and designed shoes for nurses and nurse aides, which are convenient and comfortable to wear during the long hours they are on their feet. We use quality raw materials but keep the price low at Bt500 a pair. The shoes are currently being developed in collaboration with footwear firm Adda and will be on the market soon,” Singh says.

For patients and the elderly, the lab has designed spoons made from premium plastic that are lightweight and easy for elderly hands to manipulate. For patients whose conditions require them to be hooked up to various medical devices, it’s come up with gloves that stop them pulling on the tubes as well as a mobile hair washing unit that can be used by nurses in giving their patients a refreshing shampoo. It’s also suitable for use by the elderly.

Scrap books made from hospital waste 

But despite the efforts being made, recyclable medical waste remains a massive problem. To get an idea, just multiply the number of pieces dumped by BMA General Hospital with the 321 hospitals and health centres nationwide that vary between 11 and 250 beds each.

And then there’s the 500-bed and more hospitals that fall until the Health Ministry – 33 of them. Assuming that they, like the 500-bed BMA General Hospital, dump an average of 196,282 pieces per month per hospital, and the total is astronomical.

Scrap books made from hospital waste 

“By upcycling all hospital waste, we can reduce garbage costs while also generating income for the hospitals and their staff. This is the best way to manage the country’s waste,” Singh says, adding that the research developed by the team is also available to private sector enterprises. “All they need to do is apply to the university and the hospital,” he explains.

The Scrap Lab, he stresses, is continuing its collaboration with the hospital in developing new products from medical waste and in designing tools that can improve the quality of life both for patients and elderly citizens.

Dr Singh and the head of nursing at Bangkok Metropolitan Administration General Hospital at the Green Hospital shop that distribute green products and upcycled products from hospital waste 

“We hope that the private sector will help produce items from medical waste as we don’t have the capacity to use the more than a million pieces chucked away each year. The funds that are generated for sales can be used to buy medical equipment or medicine to help lower-income patients. And it will also reduce the country’s waste.”

Until July 22, visitors can take in the exhibition “The Succession of King Maha Vajiralongkorn” at Life Style Hall, second floor of Siam Paragon. Presented by the Queen Savang Vadhana Foundation together with Ministry of Culture and Siam Piwat, it offers photos and documents relating to the King, his royal duties, his gratitude towards his parents, the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej and Queen Sirikit, and his honours and achievements.

July 25 is dedicated to the “Rao Tham Khwam Dee Duay Hua Jai” Big Cleaning Day Activity.

Organised by Siam Piwat and Pathumwan District Office, this volunteer project is in line with the King’s wish intention to make the country united and make the life of Thai people better. The Big Cleaning Day starts at 7.30am on Rama 1 Road in front of Siam Paragon, Siam Center and Siam Discovery and Siam Piwat is making 5,000 yellow t-shirts available to volunteers wear on the day. Information on how to collect yellow t-shirts can be found at Facebook.com/siamparagonshopping/).

Merit making by offering alms to 67 monks is taking place on July 26 at 6.30am on the Sky Walk at Pathumwan Junction.

Everyone is welcome to participate by offering dried/long selflife food products to the monks.

A candlelighting ceremony will be held on July 28 at 7.19pm to show respect and loyalty to His Majesty the King on the Sky Walk and at Park Paragon. Participants should wear yellow, the colour of His Majesty’s birthday. Artists participating in this event include Tanont “Nont” Chumroen, champion of “The Mask Singer Thailand” Season 4 and of “The Voice” Season 1, Nipaporn “Zani” Thitithanakarn and Natnatcha “Ann” Numchareonsombut.

The booking website has seen an increase in bookings of ‘off-grid’ getaways over the last two years, with a whopping 60 per cent spike in guests leaving glowing reviews of their hideaways. As the new generation of travellers indulges in memorable “once in a lifetime” experiences, unusual, ‘off-grid’ hotel destinations are topping today’s wander lists.

Searches for hotels in a variety of spectacularly ‘off-grid’ locations are up – private islands (50 per cent), deep in the woods (50 per cent) and in forests (30 per cent)  revealing that ‘off-grid’ locations are rapidly becoming the most popular for hotel reviewers.

From the deserts of the Middle East and the mountains of Thailand to the beaches of St Lucia and the icy tundras of Sweden, travellers are retreating from the world and escaping their everyday lives to hideaway on vacation.

“Thanks to our 25 million guest reviews, we’ve seen a huge uplift in desire to escape the city and head for the hills – in some cases, quite literally! Going ‘off-grid’ seems to be a trend many guests are positively highlighting more and more in their reviews,” said Johan Svanstrom, president for the Hotels.com.

“The launch of our new Loved by Guests awards category will provide more inspiration and opportunity for travellers to stay in hotels they didn’t even know existed; whether they are in the desert, the forest, the jungle or even up a mountain. It’s the ultimate way to have a rewarding holiday experience plus extra bragging rights!”

Desert Nights, UAE – Anantara Qasr al Sarab Desert

Hotels.com review rating: 9.6 out of 10

Sit back, relax and enjoy peace and quiet in the desert. A hotel nestled among spectacular sand dunes, Anantara Qasr al Sarab Desert is the quintessential “middle of nowhere” hotel. Shoes off, toes in the sand, this breathtaking luxury hotel with spa and safari offers plenty of space to unwind.

Icey Tundra, Sweden – Icehotel

Hotels.com review rating: 8.6 out of 10

This epic location is just the spot to rug up and take a moment to freeze in time. There are endless opportunities to chill and hopefully enjoy the stunning Northern Lights. There is a selection of warm and cold room types available, including the Art Suites, each individually hand carved and kept between 5 and 8 degrees Celsius.

Jungle Life, Bali – Four Seasons Resort Sayan

Hotels.com review ratings: 9.4 out of 10

For those seeking a romantic off-the-beaten-track getaway, this resort is a well-hidden gem, rising out of the rice fields above the Ayung River. The 60-guestroom retreat is surrounded by the lush hillside and fragrant gardens of Sayan, offering guests a spiritual epicentre. Feet up – it’s time to enjoy the exquisite views and pure luxury.

Cave Dwelling, Turkey – Gamirasu Cave

Hotels.com review rating: 9.8 out of 10

This hotel is hidden among the beautiful and rugged Cappadocia region in Turkey. The cave rooms are guaranteed to ensure guests avoid a rocky holiday. This quirky hotel offers the ultimate luxury, both underground and off the beaten path.

Treehouse, Thailand – Keemala

Hotels.com review ratings: 9.2 out of 10

This truly remarkable property is a tranquil wonderland set spectacularly above the island rainforest canopy. Nestled peacefully 40 minutes from Phuket, the 38-guestroom resort offers free-standing baths, yoga classes and a poolside bar. The stunning Birds Nest villas even offer private infinity pools in the sky! This is remote luxury at its finest.

Private Island, Florida, USA  Little Palm Island resort and spa

Hotels.com review rating: 9.8 out of 10

The Little Palm Island Resort and Spa proves the adage that good things come in small packages. An exclusive resort with only 30 guest rooms, it offers spectacular water front views with a private beach, luxurious spa and 5-star restaurant. No holiday will be the same, so guests can enjoy the secluded island and be sure to brag to friends about a truly offgrid vacation in Florida sun.

Mountain Resort, St Lucia – Jade Mountain Resort

Hotels.com review rating: 10.0 out of 10

Overlooking 600 acres of beach, this Caribbean resort is one of the most mesmerising hotels in the world. The resort features a full-service spa, fitness facilities, tennis courts and an infinity pool. Some suites even come with their own pool overlooking the mountains. Its iconic location provides guests with an exclusive sanctuary.

Ranch Life, California – Calistoga Ranch

Hotels.com review rating: 9.6 out of 10

Fantasise about taking a dip in a private canyon in the Napa Valley? Dreams do come true at Calistoga Ranch. The resort offers a true taste of secluded luxury, with private lakes, rolling hills and lush forests. Pull up a sun lounger and sip on some wine to celebrate a supreme holiday.

Rural Retreat, Chile – Remota Hotel

Hotels.com review rating: 9.0 out of 10

Hidden in Chilean Patagonia, the world epicentre of natural beauty, guests can enjoy breathtaking views of this remote paradise. The hotel offers a marina, spa, pool, garden and library. Guests can use this stunning hotel as a base to explore the nearby native forests, islets, ice fields and glaciers.

Silo Stay, New Zealand – Silostay Little River

Hotels.com review ratings: 9.6 out of 10

Go against the grain by holidaying in the quaint town of Little River, New Zealand. Located in the land known as the long white cloud, the refurbished grain silos bring a unique, extraordinary and peaceful experience. This innovative, ecofriendly accommodation is the only one of its kind in the world.

Word worms can find English best-sellers, fiction and non-fiction, romances, thrillers, business guides, art and design treatises, cookbooks and much more. The children’s attractions range from classic fairytales to interactive adventures.

If you have specific titles in mind, be the first to grab them by participating in giveaways on Facebook (bbwbooksthailand) and Instagram (@bigbadwolfbooks_th). You can win a pass to Preview Day on August 9 and have first crack at all the books in the sale.

“This is the third year in Bangkok for Big Bad Wolf and every year it just gets better,” says organiser Surachet Worawongwasu.

“The past two years we noticed more and more Thais hunting for their favourite books. This year there are many new titles by popular authors and we hope to see more families and people from the outskirts of Bangkok.”

English literacy is an issue for Thailand. The 2017 EF English Proficiency Index ranked the Kingdom 53rd among 80 countries.

“The English language is the connector used in commerce, diplomacy, education and science,” Surachet points out. “Thailand has more recently become one of the fastest-developing countries on the EF index, and with the hunger for books we’ve seen at the Big Bad Wolf Book Sale, we hope to see continued improvement.”

To spur that improvement along, he’ll donate books to the Hope Foundation in Thailand through a Red Readerhood Programme, benefitting underprivileged communities. (“Readership” would be the correct English, but that would spoil the Little Red Riding Hood allusion.)

Anyone wishing to help out can buy a book at the Red Readerhood corner at the sale and drop it in a designated collection bin to be donated to a good cause.

Big Bad Wolf sales are also held in Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Manila, Cebu, Surabaya and Colombo, distributing new Englishlanguage books to millions at affordable prices.

More than three million people visit the sales every year and purchase in excess of 15 million titles, helping to create a regionwide love of reading that the organisers believe will be reflected in literacy rates.