Secret Retreats is looking south well beyond Thailand’s usual resort trail with a new webinar for travel agents and media.
“Explore Southern Thailand” will be held online on Thursday, 27 August 2026. The event will bring together local hosts, travel professionals and media for a close look at the region’s quieter coastlines, island stays and rare local encounters.
Southern Thailand hardly needs an introduction. Its beaches, islands and limestone cliffs have sold a mountain of postcards. Yet the region has another face. It is slower, more personal, and often missed by travellers who follow the same well-worn route from the airport to the resort and back again.
Secret Retreats wants to lift the curtain on that quieter side. The group is a collection of independent Asian hotels, villas, lodges, cruises and restaurants. Its focus is on local knowledge, culture and responsible travel.
The webinar will feature Aava Resort & Spa in Khanom, Koh Jum Beach Villas on Koh Jum Island and Le Passe-Temps in Krabi. Secret Retreats destination expert Alain Bouvier will also join the session.
Aava Resort & Spa sits on Nadan Beach in Khanom. It blends clean Scandinavian design with Thai warmth, beachside calm, wellness and trips into the nearby countryside. In plain English, it offers a rather different story of Southern Thailand from the one told beside Phuket’s baggage carousel.
Koh Jum Beach Villas has 27 individual villas beside a 700-metre beach or among tropical gardens. Its guest activities include kayaking, cycling, birdwatching and mangrove trips. These are useful building blocks for agents who want a holiday that offers more than a sun lounger, a fruit platter and a heroic amount of sunscreen.
Le Passe-Temps brings its own flavour to Krabi. The small seafront property near Tha Lane offers wooden bungalows, glamping stays and beachside dining. It blends Thai hospitality with a light French touch and offers guests a base near Phang Nga Bay without putting them in the thick of a busy resort strip.
The webinar is not meant to be a glossy parade of rooms and swimming pools. Secret Retreats says it will mix filmed destination content with a virtual journey and a live question-and-answer session. The aim is to give agents practical ideas for fresh itineraries. It will also give media new story leads from places that receive less attention.
That direct access should be useful. Local details are often what turn a pleasant trip into a memorable one. It can also be hard to find. Speaking with hosts and a destination expert may save agents from hours of online digging and spare the office coffee machine from another long shift.
The session starts at 3 pm Indochina Time. That is 4 pm in Singapore and Malaysia, 9 am in London, 10 am in Paris and Central Europe, and 6 pm in Sydney. Advance registration is required.
For Australian agents, the hour is friendly, and the topic is timely. Southern Thailand may be famous, but most fame gathers in a few bright places. This event is about what lies beyond them: small hotels, quiet islands, local hosts and routes with more character than a standard beach transfer.
Secret Retreats’ message is simple. The south still has secrets, and on 27 August, the trade gets the map.
Event details
Event: Secret Retreats “Explore Southern Thailand” webinar
Date: Thursday, 27 August 2026
Time: 3 pm ICT / GMT+7
Sydney: 6 pm AEST
Format: Online webinar
Registration: Register through the official Zoom webinar page
By: Prae Lee – © 2026.
Read Time: 3 minutes.
Author Bio:
You can tell a great deal about a person by how they meet a Bangkok morning. Prae Lee doesn’t charge into it; she glides, unhurried, as if time itself has agreed to behave. There is a calm assurance about her, the sort earned by knowing both your roots and your destination.
A graduate of Chulalongkorn University, she earned her business degree with quiet pride, then further honed it in Singapore and Australia. Travel didn’t change her. It refined what was already there: curiosity, discipline, grace.
Back in Bangkok, she slipped modern life into the family business, mastering social media with an instinct for listening and selling with Thai gentleness.
Prae never seeks attention, yet everything she touches grows brighter.
Now with Global Travel Media, she writes with authenticity, drawing on culture, travel and a rare, steady confidence.
