Bangkok News
Bangkok news, politics, business, crime, and nightlife—stay updated with breaking stories, events, and expat updates from Thailand’s capital. Get the latest from The Thaiger, your trusted Bangkok news source.
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Sponsored 5 ways retirees in Thailand lose money (and how to stop it)
Retiring in Thailand can be affordable and enjoyable, but many retirees lose money due to common mistakes. High living costs, scams, and unexpected expenses can quickly drain savings. There are five ways that retirees in Thailand can lose money and...
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Thailand shopping for Russian helicopters
PHOTO: forceindia.net Thailand has shown interest in Russian helicopter brand Ansat and their Mi171A2 and Ka-32 models, the CEO of the holding company Helicopters of Russia, Andrei Boginsky, told Russian news agency TASS yesterday. “As far as Thailand is concerned, the helicopters Ansat and Mi-171A2 have aroused great interest. Thailand’s police are interested in purchasing Ansats. Also, there has been…
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NACC wearing backlash on social media over Prawit luxury watch case
The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) is finding itself in the hot seat after it cleared Deputy PM Prawit Wongsuwon of wrongdoing in the luxury watch scandal, ruling by a majority vote that he did not make a false asset declaration. The Bangkok Post reports that the NACC secretary-general Worawit Sookboon said the commission ruled 5:3 there were no grounds to accusations…
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Samut Prakan karaoke bar raided, under-age sex workers rounded up
FILE PHOTO Nine alleged sex workers, including two 16 year old and four 17 year olds, have been rounded up at a karaoke bar in Samut Prakan’s Bang Sao Thong district, south of Bangkok. Administrative officials raided the bar after an anti-human trafficking non-governmental organisation complained that the bar might have been providing underage prostitution services. Last night’s 8.30pm raid…
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2 Year old Burmese boy found too late
Photo: Bangkok Post After 9 days of searching, a missing 2 year old Burmese boy has been found dead in a sugar can field in the U Thong district, Suphan Buri, north-west of Bangkok. Yesterday the Suphan Buri Governor ordered some 700 rescuers to meticulously search the plantation for any signs of the boy. The body was found around 4.30…
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Water cannons brought out to add humidity as authorities struggle with BKK smog
Bangkokians have at least another day to inhale unhealthy levels of air pollution after Sunday, the fourth consecutive day the city has been shrouded in smog. On Sunday morning the measure of particulate matter in Tambon Pak Nam in Muang Samut Prakan was 93 micrograms per cubic metres, approaching what the WHO describes as ‘unhealthy’. The Nation reported that Samut…
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AOT gives green light to new Suvarnabhumi terminal
Following a few hiccups, the board of the AOT has now given the green light for the construction of the second passenger terminal at Suvarnabhumi international Airport. In past months there have been demands from leading architects and engineers for the project to be scrapped. AOT managing director Nitinai Sirimatthakarn says that after the board’s approval of the project, the company…
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Bangkokians advised to stay inside until smog clears
• Bangkokians warned that cheap face masks are useless • Weather Bureau says the current smog should clear in a few days PHOTO: Framepool The hazardous ultra-fine dust that has been sweeping through 20 districts of Bangkok will last for a few days, City Hall’s Environment Department warned on Friday. The Bangkok Post say that the warning corresponded with dust levels measured…
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Orient Express luxury brand announces first hotel in Mahankhon
The King Power Mahanakhon Building in Bangkok, Thailand’s tallest, will have the world’s first Orient Express Hotel. At 78 storeys high, the Mahanakhon Building is currently the tallest building in Bangkok, pushing the slightly shorter Baiyoke Tower into second place. Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha, CEO of King Power Group, said they spent over 100 million baht on the new hotel. The new…
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Thai artist uses sex workers’ hair to make social critique in BKK installation
PHOTOS: Vivianne Chow Thai artist, Imahathai Suwatthanasilp new work at the Bangkok Biennale has brought attention to the prostitution industry in Thailand. Through her work the artist critiques preconceptions on sex workers while highlight their prevalence. Imahathai’s new work involved hair, specifically hair collected from a number of sex workers in Thailand. Her passion for hair started when her father was…
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The Chao Phraya lights up for new years eve
Heading to the capital for new years eve? Looking for some spectacular fireworks? The Tourism Authority of Thailand will host the longest fireworks display ever staged along the Chao Phraya River in Bangkok as part of New Year celebrations at midnight on December 31. Called the “Amazing Thailand Countdown 2019”, the spectacular display will last five minutes and is expected to…
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Tourism Authority denies spending 9 million at political fundraiser
The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is rejecting a report that it spent 9 million baht on banquet tables at a pro-Junta fundraising dinner on Wednesday night. TAT director Yuthasak Supakorn claims the agency had nothing to do with the dinner and TAT might take legal action against those reporting the false news for defaming the agency. “It was TAT’s…
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537 more non-existent illegal foreigners found
The round-ups continue and, despite the claim that there are no more illegal foreigners in Thailand, Immigration officials have found another 537 to arrest, process and deport. Immigration police announced the latest toll after raids on 225 locations around the country targeting people living illegally in Thailand. Another early morning media conference was held in central Bangkok at 1.45am to…
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Natural birth son fathered by Thailand’s first test tube baby
PHOTO: The Nation Pavornit Srisahaburi a 31 year old engineer stands in the maternity ward at Chulalongkorn University waiting to visit ‘Delta’ his first baby. Unlike many fathers who have share the same magic moment, Pavornvit is special as he was born and created by artificial insemination, or intro-vitro fertilisation (IVF) in the very same ward. “In Vitro Fertilisation is…
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Another Thai interest rate hike predicted for next year
by Phuwit Limviphuwat and Wichit Chaitrong We’ve just had one .25 basis point interest rise to the base rate. Now there’s already talk of another in 2019 which will start to affect consumer spending, especially mortgage holders. Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) and Phatra Securities are predicting that the Bank of Thailand (BOT) is likely to implement a modest interest rate…
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Leading policeman makes extraordinary claim
“It’s always foreigners who are responsible,” says a leading chief of provincial police . Region One chief Pol Gen Amphon Buarapporn made the outrageous statement claiming he had never seen a case Thais ripping off fellow Thais. Sanook quoted the commander as he was commenting about a case against a 53 year old Chonburi man who met wealthy Thai widows on…
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Junta supporters, Palang Pracharat party, raises 650 million baht at banquet
The pro-military Palang Pracharat party had the first of their big fund-raisers last night and raised an estimated 650 million baht – 50 million baht more than their initial projection. The banquet was held last night at the Impact Muang Thong Thanee convention hall. Almost 2,000 guests, mostly business people and politicians from different parties, attended the event to fill…
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Thailand should prepare for global economic slowdown
The global economy is in disarray with no clear direction. This is the stark warning from Supachai Panitchpakdi, former director-general of the World Trade Organisation. He also says that the US-China trade war is having an adverse impact on investor confidence, Investors don’t know where to safely invest, because the trade war could easily disrupt global supply chains, he said. Supachai,…
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Her Majesty the Queen visits hospital for checkup
Her Majesty Queen Sirikit has been admitted to the Chulalongkorn Hospital yesterday for a general physical checkup. The announcement from the Bureau of the Royal Household. The announcement says that the Queen will remain at the hospital until Friday.
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A Sarburi father alleges gang rape of his 12 year old daughter. A policeman called her a ‘slut’.
PHOTO: The grocery shop in Saraburi province where the alleged rape took place. A government official in Saraburi province, just north-east of Bangkok, has resigned after footage appeared of the official trying to force a 12 year old girl into saying she wasn’t gang-raped. The official, identified as Sangwan Sitthipanya and described as “a leading local administrator”, was forced to…
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Parents call for police to investigate suspicious death of Muay Thai daughter
Parents of the World Muay Thai women’s champ, found hanged in her room on Monday, say that they believe her death is suspicious and not suicide. They say, for a start, the rope mark around her nick is too low, believing that this is evidence that she was more likely strangled than hanging herself from the top of the door…
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Three Russians detained in Thailand at the request of the US
Three Russian citizens have been detained in Thailand at the request of the United States in the last three years, head of the Consulate Department of the Russian Embassy in Thailand, Vladimir Pronin told reporters yesterday. “Only in the last three years, three Russians have been detained in Thailand at the US’ request, two of them – in 2018,” he stressed.…
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British tourist found dead in Bangkok hotel room
PHOTO: Facebook/Luke Ramage Police in Thailand are investigating the death of a British tourist in Bangkok, according to the British Foreign Office. The man has been identified by grieving friends. According to Sky News, Luke Ramage had only just arrived at his hotel when he was found unresponsive on his bed by a receptionist. Mr Ramage, from the town of…
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Thai Rath downsizes newspaper workforce citing crippling decline in revenues
Thai Rath, the country’s biggest newspaper, is buckling under the weight of digital change and downsizing its staff. In yet another sign of the woes in the Thai media industry, the mass-circulation Thai Rath newspaper is downsizing through a voluntary early retirement scheme. Thai Rath, which at its peak claimed a daily circulation of one million, said in a statement…
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Malaysian PM receives honorary doctorate from Rangsit University
PHOTOS: Facebook/Rangsit University Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and Rangsit University President Arthit Ourairat during the convocation ceremony on Sunday. – Picture from Rangsit University Facebook Malaysian PM Mahathir Mohamad has been in Bangkok over the weekend, his second trip to the Kingdom in the past three months. But this time it was mostly social and to receive an award.…
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Leonid meteor shower displays across the early morning skies
“…at some times, about three to four meteors per minute.” PHOTO: Nexter.org More than 500 stargazers, many from Bangkok, camped out at the Prachinburi Observatory last night and early this morning to witness the annual Leonid meteor shower. The Bangkok observatory set up 12 large telescopes for the stargazers to watch the meteor shower. By 5am, over 500 people were…
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Diamond thief captured on Thai border
by Kittipong Maneerit He read about a gem-seller wanting to sell a diamond valued at 10 million baht. So he set up a fake gem shop in Bangkok for the sole purpose of preparing a sting to lure the seller into his ‘shop’. The man fell for it and was robbed of his precious stone. The 59 year old thief…
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10 million baht gem heist getaway motorcycle belonged to dead Thai man
The getaway motorcycle used in the theft of a 10 million baht diamond from a fake jewelry store, set up for the heist, in Bangkok’s Bang Rak district on Tuesday belonged to a long-deceased Thai man. The motorcycle, which the two suspects abandoned at Soi Wat Doung Khae in Pathumwan district, was found yesterday. Police are now investigating how it…
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17 year old student arrested for running porn site
PHOTO: The Nation A young male university student has been arrested over charges of running a pornographic photo website in which paid members were given access to some 300,000 pictures of net idols and other celebrities. Using VK, Line and Facebok the 17 year old (name withheld due to age) uploaded the pictures to the “Kodwarp” page which could then…
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Samut Prakan zoo denies mistreatment of elephant
by Suthinan Kongsin The Samut Prakan Livestock Development Office have inspected Samut Prakan Crocodile Farm and Zoo after media reports and photos on social media revealed a thin elephant performing tricks for tourists. “I’ve been visiting the zoo for a long time because I like to look at the animals. But when I visited last week I was upset when…
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Bangkok police officer kills French citizen following bar brawl
A French tourist was killed in his Bangkok apartment in the early hours of Wednesday by a local Policeman. The two were seen at a Lucky Shot Food and Sports Restaurant on Sukhumvi Soi 11/1 Tuesday evening. Witnesses say a bar brawl broke out between the two men in which the tourist was getting the upper hand, the reason for…
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