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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    How to travel around Thailand for under US$30 a day

    The Thaiger key takeaways Staying in budget hostels or guesthouses and eating street food keeps daily expenses low. Mixing buses, trains, and budget flights allows affordable travel between cities and islands. Free or cheap activities, such as temples, markets, parks,...

  • Government wants to closely monitor eateries following extension of alcohol curfew | Thaiger

    Government wants to closely monitor eateries following extension of alcohol curfew

    Now that Thailand’s alcohol curfew has been extended in many provinces, the government is on its toes about cracking down on venues serve past the 11pm cutoff time. A government spokesperson stated today that he wishes for authorities to take sharp measures against eateries violating the new 11pm curfew. Venues that break it will face arrests and loss of operating…

  • Thailand won’t allow entrance exam makeups, other Asian countries do | Thaiger

    Thailand won’t allow entrance exam makeups, other Asian countries do

    Thai students planning to take their university entrance exams must now miss the exam if they are in quarantine or self-isolation. The only other option is to take the exams next year. Meanwhile, other Asia countries are allowing students in quarantine and isolation to take this exam. China allowed students to take entrance exams at hospitals and special facilities, while…

  • Move Forward member pushes for sex work legalisation as election campaigns heat up | Thaiger

    Move Forward member pushes for sex work legalisation as election campaigns heat up

    A politician from the Move Forward Party told Thai media that sex work could soon be decriminalised if their candidate wins the upcoming election for Bangkok governor. MP Thanyawaj Kamonwongwat says that if the candidate from the progressive political party is elected, they will review the Act of Prostitution and Protection of Service Providers and Act of Prevention and Suppression…

  • Former MP to file lawsuit over campaign poster using his photo to mock him | Thaiger

    Former MP to file lawsuit over campaign poster using his photo to mock him

    One former member of parliament has filed a lawsuit against another politician for using a photo of him to mock him in a campaign poster. The image shows the former MP of the ruling Palang Pracharath Party, Sira Jenjaka, under a magnifying glass behind a Move Forward Party candidate with a message calling for volunteers to help catch those who…

  • Thailand’s Digital Economy and Society Minister infected with Covid-19 | Thaiger

    Thailand’s Digital Economy and Society Minister infected with Covid-19

    Thailand’s Digital Economy and Society Minister has Covid-19. The minister, Chaiwut Thanakamanusorn, is currently in hospital with a fever and headache. He says he may have contracted the virus on a trip to Chiang Mai last Thursday. It remains unknown which variant he contracted. The infection has not reached his lungs, however, other members of the ruling Palang Pracharath Party…

  • Woman kidnapped from hotel quarantine allegedly by men posing as police officers | Thaiger

    Woman kidnapped from hotel quarantine allegedly by men posing as police officers

    A woman infected with Covid-19 was allegedly kidnapped from a quarantine hotel in Bangkok by a group of men posing as police officers. The 55 year old father file a report with police on Saturday, claiming that his 23 year old daughter was kidnapped from a hotel quarantine by a group of men claiming to be police. Apparently, one of…

  • Police officer charged following death of Bangkok pedestrian hit by speeding bike | Thaiger

    Police officer charged following death of Bangkok pedestrian hit by speeding bike

    A Thai police officer has been charged with multiple offences after his speeding Ducati bike collided with a Bangkok doctor on a zebra crossing. The charges, filed by Phaya Thai district police, include reckless driving and not stopping for pedestrians at a zebra crossing. Dr. Waraluck Supavatjariyakul died after being hit by Naravich Buadok’s bike as she crossed Phaya Thai…

  • Free Covid-19 testing events in Bangkok daily throughout January | Thaiger

    Free Covid-19 testing events in Bangkok daily throughout January

    With Covid-19 infections on the rise, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration launched a series of testing events in 80 communities around the city through the end of January. The campaign is aimed at proactive testing to identify and hopefully contain infections as the highly contagious Omicron variant spreads quickly through the city and the country. The series of testing events began…

  • Woman complains police didn’t pursue rape case for 5 months | Thaiger

    Woman complains police didn’t pursue rape case for 5 months

    A woman brought her lawyer to the Klong Tan Police Station after waiting 5 months for a response to her reporting an alleged rape at a party in Klong Toei in August. The incident took place in the Bangkok district at a hotel where the 27 year old Thai woman was hired to be a bartender. The woman said she was…

  • Thai women’s football coach confident about World Cup Finals | Thaiger

    Thai women’s football coach confident about World Cup Finals

    Thai women’s football coach Miyo Okamoto is determined that player Chaba Kaew will qualify for her third straight FIFA Women’s World Cup. Miyo plans to send her best players to the cup, and some have previously been in cup finals. Myo said the team studies the Philippines team’s tactics in order to gain skills. She said that if her team…

  • Candidate for Bangkok’s governor says he has no plan to move the capital if he wins | Thaiger

    Candidate for Bangkok’s governor says he has no plan to move the capital if he wins

    Following the naming of Indonesia’s new capital by President Joko Widodo to replace sinking Jakarta, the candidate for Bangkok’s governor position in the upcoming election Suchatvee Suwansawas, wrote on his Facebook page that he had no plans to relocate the country’s capital due to the decades-long flooding that has hit Bangkok, and believe it or not, Bangkok is also sinking.…

  • PM Prayut Chan-o-cha orders two agencies to lead crackdown on call-centre scams | Thaiger

    PM Prayut Chan-o-cha orders two agencies to lead crackdown on call-centre scams

    Following escalating public complaints that many Thais have fallen victim to phone scams that steal either money or personal information, PM Prayut Chan-o-cha has assigned two government agencies to lead integrated operations to crack down on scammers and bring them to justice. According to Deputy Government Spokesperson Trisulee Trisaranakul, the Digital Economy and Society Ministry and the Royal Thai Police…

  • Health Ministry will not shut down schools unless there’s a cluster | Thaiger

    Health Ministry will not shut down schools unless there’s a cluster

    Thailand’s Public Health Ministry will not order schools to close down because a few pupils are infected with Covid-19, but only if there are clusters of infections, according to the deputy director-general of the Department of Health. Dr Sarawut Boonsuk explained that the ministry would order the school to close the classroom for three days to clean it thoroughly if…

  • Book publishers known for controversy raided by Bangkok police | Thaiger

    Book publishers known for controversy raided by Bangkok police

    Just in time for the National Book Fair coming to Bangkok, police this morning rated a Bangkok book publisher known for issuing material against the grain of normal Thai society. Fa Diew Kan, which translates to “Same Sky”, was raided at about 10:30 this morning by around 30 police officers. The officers came with a warrant to look for books “about…

  • State Railway of Thailand approves use of Bang Sue station to host National Book Fair | Thaiger

    State Railway of Thailand approves use of Bang Sue station to host National Book Fair

    Thailand’s National Book Fair will take place this year at Bangkok’s Bang Sue Grand Station, from March 26 to April 5. According to a Thai PBS World report, the State Railway of Thailand has reassured the public that the event will not interfere with the government’s rollout of Covid-19 vaccines, also taking place at the site. Nirut Maneebhandu, SRT governor,…

  • Bangkok’s subway introduces new payment methods featuring Visa and Master | Thaiger

    Bangkok’s subway introduces new payment methods featuring Visa and Master

    The burden of queuing up to purchase your ticket at machines or top-up from ticket booths at Bangkok’s subway is now soon to be gone with MRT introducing new contactless payment methods with Visa and Mastercard, according to its official Facebook post. Passengers will be able to scan there credit card at the gate rather than touching a plastic token…

  • Bangkok is blooming: Flora Festival takes over several public parks until July | Thaiger

    Bangkok is blooming: Flora Festival takes over several public parks until July

    Sunflowers are blossoming in Bangkok. The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration is organising the Bangkok Flora Festival where flowers will be planted in various parks in the capital from now until July. The first garden is a sunflower field at the Vachitabenjatas Park or Suan Rot Fai Park near the Chatuchak Weekend Market. Over 1.5 acres of Suan Rot Fai Park is…

  • 1 million face masks labeled as Japanese busted as Chinese | Thaiger

    1 million face masks labeled as Japanese busted as Chinese

    In the Bangkok suburb of Samut Prakan, police raided a warehouse where they found 1 million face masks that were labelled as being from Japan when in actuality they were produced and shipped from China. The economic crime division of the police uncovered the Chinese masks, with an estimated value of about 3 million baht, during a raid in a…

  • British man fined for overstay after being forced into Bangkok quarantine | Thaiger

    British man fined for overstay after being forced into Bangkok quarantine

    You take your PCR test after your stay in Thailand, before you return home to the UK. You test positive and are confined in a Bangkok hospital for 10 days. Then, to add insult to injury, you’re fined 4,000 baht for overstaying your visa when you go through immigration… purely because you were confined in hospital. This is the sad…

  • Hungarian wanted overseas arrested in Bangkok, overstayed visa by 10 years | Thaiger

    Hungarian wanted overseas arrested in Bangkok, overstayed visa by 10 years

    Thai Immigration police arrested a 48 year old Hungarian suspect who is wanted in his home country for alleged insurance fraud and has been staying in Thailand illegally for more than 10 years. Immigration police say the man is on 4,254 days overstay after entering Thailand in 2010 on a 60 day tourist visa. Officers say the man was arrested…

  • Transport minister says Suvarnabhumi Airport expansion will begin in July | Thaiger

    Transport minister says Suvarnabhumi Airport expansion will begin in July

    Plans to expand Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport will kick off in July, according to Transport Minister Saksayam Chidchob. The so-called East Expansion project is expected to take around 2 and a half years to complete, at a cost of 7.8 billion baht. The project will begin in July with a bidding process to appoint a contractor. The plans have already been…

  • Thai baht rises as officials consider resumption of Test & Go | Thaiger

    Thai baht rises as officials consider resumption of Test & Go

    Thailand saw strength in its currency “baht” today as expectations are high for the relaxing of quarantine for vaccinated visitors under “Test & Go” quarantine exemption scheme. Registration for the entry scheme was closed last month, but the Public Health Ministry is proposing the scheme be reopened again. The Public Health Minister says that if approved by the Centre for…

  • Suvarnabhumi Airport’s passenger terminal to be extended for future tourists | Thaiger

    Suvarnabhumi Airport’s passenger terminal to be extended for future tourists

    In the next 10 years, Thailand could rank as the world’s ninth busiest travel hub welcoming 200 million passengers each year, according to a forecast from the International Air Transport Association. To prepare for the anticipated post-pandemic uptick, Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport is extending its east side of the main passenger terminal. The government approved an initial budget of 7.8 billion…

  • Teenagers arrested for allegedly stealing batteries, steel railings from a train station | Thaiger

    Teenagers arrested for allegedly stealing batteries, steel railings from a train station

    Two 19 year olds were arrested and charged for allegedly stealing batteries from trucks who also admitted to stealing stainless steel railings from a train station in Samut Prakan yesterday. Following the warrant issued by the district court, police stopped the motorbike of two suspects on Soi Dan Samrong 24/66 in Muang district’s tambon Samrong Nuea and arrested them at…

  • Cobra Gold military exercise downsized this year due to Omicron spread | Thaiger

    Cobra Gold military exercise downsized this year due to Omicron spread

    Thailand’s annual Cobra Gold military exercise, where Thai soldiers train the US and other foreign troops on jungle survival skills, is being scaled down this year due to the spread of the highly transmissible Omicron variant. The large, multinational military exercise has been known for its snake decapitating demonstration where soldiers drink the fresh blood from the headless snake before…

  • 413 Bars in Bangkok ask permission to reopen as restaurants | Thaiger

    413 Bars in Bangkok ask permission to reopen as restaurants

    More than 400 bars, nightclubs, and entertainment venues in Bangkok have applied for permission to reopen as restaurants. The venues have been closed since April due to strict disease control measures. The government delayed its plan to allow bars and nightclubs to reopen in mid-January due to the Omicron outbreak in Thailand, but decided to allow the venues to apply for…

  • Teachers in Bangkok mark Teachers Day by making 7 demands of government | Thaiger

    Teachers in Bangkok mark Teachers Day by making 7 demands of government

    Teachers in Bangkok have marked National Teachers Day with a 7-point manifesto that calls for reform of the education system. National Teachers Day was first celebrated in 1945 and is held every year on January 16. Yesterday, PM Prayut Chan-o-cha marked the day with the slogan, “Develop teachers, develop children, learn for the future.” However, from a Nation Thailand report,…

  • Woman stole 59b of food, stabbed Mini Big-C staff to escape | Thaiger

    Woman stole 59b of food, stabbed Mini Big-C staff to escape

    A woman was caught when she stole 59 baht worth of snack items at a Mini Big C in Nontha Buri, but things escalated quickly when she stabbed the employee that caught her to make her escape. The sad story took place on December 29, but after a warrant was issued for her arrest, police just managed to track the…

  • 5 criteria set for hospitalising Covid-19 patients in Bangkok | Thaiger

    5 criteria set for hospitalising Covid-19 patients in Bangkok

    In Bangkok, officials are attempting to take some of the guesswork out of dealing with Covid-19 infected patients while also streamlining the process when someone tests positive for the virus. New guidelines were set forth to assess the level of symptoms and infection and route people either to a hospital or other medical facility or refer them to home isolation.…

  • PM Prayut orders a higher fence around Government House | Thaiger

    PM Prayut orders a higher fence around Government House

    In a move sure to inspire the impression of an open government fighting for the interests of the people, PM Prayut Chan-o-cha has instructed the relevant government departments that the border fence must be raised around Government House. The order was put in place saying that over the years the roads around the government building have been resurfaced multiple times,…