Bangkok News
Dive into the latest happenings in Bangkok with The Thaiger. Our team delivers up-to-date news, insightful analysis, and exclusive stories from the heart of Thailand’s dynamic capital. Keep your finger on the pulse of Bangkok’s ever-evolving political, economic, and cultural scene, as well as its thriving entertainment and nightlife. Stay informed about local events, transportation updates, and expat experiences in this vibrant metropolis.
The Thaiger is your go-to source for all things Bangkok. Don’t miss out – subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on social media to stay connected with the city’s most trusted news source.
-
Sponsored Leap into English mastery with Green Valley's LEAP Programme
For many years, St. Andrews International School, Green Valley’s students who did not speak English as their first language have typically participated in English as an Additional Language (EAL) programmes to build proficiency. However, the school has recently introduced a...
-
Thailand improves crosswalks, other safety measures after fatal pedestrian accident
Following the fatal crash where an off-duty police officer ran his Ducati into an eye doctor walking along the zebra crossing, Thais are pointing out traffic violations and officials are making changes to reduce traffic accidents involving pedestrians. Some changes include repainting crosswalks and roads to increase crosswalk visibility and encourage drivers to reduce their speed. The woman was walking…
-
Thai women’s football team to play against Australia tomorrow
After winning 4-0 against Indonesia on Monday, the Thai women’s football team will play against Australia tomorrow. The AFC Women’s World Cup is being hosted in India right now. Even though Thailand lost their first game to the Philippines, the win over Indonesia has brought back their stride. The team hopes that player Chaba Kaew will help it qualify for…
-
Thailand to study whether to increase the daily minimum wage
Thai authorities are studying whether to increase the daily minimum wage. The Labour Ministry will start a feasibility study. The State Enterprises Workers Relations Confederation has recommended 492 baht as the starting pay. Labour Minister Suchart Chomklin told reporters that the Office of the Permanent Secretary for the Labour Ministry would conduct a study to examine the minimum wage’s suitability.…
-
Blue and Purple MRT lines testing contactless payment from Saturday
Public transportation in Bangkok like the MRT, BTS, buses and boats have been working their way towards a contactless payment system, and this Saturday the first trial runs will begin. The guinea pig for the contactless payment using Visa or MasterCard will be the Purple Line and Blue Line of the Mass Rail Transit system. Beginning on January 29, commuters…
-
Police investigate driving speed of officer in fatal bike collision with pedestrian
Bangkok police investigating the speed of a “big bike” involved in a fatal collision with a woman on a zebra crossing say they expect to reach a swift conclusion. Dr Waraluck Supawatjariyakul, an ophthalmologist with the Faculty of Medicine at Chulalongkorn University, died when she was struck by the Ducati bike as she used a zebra crossing on Phaya Thai…
-
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
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
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…
-
Police officer charged in fatal big bike collision with pedestrian enters monkhood
A police officer who hit a woman with his Ducati bike as she was on a zebra crossing has been ordained as a monk. According to a Bangkok Post report, 21-year-old Narawich Buadok chose to enter the monkhood to make merit for the killing of Dr Waraluck Supawatjariyakul last Friday afternoon. The Bangkok ophthalmologist was mown down as she was…
-
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
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
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…
-
BMA follows CCSA; Bangkok entertainment venues remain closed
It will likely come as no shock to anyone, but the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration declared today that they will follow the rules of the CCSA and extend the closure of entertainment venues indefinitely. The decision was announced today that bars, pubs, karaoke, nightclubs, and other nightlife and entertainment venues will not be reopening in Bangkok as with the rest of…
-
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
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
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.…
-
First meeting of Thailand’s Lower House this year adjourned due to lack of numbers
The first meeting of the year for Thailand’s House of Representatives, which was meant to begin yesterday, had to be abruptly adjourned because the minimum number of MPs required were not present. 227 MPs were present, a number 10 short of the minimum number required to conduct the proceedings. Half of the House’s 473 members were required to attend. In…
-
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
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
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,…
-
Elderly rescued from unauthorised care facilities in Bangkok after reports of poor conditions
Elderly people kept in poor conditions at unauthorised care facilities in Bangkok, some abused and even put in shackles, were rescued yesterday. Thai authorities raided two centres in the Lat Krabang and Nong Chok districts, which are both owned by the same person, and discovered residents squeezed into tiny rooms, and some residents even in shackles. Authorities then took 40…
-
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
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
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…
-
Chinese New Year on Bangkok’s Yaowarat Road cancelled again due to Covid-19
Chinese New Year is expected to be celebrated on February 1 to welcome the Year of the Tiger. But with the raising Covid-19 infection rate, especially in Bangkok, the Chinese New Year event on the Yaowarat Road, known as Chinatown, is cancelled again this year. The Royal Jubilee Gate, or Odeon Gate, will still be decorated, and people are allowed…
-
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
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
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…
-
Bangkok field hospitals fill with patients, Prayut urges Thais not to let their guard down
PM Prayut Chan-o-cha is urging Thais to not lower their guard when it comes to Covid-19, especially the new variant Omicron, and follow the universal measurements strictly, according to a government spokesperson. The reminder came after 2,611 new patients flocked to field hospitals in Bangkok over the weekend. Government Spokesperson Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana says the prime minister expressed his concern about…
-
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…
Don't forget to check out some other things to do in Thailand - get help starting a business or finding a job in Thailand, buy Thailand property, rent a yacht or book a medical procedure worldwide.