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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    Long-term life in Thailand? 5 reasons private health insurance pays off in the long run

    Thailand is a great place for expats and retirees, offering a warm climate, affordable living, and rich culture. However, healthcare can be tricky for foreigners since they aren’t eligible for public health coverage, and private care can be expensive. Private...

  • Bangkok braces for Black Lives Matter rally

    Bangkok braces for Black Lives Matter rally

    The death of black American George Floyd at the hands of police burgeoned into a storm of protests reaching across the globe; one that will reach Bangkok this weekend. The vast majority of demonstrations over the past 8 days in the US have been peaceful, but some have turned violent and curfews have been imposed after looting in a number…

  • Beauty clinic designs special face masks for facial treatments

    Beauty clinic designs special face masks for facial treatments

    A skin and beauty clinic has designed a mini face mask for clients getting close-up facial treatments to prevent the spread of the coronavirus and comply with the rules set out by the government. But the mask allows therapists to still get to most of the face so they can apply the same procedures. Waleerat Clinic in Bangkok made re-usable…

  • Huge Nike flagship store opens in Bangkok’s Siam Center

    Huge Nike flagship store opens in Bangkok’s Siam Center

    A massive Nike flagship store is now open in Bangkok’s Siam Center, with a ‘footprint’ spanning more than 836 square metres of prime retail space in the capital. Intended to showcase Nike’s innovation across multiple product categories, the store offers the brand’s first “Nike By You” in-store customisation service in Thailand. Retailers are now pulling out all stops to lure…

  • Developers need to clear stock, heavy discounting in property market

    Developers need to clear stock, heavy discounting in property market

    ADVERTORIAL Property prices are expected to decline by double digits in the next few months as Thailand’s property developers begin to offer more sales incentives in response to post Covid-19 markets. A recent survey by leading property portal FazWaz indicated that 50% of Thailand’s property developers are considering discounting at least 20% off minimum benchmark prices. Brennan Campbell, CEO at…

  • Boxer wants officers prosecuted after false imprisonment

    Boxer wants officers prosecuted after false imprisonment

    A former boxer recently released from custody for drug trafficking charges claims he was wrongfully imprisoned and is calling on the national police chief to prosecute the officers that filed the drug charges. He has submitted documents to Thailand’s police chief Chakthip Chaijinda as evidence he had been wrongfully imprisoned for 14 months. Now he’s demanding justice and wants the police…

  • Bangkok man shoots, injures friend

    Bangkok man shoots, injures friend

    A Thai man has shot his best friend in Bangkok over the weekend after he found out his friend had an affair with his ex-wife. The 34 year old man, reported as ‘Paratkorn’, found photos of his wife and friend, 31 year old Pongsitthat. In a fit of rage, he shot and injured Pongsitthat. Police say Paratkorn has a history…

  • Quality quarantine options for those who want some luxury

    Quality quarantine options for those who want some luxury

    Private state quarantine options are available for those returning to Thailand and willing to pay a hefty price. The 14 day quarantine is required for everyone re-entering the country to prevent any possible spread of the coronavirus, but there are more luxurious options from hotels that have passed the test from the public health and defence ministries. Around 90 guests…

  • Travelling Bangkok’s klongs with Manit

    Travelling Bangkok’s klongs with Manit

    Should you move to Thailand? In this video I interviewed my friend @Christopher Lau , originally from California, USA and got a little insight of his experience behind living in Thailand for two years. Then I took him for the famous canal boat ride in “Klong Saen Saep” Bangkok. By the end of the vlog we had a very delightful…

  • Covid task force orders strict hygiene measures for Bangkok construction sites

    Covid task force orders strict hygiene measures for Bangkok construction sites

    The Bangkok Metropolitan Authority has been ordered to implement tough hygiene and safety measures at construction sites in the capital, to prevent any resurgence of the Covid-19 virus. The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration says the city must take rigorous steps to mitigate the risk of workers contracting and spreading the virus. A report in Nation Thailand says city officials…

  • Taxi driver attacked and stabbed after accident in Bangkok

    Taxi driver attacked and stabbed after accident in Bangkok

    A motorbike driver attacked a taxi driver on Wednesday this week after an accident by taking off his helmet and repeatedly hitting the driver with it before stabbing him with a screwdriver. A witness says the motorbike cut in front of the taxi on Phet Kasem Road, or Highway 4, in Bangkok, but the taxi couldn’t stop in time and…

  • Transport Company interprovincial bus services to the South remain suspended

    Transport Company interprovincial bus services to the South remain suspended

    Transport Company, Thailand’s interprovincial bus company, announced this week that it is continuing its suspension of all services to the southern provinces as the country will be under the state of emergency until June 30. It did not say when services will resume. The company was expected to resume services from Bangkok to Koh Samui, Phuket and Trang from June…

  • Bangkok’s UK visa application centre to reopen

    Bangkok’s UK visa application centre to reopen

    Below is the text of a press release from the British Embassy, lightly edited for brevity: “On June 1, UK Visas and Immigration will begin a phased resumption of services and our main Visa Application Centre in Bangkok (The Trendy Office Building, 28th Floor Sukhumvit Soi 13, Klongtoey-Nua, Wattana, Bangkok 10110) will be open. Customers who were unable to attend…

  • Mayor’s statement sparks hope Chonburi beaches may reopen soon

    Mayor’s statement sparks hope Chonburi beaches may reopen soon

    A Facebook post from the mayor of Saen Suk, home to the renowned Bangsaen beach, says beaches “may” reopen from June 1. (Before you ask, there is currently no official information on when Bangsaen, Pattaya or Phuket’s beaches may actually reopen.) Beaches in the eastern province of Chonburi were closed nearly two months ago as authorities enacted strict lockdown measures…

  • Woman charged after abandoning cats at Wat Pho

    Woman charged after abandoning cats at Wat Pho

    A Bangkok woman has been fined after she tossed five bags, each containing a cat, over a wall and into Wat Pho on Sunday evening. Maybe she thought she was doing a good deed by dumping the cats off at the Bangkok temple, but she was dressed like a common thief working at night. Videos show her dressed in all…

  • UPDATE: ‘Bleach mum’ was the maternal mother of sick boy

    UPDATE: ‘Bleach mum’ was the maternal mother of sick boy

    Today local Thai media report the latest update about the women allegedly forcing her children to drink bleach. Her adopted daughter died due to ‘allergies’ back in December. But the latest case of her sick son now unveils a suspected malicious intent to cause illness in her children. Doctors at Thammasat Hospital in Bangkok confirm that a DNA identity test…

  • 3 quarantined returnees confirmed with Covid-19 in Thailand (May 26)

    3 quarantined returnees confirmed with Covid-19 in Thailand (May 26)

    Today, in the Centre of Covid-19 Situation Administration’s daily press conference, Dr. Taweesilp confirmed 3 new cases of coronavirus in Thailand, of which all were recorded as quarantined overseas repatriates. This brings Thailand ‘s total of confirmed Covid-19 cases to 3,045. The death toll remains at 57 fatalities with no additional deaths reported today. Dr. Taweesilp says from the new cases…

  • Evidence mounts against “bleach mum”

    Evidence mounts against “bleach mum”

    Officers of the Crime Suppression Division say text messages on the popular Line application show that a woman accused of forcing her two year old “son” to swallow bleach isn’t the boy’s biological mother. This evidence, together with DNA test results expected next week, may lead to human trafficking charges being pressed against the woman as well. A Line chat…

  • Two brothers shot dead after fight over pickup truck

    Two brothers shot dead after fight over pickup truck

    Three brothers got into a fight over a pickup truck their deceased father left for one of the sons. It ended with two of them shot dead, Nation Thailand reports. A witness says that the pickup truck was left behind for 39 year old Sarayut Mustofadi, but his older brother, Seri, took the truck. Witnesses say Sarayut and his brother,…

  • Thousands of people have been travelling between provinces

    Thousands of people have been travelling between provinces

    … but not quite as many as before, so far. The Director General of the Department of Land Transport says that more people have been using the inter-provincial buses services after the government recently easing Thailands’ lock down situation. He says… “Although some long distance services are still not in operation to comply with the night time curfew, many inter-provincial…

  • 2 new cases of Covid-19 reported in Thailand with one additional death (May 25)

    2 new cases of Covid-19 reported in Thailand with one additional death (May 25)

    Today the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration announced 2 new confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Thailand with 1 additional death. The 2 new cases consist of 1 imported case, a Thai woman repatriated from Russia last Wednesday who is currently under state quarantine in Chon Buri province. The other is a 49 year old Chinese citizen, the wife of an…

  • Bangkok City Hall plans more proactive Covid-19 testing, new rules for pet cafés

    Bangkok City Hall plans more proactive Covid-19 testing, new rules for pet cafés

    The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration aka City Hall plans a “sentinel surveillance approach” to aggressively test for Covid-19 in high-risk areas, and has issued new rules for pet cafés to ensure the safety of guests, animals and staff. Bangkok’s governor made the announcement yesterday. “BMA will perform saliva tests in high-risk areas on at least 400 people per day until the…

  • Thai Airways has officially lost its state enterprise status

    Thai Airways has officially lost its state enterprise status

    The State Enterprise Policy Committee announced that Thai Airways has lost its state enterprise status after the Vayupak Fund bought a 3.17% stake from the Finance Ministry yesterday. The purchase was undertaken at a price of 4.90 baht per share, with a trade worth 285.2 million baht, leaving the national carrier owning 48% of its own shares and stripping its…

  • Police say mom forced toddler to drink bleach “to make him look ill”

    Police say mom forced toddler to drink bleach “to make him look ill”

    Police in in Pathum Thani, just north of Bangkok, have arrested a woman for allegedly forcing her toddler to swallow bleach to make him look ill for an online advertisement selling her health products. A police source says the boy has been rescued and is now under the care of a shelter for children in the province. The mother, identified…

  • Former deputy commerce minister and 4 others plead not guilty to murder of judge’s brother

    Former deputy commerce minister and 4 others plead not guilty to murder of judge’s brother

    In a case which has shocked the nation, former deputy commerce minister, MP and police lieutenant Banyin Tangpakorn and 4 co-defendants have pleaded not guilty to the abduction and murder of the brother of the senior Bangkok judge who was handling his multimillion baht stock theft case. They entered their pleas via video conference from prison yesterday. The accused, including 56…

  • Survey finds Bangkok’s public transport lacking when it comes to safety measures

    Survey finds Bangkok’s public transport lacking when it comes to safety measures

    A survey carried out by the Thai Health Promotion Foundation shows that some users of public transport in the capital are not confident new health guidelines are being adhered to. The biggest concern appears to be a lack of social distancing, blamed on a shortage of vehicles during peak times. A report in Nation Thailand says those considered “high risk”…

  • 19 kilograms of crystal meth, valued around 10 million baht, seized on Thai train

    19 kilograms of crystal meth, valued around 10 million baht, seized on Thai train

    2 people are in custody and 19 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine or “ya ice” has been seized after it was discovered in their bags on an express train from Bangkok to the southern province of Nakhon Si Thammarat last night. 22 year old Ekkapong Kaewsa, of Bangkok, and his female companion 23 year old Methanee Suparb from Si Sa Ket,…

  • ‘New normal’ seen in shopping malls across Bangkok

    ‘New normal’ seen in shopping malls across Bangkok

    Part of the ‘new normal’, in times of Covid-19 in Thailand, involves redesigning traditional ways of doing things and changing daily life to stay safe and virus free. Today The Standard has revealed a few things that you might see in the near future. To minimise the risk of the spread of Covid-19 in elevators, engineers have created a new,…

  • Temple closes to mark decade since redshirt crackdown

    Temple closes to mark decade since redshirt crackdown

    A Bangkok temple, where 6 people were shot and killed by the military during the 2010 “redshirt” political protests, has closed during the tragic event’s 10 year anniversary. A sign was put in front of Wat Pathum Wanaram saying it was closed for “disinfection,” according to Khaosod. But many see the significance of the closure relating to the events a…

  • Ex high ranking Buddhist officials convicted of embezzling millions

    Ex high ranking Buddhist officials convicted of embezzling millions

    5 former National Office of Buddhism officials, including a former chief, have been found guilty of stealing 21 million baht from the organisation back in 2015. The Central Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases convicted the 5 of embezzlement and sentenced them to prison. They are also required to repay 21 million baht to the NOB. The convicted were…

  • Thais on repatriation flight from London were reported with ‘fevers’

    Thais on repatriation flight from London were reported with ‘fevers’

    Of the 264 passengers who arrived from London on a repatriated flight 2 days ago, yesterday deputy director of operations at Suvarnabhumi Airport reported that 9 Thais on the flight were discovered with a high temperature at the initial screening when they deplaned. “Airport staff screened all passengers who arrived on the EVA Air flight number BR068 from London.” “The…