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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  • Bangkok smog: Predicted to worsen over weekend | Thaiger

    Bangkok smog: Predicted to worsen over weekend

    Bangkok’s air pollution is expected to worsen today following slight improvements in weather conditions and some rain last Tuesday and Wednesday. Fewer locations reported fine particle dust beyond safe levels yesterday, while the Meteorological Department is issuing warnings about a high-pressure area hovering over Laos and the Northeast that will bring temperatures down by 1 to 3 degrees Celsius in…

  • Belarusian ‘sex trainer’ deported from Thailand | Thaiger

    Belarusian ‘sex trainer’ deported from Thailand

    Anastasia Vashukevich, aka. Nastya Rybka, the Belarusian model who claimed she had ‘dirt’ on Donald Trump and Russian efforts to help win the US Presidency, has been shipped off to the airport and deported from Thailand. She was convicted of participating in a “sex training course”. “I want to get a bed. I want to get a bed so much! I have been sleeping…

  • The Minister for Putting-Foot-in-Mouth | Thaiger

    The Minister for Putting-Foot-in-Mouth

    The Deputy PM, Prawit Wongsuwan, luxury watch lover and Defence Minister, is now becoming notorious as the Minister for Putting Foot in Mouth. Thailand’s deputy PM, talking to the media about the attack on the Thai hotel in Nairobi where 14 people were killed, said it was “good enough” that no Thais were killed in the terrorist attack. Addressing reporters…

  • Bangkok smog: Police on the lookout for dirty exhaust from vehicles | Thaiger

    Bangkok smog: Police on the lookout for dirty exhaust from vehicles

    by Khanathit Srihirundaj It’s either a knee-jerk reaction, media stunt or something we hope to see a lot more of. Checking vehicles with plumes of dirty smoke coming out of their exhaust. To help curb fine-particle dust pollution in Bangkok, traffic police have increased the number of checkpoints where they will check vehicles spewing black exhaust smoke. The number of…

  • Crisis meetings in Bangkok today over smog solutions | Thaiger

    Crisis meetings in Bangkok today over smog solutions

    PHOTOS: The Nation Urgent meetings are being held in Bangkok today to address the acute smog problems in the capital. The Pollution Control Department and Bangkok Metropolitan Administration are gathering today in their latest efforts to battle with the persistent smog while dust particles continue to blanket the capital with smog levels alarming locals and causing tourists to cancel their…

  • Bangkok smog: Oil refineries being asked to upgrade quality of diesel | Thaiger

    Bangkok smog: Oil refineries being asked to upgrade quality of diesel

    It won’t be a short-term solution but it is a worthwhile long-term part of the important changes that will have to be made. But nothing concrete yet. In yet another attempt to ease the health hazards posed by PM2.5 dust particles in Bangkok’s air, the Energy Business Department plans to hold a meeting with oil refineries this week about the…

  • Bangkok smog to hit Thailand in the tourism pocket | Thaiger

    Bangkok smog to hit Thailand in the tourism pocket

    Bangkok’s air pollution problems will take a hefty toll on the Thai economy unless authorities can effectively clear the city’s air and find some long-term solutions to smog. A Kasikorn Research Centre analysis says the smog could cost Thailand 6.6 billion baht in losses for the healthcare and tourism sectors due to the impact of air pollution. The analysis says…

  • Weather for January 16 | Thaiger

    Weather for January 16

    Bangkok Morning clouds followed by afternoon sun. High 33ºC. Winds NE at 10 to 15 km/h. Chiang Mai Generally clear. High 30ºC. Winds ESE and variable. Phuket Afternoon showers. High 31ºC. Winds NNE and variable. Chance of rain 40%. Ko Samui Thundershowers. High 25ºC. Winds ENE at 10 to 15 km/h. Chance of rain 40%. Pattaya Partly cloudy. High 32ºC.…

  • The big ‘fake’ Indian wedding | Thaiger

    The big ‘fake’ Indian wedding

    A police crackdown had led to the arrest of 28 people involved in a marriage scam for Indian nationals who seek to stay in Thailand long term. The suspects include a 53 year old Thai-Indian man who acted as a marriage broker and prepared the documents needed, while the other 27 are Thai women who were allegedly paid 8,000-10,000 baht…

  • Sex training guru Anastasia and Russian compatriots on trial today in Bangkok | Thaiger

    Sex training guru Anastasia and Russian compatriots on trial today in Bangkok

    The Belarusian model, who was originally charged with running ‘sex training’ courses in Pattaya, but later made sensational claims she had ‘dirt’ on Donald Trump, has appeared in a Bangkok court today. The story started with an arrest in Pattaya over sex training courses for Russians nearly a year ago, and ended up with allegations over Russian oligarchs and Russian…

  • Cloud seeding: Making fake rain in Bangkok | Thaiger

    Cloud seeding: Making fake rain in Bangkok

    In an effort to tackle the serious air pollution problem in Bangkok, the Department of Royal Rainmaking and Agricultural Aviation plans to deploy rainmaking planes to seed clouds and create ‘fake’ rain (it’s actually real rain but induced artificially). “Cloud seeding is a type of weather modification that aims to change the amount or type of precipitation that falls from clouds by dispersing substances into the air that…

  • World Health Organisation: More people killed by air pollution than by AIDS, malaria | Thaiger

    World Health Organisation: More people killed by air pollution than by AIDS, malaria

    by Pratch Rujivanarom Authorities are launching all-out efforts to battle persistent smog in Bangkok, as dust particles continued to blanket the capital. Meanwhile a WHO (World Health Organisation) report says air pollution kills more people than AIDS and malaria combined. Authorities have been including cleaning roads more often, spraying water into the sky, trying to produce artificial rain and enforcing…

  • Face mask fashion as Bangkok batters poor air quality and smog

    by Kunlaphun Siripimamporn. PHOTOS: The Nation Thick morning winter fog and some heavy smog has forced many Bangkokians into wearing facemasks, even the cheap ones that will nothing to protect them from the fine particulate matter mixed into the air. People wearing masks became a common sight in inner city areas today. The pollution continued to remain at harmful levels…

  • Thailand police trial mobile app to keep track of patrolling police | Thaiger

    Thailand police trial mobile app to keep track of patrolling police

    A new pilot project is being trialed in Bangkok by the Crime Suppression Division (CSD) to potential prevent some policemen who have found ways to skip their patrol work. Real-time tracking GPS (global positioning system) technology is being implemented via a smartphone application that must be downloaded by the officers who are assigned to conduct surveillance operations or regular patrols.…

  • Bangkok in the Top 10 cities in the world with the worst air pollution | Thaiger

    Bangkok in the Top 10 cities in the world with the worst air pollution

    Bangkok is placed Number 9 in the world’s top 10 cities with the worst air quality, Greenpeace Thailand was quoting the US air quality index measuring pollution floating around in the air we breathe. The Thai capital is not in good company. Thai PBS reports that, on top of the list, is New Delhi with 309 on US AQI, Dhaka in…

  • Bangkok’s air-pollution alarming, rain-making being considered | Thaiger

    Bangkok’s air-pollution alarming, rain-making being considered

    PHOTO: An eerie start to Sunday in Bangkok – The Nation Bangkok’s air pollution has reached dangerous levels for multiple days in the past few weeks. Today, air pollution in the greater Bangkok area was again threatening residents’ health. The amount of PM2.5 – airborne dust particles 2.5 microns in diameter or less – exceeded the safe level of 50…

  • A ladyboy found in the backseat of a sunken car with no pants on – Ayutthaya | Thaiger

    A ladyboy found in the backseat of a sunken car with no pants on – Ayutthaya

    Daily News reports that police in Ayutthaya are baffled after a ladyboy was found dead in a car accident yesterday. The driver’s Honda City had plunged into a canal on the Sena to Lat Bua Luang Road. A rescue worker from Ruam Katanyu Foundation, Anuchart Wuthitham, was first on the scene. He found 27 year old Athitaya Phanang from Bangkok , a ladyboy, covered…

  • Air quality around Bangkok is bad today | Thaiger

    Air quality around Bangkok is bad today

    PHOTO: The Nation Bangkok’s air quality is safe again. Oh, now it’s unsafe again. Just a day after the air quality around Bangkok was declared safe, the Pollution Control Department (PCD) is blaming light winds and stale air for causing the poor air quality for Friday. PCD director-general Pralong Damrongthai says that air quality monitoring stations showed the amount of…

  • BMA introduces proper pavement stops for motorcycle taxis in Bangkok | Thaiger

    BMA introduces proper pavement stops for motorcycle taxis in Bangkok

    As Bangkok becomes busier, limited space for motorcycle taxi stands is becoming a critical problem with many of the crews taking up road space or spreading themselves randomly out around public pavement areas. The boys in the orange vests provide an important part of the Bangkok public transport mix but the BMA were getting many complaints. Now the BMA (Bangkok…

  • Police looking for Burmese driver after two alleged hit-and-runs in Pathum Thani | Thaiger

    Police looking for Burmese driver after two alleged hit-and-runs in Pathum Thani

    Police say they’re searching for a hit-and-run SUV driver, believed to be Burmese, who allegedly killed two people in separate incidents only 500 metres apart in Pathum Thani’s Klong Luang district. The incident happened in the early hours this morning. The first victim was identified as 40 year old Prasit Kladkhemphet from Chanthaburi. He was hit after he parked his pickup…

  • Foreign man crushed under Bangkok bus in apparent suicide | Thaiger

    Foreign man crushed under Bangkok bus in apparent suicide

    “The man was wearing a T-shirt and shorts and had no identification documents.” A western man, at this stage unidentified, was hit and killed by a bus in Bangkok’s Phra Nakhon district. Police say it appears it was a suicide. Police say the man was hit by the bus on Phra Sumen Road in front of Wat Borworniwet. The man…

  • Immigration police track down officer involved in re-entry stamp scam | Thaiger

    Immigration police track down officer involved in re-entry stamp scam

    PHOTO: Bangkok Post An immigration officer has been suspended without pay for allegedly permitting foreign travellers to do a re-entry without them having to actually leave the country. Immigration chief Surachate Hakparn says his department has identified the officer and have named him in Thai media. “The officer confessed to have provided entry stamps in return for 5,000 baht from…

  • Saudi woman refuses to meet her father | Thaiger

    Saudi woman refuses to meet her father

    PHOTO: Immigration chief Surachate Hakparn and other senior immigration police officers meet Saudi Arabia’s charge d’affaires in Bangkok. The 18 year old Saudi young woman who fled her family in Saudi Arabia has refused to meet her father. The father, who flew in today and is taking the evening flight back to Riyadh, met with the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) officials…

  • Truck pulls down electric poll, damaging cars in Bangkok | Thaiger

    Truck pulls down electric poll, damaging cars in Bangkok

    A truck carrying an excavator accidentally pulled down an electricity pole in Bangkok this morning (Wednesday). The Nation reports that the truck , with an excavator loaded on its tray, got tangled on above-ground wires causing them to fall on top of the truck as well as two parked cars nearby. The accident, where no one was injured, disrupted electricity…

  • Australian minister says Saudi teen will get “very serious consideration”: Thaiger Bite | Thaiger

    Australian minister says Saudi teen will get “very serious consideration”: Thaiger Bite

    The Australian Government has given its strongest hint yet that the 18 year old Saudi woman in Bangkok would be granted humanitarian asylum. This is despite efforts by Riyadh and her family to force her return home. Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun has documented her bid to flee her allegedly abusive family with minute-by-minute Twitter updates, intensifying the global spotlight on Saudi…

  • Thai prison staff sacked for collusion to murder, drugs and smuggling | Thaiger

    Thai prison staff sacked for collusion to murder, drugs and smuggling

    PHOTO: Getty Images Six prison officers have been dismissed by the Department of Corrections (DOC) following involvement in a varied and disturbing range of transgressions. Out of the six officers, one was arrested for charges of collusion to commit murder and has been sentenced to life in prison by the Supreme Court. Another was found connected to the smuggling of…

  • UPDATE: Saudi embassy in Bangkok distances itself from al-Qunun story | Thaiger

    UPDATE: Saudi embassy in Bangkok distances itself from al-Qunun story

    “Al-Qunun says she doesn’t want to meet with her father or brother.” The Thai immigration police chief yesterday met with Saudi Embassy officials in Bangkok as Saudi Arabia tried to distance itself from accusations that it tried to block a young woman trying to flee her family and seek asylum in Australia. Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun arrived at Suvarnabhumi Airport from…

  • Man shoots self at Bangkok bus stop. Sends message to friend and daughter. | Thaiger

    Man shoots self at Bangkok bus stop. Sends message to friend and daughter.

    PHOTO: The Nation The Min Buri police station was alerted to an apparent suicide at 3am today at a bus stop in Bangkok’s Bang Chan district. A man had shot himself at the Bangkok bus stop after sending Line messages to his friend and daughter. Police say 50 year old Pramote Iam-aram, a local factory worker, died inside the bus…

  • Saudi woman remains under UN care in Thailand | Thaiger

    Saudi woman remains under UN care in Thailand

    From VOA News reporters Thai authorities say a young Saudi woman, stopped in Thailand as she tried to flee to Australia to seek asylum, has now left the Suvarnabhumi Airport and is under the care of the local UN refugee agency. “She is under the care of the UNHCR now but we also sent Thai security to help take care…

  • Superheroes and mega malls – The Thailand Tourism Forum 2019 | Thaiger

    Superheroes and mega malls – The Thailand Tourism Forum 2019

    Record attendance at Thailand’s largest annual hospitality event discovering how the tourism and transport sector is getting a massive makeover. The Thailand Tourism Forum (TTF) returns for its eighth edition on January 21, 2019, with an agenda focusing on the mega-projects that are currently transforming the tourism landscape in Bangkok and beyond. Running under the theme “Managing Tourism – Ensuring…