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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  • Protest paint-throwing incident draws mixed reactions

    Protest paint-throwing incident draws mixed reactions

    A singer who threw blue paint on police during Friday’s protest in front of Samranrat police station in Bangkok has drawn mixed reactions from all sides of Thailand’s political spectrum. The lead singer of the Bottom Blues Band, Chai-amorn “Ammy” Kaewviboonpant, hurled blue paint at officers during a brief commotion in front of the station, where anti-government protesters had gathered…

  • Bangkok clinic accused of botched cosmetic surgery after patient dies

    Bangkok clinic accused of botched cosmetic surgery after patient dies

    “Polchana says the victim found the clinic on social media on August 10 and decided to go ahead with liposuction and breast augmentation.” A cosmetic surgery clinic in Bangkok’s Yannawa district is being accused of negligence over the death of a patient. 29 year old Polchana Chantarakasem lodged a police complaint against the clinic and demanded an autopsy into the…

  • New developments in “Boss” hit-and-run case

    New developments in “Boss” hit-and-run case

    The chairman of the committee investigating the alleged mishandling of the 2012 hit-and-run case of Red Bull heir Vorayuth “Boss” Yoovidhya has found solid evidence to prove serious problems with both the police and the prosecution. Speaking at yesterday’s committee meeting at the end of its 30 day mission, Vicha Mahakun said the findings will not only convince PM Prayut…

  • Bangkok police say they’ll charge “rioters”

    Bangkok police say they’ll charge “rioters”

    Bangkok police say they’ll press charges against pro-democracy activists who caused chaotic scenes in support of their colleagues yesterday, even throwing paint on some officers. Supporters of the pro-democracy activists who arrived at Samran Rat police station to acknowledge charges stemming from a rally on July 18, broke police barriers and 1 of them threw a container of paint at…

  • Protesters push through barricades at Bangkok police station

    Protesters push through barricades at Bangkok police station

    Paint was splattered on a police officers and police barricades were pushed away by a crowd of people protesting the recent charges filed on 15 activists involved in the July 18 rally. The protesters were able to force their way to the Bangkok’s Samran Rat police station’s front entrance and the charged activists entered to confront police. Police recently charged…

  • New lease on life for 7 of Thailand’s budget airlines

    New lease on life for 7 of Thailand’s budget airlines

    PM Prayut Chan-o-cha today threw a lifeline to 7 of Thailands’ domestic low-cost airlines, beginning with the injection of 24 billion baht in soft loans for the struggling aviation sector, battered by the Covid-19 pandemic. Representatives of Thai Air Asia, its long haul division Thai Air Asia X, Thai Smile, Thai Lion Air, Thai Viet Jet, Bangkok Airways and Nok…

  • Find an abandoned car in Bangkok, get half the fine

    Find an abandoned car in Bangkok, get half the fine

    Want to make a couple thousand baht? Find a car that’s been abandoned on Bangkok’s streets. Hundreds of cars parked and forgotten about are being removed in an effort to clean up the city. Those who help out by reporting an forgotten car will get half the fine. The owners of the abandoned cars face a 5,000 baht fine, so…

  • 65 year old Bangkok man in apparent suicide at Chao Phraya bridge

    65 year old Bangkok man in apparent suicide at Chao Phraya bridge

    A man reportedly jumped to his death from Bangkok’s Krung Thep Bridge into Chao Phraya River yesterday. Around 2pm officers at Bang Kho Laem Police Station learned of a body spotted in the river near the bridge that that connects Bang Kho Laem district in Bangkok with Thonburi district. The 65 year old Thai man was about 165 centimetres tall,…

  • Experts agree: “Boss” was speeding

    Experts agree: “Boss” was speeding

    A police panel probing the alleged mishandling of the case said yesterday that every expert who has weighed in believes Vorayuth “Boss” Yoovidhya, heir to the Red Bull drinks empire, was definitely speeding when he hit the motorcycle of a senior policeman and dragged him some 100 metres, killing him. The panel’s deputy chairman, assistant national police chief Jaruwat Waisaya,…

  • Expats to be offered travel deals at Bangkok event

    Expats to be offered travel deals at Bangkok event

    Ready to go on a holiday? Expats are being offered some travel deals to boost domestic tourism. The Tourism Authority of Thailand plans to hold an event next month for foreigners. “Expat Travel Deal 2020” is September 11-13 from 10am to 10pm at Quartier Gallery at Bangkok’s EmQuartier shopping centre. It’s free to attend. Travel agencies from all over the…

  • Bangkok officer under investigation for gambling after video emerges

    Bangkok officer under investigation for gambling after video emerges

    A Metropolitan Police officer is under investigation for gambling in an illegal casino in Bangkok. A video clip of the casino has been shared online, with mounting pressure on the officer. Royal Thai Police deputy spokesman Krisana Pattanacharoen said the Metropolitan Police chief has ordered the Pathumwan Station to investigate whether a man caught on video gambling at a den…

  • Suspect arrested for allegedly shipping heroin to Taiwan – VIDEO

    Suspect arrested for allegedly shipping heroin to Taiwan – VIDEO

    Police in Bangkok yesterday arrested a suspected member of a drug smuggling ring, believed to be shipping heroin to Taiwan, hidden in souvenirs and carried by couriers posing as visitors returning to Taipei. Officers of the Narcotics Suppression Bureau, acting on an arrest warrant, nabbed Penthai Khamhom at a parcel delivery office in Huai Khwang district. A search of the…

  • Bangkok visa agent arrested for fake extensions

    Bangkok visa agent arrested for fake extensions

    If you’re looking into getting a visa, be careful what agency you choose. A Bangkok visa agent was arrested for allegedly forging visa extensions. Reports say the woman was charging thousands of baht for the fake extensions. The 33 year old woman Thai media reports as Sukanya has a shop in northern Bangkok advertised as a visa agency. A Burmese…

  • High rank police officer allegedly caught on video at illegal gambling den

    High rank police officer allegedly caught on video at illegal gambling den

    A high ranking police officer is being investigated for allegedly gambling after a video of men playing a dice game at an illegal gambling den was shared on social media. One of them appears to be a senior officer for the Royal Thai Police. A Royal Thai Police spokesperson says if the man is a police officer, he will face…

  • E-cig campaigners respond to story of a Bangkok man being arrested for selling e-cigarettes

    E-cig campaigners respond to story of a Bangkok man being arrested for selling e-cigarettes

    Letter to the Editor, published in full. “I’ve seen the news article posted in your website yesterday… Bangkok man arrested for selling e-cigarettes, vaping fluid …talking about a man who got arrested for selling e-cigarettes. This is a persisting problem caused by consumer demand. smokers and users are aware that the products are less harmful thus they stop smoking and change…

  • Nakhon Phanom couple “rob” bank

    Nakhon Phanom couple “rob” bank

    A man and wife in Nakhon Pathom, just west of Bangkok, were arrested yesterday for allegedly robbing a bank there. Police in the downtown district were informed in the morning that the local Government Savings Bank branch had been robbed, and arrived to find shattered windows and glass on the floor. Witnesses told police they’d seen the couple walk into…

  • 2 more student protest leaders arrested

    2 more student protest leaders arrested

    A pair of student activists, 2 of 5 facing warrants, were arrested this afternoon on charges related to an anti-government rally they helped to organise on July 18. According to Yaowalak Anuphan, head of Thai Lawyers for Human Rights, the latest campaigners to be nabbed by police are Tattep Ruangprapaikitseree and Panumas Singprom. Tattep was taken into custody in front…

  • Prominent dissidents arrested, bailed again

    Prominent dissidents arrested, bailed again

    A pair of prominent activists, outspoken lawyer Anon Nampa and Panupong “Mike Rayong” Jodnok, have been granted bail after their arrests Monday for sedition in connection with the Free Youth movement’s protest at Thammasat University, north of Bangkok on August 10. Both have been arrested before. Student activist, Panupong was arrested in the eastern Rayong province while waiting to greet…

  • Burmese man, motorcyclist injured in Samut Prakan crash – VIDEO

    Burmese man, motorcyclist injured in Samut Prakan crash – VIDEO

    A Burmese pedestrian was seriously injured yesterday evening when he was hit by a motorbike in the Bang Plee district of Samut Prakan, just south of Bangkok. The 300cc Kawasaki crashed into tables at a pork leg restaurant on a footpath before stopping in front of a sign. Police, rescue staff from the Poh Teck Tung Foundation and medics went…

  • Bangkok man arrested for selling e-cigarettes, vaping fluid

    Bangkok man arrested for selling e-cigarettes, vaping fluid

    A Bangkok man is facing 3 years in prison and/or a 600,000 baht fine for selling e-cigarettes and vaping fluid, which are legal in many countries and even encouraged by some people as an aid to giving up actual cigarettes, on Facebook. Trading standards officers and police, acting on a tip, went to a house in Bangkok’s Nong Khaem subdistrict,…

  • Truck driver blames GPS for ending up in klong

    Truck driver blames GPS for ending up in klong

    A young truck driver in Pathum Thani province, just north of Bangkok blamed his GPS after he and his truck ended up in a klong. 23 year old “Wittiwat”, who was driving a load of sand, told authorities GPS told him to cross a rickety wooden bridge over the Bang Pho canal, so he did… or rather, he tried. Locals…

  • Thai court issues a new arrest warrant for ‘Boss’ Yoovidhya

    Thai court issues a new arrest warrant for ‘Boss’ Yoovidhya

    A new arrest warrant has been issued for Vorayuth “Boss” Yoovidhya over the fatal crash in 2012 where he allegedly ran over and killed a 47 year old police officer. The grandson of the co-founder of the Red Bull empire is facing charges of reckless driving, refusing to help an injured person and possessing illicit drugs (cocaine). The court recently…

  • Bangkok teacher and student killed in road accident

    Bangkok teacher and student killed in road accident

    A teacher and his student were killed in a road accident in Bangkok today when their motorbike slid under an 18-wheel concrete mixer truck. The teacher and the 17 year old student were wearing helmets, but the impact from the crash fractured their skulls, according to the Nation Thailand. Police believe the teacher lost control of the motorcycle and slid…

  • Thailand’s retail and property markets adapt and move online

    Thailand’s retail and property markets adapt and move online

    Tourism, property, retail – 3 sectors of the Thai economy that have taken a huge hit from the impact of lockdowns and border closures. Whilst most of the lockdown provisions are now lifted, the borders remain mostly closed and the economy ‘sluggish’ at best. The first half of 2020 has been one of the most challenging periods that Thailand retail…

  • Bangkok hosts Thailand’s first Andy Warhol exhibition

    Bangkok hosts Thailand’s first Andy Warhol exhibition

    Bangkok is hosting Thailand’s first exhibition of original art from renowned pop artist, Andy Warhol, who would have turned 92 this month. The exhibition will include one of his most famous creations, Campbell’s Soup Cans, with a total of 128 pieces going on show. A report in Thai PBS World says the exhibition, which has taken 2 years to plan,…

  • Justice Ministry offers protection to key Vorayuth witness

    Justice Ministry offers protection to key Vorayuth witness

    Justice Minister Somsak Thepsutin is vowing to protect all witnesses in the ongoing Vorayuth “Boss” Yoovidhya fatal hit-and-run case, whether government officers or members of the public. He says a witness protection programme is in place to provide protection to the key witness. His remarks come after the suspiciously timed death of another key witness late last month. The witness,…

  • Man arrested shipping 75 kilograms of heroin in engine parts

    Man arrested shipping 75 kilograms of heroin in engine parts

    Bangkok police have arrested and charged a man found in possession of 75 kilograms of heroin for export. Drug suppression police got suspicious after they discovered that engine parts were being shipped to Taiwan, a country known for making and exporting such items. An export company in Ratchadapisek Soi 16 in the Bangkok Yai area came under suspicion. When a…

  • Homes partially collapse in 2 provinces

    Homes partially collapse in 2 provinces

    In 2 separate incidents, the area around the 3 storey flat block that tilted and partially collapsed on Wednesday in the in Samut Sakhon, southwest of Bangkok, has been declared a disaster zone. And in neighbouring Samut Prakun, due south of the capitol, the Engineering Institute of Thailand is investigating 20 houses where pillars, ceilings, roofs and walls were found…

  • NSC extends Emergency Decree through September

    NSC extends Emergency Decree through September

    The National Security Council has officially approved the fourth extension of the national state of emergency, for another month, as a revision of the Communicable Diseases Act is yet to be completed, but the NSC confirmed it will not enforce the Emergency Decree on political rallies. NSC secretary-general Somsak Rungsita said today that the state of emergency will be effective…

  • Bangkok man arrested for molesting woman says he’s done it twice before

    Bangkok man arrested for molesting woman says he’s done it twice before

    Police in Bangkok have apprehended a 28 year old man after a woman filed a report accusing him of molesting her. After being arrested at his home in the Ladprao district, the man, named as Chaiyakorn Chimkul, has admitted to carrying out similar offences on 2 other occasions. Police say they received a complaint from a 21 year old housekeeper…