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 officials push hospitality sector to get health and safety certificates

    Bangkok officials push hospitality sector to get health and safety certificates

    With the country reopening and Bangkok lifting restrictions, city officials are pushing for businesses in the hospitality industry to apply for Safety and Health Administration (SHA) certificates. The move, which is part of a project by tourism and health officials, is intended to boost safety confidence among tourists, according to the Bangkok Post. Another key detail… restaurants in Bangkok with…

  • Protesters rally in Bangkok, call for lèse majesté law to be abolished

    Protesters rally in Bangkok, call for lèse majesté law to be abolished

    Pro-democracy activists gathered in Bangkok yesterday, demanding an end to Thailand’s strict lèse majesté law. The law, officially section 112 of the Criminal Code, prohibits criticising, defaming, or otherwise insulting the monarchy. The authorities have used the law on numerous occasions to levy charges against anti-government protesters, many of whom are now behind bars. Thai PBS World reports that yesterday’s…

  • BMA allows alcohol in restaurants in Bangkok with some rules

    BMA allows alcohol in restaurants in Bangkok with some rules

    The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration has finally agreed to let the plan to lift the alcohol ban in restaurants for Blue Zone tourist areas proceed in Bangkok with some caveats. The CCSA created a new addition to their Covid-19 colour-coded zones for the 4 key tourist areas of Bangkok, Phuket, Krabi, and Phang Nga, based on tourism need more than Covid-19…

  • Reopening Monday: AoT ready for 30k at Suvarnabhumi Airport

    Reopening Monday: AoT ready for 30k at Suvarnabhumi Airport

    With the November 1 reopening just around the corner, Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport is gearing up and expects to see 30,000 passenger arrivals on Monday for the first day of reopening. The Airports of Thailand say that they are ready at all 6 of their international airports for the arrival of international tourists again. Current Suvarnabhumi air traffic data shows a…

  • Bangkok public transport back to normal capacity on Monday

    Bangkok public transport back to normal capacity on Monday

    Bangkok’s BTS, BRT and Gold Line public transport systems will resume normal operating hours from Monday alongside the government’s move to reopen Thailand’s international borders and lift the nightly curfew in the capital. According to Nation Thailand, Bangkok Mass Transit System director Surapong Laoha-Unya said the resumption of regular services comes with all employees having been fully vaccinated and required…

  • Khao San Road expects very slow recovery, even after reopening

    Khao San Road expects very slow recovery, even after reopening

    Though it’s technically a long, flat stretch, the recovery for Bangkok’s backpacker tourist hub of Khao San Road will be a steep uphill battle. While the government plans the November 1 reopening, entertainment venues, clubs and bars that are a mainstay on the previously vibrant, cacophony of a strip are unlikely to reopen then, and businesses along the infamous road…

  • “Test run” at Bangkok airport to prepare for next week’s reopening

    “Test run” at Bangkok airport to prepare for next week’s reopening

    Staff at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport have been gearing up for Thailand’s much-anticipated reopening, conducting a test run of electronic screening measures rolled out ahead of the staged return of tourism to the country. Thailand is poised to open its doors to vaccinated visitors from eligible countries and territories from November 1, allowing quarantine-free entry subject to a number of conditions.…

  • Private sector expresses fear over Covid surge if alcohol ban lifted in Bangkok

    Private sector expresses fear over Covid surge if alcohol ban lifted in Bangkok

    Some members of the private sector have expressed concern about a spike in Bangkok’s infections if the alcohol ban is lifted from December, as planned. According to a Bangkok Post report, the TAT is expecting 300,000 visitors to Bangkok during the last 2 months of the year. This has prompted some to voice concern about the Covid-19 risks, particularly if…

  • Police bust Bangkok pub serving alcohol, 61 arrested

    Police bust Bangkok pub serving alcohol, 61 arrested

    After receiving complaints that alcohol was being illegally served in violation of Covid-19 restrictions, Thong Lo Police raided a pub serving alcohol illegally on Soi Sukhumvit 23 in the Wattana district of Bangkok. The raid that took place last night led to the arrest of 61 guests found drinking alcohol without social distancing. 35 women and 26 males were taken…

  • Russell Crowe bids Bangkok goodbye after much-praised tweets

    Russell Crowe bids Bangkok goodbye after much-praised tweets

    Hollywood movie star Russell Crowe has been causing a sensation among Thai social media, first visiting and praising the Phuket Sandbox, and later travelling around Bangkok. Now his much-celebrated trip is coming to an end as he posts a goodbye message to Bangkok on Twitter. Crowe first got attention as he arrived in Phuket on September 18 to do his…

  • Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport prepares for November reopening

    Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport prepares for November reopening

    With the November 1 reopening approaching, Bangkok officials visited the Suvarnabhumi International Airport to review the procedures and Covid-19 preventative measures. Under the reopening plan, the quarantine period will be waived for travellers who are fully vaccinated against Covid-19, travelling from countries classified by the Thai government as a “low risk” for the coronavirus, and test negative for the virus.…

  • Chulalongkorn students drop royal parade on grounds it promotes “authoritarianism”

    Chulalongkorn students drop royal parade on grounds it promotes “authoritarianism”

    The Student Union of Chulalongkorn University has controversially ditched its tradition of holding a royal parade ahead of its annual football match with Thammasat University. The decision to scrap the Phra Kiew parade, which students say promotes authoritarianism and inequality, has sparked fierce debate between Thailand’s progressive thinkers and its traditional conservatives. The Chulalongkorn student body has issued a statement…

  • Bangkok’s 2 airports prepared to welcome international travellers

    Bangkok’s 2 airports prepared to welcome international travellers

    As the November 1 reopening nears, Bangkok’s two airports are finalizing their plans on how to welcome and process international travellers for the first time since Covid-19 closed the borders. Suvarnabhumi Airport and the secondary Don Mueang International Airport, which traditionally caters to budget airlines and short-haul flights, are adopting an arrival style similar to that in place for the…

  • Woman arrested for alleged social media accounts hack scam

    Woman arrested for alleged social media accounts hack scam

    A 21 year old Thai woman was arrested by the Economic Crime Division for fraud, accused of hacking Facebook and Line accounts. The woman was arrested at Nornee Apartment building in Minburi in northern Bangkok after an arrest warrant was issued. Police from the Economic Crime Division took the woman into custody at her apartment, accused of gaining access to…

  • Police say they have enough evidence to try woman who cut rope

    Police say they have enough evidence to try woman who cut rope

    In an update to the shocking story of a worker in Nonthaburi whose rope was cut leaving him dangling 26 floors above the street below, police now say that they have enough evidence to prosecute the woman accused of cutting the rope from the 21st floor, 5 stories below. Thai media reported that the culprit is allegedly a 34 year…

  • Fire at Samut Prakan shoe factory rages for 3 hours

    Fire at Samut Prakan shoe factory rages for 3 hours

    Fires raged at Watana Footwear, a large shoe factory in Samut Prakan which caught fire and burned for 3 hours causing an estimated 100 million baht of damage. The blaze took place last night around 9 pm on King Keaw Road in Bang Plee, Samut Prakan, a sub-province of Bangkok. Two people were reported injured in the incident. Bang Keaw…

  • GPO selling ATKs at 40 baht at 8 centres and online

    GPO selling ATKs at 40 baht at 8 centres and online

    After a protracted battle over whether or not to purchase 8.5 million antigen test kits from a Chinese company that had been pulled from US shelves after US FDA warnings of inaccuracy, the sale went through and the Government Pharmaceutical Organisation has been distributing the kits for use across Thailand. The GPO has now announced a supply of 2 million…

  • Music teacher in Bangkok arrested for allegedly molesting young schoolboys

    Music teacher in Bangkok arrested for allegedly molesting young schoolboys

    Bangkok police say they have arrested a male music teacher over allegedly molesting young schoolboys. The man’s surname was only released as being Montree. The 51 year old teacher works at a well-known school in Bang Khae district, outside a housing estate in the Lak Song area in Bangkok’s metro. Police say he is accused of sexually abusing 3 boys,…

  • 93 arrested for alcohol in restaurant across from police station

    93 arrested for alcohol in restaurant across from police station

    In what has become a common occurrence, police raided an establishment and arrested people illegally serving and consuming alcohol. In Pathumwan district of Bangkok Monday night, police raided a restaurant within a shopping centre and arrested 93 people with alcoholic beverages. In real estate, as in illegal alcohol sales, location is everything, and the raid occurred on the second floor…

  • 70% of Bangkok residents fully vaccinated as capital prepares for re-opening

    70% of Bangkok residents fully vaccinated as capital prepares for re-opening

    As Bangkok gears up for the forthcoming re-opening, the capital’s deputy governor has confirmed that 5.43 million people – 70% of the population – are fully vaccinated. Sophon Phisutthiwong says the capital is ready to re-open to fully vaccinated foreign tourists, in accordance with government policy. From November 1, the government plans to re-open 15 provinces to vaccinated visitors from…

  • Bangkok vocational student dies after falling from BTS station

    Bangkok vocational student dies after falling from BTS station

    A Bangkok vocational student has fallen to his death from the Pu Chao BTS station on the Sukhumvit Line. The sad news was reported last night at around 7pm in Samut Prakhan’s Muang district. Police say they arrived to find a young man lying face up on the footpath near a bus stop under the BTS station. Officers say the…

  • At least 88% of Bangkok high school students now vaccinated

    At least 88% of Bangkok high school students now vaccinated

    The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration says at least 88% of the capital’s high school students are now vaccinated against Covid-19. Students have received the Pfizer mRNA vaccine ahead of schools re-opening for onsite learning next month. Khachit Chatchawanit from the BMA says 33,048 out of 37,466 registered senior high school students are now inoculated. According to a Bangkok Post report, 29,252…

  • Over 100 customers, bar manager charged in Bangkok pub raid

    Over 100 customers, bar manager charged in Bangkok pub raid

    A police raid on a Bangkok bar on Saturday night has resulted in 116 customers and a manager being charged with violating Covid-19 restrictions. According to a Bangkok Post report, the raid occurred at around 10.45pm, at the XOXO bar and restaurant in Korea Town, in the district of Klong Toey. 27 foreigners were among those charged. Bars are currently…

  • Police say they know who cut the rope of dangling condo workers

    Police say they know who cut the rope of dangling condo workers

    If yesterday’s story about a worker who was rescued from the 26th floor of a condo in Nonthaburi after his safety rope was allegedly cut left you hanging, new information has been revealed. Police investigating the incident say they know who cut the rope that left the painters dangling high above the street on the side of the condo, unable…

  • Bangkok prepares swab hubs, rules easing for city reopening

    Bangkok prepares swab hubs, rules easing for city reopening

    As restrictions ease and Thailand attempts a November 1 reopening, Bangkok is hard at work preparing to welcome back international tourism to the city. Bangkok Governor Aswin Kwanmuang says he intends to follow along with official announcements as they are ratified in the Royal Gazette. The capital city is creating so-called swab hubs to be prepared to efficiently test mass…

  • Rescue workers cut stuck PVC pipe from man’s genitals

    Rescue workers cut stuck PVC pipe from man’s genitals

    For readers concerned that there hasn’t been enough news coverage of genitals getting stuck in things, we’ve got you covered. Though we missed coverage of a Kanchanaburi man who had gotten his member stuck in a bottle opener earlier this week, now rescue workers have come to the aid of a man in Bangkok who has found himself with his…

  • Worker rescued from outside 26th floor after alleged rope cut

    Worker rescued from outside 26th floor after alleged rope cut

    At a 32 story condominium in Nonthaburi, a painter was rescued while dangling outside the 26th floor, alleging that someone cut his safety rope. The incident took place in Pak Kret district of the Bangkok suburb to the west of the capital earlier this week. According to reports in Thai media, two painters were doing work in the middle of…

  • Soi Dog Foundation provides food relief for animals in flood-hit central Thailand

    Soi Dog Foundation provides food relief for animals in flood-hit central Thailand

    Thailand’s Soi Dog Foundation has this week provided over 40 tons of dog and cat food for 3,000+ animals affected by severe flooding in the central Thai provinces of Ayutthaya and Sing Buri. The food was distributed to stray and domestic animals in five districts… Bang Ban, Sena, Bang Pahan and Tha Ruea in Ayutthaya, and in Buri in Sing…

  • Cobra Gold expected to be back to normal by 2022

    Cobra Gold expected to be back to normal by 2022

    The military exercise known as Cobra Gold is expected to be back to it’s normal size by 2022. This massive joint military training operation between Thailand and the United States has been scaled down due to concerns over Covid-19. The exercise is one of the longest running military training events in the world that is has been held annually since…

  • Half a million baht in sex toys and products seized in series of raids

    Half a million baht in sex toys and products seized in series of raids

    Sex toys and sexual enhancement drugs were seized by Thai police in a series of raids in Bangkok and the neighbouring province of Samut Prakan. Thai media reports that a Thai husband and Vietnamese wife were arrested for allegedly importing the products illegally. Officers held a standard press conference, displaying the seized items including boxes of dildos, packages of synthetic…