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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15 year old Thai student dies following attack in SOTUS hazing tradition
PHOTO: Anti-hazing activist Panuwat Songsawatchai/Facebook Khaosod English is reporting that a high-school student, who was in a coma following ritual hazing at a Nakhon Pathom school, has died today. Pisit Kumniw, a 15 year old student at the Phra Pahtom Wittayalai School, in Nakhon Pathom north-east of Bangkok, allegedly died from injuries sustained from hazing by senior students in a class three…
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Bangkok drug gang nabbed for selling Pattaya tourists illicit drugs
PHOTO: 77kaoded Three men have been arrested in Pattaya and 833 grams of crystal methamphetamine (ice) and 6,700 methamphetamine pills seized. Police also seized a car and two motorcycles. Three Thai men – 23, 29 and 35 year old – were arrested and charged with possession of Category One drugs with intent to sell. Daily News reports that the three man gang was…
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BMW speeds away as policeman tries to hang on at Bangkok toll booth
SCREENSHOTS: Sanook A policeman has ended up in hospital after being dragged along by a white BMW after trying to stop the car. CCTV footage from the Thanyaburi Toll booth on a Bangkok ring road shows the BMW driving away from the booth, with the policeman clinging on to the roof. The car veered to the left suddenly to ‘shake off’…
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One body recovered, search continues for another after collapse of pavilion in Samut Songkhram
PHOTOS: Thai PBS After more than 17 hours of searching, rescue workers have now recovered a female body from the collapsed pavilion that slid into the Mae Klong River in Thailand’s central province of Samut Songkram, west of Bangkok. The search continues for one other missing person believed to still be trapped under the submerged wreckage of the building. The…
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Thai couple walk away from dramatic road crash
PHOTOS: Sanook A blue sedan has split in two in a dramatic incident on a road leading to the Ngam Wong Wan Road in Bangkok’s northern suburbs. Sanook reports that a Thai couple have escaped totally unscathed after the man admitted to police that he lost control after hitting a rock and slammed into roadside barriers. The 29 year old…
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Thai farmers and residents from four provinces unhappy about proposed motorway
About 100 affected residents and farmers, from the Phetchaburi, Samut Songkhram, Ratchaburi and Nakhon Pathom provinces, are demanding the Thai Department of Highways scrap their environmental impact statements and start again. The protests are over the 109 kilometre Nakhon Pathom to Cha-am Motorway. A seminar was held over the weekend called “The Future of Petchaburi and the Motorway to the…
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New Thai cabinet to be sworn in Tuesday in Bangkok
PHOTO: Amphorn Satharn Throne Hall The new Thai cabinet will be sworn in tomorrow (Tuesday) at the Amphorn Satharn Throne Hall in Bangkok near the Dusit Palace, 3 kilometres north of the Grand Palace. The announcement was made by the the Secretariat of the Cabinet over the weekend. All 36 Cabinet appointees will travel by shuttle leaving the Phakdee Bordin…
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BTS Skytrain stations get maintenance checks after falling concrete
It wasn’t the sky falling. It was the Skytrain Station falling on a road in Bangkok. The Bangkok Mass Transit System (BTS) has announced maintenance work underway at 22 BTS Skytrain stations after a concrete slab fell from the Ari station onto the road below, just missing drivers. Executive director of the BTSC Surapong Laoha-Unya said they prioritised the safety…
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Crackdown on Bangkok amusement parks without operating permits
The roller coaster ride is over. 15 amusement parks in Bangkok, out of a total of 48, don’t have construction or operating licenses. The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration and other agencies started field inspections of all permanent amusement parks in 26 of the city’s districts two months ago. In addition, eight amusement parks don’t meet the published standards for safety signs,…
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Black crabs, tuk tuks and plates of Pad Thai – Miss Grand Thailand costume competition
From Wild Boars, black crabs, tuk tuks, plates of Pad Thai and black panthers, the costume designers have not held back in the year’s Miss Grand Thailand competition. The 77 Thai provinces have been represented by the contestants in the 2019 Miss Grand Thailand costume competition. The national costume part of the competition was held on July 13 in Bangkok.…
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VIDEO: Bangkok police under investigation for beating up restrained drunk in back of truck
Seven officers from the Laksong Police Station are currently under investigation following an incident of police brutality in Lat Laksong district of Bangkok. The incident happened at 2pm on July 7. The man was beaten in public view out the front of the Laksong police station. The incident was captured by a mobile camera and posted on Facebook. An initial…
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Nitrous oxide balloons in Khao San Road, no laughing matter
Nine Thais have been arrested for selling balloons filled with nitrous oxide (laughing gas) to foreign tourists on Khao San Road in Bangkok. Police and officials from the Office of the Food and Drug Administration arrested them late last night (Thursday). A media conference announcing the arrests was held this morning just after midnight. Police say the children and women’s…
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Concrete pieces from Ari BTS station in Bangkok fall on road below
PHOTOS: Isara Ariyachaipanich Concrete panelling has fallen from the Ari skytrain station. Luckily there was no one injured. Isara Ariyachaipanich posted photos on his Facebook page showing a huge slab of concrete laying on the road beneath the structure of the Ari BTS station. The concrete fell onto Phayon Yothin Road, near a local bus station. “It was so good…
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48 illegal Pakistanis rounded up in Bangkok raid
PHOTO: The Nation Children are among 48 Pakistani nationals rounded up by Bangkok Immigration police this week at an apartment in the Bang Na district. Most had overstayed their visas while several didn’t have any travel documents at all. The raid in Soi Baring netted 26 passport holders and 14 with no documents plus another eight people who carried cards indicating…
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BTS asked to pay 100 billion construction costs in exchange for 30 year concession extension
Manit Techa-apichoke, president of Bangkok Metropolitan Administration-owned Krungthep Thanakhom, says the state firm was empowered by Article 44 of the interim charter to conduct negotiations with the Bangkok Mass Transit System (BTS) over the 100 billion baht debt transfer and concession extension. Manit says the negotiation should be completed in about two months. The Nation reports that the BMA will negotiate with…
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Bangkok’s MRT to start passenger free ‘test drive’ on Blue Line extension this month
The Mass Rapid Transit Authority is poised to open the MRT Blue Line Thaphra extension for passenger test runs later this month. The Mass Rapid Transit Authority (MRTA) commenced internal test runs on the MRT Blue Line’s Hua Lamphong – Bangkae extension on July 1. The early phase of the test is intended to ensure the preparedness of officials to…
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‘Thailand’ through the eyes of non-Thai filmmakers
In addition its current “Drug In Film” project, the Thai Film Archive is also holding a program of historical and contemporary films about Thailand as seen through the eyes of non-Thai filmmakers. The series, dubbed “Exotic Thailand”, will run through July and August, and features 15 films made in Thailand by international directors, including historical works like “Chang: A Drama of the…
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PM orders local officials to help Khlong Dan flood victims in Samut Prakhan
The Prime Minister has ordered officials to assist residents in a riverside community which was flooded by a high tide surged through a dike being constructed in Samut Prakhan last night. A deputy government spokesman said that the sudden flooding in the community of about 50 households at Khlong Dan, Bang Bo district, was not caused by the collapse of…
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Gulf waters flood into Samut Prakan coastline
High tides last night led to upper Gulf waters flowing over an embankment and flooding the homes of irrigation officials and a nearby community at Samut Prakan, south of Bangkok. Samut Prakan governor Chatchai Uthaiphan says he dispatched officials to help evacuate local residents adding the water was about one-metre high and that officials had helped relocate elderly people and…
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Bangkok locals cry foul after their Chinese opera performance closed down
Residents in a Bangkok community are complaining about a condo project’s ‘official complaints and the police’s intervention which closed down their traditional staging of Chinese operas at the local Chinese shrine. They say the condominium was opened just a few years ago on Soi Narathiwas Ratchanakharin 14, while their traditions have lasted decades. Earlier this week, a Chinese opera performance…
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The Kings Cup Scrabble competition is on in Bangkok
The 34th Brand’s International Scrabble Championships will be held at Central Westgate in Bang Yai, Bangkok, for four days starting today running through to Sunday, July 7. It’s one of the largest Scrabble tournaments in the world, in terms of the number of players, drawing as many as 8,000 players. Thailand has produced two world champions as well as many top…
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Ja New thanks those that support him and updates his health
PHOTO: Facebook/Sirawith Seritiwat Thai political activist Sirawith Seritiwat, aka. Ja New, has posted on his Facebook page for the first time since last Thursday’s brutal attack in Bangkok. In the post, typed by a friend, Sirawith says that he was touched by everyone’s kindness, acknowledging the activity relating to his case and calling for justice both inside and outside parliament.…
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British expat catches world’s biggest carp in Thailand
PHOTO: Bournemouth News 42 year old John Harvey from the UK has caught a fish that was THAT big! The world’s largest carp was a Siamese carp weighing 232lbs (105 kilograms). It beats the old record by 10lbs (4.5 kilograms). John was fishing at the Palm Tree Lagoon at Chedi Hak, just west of Bangkok. The property investor from the UK…
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A drop in demand leaves Bangkok with a glut of completed new condos
A parliament of owls? A murder of crows? A flock of geese? But what’s the collective noun for a lot of available new condo developments in Bangkok? A glut of Condos? As Thailand’s economy is hit by the double whammy of fallout from US-China trade wars and lingering political instability, stricter mortgage-lending rules are also kicking in creating a buyer’s market in…
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24 year old woman dies after mysterious electrocution from Bangkok noodle van
PHOTO: Nonthaburi News Association A woman has died after being allegedly electrocuted by a noodle food truck in Nonthaburi’s Bang Yai district last night (Tuesday). The Bang Yai police station learnt that a woman had apparently been electrocuted in front of Soi Bang Lane 23/4 in Tambon Bang Lane around 9pm. The victim has been identified as 24 year old Nipada…
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Thailand goes to the dogs – International Dog Show 2019
This year’s Thailand International Dog Show is being held at IMPACT Muang Thong Thani in Bangkok from July 4-7. The event, which takes up more than 10,000 square metres of exhibition space, will be open from 10am to 8pm each day. Over 200 local and international exhibitors will be showcasing the latest dog care products and services to the expected 200,000…
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Luxury condos change the face of Sathorn Road in Bangkok
by Somluck Srimalee, The Nation From Sathorn junction to Taksin Bridge, the riverside section of Sathorn Road has been transformed from a strip of shophouses to luxury residential condos in a gentrification that added 8,000 new apartments to the area. As well, the businesses have shifted to a more modern trade to replace the traditional trades. With the market trend, listed…
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Motorcycle robbers escape with 70,000 baht from Bangkok 7-Eleven
PHOTOS: khaosod.co.th Two motorcyclists have robbed a 7-Eleven store in Bangkok’s Bang Sue district and made off with 70,000 baht in cash. It follows another robbery of a 7-Eleven just one day before in Nakhon Ratchasima. Read that story HERE. The Prachachuen police station was alerted at 4.25am this morning of the robbery at the convenience store along the Pibul…
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‘Fahsai’ is the new Miss Thailand Universe
Thai-Canadian Paweensuda ‘Fahsai’ Drouin has been crowned Miss Thailand Universe 2019. Judges chose 26 year old Paweensuda, 26 from more than 50 other contestants in the pageant’s final round at the Thunder Dome in Bangkok last night (Saturday). Miriam Sornprommas was first runner-up and Thanatchaphon Boonsang second runner-up. Paweensuda is 180 centimetres tall, was born and raised in Canada and her…
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Future Forward MP uncover new ‘Ja New’ assault video
PHOTOS and VIDEO: Facebook/Rangsiman Rome A Future Forward Party MP says they’ve got their hands on CCTV footage which shows four men violently attacking Thai political activist Sirawith “Ja New” Seritiwat. The anti-Junta activist has been the subject or earlier assaults and many threats. The attack happened on a main road in Bangkok yesterday. Rangsiman Rome, a Party-list MP for Future…
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