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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Sponsored Do foreigners get free healthcare in Thailand?
Thailand’s healthcare system is well-regarded across Southeast Asia, with options ranging from public hospitals to world-class private facilities. But when it comes to foreign residents or tourists, healthcare access isn’t as straightforward. So, do foreigners get free healthcare in Thailand?...
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Off-duty officer fires shots & fights with Bangkok cabbie
A road rage incident between a Bangkok taxi driver and an allegedly drunk off-duty police officer saw shots fired and a bout of fisticuffs on the hard shoulder of a motorway. The taxi driver, Thongchai Baanyam, filed a complaint with the police soon after the incident in Bangkok last night. The 42 year old told police that the reportedly drunk…
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Vegetarian Festival on Yaowarat Road starts today
Great news for those living on the veg, the Vegetarian Festival is back on Yaowarat Road in Bangkok after a two-year pandemic absence. Vegetarians from all over “vegiverse” can get down to the “beet” and “shake the mushroom” from today until October 4. Thai-Chinese people all over the country celebrate the vegetarian festival, or Kin Jay in Thai, every year…
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VIDEO: Fire falls like rain from communication cables in Bangkok
Fire fell like rain onto the road in Bangkok this morning in yet another communication cable fire. The clip was filmed near the entrance of Nidhiprinya School in Din Daeng district at around 4am. Burning plastic dripped from the amass of glowing cables onto the and onto a lorry parked below. The Twitter user who posted the clip said the…
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Foreigner caught stealing luggage at Bangkok airport
A foreign woman stole a Thai woman’s luggage with about 300,000 baht worth of luxury items at Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok. The 45 year old Thai woman, Pornrat, shared the story of her stolen suitcase with Thai media because it still hasn’t been returned. Pornrat was travelling from Dubai and arrived at Suvarnabhumi Airport on September 11 at 4pm. She…
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1.8 billion baht in donations at the Erawan shrine in 2022
The Erawan shrine is a popular place for Thai people to make merit and donate money, and those donations totalled 1.8 billion baht in 2022. The cash donations are gathered and donated to a variety of charities. Over 50 hospitals have benefitted from the offerings, receiving about 100 million baht this year. The Erawan shrine sits at the Ratchaprasong intersection…
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Ask the Thais | Stereotypes, Racial Profiling, and Discrimination
Click the link to watch a video: https://youtu.be/MEBGOF9Ht4c In this episode of Ask The Thais, Natty Warisa asks about topics on discrimination, stereotyping, and racial profiling in Thailand and abroad 3 guests – Parin, Arina, and Ab. Is it true that foreigners are the only people who get ripped off by taxis? Do Thai people get discriminated against in foreign…
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Artists create sci-fi versions of Bangkok
Several artists are creating sci-fi versions of Bangkok in their work. Two filmmakers, a painter, and illustrators are imagining Bangkok with ghosts, AI, and snow in Bangkok. One filmmaker, Stephan Zlotescu, has produced a film about an AI robot falling in love with a woman in Bangkok. The AI takes over a man’s body to pursue the woman. The film,…
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BMTA bus driver brawls with motorcycle rider in Bangkok
A bus driver and a motorcycle rider got into a brawl on Phetchaburi Road in Bangkok last week after the former honked his horn at him. A video of the scrap between the driver from the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority (BMTA) and the motorcycle rider started circulating on Thai social media last Tuesday, September 20. The video shows a male…
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Corrupt police chief’s 137 million baht fortune nabbed
A former deputy commissioner of Provincial Police Region 8 found guilty of fraudulent activity has had his 137 million baht fortune confiscated by Thailand’s Criminal Court for Corruption. Pol Lt Gen Somchai Nitayabowornkul was found guilty by the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NAAC) on August 10 for having assets worth more than he could ever afford in relation to his rank…
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Security guard stabs woman who spurned his advances
A security guard was stabbed to death by her colleague today after she spurned his advances at Rajamangala University of Technology Krungthep in the Sathon district of Bangkok. The pair’s work colleagues revealed that the alleged murderer fell in love with the victim but she rejected him. The rescue team tried to save the 30 year old Anitta Yoosothana, who…
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2 Vietnamese pickpockets arrested in Bangkok
Two Vietnamese pickpockets were arrested after stealing money and credit cards from a Singaporean tourist at the Erawan Shrine near CentralWorld shopping mall in Bangkok. They deny the allegations. The Commissioner-general of the Metropolitan Police Bureau, Samran Nuanma, gave an update on the development of the pickpocket case at a press conference yesterday. Samran made public that three Vietnamese pickpockets…
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Six more sought in kidnapping and beating of teen boy
After police announced yesterday they had issued a warrant for a suspect accused of kidnapping a 16 year old boy and severely beating him before dumping him on the side of the road, six more suspects have been identified in the crime. Pak Kret Police issued six more warrants for the incident that took place in Nontha Buri last week.…
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4 taxi drivers fined for overcharging and refusing service
Tourist police arrested four taxi drivers in Bangkok after discovering they refused to offer a service to passengers and charged overinflated fares without using the metre system. Not only Thai passengers are being refused by Bangkok taxi drivers but tourists face the same issue. They too are ripped off and refused by drivers. Tourist Police Bureau of Thailand spokesperson Apichart…
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Police hunt for gang member involved in Nontha Buri kidnapping
An arrest warrant is out for a man in the Greater Bangkok province of Nontha Buri for the alleged kidnapping of a 16 year old boy in broad daylight. Police believe the kidnapper is a gang member and suspect that the boy, who was later dumped on the side of the road in serious condition, is involved in the gang…
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Bangkok thief breaks jaw in fall after stealing 2 amulets
A light-fingered Thai thief tried to feign amnesia after he was caught robbing two valuable amulets from a market stall in Bangkok. The thief, Alongkot Tanthien, grabbed the trinkets from a market on the third floor of the SC Plaza market yesterday at the Bangkok Southern Bus Terminal before making his escape. He didn’t get far. The 34 year old…
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Thailand’s biggest LGBTQ+ wedding planned for Valentine’s Day
At least 100 LGBTQ+ couples plan to make history this Valentine’s Day when they converge on Bangkok to take part in Thailand’s biggest LGBTQ+ wedding ceremony. The event will be held at the Thai-Japan Bangkok Youth Centre and is hoped to raise awareness of the struggle for gay rights and marriage equality. As of now, same-sex marriages, civil unions, domestic…
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2 Kuwaiti thugs face jail for attack on a woman & 4 Thai men
Two allegedly drunk Kuwaiti men were arrested on Friday, September 16, after attacking four Thai men who came to the rescue of a woman at a hotel near the Central Embassy in Bangkok. The thugs could face imprisonment of up to two years and a fine of up to 10,000 baht. Last Friday at 4am, police officers from Lumpini Police…
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Experts suggest solutions to Bangkok’s limited flood retention space
Bangkok’s small amount of green space means the city has limited spaces that can be made into flood retention areas. Meanwhile, the country’s heavy rainfall continues to cause chaos. Some experts are suggesting innovative solutions to the problem. An associate professor at Chulalongkorn University says the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration needs to use incentives for land owners to offer their land…
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Thailand’s “popcorn gunman” is out of jail after shooting 8 years ago
A Thai shooter known as the “popcorn gunman,” who killed a person and injured three others in 2014, has been released from jail. The man, Vivat Yodprasit, had shot the four people in Bangkok’s Lak Si district during demonstrations against the Yingluck Shinawatra government. Vivat became known as the “popcorn gunman” because photos showed him firing from a rifle hidden…
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Female suspect in Kyrgyzstani woman’s death arrested in Bangkok
UPDATE A female suspect in the case of the Kyrgyzstani woman who plunged to her death in Pattaya on Friday has been arrested yesterday in Bangkok. The victim, 30 year old Anara Seitaleva, died after falling from a hotel balcony on Friday, September 16. Police arrested a 27 year old Chinese woman named Rou Li at a condominium in Bangkok’s…
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American man falls 9 floors to his death outside Bangkok
An American man met his demise in the greater Bangkok suburb of Nontha Buri after plummeting out of the ninth-floor window of a rental building. For some reason, falling deaths, especially those of foreigners, have been an increasingly common occurrence in Thailand. In this most recent incident, a man that Pak Kret police identified as Mr Campi was reported to…
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Eager customers line up for iPhone 14 in Bangkok
Eager customers are crowding Bangkok’s two Apple stores for the new iPhone 14. Since yesterday, tech enthusiasts have been lining up at the stores in Iconsiam, and Central World. Other IT retail shops have also been boosted by iPhone customers. The chief executive of Copperwired said that its pre-booking quotas for the iPhone 14 ran out faster than those of…
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Learn how to make weed tea at Bangkok workshop
Bangkok’s cannabis lovers will get a chance to learn how to make weed tea at an upcoming workshop titled “The New High Tea.” The workshop will be held at the ASAI Bangkok Chinatown hotel on Saturday, September 24, from 5-6.30pm. It will be held in both English and Thai. The event’s page on Ticket Melon says participants will… “Learn about…
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Lightning strike sets car on fire in Bangkok
Cars being safe from lightning must be a myth, because a Sedan parked in the Rama 9 area of Bangkok burst into flames when it got struck by lightning during a thunderstorm last night. At 7.29pm, Rama 199 Radio Centre received a report that a car was on fire at the Government Housing Bank carpark in Huai Khwang district. Luckily,…
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Bangkok to declare disaster zones in areas hit by severe flooding
Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittupunt plans to declare certain areas in the capital that suffer from severe flooding as disaster zones and pay compensation to victims. Some provinces in Thailand, like Ayutthaya and Surin, have already been announced as disaster zones. The 56 year old governor yesterday reported to the media that some districts in Bangkok were still under water from…
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Cheap plane tickets go on sale today and tomorrow in Bangkok
Today and tomorrow discounted plane tickets will be on sale at Bang Sue Grand Station in Bangkok’s Chatuchak district at the event ‘Transport United for Happy Journey,’ hosted by Thailand’s Ministry of Transport. The ministry is hosting the event at Gate 1 from September 15-16 to stimulate tourism, exchange knowledge about transportation facilities and make travelling around in Thailand more…
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Bangkok employee sacked for “sleeping” at work when he actually fainted
A Bangkok sales assistant has been fired after fainting on the job. A colleague sent a photo of him unconscious to his boss, Thai media reported this week. The boss believed the employee had been sleeping on the job and sacked him. The man who fainted, 22 year old Srithanalert, worked as a sales assistant in a furniture shop. He…
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Bangkok sex workers hold Q&A at Patpong Museum
Curious to find out more about the world’s oldest profession? Do sex workers enjoy their work? Do they have a partner outside of working hours, and do they think prostitution should be legalized? All of these questions and more will be answered by two Bangkok sex workers at the Patpong Museum on Saturday, September 17, from 5-8pm, where you are welcome…
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Pro-wakeskater gets fine & suspended jail term for surfing in Bangkok floods
UPDATE #2 Thanyaburi Provincial Court handed pro-wakeboarder and pro-wakeskater Daniel “Tao” Grant a 5,000 baht fine and a one-month suspended jail term for his wakeskating stunt in the Bangkok floods. The 24 year old watersports champion was found guilty of causing danger to and obstructing traffic for wakeskating on the flooded Phahon Yothin Road outside Bangkok University last week. After…
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Court to decide fate of suspended Thai PM Prayut on September 30
On September 30 at 3pm, Thailand’s Constitutional Court will read the verdict on suspended Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha’s eight-year term limit. According to Section 158 of Thailand’s constitution, “The Prime Minister shall not hold office for more than eight years in total, whether or not holding consecutive term.” Prayut reached his eight-year limit serving as PM in August after becoming…
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