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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  • Free Covid-19 testing events in Bangkok daily throughout January

    Free Covid-19 testing events in Bangkok daily throughout January

    With Covid-19 infections on the rise, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration launched a series of testing events in 80 communities around the city through the end of January. The campaign is aimed at proactive testing to identify and hopefully contain infections as the highly contagious Omicron variant spreads quickly through the city and the country. The series of testing events began…

  • BMA follows CCSA; Bangkok entertainment venues remain closed

    BMA follows CCSA; Bangkok entertainment venues remain closed

    It will likely come as no shock to anyone, but the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration declared today that they will follow the rules of the CCSA and extend the closure of entertainment venues indefinitely. The decision was announced today that bars, pubs, karaoke, nightclubs, and other nightlife and entertainment venues will not be reopening in Bangkok as with the rest of…

  • Woman complains police didn’t pursue rape case for 5 months

    Woman complains police didn’t pursue rape case for 5 months

    A woman brought her lawyer to the Klong Tan Police Station after waiting 5 months for a response to her reporting an alleged rape at a party in Klong Toei in August. The incident took place in the Bangkok district at a hotel where the 27 year old Thai woman was hired to be a bartender. The woman said she was…

  • Thai women’s football coach confident about World Cup Finals

    Thai women’s football coach confident about World Cup Finals

    Thai women’s football coach Miyo Okamoto is determined that player Chaba Kaew will qualify for her third straight FIFA Women’s World Cup. Miyo plans to send her best players to the cup, and some have previously been in cup finals. Myo said the team studies the Philippines team’s tactics in order to gain skills. She said that if her team…

  • PM Prayut Chan-o-cha orders two agencies to lead crackdown on call-centre scams

    PM Prayut Chan-o-cha orders two agencies to lead crackdown on call-centre scams

    Following escalating public complaints that many Thais have fallen victim to phone scams that steal either money or personal information, PM Prayut Chan-o-cha has assigned two government agencies to lead integrated operations to crack down on scammers and bring them to justice. According to Deputy Government Spokesperson Trisulee Trisaranakul, the Digital Economy and Society Ministry and the Royal Thai Police…

  • First meeting of Thailand’s Lower House this year adjourned due to lack of numbers

    First meeting of Thailand’s Lower House this year adjourned due to lack of numbers

    The first meeting of the year for Thailand’s House of Representatives, which was meant to begin yesterday, had to be abruptly adjourned because the minimum number of MPs required were not present. 227 MPs were present, a number 10 short of the minimum number required to conduct the proceedings. Half of the House’s 473 members were required to attend. In…

  • Health Ministry will not shut down schools unless there’s a cluster

    Health Ministry will not shut down schools unless there’s a cluster

    Thailand’s Public Health Ministry will not order schools to close down because a few pupils are infected with Covid-19, but only if there are clusters of infections, according to the deputy director-general of the Department of Health. Dr Sarawut Boonsuk explained that the ministry would order the school to close the classroom for three days to clean it thoroughly if…

  • Book publishers known for controversy raided by Bangkok police

    Book publishers known for controversy raided by Bangkok police

    Just in time for the National Book Fair coming to Bangkok, police this morning rated a Bangkok book publisher known for issuing material against the grain of normal Thai society. Fa Diew Kan, which translates to “Same Sky”, was raided at about 10:30 this morning by around 30 police officers. The officers came with a warrant to look for books “about…

  • Bangkok’s subway introduces new payment methods featuring Visa and Master

    Bangkok’s subway introduces new payment methods featuring Visa and Master

    The burden of queuing up to purchase your ticket at machines or top-up from ticket booths at Bangkok’s subway is now soon to be gone with MRT introducing new contactless payment methods with Visa and Mastercard, according to its official Facebook post. Passengers will be able to scan there credit card at the gate rather than touching a plastic token…

  • Elderly rescued from unauthorised care facilities in Bangkok after reports of poor conditions

    Elderly rescued from unauthorised care facilities in Bangkok after reports of poor conditions

    Elderly people kept in poor conditions at unauthorised care facilities in Bangkok, some abused and even put in shackles, were rescued yesterday. Thai authorities raided two centres in the Lat Krabang and Nong Chok districts, which are both owned by the same person, and discovered residents squeezed into tiny rooms, and some residents even in shackles. Authorities then took 40…

  • Bangkok is blooming: Flora Festival takes over several public parks until July

    Bangkok is blooming: Flora Festival takes over several public parks until July

    Sunflowers are blossoming in Bangkok. The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration is organising the Bangkok Flora Festival where flowers will be planted in various parks in the capital from now until July. The first garden is a sunflower field at the Vachitabenjatas Park or Suan Rot Fai Park near the Chatuchak Weekend Market. Over 1.5 acres of Suan Rot Fai Park is…

  • 1 million face masks labeled as Japanese busted as Chinese

    1 million face masks labeled as Japanese busted as Chinese

    In the Bangkok suburb of Samut Prakan, police raided a warehouse where they found 1 million face masks that were labelled as being from Japan when in actuality they were produced and shipped from China. The economic crime division of the police uncovered the Chinese masks, with an estimated value of about 3 million baht, during a raid in a…

  • Hungarian wanted overseas arrested in Bangkok, overstayed visa by 10 years

    Hungarian wanted overseas arrested in Bangkok, overstayed visa by 10 years

    Thai Immigration police arrested a 48 year old Hungarian suspect who is wanted in his home country for alleged insurance fraud and has been staying in Thailand illegally for more than 10 years. Immigration police say the man is on 4,254 days overstay after entering Thailand in 2010 on a 60 day tourist visa. Officers say the man was arrested…

  • Chinese New Year on Bangkok’s Yaowarat Road cancelled again due to Covid-19

    Chinese New Year on Bangkok’s Yaowarat Road cancelled again due to Covid-19

    Chinese New Year is expected to be celebrated on February 1 to welcome the Year of the Tiger. But with the raising Covid-19 infection rate, especially in Bangkok, the Chinese New Year event on the Yaowarat Road, known as Chinatown, is cancelled again this year. The Royal Jubilee Gate, or Odeon Gate, will still be decorated, and people are allowed…

  • Transport minister says Suvarnabhumi Airport expansion will begin in July

    Transport minister says Suvarnabhumi Airport expansion will begin in July

    Plans to expand Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport will kick off in July, according to Transport Minister Saksayam Chidchob. The so-called East Expansion project is expected to take around 2 and a half years to complete, at a cost of 7.8 billion baht. The project will begin in July with a bidding process to appoint a contractor. The plans have already been…

  • Thai baht rises as officials consider resumption of Test & Go

    Thai baht rises as officials consider resumption of Test & Go

    Thailand saw strength in its currency “baht” today as expectations are high for the relaxing of quarantine for vaccinated visitors under “Test & Go” quarantine exemption scheme. Registration for the entry scheme was closed last month, but the Public Health Ministry is proposing the scheme be reopened again. The Public Health Minister says that if approved by the Centre for…

  • Teenagers arrested for allegedly stealing batteries, steel railings from a train station

    Teenagers arrested for allegedly stealing batteries, steel railings from a train station

    Two 19 year olds were arrested and charged for allegedly stealing batteries from trucks who also admitted to stealing stainless steel railings from a train station in Samut Prakan yesterday. Following the warrant issued by the district court, police stopped the motorbike of two suspects on Soi Dan Samrong 24/66 in Muang district’s tambon Samrong Nuea and arrested them at…

  • Bangkok field hospitals fill with patients, Prayut urges Thais not to let their guard down

    Bangkok field hospitals fill with patients, Prayut urges Thais not to let their guard down

    PM Prayut Chan-o-cha is urging Thais to not lower their guard when it comes to Covid-19, especially the new variant Omicron, and follow the universal measurements strictly, according to a government spokesperson. The reminder came after 2,611 new patients flocked to field hospitals in Bangkok over the weekend. Government Spokesperson Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana says the prime minister expressed his concern about…

  • Cobra Gold military exercise downsized this year due to Omicron spread

    Cobra Gold military exercise downsized this year due to Omicron spread

    Thailand’s annual Cobra Gold military exercise, where Thai soldiers train the US and other foreign troops on jungle survival skills, is being scaled down this year due to the spread of the highly transmissible Omicron variant. The large, multinational military exercise has been known for its snake decapitating demonstration where soldiers drink the fresh blood from the headless snake before…

  • 413 Bars in Bangkok ask permission to reopen as restaurants

    413 Bars in Bangkok ask permission to reopen as restaurants

    More than 400 bars, nightclubs, and entertainment venues in Bangkok have applied for permission to reopen as restaurants. The venues have been closed since April due to strict disease control measures. The government delayed its plan to allow bars and nightclubs to reopen in mid-January due to the Omicron outbreak in Thailand, but decided to allow the venues to apply for…

  • Woman stole 59b of food, stabbed Mini Big-C staff to escape

    Woman stole 59b of food, stabbed Mini Big-C staff to escape

    A woman was caught when she stole 59 baht worth of snack items at a Mini Big C in Nontha Buri, but things escalated quickly when she stabbed the employee that caught her to make her escape. The sad story took place on December 29, but after a warrant was issued for her arrest, police just managed to track the…

  • Bangkok reports surge in Covid cases linked to restaurant/bars, student dorms

    Bangkok reports surge in Covid cases linked to restaurant/bars, student dorms

    Health officials say there has been a surge in infections in Bangkok, linked to restaurant/bars and other crowded places, such as student dorms. According to a Bangkok Post report, 939 new cases were reported in the capital yesterday, 45 of which were imported. Dr Suthas Chottanapan from the DDC says 300 of the local cases were contracted in restaurants operating…

  • 5 criteria set for hospitalising Covid-19 patients in Bangkok

    5 criteria set for hospitalising Covid-19 patients in Bangkok

    In Bangkok, officials are attempting to take some of the guesswork out of dealing with Covid-19 infected patients while also streamlining the process when someone tests positive for the virus. New guidelines were set forth to assess the level of symptoms and infection and route people either to a hospital or other medical facility or refer them to home isolation.…

  • PM Prayut orders a higher fence around Government House

    PM Prayut orders a higher fence around Government House

    In a move sure to inspire the impression of an open government fighting for the interests of the people, PM Prayut Chan-o-cha has instructed the relevant government departments that the border fence must be raised around Government House. The order was put in place saying that over the years the roads around the government building have been resurfaced multiple times,…

  • Bangkok opens new Covid-19 testing centre amid surge in infections

    Bangkok opens new Covid-19 testing centre amid surge in infections

    A new Covid-19 testing centre, capable of conducting up to 1,000 tests a day, will open in Bangkok tomorrow, as the capital grapples with a surge in new cases. Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul says it will be on the first floor of Car Park Building B at the government complex on Chaeng Watthana Road. According to a Bangkok Post…

  • Nonthaburi to give free vaccines for Thais as 3rd and 4th booster

    Nonthaburi to give free vaccines for Thais as 3rd and 4th booster

    Get your booster shots! Officials in the Nonthaburi Health Office announced that they would be offering free third and fourth vaccines as booster shots to all Thai people on January 13 and 14. The vaccines will be offered for free, but those who want to take advantage of the vaccination must register in advance for the shots. Vaccines will be…

  • Bangkok to begin Pfizer vaccines for children 5-11 next month

    Bangkok to begin Pfizer vaccines for children 5-11 next month

    The next round of the vaccine rollout is being prepared now by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration and aims to use Pfizer vaccines for children under 12 years old. The rollout will be launched next month and will allow children between the ages of 5 years old and 11 years old to get vaccinated with the mRNA vaccine. While children over…

  • Police officer accused of leaking sex video of lover on Twitter

    Police officer accused of leaking sex video of lover on Twitter

    In the past few months, The Thaiger has covered multiple stories of the police busting women selling sex videos on OnlyFans and social media like Twitter and the LINE app, and even a special warning against dressing up as sexy police officers when making adult material on OnlyFans, but today’s story of sex, police, and the internet, has a different…

  • Tourism officials warn that 7 billion baht could be lost due to suspension of Test & Go

    Tourism officials warn that 7 billion baht could be lost due to suspension of Test & Go

    Tourism officials warn that at least 7 billion baht of revenue will be lost in Thailand’s tourism sector this month if the suspension of the “Test & Go” scheme continues. The president of the Tourism Council of Thailand says that putting a hold on the scheme will not only have an effect on tourism in the short term, but it…

  • Bodies of Thai model and unidentified woman found in Bangkok’s Chao Phraya River

    Bodies of Thai model and unidentified woman found in Bangkok’s Chao Phraya River

    The bodies of a Thai model and an unidentified woman were found in Bangkok’s Chao Phraya River by two of the capital’s most popular shopping centres. The model’s body was found by the Asiatique: The Riverfront Pier while the woman’s body was found by the ICONSIAM Pier. Thai model Kendo Kullapat was reported missing on Tuesday. Some Thai designers and…