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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2,000 fake goods seized, 8 arrested in Chinatown raid
Police have searched Bangkok’s Sampheng (Chinatown) area and arrested six Thais and two foreigners for selling goods in violation of international IP laws. They seized over 2,000 counterfeit products last night (Wednesday). Pol Maj-General Surachete Hakparn, the deputy tourist police chief, held a press conference at 2.30am in front of the Grand China Hotel on Yaowarat Road to announce the…
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Mu Pa Mission Impossible – The interactive exhibition
You lived through the weeks hanging on every moment of the international rescue mission to get the 13 Mu Pa football team members out of the Tham Luang caves. Now you can visit the interactive exhibition. “Tham Luang Incredible Mission: the Global Agenda”, has opened at Siam Paragon in Bangkok. Hosted by the Culture Ministry, the mall’s Lifestyle Hall has…
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Cadet’s family request investigation into autopsy doctors
PHOTO: The Nation The family of a cadet who died in suspicious circumstances is urging the Medical Council to investigate the doctors that performed the cadet’s autopsy from last year at the military-owned hospital. 18 year old cadet Phakhapong “Meay” Tanyakan died in October 2017, reportedly after being disciplined by his seniors at the Armed Forces Academies Preparatory School (AFAPS).…
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Deputy Tourist Police chief is now Prawit’s assistant spokesman
Deputy PM General Prawit Wongsuwan, who is also defence minister, has made Tourist Police Deputy Chief Surachete Hakphan his assistant spokesman. The appointment has been effective since Sunday. Surachete Hakphan, aka ‘Big Joke’, has been the poster-boy for the government as they round up over-stayers, call-centre gangs, scammers and other trans-national crime gangs. The deputy PM’s Spokesman Kongcheep Tantrawanich announced…
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Institute closed for seven days as police break up student gang brawls in BKK
By Khanathit Srihirundaj Bangkok police have held a meeting between representatives of Pathumwan and Uthenthawai colleges today. Yesterday students from their colleges fought on the skywalk near the National Stadium BTS station. Education Ministry officials attended the meeting to help find solutions to the issue of student brawls. The meeting at Pathumwan Police Station was brokered by the deputy chief of…
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DSI crackdown on foreigners using Thai nominees: Law firm raided in Bangkok, Phuket and Samui
Four offices of the same investment advisory firm have been raided in Bangkok, Phuket and Samui. Coordinated raids on the offices of what appears to be a single advisory firm were conducted by the DSI (Department of Special Investigations), police and Board of Investment representatives. Pictures showed that the company is DFDL Thailand Legal and Tax. This company offers “investment advisory…
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Fix Bangkok’s traffic within 3 months – Thai PM
Thai PM Prayut has instructed police stations to help with efforts to ease Bangkok’s severe road congestion problems within three months. The PM says that relevant technology must be adopted to help control and manage traffic flow, especially during peak hours. “The government can’t deny the responsibility of easing traffic problems.” He was speaking during a visit to the Traffic Police…
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BKK Taxi driver fined 2,000 baht for watching porn whilst driving
PHOTOS: The Nation Yesterday a passenger filed an official complaint with the land office saying that a taxi driver was acting inappropriately by watching ‘porn’ whilst he was driving and taking his shirt off (which was a football shirt and not a proper uniform). Today, the taxi driver was fined 2,000 baht for watching a video disc and dressing improperly…
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BMA backs down to allow Khaosan traders, sort of…
by Kornrawee Panyasuppakun “From around 9pm to 3am, backpackers use Khaosan as “party central”, rather than a shopping fair. Electronic dance beats can be heard blaring from clubs and bars.” There’s been a back down in the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration yesterday after vendors from Khaosan Road convinced a committee that their stalls, whilst illegal in the past, were a huge…
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Former Thai actor arrested over Bitcoin scam
A once-popular actor has been charged with convincing foreigners to transfer to him more than 5,500 bitcoins as an investment. (5,500 Bitcoin are worth around 210,000 baht or US$6,300 each as of today) Police picked up 27 year old Jiratphisit Jarawitchit today at midday at a shopping mall in Bangkok’s Chatuchak district. The Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for him…
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TECNO hit the smartphone sweet spot
PRESS RELEASE Leading Chinese smartphone brand, TECNO Mobile, is experiencing exponential growth in Thailand on the back of success with its Camon CM and SPARK CM models which have proven a big hit with Millennials due in large part to their mid-market price point and use of the latest state-of-the-art technologies. “The Camon CM and SPARK CM are the first…
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Online romance scam gang busted
Nigerian nationals are again being rounded up in a concerted effort to get rid of some of the Nigerian-based scams operating inside Thailand. In the latest sting, 8 Nigerians and 6 Thai suspects have been arrested for alleged collusion in an online romance scam, swindling nearly 2 million baht from Thai women in Ratchaburi, Samut Sakhon, Phitsanulok, Chon Buri and…
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Stay 5 metres away and bow before and after a photo of the PM – new media guidelines
The Thai PM has issued new guidelines as how and when to photograph him. At the same time the PM’s spokesperson has set new ‘ethical’ guidelines for media pressers with the PM. New formalities issued by the 3rd division of the Special Branch police were distributed to members of the press at yesterday’s Impact Exhibition Centre event where the PM…
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Bangkok cat owner faces cruelty charges
WARNING: This story may be stressful for some readers The animal rights group Watchdog Thailand has filed a complaint with the police against a cat adopter for allegedly repeatedly abusing his pet by hanging it and beating it until it became “depressed”. Watchdog Thailand posted on Facebook that it has filed a complaint with Bueng Koom police, who had allowed…
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200 members of Line app under investigation for procuring U18 boys for sex
More details have emerged about the identities and activities of members of a Line App group who have been allegedly preying on underage boys for sex. The commander of the anti human trafficking police says the tourist police are also involved in the investigations. Daily News is reporting that on Wednesday a Thai university lecturer and “hi-so man” were among several arrests…
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Australian travel media coming to BKK for annual conference
Thailand is hosting the AGM of the Australian Society of Travel Writers From August 16-19 , 2018. The ASTW has already held its AGM twice in Thailand (1999 and 2009). A total of 113 ASTW members have registered, to date, including writers, photographers, editors, bloggers, influencers, public relations officers, and representatives of various hotel groups and national tourism boards. The…
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Khao San Road vendors openly defy the new pavement ban
PHOTOS: The Nation Vendors on Khao San road, Bangkok’s popular back-packer magnet and tourist trap, are openly defying the BMA ban on sidewalk vendors and markets. Officials of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) said they wanted to impose order in the area which for years has been occupied by vendors who ply their trade on both side of the roads, blocking…
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University lecturer and ‘hi-so’ man arrested for soliciting sex with U18 males
The Royal Thai Police’s Anti Trafficking in Persons Division has arrested two men for allegedly buying sex from two males under 18 year of age. The two are said to be a ‘famous Thai university lecturer’ and a ‘hi-so man’. A police investigation concluded that the two men – who claim their innocence – were among some 200 members of…
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The Miss Universe pageant returns to Thailand this December
PHOTO: Tanachai Pramarnpanich Dust off the tiaras and sashes and try and contain your excitement! Miss Universe 2018 will be held in Thailand in December. This is the third time that Thailand will host the beauty contest. The Miss Universe Organisation president Paula Shugart and Miss Universe 2017 Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters were present at a media conference in Bangkok yesterday. Former…
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Online poker casino smashed in Klong Toei raid
Thailand’s favourite crime buster, Pol Maj Gen Surachet Hakpal, aka ‘Big Joke’, has arrested 58 Chinese nationals running casino operations in an upmarket tower block in Bangkok’s Klong Toei district. Daily News is reporting that a large cache of evidence in the form of computers, notebooks, phones and account books was recovered during the raid on two sections of the…
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SHOW DC host photographic exhibition celebrating His Majesty’s 66th birthday
A photo exhibition to celebrate the 66th birthday of His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebyavarangkul is being held at SHOW DC in Bang Kapi, Bangkok, until July 31, 2018. A total of 66 royal photos from His Majesty’s youth through to today are on display in a unique layout that forms the shape of “66” in Thai numerals. A book…
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Mother threatens suicide over acquittal
(4 minute read) The suicide of a father, who jumped out of the eighth floor of Bangkok’s Criminal Court after a verdict was read acquitting the suspect in his son’s murder back in 2016, has taken a sad turn of events. Now the wife of the man who killed himself, and the murdered son’s mother, is threatening to kill herself…
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Driver drops dead at petrol station in Nakhon Pathom
The driver of a 22-wheel trailer truck fell dead from his truck after he stopped to get petrol this morning (Tuesday) in Nakhon Pathom, west of Bangkok. Police were alerted at 7am of the incident at the NGV station on Malai Road. The Nation reports that 46 year old Picket Jailuen was transporting construction sand from Tambon Prong Madua in…
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Khao San road market make-over set for August 1
“Khao San Road and its surrounding area is an accident waiting to happen.” This scary outlook from the deputy governor of Bangkok. He says that the area is so cluttered with vendors, pathway stores, market stalls and alcohol shops that emergency vehicles would find it difficult to gain access if any emergency were to occur. A meeting was held on Monday…
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Bangkok father jumps to his death after acquittal of suspect in his son’s murder
A tragic story from the Bangkok Criminal Court today where it’s emerged that a man has jumped to his death after witnessing the acquittal of the suspect in his son’s murder. The man jumped from the sixth floor of the court building at 10am. Supachai Kanlahasunthorn came to the court at 9am to hear the verdict in the trial of…
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74 year old British man dies after alleged row with ‘toy boy’ lover
PHOTO: Silom City Resort “Naked Brit businessman dead in his apartment in a pool of blood after ‘row’ with his Thai toy boy lover.” A headline that leaves little else to report. This one a sad story as reported by Murdoch’s ‘The Sun’ in the UK. A naked British businessman has been found dead in a pool of blood after a…
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Teacher hangs herself ‘to atone for sins of previous life’
A 40 year old has been found dead, hanged in an apparent suicide at her parents’ home in Suphan Buri province, north west of Bangkok, yesterday. The former contract teacher had claimed to have memories of her previous life as a soldier who had taken many lives. The suicide report of Somkid Ridkanto in Tambon Sa Kaew, Muang district said she had…
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Machete-wielding BKK motorist jailed for threatening woman
The South Bangkok district court has handed down a sentence today on a male driver. He’s been sentenced to 2 months and 15 days behind bars. The sentence follows the man’s indiscretion caught on a dash cam (video and story below), threatening a female driver with a knife on July 18, after he drove against the traffic to cut in…
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Five jailed up to 19 years for forcing Moroccan women into prostitution
PHOTOS: The Nation “Pearl was accused of being the gang leader as he owns the Dream Disco Pub on the fourth floor of the Zenith Hotel where the four victims were forced into prostitution from October 2016 to March 2017.” A 46 year old Australian has been sentenced to 19 years imprisonment by the Criminal Court, and a Syrian, two…
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Officials seize decorative corals in Chatuchak, Bangkok
Thai PBS are reporting that police and officials in Bangkok have swooped on shops in Chatuchak, in Bangkok’s northern suburbs, and seized a substantial haul of decorative corals and coralline algae. A member of the Yiew Dong (forest hawk) task force of the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, said the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment received lots…
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