Bangkok
- Politics News
Redshirts leader says “justice will never be served” over 2010 military crackdown
The leader of the “Redshirts”, political activists supportive of former Thai PM Thaksin Shinawatra, says the military government will never be held to account for a 2010 crackdown that cost the lives of nearly 100 people, most of them civilians. His comments come just days after a spokesman for the Democrat Party, a member of the ruling coalition, claimed the…
- Covid-19 News
Bangkok officials conduct spot checks on 200 shopping centres and retailers
Following the further easing of Covid-19 restrictions, officials in Bangkok are carrying out inspections on shopping malls, shops and restaurants to ensure the guidelines governing the “new normal” are being adhered to. Nation Thailand reports that the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration has assigned officers to conduct the checks across 50 districts in the capital. They will be checking that adequate social…
- Politics News
Government claims 2010 Bangkok protest crackdown was legal
A spokesman for Thailand’s Democrat Party, currently part of the ruling coalition, says former PM and party chairman Abhisit Vejjajiva did nothing wrong in ordering the 2010 military crackdown on protesters in Bangkok. Khaosod English reports that Ramet Rattanachaweng’s comments come as activists commemorated the 10 year anniversary of the crackdown, in which around 100 people died, by projecting an…
- Crime News
Bangkok sting results in seizure of 221 kilograms of marijuana
Talk about being left holding the bag… police in Bangkok’s Nongjok district confiscated bricks of dried marijuana weighing 221 kilograms on Friday. According to officers at the Lam Phak She Police Station, officers, the raid was a followup to a sting operation that resulted in in the arrest of 46 year old Manop Buakareem, who had delivered a kilogram of…
- Northern Thailand News
Marijuana valued at over 6 million baht seized in Mukdahan
Yesterday police in the northeastern province of Mukdaham announced the seizure of 616 kilograms of marijuana, valued at more than 6 million baht. Authorities say 5 suspects are in custody, identified as 46 year old Boonchu Sittithong, 20 year old Wilawan Lapphu, 22 year old Kittiphong Uttaprom, 34 year old Keng Sae Song and Somboon Chindalert, aged 43. Police got…
- Food
Social distancing pandas fill empty seats at Bangkok restaurant
An “X” usually marks the seats in restaurants and other establishments to make sure people are social distancing to prevent spread of the coronavirus. Sometimes the “X” on the empty is marked with red tape, unintentionally sending a negative message. Now one Vietnamese restaurant in Bangkok has found a more fun way to make sure people are sitting apart but…
- Thailand News
Thailand News Today – Thursday, May 14
Tenants bailing out of pricey Bangkok offices amid pandemic Bangkok’s high-end office district is looking more like a ghost town as the coronavirus pandemic seems to have many companies bailing out of their pricey office spaces. Business owners have had a wake-up call from employees discovering the advantages of working from home. A spokesperson from Phoenix Property Development and Consultancy…
- Bangkok News
Architecture students propose redesign and makeover of Bangkok prison
Most of Thailand’s prisons are well past their designed capacity. Living conditions for inmates are cramped and unsanitary. Now some architecture students are trying to come up with creative solutions to improve the living environment at one Bangkok prison. They’ve been working on design proposals that would make the conditions more “humane” at the Thonburi Remand Prison. “Treeward” is one design…
- Covid-19 News
Tenants bailing out of pricey Bangkok offices amid pandemic
Bangkok’s high-end office district is looking more like a ghost town as the coronavirus pandemic seems to have many companies bailing out of their pricey office spaces. The increasing vacancy trend of Grade-A office space is expected to continue, possibly until a coronavirus vaccine is in effect, according to managing director of Phoenix Property Development and Consultancy, Surachet Kongcheep. Business owners have…
- Covid-19 News
Suicide deaths during pandemic could exceed virus-related deaths
Stress with money and other worries, brought on by the pandemic, have led a significant number of people in Thailand to take their own lives. Those who have studied the subject in Thailand say the number of suicide deaths this year could exceed the number of coronavirus deaths. Scholars in Chiang Mai University studied suicide cases that took place between…
- Politics News
Defence Ministry to take legal action over anti-government slogan campaign
The Defence Ministry is vowing to take action after an anti-government slogan was projected onto various Bangkok monuments and buildings, including the Defence Ministry building itself, at the weekend. The Seek the Truth slogan also appeared on the Democracy Monument, at the Victory Monument BTS station and on Wat Pathum Wanaram temple. Former members of the now defunct Future Forward…
- Politics News
Former Future Forward members claim they’re behind political slogan campaign around Bangkok
Former members of the now defunct Future Forward party say they are responsible for projecting a political slogan on to some of Bangkok’s most iconic landmarks Sunday night, and say more’s to come. Coconuts reports that the political figures, now members of a group called “Progressive Movement,” shared a video of activists using projection equipment from within a van. The…
- Bangkok News
“Bangkok’s tap water is safe for cooking” – Metropolitan Waterworks
When people travel to Thailand they’re always warned not to drink the tap water. Or cook with it. But improved sanitation over the past few decades has now improved the quality of tap water around parts of the country, especially in the capital. Now the Metropolitan Waterworks Authority say that it is safe to use tap water to cook rice.…
- Politics News
Bangkok police hunt activists who projected slogans onto landmarks of 2010 protests
The slogan Seek the Truth (in Thai) has been projected onto several Bangkok landmarks in what appears to be a commemoration of the violent end to political demonstrations in 2010. That year, protests rocked Bangkok for 3 months between March and May, when over 100,000 supporters of former PM Thaksin Shinawatra (known as the “Redshirts”) descended on the city, demanding elections.…
- Bangkok News
77 year old woman falls to her death in Bangkok
An elderly woman fell to her death from a tenth floor condominium in Bangkok’s Bang Khen district yesterday morning, after a worried relative took her in to keep her safe from Covid-19. Police say 77 year old Surinee Dokkaew was found dead at about 6am on the ground at the base of the 15 storey building on Chaeng Wattana Road.…
- Covid-19 News
Bangkok hospitals use baby face shields, US health officials say it could be dangerous
While Bangkok hospitals say they are protecting newborn babies from the coronavirus with baby-sized face shields, health authorities in the US disagree with the move, and even claim it could be dangerous. The US Centre of Disease Control says an infant face shield could increase the risk of sudden infant death syndrome as well as suffocation or strangulation. Since infants…
- Covid-19 News
Bangkok’s International Pioneers School distributes free meals in local community
Joining similar campaigns across the nation, Bangkok’s International Pioneers School has been giving away lunch boxes with fresh, healthy food and a bottle of water to the local community every day since April 27. On the first day all the food prepared by the school was finished within 20 minutes. IPS increased the quantity for the next day, but that…
- Thailand News
Thailand News Today – Thursday, May 7
Issan restaurant owner allegedly shoots wife, stepson, nephew A restaurant owner in Issan’s northeastern Maha Sarakham province has surrendered to police after allegedly shooting dead his wife and stepson. Police arrived at the scene to find the alleged shooter, a 31 year old, had locked himself inside. He reportedly fired a warning shot to discourage officials against getting too close.…
- Bangkok News
Speeding ambulance ejects patient on stretcher into Bangkok traffic – VIDEO
A video that captured the moment a female patient was catapulted from an ambulance into busy city traffic has now been viewed over a million times. The Thai Examiner reports that the incident occurred as the ambulance, lights flashing, was speeding through Bangkok traffic, transporting the woman to hospital. As the driver accelerated along Pracha Uthit Road in the capital’s…
- Covid-19 News
Lack of social distancing at BTS stations in Bangkok
This morning with thousands of people heading off to work, they ended stranded at BTS stations after services were hit by a “technical error”. A post via twitter at 6:03 am from BTS SkyTrain authorities, states “there has been a technical error from on the rail line near National Stadium and Siam stations, the delay will take roughly 10 minutes.…
- Covid-19 News
Masks, hand gel and PPE valued at 5 million baht seized in Bangkok
Police in Bangkok have confiscated face masks, hand sanitiser and protective clothing valued at 5 million baht and arrested a man in a raid on a townhouse in Thawi Watthana district. Officers of the Department of Special Investigation, together with police and officials from the Internal Trade Department and the Food and Drug Administration, searched the two-storey townhouse, where they…
- Covid-19 News
Officials give thumbs up to reopen 2 Bangkok malls today
Officials from the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration, City Hall and police yesterday inspected two luxury shopping malls in Bangkok, to ensure their readiness to reopen for limited business today. The Supreme Commander of Thailand’s defence forces Pornpipat Benyasri, in his capacity as the CCSA chief, led the inspections of Siam Paragon and Central Chidlom, two of the city’s biggest…
- Covid-19 News
Those heading home to the provinces face 14 day quarantine
Those ignoring the PM’s request to travel only for essential reasons and heading to their home in the provinces for the long weekend may be in for a shock. The Interior Ministry has issued an order for people returning to the provinces to be quarantined for 14 days. The order, signed by Permanent Secretary for the Interior, is to prevent…
- Covid-19 News
Bangkok City Hall eyes reopening 8 types of venue
Bangkok’s City Hall (aka the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration) has agreed to allow the reopening of 8 areas of activities but has not announced the date yet according to a spokesman. After its executive meeting, the BMA will issue relief some measures, since the current ones will expire tomorrow. 8 types of locations will reportedly be allowed to open: Restaurants: People…
- Crime News
Suspect in fatal Bangkok shooting absconds with family
A man was shot dead in a fight between two neighbours yesterday in Bangkok’s Bang Khen district, apparently over excessive noise, and the alleged killer has reportedly fled with his family. Police were alerted to a shooting incident at a house on Ruammit Pattana Road at 7pm. At the scene they found the body of 37 year old Phatcharaphol Phomaneesak…
- Bangkok News
Bangkok authorities under fire for over-zealous tree pruning
The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration has come in for some flak after some over-enthusiastic pruning of the city’s trees. Some of the city’s green shade was cut back to bare, ugly stumps. A report in the Bangkok Post says trees along Witthayu Road, near the city’s famed Lumpini Park, have been chopped down to their lower trucks. A similar fate has…
- Technology News
Online video platform TikTok assessing live streaming in Thailand
TikTok, the most downloaded app in the world for 2 years running and the world’s leading short-video platform, has announced a trial of its first live streaming series in Thailand as part of its push to develop platform experiences for users around the world. TikTok’s first live streaming in Thailand was hosted by Vuthithorn “Woody” Milintachinda, a celebrity and influencer,…
- Bangkok News
3 people jump to their deaths within 24 hours
Unfortunately 3 people are reported to have jumped to their deaths yesterday, 2 in Bangkok and a third in Sara Buri, about 90 kilometres to the northeast. It’s believed the man jumped to his death from his 31st floor condominium in Ramkhamhaeng district at about 8:30 yesterday morning. The body of the man, who was not identified and who appeared…
- Covid-19 News
Hungry residents in Bangkok queue for rice handouts
Thousands of Bangkok residents who have had their income cut off or severely reduced by the Covid-19 restrictions have been queueing for supplies of rice donated by some of the city’s Good Samaritans. Thai Residents reports that officials were on hand yesterday to check the lines of people in Santiphap Park in the city’s Ratchathewi district and ensure social distancing…
- Covid-19 News
Migrant workers arrested in Bangkok for working through curfew
Bangkok police have arrested 15 migrant workers accused of violating the emergency decree by working during curfew hours (10pm – 4am). Khaosod English reports that the construction workers were stopped at a checkpoint on the Bangna-Trad road as they were making their way home from having worked overtime on the Yellow Line monorail project. Their employer, Ploichanok Sirowet, disputes the…
