Bangkok
- Bangkok News
UPDATE: 2 confirmed dead, 20 injured in Central World Bangkok fire
The Erawan Medical Centre has confirmed that two people were killed and another 20 injured in last evening’s fire at Centara Grand Hotel and CentralWorld Shopping Centre at Bangkok’s Ratchaprasong Intersection. One person was found dead at the scene (a staff member who jumped out of a fourth storey window), whilst the other fatality, identified as 50 year old Arthit…
- Hot News
Three people reported dead, others injured, 100s flee blaze at Central World Hotel Bangkok
PHOTO: Orchidmo A big fire has broken out on Ratchadamri Road, Pathumwan in the busy Sukhumvit shopping zone in Bangkok. Videos and photos posted online show the blaze and thick smoke spreading from the Centara Grand Hotel, located next to the CentralWorld shopping mall. The Bangkok governor has reported that the death toll of the blaze is three people. One…
- Songkran News
Officials say Songkran can still go ahead on Khaosan Road this year
Today the Bangkok Post did a story headlined ‘No Songkran on Khaosan Road this year’. What?! No Songkran at Thailand’s most popular water splashing location? The story went on… “Business operators on Khaosan Road have decided to cancel activities for Songkran this year to allow authorities to prepare the area for the coronation of His Majesty the King.” “Shows, merit-making…
- Food
Hyatt Regency open new Spectrum Rooftop Bar in Bangkok
PHOTO: Award-winning Japanese architecture firm Super Potato tops off Hyatt Regency Bangkok Bangkok’s newest rooftop bar opens its doors this week as a sparkling new entry in the list of Bangkok’s top-shelf night spots. Designed by the Japanese design firm Super Potato, the Hyatt Regency Bangkok’s new Spectrum Lounge & Bar is a multi-faceted venue. On three different levels, the expansive…
- Bangkok News
Bangkok woman arrested over credit-card scam
A Bangkok woman has been arrested for allegedly impersonating a bank officer to steal credit card information for online shopping. Police from the Economic Crime Suppression Division arrested 24 year old Manaswi Chanruang at her house on Sukhapibal Road 5 in Bangkok’s Sai Mai district this morning. She was arrested under an arrest warrant issued by the Phra Khanong Court…
- Bangkok News
Bangkok Motor Show opens as Thai car sales move online
PHOTO: New Nissan all-electric LEAF, on display at the Bangkok Motor Show by Kingsley Wijayasinha “Despite the increase in sales online, including new automobiles, we’re not worried that fewer people will show up at the event to purchase vehicles.” More than 1.6 million visitors are expected at this year’s Bangkok International Motor Show, which kicks off today at IMPACT Muangthong…
- Thailand Election News
Anti-Junta bloc announces coalition with at least 255 seats
by Kas Chanwanpen The Pheu Thai Party’s de facto leader Sudarat Keyuraphan has announced this morning that an ‘anti-junta’ bloc had mustered at least 255 MPs from seven parties to form a coalition government. She said their shared aim was to stop the military junta from retaining power. She also said that negotiations are still underway for more parties to…
- Thailand Election News
UN election monitors spread across Bangkok and beyond
PHOTOS: The Nation Foreign observers representing the United Nations have fanned out across the capital and its outskirts today to monitor the long-delayed election. Today’s national election, the first since 2011, is also the first since the military-backed NCPO seized power in May 2014. Four four-member teams wearing pale-blue vests were assigned to polling stations in Bangkok, Nonthaburi and Pathum…
- Bangkok News
BKK taxi driver returns 400,000 baht to Danish tourist
Usually maligned, it’s great to post a good-news story about Bangkok’s taxi drivers. A capital city cabbie is being praised after returning a bag containing 400,000 baht to a Danish tourist. T News reports that Somsri Ralat picked up the Danish tourist and his Thai wife at BKK airport and was taking them to their Hotel in Bang Yai yesterday…
- Bangkok News
Porsche driver charged with reckless driving after death of two women
Bangkok Police have charged a Porsche driver who crashed into a motorcycle, killing two women, one of them also losing her unborn baby and being rushed to hospital, only to die soon after. The accident also damaged a roadside motorcycle-repair shop. The original report from The Thaiger HERE. Police announced that Somkiat Pakdeenok had been charged with reckless driving causing…
- Bangkok News
Reduce Bangkok’s motorcycle death toll by 82% – add dedicated lanes
PHOTOS: Daily News Dedicated motorcycle lanes might be the answer to lowering the death toll around Bangkok’s congested streets. A leading engineer has suggested that Bangkok should introduce motorcycle lanes. The Engineering Institute of Thailand’s Dr Thanet Wirasiri says that Thailand has some of the most dangerous driving conditions in South East Asia – and things were getting worse all…
- Thailand News
Is Thailand falling behind in the startup race? Techsauce Global Summit Bangkok
PHOTO: Oranuch Lerdsuwankij, CEO and co-founder of summit organiser Techsauce Media by Asina Pornwasin Oranuch Lerdsuwankij, CEO and co-founder of summit organiser Techsauce Media, underlined the forthcoming conference’s importance as a platform for tech enthusiasts across different industries to discuss digital knowledge, ideas and experiences. She says the summit is bringing tangible changes to the tech ecosystem across Thailand and…
- Bangkok News
Man allegedly dumps disabled wife on Bangkok roadside
Police have arrested a man after his partially paralysed wife was found on a roadside in Bangkok’s Bang Khen district last night. The husband, Wichai Kasak, claims his wife got out of his car when he stopped to buy dinner. He says that he had then driven around to try to locate her before eventually learning she was at the…
- Bangkok News
Fake Viagra, sex toys seized in raids on Bangkok street markets
Viagra is facing stiff competition from the markets in Bangkok. Police last night arrested eight foreigners and five Thais for allegedly selling fake viagra and sex toys during a search of 17 locations along Bangkok’s Sukhumvit strip. Immigration Bureau chief Lt Gen Surachate Hakparn says the operation took place late last night and into this morning. Crime suppression police and…
- Bangkok News
Co-working space – not just for start-ups
PHOTO: HUBBA-TO co-working space in Bangkok by Thanchanok Phobut | Senior Coordinator, CBRE Thailand CBRE, an international property consultancy company, reveals that co-working space seems to be on the tip of everyone’s tongue these days. There was a time when no-one knew what the term “serviced office” meant or why someone would want such an option. But today, you can’t…
- Bangkok News
Bangkok street racers collide with one dead and 18 injured
PHOTO: Raorak Samut Sakhon Foundation A collision during a late night street race in Bangkok has resulted in the death of one racer and another 18 being injured during a pile up. The dead biker has been identified as 20 year old Jeerasak Chanprieng. The incident took place in the early hours of Sunday (1:15 am) when emergency responders were…
- Bangkok News
More than 500,000 people say goodbye to Thai celebrity cat “Maew Askoe”
Over half a million people have gone online to bid their farewell to one of Thailands more celebrated stray cats. “Maew Asoke” meaning the cat of Asoke (a busy business district along Sukhumvit road in Bangkok) shot to stardom after being repeatedly spotted using the BTS in the area. Whether or not the feline paid for tickets is still in question.…
- Bangkok News
Police raid Nana area in Bangkok – seize sex toys and ‘viagra’ valued at 2 million baht
PHOTO: Daily News 2 million baht worth of sex toys, aphrodisiacs and fake viagra were seized last night (Tuesday) from ten stalls operating in the Nana area of Bangkok. Police teamed up with the military and protection services to execute the raid following several complaints by the public of the vendors (operating in soi 3/1 area) selling illegal items on…
- Bangkok News
Facemasks on sacred statues gets BKK photographer into hot water
PHOTOS: Facebook/Chub Nokkaew Thai photographer Chub Nokkaew is in trouble for defacing Wat Arun’s iconic statues with face masks. Well, not quite… But the retouched photos were done so skilfully it almost resulted in him facing a criminal charge. He was merely using the retouched pics to make a point about Bangkok’s recent air pollution woes. The artwork has received…
- Things To Do
Top 10 world’s busiest flight routes
… and the rising stars So where is the world’s busiest airline route? Beijing to Shanghai? New York to Los Angeles? Eight of the Top 10 routes are based in Asia and nine out of ten of the world’s fastest-growing flight routes are also in Asia. You get the idea. Whilst the US has the world’s largest aviation market it’s…
- Bangkok News
Greenpeace outs Thailand’s worst smog areas
At least 10 suburbs in nine Thai provinces are being called out by pollution watchdog Greenpeace. The organisation has revealed its rankings for 2018 based on a satellite map of PM2.5 concentrations in Thailand and the neighbouring countries of Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia. Greenpeace is calling for the Thai government to improve the Ambient (Outdoor) Air Quality Standards for PM2.5…
- Bangkok News
Australian and Thai transnational drug smugglers drop the ball
PHOTO: The Nation How much heroin can you smuggle in eight (car) shock absorbers? Apparently close to 4 kilograms. A joint Thai-Australian drug suppression operation called Taskforce Storm has yielded results and arrested two transnational heroin smugglers. Police identified the two as 38 year old Canadian Stephens Blair and 27 year old Thai Pahon Sivasirikaroon. The pair were apprehended when they…
- Bangkok News
Bangkok smog: Diesel buses and vehicles key problem
by Wichit Chaitrong “The problem is the estimated 2.5 million diesel-powered trucks and buses still on city roads.” Experts are saying this morning that, given the problems in recent weeks with Bangkok’s smog, the national government’s pursuit of a “low-carbon economy” has fallen short of needs. They are recommending higher taxes on “dirty fuel” and a reduction in the number of…
- Bangkok News
The big ‘fake’ Indian wedding
A police crackdown had led to the arrest of 28 people involved in a marriage scam for Indian nationals who seek to stay in Thailand long term. The suspects include a 53 year old Thai-Indian man who acted as a marriage broker and prepared the documents needed, while the other 27 are Thai women who were allegedly paid 8,000-10,000 baht…
- Bangkok News
UPDATE: Saudi embassy in Bangkok distances itself from al-Qunun story
“Al-Qunun says she doesn’t want to meet with her father or brother.” The Thai immigration police chief yesterday met with Saudi Embassy officials in Bangkok as Saudi Arabia tried to distance itself from accusations that it tried to block a young woman trying to flee her family and seek asylum in Australia. Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun arrived at Suvarnabhumi Airport from…
- Bangkok News
Suicide at Bangkok’s Terminal 21 shopping mall as Italian man jumps from escalator
PHOTO: Living + Nomad 44 year old Federico Maistrello fell to his death yesterday after jumping from an escalator at Bangkok’s Terminal 21 shopping mall. CCTV footage of the incident shows the Italian man coming down the escalators from the sixth to the fifth floor when he decided to jump. He fell in full view of shoppers in the central…
- Food
Bangkok Tonight: La Casa Nostra restaurant pop-up at Small’s Bar
If you live in Bangkok I know that it can be easy to very overwhelmed by all the choices around you, whether it is food, drink or partying, you have a lot of options, but not tonight. Tonight head down to Sathorn’s Soi Suam Plu, for a very special pop-up event being hosted at one of Bangkok’s most celebrated and…
- Bangkok News
Ice-cream promotion ‘For Thai Customers Only’ – Huh?!
PHOTO: Thai Visa An ice cream company outlet in the new Icon Siam mall on the banks of the Chao Phraya in Bangkok, has received backlash after a ‘locals’ promotion was misunderstood by staff resulting in a ‘50% off For Thai Customers only’ sign which sparked great criticism on social media. Stick House (specialising in Italian gelato on a stick) …
- Food
Maravilloso. Taco Bell is coming to Bangkok, but we have options
PHOTOS: BK-Asia, Taco Bell A media release says that Taco Bell is opening its first Thailand location on the first floor of Mercuryville mall in central Bangkok. Partnering with Siam Taco Company, part of TTA (Thoresen Thai Agencies) they bring the Mexican-inspired cuisine to the big mango in early 2019. Although we are all waiting on the edge of our…
- Bangkok News
Bangkok blanketed by smog for at least another day
Bangkok and inner city suburbs continue to be covered in smog for the fifth straight day. The Pollution Control Department (PCD) reported that the amount of particulate matter smaller than 2.5 microns (PM2.5) in 19 roadside areas exceeded the safety limit of 50 micrograms per cubic metre, while nine other places had levels that could negatively impact health. The BMA…
