Nyheter fra Thailand - levert av The Guardian
My RSS Feed
- Fake rooms, props and a script to lure victims: inside an abandoned Cambodia scam centre
Sprawling compound, including mock-up banks and police offices, uncovered by Thai military during border clashes
It is as if you have walked into a branch of one of Vietnam’s banks. A row of customer service desks, divided by plastic screens, with landline phones, promotional leaflets and staff business cards. A seated waiting area and a private meeting room. All of it features the OCB bank’s logo, or its trademark green colour.
This is not a genuine bank branch, however. It’s one of various “mock up” rooms inside a sprawling compound on the Thai-Cambodian border, where criminal groups are accused of using elaborate and industrial-scale fraud schemes to trick victims into handing over money.
Continue reading...14 March 14 2026Cybercrimehttps://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/mar/14/inside-abandoned-scam-centre-cambodia-thai-border - Asia scrambles to confront energy crisis unleashed by Iran war – with no end in sight
From fuel caps to four-day work weeks, the Middle East conflict has left the world’s top crude oil importing region desperate to shore up supplies
Donald Trump has scrambled in recent days to reassure the world that the economic impact of his war on Iran can be contained.
Sure, one of the most important waterways in global trade has, in effect, been shut for almost two weeks – but it might reopen before long. In the meantime, US oil-related sanctions on “some countries” will be lifted. And besides, the entire conflict could be over soon.
Continue reading...12 March 12 2026US-Israel war on Iranhttps://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/mar/12/asia-energy-crisis-iran-war - Three merchant ships struck as tensions rise in Hormuz strait amid Iran war
Crew of Thai-registered bulk carrier forced to flee fire, as US says it has destroyed 16 Iranian mine-laying vessels
Three merchant ships have been struck in and around the strait of Hormuz, including a Thai registered bulk carrier that caught fire after leaving a port in the UAE, forcing crew members to evacuate for their safety.
The Mayuree Naree was struck on Wednesday by “two projectiles of unknown origin”, its owners said, as it sailed about 11 nautical miles north of Oman, marking the end of a four-day lull of attacks in the strategic waterway.
Continue reading...11 March 11 2026Strait of Hormuzhttps://www.theguardian.com/news/2026/mar/11/us-iran-strait-of-hormuz-mine-boat-attacks - Meta disables more than 150,000 accounts in crackdown on south-east Asian scam networks
Company also launches tools to spot scammers as Thai police arrest 21 people
Meta disabled more than 150,000 accounts and Thai police arrested 21 people in a sweeping international crackdown on south-east Asian criminal scam centers that targeted people around the world, the social media company said on Wednesday.
The operation was led by Thailand’s Royal Thai police anti-cyber scam center, alongside the FBI and the US justice department’s scam center strike force, with Meta investigators acting on intelligence shared in real time by law enforcement.
Continue reading...11 March 11 2026Metahttps://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/mar/11/meta-south-east-asia-criminal-scam-centers - ‘You can’t hide from the invisible’: why Bangkok police make arrests in disguise
Critics claim the operations are geared at social media, but police say they have enabled real arrests
Police officers from Bangkok’s metropolitan bureau had less than 24 hours to prepare for their latest undercover operation. They would be starring as performers of a lion dance at a temple fair held for the lunar new year. Their mission: track down and arrest a suspected thief who had a history of evading officers.
“The dance was spontaneous. We just did what we did,” said the police captain Lertvarit Lertvorapreecha, adding that nobody had time to practise. In his haste, he accidentally picked up his colleague’s male mask, which he wore with a red silk dress, trousers and tactical shoes.
Continue reading...28 February 28 2026Thailandhttps://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/feb/28/bangkok-police-arrests-in-disguise - Thailand moves to cut sugar in popular drinks amid health drive
Major chains agree to halve default sweetness, but street vendors and cafes remain outside sugar tax rules
A crowd of customers, holding phones aloft, watch intently as Auntie Nid mixes up her bestseller: an iced Thai tea.
Condensed milk is poured into a glass, followed by three heaped tablespoons of sugar, and then freshly strained tea. The end product – a deep orange, creamy treat – is poured into a plastic bag filled with ice.
Continue reading...22 February 22 2026Thailandhttps://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/feb/22/thailand-moves-to-cut-sugar-in-popular-drinks-amid-health-drive - Officials race to contain virus outbreak after 72 captive tigers die in Thailand
Dozens of the animals in Chiang Mai region first began to show signs of illness earlier this month
A highly contagious virus is believed to have caused the deaths of 72 captive tigers in northern Thailand this month, with officials racing to contain the outbreak.
Teams are urgently disinfecting enclosures and preparing to vaccinate surviving animals.
Continue reading...20 February 20 2026Thailandhttps://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/feb/20/virus-outbreak-captive-tigers-die-in-thailand-chiang-mai- - Asos co-founder dies in fall from 18-storey building in Thailand
Police say UK entrepreneur Quentin Griffiths fell from 17th floor of an 18-floor condominium on 9 February
Quentin Griffiths, the co-founder of the online fashion retailer Asos, has died after falling from an apartment building in the Thai seaside resort city of Pattaya.
Police told Reuters that the 58-year-old had fallen from the 17th floor of an 18-storey condominium on 9 February.
Continue reading...20 February 20 2026Thailandhttps://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/feb/20/asos-cofounder-quentin-griffiths-killed-fall-apartment-thailand - Thai police go undercover as lion dancers to catch thief
Officers devise unusual plan to arrest man suspected of stealing about $64,000 worth of Buddhist artefacts
Thai police donned a lion costume during this week’s lunar new year festivities to arrest a man accused of stealing about $64,000 worth of Buddhist artefacts.
Dressed as a red-and-yellow lion, officers made the arrest on Wednesday evening after responding to a report this month of a home burglary in the suburbs of Bangkok.
Continue reading...19 February 19 2026Thailandhttps://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/feb/19/thai-police-undercover-lion-dancers-catch-thief - Lunar new year 2026: year of the fire horse around the world – in pictures
From the heart of Beijing to far-flung Manila, Panama, Moscow and New York, communities around the globe ring in the lunar new year
Continue reading...18 February 18 2026Lunar new yearhttps://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gallery/2026/feb/18/lunar-new-year-2026-in-pictures