Bangkok Is Getting a Pokémon Center. And the Merch Is Going to Be Exclusive.

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BANGKOK IS GETTING ITS FIRST POKÉMON CENTER. IT OPENS IN DECEMBER ON THE 6TH FLOOR OF CENTRALWORLD. THE SIGNATURE POKÉMON IS SHAYMIN.

The official Pokémon Company confirmed this week that Bangkok's first Pokémon Center will open in December 2026 on the 6th floor of CentralWorld, making it one of only a handful of official Pokémon Centers outside Japan. The Bangkok branch will feature Shaymin, the gratitude-themed Grass-type Legendary Pokémon from the Sinnoh region, as its signature character. The store will sell exclusive Bangkok-edition merchandise, plush toys, apparel, trading cards and collectibles that are not available through standard retail or online stores.

Pokémon Centers are not regular shops. They are destination retail experiences that draw fans from across countries and generate tourism in the cities where they operate. Tokyo's Pokémon Center Mega in Ikebukuro attracts millions of visitors annually, while Singapore's Jewel Changi Airport location became a tourist landmark after opening. Bangkok joining the list tells you two things: the Pokémon Company sees Thailand as a big enough market for a permanent store, and CentralWorld's position as one of Bangkok's busiest shopping complexes makes it a logical address. For expat families with children, this is December's most exciting announcement. For adults who grew up with Pokémon Red and Blue, it is the store you did not know you were waiting for. For CentralWorld, it is another anchor that can bring in a demographic no luxury brand can reach. The December opening also falls during peak tourist season, which is probably not a coincidence.

Bottom line: Pokémon Center Bangkok. December. CentralWorld 6F. Shaymin. If you have children, mark the calendar. If you do not have children but still know what a Snorlax is, mark it anyway.

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Highway Police commander Pol Maj Gen Pornsak Laorujiralai announced at a press conference on Wednesday that officers have detected a network smuggling scam center workers through Thailand to Malaysia. Since February, five separate arrests have resulted in the detention of 26 suspects: 20 illegal Chinese migrants and six Thai drivers hired to transport them. The route runs from the Cambodian border through central and southern Thailand, with destinations in Hat Yai, Chana and other districts in Songkhla province near the Malaysian border.

The details of the arrests tell the story. In February, highway police stopped two vehicles in Chumphon carrying eight Chinese nationals with no travel documents but approximately 150 mobile phones. In July, an illegal Chinese migrant in a Toyota Fortuner in Surat Thani turned out to be wanted for fraud in Taiwan. In August, a van with drawn curtains was carrying five Chinese men who had paid two Thai drivers ฿20,000 for the trip to Songkhla. Two were wanted for online scams in China. This Tuesday, September 15, officers arrested a Thai driver in Chumphon transporting two Chinese migrants whose phones contained videos of scam workers being beaten with baseball bats and shocked with electric batons. The videos are believed to show punishment inside Cambodian scam compounds. Malaysian police raided 32 premises in late July and found similar operations already running there. The picture is clear: as Cambodia cracks down, the scam industry does not simply disappear. It relocates. And the transit route goes through Thailand.

Bottom line: The scam industry is not being destroyed. It is being pushed. From Myanmar to Cambodia. From Cambodia through Thailand. From Thailand to Malaysia. Each crackdown moves the problem rather than solving it. Thailand is now both a target for scam operations and a highway for scam workers heading somewhere else. The 150 phones in a car in Chumphon are the evidence. The baseball bat videos are the context.

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DTV confusion: different Thai embassies are applying different rules to Destination Thailand Visa applications. Applicants report that some embassies require proof of remote employment while others accept freelance income. Some ask for specific financial thresholds that are not listed in the official requirements. Others reject applications that a neighboring embassy would approve. The DTV, Thailand's 5-year multiple-entry visa for remote workers, was supposed to simplify long-term stays. Instead, the inconsistent application process is creating a lottery where the outcome depends on which embassy you apply through rather than whether you qualify.

Japan's TSUTAYA BOOKSTORE opens its first Thailand branch on October 20 at One Bangkok. The Japanese lifestyle bookstore chain, which operates over 1,000 locations in Japan, is partnering with Asia Books to stock more than 50,000 titles alongside its signature cafe and lifestyle product curation. TSUTAYA stores are designed as spaces to browse, read and linger rather than just buy. The One Bangkok location will be one of the chain's first international branches outside Japan and adds another anchor to a development that is rapidly becoming one of Bangkok's most ambitious mixed-use projects.

Thai billboards appeared across Tokyo this week featuring Asian Games uniforms and national dress ahead of a cultural showcase at Tokyo National Museum on September 17-18. Thailand promoting its culture on billboards in Japan's capital is soft power operating at the city level. The showcase coincides with broader Thai-Japanese cultural and economic cooperation that has deepened throughout 2026.

An illegal laughing gas factory was busted in Bangkok. Officers found equipment for manufacturing nitrous oxide at a facility producing canisters for recreational use. Laughing gas has become increasingly popular in Bangkok's nightlife scene, and factory-level production suggests the demand has moved well beyond individual use into organized supply. The operator faces charges for manufacturing a controlled substance without a license.

🍽️ SPOT OF THE DAY

LE DU KAAN (THE EMPIRE, SATHORN)

Le Du Kaan is the casual sibling of Chef Ton Thitid Tassanakajohn's Michelin-starred Le Du on Silom, and it sits on the 56th floor of The Empire on South Sathorn Road with panoramic views of Bangkok that compete with the food for your attention. Where Le Du operates as a tasting-menu fine dining experience, Le Du Kaan takes the same kitchen philosophy and applies it to a menu you can order from freely: pad thai, crispy pork belly, spicy lemongrass dishes, blue crab fried rice, Thai crab curry noodles and a papaya salad that proves the simplest dishes benefit most from a chef who overthinks them in the right way.

The 4.5-star rating across 2,075 Google reviews at ฿2,000+ tells you the experience holds up at volume. "Sophisticated Thai cuisine with stunning presentation," one reviewer wrote. Another described "stunning food and unreal views of Bangkok" and recommended booking the sunset slot. A third said simply: "delicious Thai food with a beautiful view. Will be coming back for sure." Le Du Kaan opens daily and runs until 1AM, which makes it one of the few elevated Thai dining options that works as both a dinner destination and a late-night kitchen. The 56th floor puts you one level below Nobu in the same building, and the choice between Japanese-Peruvian fusion upstairs and modern Thai downstairs is the kind of problem Bangkok's dining scene specializes in creating.

→ See their menu and find them here ←

Insider tip: reserve ahead. Request the sunset slot for the best light across the skyline. The pad thai and crispy pork belly are the must-orders. Kitchen open until 1AM. Same building as Nobu.

📍 56F The Empire, 1 South Sathorn Road, Yan Nawa, Sathon, Bangkok 10120
📞 02 407 1654
🕐 Open daily, closes 1AM
⭐ 4.5 stars (2,075 Google reviews) | ฿2,000+
🌐 ledukaan.com

Always check opening times before heading out.

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