Friday 26 June 2026

Good morning Bangkok. Happy Friday.

🌡️ Weather: 28-36°C (82-97°F). Hot and humid with scattered thundershowers from mid-afternoon. Good morning to be outside. Umbrella in the bag.

🌫️ AQI: 68-127 (Good to Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups). At the lower end, decent air. Morning is the best window.

About 10 people, mostly government officials, were arrested at a house in Bang Yai district, Nonthaburi province, after police and National Anti-Corruption Commission officials raided the property at 6PM on Monday. Officers found 18 computers and the answer sheets of approximately 3,000 examination participants. The suspects were allegedly tampering with answer sheets to ensure applicants passed a local government entrance exam held nationwide in February last year, when the Department of Local Administration was recruiting 6,669 officials.

The gang charged exam takers from 350,000 to 800,000 baht each, depending on the desired position. They were paid to rig the answer sheets of about 3,000 exam candidates and had already done so for about 2,000 applicants. At the top end, that means a single candidate paid ฿800,000 for a guaranteed government job. Multiply that across 3,000 participants and the total revenue reaches into the billions. The operation was not a small-time scam. It was an industrialized corruption machine with 18 computers, a house full of government officials doing the rigging, and a client list of thousands of people who decided that buying their way into public service was worth more than earning it. For anyone who has ever dealt with a Thai government office and wondered about the person behind the counter, this story reframes that interaction.

Bottom Line: 3,000 candidates. ฿350,000 to ฿800,000 each. Government officials doing the rigging. If even half of the 2,000 already-processed applicants are now in government positions, there are over a thousand Thai civil servants currently holding jobs they paid a criminal gang to obtain. The NACC and police moved on this one. The question is what happens to the people who are already in the system.

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Thai police arrested Mr. Dogan, a 38-year-old French national, at his luxury seaside villa in Cha-am, Phetchaburi province on June 21. He was wanted by Interpol in connection with an online investment fraud scheme that allegedly caused losses totaling approximately 8 billion baht. The arrest was coordinated between Thai immigration police and international law enforcement agencies. Dogan had reportedly been living in Thailand for an extended period, using the country as a base while evading prosecution in France.

The arrest adds another name to the growing list of international fugitives caught in Thailand this year: a Chinese trafficking gang leader at a Bangkok hotel, a Nigerian drug network leader at a luxury condo, a South Korean telecom fraud suspect in Ramkhamhaeng, and now a French investment fraudster at a beach villa in Cha-am. The pattern is unmistakable. Thailand's cooperation with Interpol and international law enforcement is producing results at a pace that has clearly reached the attention of foreign governments, hence Russia's advisory to its citizens to avoid the country if they face US prosecution. For the ฿8 billion in alleged victims, the arrest in Cha-am is the beginning of a long legal process. For anyone watching from Bangkok, it is further evidence that the luxury villa, the beachside lifestyle and the assumption of anonymity are no longer enough to stay hidden in Thailand.

Bottom Line: ฿8 billion in alleged fraud. A luxury Cha-am villa. An Interpol red notice. And a country that is now catching fugitives fast enough that other governments are issuing travel warnings about it. Thailand's enforcement story in 2026 is not slowing down. It is accelerating.

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The name makes no sense until you walk in, and then it still makes no sense, but by that point you are holding a gin cocktail good enough that you stop caring. Teens of Thailand is Thailand's first gin bar, tucked inside a converted shophouse on Soi Nana in Chinatown, not the Sukhumvit Nana you are thinking of. The bar helped pioneer the Charoenkrung-Chinatown creative cocktail scene and has held a spot on Asia's 50 Best Bars since 2016, which for a bar this small and this unassuming is a statement about what is in the glass rather than what is on the walls. The space is minimal, dark and deliberately no-frills. No bottle service. No DJ booth. No VIP section. Just serious gin-based cocktails made with rare, hand-carried bottles, served by bartenders who know every spirit on the shelf and are happy to talk you through them. SilverKris (Singapore Airlines' magazine) called it "Chinatown's trailblazing gin bar." Google reviewers land on the same words: "incredible atmosphere," "cool staff," "tasty gin-based cocktails." The 4.4-star rating across 845 reviews and the 4.8 on Facebook across 104 votes reflect a bar that earned its reputation through the drinks, not the decor. For a Friday night when you want something that feels like a discovery rather than a destination, Teens of Thailand is the antithesis of every Thonglor bottle-service spot in the city, and that is exactly why it works.

TIP: Tell the bartender what spirits you like and let them build something. The gin menu is the deepest in Bangkok. Go before 9PM for a seat. The space is small and fills fast on Fridays. Address: 76 Soi Nana (Rammaitree), Pom Prap Sattru Phai, Bangkok 10100. Hours: Open daily until 1AM. Rating: 4.4 stars, 845 Google reviews. Asia's 50 Best Bars. Price: ฿200-1,000 per person.

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Have a great Friday, and see you tomorrow morning.

— Patrick