Monday 18 May 2026

.

🌡️ Weather: 28-33°C (82-91°F). Cooler than last week as cloud cover and scattered showers continue across Bangkok and upper Thailand. TMD forecasts rain on and off through Wednesday. A good week for morning plans.

🌫️ AQI: 42-120 (Good to Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups). At the lower end this is the cleanest air the city has seen since early April. At the upper end, sensitive groups should still check local sensors. Overall a genuinely good day to be outside, particularly in the morning.

The collision occurred at approximately 3:40PM on Saturday, May 16, on Asok-Din Daeng Road between the Rama IX and Asok-Phetchaburi intersections, near the Airport Rail Link Makkasan station. Freight train No. 2126, carrying containers from Laem Chabang Port to Bang Sue Junction, struck a BMTA Route 206 bus (Kasetsart University to Mega Bangna) and a motorcycle at the level crossing. The bus, a 28-year-old NGV-powered Euro II HINO vehicle, had stopped on the railway tracks while waiting at a red light amid heavy traffic on the surrounding road network. Because the bus was positioned across the tracks, the crossing barrier was unable to descend. The freight train, heavily loaded with containers, could not brake in time. The impact triggered a massive fire, with explosions heard as flames reached the fuel tank. The train pushed the wreckage approximately 50 metres along the tracks, striking several nearby cars and motorcycles and spreading fire to adjacent vehicles. Firefighters brought the blaze under control by 3:59PM.

Rescue workers discovered the bodies of eight passengers inside the burned-out bus. The bodies were transported to the Police General Hospital after 7PM for formal identification. Thirty-five people in surrounding cars and motorcycles were injured, two critically. PM Anutin Charnvirakul, Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt and BMTA Director Kittikan Chomduang Jaruworapolkul were all at the scene to oversee the emergency response. Anutin ordered an immediate investigation. The Office of Insurance Commission contacted the bus's insurers, Dhipaya Insurance and Muang Thai Insurance, to expedite compensation for victims and families. Six train services were disrupted, with the SRT arranging bus transfers for stranded passengers. Al Jazeera noted this is the second major rail incident in Thailand in the past six months, and authorities are now reviewing radio communications between the barrier operator and the train driver amid reports that contact was not established before the collision.

Bottom Line: The Makkasan crossing is used by tens of thousands of vehicles every day. The fact that a public bus could become trapped on railway tracks in traffic, with no mechanism to prevent a collision once the bus was stuck, is a systemic failure that cost eight people their lives on a Saturday afternoon. The investigation will determine whether the barrier operator and the train driver communicated before the crossing, and whether the 28-year-old bus should still have been in service. For anyone who drives, rides or commutes through Bangkok's remaining level crossings, the lesson from Saturday is stark: if traffic ahead of a crossing is not moving, do not enter the crossing. The bus that stopped on the tracks had nowhere to go. The train behind it could not stop.

THAIFEX, Anuga Asia 2026 runs May 26-30 at IMPACT Challenger in Muang Thong Thani, bringing together food and beverage companies, buyers, distributors and industry professionals from across the region and beyond. The event has grown into one of the most significant trade shows in the global food industry calendar, and this year's edition expands to 12 exhibition halls, the largest footprint in the event's history. The exhibitor count of 3,300+ and the projected 88,000+ visitor figure both reflect Bangkok's position not just as a city that eats well but as the commercial infrastructure hub that connects food producers across Southeast Asia to global markets.

The timing carries additional weight this year. Thailand's food sector is navigating simultaneous pressures from the Hormuz crisis driving up logistics and input costs, the Super El Nino threatening agricultural output, a record durian surplus the country cannot sell, rice exports heading for a five-year low, and poultry exports under pressure from Chinese plant suspensions. THAIFEX is where the business conversations behind those headlines happen: the trade deals, the logistics partnerships, the new market entry strategies that determine whether Thai food producers can adapt to a landscape that has shifted significantly in the past three months. Bangkok was named Best Country for Food in the World by Condé Nast Traveler and placed nine restaurants on Asia's 50 Best list this year. THAIFEX is the trade engine underneath those accolades.

Bottom Line: THAIFEX is primarily a trade event, not a consumer fair, but if you work in food, hospitality, distribution or anything connected to Thailand's food supply chain, this is the most important week of the year at IMPACT. Registration is available at thaifex-anuga.com. For the rest of the readership, knowing that 3,300 companies and 88,000 people are converging on Muang Thong Thani from May 26 means planning around traffic in that area for the week.

Paste Bangkok holds a Michelin star for doing something that very few restaurants in the city attempt: cooking royal Thai cuisine drawn from recipes that are 200 years old, sourced from the era of King Rama II, and presenting them with the technical precision and modern awareness that makes the food feel alive rather than preserved. Chef Bee Satongun, who was named Asia's Best Female Chef in 2018, leads the kitchen alongside her husband Chef Jason Bailey, and the menu draws from historical court recipes that were originally created for royal audiences, reimagined with contemporary technique and seasonal Thai ingredients. The flavors are intricate, layered and distinctly different from the Thai food most Bangkok residents eat every day, which is exactly the point: this is the cuisine that existed before street food dominated the conversation, and experiencing it is like reading a chapter of Thai culinary history that most menus have forgotten. The third-floor location at Gaysorn Village places Paste directly above BTS Chit Lom, making it one of the most accessible Michelin-starred restaurants in the city for a weekday lunch or evening dinner. The room is elegant without being stiff, and the service matches the food's attention to detail without overwhelming it.

TIP: The lunch set is significantly more affordable than the dinner tasting menu and gives a strong introduction to the cuisine. Book ahead for dinner, particularly on Fridays and Saturdays.

See you tomorrow morning.

— Devon