Thailand Wants to Cut More Red Tape

🌡️ Weather: 27-35°C (81-95°F). Partly cloudy with afternoon showers. Warming back up after last week's cool spell. Morning is the outdoor window.

🌫️ Air Quality: 68-120 (Good to Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups). At the lower end, clean air. One of the better air quality days this week.

🗞️ TOP STORY

THAILAND IS REVIEWING OVER 100 LAWS THAT THE PRIVATE SECTOR SAYS MAKE IT TOO HARD TO DO BUSINESS HERE.

Khaosod English confirmed on July 31 that the Thai government is working through more than 100 regulations identified by the private sector as barriers to starting, operating and growing businesses in Thailand. The review covers licensing requirements, permit processes, reporting obligations and administrative procedures that companies have flagged as unnecessarily complex, duplicative or outdated. The initiative is part of a broader effort to improve Thailand's competitiveness at a time when Vietnam and the Philippines are actively courting the same foreign investment.

For expats who run businesses in Bangkok or have considered starting one, this is the most practically relevant policy story of the month. Anyone who has registered a company, applied for a work permit, dealt with the Foreign Business Act or navigated the tax filing system knows that the difficulty is often not the law itself but the layers of interpretation and paperwork wrapped around it. Over 100 laws being reviewed simultaneously signals that the government recognizes the problem is structural rather than isolated. This review sits alongside the Foreign Business Act reform moving through Cabinet, the BOI's approval of 640 foreign businesses worth ฿187 billion in the first half of the year, and the Visa Destinations program making Thailand the global pilot for cashless tourism payments. The direction is clear. Whether the review produces meaningful simplification or just shuffles the same requirements into new forms will determine whether the effort matters.

Bottom line: the government is looking at over 100 laws that businesses say slow them down. If the review leads to real simplification, it changes the daily operating experience for every company in the country. If it does not, it joins the long list of reform announcements that generated headlines but not results. Watch for which laws are actually changed and when.

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A MAN ACCUSED OF FOLLOWING A WOMAN THROUGH A BANGKOK SHOPPING MALL AND FILMING BENEATH HER SKIRT TOLD POLICE HE WAS PLAYING POKÉMON GO.

A Thai woman shared CCTV footage on social media showing a man following her through a shopping mall in Bangkok. The footage, captured from multiple security cameras across different floors of the mall, shows the man walking closely behind her and holding his phone at a low angle. She noticed the behavior, confronted him and contacted security. When mall security and later police questioned the suspect, he told them he had been playing Pokémon GO on his phone and that the footage had been misinterpreted.

The CCTV footage does not support the explanation. The cameras show him tracking her movements across the mall rather than walking a route consistent with chasing digital creatures on a screen. Pokémon GO players walk in patterns dictated by the game's map, stopping at PokéStops and Gyms. They do not follow a single person through a building for an extended period with their phone angled downward. The woman's decision to post the footage publicly rather than rely solely on a police report reflects a pattern that has become increasingly common in Bangkok: victims of harassment using social media to hold suspects accountable when they feel the formal process may not be enough. The post gained significant traction, and the case is now under investigation.

Bottom line: if you are going to claim you were playing a game, the CCTV footage needs to support the claim. This footage does not. The case is a reminder that security cameras in Bangkok shopping malls are extensive, high-resolution and continuously recording. Whatever you do inside a mall, someone can see it. And if you harass someone, they can share it.

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⚡ QUICK HITS

Trump has paused further strikes on Iran while negotiators seek a nuclear agreement and the full reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. This is the first genuinely positive signal from the Hormuz crisis since it began disrupting Bangkok flights and fuel prices in February. If the negotiations produce a deal, the airline seat cuts, route suspensions and fuel surcharges that have defined air travel out of Bangkok this year could begin to ease. Nothing is agreed yet, and the region has produced false starts before. But the pause in military action and the resumption of nuclear talks represent the most constructive moment since the crisis began.

Thailand opened public consultation on extending maternity leave. The Department of Labour Protection and Welfare published a draft regulation that would extend maternity provisions for Thai workers. The consultation is open for public input, which means the regulation could still change before it takes effect. For working parents in Bangkok, the policy direction is progressive and worth tracking.

SRT Bangkok Connex completed its first weekend. The air-conditioned commuter service from Krung Thep Aphiwat to Ayutthaya launched on Saturday and ran through the weekend at promotional fares of ฿30-50. Early rider feedback has been positive. If you have not tried it yet, the promotional pricing runs through October 31.

Finance Minister says Thailand is not severely impacted by the US tariff round. The 12.5% tariff on Thai exports took effect July 24, but the Finance Ministry says the broader economy can absorb the impact without significant disruption. Whether that confidence holds through Q3 earnings season will be the real test.

☕ SPOT OF THE DAY

RISE COFFEE (ONE BANGKOK)

Rise Coffee sits in the basement of The Storeys at One Bangkok, the massive mixed-use development on Witthayu Road that has been reshaping the Lumphini-Ploenchit corridor since it opened. The cafe operates with a philosophy that treats coffee as a craft product rather than a commodity, and the 4.9-star rating across 772 Google reviews suggests the approach is working. At that rating and that volume, nearly every person who walks in walks out satisfied, which for a coffee shop in a high-traffic development is not something that happens by accident.

The menu keeps things focused. Specialty coffee, precision brewing. The space is clean, modern and designed for people who want a good cup without the performance that some specialty cafes wrap around the experience. You walk in, you order, you drink something well-made, and you leave feeling like your day started off right. On a morning when the air quality is decent and the temperature is still comfortable, Rise Coffee is the kind of quiet, no-fuss start to the week that sets the right tone.

→ See the menu and find them here ←

Insider tip: go at 8AM opening for the shortest queue. The basement location keeps it cooler than street-level cafes. If you are exploring One Bangkok for the first time, start here.

📍 B1, The Storeys, One Bangkok, Witthayu Road, Lumphini, Pathum Wan, Bangkok 10330
📞 094 187 4000
🕐 Opens 8AM daily
⭐ 4.9 stars (772 Google reviews) | ฿95-200
🌐 rise.coffee

Always check opening times before heading out.

📅 WHAT'S ON

See you tomorrow morning.

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