Thursday 14 May 2026

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🌡️ Weather: 28-37°C (82-99°F). Morning starts cool before a hot afternoon builds. TMD forecasts isolated thundershowers across upper Thailand through tomorrow. Cloud cover increasing from the south. Morning remains the best outdoor window.

🌫️ AQI: 68-147 (Moderate to Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups). Wide range. At the lower end this is genuinely clean air. At the upper end, mask recommended. Check your local sensor before committing to plans.

On May 1, a man and a woman arrived at Pata Zoo, the private zoo on the 6th and 7th floors of Pata Pinklao Department Store in Bang Phlat, at approximately 10:40AM carrying a blue backpack containing a baby squirrel monkey. Since pets are not permitted inside, they left the monkey at the ticket counter. After entering, CCTV footage shows the pair changing into black jackets featuring the McDonald's logo before heading directly to the exotic animal zone. The woman pried open a reptile enclosure with her bare hands while using the jacket to block visibility. The man did the same with a second enclosure. They removed a Chinese crocodile lizard and a tiger salamander, placed both animals into their backpack, collected the monkey from the entrance and left. The squirrel monkey, zoo staff later determined, had likely been stolen from another Bangkok venue, Peuan Deratchan Mini Zoo, which reported a missing monkey named March at around the same time.

Pata Zoo posted sketch images of the suspects on its Facebook page on May 6, along with a warning that has since become the most quoted line of the week: "Please be aware of this, both of you! The animals at Pata Zoo are no different from John Wick's dogs." Police identified the suspects as Raiwin Sikaewkun and Warisara Waiprasert, both aged between 23 and 25, and arrested them at a rented room in Don Mueang on May 7. Inside the room, officers found numerous exotic animals beyond the stolen reptiles. Bangkok Post reported that the couple had been exchanging animals for drugs. The Chinese crocodile lizard is listed under CITES Appendix I in China, is classified as highly endangered, and sells on the black market for ฿20,000 to ฿40,000 per animal. All three stolen animals were recovered safely.

Bottom Line: The story is absurd, the details are cinematic, and the zoo's John Wick comparison deserves acknowledgment. But the underlying issue is real: exotic animal theft and trafficking in Bangkok is a functioning market connected to the drug trade, and the fact that a CITES-listed species can be removed from a zoo enclosure by hand during visiting hours should concern anyone who cares about the animals kept in these facilities. The suspects face one to five years imprisonment and fines up to ฿100,000 under Section 335(3) of the Criminal Code.

The King and Queen of Thailand presided over the ceremony at Sanam Luang yesterday morning, May 13, as Ploughing Lord Vinaroj Supsongsuk led the sacred oxen Phra Kho Pho and Phra Kho Phiang through nine ceremonial circuits of the field between 8:09AM and 8:39AM. Four celestial maidens scattered blessed rice seed as the oxen ploughed. In the cloth prediction, the Ploughing Lord drew the longest fabric (6 khuep, approximately 1.5 metres), which royal astrologers interpret as limited rainfall this year, predicting strong yields for lowland rice fields but possible damage and reduced harvests in upland farming areas. After the ploughing, the oxen were offered seven symbolic items: rice, maize, beans, sesame seeds, grass, water and Thai rice liquor. They chose beans, sesame seeds, water and liquor, predicting abundant food supplies, convenient transport, improved foreign trade and a prosperous economy.

The predictions carry a fascinating tension this year. The cloth forecast for limited rainfall directly aligns with the Super El Nino warnings and the 57% cumulative rainfall deficit we have been covering since late April, which makes the ancient ceremony and the modern climate science agree on the weather outlook. But the oxen's choice of liquor, which traditionally signals strong trade and economic prosperity, arrives against a 57% export collapse to the Middle East, 9.3 million airline seats cut globally, GDP at 1.5%, inflation at a 38-month high and a ฿400 billion emergency borrowing decree moving through parliament. Thousands of spectators rushed onto the field after the ceremony to collect sacred rice seeds for good luck, a tradition as old as the ceremony itself. The Rice Department distributed 5.1 tonnes of royal rice seeds from seven varieties grown at the Chitralada Villa Royal Residence.

Bottom Line: The Royal Ploughing Ceremony has been running since the Sukhothai period, over 700 years ago, and it connects modern Thailand to its agricultural roots in a way no policy announcement can replicate. The predictions are symbolic, but symbols matter, and this year the ceremony's dry-rainfall forecast and the climate data are telling the same story. Whether the oxen's optimism about trade and prosperity proves prophetic or aspirational will be clearer by September, when the rainy season ends and the harvest begins.

Piccolo Vicolo means "little alley" in Italian, and the Old Town branch lives up to it: three interconnected four-storey shophouses along the Khlong Ong Ang canal, converted from a former machine storage site into one of the most interesting multi-level cafe spaces Bangkok has produced. The ground floor is the coffee and pastry bar, with indoor seating and canal-side tables that catch the breeze off the water. The second floor is a library-like co-working space with shelves, quiet corners and enough plugs to make a laptop session feel intentional rather than tolerated. The third floor opens into a plant-filled terrace with views across the Old Town rooftops. The fourth floor is Poco House, a private suite stay for anyone who wants to turn a cafe visit into an overnight. The coffee is the real draw: specialty single-origin options alongside house blends, with the Black Coconut and the Matcha Coconut cited by multiple reviewers as the signatures worth ordering first. Pastries include a lemon tart and a Basque cheesecake that come up consistently across reviews. The concept is "Discovery and Treasuring," which sounds like marketing until you walk through the space and realise it describes what actually happens when you spend an hour moving between floors and finding a new corner each time. The 4.7-star Google rating reflects a cafe that has earned its following through the quality of both the coffee and the experience of being there. On a Thursday morning in Phra Nakhon when the tourist crowds have not yet arrived, this is one of the best cafes in the city.

TIP: Go before 11AM on weekdays for the quietest experience. The third-floor terrace is the best seat in the house.

(Confirm times and ticketing directly before heading out.)

See you tomorrow morning.

— Devon