Tuesday 14 July 2026

Good morning Bangkok. Happy Tuesday.

🌡️ Weather: 26-31°C (79-88°F). Cooler than normal. Scattered showers through the day. High tides from 6PM-10PM through July 19 could cause rivers and canals to overflow. If you live near the Chao Phraya, stay alert this evening.

🌫️ AQI: 89-155 (Moderate to Unhealthy). Elevated today. Mask recommended for extended outdoor time, especially at the upper end.

The video was originally posted on the TikTok account @washizu_aoi1211 and showed the creator pretending to pickpocket real people walking along Khao San Road without their knowledge or consent. The footage was designed to look authentic, with reactions from unsuspecting passersby who believed they were being robbed. After widespread backlash online, the video was deleted from TikTok but was reposted on X by user @DEATHDOL_NOTE, who criticized the content creator for using real people as props. One person featured in the footage filed a formal police complaint.

Bangkok has become a backdrop for international content creators looking for engagement, and the line between entertainment and exploitation is getting crossed more frequently. Staging a fake crime on a public street using real people who do not know they are being filmed is not creativity. It is harassment with a ring light. Khao San Road already carries enough real pickpocketing risk without someone manufacturing fake incidents for views. For the person who filed the police complaint, the experience of believing they were being robbed was real regardless of whether the act was staged. Thai police are investigating, and the content creator's apology came only after the video went viral for the wrong reasons.

Bottom Line: If you are a content creator visiting Bangkok, the city is not your set. The people walking down Khao San Road are not your extras. And if your content idea involves pretending to commit a crime against strangers, the police complaint that follows is not part of the joke.

With more than 20 international schools across Bangkok offering the International Baccalaureate, the question for expat families has never been whether to choose the IB, but where to study it. Bangkok Patana was one of the first schools in Thailand to introduce the IB Diploma Programme and has spent decades building a reputation for consistent academic excellence without the trade-off most high-performing schools make. The school remains academically non-selective, which makes what its 137 IB Diploma candidates achieved in 2026 all the more significant: a 98.5% pass rate, an average score of 36 points, 21% scoring 40 points or above, and one student earning a perfect 45. The school's IBCP students delivered equally strong outcomes, with 90% achieving Distinction or higher. For a school that does not filter its intake by academic ability, these are results that reflect the quality of teaching and the culture inside the building, not the selectivity of admissions.

What makes Bangkok Patana worth paying attention to beyond the numbers is the kind of school it has been for 70 years. It is Thailand's oldest and largest British international school, not-for-profit, home to over 2,300 students from nearly 70 nationalities on a 17-hectare campus in Bangna. Academic success sits alongside a broader commitment to developing globally minded, compassionate and resilient young people. This year's graduating class included children of alumni who were themselves part of the school's first IB cohort, a generational connection that says more about what the school means to its community than any league table ever could. As the Class of 2026 prepares to take its next steps at universities around the world, these results are another chapter in a story that has been building since 1957.

TIP: Bangkok Patana's Year 7 is the most competitive external entry point. If you're considering the school for secondary, applications should be submitted by October-November the year before entry. Visit patana.ac.th for admissions information.

📍 Bangkok Patana School
643 Soi Lasalle, Bang Na Tai, Bang Na, Bangkok 10260
📞 02 785 2200
🌐 patana.ac.th

Organizations across Bangkok are assisting a rising number of foreigners who have found themselves stuck in the city without the funds to leave. The situations vary: some overspent during extended stays, some were victims of scams, some miscalculated their budgets, and others arrived with limited resources expecting to find work that did not materialize. The charities involved are providing temporary accommodation, meals and in some cases coordinating with embassies to arrange repatriation.

The story offers a different angle on the tourism and expat narrative we cover every day. Most of the time this newsletter reports on badly behaved tourists, enforcement crackdowns and international fugitives caught in luxury condos. The stranded travelers are the other side of the same coin: people who came to Thailand with genuine intentions but without enough financial cushion to absorb the unexpected. The Hormuz crisis pushed fares up 45%. The departure fee jumped to ฿1,120. The baht has fluctuated against multiple currencies. For someone traveling on a tight budget, any one of those changes could turn a manageable trip into an unaffordable one. The charities stepping in are doing work that embassies, airlines and travel insurers are not always equipped to handle at short notice.

Bottom Line: If you know someone who is traveling in Thailand on a tight budget, the practical advice is simple: always keep enough money for a flight home in a separate account that you do not touch. Travel insurance is not optional. And if the worst happens, contact your embassy before anything else.

If you have investments and you are not thinking about how taxes eat into your returns, you are leaving money on the table. This free webinar on July 23 breaks it down in an hour.

Your portfolio could be losing more to taxes than you might realize. On July 23, Range’s CFPs and CPAs share the portfolio moves that can help you maximize your after-tax returns — join us live, and bring your questions for Q&A.

Reserve your free spot

^{This webinar is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice or a recommendation to buy, hold, or sell any security. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Range defines "high earners" as households with income over $300k.}

The Local by Oam Thong occupies a restored century-old wooden house on Soi Sukhumvit 23 and has held a Michelin Bib Gourmand for nine consecutive years. The restaurant preserves regional Thai cooking through secret family recipes spanning generations, with more than 70 dishes covering every region of Thailand on a single menu. Inside, the multi-room layout spreads across private salons and a main dining area filled with wicker chairs, period murals and heirloom decor that makes you feel like you are eating in someone's grandmother's house, if that grandmother happened to cook at palace level.

The food brings back recipes that most modern Thai restaurants have abandoned: court-era dishes, provincial specialties and preparations that take the kind of time and care that fast-casual kitchens cannot replicate. Reviewers consistently describe it as "authentic Thai food the way it was meant to taste" with generous portions and service that follows the samrub style, where shared plates arrive together so the table can experience several regions in one sitting. There is also a small antiques museum and a silk shop inside the building, which tells you everything about how seriously the Oamthong family takes preservation. On a Tuesday evening when you want something that feels like history served on a plate, this is the restaurant.

TIP: Reservations recommended, especially on weekends. Walk from BTS Asok Exit 3 in about twelve minutes. The seafood platter and the southern Thai curries are the highlights.

📍 32-32/1 Soi Sukhumvit 23, Khlong Toei Nuea, Watthana, Bangkok 10110
🚇 BTS: Asok (12-minute walk or a quick Grab)
📞 02 664 0664
🕐 Daily 11:30AM-10:30PM
⭐ Michelin Bib Gourmand (9 consecutive years)
🌐 thelocalthaicuisine.com
💰 ~฿600-1,400 per person

Always check opening times before heading out.

Interested in reaching Bangkok's expat community? If you have an upcoming event or volunteer opportunity you think our readers would like, reply to this email and we can feature the event or activity for free.

If you or your business serves or helps expats in Bangkok and you want to get in front of our readers, reply to this email and I will send you our media kit.

Have a good Tuesday, and see you tomorrow morning.

— Patrick