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- A Useful Ghost review – exhilarating black comedy summons ghosts of Thai past via a haunted hoover
Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke’s stylish and unique movie features an unquiet spirit that inhabits a vacuum cleaner, before political interests intervene
Here is a stylish and exhilaratingly confident debut from 39-year-old Thai film-maker Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke, which won the critics’ week grand prize at Cannes last year. It is a supernatural black-comic fantasy of national grief executed with passion and panache, about the ghosts who have refused their afterlife confinement after the country’s succeeding catastrophes: the bloody results of a military crackdown in 2010, coup d’etats in 2006 and 2014, and before them, the 1976 Thammasat University demonstrations, along with loved ones that went to an unquiet grave of their own.
A Useful Ghost is heartfelt and elegant in its compositional flair; dreamlike tableaux are crisply juxtaposed in the edit and the whole effect is disquieting, erotic and terribly sad. It’s in some ways a humorous twist on the serious spiritual realities laid out in the movies of Thai master Joe Weerasethakul, like Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives and Cemetery of Splendour. And you might also sense the spectral shimmer of western films like Ghost and Truly, Madly, Deeply.
Continue reading...20 July 20 2026Filmhttps://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/jul/20/a-useful-ghost-review-exhilarating-black-comedy-pits-thai-politics-against-a-haunted-hoover - Bangkok bar fire: death toll reaches 30 as police say negligence is ‘primary theory’
Bar owner offers ‘deepest apologies’ as police investigate whether exits were either blocked or hard to access
The Bangkok pub that became the scene of the city’s deadliest blaze in 17 years has said it will cooperate with an investigation into alleged negligence, as the death toll rose to 30.
The local district office said on Tuesday that three more people had died after the devastating fire that broke out in the early hours of Monday. An initial assessment by disaster officials found an electrical short circuit in an air conditioner located in the ceiling had caused the fire.
Continue reading...14 July 14 2026Thailandhttps://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jul/14/bangkok-bar-pub-fire-death-toll-thailand - At least 27 killed in fire at Bangkok pub with another 22 critically injured
The fire is one of the deadliest such incidents in the popular tourist destination in recent years
An explosive fire at a popular pub in Thailand’s capital, Bangkok, has killed 27 people and left another 22 in critical condition, in one of the deadliest such incidents in the tourism hub in recent years.
Officials said they were investigating whether emergency exits may have been obstructed, hindering people from escaping the burning Rong Beer Na Lat Phrao pub.
Continue reading...13 July 13 2026Thailandhttps://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jul/12/at-least-27-killed-in-blaze-at-bangkok-pub-thai-officials-say - People flee as flames erupt from Bangkok pub fire - video
Footage has captured flames surging from a pub during a fire in Thailand's capital. At least 27 people were killed and 22 others critically injured in the blaze, which occurred late on Sunday. The incident has been described by officials as the deadliest in the tourism hub in recent years
Continue reading...13 July 13 2026Thailandhttps://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2026/jul/13/bangkok-fire-pub-thailand-video - Inside Thailand’s animal rescue network saving strays – photo essay
Thailand’s urban and rural environments are home to a vast population of stray animals whose safety depends on delicate networks of care. Photographer Jackson Morrow spent three years with the Soi Dog Foundation documenting the systems that shape their survival.
Some readers may find these images distressing
It’s after midnight and Dr Bow is already awake when her phone starts to ring. She sleeps lightly when she is on call, and she knows who is calling before she picks up the phone.
Two dogs, recently rescued from an illegal dog meat trade sale, breathe through holes cut into canvas sacks as a trader kneels before the local police chief following an enforcement operation in Bulacan, Philippines.
Continue reading...13 July 13 2026Thailandhttps://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2026/jul/13/thailand-animal-rescue-foundation-photo-essay - Thai prime minister visits site of Bangkok pub fire that killed at least 27 people - video
At least 27 people have died in a fire at a Bangkok pub, Thailand's prime minister, Anutin Charnvirakul, says. 'Right now, we have been able to bring the deceased bodies out. For that, there were already 27 bodies,' Anutin told reporters at the scene. 'The rest were sent to hospitals already, and we are still checking their conditions.'
Anutin said based on survivor accounts, the pub rapidly filled with smoke after the fire broke out just before midnight on Sunday, forcing patrons to run to the back of the venue near the bathrooms where they became trapped
Continue reading...13 July 13 2026Thailandhttps://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2026/jul/13/thai-prime-minister-visits-site-of-bangkok-pub-fire-that-killed-at-least-27-people-video - ‘It’s good to do nothing’: why hundreds gathered to sit still on one Bangkok weekend
Responding to a Facebook event which promised a chance to ‘escape’ the screen, young people turned out in Thailand’s capital to spend an hour being ‘useless’
Bangkok is a city thrumming with an energy you can feel from its skyscrapers to the street, but an invitation last week to change the pace and do nothing drew hundreds to the lush green oasis in its centre.
On beanbags, fold up chairs and picnic mats in Lumphini Park on 4 July, people laid back looking at the sky, while others sat upright facing the lake. One examined a twig, a few dozed off and only a handful checked their phones.
Continue reading...10 July 10 2026Thailandhttps://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jul/11/its-good-to-do-nothing-why-hundreds-gathered-to-sit-still-on-one-bangkok-weekend - ‘They ate the shrimp, they even ate the crab’: Thai fishers count the cost of a voracious invader
Huge numbers of blackchin tilapia, a fish native to west Africa, are wreaking havoc among Thailand’s river ecosystems. Experts – and some chefs – are seeking sustainable solutions
The menu at Kor-Tae seafood restaurant, in Thailand’s Samut Prakan province, is filled with Thai classics – from tom yum talay, a fragrant hot and sour soup, to spicy larb salads. But the restaurant’s chef is also experimenting with a more controversial ingredient: blackchin tilapia.
“People are hesitant, but once they try it – [they say] it’s delicious,” says owner Adisorn Jamsuksaward, who has been offering the non-native fish free of charge to friends who request it.
Continue reading...5 July 05 2026Invasive specieshttps://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jul/05/blackchin-tilapia-thailand-invasive-fish-fishers-count-cost-aoe - UK woman, 21, arrested in Thailand after allegedly stabbing boyfriend to death
Officers found body of 34-year-old man in luxury rental home in Pattaya area, local media says
A 21-year-old British woman has been arrested in Thailand after allegedly fatally stabbing her boyfriend, according to local media reports.
The Bangkok Post reported that on Thursday morning local time, officers found the body of a 34-year-old man, who operated a cannabis farm, in a luxury rental home in the Pattaya area, a beachside region two hours from Bangkok known for its large expat population and nightlife.
Continue reading...4 July 04 2026Thailandhttps://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jul/04/uk-woman-arrested-thailand-pattaya-man-stabbed - In Thailand’s sex tourism hub, bright lights flash, loud music blares – and underage girls are exploited
The death of a Thai girl has highlighted the dangers of the country’s illegal but ‘normalised’ sex tourism trade
Sky Kanyarat was playing pool in the early hours of the morning in one of Thailand’s most famous red light districts when a middle-aged foreigner with a heavy gait approached her.
She had often seen him walking past the bar where she worked in Pattaya, a city about a two-hour drive from Bangkok. But this was the first time Kanyarat had seen him come in.
Continue reading...3 July 03 2026Thailandhttps://www.theguardian.com/world/ng-interactive/2026/jul/03/thailand-sex-tourism-hub-girls-exploited-ntwnfb