Thailand’s skies are cracking open—just a little—for the nation’s farmers. The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) has confirmed that agricultural drone operations will be allowed starting tomorrow, August 11, under strict, no-nonsense rules. Everyone else? Keep your drones grounded. The nationwide ban on non-agricultural drone flights remains in force until August 15 or until authorities say otherwise. If you’re picturing a free-for-all with buzzing quadcopters at sunrise, think again. CAAT’s green light comes with guardrails designed for safety, security, and serious accountability. Here’s what’s actually allowed—and what isn’t. What Agricultural Drone Flights Are Allowed Only farming tasks make the cut, and only during daylight. Operators can fly from 6am to 6pm, below 30 metres in altitude, and solely for spraying or distributing agricultural substances, water, or fertiliser. This is not a backdoor for aerial photography, mapping, or surveying. If your drone is carrying a camera for anything other than…
Posts published by “Editorial Team”
Pattaya isn’t just about neon nights and beachside sunsets—it’s also where a major loan sharking ring just hit a dead end. Acting on a tip-off, Chon Buri provincial police swept into a luxury pool villa in Bang Lamung district and dismantled an alleged high-interest lending syndicate run by Chinese nationals. The operation ended with 26 arrests and a stash of evidence that reads like a checklist for a shadow finance hub. Inside the Pattaya pool villa raid On August 8, officers moved in on a single-storey home tucked inside a high-end housing project valued at 10 million baht (about US$309,310). The property was no ordinary vacation hideaway: it was ringed with a fence, watched by surveillance cameras, and, according to investigators, buzzing with activity around an online lending business. Inside, police found 26 Chinese nationals—25 men and one woman—who, authorities allege, were orchestrating a slick digital loan scheme targeting Chinese…
After days of tension along the Thai–Cambodian frontier, the mood is finally shifting from fear to forward motion. Thai officials are gearing up to help thousands of evacuees make their way back home, following a breakthrough 13-point ceasefire agreement hammered out at Thursday’s General Border Committee meetings in Kuala Lumpur. For many border families, that means the long wait in shelters could soon give way to the comfort of familiar doorsteps and rice fields ready for tending. Leading the charge in the Northeast, Surin Governor Chamnan Chuentha says stability has returned across most of the province’s border districts. The first wave of returns will focus on the most vulnerable—bedridden residents and those needing special care—coordinated through local shelters and the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM). If all goes to plan, the initial phase should take two to three days, a careful, step-by-step approach designed to balance speed with…
Long before dawn, the Yom River announced itself with a roar. Rolling out of Sukhothai and Phitsanulok with unusual speed, the water surged into Phichit and spilled past its banks, catching many residents mid-routine—boots half on, valuables halfway packed, and livestock tugged toward dry ground. What should have been a calm monsoon morning became a race against a river arriving early. The first sign came yesterday, August 8, in Rang Nok subdistrict of Sam Ngam district—the natural gateway where the Yom enters Phichit. From there, the water follows a well-worn path: past Pho Prathap Chang, through Bueng Na Rang, into Pho Thale, and onward until it swells the Chao Phraya River in Nakhon Sawan. This year, that path feels faster and fuller, the river’s shoulders broadening by the hour. By mid-morning, four districts in Phichit were seeing river levels climb with unnerving haste. In several low-lying pockets, the Yom didn’t…
If paying your annual car tax used to feel like a road trip through red tape, Thailand just plotted a faster route. The Department of Land Transport (DLT) has teamed up with Krungthai Bank to launch a slick new way to pay your annual vehicle tax via the Pao Tang app—yes, the same one already sitting on millions of phones. Announced during the DLT’s 84th anniversary celebration on August 8, Deputy Transport Minister Surapong Piyachote called it a leap in public service innovation. Translation: less queuing, fewer forms, and a lot more convenience. Here’s the gist. Open Pao Tang. Tap to pay. You’re done. The official tax mark is then sent straight to your doorstep by Thai Post. While you wait for delivery, the app generates a temporary digital tax mark that’s valid for up to 15 days—perfect for those who like to be law-abiding without leaving the sofa. With…
The tide in Phang Nga carried a terrible secret this week. On August 8, near Ban Tha Yai pier in Mueang district, stunned locals spotted what at first looked like debris drifting close to shore. It wasn’t. Police and Kusoltham Foundation rescue workers soon confirmed the chilling truth: the body of a woman, unknown and unnamed, had surfaced despite what appears to have been a calculated attempt to keep her hidden beneath the water. Police Lieutenant Pheerawit Chaichanyut of Khok Kloi Police Station is leading the investigation, and the details are as stark as they are sobering. The victim, dressed in grey shorts and a brown round-neck T-shirt, showed no immediate signs that could identify her—no ID, no phone, and no personal effects. Officers estimate she had been dead for around two days before the discovery, the murky currents unwilling accomplices in a grim cover-up gone wrong. According to investigators,…
In the quiet pre-dawn hush of Kui Buri, Prachuap Khiri Khun, the calm was shattered at around 5 a.m. today, August 9, when a Bangkok-bound sleeper service suddenly lurched off script. Three sleeper carriages on special express train No. 38/46 slid off the rails as the locomotive eased into a curved section leading to Kui Buri station. Miraculously, the carriages didn’t overturn—but they did detach and derail, leaving 10 passengers with injuries and hundreds more rattled but safe. The express had set out on a long-haul journey from Su-ngai Kolok and Padang Besar, bound for Krung Thep Aphiwat Central Terminal (Bang Sue) in Bangkok. As the train negotiated the bend approaching the station, sleeper cars numbered 10, 11, and 12 left the track. Railway staff moved swiftly to secure the scene, while passengers in the remaining nine carriages were evacuated with calm efficiency. Ten injured, most with minor wounds Emergency…
The cockpit door on Thailand’s domestic skies is firmly shut to foreign pilots—for now. But a looming court decision could crack it open again as early as the next high season, setting up a high-altitude tug-of-war between labor policy, airline capacity, and Thailand’s tourism ambitions. This turbulence traces back to last year’s travel surge, when seats to beach hubs like Phuket vanished faster than mango sticky rice at a night market. To keep fares in check and planes in the air, VietJet Thailand operated Bangkok–Phuket flights under a wet lease—industry-speak for borrowing both aircraft and crew, including foreign pilots. That move was greenlit by a December Cabinet resolution that temporarily relaxed restrictions on foreign flight crew, following a proposal from the Ministry of Labour. Then March arrived with legal headwinds. The Thai Pilots Association filed a case against the Ministry of Labour, asking the Administrative Court for a temporary injunction…
If you lead in Chon Buri’s Bang Lamung district, the message from the top could not be clearer: follow the rules, guard your reputation, and keep your trigger finger firmly under regulation. At a monthly gathering inside the district office’s community hall on August 8, District Chief Patcharapat Srithanyanon delivered a firm, no-nonsense briefing to village headmen and subdistrict chiefs—one that blended accountability with a call to honor the public trust. Presiding over the meeting with the unmistakable authority of his office, Patcharapat laid out expectations that left little room for ambiguity. Leaders, he said, must embody discipline, integrity, and the dignity of their roles. Their conduct is not merely personal—it reflects on the Ministry of Interior and the Department of Provincial Administration, and it shapes how communities perceive the entire machinery of local government. “The use of firearms in the course of your duties must strictly follow regulations and…
A disgruntled customer, a misleading online ad, and a rapid-fire police response: that’s the mix that sparked a high-profile raid at a resort in Bangkok’s Hathai Rat area today, August 9. Metropolitan Police Division 3 officers, acting on a complaint about a “bait-and-switch” sex booking, swooped in and arrested three Laotian women accused of peddling services online with photos that weren’t their own. The operation was headed by Police Major General Siam Bunsom, Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Bureau, with investigative coordination from Pol. Maj. Gen. Noppasin Poolsawat and Pol. Maj. Gen. Kiattikun Sonthine, Commander of Metropolitan Police Division 3. Their team moved in after an undercover probe suggested a coordinated scheme trading on slick social media images, alluring descriptions, and quick contact via the Line app. How a complaint on X snowballed into a raid According to investigators, the case began when a customer reported booking through the social…