Alex is back with a lively roundup of the headlines rattling Thailand right now — a mix of big government crackdowns, border standoffs, visa shake-ups, human dramas and a surprising cultural shift among the young. Fasten your seatbelt: from cannabis closures to compassion for a stranded pensioner, it’s a lot to take in. Mass cannabis sweep: over 1,000 shops shut In one of the most sweeping enforcement moves of the year, Thailand’s Department of Thai Traditional and Alternative Medicine marched through the cannabis industry between June 16 and August 13. Authorities targeted 5,218 cannabis businesses, suspending 724 licences, revoking 129, prosecuting 180 unlicensed operators and permanently closing 1,079 shops. Police carried out 116 raids, seized nearly 981 kilograms of cannabis and arrested 33 suspects trying to smuggle drugs through Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang airports. The message was clear: the era of casual dispensaries is meeting a hardline brake. Border chill…
Posts published by “Editorial Team”
What began as an ordinary evening commute turned into a nightmare — and then a near-miracle — for a 30-year-old Laotian man identified as Ploy. At about 7:00 pm on August 17, authorities from Bang Pakong Police Station in Chachoengsao rushed to a stretch of Bang Na–Trat Road near kilometre marker 46 after a frantic report of a motorcycle crash heading toward Bangkok. The scene that greeted them was as harrowing as it was unlikely: Ploy lying beside his damaged bike, registration กวร 651 Chachoengsao, with the motorcycle’s centre stand grotesquely embedded in his neck. A rescue with surgical precision — from the roadside Rescue teams from Chachoengsao moved fast. First responders stabilized Ploy, carefully cut away the metal centre stand to avoid further injury, and rushed him to Bang Pakong Hospital for urgent treatment. Witnesses at the scene told investigators that Ploy had been riding at a high speed…
In a blockbuster anti-narcotics operation that reads like a police procedural turned reality, Thai authorities announced the seizure of a staggering 900 kilogrammes of crystal methamphetamine — an illicit cargo valued at about 135 million baht (roughly US$4.16 million). The haul, intercepted en route from central Thailand to Narathiwat, was revealed at a press briefing on August 16 at the Royal Thai Police Front Operations Centre in Yala. The announcement was led under the direction of Deputy Prime Minister (and acting Prime Minister) Phumtham Wechayachai, who tasked Justice Minister Police Colonel Tawee Sodsong and Deputy Interior Minister Dech-Isem Khaothong with briefing the nation. A who’s-who of southern security leaders joined them: Police Lieutenant Colonel Wannapong Kocharak (Secretary-General of the Southern Border Provinces Administrative Centre), Lieutenant General Paisan Nusang (commander of the 4th Army Area), Police Major General Achan Jansiri (deputy commissioner of Provincial Police Region 9), and Wichan Chaisethsampan (deputy…
Phuket is turning a meaningful corner in its approach to inclusion. The Phuket City Municipality has announced a fresh package of measures aimed at improving life for residents with autism and intellectual disabilities — and it’s not limited to paperwork. With an ethos built around the new “Leaving No One Behind” policy, local leaders are moving from intent to action, seeking practical ways to level the playing field so every resident can participate, learn and thrive. From database to action At the heart of the plan is a simple but powerful step: a comprehensive database identifying people across the municipality with autism or intellectual disabilities. Mayor Suphot La-ongphet has been clear about the philosophy driving the move. “Everyone is a valuable human resource,” he said, underscoring the aim of equal opportunity and support — not token gestures but sustained, measurable improvement. With the database complete, Mayor Suphot and the Medical…
On a humid Saturday in Trat province, armed forces and diplomats from Thailand and Cambodia sat down at the Barn Talaephu resort in Khlong Yai district to try and turn a tense border chapter into a calmer page. The Regional Border Committee (RBC) meeting — a gathering that reads like a who’s who of border commanders — aimed to tackle landmines, cross-border scam networks and the broader security friction affecting eastern Thailand’s Trat and Chanthaburi provinces. Representatives included Vice-Admiral Apichart Sapprasert, commander of the Chanthaburi and Trat Border Defence Command, Major General Uy Hieng of Cambodia’s Military Region 3, and Rear Admiral Paraj Ratanajaipan, deputy spokesperson for the Royal Thai Navy. While the mood at the seaside venue had a diplomatic polish, the agenda was anything but breezy. The big headline from the talks: both sides signed on to implement the outcomes of the General Border Committee’s (GBC) August 7…
It was supposed to be an ordinary evening in Banglamung, Chon Buri — until a wave of chaos tore through Sutharat Deejaivong’s quiet street and left an otherwise ordinary family running for safety. The 42-year-old mother’s calm life was jolted into emergency mode when more than 20 teenagers allegedly converged on her home, armed with ping-pong bombs and at least one firearm. The result: damaged property, a terrified household that fled their own home, and a police case that, months later, still smells of frustration and unanswered questions. The trouble began on June 17, according to Sutharat. What started as a spat between her daughter and a group of teens she knew escalated into something far worse. Outside the family house, tensions flared and a male teenager reportedly attempted to assault the daughter. When her boyfriend stepped in to intervene, tempers exploded and a physical fight followed — both sides…
A midnight spill of meatballs and metal: Pattaya pickup crash leaves three injured Just after midnight on August 16, a slippery stretch of Sukhumvit Road in Nongprue turned a routine drive into a chaotic scene straight out of a darkly comedic action film. A bronze Isuzu D-Max — modified with a high metal cage and carrying hundreds of meatballs — lost control on the wet pavement, flipped over, and slammed into an electric pole near the motorway underpass en route to Sattahip. The result: three people injured, a scattering of meatballs across the median, and an investigation by Pattaya City Police that’s still piecing together exactly what happened. Volunteers from the Pattaya Swang Boriboon Rescue Centre were among the first on the scene after an emergency call. They found the pickup overturned and badly damaged, its load of processed meat strewn like oversized marbles across the road. The 20-year-old driver,…
Thailand’s Monsoon Trough Throws a Soaking Curveball — 50 Provinces on Alert Brace yourselves: the Thai Meteorological Department (TMD) has issued a robust weather wake-up call. A sprawling monsoon trough is moving through the country, drenching 50 provinces and seriously stirring the atmosphere across three major regions — including Bangkok. With roughly 80% of Thailand expected to see rain, this isn’t your garden-variety drizzle. The forecast for August 16 warns of heavy to very heavy downpours, flash floods and mountain runoffs that can turn sleepy streams into raging waterways in hours. What’s happening in the sky? The meteorological picture reads like a climate drama script. The monsoon trough stretches across lower northern Thailand, upper central Thailand and the northeast, coinciding with a low-pressure system over the upper South China Sea. Meanwhile, a strong southwest monsoon blankets the Andaman Sea, the Gulf of Thailand and the Thai mainland, plus another low-pressure…
Three Arrested in Prachin Buri as E‑Waste Trail Leads to Unlicensed Chachoengsao Facility What began as a tip-off turned into a roadside environmental drama on 15 August, when Prachin Buri police intercepted three pickup trucks laden with electronic waste bound for Chachoengsao. The trio — a Thai driver, a Chinese national and a Myanmar national — were stopped while hauling motors, cooling-system parts and assorted scrap metal. Police Colonel Winyu Jamsai, superintendent of Subdivision 2 of the Natural Resources and Environmental Crime Division, confirmed the seizure and said the haul came from a site previously ordered shut for illegal e‑waste disposal in Si Maha Phot district. The scene had all the elements of a modern-day mystery: an apparently shuttered dumping ground suddenly active again, three drivers claiming they were only doing a job, and a factory in tambon Samet Nuea, Bang Khla district, Chachoengsao, that — according to early inquiries…
Suspended PM Paetongtarn Heads to Constitutional Court Amid Leaked Audio Storm Thailand’s suspended Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra has been summoned to appear in person at the Constitutional Court over a contentious leaked audio recording involving Cambodian Senate President Hun Sen — and, if her team is to be believed, she’s likely to show up. The announcement came from Dr. Prommin Lertsuridej, Paetongtarn’s Secretary-General, after the court set a hearing for August 21 with a ruling due on August 29. When asked whether the prime minister — who also serves as culture minister — would attend, Dr. Prommin kept it simple and confident: “When the time comes, we will know. I believe she will decide for herself, and she will likely go.” That line, measured and almost casual, speaks to a team trying to balance legal prudence with public resolve. Defence Team, Limited Witness List, and Political Overtones The case has…