Deep in the emerald folds of Khlong Lan National Park, Kamphaeng Phet, a remarkable pair of feline celebrities has quietly been stealing the spotlight. Office of Conservation Area Management 12 recently re-released footage that feels almost too cinematic to be true: a leopard and a black panther padding through the same patch of forest, captured by camera traps set up by WWF Thailand. The original clips date back to June 2020, but watching them now is like discovering a nature documentary you didn’t know you needed. Not two species, but two moods of the same cat Before the excitement spins off into myth, it’s worth pausing to appreciate the biology. Both animals belong to Panthera pardus delacourii — the Indochinese leopard. The “black panther” isn’t a separate species at all but the same leopard exhibiting melanism: an overproduction of dark pigment that cloaks the usual rosettes in shadow. Up close,…
Posts published in “Thailand”
What started as an ordinary pre-Christmas sweep turned into a headline-grabbing border drama on December 18, when officers from the 2nd Army Area and Phu Sing Police Station raided a warehouse in Prai Phattana sub-district, Phu Sing district, Sisaket province — directly opposite a brightly lit casino across the Cambodian border. At about 10 a.m., authorities emerged with suitcases and sacks containing roughly 14 million baht in cash and gold, and questions that are only beginning to be answered. The haul: about 11 million baht in cash, packed into several suitcases, and roughly 3 million baht worth of gold jewellery stashed in multiple bags. Photographs circulated by local media showed neat rows of luggage and glittering accessories, but what has captured investigators’ attention is not the sparkle — it’s the context. According to officials, the raid was a response to unusual behaviour by a married Thai-Cambodian couple who refused to…
It was a scene more suited to an action movie than a seaside stroll: a customised, racing-style pickup truck tore down Pattaya’s beachfront road at about 3:30 a.m., then deliberately belched a choking cloud of black smoke across Walking Street — right in front of more than 100 unsuspecting tourists. The dramatic footage, captured on a witness’s phone and shared online, has since ignited a storm of criticism about public safety, air pollution and the image of Pattaya as a top tourist destination. The anonymous witness told The Pattaya News they were driving along the beachfront when the pickup roared up from behind. “It came past at high speed and then let out this massive plume of smoke,” they said. “You couldn’t see the road ahead. It was scary for everyone there.” The grainy but compelling clip quickly circulated on social platforms, with many viewers calling the stunt dangerous and…
Imagine this: crystal waters, a sun-drenched deck and the gentle sway of a Phuket boat — the sort of postcard-perfect day that makes you forget your email password. Now imagine someone trying to Photoshop that postcard into evidence for a refund. That’s the drama unfolding in Phuket, and it comes with a modern twist: artificial intelligence. According to a post on the Facebook page Phuket Times, a group of French tourists who boarded a tour boat in Phuket photographed the vessel inside and out during their trip. Later, the page alleges, those images were edited using AI tools to make the boat look shabby — old, dirty and poorly maintained — and then submitted to a travel agency as proof to justify a refund claim. Phuket Times shared several of the allegedly doctored images in the comments: an inflatable slide that looks unusually worn and torn, a bathroom snapshot featuring…
It reads like the sort of story that belongs in a supernatural thriller — a woman who stirred inside her coffin during funeral preparations, briefly breathing life into a stunned crowd — yet the real-life outcome was quieter and, sadly, more solemn. On December 14, 65-year-old Chonthirat Sakulku from Phitsanulok passed away peacefully at Bang Yai Hospital in Nonthaburi, officials confirmed. Wat Rat Prakhong Tham posted the news on Facebook on December 17, closing the extraordinary chapter that had captured national attention. The sequence of events is as unusual as it is heartbreaking. Chonthirat, who had been stricken by a serious illness and presumed dead by her family, was brought to Wat Rat Prakhong Tham under the temple’s free funeral programme to await cremation. During last-minute preparations, temple staff heard and then saw unexpected movement from inside the coffin. A frantic check found Chonthirat still alive. She was rushed to…
Thailand’s long-haul comeback: 10 million reasons to celebrate (and two lucky winners) Thailand has quietly — and then spectacularly — crossed a tourism milestone this year: long-haul arrivals have topped 10 million for the first time. The moment was marked in proper airport-glam fashion on December 17, when a Thai Airways flight touched down in Bangkok from London and was greeted by Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Governor Thapanee Kiatphaibool alongside representatives from partner agencies at Suvarnabhumi Airport. Cue the confetti, smiling officials and the selfie-ready tourists who helped make the number real. Why does this matter? Long-haul travellers — defined here as visitors from Europe, the Americas, the Middle East and Africa — now make up roughly one-third of all international tourists to Thailand. They are high-value guests: they tend to stay longer and spend more per trip, which perfectly aligns with TAT’s strategy of courting “high-quality tourism.” Thailand…
A foreign student’s fight for justice after a deadly crash at Mae Fah Luang University When a routine ride turned into a life-changing crash outside Mae Fah Luang University in Chiang Rai, second-year cosmetic science student La Min Khaing found herself recovering from serious injuries while also shouldering the burden of seeking accountability. Unable to rely on the driver she says caused the collision, she turned to TikTok — and to the kindness of strangers — to make her voice heard. The December 1 accident began, according to La Min Khaing’s TikTok account @laminkhaing05, when a Thai driver ran a red light and struck a male motorcyclist who was attempting a U-turn. The initial impact sent the motorcycle skidding across the road; it subsequently collided with La Min Khaing’s bike. The other rider was pronounced dead at the scene. La Min Khaing survived but suffered a broken wrist and a…
Customs and drama met on the tarmac at Suvarnabhumi Airport on December 16, when Thai immigration officers intercepted a 44-year-old Chinese national trying to slip out of the country under a fake identity. Carrying a counterfeit Mexican passport under the name “Gol,” the man — identified by authorities as Huang — was stopped for routine checks that quickly snowballed into something far more serious. What began as a passport check turned into a full-blown reveal: officers discovered Huang’s genuine Chinese passport hidden among his belongings, and a deeper identity check showed he is the subject of an Interpol red notice. For the uninitiated, a red notice is an international alert asking law enforcement around the world to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition or similar legal actions. In this case, the notice is tied to allegations that Huang was a central figure in an enormous cross-border investment scam…
Chiang Mai is gearing up to trade its centuries-old incense smoke and teakwood whispers for a very modern badge: UNESCO World Heritage status. In a decisive move on December 16, Thailand’s national committee on world heritage — led by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Suchart Chomklin alongside Minister of Culture Sabina Thaised — approved the nomination dossier titled “Chiang Mai: Capital of Lanna” for submission to UNESCO as a cultural World Heritage Site. Why the rush? Chiang Mai has sat on Thailand’s tentative list since 2015, biding its time like a patient monk. But a looming deadline has officials sprinting: sites already on the tentative list can still lodge a direct nomination only until January 30, 2026. After that, a new two-year preliminary assessment process comes into play. To avoid the bureaucratic detour, the government is fast-tracking the application so Chiang Mai can try to…
Chaos and a dash of cowardice unfolded at a busy Phuket junction early this morning when four foreign motorcyclists allegedly blew through a red light and slammed into a Thai woman’s bike — only for three of them to vanish into the traffic moments later, leaving behind an injured companion and a shaken local rider. The collision occurred at the intersection where Patiphat Road meets Vichitsongkram Road, right by the popular local eatery Go Benz Rice Porridge Phuket, according to Phuket Times. Witnesses say the group of four entered the junction against a red light; the result was a violent impact that injured a Thai woman and at least one of the foreign riders. Rather than stay, help their friend or exchange details, three of the foreign riders reportedly fled the scene, leaving the injured man behind — apparently abandoning him to avoid legal consequences. As of the latest update,…