Bangkok Remand Prison (BRP) — already under a cloud after allegations of VIP treatment for certain foreign inmates — has been hit with fresh, disturbing accusations: that female prisoners were coerced into providing sexual services to male inmates and even to some guards. Prison officials have firmly denied the claims, but the raid and the evidence recovered have left public trust frayed and the Corrections Department scrambling to restore order. The controversy began after a Department of Corrections special unit raided BRP on November 16. The operation followed complaints from Thai prisoners who said several Chinese inmates were living in strikingly comfortable conditions compared with the general population. Those inmates were allegedly housed in a separate, well-equipped “VIP” room, allowed to smoke, and — shockingly — granted access to a hidden area where sexual services were said to be available. Director Manop Chomchuen and a number of guards have been…
Posts published in “Thailand”
What began as a routine wait for a taxi on a Bangkok morning turned into a frightening crypto caper that has left four people in custody and a 35-year-old Chinese man nursing injuries — and a lighter digital wallet. Metropolitan Police Bureau investigators, led on November 23 by senior officers including Police Lieutenant General Siam Boonsom, Police Major General Pallop Aermla, and Police Major General Chotiwat Lueangwilai, announced the arrests after piecing together a timeline that stretches from Sukhumvit to Rama 4. The incident reportedly took place on the morning of November 1 on Maha Set Road in Bang Rak district. The victim told police he was waiting for a taxi around 10:30 a.m. when three men – two Thai nationals and a South Korean – allegedly approached, assaulted him and forced him into a white Toyota C-HR bearing the license plate 9 Kor Hor 5427 (Bangkok). According to the…
Thailand’s Economy at a Crossroads: Technical Recession Risk and What Comes Next Anusorn Thammajai — Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Director of the Centre for Economic, Digital Investment, and International Trade Research at the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce — has put a cautious flag on Thailand’s economic map. His latest reading suggests the economy may expand by less than 1% in Q4, and there’s a non-trivial risk that GDP could fall quarter-on-quarter. If Q4 records another contraction after Q3’s 0.6% drop from the previous quarter, Thailand would technically be in a recession. Numbers that matter Here’s the snapshot: third-quarter GDP climbed 1.2% year-on-year but shrank 0.6% quarter-on-quarter. The discrepancy between yearly and quarterly views is important — annual growth masks the recent slowdown. Two consecutive quarters of negative QoQ growth equals a technical recession. Whether that evolves into a full-blown recession depends on whether the…
In a case that reads like a cyber-thriller with a very real and heartbreaking ending, Thai and Chinese nationals accused of orchestrating a meticulously planned scam have been arrested after forcing a 19-year-old university student into a 24-hour video-call charade that culminated in him emptying his mother’s safe of nearly 10 million baht. The Technology Crime Suppression Division (TCSD) made the arrest public on November 23, with Police Lieutenant General Surapol Prembut briefing the media and instructing Police Major General Sarayut Chunnawat and Police Colonel Chakkrit Srirojankul to update on the probe. The victim, identified only as “Nick,” is a 19-year-old technical university student who became ensnared after what began as routine phone conversations with an unknown caller. The scammers cultivated his trust, asked him to add them on Line, and then bombarded him with counterfeit documents that looked disturbingly official — fake letters imitating the Anti‑Money Laundering Office, cyber…
What began as a routine evening on the Det Udom–Buntharik road in Ubon Ratchathani turned into a grim tableau on November 22 when a stolen pickup ploughed into a motorcycle, dragged it for dozens of metres, and left one woman dead and another fighting for her life. The overturned vehicle — a black Toyota Vigo bearing registration Boh Jor 9448 — came to rest against a utility pole and toppled into a nearby flower shop, leaving smashed blooms, broken glass and a community reeling. At the centre of the chaos was a pink Honda motorbike, registration 2 Gor Dor 6080, which police say was struck from behind. The two people on board were 59‑year‑old Kongsri and her 27‑year‑old daughter, Saowaluk. Kongsri died later at the district hospital; Saowaluk was critically injured and rushed to Sappasitthiprasong Hospital in Ubon Ratchathani. Police arrested the driver at the scene: 18‑year‑old Sukasem Srimongkol. What…
Temple Shock: Monk Arrested After Phones Found Packed with Child Pornography In a startling development that has shaken Bangkok’s religious community, police arrested a 60-year-old monk identified as Chayut after discovering child pornography on his mobile phones. The arrest, carried out on November 23, was led by senior Metropolitan Police officials following information from an international tip-off. Pol. Lt. Gen. Siam Boonsom, Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Bureau, ordered a focused operation that placed Pol. Maj. Gen. Pallop Aeremla, Deputy Commissioner, Pol. Maj. Gen. Chotiwat Lueangwilai, Commander of the Investigation Division, and Pol. Col. Wichit Thirakajornwong, Superintendent of Investigation Division 1, at the helm. Their team executed a search in Bang Mueang subdistrict, Mueang district, Samut Prakan province after obtaining a court-sanctioned warrant. The probe began earlier in November when the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) in the United States flagged suspicious activity linked to a Gmail…
Imagine arriving at Manchester Airport in your wedding suit (or wedding-mussed T-shirt) clutching a one-way ticket to paradise, only to be told you can’t board because of a smudge. That was the abrupt, soul-crushing reality for 31-year-old Josh Reekie from Barnsley, South Yorkshire, who had planned a dream £2,400 (about 105,600 baht) honeymoon in Phuket with his new wife, Eden—until Etihad Airways staff stepped in and said his passport was “too damaged.” A honeymoon grounded by a smudge According to Reekie, airline staff pointed to what they described as water damage on a 2019 Thailand entry stamp. “I was absolutely gutted,” he said. “They said there was a smudge on a stamp from Thailand in 2019. Who’s to say that didn’t happen when it was stamped and closed?” It’s a fair question: the passport’s photo page was reportedly immaculate, and the couple had used the same document up to 12…
Patong’s Power Move: Burying the Tangle for a Cleaner, Safer Streetscape Patong is staging a low-key revolution — one that’s literally going underground. In a bold effort to tidy up its skyline and make streets safer for tourists and residents alike, the resort town has kicked off a 224 million baht project to bury power and telecom lines along five key thoroughfares. The plan covers nearly 1.8 kilometres of urban arteries, routing cables out of sight along Bangla Road, Thaweewong Road, Sawatdirak Road, Ruam Jai Road, and Prachanukroh Road. It’s part of a long-running push by the Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA), with Patong Municipality chipping in substantial funding to get the job done. Money where the meters are The budget breakdown is straightforward: Patong will contribute 84.45 million baht to cover engineering and municipal works, while the PEA will pour in 137.53 million baht to overhaul the electrical system. The…
Floodwaters that swept through Nakhon Si Thammarat last week turned a frantic scramble into a tragedy when an electrical leak claimed one life and left eight people injured as families hurriedly moved possessions to higher ground. The horror unfolded in Chaloet and Tha Pracha subdistricts late on Thursday, November 20, as residents battled rising water, collapsing calm and, tragically, live power in submerged homes. The moment everything went wrong By late afternoon on November 20, rain that had been hammering the province since November 17 reached a tipping point. Runoff from the Luang Mountain range swelled the Tha Dee Canal in Kamphaeng Sao subdistrict, which then burst its banks and sent a fast-moving wall of water into Nakhon Si Thammarat municipality. Streets that are usually bustling—like Thevaburi Road, the main route to Pho Sadet—were waist-deep in places, impassable for small vehicles and littered with the detritus of a community racing…
On the morning of November 22, central Thailand’s Phetchabun province roared to life as roughly 5,000 motorcycles converged for the annual Trip Without a Bath rally — a two-day, high-energy pilgrimage for bikers that runs through Lom Kao and Khao Kho districts from November 22–23. What organizers pitch as a rowdy celebration of camaraderie and open roads quickly turned into a test of local emergency services and traffic enforcement when a string of accidents and risky riding behaviours forced authorities to scramble. The event’s caravan carved a wide swath across Highway 21, streaming through Si Thep, Wichian Buri, Bueng Sam Phan and Nong Phai districts. For many riders it was a scenic, sociable run: motorcycles glinting in the sun, vendors hawking grilled chicken, and communities making the most of the tourism bump. For others, the rally revived its familiar reputation for chaos — revved engines, bursts of speed and, in…