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…
Posts published in “Thailand”
The new traffic lights at Pattaya’s Thepprasit–Koh Phai intersection were supposed to be the calm, rational answer to congestion and danger — a city-led trial meant to tame a notoriously tricky junction. Instead, the junction has become a stage for automotive exasperation, social-media theater and a very public argument about whether blinking beacons can replace human common sense. Drivers and residents have flooded comment threads with tales of gridlock so slow it tests the limits of passenger patience. One fed-up motorist summed it up bluntly: “With three lanes, one for U-turns and one blocked by parked cars, we’re left with just one lane. Traffic barely moves.” Another commuter — a parent who uses the route daily — said it turned a routine school run into an epic: “Today it took two hours to get through an area that normally flows smoothly.” Those two hours are the kind of detail that…
The quiet of a Bangkok neighbourhood was shattered in the small hours of the morning on November 22 when a fire ripped through an Isuzu car showroom on Rama II Soi 33, leaving scorched metal, blackened walls and a shocked security guard in its wake. The blaze — first reported at about 1:51 a.m. — tore through the ground floor of the two-storey concrete building at the entrance to Bang Mod in Chom Thong district before firefighters could wrestle it under control. Officers from Bang Mod Police Station alerted crews from Chom Thong Fire Station, and rescue volunteers from the Poh Teck Tung Foundation also rushed to the scene. When emergency teams arrived they were met by a dramatic sight: flames leaping from a corner of the showroom and thick, oily black smoke curling into the night sky. The fire was fierce but focused, and firefighters worked for more than…
Bangkok residents: time to raid the water jugs and give your emergency shower playlist a polish. The Metropolitan Waterworks Authority (MWA) has warned that taps in 27 areas across the capital will run dry — or at least trickle — from 10:00pm tonight, 22 November, until 5:00am tomorrow, 23 November. The culprit? Urgent maintenance and equipment upgrades at the Bang Khen 2 pumping station and the Bang Khen water production facility. In short: the pumps go quiet, so the faucets might too. The MWA says the seven-hour shutdown is necessary to upgrade critical equipment. While that’s good news for long-term reliability, it means a short-term headache for households, businesses, factories and night-shift workers in the zones affected. If you live, work or sleep in any of the following pockets, plan ahead — fill bottles, buckets and the bathtub now. Both sides of Phahon Yothin Road: odd-numbered addresses from Ratchayothin Intersection…
In the early hours of November 20, central Pattaya woke to a story that felt ripped from a crime caper — except this one had very real consequences for a hardworking street vendor. Thirty-one-year-old Juriporn Feesantiah arrived at her usual breakfast spot around 4 a.m. to prepare her food cart, only to discover both of her gas cylinders missing. The cylinders, the lifeblood of her omelette-over-rice business, were valued at more than 5,000 baht — and gone without a trace. What made the theft especially jarring wasn’t just the loss itself, but the manner in which it was carried out. CCTV footage obtained from nearby businesses shows a neatly dressed Thai man pulling up beside Juriporn’s cart in a luxury sedan, calmly loading the cylinders into his vehicle and driving away as if he’d run a quick errand. The sight of an expensive car used to steal the modest tools…
Chiang Mai’s sleepy northern hills were jolted awake this week by a brazen scandal: local officials and brokers are accused of selling Thai ID cards to foreigners — chiefly Chinese nationals — on an industrial scale. What began as a tip-off turned into a major corruption investigation that, authorities say, uncovered at least 20,000 illegally issued ID cards and a marketplace where a single identity could fetch between 800,000 and 1 million baht. According to local journalist JDTendirections and reporting from Thai PBS, the scheme centered in Wiang Haeng district. Police say a network that included the district chief, village leaders, local government staff and brokers allegedly helped foreigners assume Thai identities — often by using records of deceased or long-inactive residents — enabling those foreigners to open bank accounts, run businesses, and cloak other illegal activity behind a Thai national ID. The scandal has the feel of a crime…
Thailand’s pawn kingpin Easy Money is enjoying a moment in the sun — and in the vault. The chain is forecasting its strongest loan growth in two decades, powered by a sizzling gold market and a fresh wave of young entrepreneurs turning to pawnbrokers for quick working capital. “Loan demand is booming like we haven’t seen in 20 years,” says Easy Money Group chairperson Sittiwit Tangthanakiat, and the numbers back him up: outstanding loans reached 27 billion baht in the first 10 months of the year, with the company predicting that total will climb to 29–30 billion baht by December — roughly a 30% year-on-year jump. Gold: Not Just Bling, but Cash Gold’s rally has done more than boost investors’ portfolios — it’s transformed jewellery into instant liquidity for thousands of Thais. Easy Money’s gold-pawn counters have been humming, with customers lining up to convert rings, necklaces and heirlooms into…
In a scene you might expect in a crime drama — minus the slow-motion — Thai police quietly closed the net on a wanted fraud suspect who was trying to keep a low profile on an air‑conditioned interprovincial bus bound for Phuket. The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) confirmed that 27‑year‑old Patinya was arrested after officers traced him to the Bangkok–Phuket route. He was found to be the subject of five outstanding warrants, including charges related to online fraud, computer crime offences and an assault charge. Marine Police Division officers followed Patinya’s trail and tracked him to the bus. When the vehicle reached Phuket, law enforcement moved in, presented the warrants and took the suspect into custody — reportedly without resistance. The arrest was coordinated with local checkpoints, showing how investigative work, coordination and good timing combined to bring a wanted man to book. According to the CIB’s investigation, Patinya’s involvement…
On a quiet morning at Wat Tha Luang Phon in Photharam district, the usual bustle of early shoppers and hawkers is there — but not the kind of busy the government had hoped to stir up. The Khon La Khrueng Plus co-payment scheme, a short-lived programme intended to subsidise everyday purchases from October 29 to December 31, was meant to be a welcome boost for both buyers and sellers. Instead, several small vendors in this corner of Ratchaburi have politely — and pointedly — declined to join. Their reasons read like a modern small-business survival guide: confusing registration steps, the terror of digital scams, and a simple wish to keep their mornings uncomplicated. Sompong Topara is a character you can picture without trying hard: she opens her stall at 5 a.m., steam rising from a pot of soy milk while the pan sizzles for fresh Thai doughnuts. She sells comfort…
A heartbreaking scene unfolded on the edge of Kaeng Krachan National Park this week when a young wild elephant was found dead after running into an illegal electric fence while foraging on farmland in Pa Deng subdistrict, Kaeng Krachan district, Phetchaburi. The animal — estimated at eight to ten years old and weighing roughly two tonnes — was discovered on November 20 with visible burn marks on its trunk. Veterinary examination confirmed what locals feared: electrocution was the cause of death. By the time park rangers, conservation officers and veterinarians arrived, the small crowd of responders had already grown into a coordinated investigation team. Officials from Conservation Area Office 3 (Phetchaburi branch) worked alongside Kaeng Krachan National Park rangers, veterinarians from the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, local police, military personnel from Thap Phraya Suea, district officers, representatives from Pa Deng subdistrict and technicians from the provincial…