Posts published in “Thailand”

Bag by the Road, Bust in the Northeast: How a Tourist Sign Helped Stop 208,000 Meth Pills What looked like an abandoned travel bag at a roadside tourist sign on Highway 2376 turned out to be a very bad day for one alleged drug courier — and a rare stroke of luck for Thai law enforcement. On November 29, a tip-off set off a chain reaction: the Narcotics Suppression Bureau (NSB) Unit 24, the 2nd Army Region, and the Surasak Montri Task Force coordinated with the Sakon Nakhon River Peacekeeping Unit to investigate a black bag suspected of holding narcotics. The result? A suspect arrested and 208,000 methamphetamine pills seized. The location was unglamorous: a tourist sign between Na Yung district in Udon Thani province and Sangkhom district in Nong Khai province. But the setting mattered. Highway 2376 sits along a corridor often used to move contraband from the northeastern…

When the waters rose across southern Thailand, one gesture cut through the flood of bad news with the calm certainty of a steady hand: the King of Thailand donated 100 million baht to Hatyai Hospital to help rebuild, re-equip, and restore lifesaving services devastated by the recent floods in Hat Yai and surrounding areas. The royal donation — announced in a letter sent to Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul by the Royal Household Bureau’s 904 Office and signed by ACM Satitpong Sukvimol, the King’s royal secretary — is both practical aid and a public show of compassion. In that message, the King extended condolences to families who lost loved ones and placed those affected under royal care, while also expressing moral support for the medical teams on the front lines. Why 100 million baht matters At first glance, the figure is striking. At a closer look, it’s precisely what hospitals like…

What began as an ordinary evening in Ban Po Hu village turned into a heartbreaking tragedy on Friday, November 28. Khian Yimram, a 75‑year‑old resident of Mueang Khwang subdistrict, Baan Dan district in Buriram province, died after being trampled by her own six‑year‑old cow, affectionately known as Chao Khao. The animal’s heavy hind legs stepped onto Khian’s chest during a sudden confrontation with other cattle, inflicting catastrophic injuries that proved fatal despite rushed medical care. A small village, a sudden calamity Neighbors described a quiet scene interrupted by confusion and alarm. San, 68, a local who was out moving his herd, told reporters he was guiding four cows back into a pen on a motorcycle fitted with a sidecar when he noticed Khian’s cow breaking away and coming toward him in the opposite direction—without its owner nearby. Moments later he found Khian collapsed in a grassy patch by the roadside…

Before the city had fully shaken off the velvet of night, Bangkok’s streets pulsed with a different kind of electricity: the steady rhythm of thousands of running shoes, the hum of anticipation, and the unmistakable presence of royalty taking to the road. Her Majesty Queen Suthida Bajrasudhabimalalakshana joined 20,000 fellow runners at the 8th Amazing Thailand Marathon Bangkok 2025, turning an already grand celebration of global tourism into a regal morning run through the heart of the capital. At 2:15 a.m. on 30 November 2025, near the Pathumwan Princess Hotel, the Queen stepped to the starting line, fired the ceremonial air horn and set off on the 21.1 km half-marathon course — shoulder to shoulder with none other than marathon legend Eliud Kipchoge. The sight of the world record holder pacing alongside Her Majesty created a surreal yet warmly human tableau: royalty and athletics, history and modernity, all moving in…

The scandal at Bangkok Remand Prison has widened into a web of allegations, dismissals and urgent investigations that read like a grim crime drama — except it involves real people, real power and a fair amount of shame on public display. Justice Minister Pol. Lt. Gen. Rutthapon Naowarat confirmed that four senior prison officials have been dismissed for serious disciplinary violations connected to preferential treatment given to certain inmates. Another 14 staff members remain under investigation, leaving the Department of Corrections scrambling to answer hard questions about who knew what, when, and why. The four dismissed include the former director of inmate supervision and three officers who, according to ministry findings, were aware of misconduct but failed to act. All four were among 20 staffers who had earlier been transferred from Bangkok Remand Prison while a committee under the Ministry of Justice conducted a full probe. The inquiry’s goal is…

Hat Yai’s mayor, Narongporn Na Phatthalung, has publicly apologised for the city’s response to the recent, fast-moving floods — a rare, candid admission that the scale and speed of the disaster simply outpaced official expectations. Speaking on the “Kammakorn Khao” programme on Friday, November 28, Mayor Narongporn called the incident a collective misjudgement and outlined the immediate recovery priorities: clean-up, road re-openings, and getting aid to every affected household. What unfolded in Hat Yai and neighbouring Nammom was not the usual slow-rise flood many had prepared for. Officials say the area was hit by a “rain boom”: six hours of continuous, intense rainfall that dumped more than 300 millimetres of water across parts of the city — far faster and harder than previous events. The city’s original assessment had expected runoff from Sadao to reach Hat Yai, and believed it would arrive from the same direction as in past floods.…