Posts published in “Thailand”

Late on the night of September 18, what should have been a brief and joyful arrival in Phuket turned into a family nightmare on Patong Beach. Fifty-three-year-old Laurent Simon, who had flown in just a day earlier with his brother, sister and brother-in-law for a seaside visit, drowned after being swept out by powerful monsoon currents during a late-night swim — despite red warning flags lining the shore. According to Patong Police, the group entered the water at about 2:30 a.m. behind the Tourist Police office, north of Bangla Road. Lifeguards and police later confirmed that red flags were posted along the beach at the time, a clear signal that conditions were hazardous. But in the hush of the night, when the ocean’s roar can feel both inviting and deceitful, the family waded into surf that had already been judged unsafe. When the fierce currents took hold, Laurent’s sister, Francoise,…

Asia’s Hidden Gems Are Having Their Moment — and Agoda Is Handing Out Maps Forget the postcard-perfect crowds. This year, travellers are steering their compasses away from the usual suspects and discovering Asia’s quieter, quirkier corners. Agoda’s latest data shows a clear pivot: accommodation searches for secondary destinations across the region are growing 15% faster than searches for traditional tourist hubs compared with the same period last year. That’s not a trickle — it’s a tide of curiosity sweeping beyond capitals and beach resorts into provincial towns, rice-terraced valleys and coastal villages where local life still hums at its own pace. It’s a shift you can spot from Bangkok’s backroads to Japan’s obscure island hamlets. The trend is particularly prominent in Thailand, India, Indonesia, Japan and Malaysia — countries whose tourism ministries are busy rolling out invitations to look beyond their headline cities. In Thailand, for example, the government has…

What do you get when you swap a four-figure lottery habit for a humble 200‑baht whim? For 53‑year‑old Samruay Phangkonrak of Phra Thong Kham in Nakhon Ratchasima, the answer was two golden tickets and a life-changing 12 million baht windfall. The Government Lottery Office confirmed the jackpot-winning first prize number for the September 16 draw as 074646. Other notable results were front three-digit numbers 740 and 512, back three-digit numbers 308 and 703, and the two-digit prize 58. But for Samruay, the only number that mattered was 074646 — twice over. Photo courtesy of KhaoSod Samruay, a regular lottery player who usually spends about 2,000 baht per draw, decided to cut his spending to just 200 baht for this round. The tiny budget tweak paid off spectacularly: he bought two tickets that matched the first prize and each ticket was worth 6 million baht. “This is my first time winning,…

What began as an ordinary evening in Bangkok’s Lat Phrao neighborhood turned grim on the night of September 16 when a woman was found unresponsive beneath a shopping mall parking structure. The incident — which took place at about 7:30pm at a well-known department store in the Chatuchak district — has left neighbors and shoppers asking how someone could end up on the roadway below a second-floor lot. Police Lieutenant Chakkrit Suwanwong, deputy inspector of Phahonyothin Police Station, coordinated a multi-agency response that included forensic officers, medical staff from the Institute of Forensic Medicine at the Police General Hospital, and rescue volunteers from the Ruamkatanyu Foundation. Emergency teams described a scene of rapid, solemn activity as responders worked to stabilise and assess the woman before she was transported for further examination. Witnesses at the scene reported a sudden discovery: people had passed through the area earlier without noticing anything out…

GPS Gone Rogue: Pattaya Physiotherapist’s Wild Ride Ends With 2km Forest Hike What began as a simple afternoon photo hunt at Krok Ma Tai Waterfall turned into an unexpected wilderness adventure for 23-year-old physiotherapist Punnyawat Buddachun. On the evening of Monday, September 15, Punnyawat found himself trudging through dense forest as dusk closed in after his motorcycle toppled on a steep hillside — all thanks to a misbehaving GPS that routed him down a treacherous track instead of a proper road. The Sawang Boriboon Pattaya Rescue Foundation received the call at around 7:00 pm reporting a stranded rider in Pong subdistrict, Bang Lamung, Chon Buri. Rescue teams scrambled, deploying off-road vehicles to reach the Khao Phai area where Huay Yai police were already assisting the tired and dirt-smattered rider. Witnesses described him as exhausted and grateful; he had walked more than 2 kilometres through thick undergrowth to find help. Punnyawat’s…

It was a scene more typical of a soap opera than a sleepy temple night: a drumbeat, a livestream, a locked monk’s quarters — and a crowd outside demanding answers. Villagers in Kalasin’s Kae Pae subdistrict, Mueang district, woke up a community and a controversy after discovering a woman inside the abbot’s private room just after 11pm on the evening of September 16. According to local reports, the alarm was first raised by a temple boy who saw an outsider slip into the abbot’s living quarters and sounded the warning by beating a drum. That old-fashioned signal rippled through the neighbourhood faster than a text message, and within minutes dozens of people had gathered under the temple’s lantern light. By 11:07pm, someone had started livestreaming the commotion on Facebook — and the scene was being watched in real time by viewers beyond the village. Police from Kalasin City Station arrived…

When Walton Goggins and Parker Posey stepped onto the red carpet stage at the 77th Emmy Awards to present Best Director, they didn’t just hand out a trophy — they sent Thailand a standing ovation. The two stars, fresh from eight months filming The White Lotus Season 3, used their few public words to praise the country’s scenery and cuisine, and the crowd loved it. Aloha to Thailand — Straight from Hollywood Goggins, with that casual charm he’s known for, told the audience, “We just spent eight months in Thailand filming The White Lotus Season 3.” Posey followed with a grin, “It’s so beautiful there, and the food is amazing.” Short, sincere, and perfectly timed — their comments drew warm applause and a ripple of excitement that reached well beyond the theater. That brief moment — a Hollywood stage acknowledging Southeast Asia — is more than just a feel-good headline.…

Monkey Mayhem in Lopburi: How a Nursery Breakout Turned the Town into a Primate Playground Chaos hit the streets of Mueang district in Lopburi on September 16 when more than 100 monkeys from the Pho Kao Ton Monkey Shelter escaped their enclosures and turned the neighbourhood into a scene from a slapstick wildlife movie. Residents woke to troops of macaques sprinting down roads, raiding houses, rifling through parked cars and even making a surprise visit to the Tha Hin Police Station — where officers scrambled to defend the premises with whatever they had at hand. What began as a noisy morning quickly became pandemonium. Some monkeys clambered onto vehicles and poked through open windows; others nosed around rubbish bins and brazenly explored gardens. A handful made it onto the grounds of Tha Hin Police Station, rummaging through parked cars and forcing officers to improvise deterrents. According to witnesses, slingshots were…

Picture this: a robed monk, saffron cloth caught in the Bangkok breeze, pausing not to chant or meditate but to scribble down a promising string of lottery numbers for a hopeful visitor. It sounds like the setup to a satirical sketch — yet the Thailand Sangha Council says it’s a real, recurring problem that must stop. The council has issued a clear reminder: monks and novices are forbidden from acting as fortune tellers for lotteries or engaging in gambling-related activities. The warning is not merely a modern PR move; it underlines a longstanding concern that such behaviour corrodes Buddhist discipline and misleads the faithful. “Monks who present themselves as mystical figures or fortune tellers are breaching discipline,” the council declared. “Such behaviour fosters superstition, distracts people from honest work, and misleads society.” A prohibition with historical teeth This isn’t news as in “new policy.” The ban stretches back decades —…