A quiet condominium complex in Phraekasa, Samut Prakan, turned into the scene of a tragic drama on the evening of August 14 when 29-year-old Pitiwat was found dead in his fourth-floor unit after apparently taking his own life during a video call with his girlfriend. The girlfriend, 34-year-old Janejira, contacted officers at the Mueang Samut Prakan Police Station in a panic after the call went horribly wrong. According to police reports, the unit’s door was locked and officers were forced to force entry. Inside, they discovered Pitiwat hanging from the balcony iron grills, having used an electric cable from a plug socket. Janejira told officers that she and a friend were on a video call with Pitiwat when everything seemed normal. He spoke cheerfully at first, giving no outward sign of distress. Then he briefly stepped out of the camera’s frame. When he reappeared, he held the plug and—despite desperate…
Posts published in “Thailand”
What started as a late-night joyride down a quiet Pattaya soi turned into a chaotic crash and a furious crowd scene on the evening of August 14. Residents of Soi Bongkot 8 in Bang Lamung district woke to sirens and shouting after a British man performing repeated wheelies lost control and collided with a Thai motorcyclist, leaving the 49-year-old woman in critical condition and sparking an immediate, angry response from bystanders. Rescue teams from the Sawang Borriboon Thammasathan Foundation arrived at the scene at around 11pm to a tense tableau: a Honda motorcycle overturned on the asphalt, its rider—identified as 49-year-old Churairat Phetraksa—lying nearby with a severe head injury and multiple abrasions. Emergency medics moved quickly to stabilise her while also contending with an enraged crowd. The other rider, described only as a British national, was found sitting beside his electric off-road motorcycle with visible injuries. Witnesses told rescuers those…
Asia’s tourism map is being redrawn, and Thailand—the perennial favourite—suddenly feels a little less like the centre of the sun and more like one of several bright stars in an increasingly crowded constellation. As Vietnam and South Korea roll out expanded visa-free entry and targeted incentives, travellers are recalibrating their itineraries, and industry insiders warn that Thailand may see a slowdown through the remainder of 2025. At the heart of the shift are two simple moves: easier access and sharper value. South Korea has opened visa-free entry for Chinese tour groups starting in September—timed perfectly ahead of China’s October Golden Week—while Vietnam has added visa-free access for 12 more markets (including Belgium, the Netherlands and Switzerland), bringing its total to 39 visa-free countries. The result? A fresh wave of visitors choosing newer, often cheaper options elsewhere in Southeast Asia. “Visa-free counts, but perception sells,” says Thanapol Cheewarattanaporn, President of the…
In the small hours of August 15, a quiet night in Kap Choeng district was shattered by gunfire — and by a string of questions that left locals and officials alike scrambling for answers. Soldiers from the 2nd Army Area reported hearing a burst of around ten shots near Ban Khuean Kaeo Temple at roughly 12:45 a.m., followed by two more shots about nine minutes later. What unfolded was a tense search for a missing serviceman and an urgent effort to help two civilians caught in the crossfire. When troops checked personnel and weapons at Infantry Company 1623, they discovered Private Ratthapoom Thepsiri had left his post without permission — taking an M16 rifle and ammunition with him. That discovery transformed a mysterious night-time rattle into a full-scale manhunt as police patrol units and soldiers converged on the scene, questioned witnesses, and scoured the surrounding areas. Officials at the scene…
In a development that reads like a short, sharp episode from a crime drama, Phuket immigration officers arrested a 27-year-old Russian national on August 14 after he fled Bangkok and attempted to lay low on the island. The man — whose name has not been released — was taken into custody by the Phuket Provincial Immigration Bureau after an arrest warrant was issued by the Phra Khanong Criminal Court in Bangkok on July 31. The charge: illegal possession of firearms. According to officials, the Bangkok warrant stems from earlier allegations that the man possessed firearms without the required permits. Rather than face the charges, investigators say he left the capital and headed south to Phuket, perhaps hoping the island’s tourist bustle would help him disappear. That plan didn’t pan out. Officers located and detained him, though he continues to deny the allegations in both the original case and during today’s…
What should have been a routine condominium evening in Bangkok’s bustling Rama 9 neighborhood turned ugly after a confrontation over a simple rule: no smoking in designated non-smoking areas. A video posted to the Facebook page รู้ทันจีน News (translated as “See Through China”) on Monday, August 11, shows the aftermath of that encounter — a Japanese resident left injured after confronting a group of foreign men who were allegedly ignoring the building’s rules. The footage is blunt and unnerving. The injured man stands behind a Thai security guard on the condominium’s ground level while a man in a black shirt stalks forward, finger pointed and eyes narrowed, clearly confronting him. A woman filming the scene can be heard shouting in English for the group to stop, just before police arrive. At one tense moment, one of the group appears to lunge toward a nearby food stall sign, allegedly trying to…
Phuket’s roads were the stage for a small but dramatic moment on August 12, when a foreign cyclist’s lane change nearly escalated into a headline-making collision. The incident — captured on a pickup truck dashcam — was shared by driver Pusana Ai Senrit in the Facebook group ขับรถแบบนี้ต้องประจาน ภูเก็ต (“Drivers like this must be exposed, Phuket”), and it quickly set off a flurry of alarmed and often scathing reactions from local netizens. The video shows a man cycling along the left shoulder of what has been reported as Bypass Road. He looks over his shoulder twice, then starts a slow, lateral migration across lanes, moving from the far left all the way to the right. Pusana, driving in the right lane, jams on the brakes and averts a collision by the skin of his teeth. His caption — unforgiving, direct and a little dramatic — read: “Uncle, you nearly lost…
A raw, unsettling clip that surfaced this week shows nearly 20 foreigners piling into an alleyway in Patong and turning a routine dispute into a brutal brawl that left two Thai men hospitalized. Newshawk Phuket reported the incident on Tuesday, August 12, saying the attack took place at around 9:30 p.m. on Monday, August 11. The footage — grainy, chaotic and hard to watch — captures a mob attacking a motorcycle rental shop owner and a second Thai man after an argument over a damage fine spiraled out of control. According to witnesses and the news report, the trouble began the same way many small tourism-era spats start: a damaged vehicle and a demand for compensation. A group of foreigners had rented bikes from the shop; one of the riders allegedly damaged a motorcycle. The owner insisted on a fine and compensation, and tensions escalated when the foreign man refused…
The quiet hum of a petrol station coffee shop in Bueng Sam Phan district, Phetchabun, was shattered on the evening of August 12 when a brief visit turned into a fatal confrontation. What began as an ordinary Mother’s Day afternoon ended in tragedy: 19-year-old employee Phijittra was shot and killed, and the suspected shooter, 21-year-old Wongsakorn, took his own life at the scene. Police Lieutenant Sakkasit Kaosinchai of Bueng Sam Phan Police Station arrived on the scene at roughly 5:30 p.m., accompanied by the on-duty doctor from Bueng Sam Phan Hospital. Officers found both victims unresponsive. A Thai-made firearm was recovered beside the bodies and secured as evidence. Witnesses described a harrowing sequence of events. The suspect — who is reported to have been Phijittra’s former boyfriend — entered the coffee shop without speaking, approached her and fired a single shot. Phijittra, attempting to flee and cry out for help,…
A quiet canal in southern Thailand became the scene of a disturbing discovery on August 8 when the body of a 51-year-old woman was found floating in the Tha Yai Canal in Takua Thung district, Phang Nga province. The victim, later identified by investigators as Kansiri Nasomboon, was wearing a grey T-shirt and black shorts. Two concrete dumbbells were reportedly chained to her neck in an apparent attempt to sink the body — a detail that turned a grim recovery into a complex criminal inquiry spanning two provinces. Kansiri, originally from an Isaan province, had moved to Phuket for work and was last seen in the Kathu district. Local police began piecing together her movements by reviewing CCTV footage along the route between Phuket and Phang Nga. That footage, according to investigators, captured a pickup truck making a suspicious stop near the canal before returning toward Phuket. The truck was…