Posts published in “Thailand”

Thaksin Shinawatra — once Thailand’s most polarising prime minister, now an inmate whose next move could reshape the political conversation — may be eligible for parole as soon as May, the Department of Corrections has confirmed. It’s a timeline that has turned a familiar drama into a ticking calendar: returned home in August, detained under special hospital arrangements, sentenced to one year and moved to Klong Prem Central Prison on September 9. Now, with the arithmetic of prison regulations pointing to an eight-month threshold, many are watching to see whether May will bring freedom, furlough, or another twist. From hospital ward to prison cell: the controversy that followed Thaksin’s re-entry into Thailand last year didn’t play out like a discreet legal handover. He was taken into custody and, under unusually discreet arrangements, transferred to the 14th floor of the Police General Hospital. That decision kicked off a heated public debate:…

A Quiet Arrival, a Fatal Night: The Mystery of a Russian Doctor in Pattaya What began as a routine trip to Thailand for a 41-year-old oncologist from Krasnoyarsk turned into a troubling investigation that has gripped both local authorities and the Russian diplomatic community. Boris Tyutyunikov checked into a hotel on Jomtien Beach in early January, but the visit that promised relaxation or work took a dark turn when he went silent the very day he arrived. Hotel staff grew concerned after Boris didn’t leave his room. When no one answered the door, police were called — and the following day Thai officers discovered the doctor’s body inside his room. Forensic teams later concluded that his injuries were consistent with an assault. There were signs of a struggle at the scene, but notably, none of his belongings, money, documents or valuables were missing. The absence of theft suggests this was…

On a misty stretch of forest near the Aranyaprathet border, Thai authorities unexpectedly intercepted a group of people who looked like they were trying to melt into the jungle. It was January 15 when the Burapha Task Force and rangers from the 12th unit’s Company 1206 came upon 35 Thai nationals trudging along a wooded path close to border markers 49 and 50—around 250 metres from the Thai-Cambodian canal in Ban Noen Sombun, Khlong Nam Sai. What at first glance seemed like an ordinary border patrol find turned into a chilling glimpse of a modern cross-border scam operation. The party consisted of 27 men and eight women. Among them, officers discovered 34 national ID cards and a single copy of a house registration document. No guide, no trafficker, no obvious handler was in sight. The group told investigators they hadn’t walked into this predicament by choice. Instead, they said they…

Thailand’s prime minister, Anutin Charnvirakul, has pulled the emergency brake on a major contractor after a string of deadly construction mishaps ignited public fury. In a decisive move following two high-profile crane disasters, Anutin ordered the Ministry of Transport to terminate the contracts with Italian-Thai Development (ITD) and to blacklist the firm — a striking signal that the government is trying to regain public trust and shore up the nation’s international reputation. The announcement, delivered after a parliamentary meeting on January 15, came in the wake of two shocking incidents: a crane collapse onto a passenger train in Nakhon Ratchasima and a separate crane accident on Rama II Road in Samut Sakhon — both projects supervised by ITD. These tragedies not only raised questions about on-site safety and oversight but also thrust construction standards and contractor accountability into the national spotlight. “We will revoke ITD’s contracts linked to these two…

There are births that go exactly according to plan, and then there are the ones that arrive with a dramatic entrance—pulling up by the side of the road, sirens wailing, and a whole team improvising like seasoned stagehands. On January 15 in Samut Prakan, Thailand, a pregnant mother joined the latter category when she gave birth to a healthy baby girl inside a rescue vehicle after going into labour unexpectedly. The day began like any other. At around 2:20 pm, the Samut Prakan emergency command centre received a call about a 29-year-old woman in labour near kilometre 25 on the outbound stretch of Thepharak Road in Bang Sao Thong district. Her husband, who was driving at the time, had pulled over and contacted for help—an instinctive move that would turn out to be crucial. Volunteers from the Ruamkatanyu Foundation rushed to the scene and found the woman waiting beside a…

In the kind of close call that makes you reassess both luck and urban planning, a long steel bar plunged from a crane at a luxury condominium construction site near Surin Beach, Phuket, and impaled the roof of a nearby house on the night of Wednesday, January 14. The dramatic moment—captured by the female homeowner on her phone—showed the bar wedged through the roof around 8:00 pm and continuing through a wooden interior door, leaving the room looking like the setting for a very bad magic trick. Miraculously, no one was injured. The video, which the homeowner shared on social media, is equal parts jaw-dropping and terrifying. You can clearly see the metal rod penetrating the structure as the homeowner nervously explains what happened: the bar came from a high-rise condo site that sits uncomfortably close to her property. She also notes this wasn’t the first time the construction had…