THAI.NEWS - Thailand Breaking News

Today, August 31, Bangkok’s Victory Monument is set to be the stage for another round of political drama as the United Power of the Land to Protect Sovereignty and its supporters gather to protest the Pheu Thai Party’s push to form a new government. The demonstration comes hot on the heels of a dramatic Constitutional Court decision on August 29 that removed Paetongtarn Shinawatra from consideration for prime minister after a leaked phone recording with Cambodian leader Hun Sen surfaced. But don’t call it victory just yet, warned one of the movement’s best-known figures. Jatuporn Prompan — former red-shirt leader turned vocal critic — said Paetongtarn’s disqualification is merely a change of faces, not a defeat of the political faction she represents. In other words: swap the headline, not the headlines’ theme. Jatuporn’s point is blunt and simple — if Pheu Thai continues to push a successor from the same…

In the small hours of August 30, Sukhumvit Road near Makro Pattaya looked less like a seaside boulevard and more like a chaotic scene from a midnight action movie—only this time, real people were hurt. At 3:06 a.m., a collision between two motorcycles left two Middle Eastern tourists seriously injured and two bikes badly mangled, prompting a swift response from the Pattaya Sawang Boriboon Rescue Unit and a shaken group of friends who witnessed the aftermath. Rescue teams arriving at the scene found a white Yamaha Spark overturned at the roadside, its rider dazed and shaken. Roughly 100 metres down the road, a black Honda CBR 650R lay in ruins—its fairings shattered, metal scarred, and evidence of a high-speed impact plain to see. Both riders were discovered with serious injuries. One, in particular, had a large head wound and was struggling to breathe when volunteers and medics reached him. First…

Just after midnight on the night of August 30, Banglamung police staged a no-nonsense raid that turned what appeared to be a sleepy Pattaya convenience store into the scene of an undercover vape operation. At 12:36 a.m., officers arrived at 112/13-14, Soi Phornprapanimit 2 and peeled back the curtain on a business that had been quietly selling electronic cigarettes under the benign name “Orderve.” The operation was led by Police Colonel Sarawut Nootnarut, with Police Lieutenant Colonel Kornphong Sukwisit and Police Sub-Lieutenant Thongthawat Phonlakhon among the team on site. The raid came after local residents alerted authorities to suspicious activity, and what the police found confirmed their concerns: a backroom outfitted with air conditioning and glass cabinets lined with vaping merchandise. Inside the hidden display were more than 600 vape-related items—e-cigarette devices, flavored vape pods, coils and disposable vapes—arranged like trophies behind the glass. The inventory looked more like a…

The quiet roads of Kanchanaburi turned into the scene of a small, cinematic chase on August 30 when police closed in on a suspected migrant-smuggling ring and arrested a 32-year-old driver believed to be transporting 21 undocumented workers from Myanmar. The man, identified as Phuri Lertchaiprachim, was detained in Dan Makham Tia district after tips pointed officers to a smuggling operation running out of tambon Klondo. The pickup drama: three trucks, one arrest According to Police Major General Songklod Krirkkritaya, commander of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Division, authorities tracked three pickup trucks they suspected were part of the same convoy. What followed read like a short action film: one driver of a Mitsubishi Triton fled the scene, another — behind the wheel of a Ford Ranger — abandoned his vehicle and melted into the surrounding forest, leaving 11 migrants behind. The third truck, an Isuzu D-Max, couldn’t outrun the law.…

There are urban legends, and then there are neighborhood phenomena so delightfully strange they could only happen in Thailand: a green pit viper, stoic and emerald-bright, turning up on the same doorstep three nights running and prompting a small local pilgrimage of hopeful lottery players. The tale landed on Facebook on August 28 and by August 30 had become the kind of gentle, superstitious buzz that spreads faster than morning market gossip. The little Naga that wouldn’t leave It began simply enough. A Facebook user posted a short video of a green pit viper coiled on a shelf by his front door, dubbing the reptile a “little Naga guarding the entrance.” Far from slithering away into the dusk, the snake stayed put. The next evening it was back in the same exact spot. And then, as if keeping vigil for something only it knew, it returned a third night. The…

Late-night discovery at Pathum Thani petrol station leaves questions hanging What began as an ordinary overnight shift turned into a somber investigation when a security guard at a petrol station in Pathum Thani found a driver dead inside a parked Toyota Fortuner. The vehicle had been motionless since the evening, and the discovery early on August 31 set police and rescue teams into motion. At about 2:30 a.m., Police Lieutenant Rapeepong Boonphuaphan of Pratunam Chulalongkorn Police Station received the call. He and members of the Poh Teck Tung Foundation arrived at the petrol station on Rangsit-Prayoonsak Road, Khlong 1, Prachathipat subdistrict in Thanyaburi district, Pathum Thani. The Fortuner, sporting a Bangkok registration plate, was parked near the station restroom — the place where the driver’s life quietly ended. Inside the driver’s seat authorities found 41-year-old Suwan. Personal items recovered from the car included a wallet holding a driver’s licence and…

Shortly before dawn on August 31, a construction mishap turned a quiet stretch of Rama 2 Road into a chaotic scene of twisted metal, emergency lights and anxious onlookers. At about 2:30 a.m., a crane working on the elevated road project at kilometre 27 inbound toward Bangkok toppled, dropping a 3-tonne orange steel beam onto a passing white single-cab pickup. The vehicle — carrying foam boxes and registered in Chon Buri — was crushed by the weight of the boom and beam, leaving two occupants trapped and several people injured. Fast response, tense rescue Police Lieutenant Colonel Suwit Moolsongkiat of Mueang Samut Sakhon Police Station received the call and rushed to the scene alongside fellow officer Police Lieutenant Colonel Sukhum Poethaisong. Rescue teams from the Samut Sakhon Charity Foundation and medical crews from Samut Sakhon Hospital, Ekachai Hospital and Mahachai Hospital arrived quickly to assess a hazardous situation complicated by…

Surin Community Rallies as Father Pleads for Return of Son Taken for Deportation A quiet day in Bua Chet district turned into a heartbreak for one Surin family on August 29, when immigration officers arrived at a local school and escorted a 13-year-old boy away. The boy — born to a Cambodian mother and a Thai father who has lived in the community for decades — was taken to a children’s shelter in Surin province amid questions about his documentation and possible deportation. The boy’s father, 67-year-old Sirichok, has been left distraught and publicly begging for his son’s return. With tears in his eyes, he told reporters he is prepared to undergo DNA testing to prove paternity. “I am confident he is my son,” Sirichok said, insisting the family has never been a burden on the community and has committed no crimes. All he wants, he said, is for his…

Pattaya has rolled out its much-anticipated annual flu vaccination drive, turning a routine public-health task into a community-minded celebration of prevention. The campaign kicked off on Thursday, August 28, at the Pattaya Community Medical Centre (Wat Boon Kanjanaram), where deputy mayors Wuttisak Rermkitjakan and Krisana Boonsawat dropped by to cheer on medical staff, high-five volunteers and meet residents lining up for their free jabs. Organised by the Public Health Services Division of Pattaya’s Health and Environment Office, the drive aims to make flu protection easy, quick and—most importantly—free. The goal is straightforward: reduce illness, blunt the seasonal spike in cases and build community-level immunity so Pattaya’s families, workers and visitors can enjoy the city with fewer sniffles and more smiles. City officials stress that the initiative aligns with the Better Pattaya policy, a broader push to improve public health and wellbeing across the city. What happened at Wat Boon Kanjanaram…