Whispers on the beach turned into a very public request for answers this week in Phuket. A group of nightlife operators, led by Apichet Phulsong — vice president of the Patong Beach Entertainment Venue Association — marched into Phuket Provincial Hall with a petition asking the governor to formally investigate explosive online rumours that some government officials have been soliciting bribes from entertainment and tourism businesses across the island. The petition, delivered by roughly 30 association representatives on behalf of an organization that claims to represent more than 400 establishments in Patong alone, was accepted by Damrongtham Centre director Monchai Saelao, who stood in for the governor. Monchai listened, assured the group their concerns would be passed up the chain, and promised an investigation aimed at restoring fairness and confidence for law-abiding operators. Why the sudden drama? It started with social media chatter and local press reports alleging that certain…
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It was meant to be another sun-drenched memory from an island holiday — a couple perched on the rocks of Na Muang 2 Waterfall in Koh Samui, framing a selfie with the jungle’s roars and glints of water in the background. Instead, the afternoon of January 5 turned tragic when 22-year-old French tourist Alexis Vergos slipped from the fifth tier of the cascade and was later found lifeless in the pool on the fourth tier. According to local authorities, Alexis and his girlfriend, identified by interpreter Pimprapha Sakulpram as Romane, climbed up to the waterfall’s higher tiers earlier that day. While attempting to take photos, both reportedly lost their footing on the slick rocks. Romane miraculously managed to grab a tree branch and hold on — a desperate, split-second move that saved her life. Vergos, however, was swept away by the current and plunged to a lower level. Those onshore…
Ten Nights in Room 301: A Malaysian Traveler’s Uneasy Stay in Thailand Imagine checking into a well-known hotel in Thailand for a ten-night stay, expecting relaxation and room service, only to find yourself in the middle of a nightly mystery series. That’s exactly what one Malaysian woman claims happened to her, and her Facebook post—picked up by Khaosod—has since made fellow travelers double-check their reservations and bed-time routines. She didn’t name the hotel, only that it’s famous and that she stayed in room 301. What she did report, however, reads like a checklist of small annoyances stitched together into something much more unsettling: a bathroom light that began to flicker right after check-in, an air conditioner that stubbornly locked at 25°C, repeated awakenings between 3am and 4am, a mysterious fortune slip appearing where it hadn’t been before, a tap that wouldn’t stop dripping, and the odd vanishing-and-returning tissue roll. It…
When eight months pregnant Tarn took to national television on January 5 to unburden a deeply personal betrayal, she did more than tell a tragic love triangle story — she put a spotlight on how stress and secrecy can endanger both marriage and maternity. Appearing on Channel 3’s Hone Krasae programme with host Kanchai Kamnerdploy watching closely because of her fragile condition, Tarn described discovering what she calls an affair between her soldier husband and a female teacher known only as Bee. The missing husband and the LINE messages According to Tarn’s account, the saga began the way many modern mysteries do: with a missing phone call and unnerved silence. Her husband reportedly took leave from military duties but disappeared for a day, refusing to pick up her calls. Alarmed, Tarn asked his superior officer for help. When the soldier was finally located, Tarn says she questioned him — and…
On the evening of January 4, Khao Yai’s quiet wildlife corridor was rocked by a rare and alarming collision: a closed-box van struck a wild elephant known locally as Phlai Chom View — also called Phlai Biang Yai Moosi — while the animal was crossing the road near the Mun River Headwater Research Station in Pak Chong district. The van driver sustained serious head injuries and was rushed to Bangkok Hospital Pak Chong. The vehicle itself was heavily damaged. Phlai Chom View, shaken and probably hurt, fled back into the forest, leaving a worried team of officials and volunteers to begin a high-stakes search under fading light. By the morning of January 5, Marine Officer Nithat Plodsomboon had posted an update on Facebook: Khao Yai’s rapid response team, working closely with local Moosi volunteers, had been tracking the elephant since dawn. Despite careful efforts, the animal had not been located…
There are friendships made in unlikely places—and then there are betrayals that sting even harder because of where they began. For 44-year-old Thai man Sarayut, a bond forged behind prison walls turned into a startling late-night robbery that left him not only lighter in the wallet but heavier with disappointment. On Friday, January 2, Sarayut reported to Rattanathibet Police Station that he had been robbed at his home in the early hours of December 29. The amount taken was a modest but meaningful 3,000 baht. What made the theft especially painful wasn’t the sum: it was the face behind it. The suspect, according to Sarayut, was his old prison companion Chai—a man he’d trusted and relied on throughout their sentence. Their story began in a place few would call hospitable to lasting friendships: the same prison zone. Both men earned a reputation as model inmates and were allowed to work…
On January 5, 2026, a hush fell over sugarcane fields along the Thai-Cambodian border — not the peaceful hush of harvest, but the tense quiet of people waiting for news that may never come. Farmers who usually measure time in planting windows and mill delivery deadlines are instead counting troop movements and rumours. Repeated evacuations after two recent border clashes have left communities scrambling to cut, replant and protect crops that won’t wait for peace to be neatly scheduled. Racing the clock, racing the conflict In several border villages, agricultural life has resumed only piecemeal. Some fields are being tilled; others remain abandoned where families fled for safety. Though no fresh fighting was reported on January 5, the fragile ceasefire and persistent talk of troop redeployments have created a fog of uncertainty that hangs over daily work. For seasonal farmers, that fog is dangerous — planting windows and tapping schedules…
What began as a brief street confrontation in Ban Suan subdistrict, Mueang Chonburi, turned frighteningly real on the evening of January 4. At around 6:00pm a red motorcycle appears on CCTV, tails a teenager down a side lane and, within seconds, a verbal altercation escalates into gunfire. The victim, identified as Mr. Boonrit, was struck once in the left buttock; the bullet lodged inside his body and he was rushed to hospital after medics provided emergency aid at the scene. The footage, replayed repeatedly by investigators, shows the suspect confronting the teen — shouting accusations and daring him to fight — before the victim attempts to run. The situation spiraled with astonishing speed: the assailant produced a handgun from his waistband, fired a single shot and sped away on his motorcycle. Neighbours and bystanders who later spoke to police described the clash as spontaneous rather than planned, a snap decision…
Late on the evening of January 4, a quiet street in Samut Sakhon turned into a scene of frantic rescue and thick smoke as an 80-year-old woman raced against flames to save her beloved pets. The house fire, which erupted around 9:30 p.m. in Soi Pattana 4, Bang Ya Phraek subdistrict of Mueang district, left a family home gutted and the neighborhood shaken — but miraculously, no human injuries were reported. One woman, nine dogs, and a desperate dash through smoke Neighbors and rescue crews watched in disbelief as the elderly homeowner, who lives alone, ran repeatedly into the burning house trying to coax nine dogs to safety. Some animals clung to her side; others panicked or tried to bolt back into the blaze, complicating rescue efforts. Firefighters from Bang Ya Phraek Municipality, supported by nearby water trucks, battled the inferno for more than an hour before bringing it under…
On Saturday, January 3, 2026, a quiet, early-morning operation at the Chanthaburi border checkpoint turned into a small but consequential moment in the simmering saga along the Thai–Cambodian frontier. Cambodian officials escorted four buses of Thai nationals to the crossing opposite Thailand’s Ban Laem Permanent Border Checkpoint in Pong Nam Ron district, Chanthaburi — and 162 people were allowed to cross home. What might have been a routine repatriation quickly took a sharper turn when Thai authorities found six of the returnees were wanted on criminal warrants. From Battambang to Chanthaburi: the route home The buses had arrived in Battambang province in the predawn hours, ferrying people who had been stranded in Cambodia. Many were part of the larger flow of Thai workers who had been pushed back after a recent ceasefire between the two countries — a move that saw hundreds sent home amid heightened tensions. Cambodian officials escorted…