Deputy Prime Minister and Commerce Minister Supachai Suthammapun chaired the first meeting on August 10, 2025, of a subcommittee focused on trade, tourism, and community economic development at Government House's Santisuk Maitri Building. The meeting included Culture Minister Sabida Thaisert, Tourism and Sports Minister Surasak Panjcharoenvarakul, and advisors Virasakdi Khovasuratana and Kopsak Phutrakagun, along with representatives from public agencies, the private sector, and experts.

Supachai outlined the committee's mandate to cover trade and services across tourism, wellness, creative economy, agriculture, food security, and retail and international commerce. She announced the establishment of four specialized working groups: (1) Creative Economy and Visitor Economy, chaired by Virasakdi, focusing on leveraging Thailand's cultural capital and creating value from visitors; (2) Agriculture, Food Security, and High-Value Farming, led by Dr. Kopsak, aimed at upgrading the agricultural sector throughout the supply chain; (3) Community Economy and SMEs, also under Dr. Kopsak's leadership, designed to support entrepreneurs from startup to scale-up stages; and (4) International Trade, chaired by Virasakdi, targeting trade balance, market expansion, and FTA utilization.

Supachai emphasized that all four groups will pursue "Quick Big Wins" achieving results within 6 months to 1 year through regulatory review and streamlining, without requiring large budget allocations, coupled with long-term structural improvements for the 2–4 year horizon. The working groups will operate in coordination with clear ownership and targets before presenting recommendations to the subcommittee and the public-private economic problem-solving committee. Virasakdi noted that efforts will seek new opportunities for creative economy and visitor economy sectors.

The Thai Gold Merchants Association reported on August 11, 2026, that gold prices rallied strongly, surging over 1,200 baht compared to the previous day's closing, with ornamental gold trading at 69,900 baht per baht weight. According to the latest data published by the Gold Merchants Association at 9:03 a.m., gold bars were trading at 68,900 baht per baht weight for buyback and 69,100 baht per baht weight for selling. For 96.5% ornamental gold, the buyback price was set at 67,522.64 baht per baht weight with a selling price of 69,900 baht per baht weight, while the global spot gold price stood at $4,427.00 per ounce. Gold traders predicted that at tomorrow's market opening, prices could jump another 1,000-2,000 baht per baht weight and potentially breach the 80,000 baht threshold.

Authorities in Chiang Muan District, Phayao, have established a joint command center to search for two residents from Ban Pin village who went missing while entering the forest. The missing individuals are identified as Mr. Ra and Mr. Nak. The search, now in its third day, involves multiple agencies including district administration, local police, Doi Phu Nang National Park, wildlife protection units, a royal dam project office, and volunteer rescue teams.

On the third day of operations, search teams were divided into two groups. Team 1, led by security officials from Chiang Muan District, used drones to survey the last known coordinates provided by the missing persons near the eastern bank of the Pii River, then conducted ground searches along the river heading south, but found no trace. Team 2 searched the southern section of the Pii River using drones from Phrae Province's forest control station, also without results.

Authorities have now expanded the search plan to include the western bank of the Pii River, with support from motocross motorcycle clubs from surrounding districts in Phayao and nearby Nan Province. Additional resources include on-foot search teams and boats to search along the river from the Pii Dam reservoir to the last known position, with expansion toward the southern areas of Chiang Muan District. Officials continue to adjust their strategy based on terrain conditions to maximize chances of locating both missing persons as quickly as possible.

NONTHABURI: Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has ordered the Nonthaburi governor and provincial police chief to take decisive action in the case of former MP Chalong Riewraeng allegedly shooting dead Nonthaburi Provincial Administrative Organisation (PAO) president Pol Col Thongchai Yenprasert.

The Big Data Institute (BDI), a public organization under the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society, is organizing the 7th International Conference on Big Data Analytics and Practices (IBDAP 2026) from August 7–9, 2026, in Surat Thani province. The conference serves as a forum for researchers, academics, experts, and professionals from diverse countries to share knowledge, technological advances, research, and practical experiences in applying big data and artificial intelligence to address challenges and develop the nation.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Theerani Achlakaul, director of BDI, welcomed participants and explained that IBDAP aims to build understanding of big data and AI potential through real-world use cases and technological progress, while creating a platform for Thailand and other nations to exchange experiences and knowledge. This year, 57 research papers from 13 countries have been selected for presentation, reflecting growing interest in big data and AI technologies at the international level.

BDI operates under the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society with a mission to integrate and link data from various government agencies to develop high-value datasets that support policy design in both the public and private sectors. The institute also provides data analytics and intelligence services to help organizations use big data effectively for decision-making and policymaking.

A key BDI initiative this year is the Data Integration and Intelligence (D2) platform, designed to handle sectoral, geographic, and central data systems to address data silos. BDI aims to develop D2 into a national data backbone supporting future policy design, currently integrating data across multiple sectors including health, tourism, environment, agriculture, and commerce.

Simultaneously, BDI is advancing its Sovereign AI Program to build AI capabilities that Thailand can develop and control through collaboration between government, private sector, and educational institutions. A major output is Thai LLM (Large Language Model), which aggregates data from media, television stations, the National Library, and government agencies to prepare a large language model for the Thai language.

BDI also plans to expand its Sovereign AI initiative to cover regional dialects and accents, images, videos, and OCR-derived data to create both sovereign data and sovereign models. These will serve as critical infrastructure enabling the private sector and startups to develop and deploy AI products and services at reduced cost.

IBDAP 2026 presents advances in big data analytics and smart computing, covering key topics including big data, machine learning, data analytics, data governance, AI applications, big data infrastructure, and data security, with practical applications across various sectors.

A Myanmar driver and South Korean passenger escaped a burning sedan on August 10 in Chiang Mai after thick black smoke erupted from the engine compartment. When officers arrived at the scene near a supermarket in Mae Kho Subdistrict, Doi Saket District, flames were already engulfing the vehicle. Firefighters used chemical agents and water to suppress the fire, completely destroying the car but preventing any injuries or deaths. The couple, who were traveling from Sankamphaeng District, quickly stopped the vehicle and fled when they noticed smoke pouring from under the hood, after which flames rapidly consumed the entire vehicle.