Mae Hong Son — Flash floods have swept through the renowned Karen Long Neck tourist village of Huay Sua Thao in Pha Bong subdistrict, Mueang district, Mae Hong Son province. The raging stream destroyed the souvenir shop zone, washing away merchandise, and swept away a wooden bridge that connects the community to the outside world. Residents have been cut off from the outside.

On August 20, 2025, heavy rainfall throughout Mueang district triggered flash floods, sudden inundation, and mudslides across multiple villages. The Huay Sua Thao area was particularly hard hit, with the swollen stream flowing violently through the center of the village. The souvenir shop zone suffered severe damage, with large quantities of goods swept away by the floodwaters.

The wooden bridge spanning the stream at the center of Huay Sua Thao, which connects the Karen community to the outside, was destroyed by the floods.

During the incident, Karen residents living near the waterway evacuated and moved to higher ground. Many houses in Huay Sua Thao located near the stream and along the village entrance road were flooded.

Community leaders, along with senior officials, administrative staff, local government representatives, Mae Hong Son Provincial Organization volunteers, the Pha Bong Subdistrict Administrative Organization, and related agencies, deployed to the area to assess the situation and provide urgent assistance to residents. They are working to evaluate damage and restore access routes as quickly as possible.

Authorities urged residents to exercise caution during travel due to ongoing strong currents and to stay in close contact with local officials.

Immigration authorities in Surat Thani province, working with investigative units and related agencies, conducted an enforcement operation against illegal foreign workers on Koh Tao in Koh Phangan district on August 20. Officers raided four locations: two dive companies, one pharmacy, and one beauty salon, arresting foreign nationals ranging from dive instructors to workers taking jobs reserved for Thai citizens.

The operation followed directives from senior police officials. Immigration officers found six foreign nationals working as unlicensed dive instructors, including one British man identified as Adam and five Spanish nationals: Xabier, Pablo, Paulina, Sandra, and Nuria. All were using DTV (digital nomad) visas but illegally took positions teaching diving. Authorities are investigating company executives and examining financial records for possible nominee involvement.

At a pharmacy, officers arrested a Myanmar national, Cha Chi Lin, for selling herbal medicines without pharmacist supervision in violation of work permit conditions. At a beauty salon on Sai Ree Beach, two Myanmar women, Sin Sin Miao and Tin Tin Wei, were arrested for performing nail services—work restricted to Thai nationals—despite their permits authorizing only general labor. All suspects were transferred to Koh Tao police for legal proceedings. Statistics show 47 foreign nationals arrested for labor violations in Koh Tao from January through August 2025 under various laws including the Alien Occupation Act, Immigration Act, and narcotics laws.

A fisherman in Prachuap Khiri Khan received the shock of his life when he discovered an unidentified male corpse floating face-down and bloated beneath a bridge over the Bang Pakong River in Kabinburi Sub-district, Prachuap Khiri Khan Province. Police investigator Hasaworn Panjamhat and hospital emergency staff rushed to the scene and recovered the body. The deceased was a man estimated to be 35–40 years old, wearing a short-sleeved shirt and shorts, and appears to have been dead for at least two days. The body bore tattoos and showed mysterious bruising across the body, especially under the chin, which preliminary medical examination could not immediately explain. No identification documents were found on the body. Witness Kittisak Sribuppha, who discovered the corpse while fishing with friends, described his shock when he spotted the body drifting toward them after a passing boat drew near the bridge pier. Police have ordered rescue personnel to conduct a detailed autopsy to determine the true cause of death—whether accidental drowning or something else—and to identify the victim and contact relatives.

On August 20, a retired teacher named Jaral Phueak Kham, aged 68, who now lives in Huai Muang village in Chom Thong district, Chiang Mai, shared his unusual experience. After retiring from teaching, he invested in longan farming and raising fighting bulls because he enjoyed the sport. While checking on his 10-month-old male bull named Jao Kaed at the orchard, he discovered the animal standing motionless with its tail wrapped tightly around a Cratoxylum tree. The owner was extremely surprised, having never seen such a thing in his 68 years—he had previously only heard of bulls wrapping their horns, not their tails. He wondered whether the bull was extremely clever or extremely foolish, and had to help free its tail from the tree.

Jao Kaed, also called Jao Khare, is an underdeveloped bull because its mother, Luang Pisanu, a fighting bull breed purchased from Nakhon Si Thammarat province for 20,000 baht, died when the calf was only three months old before it could be fully weaned. The young bull has relatively intelligent behavior, but its tail became tangled when it swatted at insects and accidentally wrapped around the tree, making it impossible to pull free.

The incident likely occurred when insects began bothering the calf, causing it to swish its tail to drive them away. By chance, the tail wrapped around the Cratoxylum tree, and the bull could not manage to unwrap it on its own.

The 39th Military Region Commander has mobilized personnel and equipment to assist flood-affected areas in Sukhothai, with operations running around the clock and continuous water situation monitoring. Major General Napadol Watcharajitbua, Commander of the 39th Army Division and Director of the Disaster Relief Center, has ordered rapid-response disaster relief units, volunteer forces, vehicles, equipment, and water rescue tools to stand ready. These forces aim to assist and support residents affected by disasters in Sri Satchanalai District, Sukhothai, who are suffering from flash floods and runoff. Following a monsoon trough that crossed the northern and upper northeastern regions between August 18-21, which poses risks of sudden flooding and flash floods, the 39th Army Division Disaster Relief Center has escalated alert measures. Personnel and equipment are prepared for 24-hour operations with close monitoring of water conditions to ensure rapid access to affected areas and timely safety assistance for residents.

On August 20, 2025, Natural Resources and Environment Minister Suchati Chomklin ordered the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plants to work with other agencies to investigate and prosecute those responsible for illegal burning and land seizure in Khuan Khreng Marsh Forest in Chao Uat District, Nakhon Si Thammarat Province. The forest fire that burned between August 13-17 destroyed over 1,527 rai of forest. Officials have been instructed to recover the seized land for the state, prosecute offenders without leniency, and deploy staff for strict 24-hour patrols to prevent further violations.

The minister noted that although fire control efforts have returned the situation to normal with no new fire spots detected, the ministry's work continues. Officials have been ordered to conduct detailed inspections of land plots in the affected area and nearby regions, and to pursue legal action if evidence suggests fires were deliberately set to clear or expand agricultural land. Continuous enforcement operations will be deployed in high-risk zones to protect the marsh forest as a national asset.

Arthapol Charoenchangsak, Director-General of the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plants, reported that 250 staff members have been deployed to monitor for fire recurrence and detect new illegal burning. During recent patrols by the Prevention and Fire Control Division working with Regional Conservation Area Office 5 (Nakhon Si Thammarat), officials discovered three suspicious land plots in Kreng Subdistrict, Chao Uat District totaling approximately 140 rai, apparently newly encroached for palm oil cultivation.

The department will accelerate land rights verification and evidence collection on all three plots to pursue strict legal action without exception. Forest restoration efforts for Khuan Khreng Marsh are underway while 250 staff continue intensive 24-hour patrols to ensure the natural resource is not damaged again.