On August 21, Asapol Sannittripath, Sisaket House member and chair of the anti-corruption committee, revealed that a committee headed by Deputy Prime Minister Pakorn Nillpraphand has examined the local government exam cheating scandal. The National Anti-Corruption Commission reported that preliminary findings implicate officials at rank 10 and below, with no involvement above that level. At director-general level, involvement traces back to the drafting stage of the terms of reference. Among politicians, only local government officials are implicated so far.

Based on witness statements from over 500 of some 5,000 people questioned, investigators identified a financial trail of approximately 9 billion baht. Asapol confirmed that former director-general Narucha Kotsawilaichit and another former director-general before Thirot Suphavibul of the Department of Local Administration are named. Regarding politicians, Asapol said no specific names were provided and the committee would need to request details directly from Pakorn.

Asapol also clarified the Burapha University case from 2564, where a local administrator arrest led to cancellation of the original terms of reference. When the university was asked to draft new terms, it claimed unfamiliarity and failed to submit a bid. He noted the fraud connects to the 2565 local administrator exam at Kasetsart University, where five of eleven candidates from Bang Yai were implicated in cheating. Regarding Sisaket province, Asapol confirmed DSI has already filed 19 cases where payment was made but funds could not be recovered.

A male body has been recovered floating in floodwaters in Tha Wang Pha District, Nan Province. On August 21, 2025, the Petchkesum Foundation posted an update on Facebook regarding the flooding situation in Nan Province, confirming the discovery of a male body in the district. Following reports from residents to the Petchkesum Foundation's disaster response team, water rescue personnel investigated and successfully recovered the body from the river. The deceased is a male estimated to be between 40 and 50 years old who was swept along by floodwaters in Tha Wang Pha District. Rescue teams are currently coordinating with police and on-duty medical examiners to conduct an autopsy for identification and to locate the victim's relatives. The Petchkesum Foundation expressed its deepest condolences.

Prince of Songkhla University and the Office of Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion are advancing micro-enterprise development nationwide through the fourth SME Provincial Champions Awards program, designed to identify and elevate promising entrepreneurs from all 77 provinces into management and business development exemplars that strengthen grassroots economy sustainably.

Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul presided over the fourth SME Provincial Champions Awards ceremony, held as part of the 18th National SME Awards at the Millennium Hilton Bangkok, with Deputy Prime Minister and Commerce Minister Supachai Suthammaphand also in attendance.

The fourth SME Provincial Champions Awards is a joint initiative between the Office of Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion and Prince of Songkhla University to expand development opportunities for promising micro-enterprises at the provincial level, raising management standards, strengthening competitive capacity, and preparing businesses for global changes emphasizing sustainable growth, digital transformation, and market expansion.

This year, 77 entrepreneurs won the SME Provincial Champions Awards, representing all 77 provinces nationwide, reflecting the program's commitment to distributing development opportunities broadly across regions. An additional 12 special awards were presented, including the Seven Pillars of Excellence recognizing excellence in seven areas, and Sectoral Grand Champions across four industry groups: manufacturing, services, retail and commerce, and agriculture.

The program extends beyond award selection to establish systematic business development processes. Participating entrepreneurs receive business health checks, management training, in-depth consulting, peer learning from successful exemplars, study visits to thriving enterprises, e-catalog development, and networking with partners. This approach identifies business strengths and limitations, then charts efficiency improvements and growth to enable genuine competitive advantage, particularly for micro-enterprises at provincial level that drive local job creation, income generation, and economic circulation.

Ten selected participants will also have opportunities for international business exposure visits, applying knowledge and experience to business development while opening pathways to global market connections.

Prime Minister Anutin stated that SMEs are critical to Thailand's economic foundation, creating jobs, generating income, and distributing economic opportunities across the country. Amid global economic shifts, digital technology, changing business models, and sustainability challenges, entrepreneurs must boost productivity, add value, innovate, and improve market and capital access.

The Office of Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion aims to make the National SME Awards and Provincial SME Champions Awards catalysts for driving inclusive and sustainable economic growth.

A deputy mayor of a subdistrict administrative organisation and her husband were found dead from gunshot wounds in their bedroom in Lom Sak district early on Thursday, with police investigating the circumstances.

At about 02:00 on 21 August, police were notified of a shooting that left two people dead at a house in Pak Chong Subdistrict, Lom Sak district. Police and an on-duty doctor from Lom Sak Hospital attended the scene.

The two-storey wooden house had the incident on the first floor, where the bedroom was located. Police found the body of Sudjai, 44, lying dead on a folding chair. Nearby, her husband Yongyut, 47, was found dead on the bedroom floor. A semi-automatic handgun was found near the scene.

Police initially suspected that Yongyut may have shot Sudjai before using the firearm on himself. However, investigators will collect physical and forensic evidence to establish the exact circumstances and cause of death.

Sudjai was serving as deputy mayor of Pak Chong Subdistrict Administrative Organisation in Lom Sak district. She had also been acting as the organisation's mayor while Mayor Siriyaphorn Mee Saeng was suspended from duty by the Election Commission.

Police said they had so far found no indication that the deaths were connected to local political issues. A personal matter was considered a possible motive, but investigators will question witnesses and examine surrounding evidence to determine what happened and why.

At a 10:00 a.m. press conference on August 21, 2025, Democratic Party deputy spokesman Nattakarn Chuchanua addressed government administration and civil service appointments. He first expressed concern for flood victims in Nan Province and praised relief workers from all sectors.

Chuchanua stated that the key issue concerns the government's stated commitment to good governance and ethical principles. However, an IFD poll of over 1,300 respondents conducted earlier this week found that more than 60 percent believe civil service appointments under Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul have not adhered to ethical standards, with political considerations, patronage networks, major factions, and financial interests involved.

While promoting senior civil servants such as permanent secretaries with 8-10 years of service remaining is technically legal, Chuchanua said public perception sees this as laying groundwork for political advantage and damaging morale among other civil servants losing career advancement opportunities.

Chuchanua noted that he accompanied party list MP Chuan Likphai in addressing Education Ministry staff, where nearly everyone explicitly disagreed with current appointment practices. He warned the government that the Constitution and Civil Service Act require appointments based on ethics, capability, performance, and conduct without regard to political considerations. Appointed civil servants therefore bear the burden of proving they are not representatives of political parties or serving particular political interests.

"If the government appoints incompetent people for political benefit, the damage falls on the government itself. Such behavior is as reprehensible as vote-buying in parliament," Chuchanua said.

He also noted that Prime Minister Anutin expressed shame earlier this year about rising corruption figures during a Ministry of Interior meeting. Chuchanua countered that Anutin need not feel ashamed or blame others, since he appointed these individuals himself. Failure to select qualified personnel has allowed corruption to spread throughout every level from national to local government.

Chuchanua also discussed the National Buddhism Office's transfer of a specialist-level civil servant from Kalasin to Yala following an inspection tour by the office's leadership. He argued that the southern border region is complex, and personnel transfers there should consider knowledge, capability, and suitability to the area. Deploying problematic personnel to sensitive areas is the wrong approach and warrants government investigation.

Almost everybody who comes to Koh Lanta stays on the west coast, on the long strip of sand between Klong Dao and Kantiang. Almost nobody goes to the island's capital.

That is not a slight on Lanta Old Town. It is the whole point of it. The town is quiet now for exactly the reason it was busy before: it faces the wrong way.

When the sea was the road

Before there were roads on Koh Lanta, there was the water, and the east coast is the sheltered side. Old Town sits there, looking across at the mainland hills, in a spot calm enough for a wooden boat to sit out weather.

That made it the island's harbour and its commercial centre. Trading vessels working the route between Phuket, Penang and Singapore put in here, and what moved through the town was tin, charcoal and dried fish.

Look at the map with that in mind and the island reorganises itself. The beaches everyone flies in for today were the far side, the exposed side, the side facing open water. The valuable coast was the one nobody now visits.

Three arrivals, in order

The people of Old Town did not turn up all at once, and the order matters.

First the Urak Lawoi, the sea people, who have been on this island roughly five centuries and call it Satak. Then Muslim families from the Malay peninsula and Sumatra. Then, in the nineteenth century, southern Chinese arriving on the tin-mining wave that was reshaping this whole coast.

Each group is still here, and the town is one of the few places in Thailand where you can see all three layers on a single street.

The Chinese left the most visible mark

The buildings are the giveaway. The main street is lined with wooden shophouses raised on stilts over the water, teak, shuttered, some more than a hundred years old, built in the Sino-Portuguese style that runs down through Phuket and Penang.

They are not preserved as a museum piece. People live in them, and the shrines between them still smoke with incense.

What happened next is the part nobody writes down

Here is where the record thins out, and it is worth being straight about it. Old Town's rise is documented. Its decline is not, at least not in English.

What is obvious is the shape of it: at some point the land road mattered more than the sea route, tourism arrived on the west-facing beaches, and the centre of the island's economy walked across to the other coast. But we could not find a reliable date for when the pier stopped being the island's main way in, and we would rather say that than invent a decade to make the sentence flow.

If you know this history, or your family lived it, we would like to hear from you.

It is still the capital

This is the detail that surprises visitors most. Old Town is not a preserved village. It is the administrative seat of the whole district: the post office is here, the police station, the Buddhist temple, the Chinese temple, and the island's hospital.

There is also a community museum, put together by local people rather than by an outside institution, covering the three groups who built the place.

So when the west coast shuts for the monsoon and the beach road empties out, the island does not close. It just goes back to running from where it always ran from.