Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, serving as chairman of the Police Personnel Committee, will preside over the 7th meeting of 2025 on July 22 at 1:00 PM at the Sriyananda Conference Room, Building 1, Floor 2 of the Royal Thai Police Headquarters. The meeting agenda includes approval of previous meeting minutes and consideration of the appointment of the 16th National Police Commissioner to succeed current commissioner Kittisak Panpetch, who will retire on September 30, 2025.

According to the Police Act 2022 and committee regulations, the commissioner appointment must be completed by July 30 when a retirement occurs that year. The four candidates are Deputy Commissioner Nirandr Luamshri (Candidate 1), Deputy Commissioner Thatchai Pitasneelabutr (Candidate 2), Deputy Commissioner Samran Nualma (Candidate 3), and Police Region Commissioner Itthiphol Ajchariyaprasit (Candidate 4). All four candidates must leave the meeting room and are barred from voting. The committee will consist of 12 members total—11 committee members plus the chairman—who will vote to select the new commissioner.

Drunk BMW driver crashes, kills 3 in NonthaburiLegacyThree people died when a drunk BMW driver crashed into a tuk tuk in a village in Nonthaburi this morning, July 20. Officers from Bang Bua Thong Police Station and rescuers from the Ruam Katanyu Foundation were called to the scene in Chonlada Bang Bua Thong Village on Bang Kluay-Sai Noi Road at about 4am. The collision occurred near Section 12 of the housing estate. Police identified the victims as 82 year old Lamai Autchamakornluck, 77 year old Phat Sae-ngow and 37 year old Prathumporn Prasertkantong. Lamai and Prathumporn were pronounced dead at the scene. Rescue workers performed CPR on Phat for more than 30 minutes, but she later died from her injuries. Photo via KhaoSod Police said the three victims were travelling in a tuk tuk from the village to a nearby market, where Lamai and Phat were due to operate their business. The tuk tuk overturned and sustained significant damage in the collision. The BMW driver, identified as 31 year old Yotsathon Jongphutsiri, remained at the scene and cooperated with police. According to investigators, a breath alcohol test revealed that he had 152 milligrams of alcohol per cent in his system, which is above Thailand’s legal limit of 50 milligrams per cent. Yotsathon told police he did not see the tuk tuk while driving home through the village. Some media outlets reported that the driver had been drinking while watching the FIFA World Cup final before the crash. However, police have not confirmed that information. Photo via KhaoSod Investigators believe speed may have been a factor and are reviewing CCTV footage from the area to establish the circumstances of the collision. Police said the final charges will be determined after the investigation is completed. The fatal Nonthaburi BMW crash follows other recent road accidents. On July 4, police in Pattaya investigated a crash involving an SUV driven by a Chinese national that struck several vehicles waiting at traffic lights. Police said the driver refused a breath alcohol test. In April, another BMW crashed into a KFC restaurant in Bangkok, injuring 12 people, including customers, employees and food delivery riders. Although witnesses suspected the driver had been intoxicated, police did not confirm those claims. The story Drunk BMW driver crashes, kills 3 in Nonthaburi as seen on Thaiger News.

Pathum Thani Provincial Administration (PTAO) is reinforcing its role as a model local government organization in public health, continuing its aggressive flu vaccination campaign for the third consecutive year to build community immunity and sustainably improve residents' well-being. The initiative operates under the slogan "Good Health Starts Here: PTAO Cares About Your Health."

Influenza is a seasonal disease that occurs every year and affects public health broadly. Over the past three years, PTAO has recognized the importance of this issue and implemented proactive policies to secure high-quality vaccines for residents. Recently, Governor Kamnalwit Thupkrajang (Big Jazz) visited communities to inspect vaccination services and encourage residents, merchants, and students participating in the program. He announced that this year's campaign has distributed 265,000 free vaccine doses across the province.

Gov. Kamnalwit reported that public response has been excellent and growing each year, with increasing confidence in vaccine safety. Annual flu vaccination not only reduces severe illness and hospital admissions but also eases household financial burdens, strengthening the province's primary health care system and advancing it toward becoming a truly safe and healthy city.

PTAO invites at-risk groups, youth, and unvaccinated residents to receive free flu vaccines until July 31, 2025 at the PTAO multipurpose building (near Pathum Thani Market) and all health centers and stations throughout the province. No appointment needed—just bring your ID card. More details are available on the PTAO Facebook page. For inquiries, contact the PTAO Public Health Office at 02-975-8940–8, ext. 126.

Deputy Police Commissioner Samran Nualma directed the operation "Dismantling the Foreign Nominee Network Phase 5" in Chiang Mai province, with more than 250 personnel from Region 5 Police, Chiang Mai Provincial Police, and officials from the Business Development Department and Department of Land. The operation resulted in 18 search warrants across 31 cases involving assets worth 633 million baht.

Police screened over 33,144 registered companies in Chiang Mai and identified 4,741 with foreign shareholders, of which 1,591 were suspected nominees. This narrowed to 31 target companies: 16 suspected of using Thai nationals as nominee shareholders and 15 foreigners illegally holding land stakes comprising 29 plots totaling over 20 rai valued at approximately 633 million baht. Authorities issued arrest warrants for 22 foreign nationals across multiple nationalities including Myanmar (7), India (3), China (9), Britain (1), and Thai nationals (2), successfully apprehending 5 suspects—two Indians and three Myanmar nationals.

A significant case involved Village G.12 in Sariphi District where four companies were found using Thai nominees. One suspect, a Thai national named R., was imprisoned but continued to appear as shareholder and director in seven companies registered after his conviction, contradicting legitimate business participation. Another suspect, Thai national S., claimed ignorance of shareholding and receiving only 7,000 baht per transaction from a real estate agent for signing documents. A third suspect, Thai national C., denied knowledge of any shareholding involvement.

The Bangkok Office of Culture, Sports and Tourism held a closing ceremony for Bangkok Esports 2026, honoring the winning athletes after the competition on July 18–19, 2026 at Fashion Island shopping mall in Kannayao district. More than 1,300 participants from 140 teams across the country competed in four esports disciplines across ten competition divisions for a combined prize pool of 336,000 baht, drawing large crowds of youth, parents and spectators throughout the event.

The closing and awards ceremony was presided over by Panida Kaewmak, deputy director of the Bangkok Office of Culture, Sports and Tourism, alongside Bangkok Metropolitan Administration executives. Mallika Luang Nimitromash, marketing director for Thailand of TCP Business Group, which sponsored the prize money under the Red Bull brand, presented awards and congratulated the athletes, demonstrating cooperation between the public and private sectors in promoting Thailand's esports development.

Bangkok Esports 2026 was organized to nurture youth talent and provide a quality competitive platform for esports athletes, creating pathways for players to advance to higher-level competitions and building an esports community network in Bangkok. The tournament featured popular titles including Arena of Valor, Free Fire, FC Online and Street Fighter VI, and proceeded smoothly over two days with strong attendance and viewership.

The competition received prize money sponsorship from TCP Business Group under the Red Bull brand, which played a crucial role in making the event successful and inspiring young esports athletes to develop their skills for national and international competition. Bangkok congratulated all prize winners and thanked the athletes, coaches, parents, judges, officials, partners, Thai Esports Association, Garena Online Thailand, and TCP Business Group for their support in making Bangkok Esports 2026 a success, and pledged to continue promoting esports as a pathway to develop youth talent and foster sustainable growth of Thailand's esports industry.

Deputy Prime Minister and Commerce Minister Suphajee Suthummaphand reported that bilateral talks with three senior U.S. officials—Susie Wiles (White House Chief of Staff), Howard Lutnick (U.S. Commerce Secretary), and Rick Switzer (U.S. Deputy Trade Representative)—took place July 15–16, 2025 in Washington, D.C. The primary objective was to accelerate the Thailand-U.S. Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART) negotiations and address Section 301 investigations while strengthening economic and investment cooperation. Suphajee stated that discussions went well and reiterated Thailand's status as a dependable Southeast Asian partner, noting that Thailand has pushed forward and shown flexibility on U.S. requests within existing legal and policy frameworks. The U.S. side thanked Thailand for its clear intent to expedite negotiations and commended efforts to balance trade, though the U.S. requires additional time to review Thai proposals, narrow gaps, and align expectations. Thailand remains committed to protecting national interests by leveraging investment issues and increased imports of U.S. goods, consistent with a Joint Statement agreed in July 2024 aimed at reducing the bilateral trade deficit.

Suphajee outlined ongoing ART progress, noting that Thailand has carefully considered U.S. demands and proposed mutually beneficial solutions. She emphasized that each country has different contexts, legal frameworks, and public policies, so success cannot be measured by a single standard but rather by whether both sides achieve their shared objectives based on mutual benefit. She also discussed Section 301 investigations currently targeting Thailand on two counts: structural excess production capacity and the absence of forced-labor import bans. The U.S. uses these as tools to drive tariffs against various countries following a Supreme Court ruling that found the President's emergency tariff authority unconstitutional. The U.S. is currently reviewing final investigation results, with preliminary tariffs set at 12.5 percent for 46 countries lacking forced-labor import bans, and 10–14 percent for countries with such laws or that conclude ART deals with the U.S. The U.S. is also investigating the excess capacity case, with tariff rates expected to be announced.