What a moment for Thai craftsmanship! Her Royal Highness Princess Sirivannavari visited the "Legacy" exhibition at ICONSIAM in Bangkok, honoring the timeless artistry of Thai textiles under the theme ...
What a moment for Thai craftsmanship! Her Royal Highness Princess Sirivannavari visited the "Legacy" exhibition at ICONSIAM in Bangkok, honoring the timeless artistry of Thai textiles under the theme ...
Fugitive wanted for shooting at police officers during a 2009 Songkran festival clash in Chaiyaphum was arrested in Bangkok after 17 years on the run. The 39-year-old suspect confessed to the attempted murder charge involving an illegal sho
On August 13, 2026, Deputy Commander Pattanasak Bubphasuwan of the Suppression Division ordered officers Suriyasak Jirawat and Watrasamn Nethararn to arrest Lampoon (surname withheld), 39, based on a warrant issued by Chaiyaphum Provincial Court on July 31, 2552, for attempted murder of a police officer and unlawful possession of a firearm in public. He was caught at a rental home on Bamrung Muang Road, Khlong Mahanag Subdistrict, Bangkok, after 17 years in hiding.
The case originated during Songkran 2552 in Nong Bua Daeng District, Chaiyaphum Province, when teenagers clashed at a festival. Police from Noen Moe Station responded to control the situation. During their intervention, Lampoon allegedly confronted officers, retrieved an illegal shotgun, and fired at police, forcing them to take cover before he fled the scene.
Operatives received a tip that Lampoon—listed as the 61st priority fugitive on the 2569 national police wanted list—was residing in Bangkok. After investigation and surveillance, they located and apprehended him at the rental address. During interrogation, Lampoon confessed to the shooting, claiming he was a teenager at the time and acted impulsively without considering the consequences. He is now in custody pending prosecution through Noen Moe Station, Chaiyaphum Province.
Four Myanmar nationals were arrested after chasing three Thai teenagers on motorcycles with BB guns in Phuket, damaging their phone and motorcycle during the attack.
At 11:51 p.m., a group of six offenders on three motorcycles used firearms to chase three Thai boys aged 14-15 riding a single motorcycle, forcing them to flee for their lives. The attackers also smashed the victims' mobile phone and power bank, causing 18,000 baht in damage, and threw the motorcycle key into a drainage pipe. The victims filed a complaint at Phuket City Police Station, prompting an investigation.
On August 13, at 4:30 p.m., Phuket City Police led by Lieutenant Colonel Chatri Chugaew apprehended four suspects: Daw (21, Myanmar national), A (15, Myanmar national), Nyan Kite (21, Myanmar national), and Mai Soe Aung (21, Myanmar national). They were arrested in the areas of Koh Kaew, Chalong, and Patong subdistricts.
During interrogation, all four confessed to driving through Phuket city when they encountered the three Thai victims. After an exchange of looks, they chased them on motorcycles. The Thais fled and sought help at a convenience store, while the suspects used BB guns to threaten them and destroyed their property before escaping. Police seized three motorcycles, clothing, and the BB guns as evidence. The suspects face charges of criminal intimidation and property damage and have been transferred for further legal proceedings.
Former Olympic boxer Somjit Jongjoho says money he arranged for jailed fighter Manas Buunchamnong went missing through an intermediary, not the prison itself.
Somjit Jongjoho, a former Olympic gold medal boxer, posted a video clarifying previous remarks about visiting fellow Olympic hero Manas Buunchamnong in prison. He said money he had arranged to be delivered to Manas went missing en route, blaming neither the prison nor himself but an intermediary who failed to pass it along. In the video, the 51-year-old boxer apologized to Bangkok Special Prison for miscommunication that led to misunderstanding.
"Let me be clear—this has nothing to do with the prison," Somjit said in the clip. "I didn't deposit the money with the prison. I arranged it through someone from outside who was visiting. Many people from the boxing world and fighter friends gave me money to pass along, but when I visited Manas and his wife, they told me the money never reached his hands. So I have to figure out where it got lost along the way and who ended up with it. It's really unfortunate."
A six-day search continues for two missing men in Phayao's forest after they lost contact while gathering mushrooms; rescue teams are investigating campfire sites and sounds in the rugged terrain.
Six days into the search, two relatives remain missing in Phayao province after entering a forest to gather mushrooms on August 8 and losing contact. The missing persons are Ramesorn Chandang, 20, and Nak Kamlue, 74, who are nephew and uncle. They last reported their location before their phone battery died.
Chiang Muang District Officer Pichai Khuenpetch has ordered a large-scale search involving administrative authorities, Doi Phunak National Park staff, village safety volunteers, community leaders, and rescue teams working continuously. Search teams have been divided into three groups covering the last known coordinates and areas along the Ping River, with the search expanded northward and eastward.
Officers discovered significant clues including campfires and sounds resembling voices, prompting urgent investigation of all suspect locations and analysis of possible movement routes. Despite the complex forest terrain, the search continues without finding the two missing people. Authorities are expanding the search area at full capacity in hopes of locating and safely returning both men to their families as soon as possible.
A 22-year-old man with a history of fatal violence attacked his mother's curry shop in Nonthaburi, smashing windows and threatening her after his recent prison release for killing his ex-girlfriend. The mother filed a complaint citing escal
At 3:00 p.m. on August 13, 2025, officers from Pak Kret Police Station in Nonthaburi Province received a report from Pornaphaa, a curry rice buffet restaurant owner in the Muang Thong Thani area of Pak Kret District, that her son had stormed into her shop and threatened to harm her. Police responded and found the suspect, Chakrit, 22, shouting in front of the restaurant after smashing the front window with a rock. Officers calmed him down and took him into custody. No firearm was found despite his threats to have one; he claimed it had been seized in a previous incident. He was taken to the police holding cell and then transferred for interrogation.
Pornaphaa later filed a formal complaint, citing safety concerns. She stated that her son had called threatening to kill her, but she did not expect him to actually come. When he arrived, he demanded to know: "What are you doing? Are you choosing a new husband? Is he better than me?" She tried to reason with him, but he became enraged, saying "Don't kick me out," before throwing the rock through the window. She fled. He has a history of threatening her with a gun, though she has never actually seen one.
Background checks revealed that Chakrit previously used a firearm to shoot his ex-girlfriend to death in Rayong Province in 2023. He had been imprisoned for that crime and was only recently released in December 2024. The prison issued a one-year behavioral monitoring order set to expire this December. Pornaphaa also disclosed that her son had previously suffered from mental illness and received treatment at Bang Plee Hospital, but stopped taking medication approximately four months ago because his liver enzymes became elevated. In July of this year, he threatened her with a knife.
A 14-year-old gunman killed eight people including his grandparents and six school staff at Debsirin Nonthaburi School before taking his own life, but journalists and analysts warn Thai society's short news cycle of three to seven days risk
If we are honest with ourselves, Thai society is one where trending news topics, based on my observation as a journalist over the years, have an average lifespan of about three days, or at most about seven days, and rarely exceed a week. Then the news cycle moves on.
The role of mainstream mass media as gatekeepers—the sole entities deciding what is or is not news and which angle to take on an issue—has significantly declined over the past decade. This is due to the fact that every ordinary person can now express various opinions on social media, and a considerable number of social media influencers now hold power in sparking social debate.
In this state of extreme chaos, expecting the public to simply shut up, remain passive, and wait for the police or the courts to explain the factors that led to last Friday's tragedy is inadequate. The fourteen-year-old gunman first shot his two grandparents to death, went to school, killed six more people—mostly teachers at Debsirin Nonthaburi School—and then shot himself. Waiting is too slow for a society with such a short attention span.
After a week passes, the number of people still interested in the issue will drop drastically, to the point where almost no one not directly involved will still care or talk about it. Do you still remember the beer house fire in Lat Phrao? Yesterday, another person died from injuries sustained in the fire, bringing the death toll to thirty-eight. Is anyone still trying to debate and learn so society can prevent similar incidents? What about the train collision with a bus at Makkasan intersection, which now seems a distant memory despite having occurred just a few months ago?
In a society with a very short attention span, the first three to seven days are crucial for collective social learning.
Please keep an open mind and avoid rushing to a single, simplistic conclusion. Some want the tragedy to have a touching ending and are fixated on the father of a twelve-year-old victim, who forgave the perpetrator—despite the fact that the partner of another victim, a mathematics teacher, sobbed and said he could not come to terms with it. Meanwhile, a male student from the school released a video clip defending his school and teachers while condemning the shooter, even as some expressed sympathy for the adolescent gunman and blamed certain teachers for allegedly treating him unfairly. But how do we explain the fact that the young gunman killed his own grandparents who had effectively acted as the de facto parents when his biological parents reportedly saw him only on weekends?
Some saw the fourteen-year-old gunman as a monster; others saw him as a victim. I think I see both, but I will continue to keep my mind open beyond the seven-day mark, which falls tomorrow.
Keep an open mind, because a flawed society with a limited attention span usually only has three to seven days to learn and debate before moving on.
Within that short window of public attention, the government also wants to appear resolute, sometimes making knee-jerk decisions.
Thailand grapples with stricter gun control following a school shooting, but officials must weigh the benefits of a civilian firearms ban against the likelihood that illegal weapons would proliferate.
Gun ownership in Thai society has become a major point of contention, partly triggered by the tragedy at Thepsirin School in Nonthaburi, where the perpetrator used his grandfather's firearm. It is undeniable that had the attacker not accessed a weapon, the violence might not have occurred or would have been less severe. However, imposing a blanket ban on civilian gun ownership requires careful and comprehensive consideration, as guns serve legitimate purposes for self-defense and property protection alongside their dangers. An unrestricted approach—allowing firearms everywhere and settling disputes as in cowboy films—is clearly not viable, but those needing protection deserve viable options. Historically, countries like the United States permit civilian gun ownership based on colonial-era principles of armed self-defense, with the right to bear arms enshrined in the constitution partly as a safeguard against tyranny. By contrast, 18 countries including North Korea, Mali, Somalia, and Cambodia completely ban civilian firearms, operating on the principle that the state holds a monopoly on violence and should control society according to law. These nations require citizens to fully trust the state to protect them and not abuse power. The question for Thailand is which path to choose and whether it is genuinely feasible. Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has proposed banning civilian guns, but statistics from 2020 to June 2025 show that of 161,466 gun-related crimes, 143,274 (84.7 percent) involved illegal or smuggled weapons. If legal guns are controlled, will illegal weapons simply flood in? Will solving one problem create many others? This demands truly careful and comprehensive thought.
Laos handed over 130 Thai online gambling operators to Thai authorities on August 13 after a crackdown in Vientiane. The suspects, who earned 14,000-18,000 baht monthly working for gambling websites, will now face prosecution in Thailand.
At 4:20 p.m. on August 13, Nakhon Phanom Provincial Police Commander Napdol Rak Chat, along with officers from Nong Khai and Thai embassy staff in Vientiane, received custody of 130 Thai men and women from Lao authorities. They had been detained following a major sweep against an online gambling and scam network in Vientiane.
The suspects were transported back to Thailand through the Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge checkpoint at Muang Nong Khai district. Multi-disciplinary screening at the Nong Khai Provincial Volunteer Defense Force found no victims of human trafficking, fraud, or wanted persons among them.
Investigations revealed all 130 had traveled to work for six online gambling websites, earning an average of 14,000 to 18,000 baht per month. They rented rooms adjacent to casinos in Vientiane. Some had been working there for less than a month.
On August 18, Lao authorities conducted a heavy crackdown and detained all 130 on charges of working without permission and engaging in online gambling operations in Laos. After Laotian legal proceedings concluded, the suspects were handed over to Thai authorities for prosecution under Thai law.
The National Anti-Corruption Commission inspected elderly health centers in Saraburi costing over 460 million baht, questioning whether the expensive gym equipment and high maintenance costs justify the spending across 15 provincial facilit
On August 13, Kiartsak Puttapant, Deputy Secretary-General of the National Anti-Corruption Commission, led media to inspect health promotion centers for elderly residents in Saeng Phan Subdistrict, Wang Muang District, and Muak Lek Subdistrict, Muak Lek District, Saraburi Province. The inspection aimed to monitor high-value project spending and educate officials on proper budget use. Staff reported an average of 40–50 daily users, mostly retired civil servants. Both facilities feature indoor gyms equipped with air conditioning and expensive exercise machines procured by Saraburi Provincial Administration. The project includes 15 such centers across Saraburi built over three fiscal years at a combined cost exceeding 460 million baht: 3 centers in 2563 (91.28 million baht), 9 in 2564 (269.4 million baht), and 3 in 2568 (99.99 million baht). Sports equipment totals 30 items, including seven treadmills—three with reinforced belts and four standard models—each priced at 880,000 baht. Kiartsak expressed satisfaction with equipment quality but voiced concern about maintenance costs and electricity expenses for local government budgets post-handover. The Muak Lek center alone has 104 exercise machines. Paramada Denwong, Deputy Head of Muak Lek Municipality, confirmed that maintenance budgets have been prepared, with requests to the Provincial Administration for equipment replacement if needs exceed capacity.
South Korean national Mr. Lee was arrested in Phuket after overstaying his visa for nearly 3,000 days while allegedly operating an international drug trafficking network sought by Interpol.
Phuket- Thai immigration police and the Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) have arrested a South Korean national wanted under an Interpol Red Notice for fraud and transnational drug trafficking. The suspect, identified as Mr. Lee, had overstayed his visa in Thailand for nearly 3,000 days while allegedly running a criminal network exporting narcotics […]