The Phuket Express -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Phuket — Authorities in Phuket have intensified efforts to regulate illegal hotel businesses, targeting condominiums and apartment complexes that rent rooms on a daily basis without proper licenses. The crackdown follows complaints from local residents and is to enhance tourist safety while ensuring compliance with Thailand’s Hotel Act. The operation was led by Phuket Governor […] Illegal Daily Rentals Prompt Hotel Act Enforcement -=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-=- The Phuket Express - Real. Unbiased. Impactful. In the moment.

Following his announcement that Big Mountain Village will take place on December 12-13, 2025 at Chokchai 3 Farm with a complete overhaul, organizer Pad Yutthana has unveiled one of his key enforcement measures: a hardline stance against all illegal activity. The event had drawn complaints about traffic congestion, dust, inadequate restrooms, and drug use.

Pad has committed to working closely with local police and relevant agencies to step up searches for contraband and prosecute offenders. He has announced a strict zero-tolerance policy governing illegal substances at the venue. Anyone found using cannabis, possessing or smoking e-cigarettes, or using drugs within the event grounds will face immediate arrest, legal prosecution, and a lifetime ban from all future Big Mountain Village festivals with no exceptions.

Pad aims to make this year's festival and beyond a drug-free music celebration and a model for other music festivals to follow by prioritizing enforcement against all forms of illegal activity.

On July 30, 2025, Deputy National Police Spokesman Chaturapath Phiromkaew announced that Thai tourist Bvorthat Pengsuak, known as "Huluon Solo," was found dead in a hotel room in Georgia. The National Police expressed deep condolences to the family and loved ones of the deceased.

The National Police reported that Georgian authorities are currently conducting a scene investigation, autopsy, forensic examination, and evidence collection to properly determine the facts and cause of death. No hypotheses have been excluded from consideration pending complete forensic results and evidence.

These procedures follow international justice standards, emphasizing forensic evidence and factual accuracy, transparency, and fairness to all parties. The National Police requested public and media cooperation in verifying information from reliable sources and official confirmation before sharing, to prevent misinformation that could affect the investigation and confuse the public.

The National Police pledged to cooperate with relevant agencies to conduct the investigation carefully, transparently, and with facts as the priority.

Diplomacy is no longer confined to diplomats and politicians. Increasingly, and for better or worse, people-to-people relations shape ties between two nations. It is not just face-to-face contact, but the use of social media that shapes the trajectory of relations between two nations.

Two examples are apparent in Thailand: relations with Cambodia and China.

The toxic tensions between Thailand and Cambodia are at least a year old, if not longer. They have left both governments needing to ensure that they are not seen as too soft on the other country following two brief undeclared wars last year. This, unfortunately, means that any normalisation of relations between Thailand and Cambodia is partly dictated by angry netizens in both countries.

As it stands, many social media users in both countries have been hurling hate speech—and even dehumanising speech—at one another on a daily basis.

Another diplomatic dispute this week saw the Chinese Embassy in Bangkok come under heavy criticism by nationalist Thai social media users for issuing a statement that, rightly or wrongly, Thai netizens interpreted as unfair and arrogant.

This came after a physical altercation between a Chinese woman and a female security guard at a Bangkok fan meet sparked an online uproar in both Thailand and China. The Chinese Embassy in Thailand called on the Thai authorities to investigate, but failed to acknowledge that the Chinese woman had first assaulted a Thai security guard, following her lengthy refusal to accept that she had jumped the queue. This was quickly followed by Thai Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow ordering a probe, further fuelling rage among Thais who perceive the Chinese Embassy as behaving as if it can tell the Thai government whatever it likes while the Thai government complies subserviently.

The Chinese Embassy's statement never acknowledged that the Chinese woman in the orange shirt had jumped the queue and then kicked a Thai security guard. Nor did it include any apology or expression of regret over the woman's behaviour.

Instead, the embassy reached a swift conclusion on this case, in stark contrast to its stalling over issues such as the toxic pollution in the Kok River, the "fake Thai children" controversy, and the many "grey Chinese" cases that have become almost daily news. Furthermore, the Chinese ambassador previously urged Thais to stop using the term "grey Chinese".

Many Thais are already concerned that China may be attempting to turn Thailand into a de facto tributary state in which Beijing can directly interfere in matters it cares about. Recent examples include alleged attempts to pressure Thai media into censoring masks depicting President Xi Jinping worn by Thai protesters over the Kok River contamination, as well as efforts to pressure Thai organisers of a Taiwan film festival to remove the name of Taiwan's Ministry of Culture from promotional materials, without going through Thailand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Thailand's courts have introduced a significant reform allowing defendants who lack funds to perform community service or public-benefit work instead of paying criminal fines, at a rate of 500 baht per day, with options to defer or extend payment based on financial circumstances. Detention as a substitute for fines is now a last resort only.

Previously, many defendants willing to accept responsibility faced imprisonment simply because they could not pay fines immediately, even in cases where the sentence was only monetary. Loss of freedom due to poverty becomes a heavier burden than the original offense and damages families, employment, and rehabilitation prospects.

The new guidelines reflect sound principles by distinguishing between punishment and retribution. Offenders remain accountable but can repay society through community service such as caring for the elderly and disabled, teaching, skilled trades, or vocational training—all activities that benefit society more than pointless incarceration.

Importantly, the courts do not apply this measure uniformly. Exceptions exist for cases involving fraud, drug trafficking, money laundering, and financial crimes to prevent serious offenders from profiting from their crimes.

Since 2022, courts have approved 80 percent of applications to perform community service instead of paying fines, demonstrating the reform's practical effectiveness in reducing unnecessary detention. Installment payment options based on ability to pay help ensure equal access to justice, preventing economic status from determining who receives freedom or imprisonment. The core principle is true legal equality: wealthy and poor should not receive different treatment under the law. This principle should guide not only the courts but also the executive and legislative branches in running the country and enacting laws to protect citizens' rights equitably.