Chaiyachon Detchdecho, a Democrat Party list MP responsible for the southern region, posted a photo on his personal Facebook while having lunch with Deputy Superintendent Thanongsak Sawasdikhomsol, deputy investigator at Thung Yai Provincial Police Station under Nakhon Si Thammarat Provincial Police Command (Region 8 Police), alongside friends and family members. In the caption, Chaiyachon wrote: "This meal, with Uncle Toom and his family—a long-standing, strong friendship built on mutual understanding." The post comes after Chaiyachon was accused of assaulting Thanongsak at a funeral, an incident that drew public attention. The lunch photo and caption appear to signal that friendly relations and a good personal relationship persist between both parties despite the case remaining under investigation. Chaiyachon has previously stated that he neither harmed nor intended to harm the police officer, said he respects the police, and expressed his readiness to proceed through the investigative process.

NAKHON RATCHASIMA — Two Buddhist monks were injured after their pickup truck was hit by another vehicle as they made a U-turn while returning to their temple after collecting alms in Pak Chong district.

Police were alerted at 09:00 to the crash on Mittraphap Road, between kilometres 45 and 46, on the inbound side toward Nakhon Ratchasima, in front of the Klang Dong Highway Maintenance Unit. Police, traffic officers, highway police and rescue teams from several local agencies rushed to the scene.

At the U-turn, officers found a white Nissan pickup bearing a sticker identifying a forest temple on its front windshield. The vehicle had been struck on its right side, veered off the road and crashed into a wooded area. Its Carryboy canopy had been torn off and was found on the road.

Two monks were found injured on the ground after being thrown from the vehicle. They were identified as Luang Pho Subin, 64, the driver, and Phra Phongphiphat, 47, who had been sitting in the rear canopy.

A short distance away, a white Toyota Vigo pickup fitted with a steel cage had crashed into a concrete median barrier, with one of its wheels lodged on the edge of the road. The driver, identified as 18-year-old Arthit Takan, and a male teenage passenger were also injured. Rescue workers provided first aid before taking the injured to Pak Chong Nana Hospital and Bangkok Hospital Khao Yai.

A preliminary police investigation found that Subin had driven the pickup from a forest temple early in the morning with Phongphiphat. They parked the vehicle and went out to collect alms. After finishing, the monks got back into the pickup to return to the temple. Phongphiphat was sitting in the rear Carryboy compartment.

As Subin began making a U-turn, the Toyota Vigo travelling behind them crashed heavily into the side of their vehicle. Both pickups lost control and were thrown in different directions, causing the two monks to be ejected from their truck.

Police said all injured parties were taken for medical treatment. Pol. Maj. Attaphon Thuekphranow, an investigating officer at Klang Dong Police Station, said officers had photographed the scene and arranged for both vehicles to be towed to the station for inspection.

Police will question both drivers once their injuries have improved and proceed with legal action based on the findings.

Gulf Development Company is expanding its environmental and waste-sorting culture through the second year of its "Our Bottle" programme, which has grown from its Bangkok headquarters to seven offices across the company's Eastern Zone power plant facilities. Employees are being encouraged to sort PET plastic water bottles from the source, and between January and July 2025, the initiative collected 1,183 kilograms of used PET bottles, which were donated to Jakdang Temple for upcycling into new products such as monk robes, blankets, clothing, and household items made from plastic bottle fibre.

The project has helped reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2.48 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent. Sitamorn Rattanawadee, Strategic Planning Director at Gulf Development Company, presented the collected bottles to Phra Maha Pranorm Thammaleangkaro, Abbot of Jakdang Temple, on 7 August 2025 at the temple in Phra Pradaeng district, Samut Prakan province.

The "Our Bottle" initiative encourages employees to care for the environment through simple, everyday habits such as sorting PET water bottles, ensuring waste is properly managed and diverted from the environment while being transformed into useful new products. When materials are correctly sorted, waste becomes a resource with renewed value, reducing environmental burden and allowing resources to be reused efficiently.

This year the company expanded the programme from headquarters to Eastern Zone power plant facilities, collecting 1,183 kilograms of used PET bottles for upcycling. Since the project began in 2024, a total of 1,637 kilograms of PET bottles have been sorted, helping reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 3.42 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent.

This demonstrates that cultivating a culture of proper waste sorting and management within an organization, when carried out consistently and scaled widely, can create tangible positive environmental results.

Phra Maha Pranorm Thammaleangkaro, Abbot of Jakdang Temple, said the temple and Gulf collaborate on upcycling PET bottles into multiple products, including clothing and blankets made from the bottles themselves and keychains made from bottle caps for special occasions, creating benefits for society and the environment together. "If we view waste as rubbish, we must find somewhere to discard it, which is costly and damaging to the environment. But if we view it as raw material for production, benefits arise for ourselves, the world, and righteousness."

The abbot suggested that beyond managing external waste through sorting and reuse, everyone can practise managing internal waste—anger, resentment, and attachment—through mindfulness, loving-kindness, generosity, and effort, to create positive change for both self and society.

One employee participating in the programme said she was proud to be involved, and although sorting bottles in daily life seems small, knowing the final destination of sorted PET bottles and their benefits makes a difference. If this behaviour spreads continuously, she believes positive results will follow.

Democratic Party spokesman Pongsakan Kwanmuang disclosed on August 16 that Border Patrol Police (BPP) personnel assigned to the Thai-Cambodian border in Region 2 are facing the same allowance arrears crisis as their Region 1 counterparts and have not received their entitled payments. After liaising with senior National Police Office commanders to establish the facts, Pongsakan confirmed that the delay does not stem from the police service itself. The National Police Office has attempted to resolve the issue by reallocating internal budgets, but insufficient funds have made it necessary to request central government budget approval, which remains stalled and unapproved by the administration.

"Officials sit in air-conditioned meeting rooms at Government House eating meals costing thousands of baht per serving, while our border patrol brothers survive on an average of less than 80 baht per meal and wait indefinitely for their allowances," Pongsakan said. He urged the government to expedite central budget approval without delay, stressing that allowances for lower-ranking police officers should not be treated as non-urgent. He emphasized that all personnel are human beings with families to support and should not be viewed as expendable soldiers to be discarded after their usefulness ends or abandoned on the front lines.

Deputy Transport Minister Sarpetch Bunyamani announced on August 16 that the State Railway of Thailand has approved the approach for Phase 2 of the southern double-track railway project, covering three routes totaling 534 kilometers. The network will connect Chumphon, Surat Thani, Hat Yai, and Padang Besar at the Thai-Malaysian border. The railway is expected to be presented to the cabinet during a provincial meeting in Songkhla on September 1, 2025.

The project comprises three segments: Chumphon-Surat Thani (168 km), Surat Thani to Hat Yai junction-Songkhla (321 km), and Hat Yai junction-Padang Besar (45 km). The initial construction phase will prioritize 504 kilometers at a total cost of 106.798 billion baht, while the Hat Yai junction-Songkhla section (30 km) will be considered in later phases due to dense residential settlement in the area.

The project has been redesigned following the November 2024 flooding in Hat Yai, with some sections converted from ground-level track to elevated bridges (approximately 3 km) and raised embankments (approximately 2 km) to improve flood resilience and reduce service disruption. Sarpetch emphasized that the investment must address long-term infrastructure needs while applying lessons from recent floods.

The Chumphon-Surat Thani segment (168 km, 36.892 billion baht) is expected to take five years of construction from July 2027 to June 2032. The Surat Thani-Hat Yai junction section (291 km, 61.534 billion baht) requires six years from July 2027 to June 2033, and the Hat Yai junction-Padang Besar stretch (45 km, 8.371 billion baht) is planned for four years from July 2027 to June 2031. The deferred Hat Yai-Songkhla segment (30 km, 15.922 billion baht) awaits future evaluation due to competing transport and urban development priorities in the region.