The 39th ISTAF World Sepaktakraw Championship Thai King's Cup 2026 commenced on August 4, 2026, at Fashion Island shopping center. The opening ceremony was presided over by Thana Chaiyaprasert, president of the Thai Sepaktakraw Association, alongside other dignitaries including Chaiyaphakdi Sirivatana, vice chairman of the Thai Olympic Committee; Bunchai Lohpipat, acting president of the International Sepaktakraw Federation (ISTAF); Datok Abdul Halim Kader, secretary-general of ISTAF; and Dr. Sihsak Areeratchakarn, vice president and secretary-general of the Thai Sepaktakraw Association.

Thailand's national teams won both the men's and women's hoop event championships. The men's team scored 710 points to secure first place, with Myanmar placing second and India and Laos tied for third. The women's team scored 670 points for the gold medal, followed by Myanmar in second place and China and Laos sharing third.

The championship features five competition categories: men's individual regu, men's and women's team regu, women's doubles, men's and women's quadrant events, and men's and women's hoop events.

A former investigator from Huay Yai Police Station, identified by the initial 'S', has publicly denied allegations that he ordered or protected crime suspect 'Ai Prong'. He confirmed knowing Prong from multiple arrests over the years but stressed he was never involved in illegal activities or drug-related matters.

Online rumors have circulated claiming the ex-officer once supervised Prong and allegedly ordered collection of funds and facilitated drug trafficking. On August 4, 2025, a reporter visited a residence in Bang Lamung District, Chonburi, to interview Pol. Lt. Col. Kesorn, the retired Huay Yai investigator known as "Dap Sor". Kesorn, now 72, retired from the force 12 years ago after previously serving at Bang Lamung Station.

Kesorn firmly denied ever being Prong's superior or ordering illegal acts. He stated that during his career he arrested Prong three to four times for theft, drugs, sexual assault, and assault. "When he was young he was a troublemaker, but not as brutal as he is now," Kesorn said, adding that Prong never negotiated and always accepted jail time.

Kesorn revealed that Prong feared him and had been warned multiple times to reform. "I told him many times to become a better person. Why do you treat prison like home? Stop it," Kesorn recalled saying. He firmly restated before media: "I was never his boss. I never ordered him to do anything. I despised him."

Kesorn acknowledged he expected social scrutiny due to his work in narcotics investigations, but insisted that if other officers were involved with Prong, it was their agency's responsibility to investigate, not his. He emphasized that after his arrests of Prong, the two had no personal contact or relationship, meeting only as suspect and police officer. Kesorn described Prong's recent crimes as brutal and far beyond anything he had anticipated.

Police arrested a 25-year-old man on August 4, 2569 for stealing cassava roots from local farmers' fields. The suspect, identified as Mr. A (pseudonym), was caught with stolen cassava and admitted to the crime, saying he had no money to buy milk for his children and came from an impoverished household. He explained that he normally collected leftover cassava heads after harvesting, but when those became unavailable, he resorted to stealing from actively cultivated fields, netting 300 baht from this latest theft. He expressed remorse and accepted legal responsibility.

The suspect's wife later visited him with their three children—ages 4, 3, and 2 years old—at the police station. Moved by the family's hardship, officers purchased rice and milk for the children. The wife explained that the family typically survived by collecting and selling leftover cassava, and she was unaware her husband would resort to theft. She expressed worry about how she and the three children would survive if he were imprisoned.

According to Deputy Inspector Rangsiwat Gangsrannon, approximately one ton of cassava was stolen, and investigations are ongoing to determine if the suspect committed similar thefts elsewhere. Although officers sympathize with the suspect's circumstances, theft is a criminal offense that must be prosecuted under agricultural property law—which carries heavier penalties than general theft. The suspect has been charged under the Penal Code, Section 335.

A 67-year-old driver had a harrowing escape when his modified Nissan Sefiro caught fire near a traffic light in Si Saket on August 4, 2025, at 5:45 p.m. He was returning home after failing to locate an old engine he had left at a technical college when he noticed the smell of leaking gasoline at a red light. As he slowly moved the car toward the roadside to investigate, white smoke and flames suddenly shot from the engine compartment. He immediately opened the door and fled the vehicle just as the fire spread violently through the cabin. "If I had been even a second slower, I could have been trapped inside," he recalled. Rescue teams from Si Saket Municipality and the Phetchkasem Foundation responded quickly, temporarily halting traffic to allow fire trucks to spray water and chemical agents, eventually containing the blaze. The vehicle had been modified with a 1JZ engine and equipped with an LPG fuel system, but the owner clarified he had not used the gas system for an extended period and relied solely on gasoline. He believes a fuel system malfunction caused the leak and subsequent ignition in the engine bay.

On August 4, 2025, a reporter visited a row house in Soi Gok Lang, Ban Thung La Han, Moo 8, Huai Yai Subdistrict, Bang Lamung District, Chon Buri Province, to investigate a 2018 shooting incident. Paong, then 43, opened fire on the row house with a firearm, injuring one resident. He was arrested by Huai Yai Police, charged, and imprisoned, before being released in June 2026. He subsequently committed two murder cases that claimed five lives.

According to interviews with the row house owner and witnesses, the incident stemmed from a confrontation between Paong and a man named Bom, 24, who had ridden a loud motorcycle past him in the alley. After an initial argument and scuffle, the two separated. Approximately ten minutes later, Paong returned on his motorcycle and opened fire on the row house, firing about five rounds. Everyone fled to safety. Later that night, as Bom stepped outside to urinate, Paong fired two more shots, striking Bom in the abdomen and causing severe injury. Bom was rushed to Bang Lamung Hospital.

When police arrested Paong, they did not recover the firearm. He confessed that he had used a .38 caliber revolver and threw it into the sea near a temple. Divers and metal detection equipment were deployed to search, but the weapon was never recovered. Police suspected Paong may have hidden the gun with someone else or concealed it elsewhere. Paong was charged with attempted murder and gun law violations under Warrant No. 444/2561, issued on October 7, 2561 (2018). He was apprehended on October 13, 2018, at his residence in Pong Subdistrict, Bang Lamung District.

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Phuket — Provincial authorities in Phuket have launched a major operation to regulate social order, targeting establishments suspected of operating as entertainment venues and illegally offering baraku (hookah) services. The raid followed public complaints about clandestine sales and services. Undercover officers entered a venue in Rawai, ordering baraku to obtain a receipt as evidence. Once confirmed, […] Illegal Hookah Venue Raided in Rawai, Two People Arrested, Assets Seized Worth 500,000 Baht -=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-=- The Phuket Express - Real. Unbiased. Impactful. In the moment.