The Radio and Television Broadcasting and Telecommunications Research and Development Fund for Public Interest (BTRC) is supporting the VIPA Pitching Project 2026 run by Thai Public Broadcasting Service (Thai PBS), opening a platform for emerging creators nationwide to develop skills and produce short films or documentaries 10–15 minutes long on the theme "The Power of Human: Behind the Scenes," highlighting the everyday people driving hidden success stories.

The project, which opened applications online from March 16 to May 3, 2569, received overwhelming response from over 40 institutions including universities, schools, and organizations, plus independent teams nationwide. A judging panel selected 20 finalists with outstanding, creative ideas aligned with the theme, with results announced officially through VIPA's online channels on May 15, 2569.

All 20 selected teams will participate in two intensive workshops free of charge. Workshop 1: The Power of Story (June 25–28, 2569; 4 days, 3 nights) will develop documentary concepts and storytelling structure, followed by Workshop 2: The Power of Production (July 22–26, 2569; 5 days, 4 nights) covering cinematography, sound design, editing, and professional pitching to judges. Both workshops are led by prominent mentors in Thai film and documentary, including Nontawat Numbenjapol (director of "Doi Boy" on Netflix), Ekkapong Saranseree (winner of the Suphannahongsa Award for "Breaking the Cycle"), Nattapol Timmuang (Suphannahongsa and Nathral Award-winning editor), and Prasan Ingkanant (creator of "Manud Tang Wai" and "Kob Nok Kala"). Each team receives 10,000 baht in production funding for work between July and September 2569.

All 20 works will be distributed through VIPA and Thai PBS platforms, with public voting before an awards ceremony at a cinema. Prize pools total over 100,000 baht: first prize 50,000 baht, second 30,000 baht, third 10,000 baht, and special jury and popular vote awards at 7,000 baht each. Outstanding teams may also collaborate with Thai PBS on future projects. Details are available at www.VIPA.me/PitchingProject2026

Education Minister Prasert Chantharavong led Thailand's delegation in signing a memorandum of understanding with Indonesia's Primary and Secondary Education Ministry during Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul's official visit to Jakarta on August 3–4, 2025. Prasert said the partnership reaffirms both nations as "allies" in promoting educational cooperation across early childhood, primary, secondary, and vocational education, including teacher and student exchanges, expert sharing, and mutual recognition of qualifications under each country's laws and regulations.

During discussions, Thailand and Indonesia addressed AI Education to develop students' artificial intelligence and digital literacy skills for the digital age and future job markets, along with teacher capacity building. The two countries also discussed promoting Thai and Indonesian language learning through teacher exchanges and student scholarship programs, with particular emphasis on students from Thailand's southern border provinces.

American YouTuber leaves Thailand to Vietnam after six years: are his reasons fair?LegacyBen Marriott, the creator behind the YouTube channel The Borderless Office, has left Thailand after living here for six years and relocated to Ho Chi Minh City. His video setting out eight reasons for the move has circulated widely in expat communities, and it is worth engaging with seriously rather than dismissing or cheering uncritically. His central argument is that the gap between what living in Thailand costs and what it offers has narrowed. That is a defensible position, and several of his specific claims hold up.

What he says, and what the data shows On corruption and regulatory uncertainty, he is on solid ground. Thailand scored 33 out of 100 in the 2025 Corruption Perceptions Index, ranking 116th of 182 countries and its lowest result in nearly two decades. Within ASEAN, Thailand now sits below Vietnam on that measure. On economic growth, the comparison broadly holds. Vietnam grew 8.02% in 2025. Thailand grew 2.4%, and the NESDC forecasts 1.5 to 2.5% for 2026. For a remote worker building a career in technology and digital business, the energy of a faster-growing economy is a real, if intangible, factor. His point about overtourism, with Phuket as his primary example, reflects something genuine too. The volume tourism model has pushed certain areas toward a price-over-experience dynamic that makes them less interesting for the kind of long-term resident who wants cultural depth rather than a service economy built around short-stay visitors. The cultural infrastructure argument, that malls are not museums and that Bangkok lacks the academic and contemporary arts scene of cities like Berlin or Saigon, is fair as far as it goes, though it is also a preference rather than a structural flaw. His point about how government agencies treat long-term foreign residents as temporary visitors rather than contributors is something many expats who have spent years living in Thailand recognise on a practical level, particularly when dealing with visa renewals, property restrictions, or business registration. What the video does not cover Income per person still favours Thailand by a meaningful margin. Vietnam’s GDP per capita was US$5,026 in 2025 against Thailand’s US$8,201. That gap matters for the infrastructure and services that surround daily life. Thailand also holds advantages in healthcare access, electricity reliability, and international schooling depth that a single video cannot fully address. Freehold condominium ownership for foreigners within the 49% building quota is available here and not in Vietnam. That is not a trivial difference for anyone building long-term financial stability rather than moving from city to city. Ho Chi Minh City also has its own version of the problems he attributes to Thailand: serious air quality issues, flooding, and rapid rent inflation in central districts that is compressing the cost advantage Vietnam used to offer. Independent forecasters are also more cautious about Vietnam’s growth trajectory than Hanoi is. The OECD projects 6.5% for Vietnam in 2026 against a government target of 10%. That gap between official ambition and external projection is not unusual, but it is worth noting before making a life decision based on headline GDP numbers. Who this applies to, and who it does not The honest framing here is that his calculation is one person’s, made at a specific career stage, in a specific professional niche, with specific priorities. The question of whether Thailand has lost its edge looks different depending on what you are actually measuring and who is measuring it. A remote worker in their thirties building a tech or content career in a high-growth environment will weigh these factors differently from a retiree, a family with school-age children, or a business owner with established Thai relationships and infrastructure. Most of what Ben raises is real. Thailand’s cost advantage has compressed, its bureaucracy remains a genuine friction, and faster-growing regional economies are more compelling than they were five years ago. Whether that adds up to leaving depends entirely on what brought you here in the first place. Is it still worth living in Thailand or is Vietnam worth relocating to? Do you think his reasons are valid?

Source: The Borderless Office YouTube channel, July 2026. Economic data from NESDC, OECD, World Bank 2025 to 2026. Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index 2025. The story American YouTuber leaves Thailand to Vietnam after six years: are his reasons fair? as seen on Thaiger News.

PATTAYA — On August 4, 2026, Chinese national Mingchen Sun was sentenced to 46 years in prison after pleading guilty to illegally possessing a cache of military-grade weapons, C4 explosives and signal-jamming equipment in Pattaya.

The Pattaya Provincial Court delivered its ruling on Sunday in the case against Mingchen Sun, who was charged with unlawfully possessing firearms, ammunition, explosives, military equipment and radio communication devices.

Police seized the items on May 8, including Glock 9mm pistols, M4 and M16 rifles, ammunition, magazines, C4 high explosives, bomb-making components, bulletproof vests, radio signal jammers and communication devices.

Sun admitted all charges during the trial. The court found that the offences involved multiple violations of the firearms, military equipment control and radio communications laws. While his guilty plea was considered beneficial to the proceedings, the court said the scale and nature of the weapons cache posed a serious threat to public safety and national security. It reduced the sentence by one-third before imposing a total prison term of 44 years and 24 months, equivalent to 46 years.

A second defendant denied the charges. The court temporarily removed that case from its docket, giving prosecutors 15 days to file a new case and ordering the defendant held in custody pending further proceedings.

The court also ordered the confiscation of all seized items, including firearms, ammunition, explosives, body armour, chemical-protection masks, signal-jamming equipment, remote-control transmitters and other military gear.

On August 4, 2025, at the Criminal Court on Ratchadaphisek Road, Min's lawyer Tanakorn Waekwari attended a scheduled witness examination for the DigiCon case. Min did not appear in person, exercising her right to request a closed hearing to allow her to continue her normal life.

Waekwari explained that Min is not stressed by the proceedings and wishes to return to normal work and entertainment projects. He stated that Min understands the case details and cooperates fully with her legal team, but the current phase involves the court's witness examination process, with 100 prior hearings scheduled and expected completion by late 2570 (2027). The defendant is calm and simply awaits the process to conclude.

Regarding Min's defense, Waekwari maintained that she consistently testified she acted only as a presenter for DigiCon company for just over a year. He emphasized that the facts cannot be altered and can only be proven through evidence presented to the court. Both Min and co-defendant Sam-Yuranun Pommontri requested closed hearings; Sam was not present but had her legal team attend. Waekwari stated that Min sends her regards to the media and hopes to resume her normal entertainment career. Witness examination continues with the next hearing on August 21 and additional sessions expected into 2570, with approximately 90 more hearings scheduled to conclude by late 2570.

Dr. Sirikarn Unsongkran, president and rights holder of Miss Earth Thailand and Mister Earth Thailand, held a press conference for this year's pageant and acknowledged that she had to remove her IV line to attend. She recently recovered from a critical illness that pushed her into a coma-like state and requires ongoing treatment with up to 20 injections. Despite these challenges, she affirmed her determination to proceed, saying her heart remains fully committed to giving the current title holders an honorable farewell.

When asked about the extent of her preparation despite her illness, she replied: "I've removed my IV line to hold this pageant. Once it's finished, I'll go back and have the IV reinserted—that's fine. My duty is to ensure there are no more patients added to this world. I want to be the last patient on Earth. Everything stems from food, air, eating habits, and lifestyle. We must use our free time productively and exercise, but things aren't balanced. There are problems in agriculture, industry, and our environment has suffered. What I can do is ensure our future generations have good health, which is why we must hold the Miss Earth pageant. We need to find people to help save our world."

When pressed on whether her illness would affect the pageant, she acknowledged it might have some impact, as she must continue receiving medication and further injections. However, she expressed her strong desire to win the major crown for Thailand, as the pageant has produced Fire crowns for three years now and it's time to bring home the Earth crown.

She noted that while juggling work and illness is difficult, sponsors—both loyal ones and new ones—continue to support the mission. She expressed gratitude that they understand her core objective: to find beautiful women and men who possess good physical and mental health and who are givers rather than takers.

When asked if she had considered not holding the pageant this year due to her illness, she revealed that she originally planned to simply select delegates to send abroad instead. However, the current title holders—five men and five women—needed a proper and dignified farewell ceremony, especially since the men's group was the first-ever cohort and the women performed their duties excellently the previous year. She felt obligated to organize the event so they could step down with honor.

Asked if she had ever felt discouraged, she admitted she had grown disheartened, particularly in the early stages of her illness when her body wasn't responding well to treatment. She suffered from drug allergies, rashes, jaundice, poor appetite, and insomnia—a severe decline in quality of life. She struggled with the idea of asking others to dedicate themselves to the pageant while she couldn't fully commit in return.