- Bangkok News
High and dry: Health minister’s war on cannabis shops
The minister of public health declared a dramatic U-turn on cannabis policy but with thousands of shops raking in billions and a booming weed culture now woven into daily life, critics say his war on weed is destined to go up in smoke. Health chief Somsak Thepsuthin sent shockwaves through Thailand’s green economy today, June 24, by signing off on…
- Phuket News
High stakes on the high life: Phuket drug busts soar
Phuket’s seedy underbelly is under fresh scrutiny after a sharp spike in drug crimes this year, with police battling everything from cut-price meth to cocaine-fuelled parties in tourist hotspots. Government officials revealed the island paradise is facing a rising tide of narcotics offences, with 1,899 drug cases logged between October 2024 and May 2025, a jump of over 10% on…
- Phuket News
Phuket the bomb! Pair nicked in plot to deliver deadly cargo
Two men from Thailand’s insurgency-hit Deep South have been arrested in a chilling plot to smuggle homemade bombs into Phuket, with a suspicious timer device hidden in their boot sparking a dramatic early morning police sting. At around 3.30am, today, June 24, officers manning a checkpoint near Phang Nga Provincial Hall stopped a black saloon car with Surin plates after…
- Politics News
Borderline chaos: Thai-Cambodian crossings shut amid spat
Royal Thai Army (RTA) chiefs have slammed the gates shut on all Thai-Cambodian border crossings in Sa Kaeo, citing growing tensions, sovereignty breaches, and a spike in cross-border crime. Lieutenant General Amorn Boonsuya, Commander of the 1st Army Area, yesterday, June 23, issued a top-level emergency order banning all vehicles and travellers, both Thai and foreign, from crossing the border…
- Bangkok News
Paet’s all, folks! Thai PM’s Instagram post sparks political meltdown
Thailand’s embattled Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra is facing the worst political crisis of her short premiership, after an emotional Instagram post backfired spectacularly and her ruling coalition began to collapse around her. PM Paetongtarn posted a cryptic message to her Instagram story at 8am, today, June 19: “People are not pretending to be sad, but pretending to be okay.” Less…
- Phuket News
Fair play! Phuket job bonanza gives jobless a fighting chance
It was CVs at the ready and handshakes all round as more than 1,500 job vacancies were up for grabs at Phuket’s biggest recruitment bash of the year – with employers and job seekers going face-to-face at the Phuket Job Fair 2025. Held yesterday, June 18, at Robinson Lifestyle mall in Chalong, the fair was organised by the Phuket Provincial…
- Pattaya News
Kiddie-begging gang smashed in Pattaya child trafficking sting
A gang of heartless traffickers has been busted in Pattaya for exploiting children as young as 15 to beg and flog trinkets on the city’s infamous Walking Street, with cops rescuing nine kids and arresting seven Cambodians in a major crackdown. Tourist Police bosses announced the sting yesterday, June 18, hailing it as a huge blow to a sickening child…
- Pattaya News
Great wall of shame! Chinese tourists nabbed in Pattaya jobs
Pattaya police smashed two major illegal foreign worker rackets, busting 23 Chinese posing as tourists on building sites and another 50 foreigners running a sleazy gambling and sex empire out of a swanky Pattaya block. Under orders from National Police Chief Police General Kittirat Phanphet to crack down on dodgy foreign labour, Thailand’s Tourist Police swooped on two sites yesterday, June…
- Pattaya News
Drugged-up Pattaya thief steals mum’s motorbike from next door
A trusting mum was left heartbroken after her neighbour stole her beloved motorbike but police cracked the case within hours, exposing a drug-fuelled betrayal just doors away from her home. Sudaphon Sungnoen, from Phitsanulok, woke up early yesterday, June 17, ready to take her child to school, only to find her red-and-black Honda Wave missing from outside her house in…
- Pattaya News
Bust-up! Teen gangs’ turf war ends in crash and clash near Pattaya
A violent street brawl between two rival teen gangs turned a quiet Chon Buri village into a battleground on Monday night, ending with busted bikes, bloodied teens, and a trail of weapons left behind. CCTV footage captured the mayhem in Nong Ket Yai at around 8.51pm on Monday, June 16, showing nearly 20 armed teens, many riding motorcycles, squaring off…
- Thailand News
Silence is golden: Aussie cuffed over stash of illegal gun gear
An Aussie man landed himself in hot water after Thai police uncovered a secret stash of illegal gun silencers, rifles and thousands of bullets during a dramatic house raid in Udon Thani. On June 18, Police Colonel Apirak Champasri, Superintendent of the 1st Division, Technology Crime Suppression Division 3, led officers armed with a search warrant from Udon Thani Provincial…
- Thailand News
Fast track to Formula fun: Thailand revs up for F1 bid
Thailand has hit the gas on its high-octane dream of becoming a Formula One (F1) host nation, with a turbocharged 40 billion baht plan to bring the world’s most elite racing series to the Land of Smiles by 2028. Tourism and Sports Minister Surawong Thienthong revealed on today, June 17, that the Cabinet has officially approved the country’s bold bid…
- Thailand News
Too fit to commit! Brit beauty queen says blokes can’t handle her
A Brit beauty queen says she’s had it with dating because British blokes are too scared to ask her out. Harriotte Lane from Newcastle, has just been crowned Miss Grand United Kingdom and is set to jet off to Bangkok to compete in Miss Grand International in October but says life in the fast lane has left her flying solo.…
- Pattaya News
100,000 jellyfish stingers swarm Pattaya Beach in freak invasion
Holidaymakers got more than they bargained for on Pattaya Beach after a tidal wave of jellyfish, over 100,000 of them, was dumped along the sand in a slimy seaside shocker. Stunned tourists and locals yesterday, June 16, looked on as a 3-kilometre stretch of Pattaya Beach, from north to south, was smothered in jellyfish of all shapes and sizes, some…
- Pattaya News
Meth-ed up! Panic, pipes and punters in Pattaya drugs den bust
A dodgy den full of drugs, a surprise visit from an eager buyer, and a stashed bag of meth dumped in a panic, Pattaya’s latest narcotics crackdown has left a trail of busted users, fleeing suspects and flustered dealers. Thai police struck hard in two separate raids this week as part of a no-nonsense campaign to clean up Pattaya’s seedy…
- Pattaya News
Bang out of order! Bolt bikers busted for flogging DIY firearms
Two broke Bolt bikers swapped fares for firearms, flogging deadly DIY pistols in the heart of Pattaya to make ends meet, until a Facebook sting brought their side hustle to a screeching halt. In a dramatic late-night bust on June 15, Thai police arrested two motorcycle taxi riders in central Pattaya for producing and selling home-modified firearms, as part of…
- Thailand News
Fishy business: Mutant fish found in the Mekong River
A growing contamination crisis is threatening the lifeblood of northern Thailand after another mutant pla kae fish was pulled from the Mekong River, the latest in a string of blighted catches leaving fishermen broke, rivers poisoned, and locals fearing for their food supply. The Rivers for Life Association, monitoring the alarming surge in sick fish across the region, confirmed on…
- Pattaya News
Pattaya couple cuffed for meth deal with toddler in tow
A Pattaya couple have been arrested in a major drug sting, after allegedly turning up to a meth deal with their two year old son sat on the motorbike. Pattaya police reported that 42 year old Wirot Ratloi, nicknamed “Ting,” and his 27 year old wife, Ployphan Mueangdit, known as “Pin,” were caught with over 1,000 Yaba pills, just moments after…
- Pattaya News
Visa Las Vegas: Cops bust illegal workers in Chon Buri
A massive crackdown on illegal foreign workers has rocked Thailand’s party province of Chon Buri, with multiple raids, social media tip-offs, and a string of arrests hitting everything from restaurants to racy nightlife venues. A joint task force yesterday, June 11, stormed businesses in the Bang Lamung district, rounding up eight undocumented workers at a company in the Huay Yai…
- Thailand News
Welshman on life support after vanishing on Thai booze-up
A Welshman is on life support, clinging to life in a Pattaya hospital, after undergoing emergency brain surgery following a night out in Thailand. Ashton Jones disappeared without a trace while partying with pals in a Bangkok nightclub, only to be discovered hours later in a hospital bed 55 miles away from the Thai capital, hooked up to machines and…
- Pattaya News
Bugged out: Heartbroken Indian sprays mozzie repellent in mouth
A heartbroken Indian man was rushed to hospital in Pattaya after he reportedly sprayed mosquito repellent into his own mouth, and went into violent shock. Rescue workers were called to a five-storey commercial block in the Nong Prue area of Bang Lamung today, June 11, after the man, identified as 33 year old Devaraj, was found foaming at the mouth…
- Thailand News
British influencer reunited with stolen Lamborghini in Thailand
A British influencer and off-road racing fanatic has been reunited with his stolen £220,000 (9.7 million baht) Lamborghini – eight years after it was stolen by a sophisticated international car-smuggling gang and shipped to Thailand. Mark McCann snapped up the bright green Lamborghini Huracan Spyder back in 2016 as part of a high-end car rental venture. Charging punters £800 (35,000…
- Thailand News
Full steam ahead! Thai transport tsar fast-tracks mega makeover
Thailand’s transport tsar has slammed the accelerator on the kingdom’s biggest infrastructure schemes, ordering faster progress on high-speed rail, expressways and electric bus upgrades. Transport Minister Suriya Jungrungreangkit is leading the charge, with a major push to speed up the second phase of the Bangkok–Nong Khai high-speed rail line, and billions of baht in investment ready to be unleashed. Following…
- Pattaya News
Blaze of rage! Fire guts bedroom after bitter family feud in Pattaya
A bitter family feud may have sparked a suspected arson attack in Pattaya, leaving a pensioner and her foreign husband fleeing for their lives as flames tore through their home. A late-afternoon blaze ripped through a bedroom in a Bang Lamung home yesterday, June 10, with suspicions swirling around a disgruntled son-in-law who’d allegedly made threats shortly before the fire…
- Pattaya News
Smashed! Drunken row ends in bottle attack on disabled soldier
A boozy barney turned bloody in Pattaya when a tipsy pensioner smashed a bottle over a disabled ex-soldier’s head, all because dinner didn’t go down well. The drunken dispute exploded into violence yesterday, June 10, after a group of drinkers clashed near the entrance to Soi Nong Samo 14 in Pattaya. Rescue workers from Sawang Boriboon Pattaya rushed to the…
- Pattaya News
High stakes: Pattaya drug dealers busted in party sting
A pair of suspected drug dealers got more than they bargained for when undercover police pounced on them outside a Pattaya condo and found a stash of narcotics fit for a cartel. Two men suspected of flooding Pattaya’s party zones with class-A drugs aimed at teens have been nicked in a major sting by Chon Buri Provincial and Pattaya City…
- Transport News
High-speed: Thailand’s airport bullet train back on track (video)
It’s full steam ahead for Thailand’s long-awaited bullet train blitz, as the kingdom’s high-speed train dreams roar back to life, five years after the pandemic derailed them. Thailand’s ambitious Don Mueang–Suvarnabhumi–U-Tapao high-speed railway is finally set to hit the fast lane, with officials confirming the project contract will be finalised by July 2025. Dubbed a game-changer for the Eastern Economic…
- Pattaya News
Rap battle: Russian teens brawl on Pattaya Walking Street
Tourists on Pattaya’s infamous Walking Street got more than they bargained for when a booze-fuelled bust-up erupted between a gang of rowdy Russian lads and a crew of Thai rappers, sending holidaymakers diving for cover. The street fight, which kicked off around 12.44am, yesterday, June 9, saw four Russian teenagers, aged between 18 and 19, clash violently with a group…