Category: The Bangkok Post

Labour Minister Julapun Amornvivat has insisted that the election for the Social Security Office (SSO) board has not been postponed, but only temporarily halted after the Supreme Administrative Court issued an injunction, which the SSO plans to appeal.

Mr Julapun said on Tuesday that the SSO was legally required to comply with the court’s order. The SSO election committee resolved on Monday to suspend preparations until there is clarity from the court, rather than formally postponing the poll.

‘If the court’s ruling is favourable, we are ready to proceed with the election according to the original schedule,’ he said, referring to the planned vote on Sept 27.

Mr Julapun said the issue stemmed from regulations introduced in 2021-22, before he took office. Upon becoming labour minister this year, he received repeated calls from civil society groups and other stakeholders to expedite the long-awaited election for a new SSO board.

He said the ministry had decided to use the same regulations applied in the previous board election in 2023 – the first of its kind – and issued a corresponding announcement. However, after a petitioner challenged the process, the court granted an injunction, which authorities were obliged to respect.

Voter registration opened on June 1 and closed on July 15, while the election is scheduled for Sept 27.

The SSO will appeal the court injunction in the hope of allowing the election to proceed under the existing timetable, said Mr Julapun.

Rejecting suggestions that political considerations were behind the suspension or that the government was attempting to avoid holding the vote, he said he did not know the petitioner, who he understood to be a lawyer.

‘I have never met the petitioner and have no connection with him. He has the legal right to file the case, and we must follow the judicial process,’ he said.

New board urgently needed

Mr Julapun said he hoped the election could go ahead as planned, stressing the urgency of establishing a fully empowered new SSO board to oversee the agency’s operations.

‘We need to move forward with the election as quickly as possible. What may happen in the future will depend on the court’s ruling,’ he said.

He dismissed the opposition’s claims that the government lacked sincerity in organising the election. The SSO itself was also criticised for not launching a serious voter registration campaign until seven days before the deadline.

Mr Julapun said he had held discussions with opposition politicians as well as groups representing insured workers, including the Progressive Social Security group, which is aligned with the People’s Party and won most of the seats in the 2023 poll.

The minister said he explained to them how his focus on following all the required procedures for the vote was proof of the government’s commitment.

The People’s Party has long campaigned for improvements to the Social Security system, and its MPs have been outspoken critics of what they say is financial mismanagement by the SSO.

Encouraging people to take part in SSO board elections and seek board seats is a key part of the party’s grassroots political organising strategy.

Mr Julapun also sought to reassure employers and insured workers who had already registered to vote that the election would go ahead.

He said the government’s preferred outcome was to hold the poll as scheduled on Sept 27. However, if the court ultimately rules that changes to the regulations are necessary, the election process could be delayed while the rules are amended.

He pledged to press ahead until the election is successfully held and urged registered employers and insured workers to follow official updates as the government continued to provide information on the case.

The family of YouTuber Hlun Solo has appealed for help after he went missing while travelling alone in Georgia to film content, with no contact made for the past two weeks.

A Facebook user identified as Klose Mos, who said he is Hlun Solo’s brother, shared an urgent missing person appeal on social media.

It is believed that the 26-year-old Thai travel content creator could be in areas frequented by tourists and trekkers, such as the Svaneti, Kazbegi or Mestia regions of the Caucasus country.

Hlun Solo has a substantial online following, with 2.5 million followers on Facebook and 914,000 subscribers on YouTube.

According to the post, Hlun Solo travelled to Georgia on his own to produce content. His family last spoke to him on July 13, and have since been unable to reach him by phone or through any online communication channels, prompting growing concern for his safety.

The family is urging anyone currently in Georgia, or anyone who may have seen Hlun Solo or has information about his whereabouts, to come forward. They said that even the smallest piece of information could prove crucial in helping locate him.

They also appealed for the post to be widely shared, particularly among Thai nationals living in or travelling through Georgia, in the hope of generating new leads.

The family has also sought help from the Department of Consular Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Hlun Solo grew up in Kalasin where he was raised by his grandmother after his father passed away. He later won a scholarship to Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, where he obtained a degree in political science.

However, he subsequently decided to make a career out of travelling. His YouTube channel showcases his backpacking experiences in various countries, along with his perseverance in saving money to enable him to keep pursuing his travel dreams.

Police rescued three Indian men after they were held for ransom by a scam gang that lured them from their homeland to Pattaya with a cheap tour package and tortured them for a week.

Police found the three victims, aged 23 to 26, at a two-storey house on Map Tato Road in tambon Nongprue, Bang Lamung district, at 4pm on Monday.

Officers found them locked in two bedrooms, their limbs and mouths bound, with bruises on their ankles consistent with being struck by hard objects.

The victims told police they had bought a seven-day tour package to visit Thailand and paid about 70,000 baht each.

They arrived at Suvarnabhumi airport in Samut Prakan province at 5am on July 21 and took a taxi to Pattaya. They reached a meeting point at a fast-food restaurant on Sukhumvit Highway in Nongprue at 7am.

From the eatery, an Indian man on a motorcycle took them one by one to the house.

At the house, a group of four Pakistanis and one Indian man tied them up. The victims said they were sometimes hung face down and had their ankles beaten. They were forced to call their families in India to demand a combined ransom of 7 million rupees (about 2.4 million baht).

The victims said they were denied meals and toilet breaks and were tortured daily.

Pol Col Napatpong Kositsuriyamanee, immigration chief of Chon Buri, said the victims’ relatives phoned Thai police to seek help.

Detectives found the gang used a phone number registered in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to conceal their location, but police tracked them to the house. The kidnappers fled on motorcycles just before police arrived.

Pol Col Napatpong said the case showed scammers lured victims with “cheap tour packages” and then held them for ransom after arrival.

Two high-level officials have been summoned to hear police charges in relation to the rigging of results of the civil service recruitment examination for local government bodies nationwide.

Pol Maj Gen Patanasak Bupphasawan, commander of the Crime Suppression Division, said on Monday that CSD interrogators had summoned a senior official from the Department of Local Administration and another from Srinakharinwirot University to acknowledge charges.

The action follows a raid at a house in Bang Yai district of Nonthaburi where police found local administrative officials altering thousands of exam answer sheets for job applicants who allegedly paid bribes totalling several billion baht.

The CSD commander said that both senior officials would face charges, along with the 11 officials who were caught rigging answer sheets at the house in Nonthaburi on June 22.

Police had called the accused officials in to acknowledge charges on Friday, he said.

Informed sources said they are a former director-general of the Department of Local Administration and a testing director at Srinakharinwirot University. They face multiple charges of malfeasance, document forgery, certification of false documents, input of false information into computer systems and breaching classified documents.

The department hired the university to organise the exam.

The 11 other accused officials will be charged with illegal assembly, tampering with documents of other people and input of false information into computer systems.

The legal action followed the exposure of nationwide results rigging in the Department of Local Administration examination for the recruitment of new officials late last year. About 400,000 people sat the exam, competing for about 6,700 jobs.

In the raid in Nonthaburi last month, authorities suspected corrupt officials of taking bribes ranging from 350,000 to 800,000 baht from each exam sitter who wanted to be recruited. The list of recruited candidates was announced. Afterwards, there were complaints about the exam results, and corrupt officials were mobilised to change answer sheet data to match the earlier announced list.

Recently three suspects were arrested. They included a former senior local administrator in Phetchabun province who owns the raided house.

Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said on Monday that all culprits in the case would be prosecuted and about 5,900 newly recruited officials would lose their jobs.

Fifteen Lao passengers were hurt when their van hit a truck parked on the side of the Mittaphap highway on Sunday evening.

Pol Capt Chatree Khaosa-ard, chief interrogator at Ban Phai police station, said the accident occurred around 5.30pm in Ban Phai district.

The van was taking 15 Lao workers back to Bangkok from Nong Khai after they returned to Vientiane to renew their Thai work permits, he said.

Investigators suspect that van driver Naphaskhan Sopheepong, 34, fell asleep at the wheel. Passengers told police he had made several petrol station stops and was driving erratically before the accident.

Lorry driver Kasem Leamthongkham, 51, said he was taking his cargo from Khon Kaen to Prachin Buri and had pulled over onto the side of the road to check his tyres.

The van driver was also injured and remains in hospital. Police were waiting until he is well enough to question him.

A confrontation between a Chinese fan and security personnel at the International Novel Festival 2026 which will be held from 24 July to 2 August, has sparked widespread criticism of the organiser, Thai entertainment giant GMMTV, which felt compelled to issue an explanatory statement on Monday.

Videos of the incident, which occurred on Sunday and showed a physical altercation between a Chinese female fan and security staff at the event, spread rapidly online and across social media platforms in China.

Fans in Thailand and abroad called for the company to explain the circumstances and take responsibility.

Following an initial internal review, GMMTV acknowledged that security personnel had, at certain points during the incident, used force beyond what was considered appropriate for the situation.

The company said the individuals involved were contracted outside security personnel, not GMMTV employees. Nevertheless, it accepted responsibility for overseeing all personnel working at its events.

GMMTV said it had suspended the security staff involved, pending the outcome of a full investigation.

The company denied online claims it had taken legal action against those involved in the incident. The reports were false, the company said. No lawsuits or criminal complaints had been filed in connection with the altercation. (continues below)

Reaffirming its corporate principles, GMMTV said it has no policy of discrimination based on race or nationality. It stressed that the incident was an isolated dispute between individuals and should not be interpreted as reflecting the company’s attitude towards fans from any particular country.

The company said it would review its event management procedures, including security operations and staff supervision, to strengthen safety measures and reduce the risk of similar incidents occurring in the future.

Although the statement was released swiftly, the controversy continues to attract significant attention, particularly among international fan communities awaiting the outcome of the investigation and any further action by the company.

Most Thai posts accuse the company of lacking moral fibre, given that many videos show that the chinese fan was the person one who did not comply with the rules. They accuse GMMTV of caring more about the money they hope to gain from Chinese fans in future.

The discussion surrounding the incident continues to intensify on Thai social media. The hashtag #???GMMTV (meaning boycott GMMTV) on X has gained traction as users continue to share video clips of the confrontation.

A South Korean man wanted under an Interpol Red Notice for allegedly supplying mule accounts to a call-centre gang has been arrested in Bangkok.

Immigration Bureau officers arrested Jimin, 28, on Saturday after coordinating intelligence with South Korean police and Interpol.

Investigators allege he was part of a transnational crime network that provided and distributed bank accounts used to defraud victims through investment scams.

The suspect used Telegram and fake online shopping websites to lure victims into transferring money, causing losses of more than 4.2 billion won (about 97 million baht), they said.

Police also found alleged money laundering transactions worth over 403 million won, bringing the total amount involved to more than 5 billion won.

He was charged with overstaying his permission to remain in Thailand by 218 days and will face further legal proceedings and deportation.

A five-storey building collapsed during demolition work to make way for the Orange Line electric train system in Din Daeng district, Bangkok, on Monday evening.

The Din Daeng district office reported the collapsed building was on Pracha Songkroh 28 Road, on land expropriated for the western segment of the Orange Line. Before the collapse at 4.15pm, three floors had already been removed.

The district office said Green Design Co was contracted to carry out the demolition but had not notified the office before starting work.

Debris from the expropriated building fell on three neighbouring houses, but no casualties were reported. The contractor has pledged to compensate all affected residents.

The Mass Rapid Transit Authority (MRTA), owner of the Orange Line, said some steel sheets erected around the demolition site fell onto adjacent properties.

The state enterprise apologised for the incident and vowed to repair the affected properties promptly. It confirmed no injuries.

HIV remains a significant public health concern in Chiang Mai, with health authorities reporting approximately 23,900 cumulative infections and about 700 new cases each year – almost two new infections a day on average.

According to the Chiang Mai Provincial Public Health Office, the virus is no longer confined to specific populations but is affecting a broad range of communities, particularly migrant workers and ethnic minority groups.

These vulnerable populations often face barriers to healthcare, including language differences, limited treatment rights, lack of identification documents and concerns over social stigma, leading some to delay or avoid HIV testing and treatment.

Health officials also reported a 3.6% HIV prevalence among ethnic minority men engaged in sex work, highlighting persistent gaps in access to prevention services and healthcare.

Young people aged 15 to 24 are another group of growing concern. Nationally, roughly half of all new HIV infections, 49%, occur within this age group. Officials attribute the trend to changing sexual behaviour, limited awareness of HIV prevention and restricted access to youth-friendly healthcare services.

Adults aged 25 to 49 continue to account for the largest number of new infections. As the most socially and sexually active age group they remain a key target for ongoing education, routine testing and improved access to treatment.

The Provincial Public Health Office also warned that changing behaviour in the digital age was contributing to new risks. Local data shows 61.9% of men who have sex with men (MSM) use dating applications to meet and have sexual encounters with people they have not previously known, a practice that may increase the risk of HIV transmission as well as other sexually transmitted infections, including mpox.

Health officials said the situation underscores the need to reduce inequalities in access to healthcare, particularly for marginalised communities, young people and other high-risk groups.

They advocate stronger public education through digital platforms, more inclusive healthcare services and efforts to tackle HIV-related stigma, while ensuring wider access to HIV testing, pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) and timely treatment.

For years, Bitkub symbolised Thailand’s cryptocurrency boom. It was the country’s largest digital asset exchange, the creator of KUB Coin, and the startup that reached unicorn status after Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) announced a landmark acquisition worth 35 billion baht.

At its peak in late 2021, Bitkub was poised to become Thailand’s undisputed crypto champion.

Five years later, the company faces its biggest governance challenge.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) revealed on Thursday it filed a criminal complaint against Bitkub Online Co Ltd and two former directors, alleging they submitted false regulatory reports following a 1.7-billion-baht cyber-attack in 2021.

The case has reignited questions over the company’s corporate governance, transparency and whether Thailand’s first crypto success story can regain investor trust.

According to the regulator, hackers withdrew digital assets across 16 cryptocurrencies from Bitkub on May 10, 2021, with losses estimated at 1.7 billion baht.

Although customers were eventually made whole after the company replaced the stolen assets by Oct 31, 2021, regulators allege Bitkub failed to disclose the incident properly in its daily net capital reports (Form DA 1) for more than five months. Instead, the company reported no material deterioration in its financial position.

The SEC referred the case to the Economic Crime Suppression Division for criminal investigation, with a police probe possibly followed by public prosecution.

FOUNDER’S RESPONSIBILITY

Soon after the SEC’s announcement, Sakolkorn Sakavee, founder and former chairman of Bitkub Capital Group Holdings, released a video statement accepting sole responsibility.

He admitted personally altering the regulatory filings without informing fellow directors, executives or employees.

Mr Sakolkorn said he chose not to disclose the cyber-attack because he feared triggering panic withdrawals, a collapse in cryptocurrency prices and a “bank run” that could have destroyed the exchange.

He said the founders used their own funds to repurchase the stolen digital assets until every customer had been fully reimbursed.

Mr Sakolkorn apologised for concealing the incident, resigned from Bitkub’s boards and pledged full cooperation with regulators.

He stressed SEC inspections conducted in 2025 confirmed that customer assets remained fully intact, while Bitkub has since invested more than 400 million baht to strengthen cybersecurity and now stores customers’ assets with global custodians including BitGo and Coinbase.

A FALLING CRYPTO STAR?

Industry observers said the legal case may not immediately threaten Bitkub’s operations, but its reputational impact could prove more damaging.

Udomsak Rakwongwan, co-founder of decentralised derivatives platform FWX and a lecturer at Kasetsart University, said he believes Bitkub is more likely to experience a gradual decline than a sudden collapse.

The exchange already lost its market pole position, with Binance TH overtaking Bitkub in trading volume, according to coinmarket.com.

Once commanding more than 90% of Thailand’s crypto trading market, Bitkub’s market share has reportedly fallen to roughly half that level or less.

According to Mr Udomsak, the biggest challenge is no longer technology but investor confidence.

Years of undisclosed information and questions over corporate governance could make fundraising, attracting strategic partners and pursuing future expansion significantly more difficult, he noted.

The criminal investigation also leaves former executives exposed to potential legal risks if prosecutors proceed with the case, Mr Udomsak told the Bangkok Post.

THE NEXT STAGE

The cyber-attack occurred on May 10, 2021, just days before Bitkub launched KUB Coin on May 20, 2021.

Initially priced at 30 baht, the token surged during the crypto bull market, reaching an all-time high of around 580 baht in December 2021 after SCB announced plans to acquire a controlling stake in Bitkub.

The proposed 17.85-billion-baht purchase of a 51% stake valued Bitkub at roughly 35 billion baht, making it Thailand’s first crypto unicorn. The acquisition was later cancelled in August 2022.

Today KUB trades near 24 baht, representing a decline of roughly 96% from its peak.

The SEC’s criminal referral does not indicate guilt, as the case must still pass through investigation, prosecution and court proceedings.

Whether Bitkub ultimately recovers may depend less on the outcome of the legal process than whether it can rebuild the trust that once made it the face of Thailand’s digital asset industry.

“For many investors, the question is no longer whether Bitkub will survive, but if it can ever reclaim the dominance it once enjoyed,” wrote Piriya Sambandaraksa, a Thai Bitcoin enthusiast, on his Facebook page.