Category: The Bangkok Post

CHON BURI -Khao Kheow Open Zoo has prepared a special celebration for much-loved Mae Mali, or Mother Mali, Thailand’s oldest hippopotamus, as she marks her 61st birthday on Sept 8.

Zoo director Narongwit Chodchoi said on Wednesday that the event will begin at 9.30am next Tuesday at the hippopotamus exhibit in Chon Buri province.

The celebration will feature a range of activities dedicated to Mae Mali, including an exhibition showcasing interesting facts about hippopotamuses and highlights from Mae Mali’s life story. Visitors will also be able to enjoy interactive games and receive commemorative souvenirs, said Mr Narongwit.

The highlight will be the presentation of a special fruit cake to Mae Mali, followed by a rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’ to mark her 61st birthday.

The celebration is expected to take place in a warm and festive atmosphere, surrounded by zoo staff, visitors and her many fans, said the zoo director.

Khao Kheow Open Zoo has invited visitors and Mae Mali’s admirers to take part in the occasion and send their birthday greetings to the senior hippo, who has been a cherished resident of the zoo and a favourite among the public for many years.

Mae Mali was a big draw at Dusit Zoo in Bangkok before it was closed down to make way for royal projects. She was moved to Khao Kheow Open Zoo on Dec 18, 2018.

Tilburg Zoo in the Netherlands gave the hippo to Thailand on June 8, 1967, when she was only a year old. She has since produced 14 offspring.

More than 5,000 US Navy personnel from the USS Abraham Lincoln have begun making their way into Pattaya, where they are expected to pour about 100 million baht into the local economy during five days of long-overdue shore leave.

Groups of sailors arrived at the Hard Rock Hotel Pattaya aboard buses and vans at around 2pm on Wednesday after disembarking earlier in morning at private piers in Laem Chabang and Sri Racha ports in Chon Buri province.

The hotel has been designated as the main transport and coordination centre for the visiting personnel.

The sailors, dressed casually, arrived with luggage for overnight stays in Pattaya and nearby areas. Several greeted members of the media with waves, while some offered a friendly ‘Sawasdee’ upon arrival. (Story continues below)

Pattaya Mayor Poramet Ngampichet, police chief Pol Col Anek Sathongyu, Bang Lamung district officials and business representatives welcomed the sailors with flower garlands, traditional Thai textiles and souvenirs.

Capt Dan Keeler, commanding officer of the USS Abraham Lincoln, thanked the city for its warm welcome, saying the crew were delighted and looking forward to relaxing.

Capt Keeler also presented Mr Poramet with a wooden plaque featuring a model of the Lincoln as a souvenir.

‘The relationship between Pattaya and the US Navy has existed for many years, with sailors regularly choosing the city as a recreation destination,’ Mr Poramet said.

‘This visit is particularly significant because the crew has spent a prolonged period at sea during operational deployments.’

Record-setting deployment

The Lincoln departed San Diego on Nov 21, 2025 for an expected six-month deployment to the Middle East but has remained deployed for more than nine months, with its only previous port call in Guam in mid-December. After leaving Pattaya they will sail back to San Diego.

The number of days at sea was believed to be a record, and there were numerous reports in the US about deteriorating conditions taking a heavy toll on the crew.

Mr Poramet said the sailors’ spending on accommodation, tourism, massage and spa services and other activities would benefit Pattaya’s economy.

He estimated that each sailor would spend at least $100 to $150 a day during the visit, generating at least 100 million baht in revenue.

The city was well prepared in terms of security measures, he said, while authorities were also monitoring businesses to prevent price-gouging. (Story continues below)

The mayor said Pattaya was now in the spotlight, with local and international media coverage an opportunity to showcase the city’s development, including improvements in cleanliness, pavements and signage reflecting an increasingly modern appearance.

Discussing restrictions on the sailors, Mr Poramet clarified that most of the conditions had been imposed by the US Navy for safety and security reasons, and not by the city.

For example, personnel are prohibited from taking part in water activities such as jet skiing. Cannabis shops are off-limits, as are pharmacies, because some medicines available in Thailand are not approved in the US and thus cannot be brought home.

The Navy also told personnel to stay away from Soi 6 and Soi 7, known mainly for large numbers of beer bars, though defenders say the area has a lot more to offer visitors.

The history of Soi 6 is closely linked with that of the American military in Asia, dating back to the Vietnam war era of the 1960s and 1970s. It was where the reputation of Pattaya, for better or worse, was created.

Most other areas of Pattaya, including the raucous late-night Walking Street, remain accessible to them, said the mayor.

Pol Col Anek said police would assist in ensuring the safety of sailors throughout Pattaya but would not focus on any particular area.

‘We want people to understand that these personnel are here to enjoy a vacation in Thailand,’ he said. ‘There is no reason for concern that they have come to cause problems or vent stress from their deployment.’

New cases of monkey pox (Mpox) and coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) continue to rise since June with the presence of a severer mpox strain and a low fatality rate for Covid-19, according to the Department of Disease Control.

Dr Montien Kanasawat, director-general of the department, said on Wednesday that from Jan 1 to Aug 23, Thailand recorded 254 Mpox cases, including 193 cases of the Clade Ib strain and 58 cases of the Clade II strain.

Patients were in Greater Bangkok, big cities and tourist provinces. Transmission resulted from sexual intercourses, which were related to visits to closed and crowded places.

Dr Montien said the Mpox situation in Thailand remained controllable and the number of cases was rising for the Clade Ib strain, which caused more severe symptoms than the Clade II strain especially in patients with low immunity.

Symptoms include fever, headache, swollen lymph nodes and rashes.

Regarding Covid-19 infection, Dr Jurai Wongsawat, spokeswoman of the Department of Disease Control, said from Jan 1 to Aug 31 there were about 99,000 cases. Records showed that there were more cases since June due to the conditions of the wet season but total cases were lower than figures in the past three years.

She said that the current fatality rate among Covid-19 patients was at 0.02% and most deaths were patients above the age of 60.

There had not been a child fatality this year as there were enough medicine and efficient treatment systems, which limited symptoms, Dr Jurai added.

Vaccination, good personal hygiene and avoiding close contact with infected people or contaminated surfaces are key to preventing both coronavirus and mpox. Covid-19 mainly spreads through respiratory droplets, whereas mpox spreads primarily through close, skin-to-skin contact.

A ride-hail passenger took to social media to raise concerns over safety after an unsettling experience in which they found a frightening human-like mask inside the vehicle.

The passenger, who shared their experience on Facebook, said they had booked the car through a popular ride-hailing app and was startled to discover what appeared to be a ghost mask attached to the back of the front passenger seat.

As they were in a hurry and had no choice but to continue with the journey, the discovery left them concerned about what might happen to women or children travelling alone in the vehicle at night.

‘I called this car and had an experience that felt like a nightmare,’ the passenger wrote in a post on the ‘We Are Consumers’ Facebook group.

The passenger filed a complaint with the ride-hailing platform’s customer service team, but claimed they felt their concerns had not been taken seriously.

Photos accompanying the post showed the mask, which had a disturbing human-like appearance, displayed behind the driver’s seat alongside a sign bearing actions that are not prohibited on the car.

Another image showed the vehicle parked by the roadside with what appeared to be its rear bumper removed, further raising concerns about the condition and safety of the car.

Highway police arrested five Chinese men and two Thais for carrying no legal travel documents, in this southern province on Saturday night.

According to the Central Investigation Bureau, police stopped a brown Hyundai H-1 van driving suspiciously fast in the right lane with curtains drawn on Highway 41 in tambon Wisai Tai of Sawee district, Chumphon, at 11.40pm on Saturday.

A search found Lin Gun, 30, He Dachun, 39, Zhang Buizi, 30, Xie Jia, 35, and Jiang Jiahui, 38, in the vehicle. They had no legal travel documents and claimed to be travelling from Cambodia to Malaysia, via Thailand.

Police also found two Thais, Somprasop, 53, and Preecha, 38, in the van. One of them was the driver and the other was escorting the men. Police seized eight mobile phones from the group.

The Chinese men told police, via an interpreter, that they sneaked into Thailand from Cambodia and were heading for Malaysia.

The Thai suspects said they were hired for 20,000 baht to pick up the Chinese group in the Central Plains and drop them off in Chana district of Songkhla, which borders Malaysia.

Indian tourist arrivals fell by more than 10% last month following changes to Thailand’s visa rules, while arrivals from other key foreign markets continued to improve in line with the recovery in flight capacity.

From Aug 1-22, Indian arrivals to Thailand declined by 11.6% year-on-year. However, the decline was an improvement from the 20.2% contraction recorded in July, according to the Bank of Thailand.

Speaking at a briefing on economic and monetary conditions for July on Monday, Pranee Sutthasri, senior director of the central bank’s macroeconomic department, said the decline in Indian tourist arrivals followed Thailand’s revision of visa exemption rules for foreign visitors, including Indian nationals.

In July, the cabinet decided to halve the visa-free stay for tourists, dropping many countries from the scheme while approving new privileges for other nationalities, including Indian tourists.

Under the new arrangement, the 30-day visa exemption applies to visitors from 60 countries.

Thailand also expanded visa privileges for six countries — India, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Malta and Maldives — and provided equal visa privileges to all 27 member states of the European Union.

In 2025, Indian travellers accounted for 7.5% of international tourist arrivals to Thailand, ranking third behind China, which accounted for 33.6%, and Europe, which contributed 12.4%. The Middle East ranked fourth, accounting for 3.7% of arrivals, according to the central bank.

Mrs Pranee said the central bank would continue to monitor Indian arrivals. From Aug 1-22, India was the only one of Thailand’s four primary international tourist markets to record a decline in arrivals.

During the period, arrivals from China increased by 23.5%, while those from Europe and the Middle East rose by 1.2% and 18.6% respectively.

Total foreign arrivals declined by 0.3% year-on-year, an improvement from the 2.5% contraction recorded in July.

In July, foreign tourist arrivals after seasonal adjustment increased to 2.5 million from 2.1 million in June, driven by long-haul markets such as Europe and the Middle East, as well as China, according to the central bank.

The improvement was supported by a gradual recovery in flight capacity following the easing of tensions in the Middle East, together with stronger travel demand during the summer school holiday in many countries.

Meanwhile, the recovery in tourist arrivals from short-haul markets, excluding China, remained gradual.

Tourism receipts after seasonal adjustment increased by 2.7% in July, in line with the uptick in foreign tourist arrivals.

However, spending per trip declined, reflecting a slightly shorter average length of stay as travel patterns normalised following the easing of the Middle East conflict, noted the regulator.

Looking ahead, the tourism recovery will partially depend on the recovery of flight capacity, which remains constrained, said Mrs Pranee.

Competition in regional tourism markets also remains intense and will affect the Thai travel sector’s trajectory, she said.

State enterprise investment spending in 2027 is expected to near the pre-pandemic level of 300 billion baht, according to the chief of the State Enterprise Policy Office (Sepo).

Tibordee Wattanakul, director-general of Sepo, said investment spending by state-owned enterprises is projected to reach 236 billion baht in 2026, while next year it is expected to rise to 280 billion baht, closer to the pre-Covid level of 300 billion baht. The increase reflects the economic recovery, he said.

Regarding the disbursement of state enterprise investment budgets, during the first 11 months of fiscal 2026, from October 2025 to August 2026, 218 billion baht was disbursed out of a total investment budget of 236 billion baht, roughly 92% of the allocation.

Mr Tibordee also discussed the performance of the Vayupak Fund, an investment fund offering units to the public owned by the Finance Ministry.

The fund’s net asset value (NAV) increased by 28% this year as of the end of July, growing in line with the Stock Exchange of Thailand index.

The Vayupak Fund focuses on investing in securities offering attractive returns, financial stability, business sustainability and good corporate governance, delivering robust performance aligned with the Thai bourse, he said.

As of July 31, the fund had an NAV of 596 billion baht, up from 490 billion at the end of 2025. The value comprised NAV of 156 billion baht for Type A investment units (held by general investors) and 440 billion baht for Type B investment units (held by the Finance Ministry).

According to Mr Tibordee, Sepo will continue to monitor the fund’s performance to ensure it remains capable of generating attractive and stable long-term returns for the public.

The fund should continue to serve as an important mechanism for developing the country’s money and capital markets, as well as supporting the economy, he noted.

Pop star Olivia Rodrigo has turned her first music festival into a US$20 million fundraising effort for women’s causes, with the singer’s Daisy Chain Fields drawing 45,000 fans to Great Park in Irvine, California this past Aug 29.

The festival initially raised $10 million for 10 non-profit organisations before philanthropist Melinda French Gates announced an additional $10 million contribution through her organisation, Pivotal, doubling the total.

The beneficiaries are Baby2Baby, Black Mamas Matter Alliance, Center for Reproductive Rights, FreeFrom, Jhpiego, Johns Hopkins Center for Indigenous Health, National Domestic Workers Alliance, National Institute for Reproductive Health, National Women’s Law Center and Planned Parenthood.

Rather than keeping philanthropy separate from the entertainment, 23-year-old Rodrigo incorporated it throughout the festival. The Daisy Chain Reaction philanthropy village gave visitors the opportunity to meet representatives from the organisations and learn more about their work, spanning reproductive health, maternal care, economic security, legal advocacy and gender equality.

Art was another central part of the experience. At the entrance, visitors encountered Yoko Ono’s Wish Tree, an interactive installation that invited festivalgoers to write their wishes on tags and attach them to its branches. The festival also featured work by the Guerrilla Girls and artist Jenny Holzer.

The music lineup reflected Rodrigo’s interest in connecting generations of women artists. Chappell Roan, Doechii, Mitski, Bikini Kill, Stevie Nicks, The Breeders and Santigold were among the performers, with Rodrigo closing the festival alongside a series of special guests.

The festival was inspired in part by Sarah McLachlan’s Lilith Fair, the groundbreaking touring festival she co-founded in 1997 to spotlight women in music at a time when female artists were often underrepresented on festival bills.

Lilith Fair went on to become one of the most successful touring festivals of its era, and its influence was evident in Rodrigo’s decision to build Daisy Chain Fields around an all-women lineup and a wider mission of solidarity. McLachlan, who was among the festival’s performers, joined Rodrigo onstage for ‘Building a Mystery’ and ‘Angel’.

All of the performers waived their fees, allowing more of the festival’s proceeds to go towards its charitable partners.

For Rodrigo, Daisy Chain Fields represents an expansion of her activism beyond the traditional concert stage. After one day, the festival had combined pop music, visual art and advocacy into a single platform, working to improve the lives of women and girls worldwide.

A woman accused of acting as an agent for a major corporate mule-account network, backed by a Chinese financier, has been arrested in Bangkok. Police say accounts supplied by the network had been linked to more than 27 fraud cases.

Officers from the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau (CCIB) searched a house at a luxury housing estate in Phasicharoen district on Wednesday, where they arrested the 31-year-old suspect who was wanted on a warrant issued by the Chanthaburi Provincial Court on Aug 13.

The woman, identified only as Ranwarat, or Pim, faces charges of fraud, entering false computer data into a computer system, and opening or allowing another person to use bank accounts.

The arrest followed complaint filed in August by a solar-panel business owner in Chanthaburi who was contacted by a prospective customer via the shop’s Line account seeking to buy a large quantity of solar-powered lamps worth 395,000 baht.

After establishing contact, the customer reportedly persuaded the victim to help purchase concertina razor wire worth 700,000 baht, claiming it was to be delivered to a military camp in Chon Buri.

The victim, believing the story, transferred the money to a bank account bearing the name of a limited partnership, thinking it belonged to a legitimate business.

However, the customer could not be contacted after the transfer, prompting the victim to realise that he had been scammed and file a police complaint.

During preliminary questioning, the suspect told police that financial trouble led her to look for ways to solve her problems. She started out by registering a limited partnership, with herself as its director, despite the entity having no genuine business operations.

She then opened a bank account in the partnership’s name and sold it through Facebook groups advertising the purchase of bank accounts, earning 80,000 baht.

An examination of evidence found on her seized mobile phone showed that she had also worked as a broker arranging for other such corporate mule accounts to be set up.

After realising such accounts could generate relatively high returns, she began advertising on Facebook for people willing to open limited-partnership accounts.

Investigators said checks on bank accounts she had previously sold revealed links to fraud cases reported by victims nationwide, with more than 27 cases involving various schemes, including being duped into performing activities and investing money. Investigators believe there are many more victims who had yet to file complaints.

The suspect also told the officers that during the Songkran period this tear she had contacted a Chinese financier known as ‘Ah Yao’ via Line and Telegram. He allegedly offered her money to recruit people to open ready-to-use limited-partnership mule accounts.

He said he would provide mobile phones and SIM cards sourced from the black market for her to use in recruiting account holders. In return, she was reportedly paid between 80,000 and 150,000 baht per account, depending on how ready it was for use.

The suspect said she earned about 100,000 baht a month during the four to five months she worked with the Chinese national.

Investigators are now expanding the probe to arrest the Chinese financier and bring all those involved to justice.

The problems with reforming education may lie less in a lack of research, funding or expertise than in a failure to get evidence into policy and the classroom, the Equitable Education Fund (EEF) says.

Bridging those gaps was the purpose of the Thailand Education Research Association (Thera), launched recently during the Thailand International Conference on Education Research 2026 in Bangkok.

The association was co-founded by the EEF, the Office of the Education Council and academics from leading Thai universities, with its secretariat housed at the EEF.

It is a national platform on which researchers, policymakers, universities and funding agencies can coordinate their work, align research with national priorities and turn evidence into policy and classroom practice.

‘Thailand has no shortage of education research,’ said Sahawarat Polahan director of the Equitable Education Research Institute at the EEF.

‘What it lacks is a system that connects research to the people who need it most, while also connecting Thai researchers to the world.’

Education research in Thailand has often taken place in separate institutional and disciplinary silos. University studies may not reach policymakers, and policy decisions do not always draw on the best available evidence.

Thai researchers have also had limited access to international networks, comparative data and global debate about which education policies work and which do not.

As a result, the country invests heavily in education without fully harnessing its research to drive reform, Mr Sahawarat said.

Thera also opens a pathway for Thailand to join the World Education Research Association (Wera), a global network representing more than 700,000 researchers in over 40 countries. Membership would give Thai researchers greater access to international networks, comparative studies and global policy discussions.

Wera president Joe O’Hara and former president Mustafa Yunus Eryaman took part in the launch event.

Mr Sahawarat said stronger connections were becoming more urgent as artificial intelligence reshapes labour markets, demographic change leaves some areas with empty classrooms and others overcrowded, and the skills students will need remain hard to predict.

‘Education systems that cannot translate research into timely and scalable action will fall behind – not gradually, but rapidly,’ he said.

‘Thailand cannot build a resilient education system without a resilient research ecosystem to support it,’ he said. ‘And it cannot build that ecosystem in isolation from the world.’