Category: The Bangkok Post

A 26-year-old woman with an intellectual disability is missing from Baan Thep Nimit in Khon Buri district, tambon Tabaek Ban, and her family believes she was lured away and is appealing for public help to find her.

The young woman is Sunisa Kumram, known as “Mai”, and she has been missing since the early hours of July 8. Her family believes she may be the victim of a romance scam.

Mai had asked to stay overnight with cousins at her aunt’s house, as she often did. The aunt’s family locked up and went to bed by midnight. Around 4am, they found the back door ajar and no sign of Mai, according to members of the famly.

Someone had rifled through one of the cabinets, but only Mai’s disability ID card was missing.

After a fruitless search they called police. Mai’s phone had been at a repair shop. Police examined it and found LINE chat messages with a man saved as “Darling Husband”. The messages included romantic exchanges and encouragement to run away from home, dating back to early July. Police and her family believe she was lured away.

Mai’s mother, Boonnatchada Phakdee, 47, said her daughter had delayed development and suffered from several conditions requiring daily medication, including an overactive thyroid gland. In another nine days a relapse could be life-threatening.

She said Mai had never gone anywhere unsupervised and had little contact with people other than a few cousins. It was unlikely she left on her own.

The village headman said Mai’s disability likely made her easy to manipulate and urged anyone with information to come forward urgently, given her medical needs.

Anyone with information on her possible whereabouts should quickly advise their nearest police station.

Corrupt government officials were viewed as the main factor allowing foreigners to illegally operate businesses in Thailand, a Nida poll showed on Sunday.

The pollsters said 67.10% of people blamed corrupt state officials for all illegal businesses directly run by foreigners or by using Thais as nominees.

Lenient penalties came second with 59.31%, followed by legal loopholes, 52.21%, and corrupt politicians, 50.46%.

Money-hungry Thais working with or helping foreigners shared the blame according to 48.70% of responders, followed by officials turning a blind eye to offences committed by foreigners, which was checked by 44.35% of responders.

The National Institute of Development Administration surveyed 1,310 people aged 18 or more across the country from Monday to Wednesday. Each person could give more than one answer to a question.

The poll was conducted as the country was shaken once again by the problem of Chinese babies receiving Thai citizenship with help from allegedly corrupt officials, hospital staff and Thai men wrongfully claiming to be the biological fathers.

Law enforcement officials have recently busted several businesses, big and small, belonging to foreigners but illegally fronted by Thai nominees and operating in major cities and at popular tourist destinations.

The Ministry of Digital Economy and Society (DES) is pushing ahead with the government’s digital platform economy bill, which aims to regulate digital service providers, strengthen consumer protection and promote fair competition in online markets.

DES Deputy Minister Nan Boonthida Somchai said the bill is being finalised and will be submitted to the Council of State, the government’s legal adviser, for legal review before being forwarded to the cabinet.

She said the bill is expected to be considered by the House of Representatives in September.

Ms Nan was speaking after chairing a meeting with Electronic Transactions Development Agency (ETDA) executive director Chaichana Mitrpant to review the bill and a separate bill on artificial intelligence.

She said the digital platform economy legislation is important to the development of the digital economy.

Under the bill, digital service providers must comply with regulatory standards, establish self-regulatory mechanisms and operate in accordance with good governance principles.

Service providers would be required to register their businesses, while operators with annual revenue exceeding 1.8 million baht would have to disclose the source of their income, particularly revenue generated in Thailand. Those who fail to comply would face penalties.

Service providers would also be required to inform users of potential risks, ensure online sellers offer only legal products, process complaints within 24 hours, clearly identify paid advertisements and disclose the identity of advertisers.

Ms Nan said they would also be required to take action against illegal goods and services. The bill may include an annex specifying categories of controlled goods and services.

Platforms would be required to verify sellers, drivers and other service providers and keep their information up to date. They would also have to clearly disclose service fees and commissions.

Ms Nan said social media and ride-sharing platforms would share responsibility for fraud committed by service providers using their platforms if they fail to carry out adequate verification.

The bill would also empower regulators to oversee service fees, commissions and other charges, including the rules, procedures and conditions governing platform services, she said.

ETDA will work with the Revenue Department to study tax issues involving digital platforms, she added.

The Royal Thai Navy has dismissed reports that a vessel flying the Thai flag was attacked in the Strait of Hormuz, saying the ship referred to in the reports was not Thai.

Spokesman Rear Adm Parach Rattanachaiyaphan said on Saturday the Naval Operations Centre had verified the vessel’s identity using ship-tracking data. “The vessel referred to in the reports is not a Thai vessel,” he said.

Rear Adm Parach said the navy had also checked on the only Thai cargo vessel in the Gulf of Oman.

After coordinating with the vessel’s safety officer, authorities confirmed the ship and its crew were safe and continuing normal operations.

Rear Adm Parach was responding to reports on social media claiming a vessel flying the Thai flag had been attacked in the Strait of Hormuz on Friday after allegedly attempting to transit without authorisation from Iranian Revolutionary Guards.

Thailand’s top flight will open its 2026-27 campaign on Sept 4 with newly promoted Pattani hosting BG Pathum United, the Football Association of Thailand’s organising committee announced on Friday, confirming a schedule delayed by three weeks to give national team players extra recovery time.

Defending champions Buriram United face an early away test at Sukhothai, as they begin their pursuit of a fresh title amid growing competition from clubs strengthening their squads over the close season.

Fellow promoted side Rasisalai United will welcome Port in their maiden top-flight fixture. The third new arrival, Si Sa Ket United, begin life in Thai League 1 away at Bangkok United.

The season will run until May 30, 2027, comprising 29 weekend rounds and a single midweek fixture, excluding rearranged or postponed matches. The FAT said the later start — pushed back three weeks compared with last season — was designed with player welfare in mind, following a punishing schedule that saw clubs and the national team competing in close succession with little downtime.

Organisers also confirmed the calendar has been built around Asian and Asean Cup commitments, in an effort to reduce the disruption caused by fixture postponements in previous campaigns.

In a further nod to inclusivity, Pattani’s home matches during Ramadan — expected to fall between Feb 8 and March 10, 2027 — will kick off at 7pm to allow Muslim supporters to attend after breaking their fast.

The final round of fixtures will be played simultaneously across all venues, a measure intended to preserve fairness in both the title race and the relegation battle, which the FAT said would go down to the wire this season.

The governing body called on clubs to adhere strictly to competition regulations throughout the campaign as it looks to raise standards across Thai professional football.

“I am not a photographer, I am not an artist, I am just a man watching the world change,” Anuchit Sundarakiti once said of himself on his Facebook page.

Anuchit and his wife Prasanee died in a blaze at their attached houses in soi Taksin 11 in Bangkok’s Thonburi district on Saturday, along with 73 of the 92 cats the pair were taking care of.

His followers, admirers and photo enthusiasts were saddened by the loss and continue to send condolence messages to his social media address.

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration said on Saturday Anuchit, 62, and his wife, 55, probably died from smoke inhalation, possibly due to a short circuit. The exact cause of their deaths and the fire are still under investigation.

“Wish you, your wife and the cats a place in heaven,” said one person using the name Naris Sra.

“Thank you for the kindness you showed me. I’m so proud to have had the chance to do a painting of a lotus photographed by you,” Api Apirada said. (continues below)

Other messages also wished him, his family and their cats a place in heaven after learning of the sudden tragedy. His latest Facebook post was as recent as Friday, promoting a black-and-white photographs session.

Anuchit’s ‘fine art photographs’ are nationally and internationally recognised. His photos reflecting people’s lives, especially those in black and white, are among his signature images.

His image of a woman collecting trash among people mourning the death of King Bhumibol Adulyadej The Great was among nine selected from 50,000 submitted photos by the Culture Ministry in 2016 as reflecting the good works carried out by ordinary people but usually unheralded. (continues below)

His photographers were also in National Geographic Travel and his Lost Train shot at Hua Lamphong was selected as one of the weekly best by 500px, a global online community of photographers.

In fact, Hua Lamphong was one of his favourite locations for taking photos because it is a place where people and trains meet . “Trains represent evolution in society,” he said in a ThaiDphoto YouTube programme in 2016.

He had a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Education (Architecture), but it was not known which university he studied at.

Anuchit had one big tip for struggling photographers – success starts with passion and determination, and those two traits must be reflected in their photographs, he told the ThaiDphoto programme.

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Spokesman Rear Adm Parach Rattanachaiyaphan said on Saturday the Naval Operations Centre had verified the vessel’s identity using ship-tracking data. “The vessel referred to in the reports is not a Thai vessel,” he said.

Rear Adm Parach said the navy had also checked on the only Thai cargo vessel in the Gulf of Oman.

After coordinating with the vessel’s safety officer, authorities confirmed the ship and its crew were safe and continuing normal operations.

Rear Adm Parach was responding to reports on social media claiming a vessel flying the Thai flag had been attacked in the Strait of Hormuz on Friday after allegedly attempting to transit without authorisation from Iranian Revolutionary Guards.

Microsoft is testing a new Windows 11 feature called “Cloud rebuild” designed to salvage systems that fail to boot or reset, allowing users to reinstall the operating system directly from the cloud via the recovery screen without the need for a flash drive or ISO file.

The feature was discovered in an experimental Windows 11 Insider preview build, where it operates within the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE), the dedicated system recovery mode.

A key highlight of the Cloud rebuild feature is that it goes beyond merely downloading and reinstalling the operating system; it can also fetch essential device drivers from Windows Update during the recovery process. This ensures that essential hardware, particularly Wi-Fi or LAN connections, functions immediately after installation-a critical step, as lacking internet access post-recovery prevents users from downloading further updates or drivers. (continues below)

According to available data, the Cloud rebuild option will be located under the Troubleshoot menu within WinRE. When a computer enters recovery mode, users can opt for the cloud-based reinstallation, provided the machine remains connected to the internet throughout the process. While a wired LAN connection is ideal, users can select a Wi-Fi network and enter passwords directly from the recovery interface in certain scenarios.

However, the feature remains strictly in the testing phase and has not yet been rolled out to general Windows 11 users. It also faces limitations, particularly if WinRE lacks the machine’s basic network drivers, which would prevent an internet connection and render the Cloud rebuild function unusable.

If deployed globally, the feature will offer a more straightforward alternative for system recovery, especially for users unfamiliar with manual Windows installation or those without a spare USB drive. Future system failures requiring a complete clean install could be resolved entirely through the cloud, restoring the PC to a fully operational state with necessary drivers pre-installed. Source: Videocardz, Blogs windows

Officials arrested 40 illegal migrants and seized 1,600 litres of diesel and 1.5 million contraband cigarettes near the Myanmar border in this western province on Saturday night.

About 9pm soldiers and customs officials arrested two men driving two pickup trucks at a permanent checkpoint on Highway 323 in tambon Tha Sao of Sai Yok district. The trucks were carrying big cardboard boxes containing 1.5 million contraband cigarettes.

The cigarettes were Krongthip 90 brand and were for export only and the price ranged from 30-40 baht a pack, while the market price in Thailand is 105 baht.

The drivers, both 32, were identified only as Saharat, a native of Kanchanaburi, and Sumethee, from Suphanburi province.

They allegedly told officials they were hired to pick up the cigarettes at a courier company warehouse in Sangkhla Buri district, Kanchanaburi, and deliver them to a warehouse in Wang Noi district of Ayutthaya.

Early Sunday morning police, soldiers and customs officials found an abandoned pickup truck in Ban Mae Tiew village in tambon Nong Lu of Sangkhla Buri. The vehicle was parked about four kilometres from the Myanmar border.

On the back were eight barrels of diesel – 1,600 litres in total.

Shortly afterwards, the same patrol found 40 illegal Myanmar migrants, 28 men and 12 women, in Ban Nam Kerk village of tambon Nong Lu.

One of the migrants, Kin, 24 from Rakhine, said they fled starvation in war-torn Myanmar to find jobs in Thailand. They had paid 30,000 baht to human traffickers to lead them across the border. She had earlier worked in Thailand and had planned to work here again, as a maid in Chumphon province.

The death toll in the Rong Beer Na Ladprao beer hall fire in Chatuchak district, Bangkok, has risen to 34, with another of the hospitalised victims succumbing to injuries.

The Chatuchak district office reported the latest death on Sunday.

The announcement said all the burnt bodies had now been identified. Seven victims admitted to hospital had died from their injuries. The other 27 died at the scene of the blaze.

As of Sunday afternoon, there were 70 injured victims – 13 seriously injured (red level), nine with medium levels of injury (yellow) and 48 slightly injured (green). All green-level victims had aleady been discharged from hospitals.

The latest to die was reportedly a 20-year-old woman who suffered burns all over her body and had been admitted to Phramongkutklao Hospital after the fire.

The fire erupted at Rong Beer Na Ladprao a few minutes before midnight on Sunday last week, July 12. At the time there were about 300 customers in the single-storey concrete building.

Videos showed powerful jets of flame coming from the entrance to the pub. Firefighters took half and hour to bring it under control. Most victims were said to have died from smoke inhalation after being trapped in the building, where emergency exits were reportedly poorly marked and partially blocked.

On Friday Bangkok police chief Pol Lt Gen Sayam Boonsom said autopsies found traces of carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide in victims’ blood. This mixture of gases would abruptly block absorption of oxygen and could kill people in just four minutes.

Forensic analysis would pinpoint the source of the deadly gases, initially thought to be from burning styrofoam. Police who rescued victims from the burning beer hall also inhaled the gases, tests showed, Pol Lt Gen Sayam said.