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The National Health Security Office (NHSO), which operates the 30-baht “Gold Card” universal healthcare scheme, is accelerating efforts to resolve budgetary challenges affecting inpatient services and will submit its proposals to its board on Nov 3.

A key measure involves scrapping the retrospective “re-run” calculation method used to reimburse hospitals, which, over the past 10 months, has caused confusion and financial strain across the healthcare system.

NHSO executives acknowledged shortcomings in management and have scheduled a follow-up meeting with the Ministry of Public Health (MOPH) on Oct 29 to align corrective actions.

Dr Jadej Thammatacharee, secretary-general of the NHSO, said yesterday that a joint meeting had been held with the MOPH, attended by representatives from regional and community hospitals as well as provincial public health offices.

Co-chaired by senior officials from both agencies, the meeting followed the collaborative framework established by the public health minister and the ministry’s permanent secretary.

Six key resolutions were adopted and will guide the NHSO’s next steps.

One immediate decision is the cancellation of the re-run calculation method for inpatient services between Sept 16 last year and July 31 this year.

The NHSO will instead use actual relative weight (RW) values to calculate payments for the remaining months of the 2025 fiscal year, ensuring fairer and more transparent compensation, particularly for hospitals under the Office of the Permanent Secretary of the MOPH.

Dr Jadej added that the NHSO will publicly disclose remaining budgets for the 2025 fiscal year across all funds to promote transparency and shared decision-making. Any future adjustments to payment criteria will require mutual agreement between the NHSO and MOPH, with input from the Health Economics Division and healthcare providers.

Regarding the central budget currently under review by the cabinet, he said that once the budget is approved, the allocation will be jointly discussed and agreed upon by both NHSO and MOPH.

The NHSO, later on, issued a statement dismissing rumours circulating on social media that only a handful of private hospitals remain in the scheme.

Dr Attaporn Limpanyalert, NHSO spokesman, clarified that 290 private hospitals are still participating, including 22 registered for primary care, permanent care, and transfer services.

Additionally, 13,493 clinics remain part of the network, comprising 887 general clinics, 1,913 dental clinics, 3,900 drugstores, 5,489 nursing clinics, 710 Thai traditional medicine clinics, 370 physical therapy clinics, 224 medical laboratories and 227 community clinics.

He stressed that private hospitals continue to cooperate with the NHSO, reflecting strong collaboration in maintaining health security for over 47 million Gold Card holders.

Earlier on Wednesday, Public Health Minister Pattana Promphat reaffirmed the government’s commitment to resolving financial shortfalls through inter-agency cooperation while maintaining service standards.

He dismissed calls for major NHSO reform, noting that the system remains fundamentally sound but requires operational improvements. “We won’t conceal any problem. Everything must be resolved with transparency,” he said.

Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has also directed the allocation of central government funds to support the NHSO’s universal healthcare scheme, as several state hospitals face liquidity shortages.

Delayed reimbursements have already prompted some private hospitals to withdraw from the programme, while cost-cutting measures, such as the use of second-choice medications, have sparked public concern.

Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul’s cabinet, which was initially warmly welcomed by the public, is now facing serious confidence issues after two ministers — Deputy Finance Minister Vorapak Tanyawong and Agriculture Minister Thamanat Prompow — were named in news reports about Cambodia’s scam syndicates and money laundering in Southeast Asia.

The allegations culminated in Mr Vorapak’s resignation from his post, though it is unlikely that his decision to step down will have a significant impact on the Anutin administration’s tarnished image.

While both men have denied the accusations and threatened to file defamation complaints against journalists and netizens who share the reports, the damage to the country’s reputation is done, and it will take more than defamation lawsuits to resolve the problem.

Government officials are public figures. Their faces, behaviour and reputation reflect directly on the administration. As such, it is no surprise that taxpayers expect the government to seriously look into the accusations and investigate the claims in the news reports, which include allegations of money transfers to officials.

But the government has done the opposite, dismissing the reports as “political games” meant to discredit the administration. In fact, when the allegations first came to light, Mr Vorapak was assigned to oversee the official crackdown on scam syndicates along the border.

Our politicians seem to have forgotten that scandals and reports which reflect negatively on the administration can and will erode public trust in the government.

We don’t have to look further than the case which have haunted Capt Thamanat for years — namely, his incarceration in an Australian prison years ago over charges of drug trafficking.

Needless to say, the latest accusations against him did not help with his image. But the country’s reputation has arguably suffered even more — the allegations have helped cement Thailand’s status as a transit point for scammers and their victims as they make their way to scam boiler rooms in Cambodia and Myanmar.

If the government wants to restore Thailand’s reputation, it has to ensure its crackdown on scam syndicates has an impact.

The Anutin administration can’t afford to take the passive stance adopted by past governments about the issue. The Chinese government sent intelligence about scammers in Myawaddy when Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha was in power, but the tip-off did not get a good response from Thai authorities. It wasn’t until Beijing sent high-ranking officials to Myanmar earlier this year to deal with the matter that the government woke up and began responding in a meaningful way.

The US government has confiscated cryptocurrency worth almost 500 billion baht from scam networks, while the UK government seized assets belonging to Chen Zhi, founder of the Cambodian business empire, Prince Group, who was accused of masterminding a forced-labour scam and money laundering. Prince Group is known to have invested in various real estate projects in Thailand. Many taxpayers are waiting for the National Anti-Corruption Commission and Anti-Money Laundering Office to look into its businesses that might be linked with scam syndicates along the border.

Right now, the government is focusing on freezing accounts linked to scam syndicates to help recover victims’ money. However, this likely won’t be enough to dismantle the growing network of scammers in the region.

The Thai Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has clarified that it can exercise its investigative authority in cases related to scam-linked money laundering or financial crimes only if the offences fall under the Securities and Exchange Act.

SEC deputy secretary-general Anek Yooyuen was responding on Friday to recent reports about alleged money laundering through cryptocurrency transactions or connections between certain brokers and scam networks.

Of particular concern have been a series of investigative reports about the acquisition of large stakes in Thai listed companies by parties linked to a Cambodian scam-centre kingpin. The revelations led to the resignation of Deputy Finance Minister Vorapak Tanyawong earlier this week.

Mr Anek said multiple agencies are involved in such matters, and all operations are being carried out by an inter-agency task force. The SEC’s jurisdiction is limited to violations related to securities laws, he said.

In cases where individuals are suspected of holding shares in listed companies through nominee structures, Mr Anek said the Securities and Exchange Act requires any shareholder acquiring more than 5%, 25% or 75% of total voting shares to report and disclose the acquisition. Failure to make such a disclosure violates the law.

His comments addressed public concerns regarding the identity verification of individuals named Ben Smith, Benjamin Mauerberger, and Benjamin Berger, and whether they are the same person or connected to transnational financial crimes or money laundering.

The SEC referred the matter to the Economic Crime Suppression Division of the Royal Thai Police to investigate and determine whether these individuals are linked to any cross-border financial misconduct.

Mr Mauerberger, originally from South Africa, has been linked to numerous questionable transactions. Investigative journalist Tom Wright has detailed how Mr Mauerberger’s Thai wife and the wife of Mr Vorapak were paid in cryptocurrency for shares as part of a secret takeover of Finansia Syrus Securities Plc.

Responding to reports that a listed company and a securities firm might be linked to a money-laundering network, Mr Anek said there was no conclusive evidence at this stage to confirm wrongdoing.

Any further determination would depend on the evidence gathered, he said.

In addition, questions were raised concerning SET-listed Stecon Group Plc leasing office space to a foreign entity suspected of involvement in grey-money operations or scam-related activities.

Mr Anek said such matters may fall under other laws, but are not covered by securities law.

‘If an action violates the Securities and Exchange Act and falls within the SEC’s authority, we will proceed with a full investigation whether or not a complaint is filed,’ he said.

‘However, if the action does not fall under securities law, the SEC has no authority to investigate. Authorities must determine whether the conduct violates other laws, such as consumer protection or criminal law, which are in the jurisdiction of other agencies.’

Prominent lawyer Decha Kittivittayanan has urged the Interior Ministry to investigate the legitimacy of the “Gun Jompalang Chuai Su” Foundation, questioning whether it is a bona fide charitable organisation or merely a proxy entity.

He called on authorities to assess whether its operations comply with legal standards.

The foundation is associated with social activist Guntouch Pongpaiboonwet, widely known as Gun Jompalang, even though his name does not appear among its registered board members.

Speaking on Thursday, Mr Decha expressed growing concerns over the transparency of the foundation’s formation and financial practices.

“Most foundations are created to receive donations for public benefit. The key issue is whether those funds are truly used as intended,” he said, noting that preliminary inquiries suggest possible irregularities in the foundation’s internal structure.

Mr Decha stressed that a foundation must be operated by its officially registered board members — not by external individuals. If an outsider exerts control, the foundation risks dissolution and its assets may be seized by the state.

He questioned whether the three listed board members were merely figureheads, pointing out that none appeared to play an active role, while Guntouch, who is not legally affiliated with the foundation, publicly directs its activities.

Mr Decha also criticised Guntouch’s recent claim that he could simply change the name of the organisation designated to inherit the foundation’s assets in the event of its dissolution. Currently, that entity is the Thamanat Prompow Foundation.

Mr Decha argued that such a change cannot be made unilaterally and called on the Interior Ministry, which oversees charitable foundations, to clarify the legality of such actions.

He likened the situation to the use of “mule accounts”, suggesting that when a foundation is established but controlled by outsiders, it may function as a financial front.

Authorities, he said, must urgently verify who controls the foundation’s bank accounts and how donations are managed. He warned that reports of questionable cash withdrawals and purchases, such as allegedly overpriced body armour, deserve close scrutiny.

Mr Decha further noted that if donors contributed based on Guntouch’s personal reputation, only to be later discovered he had no legal ties to the foundation, it could constitute fraud, even if the funds were used for charitable purposes.

He also raised concerns about Guntouch’s reported ownership of luxury vehicles and alleged access to 200,000 government lottery tickets, which could generate millions in monthly revenue. Mr Decha urged the tax and police authorities to investigate these claims.

Is AI transforming the economy in any real sense, or is the promise of rapid growth mere hype?

US stock markets certainly favour the former view: shares of AI and tech companies have accounted for about three-quarters of the S and P 500’s gains this year. Venture capital investors appear equally convinced, having poured $200 billion (6.5 trillion baht) into the AI sector in 2025 alone.

It is no surprise, then, that analysts are increasingly asking whether we are witnessing another tech bubble, reminiscent of the dot-com boom of the 1990s, and whether, as before, it might eventually burst and drag equity markets down with it.

If AI follows that pattern, how powerful could its impact be? The dot-com boom offers some useful lessons. In the second half of the 1990s, emerging digital technologies nearly doubled US productivity growth to 2.5%. Although economists’ forecasts vary, some studies suggest that today’s wave of AI investment could produce a similarly significant boost in GDP growth.

The most fervent AI evangelists go further, arguing that the imminent arrival of artificial general intelligence (AGI) could be utterly transformative. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, for example, has contended that AI’s potential is being radically underestimated and that, if developed safely, such systems could drive breakthroughs in biology, neuroscience, and economic development, potentially eradicating disease, reducing poverty, and fostering global cooperation.

If such a world of abundance is indeed on the horizon — and even if it materialises only in the distant future — it is crucial to track how this transformation plays out. But traditional economic metrics still struggle to capture the effects of the “old” digital economy, let alone the emerging AI-driven one.

GDP growth is a prime example. At best, it is a lagging indicator of structural change. Economic historians have shown that transformative technologies such as steam power and electricity took decades to register in official statistics, and even when their effects became visible, the measured income gains were surprisingly modest. But it would be absurd to claim these technologies were not transformative.

When it comes to AI, some of the most basic facts are missing or incomplete. For example, how many companies are using generative AI, and in which sectors? What are they using it for? How are AI tools being applied in areas such as marketing, logistics, or customer service? Which firms are deploying AI agents, and who is actually using them?

Although research on AI is expanding rapidly, what is required now is systematic data collection. Reliable statistics would not only help businesses gauge demand and opportunity but also enable governments to design policies that foster growth and protect consumers.

Tech companies like Anthropic and OpenAI have begun to recognise that the current information vacuum does them no favours, especially given their products’ reliance on data. Without a clearer understanding of AI’s economic impact, public debate will inevitably focus on risks and anxieties, from the prospect of a “jobpocalypse” to the potential psychological effects of human-like chatbots.

That said, other indicators can provide valuable insight into AI’s transformative effects. Any meaningful set of indicators should include key inputs for AI development, particularly energy consumption, labour-market shifts, and data use. Another important measure is the adoption of AI-driven services, so-called agentic AI.

Time-use data, both at home and in the workplace, could also prove useful, as would structural indicators such as shifts in industrial composition and organisational design. More broadly, a fuller picture of structural change would help us understand AI’s broader economic effects, from sectoral reallocation to shifting workflows.

Unfortunately, few such metrics currently exist. Compounding the problem, many statistical agencies — most notably in the US — are in disarray, and most policymakers remain overly cautious about drawing on new data sources and methodologies.

Academics, for their part, are eager to improve how we measure and understand AI’s economic impact. For now, however, we are in the same position as the Victorians, who learned more about how steam power, railways, and the telegraph were reshaping their world from the novels of Charles Dickens and George Eliot than from official statistics. ©2025 Project Syndicate

The Perfect Neighbor, a new Netflix true crime documentary that premiered at Sundance earlier this year, examines a devastating incident that exposes the fractures of contemporary American life. It portrays a small community coming apart under the pressures of paranoia, racism and gun culture — issues that remain deeply embedded across the country.

Using body-cam footage from dozens of police visits, The Perfect Neighbor bears witness to a tight-knit Florida neighbourhood terrorised by one woman’s relentless harassment. That hostility ultimately takes a fatal turn and the film captures, with horrifying intimacy, how a slow-burning grievance becomes a tragedy.

At the centre of the story is Susan Lorincz, a middle-aged white woman who lives alone in one of the duplexes on a modest suburban street filled with rental homes. Lorincz believes she has full ownership of the grassy area beside her home. She doesn’t. Yet she repeatedly harasses her neighbours and calls the police, insisting that people are trespassing, threatening her safety or endangering her peace of mind.

Lorincz embodies a distinctly American pathology: the collision of anger, entitlement and firearms. The Perfect Neighbor traces the fatal culmination of her persecutory delusions — a mind consumed by suspicion and grievance until fantasy hardens into bullets.

Lorincz’s world feels small and airless. Every sound from next door becomes an assault; every child’s laugh a provocation. Her psyche folds in on itself, clutching righteousness like a gun. She exhibits a persecutory personality — the mind’s desperate attempt to maintain control by projecting its own hostility outward.

The “threat” she perceives is internal, displaced into the bodies of others. Ajike “AJ” Owens, the black mother who becomes her victim, and Owens’ children were simply caught in the crosshairs of Lorincz’s mental disarray.

The film’s uniqueness lies in how it’s constructed. Rather than rely on interviews or stylised re-creations, the documentary uses an enormous archive of police body-cam footage spanning two years. It strings together the story of repeated interactions between Lorincz, the Owens family and other neighbours.

The effect is chillingly direct. We’re not told what happened — we see it unfold in real time, from the clipped professionalism of responding officers to the suffocating familiarity of repeated 911 calls.

Watching it was absolutely devastating. The sheer persistence of this one woman’s insistence that she was always right — and always the victim — felt unbearable. Over time, it becomes clear that even the police no longer believe her.

Unaffiliated neighbours up and down the street corroborate a version of events completely at odds with Lorincz’s claims. The gap between her self-image and reality widens until the inevitable rupture.

The asinine presumptive privilege this woman operates under is astonishing. The arrogance is incandescent. From the tone of her voice to the growing frequency of her calls, you sense that something catastrophic is bound to happen.

But since I hadn’t known this case before, it was still a shock to hear the escalating calls and then watch the footage unfold. A 911 dispatch, an officer recognising the address, the same caller again — and then, finally, the moment she reports having fired her gun through a closed door.

The film draws its quiet horror from exactly that: the way paranoia metastasises in the most banal spaces of suburbia. A front door becomes a fortress; a neighbour becomes a sworn enemy. Lorincz’s delusions don’t arise in isolation — they’re reinforced by a broader cultural permission structure, the American mythology of self-defence and the “stand your ground” rhetoric that launders fear through the language of legality.

One of the documentary’s strengths lies in the quality of its footage. The body-cams capture everything in high resolution — no grainy ambiguity, no convenient distance. We can see facial expressions, nervous tics and gestures. Lorincz’s detached disdain, her smugness, the faint smirk that crosses her face during interrogations — they’re all revoltingly visible.

I’m grateful that the filmmakers also include extended interrogation footage. So often in true crime documentaries, we watch police resort to manipulation or intimidation to extract confessions. Here, the officers are calm, patient, almost eerily composed. They don’t press; they simply wait and let her dig her own hole. Watching her attempt to rationalise the irrational is one of the film’s most disturbing elements.

Yet beneath all the pathology and politics lies a profound tragedy. Ajike Owens, a 35-year-old mother of four, is portrayed with grace and restraint. Her story anchors the film’s fury. She’s not mythologised as a saint or flattened into a statistic — she’s a real woman who wanted peace, justice and safety for her children. Her absence fills the screen more than Lorincz’s presence ever could. She becomes the film’s moral centre, exposing the psychic collapse surrounding her.

When the documentary reaches its final quarter, we see the consequences of Lorincz’s actions. The moment she’s informed of her charges, her expression barely flickers. There’s a smirk — a dismissive, chilling smirk — as if none of it matters, as if she’s merely removed someone she considered lesser. That single gesture made my blood boil. It’s the kind of scene that stays under your skin long after the credits roll.

What makes The Perfect Neighbor effective is its refusal to editorialise. The footage speaks for itself. There’s no narrator, no omniscient voice guiding our interpretation. We’re left to witness, to sit with the horror of what ordinary fear can become when fed by entitlement and protected by law.

The Perfect Neighbor

Starring Susan Lorincz, Ajike Owens, Franklin Baez-Colon

Directed by Geeta Gandbhir

Now streaming on Netflix

Thailand’s government revoked citizenship of a Cambodian high-ranking businessman after he was accused of being involved with cyber-scam operations and human trafficking networks.

Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul signed an order on Friday revoking the Thai citizenship of Phat Suphapa, who is also known as Ly Yong Phat. Ly, a naturalised Thai national, is accused of maintaining Cambodian citizenship and involvement in illicit activities.

‘I’ve just signed the order revoking Phat’s Thai citizenship,’ Mr Anutin told reporters. ‘This clearly shows our government is taking action where others in the past did not – even though we’ve only been in office for a few weeks and haven’t had much time.’

According to Thailand’s Interior Ministry, reports from the Anti-Money Laundering Office and the Department of Consular Affairs indicated My Ly had connections with groups engaged in fraud and human-trafficking networks. He’s also been sanctioned by the US Office of Foreign Assets Control. Mr Ly continued to use his Cambodian nationality despite having obtained Thai citizenship through naturalisation.

The move on Ly is the latest action Mr Anutin has taken in less than a week to show he’s tough on scam operations. On Wednesday, Deputy Finance Minister Vorapak Tanyawong announced he would step down a day after Mr Anutin asked him to explain allegations that he and his wife are linked to Southeast Asian scam networks.

My Ly’s conduct undermines national security and the public interest, according to the ministry’s announcement, which added that stripping him of his Thai citizenship aims to prevent potential harm to the public.

Mr Ly has been described as an adviser to Hun Sen, Cambodia’s former prime minister and enduring power broker. It’s been reported he built his fortune on cigarette imports and exports, electricity generation and operating resorts and casinos.

Since 2009, a partnership between Chopard and Yamada Heiando has combined haute horlogerie and the art of Japanese lacquer, derived from the sap of the urushi tree.

The dials of the very first L.U.C XP Urushi Collection were graced by the phoenix, kylin, tiger, genbu and blue-horn dragon. The ongoing collaboration in 2025 takes on another mythical creature for the Thailand-exclusive L.U.C XPS Urushi Naga.

A national symbol since 2022, the serpent-like naga appears in Thai arts and culture and is honoured in traditions such as Bung Fai Phya Nak (Naga Fireballs) and Lai Ruea Fai (Procession of Illuminated Boats) along the Mekong River held at the end of the Buddhist Lent in October.

“In Thai culture, the naga is revered as a divine and protective force. Therefore, it is important for us to convey its various attributes by commissioning a local artist for the imagery,” said Tanaporn Jiramaneekul, general manager of S.T. Diamond — the Chopard retailer in Thailand.

The Swiss watchmaker engaged Chiang Rai-based Warunyoo Somboon, whose signature style is inspired by traditional Thai paintings. The rising young artist portrays the naga emerging from the Mekong River, surrounded by traditional motifs symbolising protection, prosperity and spiritual guardianship.

“Warunyoo translated our vision of the L.U.C XPS Urushi Naga timepiece in great details. His work has been reproduced as a miniature on the dial, with the mythical creature exquisitely captured in urushi lacquer,” said Tanaporn.

The Tokyo-based Yamada Heiando has been crafting lacquerware since 1919, and the exceptional quality earned the Royal Warrant from the Japanese emperor.

Today, its master artisans include Minori Koizumi, who took over 20 hours to complete each dial of the L.U.C XPS Urushi Naga, with the mixture of Japanese lacquer and natural pigments, enriched by gold dust, and his craftsmanship making it a work of art.

The 39.5mm case shines in ethical 18-carat rose gold, with its slim profile accommodating an ultra-thin automatic movement developed in-house at the Chopard Manufacture in Fleurier.

Limited to 10 pieces, the L.U.C XPS Urushi Naga is available exclusively at the Chopard boutique, on Siam Paragon’s M Floor.

Authorities intercepted a major shipment of more than 4.8 million pills in Chiang Saen district, near the Golden Triangle, late on Thursday night, police said. A smuggler managed to evade arrest by abandoning his vehicle and fleeing across the Mekong River.

Pol Col Anuphan Kantharat, chief of Chiang Saen police, and senior officials and officers from the Pha Muang Task Force, Border Patrol Police Company 327, marine police and concerned agencies on Friday inspected the seized drugs and a pickup truck registered in Chiang Rai that was used for drug smuggling.

The drug seizure followed a tip-off late on Thursday that a large shipment of drugs would be transported from Myanmar into Chiang Saen district. A joint task force was immediately set up to intercept a suspected vehicle.

Officers later spotted a grey Nissan pickup truck without a rear licence plate leaving a local hotel, heavily loaded and heading towards the Golden Triangle area in Sop Ruak village Moo 1 in tambon Wiang of Chiang Saen district.

When the driver encountered a checkpoint at the Golden Triangle service point, he accelerated and broke through the barrier.

However, the vehicle’s tire burst shortly afterwards, causing it to veer off and come to a stop in a parking area near Si Phandin market along the Mekong River. Police said they saw a tall, thin man exit the vehicle and flee toward the riverbank, where he jumped into the Mekong and escaped.

Upon inspection, the arresting team found 13 fertiliser sacks in the bed of the pickup truck and six sacks in the passenger seats. The sacks contained more than 4.8 million speed pills, weighing about 536 kilogrammes.

The seized narcotics were handed over to Chiang Saen police station for further legal proceedings.

Authorities are now expanding the investigation to identify and apprehend individuals connected to the smuggling operation.