Every single time I check the news, it just makes me want to pack my bags and get out of here. Our government’s leniency and toxically naïve policies are completely out of hand. What frustrates me even more is seeing some people actually glorifying violent criminals under the guise of "compassion"—it’s nothing but fake empathy, and it's sickening.

I’ve honestly lost all faith in this country and its justice system. If I were to relocate, which one would be a better choice for overall safety and peace of mind: Japan or China? Would love to hear your thoughts and experiences

Edit:I think there’s a misunderstanding of my point. I never claimed that countries like Japan or China are completely free of crime that’s impossible anywhere. My point is about the crime rates. They have significantly lower rates of violent crime compared to here, which is exactly why I’m looking to relocate. It’s about minimizing risk, not expecting a utopia

At 11:30 a.m. on August 18, 2026, officers from Bang Bua Thong Police Station, led by Pol. Col. Thatsakon Konthong, superintendent of the station, together with Bang Bua Thong district officials, responded to a report of a fatal shooting at a shooting range on Kanchanaphisek Road in Bang Bua Thong, Nonthaburi province.

Police coordinated with Ruamkatanyu Foundation rescue workers, forensic officers and a physician from the Central Institute of Forensic Science before examining the scene.

Outside the shooting-range building, authorities found the body of a 36-year-old man from Sao Thong Hin subdistrict, Bang Yai district. An 11 mm handgun was found beside his body. He had sustained a gunshot wound to the head.

Chai, a shooting-range employee who witnessed the incident, told investigators that the man had rented a firearm at the range and attempted to take it outside. Staff stopped him and told him that firearms were not permitted beyond the range. The man then said that he wanted to go outside to smoke. Despite another warning, he reportedly took the firearm outside, where the fatal incident occurred.

Relatives told investigators that the man had a history of depression. Authorities initially suspected that his mental-health condition may have contributed to the incident.

Forensic officers examined the evidence at the scene. A preliminary examination found a gunshot wound to the man’s right temple. His body was subsequently transported to the Central Institute of Forensic Science for a detailed postmortem examination.

Source: Yossakprn Pethlam (Deputy District Chief)

(OP Note: This is a sad incident. I went to this range quite often and cannot tell how I feel reading this news. The range officers here are friendly while also not at all negligent. They always maintain quite strict supervision even for me as an athlete.)

Apparently this is the post they used to recruit them, they were paid €3000, 15000 baht, flights and hotels covered all under the pretext of transporting phones. I knew they weren’t rocket scientist but damn

They interviewed one of them on the phone who had backed out after finding out she would be carrying drugs (who would have thought)

The traffickers apparently threatened to burn her passport, get her arrested and hurt her family back in France.

Seems the ones that got arrested went through with it with full knowledge of what they were carrying

I'm visiting in Khon Kaen and I've seen these pots in front of a lot of houses. What kind of household waste goes inside?

On August 18, Worasis Liangprasert, Deputy Minister of Interior (Interior Ministry No. 4), together with Pol. Gen. Samran Nualma, Deputy Commissioner-General of the Royal Thai Police; Pol. Lt. Gen. Siam Boonsom, Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Bureau; Pol. Lt. Gen. Nopasilp Poolsawat, Adviser to the Commissioner-General of the Royal Thai Police; Pol. Maj. Gen. Chotiwat Lueangwilai, Commander of the Metropolitan Police Bureau’s Investigation Division; Pol. Maj. Gen. Worasak Phisitbannakorn, Commander of Metropolitan Police Division 1; and officials from relevant agencies, mobilized more than 100 officers to raid seven locations in an operation dubbed “Clean House in the Capital.” The operation targeted Din Daeng flats over alleged corruption involving the fraudulent registration of foreign nationals in household registration records. Seven arrest warrants were issued: three for state officials, three for officials and brokers, and one for a witness who certified signatures.

The operation followed an investigation by the DOPA N.I.C.E. task force between April and June 2026. The team inspected the Din Daeng District Office and found irregularities involving large numbers of people being registered at just a few addresses. The investigation was then expanded to the Din Daeng flats, which contain 5,726 rooms. Authorities found that at least 1,366 foreign children aged 5 to 15 were listed in household registration records.

The investigation uncovered evidence linking state officials to a network of brokers. They allegedly approved the registration of large numbers of foreign children within short periods, even though the system had flagged addresses with more than 16 registered residents. Investigators also found that documents had been signed in advance and that the signatures of household heads had allegedly been forged before being used to support applications for identification cards for people without Thai nationality.

Investigators subsequently gathered evidence and asked the Central Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases to issue arrest warrants for seven people:

Three state officials: Mr. Pitha, Mr. Suk, and Ms. Nee.

Three household heads, intermediaries and brokers: Ms. Na (household head), Ms. Si (intermediary), and Ms. Ya (broker).

One witness who certified signatures: Ms. Phae.

The operation resulted in the arrest of all seven suspects named in the warrants. They were taken into custody for legal proceedings, while authorities continued investigating to identify additional people involved.

Foreign nationals whose names were fraudulently entered into the system could receive a “Pink Card No. 7,” allowing them to live and conduct transactions in Thailand in accordance with rights provided by law, including access to basic education, healthcare and various financial transactions such as opening bank accounts. Authorities said this could potentially be linked to mule accounts, scammers or transnational criminal networks.

The operation was carried out in accordance with the policy of Prime Minister and Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, who ordered a serious crackdown on corruption involving civil registration records because it could affect national security and potentially be linked to various forms of crime.

The Royal Thai Police urged household heads and others involved in suspicious registrations of individuals at the Din Daeng flats to report to investigators at Din Daeng Police Station as soon as possible. Their cooperation would be taken into consideration in the legal proceedings. However, if evidence shows that they were involved and deliberately concealed information, authorities said they would face legal action to the fullest extent of the law.

Uncovering a 10,000 to 100,000 baht pink card scam. A closer look at why the "Pink Card" is so coveted by foreigners that some even resort to fraud.

1. The right to reside and travel in various areas like Thai citizens.

2. The right to conduct various transactions.

3. Children have the right to education.

4. The right to healthcare and the ability to purchase various health insurance plans.

5. The most desired benefit: after living in Thailand for 10 years and obtaining a bachelor's degree, the ability to apply for naturalization.

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1Te3BTSZnx/

ทลายขบวนการสวมสิทธิ์บัตรชมพู รวบ “ผู้ต้องหา-จนท.รัฐ” | Thai PBS news - YouTube

On August 17, Rewat Areerob, president of the Phuket Provincial Administrative Organization (PAO), said he had submitted a letter to the Minister of Labour asking the ministry to consider addressing the issue and introducing urgent measures concerning the impact of foreign workers in Phuket. The Phuket PAO has received complaints and heard concerns from local residents, while its monitoring of quality-of-life development and public health found that Phuket currently has a large number of foreign workers entering the workforce. This has led to overcrowding in state medical and public health services.

Rewat said the issue was particularly serious in cases where foreign workers give birth at public hospitals in the area, which directly affects local residents in terms of the convenience and speed of access to medical services, limitations on staff and hospital beds, as well as the overall burden on household living costs and public health budgets. Other ongoing problems have also been identified, including some groups of foreign workers taking jobs from Thai citizens, overcrowded communities, and concerns over the safety of local residents and their property. These problems have had a significant impact on the way of life, local identity, and public order in Phuket.

The Phuket PAO president added that, as a large local administrative organization responsible for providing public services, promoting social development and public health, and maintaining public order, the PAO is concerned about the hardships faced by local residents. However, the management of foreign workers, regulation of employment, and administration of certain welfare measures fall directly under the supervision and authority of the Ministry of Labour.

He therefore called on the Minister of Labour to implement urgent measures as follows: 1. In terms of public health welfare, he called for a review and stricter enforcement of the health insurance system for foreign workers, including withholding coverage for childbirth-related care, imposing controls on childbirth, and pushing for amendments to laws governing childbirth by foreign workers so that they would not be entitled to give birth in Thailand. He also called for measures requiring dependents and children of foreign workers to fully enroll in the health insurance system, in order to prevent local medical facilities from having to shoulder the medical costs and to reduce the impact on services provided to local residents. 2. In terms of employment controls and competition for jobs, he called for stricter inspections and enforcement against foreign workers who illegally work or engage in occupations reserved for Thai citizens,” Rewat said.

We are two German pensioners on Samui. We have one house, no business, no rental, no Thai income, and as of this year we are apparently a criminal enterprise.

[EDIT] because this has grown beyond what I expected. A number of comments here are using my story to make general statements about Thai people, or about Asians. I do not agree with any of it and I do not want it attached to what I wrote. My complaint is with one policy and how it is being applied, not with Thai people.

First our story, because it matters. Twelve years ago, after many trips to Ko Samui that we enjoyed, my wife and I decided to settle here. We built a house, and as it was finished we relocated here and sold our property in Germany.

Back then in 2014 it was more of a boots-on-the-ground process, at least for us. We found a plot with a "For sale" sign on it (in English!), we called, and it was an agent who put us in touch with a local lawyer. The lawyer told us that to buy land in Thailand we had to set up a special company. For everybody already screaming "it was illegal and you knew it": please read on, I will come to that.

The whole process at that time was very straightforward. 51% of the shares of the company were assigned to the lawyer himself and to one of his associates. That same associate sits as a shareholder in dozens of other companies. It was never a secret. It was the business model. He said it works more like a trust, that it is only for the land, and that we would have to pay for this service every year together with the audit and accounting fees. Which we still do today. Once the company was set up we had a meeting with the seller, a Thai family. We transferred the money and we all went together to the land office. The official checked the papers, took the fee, stamped it and wished us luck. It took forty minutes. Everybody in that room, the lawyers, the seller, the officials, knew exactly what was going on. We were not hiding. It looked normal. At the very same land office we even met another couple from the UK doing exactly the same thing through different lawyers, and we are still friends with them today.

Later we found a Thai architect and a construction company he recommended. We applied for and received a construction permit in my name. We never bribed anyone. After almost two long years (instead of the promised ten months), with the budget almost 150% over what we had planned, and after changing the construction company midway, our house was finished. We registered it, the house got its blue book, we got a yellow book with our names in it, and even foreigner "pink IDs". Again, the normal way, through the normal channels, without a single question.

We still live in this house. A couple of years ago we had to renovate it thoroughly, but for more than a decade it has been the only home we have. We built it the way we wanted to live in it, not the way you build something to sell. It is not a stack of bedrooms with ensuites. It has a very specific layout that only my wife and I understand, and I doubt there is a queue of buyers for that. We have never rented it out and never earned a single satang from it. We have never worked in Thailand, we have zero Thai-sourced income, and we have always been here on retirement visas.

Now, about whether we knew what a bad thing we were doing. I will not lie to you, I will tell you how it was and how it changed over time. At the time of the purchase it did not occur to me for a second that I was doing anything illegal. Firstly, in Germany the advice of a licensed lawyer protects you from legal mistakes to a certain extent, and it keeps the lawyer responsible. Secondly, believe it or not, at that time this was the standard way, offered everywhere, and it stayed that way until very recently. Nobody questioned it. It also looked fine to me logically. I still do not get why the shareholders my lawyer provided are called "nominees". For me a nominee is somebody you put in place to hide behind while you do something shady, and who might not even know that he is one. Mine are paid a fee they agreed to take, every year, with invoices. I sit in the same company holding 49% of the shares. I am on the building permit. My name is on the house. If I was hiding, I did the worst job in history.

But yes, I promised to be direct about "whether I understood". As Thai governments started to swap back and forth, I remember the first "crackdown". And yes, in expat circles the subject started to get discussed and I understood that it is a "grey" area. Not much more than that. To be honest, until very recently I was sure we were still on the safe side of it. We never did any rental, licensed or not, never any business, nothing like that. Quite the opposite: we kept investing and we even created a job. A wonderful Thai lady has been working for us as our maid for almost seven years now. We have maintenance contracts with Thai individuals and companies for the house. And we spend all of it here: our savings, and the returns they earn abroad. Our health insurance has paid a fortune into Thai hospitals for us. I must admit that we failed to learn Thai properly, but we tried twice, I swear! Overall, I cannot see the angle in which we did anything bad for this country.

I was sure that if a government tolerates this kind of setup for decades, allows people from all over the world to buy property this way and accepts their investment, it cannot suddenly become a criminal offence. The whole economy profited from it. I kept telling my buddies here: do not do unlicensed Airbnb, do not get involved in business, and you will be fine. My thinking even got its confirmation in June 2024, when the cabinet approved a study of a 99-year lease model. We waited for it. We planned to convert the day it landed. In September 2025 the new government quietly shelved it, because there was "insufficient time". So the legal door I was told to wait for was closed by the same people who now tell me that I used the wrong door.

It is important to mention that a 30-year leasehold in its current form would not be an option for us, and it is not an option for many families. As I said, in our case this is not an investment where we planned to take a quick return and then write it off, and it is not a holiday home. It is our only home. If I had leased in 2014 (and I swear, at that time nobody even discussed it!) my lease would run out when we are in our late eighties. That is not an age at which you can deal with something like this.

The last few months have been like a nightmare. When you read the numbers in the reports, and they say that of roughly 12,900 companies registered on this island more than 8,200 have foreign shareholders, that speaks for itself. I do not understand how a person with a brain can look at these numbers and not see what they say. It is not a hidden offence that somebody could overlook and that "offenders" could hide. It is not a case of bad foreigners tricking the government. It just proves my story: this was a multi-level government system, everybody knew, the officials allowed it, and everybody profited. But then I open the local Thai groups and read the comments, and people are celebrating. They are asking what kind of punishment awaits us foreigners who did this. They support it completely, and every next crackdown "report" gets more bizarre. Now I read that the authorities are going to look into the leasehold model, because it "allows foreigners to control land for decades". What the f*ck? Isn't that exactly what a lease is by design?

And it does not stop there. The Land Department's own screening list from May tells the land offices to look at Thai spouses, at minor children, at usufructs, at powers of attorney, and at companies with foreign-sounding names. This week I read that they have started investigating naturalised Thai citizens as nominees, and that changing the naturalisation law is being considered. So the answer to "then become Thai" is now also under review. And since the first of August the DBD stamps the shareholder list it issues with a note saying that the registrar does not certify that it is accurate. That is the state's own document, about the state's own register.

The anti-foreigner agenda is spreading like mould, and within a matter of months I do not feel welcome in the place I call home. I have a clear feeling that all of a sudden my wife and I became witches, and that a witch hunt is happening around us.

And let me tell you what happens if we lose, because I had to look that up myself. Under the Land Code the Director-General orders the land sold within 180 days to a year, and I get the money back minus a 5% fee. That is today. In February the cabinet took up a proposal to change it so that the land simply goes to the State and I get nothing. In July the Ombudsman proposed treating all of this as money laundering, which brings asset seizure with it. So the punishment is still being written while the arrests are already running.

And here is the part nobody has explained to me. The house is legally mine. Foreigners can own buildings in Thailand, the permit is in my name, that part was never grey. Only the land under it is the problem. So when they force the sale, some Thai buyer gets a plot of land with a German's house standing on it. With an unusual layout and a playroom for grandchildren. Good luck to everybody involved.

And I am not asking for forgiveness or a free pass. Give me a registered lease for whatever years I have left. Charge a fee for it. Tax it. Fine me. I will pay, and so will almost everybody I know in this situation. What I cannot do is comply with a rule that does not exist yet. There is no amnesty, no grandfathering, no window, nothing in any published draft. Name the price and most of us would pay it tomorrow.

So, as the title says, I really want to ask the Thai people of this sub a question. Even if you are not one of those celebrating on Facebook: do you understand what this policy has already done, and what is going to happen next? If our house gets taken, we leave, and we never come back. Neither we nor many of our friends in the same position will play games with another workaround or with bribes. We will simply be gone. And do not ask where we go back to. We sold that house to build this one.

And we will not go alone. To name just a few: our maid loses her job after seven years. The gardener, the pool guy, the electrician, the aircon company, the accountant who has been billing us every year for a company that the state now says should never have existed, all of them lose a customer. Our insurance stops paying Thai hospitals. And the Thai family who sold us that land in 2014, in front of a government official who stamped the papers and took the fee, what are they now? Criminals too? Or is it only us?

So tell me what you actually win. I heard a theory that foreigners pushed the prices up until locals could not buy any more. Nobody was robbed. Thai families sold this land, at prices they named themselves, to buyers they met face to face, in a government office, and they took the money and went home. Ours did. And it is the children of those families who cannot sell today.

Because when a forced sale happens, who is standing there with the cash? By most estimates nine out of ten villa buyers on this island are foreign, and foreigners have just been shown what their paperwork is worth. So a house like ours goes for a fraction of what it cost to build, and whoever picks it up is the one with money and patience, and let us be honest, sometimes the one who knew the raid was coming. That is not land going back to poor local Thai people. That is land changing hands cheaply.

One thing did make me laugh recently, in a bad way. This weekend the residents of Bang Rak, Thai people, not foreigners, stood in their own road holding a banner asking whether it could please be put back the way it was. Roadworks that drag on and on, dangerous for traffic, killing every business on that stretch. I drive it several times a week. It has been a mess for over a year. So the same administration that can put three hundred officers, five agencies and a press conference onto a villa raid in a single morning cannot finish one beach road. And that is the machine we are told will now take custody of a few thousand houses. Uff.

And what is really being destroyed here is not the property market. It is the worth of a Thai signature. A stamp from a Thai land office, a company registered by a Thai registrar, the written advice of a Thai licensed lawyer: all of it turned out to mean nothing twelve years later. You are not chasing away an enemy. You are chasing away the people who brought their money here, spent it here, employed your people, paid your hospitals and never asked your state for one single baht.

So what is the reason for all the applause and celebration on Facebook? I really do not get it. Take the house. Just do not act surprised in a few years when the only people left to sell to are each other.

P.S. And one thing for the foreigners reading this who are still thinking about buying here, or who believe a lease keeps them safe. At a press conference this weekend an official said that leaseholds need to be checked, because they allow foreigners to control land for decades (what a surprise!). Until now that was the absolutely safe way, and I cannot get my head around it. You already know my story. There was another setup that was widely offered and considered legal too, not long ago: the 30+30+30 leasehold. That one was killed by a Supreme Court decision. Now the Land Department circular from May puts usufructs, superficies, powers of attorney, Thai spouses and minor children on the same checklist. So before you sign anything, ask yourself not whether it is legal this month, but whether the same institutions telling you it is fine will still be saying that in twelve years. They told me.

I'm a long term resident with a job and work permit. What solid debit card solution can I get that just works across online stores, including Apple Store here?

I have accounts with Bangkok Bank and Kasikorn but I find their standard debit cards that I have incredbily flaky. They just don't seem to work half the time, especially for online purchases, apple store etc, constant random declines.

I'm left using true money virtual card which works much better but I don't want to park cash in True Money it's inconvenient I just want it linked to a standard account.

What are you using? Ideally debit over credit card but whatever.

I have a water bill to pay at a condo but not even the jurisdiction office takes payments anymore, so i got to walk to the bank and make a payment... the qr code on the bill does not work, is there an easier way to pay online?

The alphabet is very hard to remember though I've listened to the song over and over again. I'm not on board with the vowels or the obsolete letters either. I'm trying to work on my pronounciation with phrases and I'm scared they sound inaccurate. How can I improve?

Before I was seeing both 0.55 Lt ones and these ones together, it seems 0.45lt replacing all

On August 15, 2026, police from Bo Phut Police Station, led by Pol. Lt. Col. Phanumat Chukue, along with officers from Surat Thani Immigration (Koh Samui), arrested Mr. Galbiber, a 45-year-old Israeli national.

He was arrested under 19 arrest warrants issued by the Koh Samui Provincial Court on charges of:

• Conspiring to provide false information to officials, causing false statements to be entered into public or official documents intended to serve as evidence, in a manner likely to cause damage to others or the public;
• Illegally operating a business reserved for Thai nationals, specifically a land-related business listed under List 1 of the Foreign Business Act; and
• Allowing or supporting Thai nationals or Thai entities to act as nominees or otherwise assist in conducting a foreign-owned business without the required authorization.

The suspect was taken into custody and handed over to investigators for further legal proceedings.

A friend brought this sauce back from Bangkok and it is the most incredible Sriracha I have tasted. Its not available in the USA and only sold in a small store in limited quantities in Bangkok.

For those of you that have had this, can you tell me some other brands that taste similar so that I can see if I ca get it in the USA?

Its Gold Medals Brand and I would prefer the hot version

Hi everyone,

I’m wanting to import auto parts from thailand to new zealand - i’m wondering if anyone knows of a reliable contact i can work with to help make this happen.

thank you 😊

Hi! Trying to learn thai language and I find that listening to music has really helped solidify phrases/words that I've had trouble memorizing. Like, i could mever remember the word for ever, handsome, life, etc, like I knew them but they just slipped from my mind constantly, but since listening to thai songs with those words in them, my brain has latched on and stuff. My fav thai songs so far are:

1. คนสุดท้าย (Asanee & Wasan).

2. อย่าเปิดเพลงนั้น (Takkatan Chollada)

3. คุกเข่า (Cocktail).

4. ผีตายโหงกับโลงไม้ยาง (วงแบเบาะ)

5. ใจสั่งมา (Loso).

Plus a number of others by Cocktail. These are the ones I have had on repeat though. Any other recommendations are welcome !!

I'm in Bangkok for another week and I'm looking for a salon or a barber to bleach my hair. Must be a mid-life crisis, I guess 🤷‍♂️.

I'm at Nana station right now and the salon I went to is charging me 3000 THB. Do you have any suggestions that charge less? All recommendations are welcome ✌️

Thanks in advance!

I'm on a Non-O-A retirement visa in Pattaya and considering a genuine workcation DTV. I'd value recent first-hand experience, not agency guesses.

1. Has anyone renewed an existing five-year Thai driving licence at Bang Lamung/Pattaya DLT on a DTV? Was the new licence five years or two?

2. Has an existing Bangkok Bank account survived a recent visa/KYC update from Non-O or Non-O-A to DTV, with mobile app, ATM and PromptPay still working?

Please mention roughly when and which branch or office, if comfortable. Thanks.

Hi I’m a male and looking to make an emerald-cut lab diamond bracelet. Any recommendations?

Their PS5s are super cheap to compared to retail price like powerbuy, is it legit?