- Feedback Re: Hua Hin train station/New international school in Hua Hin/Hua Hin Jazz City Event/Thai Jet Ski Championship/Sam Roi Yot Run Fun Fest/’Super El Niño’ Threatens Historic Drought/PTT and Bangchak reduce prices/Government Defends Crime Crackdown/Thais embrace less-sweet drinks/Desperate Laos cave rescue
- ECONOMY: Surge in subsidy sign-ups/Labor market faces three shocks/GenAI’s impact on jobs/Long-term unemployment jumps/Thailand posts record trade deficit/Fears over Thai car exports/Chinese FDI’s Impact
- TOURISM: Overcharging hurts tourism/Middle East seat capacity plummets/Foreigners pose with sea turtle
- CLIMATE THAILAND: Thailand’s Net-Zero Shift
- FOREIGNERS BEHAVING BADLY/INTERNATIONAL/HUA HIN TRANSPORT and LINKS
Re: Hua Hin train station
“Interesting event at the old station. Just sad that the building has been left to deteriorate since it closed. Badly in need of upkeep, maintenance.” – AB
New international school campus in Hua Hin to open August 2027
BECC International School has officially broken ground on a major new campus in Hua Hin, marking the beginning of a new chapter for the school community.
Construction of the purpose-built international campus, located on Soi 112, began following a groundbreaking ceremony on Saturday. The new site is scheduled to welcome students from August 2027. Continued …
Hua Hin Jazz City Event to be held Friday-Monday
Hua Hin will be filled with the sound of jazz from May 29 to June 1, as the Hua Hin Jazz City Event returns with performances at venues across the city. But this event is a little different. There is no single main stage.
Instead, restaurants, bars, hotels and other venues across Hua Hin will become their own jazz stages, each offering a different atmosphere, sound, and style. Across the weekend, there will be more than 30 jazz performances. Continued …
Thai Jet Ski Championship in Hua Hin
The Thai Jet Ski Championship will return to Hua Hin May 28-31, with round two of the TOYOTA – WGP#1 Waterjet Pro Tour Thailand 2026 to be held at Suan Son Pradipat Beach.
The four-day event is part of Thailand’s main national jet ski championship, which is being staged across four rounds in different parts of the country. Hua Hin has been selected as the venue for the second round, following the opening round of the 2026 season, which took place in Nong Khai from in April. Continued …
Sam Roi Yot Run Fun Fest This Weekend
The Sam Roi Yot Run Fun Fest will take place at Sam Roi Yot Beach near Long Lay Market, offering distances of 21km (990 baht), 10km (850 baht) and 5km (750 baht). Organizers say the event will combine running with music, entertainment, and local seafood.
‘Super El Niño’ Threatens Historic Drought and Temperatures Above 45°C
Government agencies have placed Thailand under maximum environmental alert, warning that an intense “Super El Niño” phenomenon is set to trigger record-breaking heatwaves exceeding 45°C, alongside the most severe drought in the country’s recorded history.
Meteorological and water-management authorities issued critical joint declarations yesterday, confirming that the country is entering an unprecedented dry spell. The shifts are expected to disrupt agriculture, strain the national energy grid, and trigger severe public health hazards over the coming months. Continued …
PTT and Bangchak reduce petrol and diesel prices by up to 1 baht
PTT Station and Bangchak have reduced retail fuel prices from today, cutting petrol and gasohol prices by 60 satang per liter and diesel prices by 1 baht per liter.
The new rates apply to retail fuel prices in Bangkok, excluding local maintenance tax. OR and Bangchak announced the reductions for benzine, gasohol 95, and gasohol 91, while diesel and premium diesel were lowered by 1 baht per liter. Continued …
Government Defends Crime Crackdown
The Thai government has defended its record on tackling transnational crime, Chinese criminal networks, and nominee business structures after criticism from the opposition People’s Party shadow cabinet. Deputy government spokeswoman Lallida Perdwivattana said the administration had already launched aggressive enforcement measures before the opposition’s public statements.
Lallida said the government under Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul had not ignored organized crime issues. She said authorities had intensified operations against Chinese criminal gangs, nominee businesses, proxy ownership schemes, and foreign influence networks in several key areas across Thailand. Continued …
Thais embrace less-sweet drinks as 30,000 branches cut sugar to 50%
The Department of Health says its “normal sweetness = 50% sweetness” campaign has received a positive response over the past three months, reflecting a shift in Thai consumers’ drinking habits. Eleven companies have joined the campaign, adjusting their formulas across more than 30,000 branches nationwide.
Data from several companies shows that consumers are clearly beginning to change how they order drinks, especially on menus where “normal sweetness” is set at 50% sweetness. Orders for “less sweet”, or 25% sweetness, and “no sugar” options have also increased. Continued …
Tham Luang divers describe desperate Laos cave rescue
Two cave diving specialists who yesterday attempted to survey a flooded cave in Laos’s Xaysomboun province, where seven Laotian gold miners have remained trapped since last Tuesday, described the interior passages as so narrow that they could not even crawl on their knees.
Thailand-based divers Mikko Paasi and Norrased Palasing entered the cave to conduct a test dive as part of efforts to reach the workers trapped inside after landslides and flooding caused by heavy rain blocked their exit route. Continued …
New subsidy sparks surge in sign-ups
The government hailed the overwhelming first-day response to its new “Thais Help Thais Plus” co-payment subsidy scheme, with more than 23 million people registering within hours. Authorities said system traffic peaked at a record 700,000 users per second as the program opened for registration nationwide.
The program, officially known as “Thais Help Thais Plus 60/40”, opened for registration at 6 am yesterday through the government’s “Pao Tang” mobile application. Public enthusiasm exceeded expectations, with 10 million people registering within the first 30 minutes alone. Continued …
Thailand’s labor market faces three shocks of war, AI, and EV shift
Thailand’s labor market is entering a more fragile phase, with the National Economic and Social Development Council warning that workers face three major pressures: the conflict in the Middle East, rapid advances in artificial intelligence, and the shift toward electric vehicles.
Danucha Pichayanan, secretary-general of the NESDC, said while overall employment was likely to improve on the back of expansion in agriculture and services, the latest figures also showed warning signs, particularly a rise in unemployment in the previous quarter. Continued …
8.7 million Thai workers exposed to GenAI’s impact on jobs
Danucha Pichayanan, secretary-general of the National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC), reported yesterday regarding the first-quarter 2026 Thai social situation report, “Crisis and Opportunity: The Future of Thailand’s Labor Market Amid the Arrival of AI”.
He said the NESDC had analyzed data from the Labor Force Survey (LFS) for the fourth quarter of 2025 together with an assessment framework for occupations at risk of being affected by Generative AI (GenAI), based on the study by Gmyrek et al. Continued …
Labor market warning as long-term unemployment jumps 27%
Thailand’s labor market showed signs of improvement in the first quarter of 2026, supported by growth in the agricultural and service sectors, but rising unemployment and structural pressure from new technologies remain key concerns, the National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC) has warned.
Danucha Pichayanan, secretary-general of the NESDC, said during a briefing on Thailand’s social situation in the first quarter that overall employment had continued to recover. However, the latest figures also pointed to warning signs, particularly the rise in unemployment during the quarter. Continued …
Thailand posts record trade deficit as oil and China imports surge
Thailand posted what was described as a record trade deficit in April, as surging imports of oil, capital goods, and Chinese products outweighed another strong month for exports. The Ministry of Commerce reported that exports in April were worth US$31.583 billion, up 23.1% from a year earlier, marking the 22nd consecutive month of expansion.
Excluding oil-related products, gold, and military goods, exports rose 25.7%. Imports, however, climbed 45% to US$41.604 billion, leaving Thailand with a trade deficit of US$10.021 billion. Continued …
Fears over Thai car exports as Mideast war hits trade
Thailand’s automotive industry is bracing for a potential setback in 2026, with car production expected to miss its target for the first time in five years if the war in the Middle East drags on beyond three months and shipping routes through the Strait of Hormuz remain disrupted, says the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI).
Earlier this year, the FTI’s Automotive Industry Club set a target of 1.5 million vehicles for 2026, including 950,000 units for export and 550,000 for domestic sales. Continued …
Chinese FDI’s Impact on Thai Industries and Supply Chains
In 2019, a mid-sized electronics components manufacturer based in Shenzhen, China, was producing entirely for the US market. In 2020, US tariffs made that model borderline unviable. So the company moved part of its production to Vietnam.
By 2023, rising Vietnamese labor costs and tightening rules-of-origin scrutiny prompted another rethink. This time, the answer was Thailand — specifically, a plot in the Thai-Chinese Rayong Industrial Park in the Eastern Economic Corridor, where over 100 Chinese manufacturers had already set up before them. Continued …
Overcharging hurts tourism
A single mishap can be written off as an isolated incident. But when a problem repeatedly occurs across different locations, time and again, the failure is systematic.
It indicates an inability – or an outright unwillingness – by stakeholders across the operational chain to intervene, driven either by institutional inertia or vested interests. The systematic failure in question is tourist overcharging, which continues to tarnish the country’s reputation. Continued …
Middle East seat capacity plummets
Monthly seat capacity on routes between the Middle East and Thailand has fallen by 33.7% compared with the period before the Gulf war, prompting the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) to diversify its markets to remain resilient.
With 14 airlines operating flights to Thailand, total seat capacity stood at 199,595 in May, down 33.7% from 300,902 prior to the conflict. For instance, Emirates has reduced the number of seats from Dubai to Bangkok by 20%, while maintaining traffic to Phuket at the same level. Continued …
Foreigners pose with Phuket sea turtle, raising online debate
Authorities are investigating a viral video of foreign tourists handling a sea turtle near Cape Panwa, Phuket. This raised immediate concerns over the welfare of protected marine wildlife. The footage shows tourists holding the turtle, prompting online debate about potential harm and legal implications.
The video sparked mixed reactions. Some criticized the tourists for interfering with marine life, while others noted the turtle appeared unharmed. Local fishermen indicated the turtle might have been a young one displaced by rough seas. They said these animals usually steer clear of people and boats. Continued …
EVs, Battery Swapping, and Solar Drive Thailand’s Net-Zero Shift
Thailand has recently moved its net-zero target forward from 2065 to 2050 as part of efforts to reduce environmental impact, strengthen trade competitiveness, and attract green investment. Energy transition is one of the key pathways toward achieving that goal.
The Cabinet has approved a draft executive decree authorizing the Finance Ministry to borrow a total of 400 billion baht to address the energy crisis and support the country’s energy transition. Of this amount, 200 billion baht will be allocated to the “energy transition” program. Continued …
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Foreign Woman Leaves Restaurant Bill Unpaid in Phuket – Continued …
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Malaysian Caught Smuggling Live Animals at Bangkok Airport – Continued …
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Chinese suspect vanishes after violent attack on transwoman in Pattaya – Continued …
US strikes Iran again as pressure mounts to resume peace talks
As President Donald Trump faced mounting pressure yesterday to finalize a peace deal with Iran, the U.S. military carried out strikes in the southern region of the Middle Eastern country. The renewed strikes came after Trump began lowering expectations that a deal was near. Continued …
China now home to more people over 65 than children
For the first time in records dating back to 1949, China is now home to more people aged 65 and above than children, the latest official data showed, underscoring the country’s deepening demographic pressure. By November last year, 15.9% of China’s roughly 1.4 billion-strong population was aged at least 65, compared with 15.3% aged between 0 to 14. Continued …
Hua Hin Links and Transport
Calendar of events/Airport schedule/Bangkok airport bus schedule/Hua Hin-Pattaya bus schedule/Air pollution index map/90-day online report/driver’s license/Market Village and Bluport cinemas/Emergency numbers
There’s a certain rhythm to life in Hua Hin that’s hard to ignore. Mornings start a little slower, the sea is never far away, and the pace feels more manageable than in larger cities.
Kaeng Krachan forest fire burns 5,000 rai in Phetchaburi
Erawan National Park closes due to forest fires, PM2.5 spike
The Climate Change and Environment Department has warned that the country may face the effects of a “super El Niño,” which could extend the dry season by up to one and a half years.
Vilhelm Academy: Western qualifications for Hua Hin-based students
Thailand has coordinated with Iran and Oman to secure safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz for three Thai vessels carrying oil and petrochemical cargoes. The breakthrough has helped reduce the risk of energy and petrochemical feedstock shortages in Thailand amid ongoing geopolitical tensions.
Thailand’s housing market is showing signs of a structural shift, with would-be buyers pulling back and more people turning to renting instead. The latest data from DDproperty shows that nationwide demand to buy residential property fell 6% in the first quarter of 2026, while rental demand rose 4%. In Bangkok, rental demand climbed even faster, jumping 9%.
KKP Research, the economic research unit of Kiatnakin Phatra Financial Group, has cut its base-case forecast for Thailand’s 2026 GDP growth to 1.3% from 1.8% and raised its headline inflation forecast to 3.0% from 0.2%, warning that a prolonged oil shock could leave the country exposed to recession risks.
Thailand’s commercial banking sector delivered a resilient performance in the first quarter of 2026, with all 11 major lenders reporting combined net profits of 68.68 billion baht, a modest 0.62% increase from the same period last year and a sharp 20.13% rise from the previous quarter.
The government has firmly denied reports suggesting a planned hike in value-added tax (VAT) from 7% to 10%, describing the claims as misinformation and reiterating its commitment to easing the cost of living for the general public.
Thailand’s tourism industry is beginning to feel the strain from the war in the Middle East, with soaring oil prices pushing up airline costs and prompting some Chinese carriers to scale back international flights.
Local airlines have continued to reduce capacity by consolidating less profitable flights into remaining services to stay afloat amid rising jet fuel prices, while Japan Airlines and ANA announced a doubling of fuel surcharges, with Thailand-bound fuel surcharges increasing from about 3,000 baht to 6,000 baht.
The March 2026 Hotel Business Operator Sentiment Index survey, conducted by the Thai Hotels Assn. (THA) and the Bank of Thailand between March 13-31, with responses from 138 operators, pointed to the outlook for Thailand’s hotel business during the Q2 2026 low season after the tourism sector was directly hit by the conflict in the Middle East.
Thailand’s cultural triumph
Blackpink’s Lisa brings Thai fashion to tourism
Chinese automaker Chery and its subsidiary Omoda & Jaecoo officially inaugurated their new energy vehicle (NEV) production facility in Thailand on Monday, marking a milestone in expanding their global manufacturing footprint.
The sales of electric vehicles have jumped in Asia as cost-conscious buyers have poured into dealerships looking to dodge the fuel price spikes driven by the Middle East war.
The gunman who killed a Canadian tourist and wounded 13 others at Mexico’s famed Teotihuacan pyramids had planned the attack days in advance, officials said yesterday, as evidence pointed to him being inspired by a US massacre. 
Workers load tons of rare earth minerals into bags ready for shipping at a refinery in eastern Malaysia, fueling the global pushback against China’s grip on the critical sector. Rare earths are a key ingredient in products ranging from smartphones to fighter jets, electric cars, and wind turbines – and increasingly for hardware powering the artificial intelligence boom.