A shocking incident unfolded at Sat Nuea Temple in Chiang Muang District, Phayao Province, when a mentally ill young man with delusions forced his mother to bring him to the temple for ordination. When the abbot and temple committee refused to ordain him due to his psychiatric condition and inability to control his emotions—fearing danger to the monks and villagers—he became agitated and argumentative. After initially leaving with his mother, he unexpectedly returned and attacked his own mother inside the temple grounds. The assault was clearly captured on CCTV, shocking the villagers and those present, who rushed to intervene and separate them. Residents are now urging relevant authorities to provide closer mental health care and monitoring to prevent such violent incidents from recurring.

On May 20, 2025, Chalermphong Saengdee, a Phuket MP from the Pheu Thai Party, posted on Facebook that a Royal Forest Department official involved in the illegal issuance of a land title for Freedom Beach in Phuket was dismissed from service but continues to receive pension payments and no criminal charges have progressed. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment issued an order terminating the senior official's employment over unauthorized aerial photo analysis that facilitated illegal land title issuance at Freedom Beach in Phuket, a matter Chalermphong said he had already raised in Parliament. Chalermphong noted that despite years passing since the incident, no criminal case has been filed against the former official, who still receives 67,560 baht monthly. Beyond the Freedom Beach case, the same individual also provided false aerial photo analysis of Koh Kradan in Kantang District, Trang Province, within Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park, contradicting actual facts. According to ministry orders, both cases resulted in dismissal with instructions for the Royal Forest Department to pursue criminal charges. Chalermphong stated that these orders date back to 2558 BE (2015), with 11 years having passed, and called for urgent action against the wrongdoer and involvement from state agencies such as the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC). "I urge the public to follow this case," Chalermphong said. "The person must be punished, but merely being dismissed from service while still receiving pension is not justice. Without criminal prosecution, this constitutes unfair advantage taken against the nation and its people."

On May 20 at Sri Racha Police Station in Chonburi Province, police escorted Amnart Ruenrueng, a former Thai national amateur international boxer and IBF flyweight world champion (112 pounds), to Chonburi Provincial Court for remand. This came after his family, exhausted by his behavior, posted a video of the former champion using drugs and causing a disturbance in the middle of the night. On May 18, officers arrested Amnart at Khao Taeng On community in Sri Racha subdistrict and took him for drug testing, which came back positive.

Amnart was under probation and required to report to Chonburi Provincial Court. He had reported twice before the drug use video surfaced. Additionally, he faces another pending sentencing case and had failed to report to court. The Chonburi Probation Office will now consider revoking his deferred sentence, making him subject to legal penalties.

While being escorted to court, Amnart appeared calm and unbothered, saying: "I'm asking for another chance. This time I'll do better than before. I won't behave badly or fall back into my old habits anymore."

Families Expose Former Boxer Amnart Ruenrueng's Drug Use at Home, Questioning Whether He Deserves a Second Chance

Amnart Arrested After Relatives Post Video Exposing Drug Use at Home; Drug Test Shows Positive Results; Prosecutors Set to Revoke Deferred Sentence

A teacher at Ban Rang Muang School in Jombueng District, Ratchaburi Province was deeply moved after a home visit revealed that a first-grade student still wore his kindergarten uniform to school. The student lives with his deaf mother, Ms. Renu Sopha, 46, and grandmother in a dilapidated single-story house with crumbling wooden doors and rusted corrugated metal that leaks during rain. The family is in severe poverty following the recent death of the student's father.

On May 20, 2569, teacher Rujisa Noisanthi discovered the family's dire circumstances. The mother works temporary odd jobs to support the household but faces severe limitations due to being deaf and receiving only minimal disability benefits. When school began, the mother was unaware her son had advanced to first grade and could not afford to buy him a proper uniform.

Moved by the situation, Rujisa consulted with colleagues and organized donations for school uniforms, shoes, and a backpack. The teacher group also pooled money to buy rice and provided 800 baht for immediate living expenses. The student's academic performance is good, showing strong effort and dedication despite his family's hardship.

Those wishing to assist can donate through Kasikornbank, Jombueng Branch, Account name: Ms. Renu Sopha, Account number: 020484283914. For more information, contact 0636430845.

Variegated Syngonium Podophyllum plants are gaining international popularity, with approximately 70% of production exported to Japan, China, Europe, and the Middle East, while 30% is sold domestically. A reporter recently interviewed Udom Thitiwattanaskul, owner of Udom Garden in Don Klang District, Damnoen Saduak, Ratchaburi Province, after he successfully cultivated "Syngonium Podophyllum" plants that have attracted significant interest both domestically and internationally, particularly the variegated variety. Udom explained that producing variegated plants is challenging, with only about a 16% success rate, or approximately 1 in 6 plants. Sometimes, even if the parent plant shows clear variegation patterns, the propagated offspring may revert to normal green color. Currently, the most popular colors in global markets fall into two main groups: pink-purple tones and yellow-orange-red tones. These color shades can change depending on environmental conditions, fertilizers, and vitamins used in cultivation. The garden's current market distribution is approximately 70% foreign exports and 30% domestic sales, with primary markets in the Middle East, Europe, China, and Japan. Exports adhere to strict standards—plants must display continuous variegation from small to mature size, with no "green loss" or "black loss" defects, and must be grown under natural light only without LED grow lights for color enhancement. During long transportation periods, artificially enhanced colors fade and become unacceptable to customers. European customers prefer smaller plants for easier packaging, while Middle Eastern customers prefer larger specimens. A critical requirement for Middle Eastern exports is that no coconut husk or shredded coconut material can be attached to the plants. Although variegated Syngonium Podophyllum plants require 1.5 to 2 years of cultivation before they're ready for export, their high market demand means that even young plants showing clear variegation patterns are immediately pre-ordered by customers. This has become another lucrative emerging plant in the post-COVID era with continuous value generation potential.

TSTE Group is accelerating its expansion into the food, beverage, and snack industries through Nature Best Food (NBF) and its subsidiaries, positioning itself as a comprehensive OEM one-stop service provider. CEO Chanachai Chutimavoraphand announced that 2026, marking the company's 50th anniversary, represents a major milestone for the group's food business expansion. The company will showcase integrated food product development capabilities at THAIFEX – ANUGA ASIA 2026 (May 26-30, 2026) across snacks, ready-to-eat meals, and beverages, operating eight food manufacturing facilities.

In the snack category, the company continues developing innovative products including seaweed sandwiches and crispy seaweed snacks. New launches will feature surimi-based snacks, flour-based snacks with creative flavored crispy rolls, protein snacks, and protein bars available under the "Koriko" brand or as OEM products. For ready-to-eat meals, TSTE is introducing OEM production using Retort Sterilizer technology, which extends shelf life to over one year in pouch packaging without refrigeration—ideal for restaurant chains, franchise operators, emergency relief, military rations, and children's nutrition products. The beverage segment offers OEM manufacturing services for flavored fruit drinks, herbal beverages, and other products using Sterile Hot Filling systems compliant with international standards, with packaging options including bottles and frozen pouches for export markets.

The company's integrated food, beverage, and snack manufacturing expansion will strengthen its position as a fully integrated OEM service provider covering product formulation, manufacturing, and packaging solutions for domestic and international markets. TSTE targets food and beverage sales of THB 1 billion within three years. Originally established as a port and warehouse operator for sugar handling along the Chao Phraya River, TSTE later expanded into logistics, bulk cargo, bagged cargo terminal operations, and container terminal businesses.