Phichit Buzzing as Residents Line Up to Verify Identity for Thai Helps Thai Plus Scheme, Long queues extend outside bank. Residents began queuing from 6 AM. On May 25, 2025, reports indicate the Krung Thai Bank Phichit branch has been bustling since 6 AM, with large crowds arriving to queue for identity verification to receive the Thai Helps Thai Plus (60/40) subsidy. Residents with the Pao Tang mobile application brought their phones to verify registration for the program, which is accepting registrations between May 25-29 with 30 million benefit allocations available.

Bank staff arranged for people to queue outside the building to reduce overcrowding and provided clarifications to waiting residents, establishing separate queues for benefit verification and routine banking transactions. One resident reported arriving at 7 AM to use the Pao Tang app for facial recognition verification with bank staff, but worried about the extended queue and feared missing out on the benefits.

The bank established additional service points with intern trainees and staff to provide guidance to the public. The main registration problem identified involves equipment and technical system limitations, particularly for elderly residents using older smartphones where the Android operating system must be version 10 or higher to support the application.

This has created anxiety among residents with questions such as "Do I need to buy a new phone to exchange for these benefits?" which adds financial burden in the current economic situation. Other technical issues causing confusion include failed identity verification, particularly facial scanning problems, with SIM card data and registered SIM holder names needing to match the national ID number.

Staff have been promoting instructions on how to verify through ID numbers, phone calls, and internet signals. Some residents have experienced slow internet signals that disrupted their registration process, but system uncertainty and complex conditions continue to leave many residents stressed and worried about missing this opportunity for assistance.

Ms. Sut Jai Bunwat, a resident of Muang Kao subdistrict, revealed she had her grandchild enter the system to verify benefits because she feared mistakes would prevent proper verification for the Thai Helps Thai Plus scheme.

As of May 25, 2026 at 12:00 noon, the Ministry of Finance provided an update on the Thailand Helps Thailand Plus 60/40 registration program. Out of 22.6 million people who registered, 17.4 million completed registration successfully, 4.9 million are pending qualification verification, and 335,319 failed to register. The failures were attributed to 335,153 existing welfare card holders and 166 others who had previously violated program conditions. Approximately 7.4 million citizens remain eligible to register. For merchants, 977,296 existing stores met the criteria, with 392,299 fully registered and ready to participate. An additional 9,013 new stores are in various stages of approval, with 1,680 fully registered and active. In total, 393,979 stores have completed registration and are ready to use the program.

Marina Sdanant, sister of renowned actress Markie Rasri, has captured online attention by revealing messages she sent to Tray Scott as a gesture of reconciliation. This comes after Marina faced backlash for comments supporting her close friend Mind Laphatsalal, wife of Pai Sunistha and Tray's older brother. Having already posted one public apology, Marina now shares a heartfelt message demonstrating her acceptance of her mistakes, which observers note carries a gentle and sincere tone.

In her English-language message, Marina expresses: "They made a mistake on something important, but I chose to face it, learn from it, and grow rather than defend my own ego. And if this conversation helps even one person feel safe enough to speak up, perhaps something meaningful can come from all of this. Going forward, I want everything I create to come from love, understanding, safety, and truth. By the way, I've moved back into my old apartment now. You already have my number—come by anytime. I've got everything sorted out and it's really comfortable now. I think you'd like it. Let's meet up, grab a meal together, or you can stay over if you'd like. Whatever makes you comfortable with no pressure at all.

'My home is your home,' always.

With love and a very humble heart, Marina Balenciaga"

Foreigner walks out of Phuket restaurant despite unpaid drinkLegacyA foreign woman was criticised online after refusing to fully pay a bill at a restaurant in Phuket, saying a drink did not match her expectations. The incident occurred at New Break Taek restaurant in the Chalong area of Phuket on Saturday, May 23, and was later shared widely on Thai social media. According to footage circulating online, the foreign woman visited the restaurant with her daughter and a Thai woman believed to be a babysitter. The video showed the tourist and her daughter leaving the restaurant after refusing to pay part of an 80 baht bill. The Thai woman later followed them outside. The bill dispute caused criticism online, particularly among local business operators, some of whom said similar incidents involving unpaid bills had occurred previously in Phuket. Photo via Workpoint News Some restaurant owners suggested businesses should request payment in advance, while others called for stronger legal action against customers who refuse to settle bills. Two restaurant employees later spoke to Thai media outlets to explain the situation. According to the staff, the foreign customer initially ordered shrimp satay and a pineapple smoothie before later requesting a strawberry smoothie without sugar. After the meals and drinks were served, staff presented the total bill of 455 baht. The employees said the woman refused to pay the bill, complaining that the shrimp portions were too small and the strawberry smoothie tasted different from what she expected. Restaurant staff reportedly apologised and offered to remake the strawberry drink to suit her preferences, but she declined the offer. Photo via Workpoint News After further discussion, the customer agreed to pay for the shrimp satay and pineapple smoothie, which totalled 375 baht, but continued refusing to pay for the strawberry drink before leaving the restaurant. The staff told reporters they initially expected they would have to personally cover the unpaid 80 baht under restaurant policy. However, they said the restaurant owner later reviewed CCTV footage and decided they would not be responsible for the cost. Employees also urged other restaurants in Phuket to remain cautious when serving customers, particularly foreign tourists. The workers added that the restaurant had operated for more than 20 years and this was the first time they had experienced a dispute of this nature.

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To Lam, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam and President of Vietnam, will pay an official visit to Thailand from 27-29 May, according to Vietnam's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

To Lam, accompanied by his spouse and a high-level Vietnamese delegation, is scheduled to meet Their Majesties the King and Queen of Thailand and hold bilateral talks with the Thai prime minister at Government House.

The visit will focus on advancing the Thailand-Vietnam Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP), which covers cooperation in security, trade and economic integration, particularly through the "Three Connects" strategy aimed at strengthening links between the two economies.

The two sides are also expected to discuss cooperation in science, technology and innovation, as well as efforts to strengthen people-to-people ties.

The trip marks To Lam's first visit to an ASEAN member state since assuming his new position in April 2026. It also comes shortly after Thailand and Vietnam upgraded their ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

During the visit, To Lam is also scheduled to travel to Udon Thani province to meet the Vietnamese-Thai community and visit the Ho Chi Minh Memorial Site.

The year 2026 marks the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Thailand and Vietnam.

Thailand is currently Vietnam's largest trading partner in ASEAN, with bilateral trade exceeding US$22 billion in 2025. Thailand is also among ASEAN's largest investors in Vietnam, particularly in energy, manufacturing, retail, logistics and infrastructure projects.

The National Police spokesman revealed that explicit live streams, believed to be distributed through large Facebook pages with hundreds of thousands to millions of followers, managed to bypass Meta's AI detection system, causing the content to spread rapidly across user feeds. On May 25, 2569, at the National Police Office, Pol. Lt. Gen. Trairong Phiwphan, National Police Office spokesman, disclosed details following the broadcast of explicit content through a Facebook page. He reported that cyber police have been instructed to urgently coordinate with Meta, the Facebook platform provider, to investigate and remove the content. Initially, after Meta was notified, the page was removed from the system. The investigation into the perpetrators revealed preliminary findings that the performers in the clip and the language used do not appear to be Thai nationals, while the filming location is still under detailed investigation.

Pol. Lt. Gen. Trairong further explained that based on preliminary findings, the incident may not have been a direct live broadcast, but rather a video released through a streaming system before being distributed through various pages. Meta is currently being asked for detailed information to expand the investigation to account owners and all involved parties. Regarding the first user who shared the clip, police are coordinating to verify whether proper user identity registration was conducted, and are preparing discussions with the platform on prevention measures to avoid similar incidents.

Meta has indicated that the content bypassed the platform's AI detection system because the perpetrators distributed it through large pages with hundreds of thousands to millions of followers, with some pages possibly cooperating in the illegal distribution while others may have been hacked or stolen accounts. The key mechanism allowing the clip to spread rapidly is that when many users view content simultaneously within a short period, the algorithm identifies it as trending content and automatically boosts it to broader feeds, even if the material is illegal.

Regarding how such content became widespread in Thailand, Pol. Lt. Gen. Trairong identified two possibilities: first, the uploader specifically targeted Thailand or selected Thailand as the location, which page owners can set themselves; or second, the content was released worldwide but happened to be discovered first by Thai page administrators or users with large followings, whose views and shares caused it to spread rapidly and become viral in Thailand.

After police informed Meta, the platform is working to improve its detection and mitigation measures. Pol. Lt. Gen. Trairong stated that cyber police have been tasked with full investigation, with Pol. Maj. Gen. Niweshan Aphawasin, Deputy Commander of the Technology Crime Suppression Division, convening a meeting with the Ministry of Digital Economy for Society to request detailed information about page owners and related parties. If the page is not an avatar account and involves real personal information, even if located abroad but with impact or distribution in Thailand, it would constitute a violation of Thai law. For perpetrators outside the Kingdom, if evidence is sufficient, police can request an arrest warrant from the court, though arrest procedures require international cooperation.

Pol. Lt. Gen. Trairong noted that for those who liked, shared, or viewed such clips, consideration of intent is paramount.