This summer, Bangkok residents and nearby province dwellers don't need to venture far—bring your family to escape the heat at an "orchid supermarket" that transforms holidays into joyful celebrations amid blooming flowers throughout the garden.

"Snapshot" is the motto of Panthaphat Kumvichian, known as Bob, owner of Air Orchids Supermarket & Lab. He explains that they pioneered and launched Thailand's first orchid supermarket. The specialty of this shopping destination is the supermarket-style orchid retail format, where customers can push shopping carts to select orchids. During the COVID-19 period, they were heavily impacted but never stopped—they pressed forward with their vision for the future. It's no wonder that every return visit reveals new changes at their 200-rai farm, which offers numerous hybrid orchid varieties.

Currently, they've developed new hybrid orchids of the Ascocenda genus featuring purple-red petals with white edges, white streaks on both sides, and white-tipped lips. They also cultivate variegated-leaf orchids with white-edged leaves, which are gaining popularity. They continuously seek innovations through new breeding techniques and methods to keep the orchid world dynamic.

Many orchid buyers initially purchase beautiful specimens, but after a short time the orchids wither without flowering. Investigation revealed that most growers don't water daily, neglect fertilizing, and skip hormone treatments to encourage blooming—the primary causes of wilting and non-flowering orchids.

Most orchid growers are unaware that orchids are air-root plants requiring daily watering morning and evening, especially when suspended in pots. They also need specialized orchid fertilizer and hormone treatments at least twice monthly.

This challenge led them to develop a solution: placing orchids in pots with continuous water supply using standard plant irrigation equipment. The pots can include hydroponic nutrients or supplements—for example, adding energy drinks like Red Bull weekly—to provide essential nutrients.

They've also experimented with adding colored food dyes to water for aesthetic appeal and feng shui benefits based on birth dates. This continuous moisture method results in longer-lasting blooms compared to regular watering. Tests with Cattleya orchids showed blooms lasting up to 20 days, while Ascocenda varieties achieved 30-45 days of flowering.

After orchid blooms fade, placing pots in direct sunlight produces faster reblooming than typical indoor placement. Though this experiment requires more seasonal testing for conclusive results, they discovered that using coconut coir as a wick connecting water reservoirs to pots prevents wilting and eliminates daily watering—requiring only monthly water refills.

These innovative pots come in various sizes and designs available in markets, but must be selected carefully to match orchid type and usage rate. Too little water may delay or prevent blooming; too much can overdose plants and cause death.

Every visit here reveals something new.

Confident in the power of young people, PTT Exploration and Production Public Company Limited (PTTEP) continues the PTTEP Teenergy program for its 10th year under the concept "Ocean for Life," aiming to raise awareness among Thai youth about natural resource and environmental conservation through an innovation competition focused on marine resource protection.

Over two days and one night, 15 teams comprising more than 50 young people selected from 190 teams nationwide participated in comprehensive learning and skill development activities covering technology, the environment, climate change adaptation, public speaking, idea presentation, and business model design.

The participants also gained hands-on experience visiting PTTEP's Research and Technology Innovation Center in Rayong province, where PTTEP staff shared insights into research development, technology, and innovation from initial conceptualization to real-world application. They also visited the Royal Thai Navy's Sea Turtle Conservation Center in Chachoengsao to learn firsthand about sea turtle care and conservation.

Ice (Nattanun Sayvisedh), a fourth-year student at Prince of Songkla University's Surat Thani campus, expressed great enthusiasm for the program, particularly the project presentation training that enhanced public speaking skills. She noted that the turtle pond cleaning activity was a meaningful experience that developed both life skills and environmental awareness simultaneously.

Charoen (Thanchothi Thesakun), a first-year student at King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi, shared that he gained valuable knowledge about climate change adaptation and business perspectives, developing comprehensive skills in applying environmental and technology knowledge to project development, communicating results, and envisioning future business creation.

Angie (Nichada Aphaipun), a fourth-year student at Chulalongkorn University, highlighted her visit to PTTEP's PTIC center as the most impressive activity, noting that seeing real technology and innovation developed in Thailand gave her renewed confidence in the country's progress and opened her eyes to career opportunities in technology and innovation. She also emphasized the value of learning about marine resource conservation at the Navy's Sea Turtle Center, where volunteering alongside peers deepened her understanding of environmental importance.

The 15 youth teams' marine resource conservation innovation projects will be presented in the finals on June 3 at IconSiam. Follow updates on Facebook at PTTEPCSR.

Pat Napa shared a disturbing discovery during a live stream: someone had taken her full name and date of birth to a monk for a ritual. Online viewers suspected it was a relative, and Pat confirmed this was likely the case, as she had heard this person mention wanting to know when Pat would 'fall' and what day would be best to harm her. The person had apparently done this before, using Pat's birth certificate information with a monk in Phetchabun Province.

When directly asked what they could possibly be jealous of, Pat reflected: 'That's a question I ask myself every day. They have a house, cars—three of them actually—a building, a restaurant, everything. Yet they're never satisfied.' CCTV footage provided crucial evidence. Pat's husband witnessed the person walking around the house, chanting or reciting incantations, holding something white in their hand, and then tossing it toward Pat's parked Alphard vehicle. When confronted, the person became defensive and evasive, refusing to explain their actions clearly. The security camera captured the entire incident, showing exactly what the person did. Pat emphasized how frightening this behavior is, especially considering she has never visited their house or engaged in any conflict with them.

On May 3, 2025, Associate Professor Dr. Suratana Tanpravet, a neurology and brain specialist from Chiang Mai University's Faculty of Medicine, posted a case study about an elderly dementia patient. A daughter brought her 85-year-old mother for examination, whose dementia had progressed significantly. Each morning, the mother would wake up saying, "Father is waiting for breakfast," even though her husband had passed away five years prior.

Dr. Suratana explained that she frequently encounters such cases. In Alzheimer's disease, short-term memory deteriorates first, gradually erasing memories chronologically backward from the present. However, long-term memories and significant emotional events often remain intact.

When the daughter asked what her mother experiences when looking at the world, Dr. Suratana noted that patients experience what's called "temporal disorientation"—like a ship without an anchor, drifting through time with no fixed coordinates on life's map. Beyond memory loss, patients lose their ability to orient themselves in time and space. They become confused about what day it is, what time, and where they are—like being trapped in a dark room.

When the mother arrived at the clinic, startled by the bright lights and unfamiliar surroundings, her daughter gently asked: "Mom, what day is it today? Where are we? Tell the doctor." The mother's eyes searched, trying desperately to grasp something in this strange world she'd never encountered.

"A good day, a..." the mother said, then stopped.

"Yes, Mom, a good day," Dr. Suratana responded reassuringly.

There's no need to insist it's Monday morning—just knowing it's a day to see a familiar, kind doctor is enough. When the mother pointed and said, "Doctor is kind," Dr. Suratana replied, "You remember the doctor is kind, and that makes the doctor happy." She emphasized repeatedly that this isn't the time to correct or demand perfect memory.

At Chivacare Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, staff recognize that dementia patients may forget dates and places, but they retain memories associated with happiness. By designing activities and environments to be pleasant and joyful, caregivers prioritize what matters most: happiness.

The hippocampus, a brain structure resembling a seahorse's tail, functions like a filing system that marks when events occurred and their relationship to our life timeline. When this system deteriorates, memories don't just disappear—they become unmoored from the patient's internal calendar. Patients may ask, "Haven't I eaten?" even after finishing a meal, or "What time is it?" moments after being told, or "My husband is waiting" though he passed long ago—not from inattention, but because their brains can no longer anchor themselves to time.

Caregivers often become stressed, repeating information endlessly. It's important to understand that confusion and memory loss stem from neurological damage, not stubbornness. For patients, however, what matters most is feeling secure and not abandoned.

SA KAEO — On May 3, 2026, Thai authorities repatriated 55 Cambodian migrant workers through the Khlong Luek border checkpoint after their legal cases were resolved, according to officials.

The Burapha Task Force, led by the Aranyaprathet special unit, coordinated with Border Patrol Company 1201 and multiple agencies, including the Region 1 Operations Centre, Sa Kaeo Immigration, Aranyaprathet Customs and international disease control officers, to oversee the operation.

The group returned included 34 men, 19 women and two boys. Police confirmed all individuals had been arrested and processed under Thai law before being deported in accordance with legal procedures.

The handover occurred at the Thai-Cambodian Friendship Bridge at the permanent border crossing in Ban Khlong Luek, Aranyaprathet district, under strict supervision and inter-agency coordination.

Authorities reported the operation proceeded without incident.

Acclaimed musician Natee Getsunova is beaming with happiness following his wife Ingfah Damrong Chaidharm's delivery of their second daughter on May 1st. The adorable newborn has been named Lalyn, and proud father Natee shared a family photo with a warm caption welcoming his daughter to the world, noting that she was born just days before her mother's birthday. The special moment became even more heartwarming when their older daughter Layla joined in to care for her baby sister, creating an endearing family scene that melted hearts across social media. Congratulations to the growing family!