Police reported on July 1 that a 69-year-old man faces charges of sexually abusing a 7-year-old second-grade student in Nong Bua Lamphu province. The incident occurred in May, and the victim's family filed a police report at Sri Bun Rueang Police Station.

According to local officials, the girl's 84-year-old grandmother noticed her granddaughter with 100 baht, unusual since the family typically gives the child only 5-10 baht for shopping at a nearby village store. When questioned, the girl revealed that the shop owner, identified as Mr. K., had given her the money. She gradually disclosed that the abuse had occurred multiple times. Villagers reported suspicions about the shop owner's behavior—he frequently hugged young female customers—but no one had formally reported the matter.

Lieutenant Colonel Tichanon Phuemphuen, deputy investigation chief at Sri Bun Rueang Police Station, stated that the suspect turned himself in voluntarily with no attempt to flee. After investigation, he was released pending further proceedings. Police are gathering evidence and documents to submit to prosecutors. Initially, the suspect denied the allegations but later confessed after additional evidence was collected.

Lieutenant Kittipol Somsit, deputy investigation director, revealed that following the family's complaint on May 14, the suspect initially denied involvement. However, investigators compiled additional evidence leading to charges of child sexual abuse and child trafficking. The suspect subsequently appeared before investigators and confessed.

The victim has undergone questioning with a multidisciplinary team at the provincial prosecutor's office according to child protection procedures. Education officials have visited the area and instructed the school to provide psychological support. Preliminary assessments show the child can continue attending school normally. Police and relevant agencies, including psychologists, are providing assistance. Authorities confirmed they will proceed carefully with the evidence while prioritizing the victim's rights and welfare, working to expedite the case for prosecution.

On July 2, 2569, independent activist Sanhanath Satthapon submitted a letter to House Speaker Sophon Saramay requesting an investigation into the Political Development, Communications, and Public Participation Committee's actions. The committee had been examining the qualifications of the NBTC chair and summoned documents and relevant agencies for clarification.

The complaint argues that the committee's conduct raises suspicions regarding the chair's impartiality, proper use of authority, and procedural compliance. The activist questions whether the actions conform to constitutional law and parliamentary rules.

The complaint highlights that the same person—the committee chair—previously, as a parliamentary member alongside Rakchanak Srinok, filed documents with the selection committee challenging the NBTC chair's legal qualifications. This raises concerns about predetermined bias when the same individual now leads the committee investigating the same matter.

The complaint identifies several procedural violations. First, under the 2562 House Rules Article 90, committees must report fact-finding activities to the House Speaker and avoid duplicating other committees' work. Second, requesting documents from state officials requires compliance with the 2568 Act on Parliamentary Committee Powers Article 6, which mandates notifying the Prime Minister or relevant ministers beforehand. Third, the complaint notes no evidence exists that the committee passed a resolution authorizing the investigation as required by Article 7 of the same act.

The complaint also notes that the NBTC chair's qualifications were previously examined by another parliamentary committee on May 15, 2568, with the same complainant. This raises questions about whether the current investigation duplicates prior work.

The complaint additionally invokes Article 11 of the 2563 Code of Ethics for Members of Parliament, which requires representatives to act fairly, impartially, and without bias in performing their duties.

A surprising new study from researchers in Barcelona is stunning the scientific community after finding evidence that giraffes may possess basic numerical assessment abilities—skills more advanced than previously believed.

The research was a collaboration between the University of Barcelona, Leipzig University, and the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, published in the journal Scientific Reports. The team tested four giraffes from Barcelona Zoo to determine whether they could distinguish between food quantities and choose the larger amount.

In the experiment, researchers presented the giraffes with two containers holding different numbers of carrot pieces. After the giraffes observed them, the containers were covered. Researchers then added or removed carrot pieces while the giraffes watched, testing whether they could track changes in food quantity.

Results showed that when carrot quantities were added, giraffes successfully selected the container with more carrots in 68% of trials—significantly higher than random chance. This suggests they were making deliberate choices rather than simply guessing.

To ensure giraffes weren't simply following the researchers' behavior, scientists designed additional tests to check if they were responding to the experimenter's touch rather than counting. Two giraffes appeared to rely on this cue, but the other two continued selecting the larger quantity at the same rate, suggesting they used genuine quantitative assessment.

Researchers noted that these two giraffes may employ complex brain processes beyond basic perception, though not identical to human arithmetic. However, when the experiment switched to removing carrot pieces, giraffes performed poorly—choosing the larger amount at roughly random levels—indicating their abilities have limitations depending on the task.

While researchers emphasize that giraffes don't calculate numbers like humans, this study demonstrates that these long-necked animals possess fundamental understanding of quantity and can use this information in decision-making. This finding provides important evidence offering new perspectives on animal intelligence and cognitive abilities.

BANGKOK — 2 July 2026, A Thai marine scientist has warned that rising sea temperatures could trigger another widespread coral bleaching event, as global monitoring shows conditions rapidly worsening ahead of a forecast super El Niño.

Asst. Prof. Thon Thamrongnawasawat, Deputy Dean for Special Affairs at the Faculty of Fisheries, Kasetsart University, shared an image published by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) on Thursday. NOAA is responsible for monitoring and forecasting changes in the climate, oceans and ecosystems.

The graphic shows NOAA's global coral bleaching alert map, projecting bleaching risks across oceans worldwide as an impending super El Niño develops. The highest warning level, shown in purple, has already appeared across parts of the central Pacific Ocean.

Thon said the NOAA graphic illustrates a terrifying threat that is gradually creeping closer. The coral bleaching alert system has five colour-coded levels, and Thailand has not seen areas approaching the highest warning colours for a long time. Now, however, purple zones have already emerged across parts of the central Pacific.

Sea surface temperatures are directly linked to coral bleaching, he said. Although the world has entered the early stages of El Niño only recently, the highest-level warning zones are already beginning to appear.

"I don't want to imagine how severe conditions could become when El Niño reaches its peak and develops into a super El Niño between November and January," Thon said.

Based on the projection, he said the red and purple zones are expected to gradually move closer to Southeast Asia, signalling that another major coral bleaching event could be approaching.

Although scattered bleaching incidents have already been reported, Thon said there are still about six months to prepare before the most critical period arrives.

If current projections continue, he warned that Thailand's marine ecosystems could face their most severe impacts between February and June next year.

The Faculty of Fisheries is now accelerating preparations at several study sites, focusing on coral reefs and seagrass beds while exploring ways to help protect them if sea temperatures rise significantly. Even if the effort can cover only limited areas, he said, the faculty will do everything within its capability.

Thon added that unusually warm seas would affect not only marine ecosystems but also coastal fisheries, aquaculture and tourism, as some reef areas may need to be temporarily closed to allow ecosystems to recover.

"We need to prepare Plans A through Z thoroughly. The warning signs are already here, signalling that this upcoming onslaught could be extremely severe," he said. "A red alert is approaching."

On July 2, 2025, at Parliament, Asapol Sannaitripath, a Thai Rak Thai legislator from Si Sa Ket and chair of the House's anti-corruption committee, addressed allegations made by Phongsakorn Saothorn, a former Agriculture Ministry official known as Kreed, in an audio clip. Saothorn claimed the previous anti-corruption committee engaged in extortion starting in December 2024. Asapol confirmed he was not in his committee position at that time and stated his investigation found the named advisor did not actually exist, though someone with the same surname had served on the previous committee. He firmly denied allegations of bribery to suppress information, calling such claims damaging to Parliament's reputation. Asapol said he would coordinate with committee staff to write to Parliament Speaker Sophon Saranrom requesting the legal office pursue charges against the accuser to prevent public misunderstanding and protect Parliament's dignity. He also urged the speaker to prevent anyone in or out of the committee from soliciting favors from outsiders.

Parliament unanimously approved a 10.328 billion baht budget transfer bill in just 15 minutes on July 2, 2569, with Deputy House Speaker Mallika Jirapongphanit chairing the session. The special committee, headed by Deputy Prime Minister Ek Niti Nitithumprapat and the Finance Minister, had already completed its review of the five-article bill, which consolidates allocations from 118 budget-receiving units into a central reserve fund. The reallocation aims to enable efficient budget management and address urgent national challenges Thailand faces in fiscal year 2569, including geopolitical conflicts, border security issues, financial market volatility, climate change, and disasters affecting infrastructure, energy prices, and cost of living.

The bill proceeded without amendments, allowing Parliament to breeze through agenda item 2 with only 30 seconds spent reading the details. The final vote on agenda item 3 passed with 449 votes in favor, zero against, and two abstentions. The committee noted recommendations for the government to ensure cost-effectiveness and legal compliance, while suggesting the Budget Bureau establish systematic measures to prevent repeated budget lapses or reversals and review allocation, procurement, and project management processes. Parliament completed both readings in 15 minutes total, after which the bill proceeds to the Senate for further consideration.