Superbon, ONE Championship's featherweight kickboxing champion, has withdrawn from his scheduled bout against Chinese boxer Liu Mengyang at The Inner Circle event on Friday, May 22, due to injury. ONE Championship's official Facebook page confirmed that the 35-year-old fighter has requested to withdraw from the title defense match against Liu Mengyang at Lumpinee Boxing Stadium (Rama Intra) on Friday, May 22, citing injury concerns. According to the post, Superbon's withdrawal from the featherweight world title defense against Liu Mengyang is due to his injury status. Liu Mengyang will now face Gabriel Perreira from Venezuela in the featherweight kickboxing match as the main event instead. We wish Superbon a swift recovery.

A 67-year-old man identified as Mr. Nornong was found dead in his three-story commercial building in Bangkok's Bangbon district after several days, with the decomposed body partially consumed by his six pet dogs. Officers from Bangkhunthian Police Station, assisted by volunteers from the Por Tek Tung Foundation and forensic pathologists from Siriraj Hospital, discovered the body on May 6 after the locked iron door had to be forced open. The man was found in the rear area of the house, having been dead for several days. Six pet dogs kept in the home were barking loudly and standing guard over the body. Parts of the deceased's body showed signs of being bitten and gnawed by the dogs. The man suffered from chronic hypertension and cerebral artery constriction. Due to the decomposed state of the body and damage from the dogs, initial examination could not determine signs of injury or struggle, but authorities suspect he died from his underlying medical conditions and have sent the body for autopsy to confirm the cause of death. A 56-year-old neighbor, Mr. Sanen, revealed he noticed a strong foul smell the previous day but didn't initially investigate until the morning when he traced the odor to the house and alerted village authorities and police. He recalled seeing the homeowner feeding the dogs about four days earlier. The deceased was a secondhand goods seller at a local market and was known to love keeping dogs, maintaining six in total at his home. Officers from Bangbon district have initially removed five of the dogs, with one remaining still uncaptured, and authorities plan to continue providing food for the dog remaining in the house.

Sports Minister Surasak Panjareunvarkul has explained the necessity of Thailand's withdrawal from bidding to host the 2030 Youth Olympic Games due to budgetary concerns and urged the National Sports Development Fund (NSDF) to distribute funds equitably among all sports associations.

The Thai government will not submit the certification letter to host the 2030 Youth Olympic Games due to excessively high costs.

Regarding this matter, Sports and Tourism Minister Surasak Panjareunvarkul stated that the government's decision to withdraw stems from considerable expenses coupled with Thailand's economic conditions and global uncertainties that make all cost projections unreliable. "As we all know, the government is drafting a borrowing decree, which means Thailand currently has no surplus funds," he explained. "Given the domestic economic situation and global uncertainties, everything costs more. The budgeted 5.4 billion baht for the Youth Olympics may not be sufficient, let alone additional expenses for athlete training facilities and infrastructure construction—we don't know how many more billions would be needed."

"Previously, the IOC (International Olympic Committee) supported host nations' expenses, but this time they won't," he continued. "As the sports minister, no one dislikes hosting major events because of the prestige it brings, but the money for such undertakings is public funds, not my personal money. We must calculate whether hosting will justify the investment. Since we're currently seeking to borrow funds—meaning we're broke—the government decided we need to be more cautious and better prepared."

Simultaneously, the sports minister instructed the NSDF to manage its funds carefully, ensuring equitable and widespread distribution to various sports associations. He also praised the direct cash transfer program to athletes as an excellent initiative. "Seeing athletes smile when funds are deposited into their accounts brings me joy as well," he said. "This is excellent news and great encouragement for the Thai national sports team. I want to ask the National Sports Development Fund to spread the budget fairly across all associations and ensure equity, so no sports association has to complain about delayed or unavailable funding withdrawals."

A major sports network is hiring for a special position to watch every match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup at Times Square, offering a salary of 1.6 million baht. Fox Sports has opened applications for the role of "Chief World Cup Watcher," responsible for viewing all 104 World Cup matches and creating and sharing social media content while transforming each game into a live viewing party for thousands of tourists and passersby throughout the tournament inside a specially constructed glass cube in the heart of Times Square in New York City. Qualifications are open to the general public—applicants simply need to describe relevant experience and skills and submit a short video explaining why they're the perfect fit for the job. Applications are accepted through the Indeed website until May 17. Hired candidates will start work on Saturday, June 6, one week before the tournament begins, and finish on Sunday, July 26, one week after it ends, earning $50,000 USD or approximately 1.6 million baht.

On May 6, 2025, at the Dome Building in front of Phu Thao Wetch Suwannan Plaza at Chaeng Muang Old Temple in Prachuap Khiri Khan district, associations of village leaders, village headmen, sub-district health officials, village scouts, and village assistants gathered to take a unified stance protecting the reputation and dignity of local administrators following accusations made by Pheu Thai party MPs in parliament regarding alleged involvement in drug trafficking.

Amrin Rian Sri, headman of Nong Saeng Sub-district, representing local administrators in Prachuap Khiri Khan District, submitted a formal letter to District Officer Pairat Intapanya for forwarding to Deputy Interior Minister Worasit Leangprasit, as well as to government ministers and Bhumjaithai party MPs.

The group expressed strong objection to remarks made by Bangkok MP Phanthip Nwamjerm of the Pheu Thai Party on April 30, in which he characterized village leaders and headmen as groups involved in drug trafficking in sweeping terms.

Amrin revealed that the parliamentary statements were significantly inaccurate and had damaged the reputation and morale of officials working nationwide. The letter outlined three main demands:

1. Factual Reporting: Requesting the district officer report the difficulties to the provincial governor and Interior Ministry about the impact of these defamatory statements 2. Affirming Transparency: Confirming that appointment to office involves rigorous background checks and criminal record verification under the law, and welcoming individual investigations if violations are found 3. Official Commitment: All members will continue to uphold discipline, alleviate suffering, promote welfare, and strengthen anti-drug operations

"We need to protect the dignity of local officials. Blanket accusations like this are unfair to people committed to frontline work. We want to reaffirm that we welcome scrutiny, but not through parliamentary speeches designed to discredit our institutions," Amrin stated.

The gathering proceeded peacefully, with village leaders reaffirming they would take no illegal action during their campaign but insisted their voices reach senior leadership to protect their rights and honor.

Gold prices on May 6, 2026 surged by 1,100 baht compared to the previous day's close, according to an announcement by the Gold Traders Association. Ornamental gold (96.5% purity) is being sold at 72,400 baht per baht weight, with buyback prices at 69,978.56 baht per baht weight. Gold bars are priced at 71,400 baht per baht weight for domestic buyback and 71,600 baht per baht weight for selling, as per the association's 30th announcement released at 4:53 PM. Trade leaders predict tomorrow's market opening could see prices surge another 1,000-2,000 baht, potentially breaking through 80,000 baht. Industry experts advise on optimal timing for gold purchases based on current market trends.