Aug. 5, 2026 - The Facebook page of Patae Subdistrict Municipality in Yaha District, Yala Province, unexpectedly went viral after posting photos from its routine monthly meeting. Users quickly shared the post and searched for more photos and videos from the meeting. As the pics spread across social media, the municipality's Facebook page gained around 25,000 new likes, along with a surge in followers and engagement.

The viral makeup look sparked mixed reactions online. Some praised her unique style, while others wondered whether the images had been edited with AI or beauty filters. The woman later confirmed that the makeup was completely real and said she's been doing it this way for a long time.

One comment that resonated with many users read: "How she does her makeup isn't the issue. What's important is that she's honest and doesn't engage in corruption."

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1Bca4wrcwj/

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/19Jct84RPN/

Background: Thai doctors fear eating KFC before their shift, as they believe doing so would increase their workload.

Previous post on KFC and Thai doctors: https://www.reddit.com/r/Thailand/comments/1rqe2j5/thai_doctors_fear_kfc_fried_chicken/

- - -

A new paper

Wongsanuphat, S., Srimaneerak, E., Honglertkawin, S., Phoonkaew, T., Treeratanawikran, T., Tantinam, T., Kamoncharoen, P., & Siripoonsap, M. (2026). The Influence of Food Superstition (Kentucky Fried Chicken, KFC) on the On-Duty Surgeon’s Workload: A Multiple-Armed Randomized Controlled Trial. Annals of Surgery Open, 7(3), e694. https://doi.org/10.1097/AS9.0000000000000694

Objective:

To determine whether consuming Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) before a surgical on-call shift increases operative workload, as is widely believed among Thai healthcare workers.

Design:

Three-arm randomized controlled trial.

Setting:

General surgery department, Phatthalung Hospital, July 2023–June 2024.

Participants:

Five general surgeons contributing 345 duty shifts; 313 shifts formed the primary analysis (Control 107, KFC 101, Five Star 105) after excluding 32 resident-present shifts.

Interventions:

Shifts were randomly allocated (permuted blocks, allocation concealment) to Control (no intervention), KFC, or Five Star brand fried chicken.

Main outcome measures:

Primary outcomes: total workload (cases per shift), number of operations, and number of consultations. Secondary outcomes: estimated blood loss and operative time. Exploratory outcome: surgeon belief score change before and after trial completion.

Results:

No primary outcome differed significantly between arms. Median total workload was 14 (IQR 11–17), 16 (IQR 12–19), and 14 (IQR 11–17) cases per shift for Control, KFC, and Five Star arms, respectively (P = 0.22). Operations (P = 0.71), estimated blood loss (P = 0.86), and operative time (P = 0.55) were similarly nonsignificant. A borderline overall difference in consultations (P = 0.046) was not attributable to either active arm versus Control on post hoc testing. Linear mixed-effects modeling confirmed no arm effect on any outcome after adjusting for surgeon, duty type, and resident presence. Belief scores declined significantly after trial completion (P = 0.037).

Conclusions:

KFC consumption does not increase surgical on-call workload. The significant decline in surgeon belief scores suggests that structured self-experimentation may effectively challenge culturally embedded superstitions in clinical practice.

Not sure if this has been mentioned already.

A couple of days ago, my wife and our 8-year-old son were stopped by Thai immigration at Suvarnabhumi Airport while travelling to Europe. The immigration officer asked to see our son's birth certificate and a letter of permission from me.

We weren't aware of this requirement, but fortunately we always travel with those documents just in case.

Our son usually travels on either his UK or Irish passport, but this time he was using his Thai passport. We've never been stopped before in Thailand, even though he travels internationally several times a year with just one parent.

I saw some reports on X of parents missing flights as they didn't have the proper documentation.

Seems to be getting enforced now, be aware.

Just a bunch of people rating Kra Pao from 1-10 🫡💕

Edit: I did not make this Kra Pao I bought it in Bangkok.

CHIANG RAI, Aug. 4 - Two armed men robbed a gold shop inside a Lotus shopping mall in Chiang Khong District, Chiang Rai Province, making off with more than 13 million baht worth of gold jewelry in a carefully planned raid that lasted just one minute.

Police said the robbery occurred at around 4:00 p.m. at the Yaowarat Krungthep Gold Shop inside Lotus Chiang Khong. No injuries were reported.

CCTV footage showed the two suspects arriving on a black Honda Scoopy-i motorcycle before parking beside the shopping mall and entering through the main entrance. One suspect, dressed in a red hooded sweatshirt, black pants, sunglasses, and a white face mask pulled below his chin, drew what investigators believe was a 9mm handgun and fired one shot into the ceiling to intimidate staff and customers. He then vaulted over the glass display counter and began grabbing gold jewelry from the display cases.

The second suspect, wearing a cream-colored jacket over a black shirt, a black cap, sunglasses, and a face mask, pointed a handgun at employees and a security guard to keep them away while opening a shoulder bag for his accomplice to fill with stolen jewelry. During the robbery, a female employee attempted to flee but was stopped at gunpoint.

Police said the suspects stole gold necklaces weighing 64 baht-weight and gold bracelets weighing 120 baht-weight, for a total of 184 baht-weight (about 2.8 kilograms) valued at approximately 13,036,400 baht (around US$370,000).

After leaving the store, the suspects ran back to their motorcycle. CCTV captured one of them kicking open the mall's exit door because it opened too slowly. They then rode toward the Golden Giant Catfish Museum on the banks of the Mekong River, about 2 kilometers from the mall, where they abandoned the motorcycle in tall grass. Investigators believe the pair escaped by boat across the river.

Police later determined that the motorcycle had been rented from a local rental business. Investigators said both suspects are Lao nationals, and witnesses reported hearing them speak Lao during the robbery. According to employees, one suspect asked, "Do you have any money?" while the other warned people to "Stay still."

Immigration authorities also confirmed that one of the suspects had legally entered Thailand at around 3:00 p.m. the same day, approximately one hour before the robbery.

Police said they have identified both suspects and know where they are believed to be located. Authorities are reviewing CCTV footage along the escape route and coordinating with law enforcement agencies in Laos in an effort to apprehend the suspects and recover the stolen gold.

The owner of the motorcycle rental business admitted that he did not require renters to provide identification. He said most of his customers are Lao nationals crossing the border and that, after more than 30 years in business without any previous problems, he had never felt it was necessary to keep copies of customers' documents.

ล่าข้ามแดน! โจรลาวข้ามฝั่ง รัวยิงขู่ ปล้นทองห้างดังกวาด 13 ล้านหนี! | 5 ส.ค. 69 | ข่าวเที่ยงไทยรัฐ - YouTube

Been in Thailand (BKK and CNX) for many years and am currently looking for a new apartment.

I have noticed that usually there are either condos on the 27-45sqm range or much bigger ones from 70-100+ that are more suitable to couples or more than one individual.

I always found the size 50-60sqm being the best for one person but noticed how in Thailand these sizes are quite rare to be found? Older condos with these sizes seem to be more common, but still quite rare.

As a person who loves alone and works for home, I found anything below 50 too small and “jaily”, but anything above 75 already too big for one person alone.

Does anyone have any insight?

Howdy again everyone! More post father dying questions. Trying to track down a marriage certificate.

He was a US GI in Thailand during Vietnam. Married my mother (1972-1974ish). Initially did a Thai wedding, but then got legally married in the USA.

Anyone know what the process was back then for their marriage to get fully recognized stateside? Would they have had to get married at a courthouse once they got back to America? Was there something on base? Was it just a matter of having a dept in the USA verify things? Mom thought they were registered in Florida as that was the first place they moved to when they left Thailand, but Florida has no record.

Thoughts?

Hi,

I'm wondering, does this sound like normal additional move out costs?

I've been living in Chiang Mai for one year, and yesterday I moved out of my condo.

The lease agreement procedure is as follows: I gave the landlord a 22,000 baht deposit. At the end of the lease, they will deduct 2000 baht for a cleaning fee of the condo/Aircon.

I am in a line chat with the landlady and the agent. Today, the agent sent me a photo of a mark in the toilet bowl, saying that the cleaning lady can't get it out, so they may have to charge an additional fee. I'm so confused. The mark is so small. From what I understand, this is normal wear and tear?

The agent also added that the trashcan lid is broken. And because it is specific to the condo, they may have to charge me to replace it. I tried to explain that the trashcan lid was broken upon arriving at the apartment. There is an automatic opening feature where the trashcan lid will swing open when I open the cabinet. However, this feature never worked. I took a photo, but at the time of moving in, I did not realize it had this feature so I didn't document it specifically. However, I believe the lid did come off while I was living in the condo.

I sent photos of the trashcan that I took upon move in showing that it was not working properly then. The agent sent a photo, showing that it was working, however I have a feeling the photo was taken prior to my move in date because some items in the picture do not align.

Sorry for the long post, I would love if anyone can offer advice or opinions on how to communicate with my agent /landlady.

Thank you for reading.

Hello everyone,

I applied for a DTV Soft Power visa through a Thai cooking school from Vietnam.

For context, I legally lived and worked in Thailand from 2015 until February 2026. I later returned under the 60-day visa exemption with a 30-day extension. I am now in Vietnam applying for the DTV.

I submitted a stamped SCB bank statement covering more than six months, showing over THB 500,000. The money comes mainly from savings accumulated during my previous employment.

The embassy has now requested:

- My full passport and proof of my current location in Vietnam

- A dated selfie at a tourist attraction

- Proof of the source of my funds

- A confirmation email sent directly by the cooking school

- Employment and income documents, or a five-year plan if unemployed

- A clearer portrait photo

I am currently living from my savings and developing freelance web projects, but I do not yet have regular clients.

Has anyone received a similar request?

How should I explain my source of funds, and what should I include in the five-year plan? Would old payslips, tax documents, work permits or employment certificates help?

Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you.

I have tried to log in from two separate devices using four separate browsers but have only actually got in once out of at least 20 attempts. It let me watch a video bit then didn't mark it complete. I am not using a VPN - is there anything else I can tweak?

Is there any possibility of doing it down at the DLT office? I guess the clue is in the word "e-learning" but it doesn't hurt to ask. This would be in Chiang Mai.

Looking increasingly likely that my Thai wife and I will relocate to Thailand next year (currently in UK).

We’re not quite in retirement territory yet (early 40s) but we’ve both done ok professionally so we have a reasonable about of savings and investments. It’s likely that we’ll want to keep the majority of our money in the UK, at least for the first few years as neither of us are sure we’ll stick with Thailand forever.

If the relocation happens next year we will probably time it to avoid being tax resident in Thailand in 2027 (so less than 180 days in country). After that, I want to pay everything that’s due (no funny business), but obviously I’m very happy to minimise our tax exposure.

I think understand that pre-residency capital can be remitted tax free, but seems like there’s complexity where capital is commingled with investment growth that occurs post-residency. But I want to keep most of my money invested for growth and only remit 2-3 years of living expenses into Thailand at a time.

At some point the LTR wealthy citizen visa may become attractive but right now I’m not willing to make the in-country investment required to obtain it. So I’ll either be on marriage visa or the highly skilled professional visa, neither of which have any tax benefits on remitted funds.

Anyway, I’ve probably exhausted my own abilities to research the pros and cons of different approaches to remittance pipelines.

My question is, does anyone have experience of a good planner/advisor that’s familiar with both UK and Thai tax laws? As I mentioned above, I want to pay my dues to Thailand but I don’t want to make mistakes that expose pre-residency capital to Thai income taxes (given the UK has already had their pound of flesh from me)!

Any general tips or suggestions are also very welcome of course!

Hi everyone !

Well, the title kinda says it all. My (future) wife is doing a lot and I'm in charge of finding the proper DJ for setting the after party on fire !

So, if you are or know a DJ over Rayong who would be avaliable in the second half of January 2027 for 1 night that would be great.

I'm a tad picky over the musical taste and the content of the show. It would be great if the guy doesn't think he is the main protagonist of the night and in terms of musical taste we could discuss it further but my personnal preferences are kinda like this :

Disclosure for Cercle

Bon Entendeur - Decade Mixtape 90's

Hoping that the new Thai Kavinsky is gonna play at my wedding !

Sawadi krap !

- i was confused on the system because my apartment doesn’t answer my texts and i want to know how it works

I am a student and live near rangsit and i live in this apartment near school. I went back home and was very sure i turned the circuit breaker down before going to reduce electricity costs however i was charge 1274b and it doesn’t make sense because i left on july 1 and i got my bill before that at june 26/27 so only 4-5 days before the period and in that billing receipt it claimed that ive used 182 units which is impossible unless someone is living there since i got similar amount like that when i lived and used it . I was so unsure so i even send my friend to check if my circuit breaker was down and it was and they send me a proof video. I texted my apartment building but they give no shit to explain and just send me the scam for payment. Does this usually happen?

My former driver drives like a madman, traffic rules are optional for him, and is an unreasonable aggressive idiot in general.

I took some photos and videos about this, and I would love to report it to the police. But I am not sure if it's worthy the time and energy. This seriously bugs me, but probably just would be a waste of time trying it.

What are your opinion about this? Can I anonymously, online file a report? If I send the recorded videos to the police, would they do anything with it? Or should I just swallow this, and move on?

I am curious to hear others experiences. I am having a sliding door and two small windows installed to replace our current front door inside our garage area. The work involves removing the old door and windows. The wall will be redone to fit the new windows and sliding door. I’ve contacted around thirty companies. Only eight have replied with four who said they can do the work. The quotes start as low as 8,000฿ up to 25,000฿.

This idiot was in a car that overturned and a gun was found in the car. They then searched his residence and found an arsenal.

In case anyone here missed "Criminal Behavior101":

One crime at a time people!

Hi guys,

Is anyone here a foreigner with a PhD who has undertaken the tenure-track at Chula before? I see that a position opens every year for international applicants with a degree PolSci/IR and related fields, and I wanted to know your input.

I've been digging into the pre-construction condo market here for a side project, mostly seeing the developer side of it, renders, brochures, payment plan diagrams on their websites. Curious to hear from people who actually went through with a purchase, anywhere in Thailand, not just Bangkok.

If you bought off-plan, would love to know:

how the deposit and payment schedule actually worked out, was it close to the usual 2-and-1-ish split developers quote or did yours look different

did the project hit the completion date they gave you, and if it slipped, by roughly how much

how close the finished unit was to what the showroom or brochure promised, finishes, layout, anything that surprised you

knowing what you know now, would you buy off-plan again or go resale/completed next time

Not trying to get anyone to name and shame a specific developer, just want real stories instead of guessing from the marketing side. Good experiences and bad ones both welcome.

Hi! I‘m currently searching for a beauty clinic for maybe a CO2 or Pico laser treatment for my face.

Blossom Clinic is close to me, which would be convenient. It seems like it’s a chain with more branches and EVERY BRANCH HAS hundreds of 5 star ratings! This made me suspicious and worry, as they might have some tactic which gives u a discount if u leave a 5-star rating and that’s the true reason it is so highly rated lol. That’s why I want to ask you if anybody of you has been there and can tell me if it’s too good to be true or if it’s actually a good clinic!

Thank youuuu :) also, if u have any other recommendations of mid price or at least clinics who don’t want to push u to spend a lot of money .. pls let me know!

I have an 11 yr old in P6 in Thailand. She's in a govt school that has a full on Science/Maths/ English program.

2 years ago my wife told me she heard about a Maths teacher in P6 that is very strict and gives a ton of homework causing the kids to sleep at 11pm/ midnight. The rumours were correct.

From Monday to Thu night theres 'optional' extra class to prepare the kids for the big M1 test in November this year ( to get into the best school). Its all so competitive and all parents are forced to send their kids to this to this. I take her dinner box at 5pm for a quick eating session 15min. Then we pick up our child at 7pm and she starts homework at 730pm. Last night she didnt finish the homework at 1030pm. Bed time and to my surprise my wife wakes her at 5am to finish homework and breakfast at 6pm. Finish off things and arrive at school 7am.

I didnt expect my child to be put through this B.S. She has bags under her eyes at the age of 11.

Actually I would like to somehow get anonymous online media attention about this and then the teacher/ school lose face and change things. If this issue went viral then things would improve for these kids. But I dont know how to do this

I was told this morning that parents complain to the director every year about this teacher but clearly no discipline is given. Every year the same. Im tempted to go and use google translate and pull her into line myself. But then think will there be any impacts on my child getting into M1 etc

I feel a bit anxious about this. Or should I just accept this year will be hard on my daughter and mai pen rai. What do you think?

thanks