Thai officers escort an Israeli fugitive at Samui International Airport, Surat Thani province, on Nov. 2, 2025.
KOH SAMUI — Thai immigration authorities have arrested an Israeli fugitive on Koh Samui who is wanted in his home country for armed robbery and burglary, officials said Monday.
The suspect, identified as Osher Farhi, 22, was detained after a joint operation between Surat Thani Immigration Police and local investigators, following a formal request from the Israeli Embassy in Bangkok.
Israeli authorities notified Thai officials that Farhi and two accomplices allegedly used firearms to threaten victims and break into a home in Israel before stealing valuables and fleeing the country.
Investigators later traced a stolen laptop believed to belong to one of the victims to Koh Samui, leading police to the island. Authorities also found that Farhi had a prior criminal record involving drug trafficking and violent offenses.
Thai officers escort an Israeli fugitive at Samui International Airport, Surat Thani province, on Nov. 2, 2025
Immigration police located his registration at a hotel in Chaweng Beach, but he was not found there. Further checks revealed that Farhi had booked a flight to leave Thailand through Samui International Airport on November 2.
Officers set up surveillance at the airport and arrested him as he arrived by taxi. His visa was immediately revoked under the Immigration Act, and he was taken into custody.
Farhi is being held at Bo Phut Police Station pending coordination with the Israeli Embassy for his deportation to face prosecution in Israel.
most krathong vendors emphasize the use of natural and easily biodegradable materials following the popular trend, on November 4, 2025. (MATICHON Photo/Surin Muksri)
BANGKOK — Thailand’s Pollution Control Department is pushing for greener celebrations of Loy Krathong, the traditional festival of floating lanterns, as concerns mount over waste choking the nation’s waterways.
The festival, which falls on November 5 this year, generates massive amounts of waste annually, much of it non-biodegradable styrofoam and plastic decorations that fragment into microplastics in aquatic ecosystems, said PCD Director-General Surin Vorakitpornkul on Sunday.
Thailand’s Pollution Control Department recommends traditional materials like banana leaves, lotus flowers, or ice krathongs that dissolve naturally.
Three-Pronged Approach
The department is promoting three alternatives to reduce the festival’s environmental footprint:
Families should share a single krathong or choose smaller floats with minimal decorations.
The PCD also recommends traditional materials like banana leaves, lotus flowers, or ice krathongs that dissolve naturally.
For those wanting zero waste, virtual platforms now allow online krathong floating.
Bread Krathongs Raise Concerns
Vorakitpornkul warned against the trendy bread-based krathongs, noting their high organic content can cause water to spoil when released in large numbers into ponds or enclosed bodies of water.
Thailand’s Pollution Control Department warns bread-based krathongs can spoil water quality in ponds and enclosed waterways when released in large quantities, despite being biodegradable.
“They become food waste in the water instead,” he said, urging people to use only designated floating areas at temples and public parks where cleanup crews can properly collect and dispose of materials.
The PCD is also asking festival-goers and tourists to separate food waste and single-use plastics at venues, and to bring reusable bags and water bottles to cut plastic consumption during the celebrations.
Miss Universe 2025 contestants check in at the Chatrium Riverside Hotel in Bangkok on Nov. 2, 2025.
BANGKOK — Thailand welcomed more than 100 contestants Sunday as the 74th Miss Universe pageant began in Bangkok — including Cambodia’s entry, whose participation has stirred debate amid tensions between the two countries.
Held under the theme “The Grand Universe: The Power of Love, The Power of Thailand,” the event marks the fourth time Thailand has hosted the global competition. Activities will run through Nov. 21 across Bangkok, Phuket, and Pattaya, promoting Thailand’s tourism and culture.
Miss Universe Thailand host Nawat Itsaragrisil welcomes Cambodian contestant Thai Neary Socheata, as she arrives in Bangkok for the Miss Universe 2025 pageant on Nov. 2, 2025.
The Cambodian contestant, Thai Neary Socheata, or Fiyata, arrived in Bangkok despite her national license holder ELEVENTO9 Company announcing Cambodia’s withdrawal a day earlier, citing “unresolved situations between Cambodia and Thailand.”
Fiyata’s independent decision to join the competition sparked online debate in both countries. She was greeted warmly by Cambodian fans at Suvarnabhumi Airport and later posted on social media, writing, “I’ve arrived safely in Thailand. Thank you for the warm welcome, kindness, and support from everyone. Your love truly means so much to me.”
Miss Universe Argentina 2025 contestant checks in at the Chatrium Riverside Hotel in Bangkok on Nov. 2, 2025.
Organizers Nawat Itsaragrisil, president of Miss Universe Thailand host company Miss Grand International PCL, and reigning Miss Universe Victoria Kjær Thelvik of Denmark welcomed 103 contestants — including Thailand’s own Pavina Singh, Miss Universe Thailand 2025 — at the Chatrium Riverside Hotel in Bangkok.
Events will take place from Nov. 2–21 across three main cities — Bangkok, Phuket, and Pattaya — highlighting Thailand’s tourism and cultural appeal. The final coronation will be held on Nov. 21 at Impact Muang Thong Thani.
Miss Universe Thailand host Nawat Itsaragrisil welcomes Pavina Singh, Miss Universe Thailand 2025 (left), as she reports for the Miss Universe 2025 pageant at the Chatrium Riverside Hotel in Bangkok on Nov. 2, 2025.
Police arrest Chinese national Zhen Zhang at a shopping mall in Bangkok’s Huai Khwang district on Nov. 1, 2025, for allegedly laundering money through illegal cryptocurrency exchanges linked to call center scams.
BANGKOK — Thai police have arrested a Chinese man suspected of laundering money through illegal cryptocurrency exchanges in Bangkok’s Huai Khwang district, authorities announced Sunday.
Police identified the suspect as Zhen Zhang, a Chinese national wanted under a Criminal Court warrant issued on October 31. He was arrested around 4:10 p.m. Saturday in the parking area of a shopping mall on Rama IX Road.
According to Metropolitan Police Bureau Commissioner Pol. Lt. Gen. Siam Boonsom, investigators from Metropolitan Division 2 and Sutthisan Police Station found that Zhang had entered Thailand on a student visa reportedly obtained in Singapore. He told officers he resided on Nimmanhaemin Soi 9 in Chiang Mai.
Zhang allegedly admitted to exchanging cryptocurrencies for Thai clients, saying he later learned the funds were linked to a call center scam network. He claimed that a compatriot named Li Yong held large amounts of digital currency and coordinated transactions through the Telegram messaging app.
Thai police detain Chinese suspect Zhen Zhang in a mall parking area on Rama IX Road, Bangkok, on Nov. 1, 2025, on charges of money laundering and operating an unlicensed crypto exchange.
Each time Thai clients wanted to exchange crypto, Li would connect them with Zhang, who facilitated the trades either in cash or through bank transfers. When paid by transfer, Zhang said he forwarded the funds to Li, who then sent crypto tokens to the wallets specified by Thai clients.
Zhang acknowledged receiving a commission but refused to disclose the amount.
Police said a search of his phone revealed money transfer slips showing a 46,000-baht transaction to Li Yong. Investigators also found crypto transaction records linking Zhang to digital wallets associated with illegal exchange operations.
Officers seized Zhang’s Toyota Alphard van after discovering that its registration did not match his ownership records. Police suspect the vehicle may have been acquired through or used in money laundering activities.
Zhang was handed over to Sutthisan police investigators to face charges of money laundering conspiracy, operating an unlicensed digital asset business, and working in Thailand without a permit.
Smoke billows after an explosion at KK Park online scam center in Myawaddy township, Karen State, Myanmar, November 2, 2025.
MAE SOT, TAK — India is dispatching large military transport aircraft to evacuate its nationals from Mae Sot, Thailand, following nine consecutive days of heavy bombing at KK Park in Myanmar that has forced nearly 1,600 foreign workers to flee across the border.
According to Thai official sources, the Indian Air Force will conduct three evacuation flights on November 6 and 10 from Mae Sot International Airport to repatriate Indian citizens. Thai authorities have completed screening and processing procedures in preparation for the evacuation.
As of the latest count, 1,597 people have fled into Mae Sot district in Tak province—1,332 men and 265 women from 28 nationalities. Indians comprise the largest group with 465 people, followed by Filipinos (220), Chinese (185), Vietnamese (151), and Ethiopians (130).
Foreign nationals fleeing the KK Park crackdown in Karen State, Myanmar, wait for screening by Thai authorities at the Special Operations Center at Mae Sot Permanent Border Checkpoint No. 2, Tak Province, on November 2, 2025.
The mass exodus comes as Myanmar military forces and the Karen Border Guard Force (BGF) continue large-scale bombing operations at KK Park, which began on November 2. The forces have been detonating powerful explosives up to four times daily, with blasts occurring during both daytime and nighttime hours, destroying multiple buildings and facilities.
Shrapnel from the explosions has regularly crossed the border, landing in Mae Ku Tha Sung village in Mae Sot district, endangering Thai residents.
White smoke billows after an explosion at KK Park online scam center in Myawaddy township, Karen State, Myanmar, Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Sarot Meksophawannakul)
According to AP report, Myanmar has become notorious for hosting cyberscam operations that recruit workers from other countries under false pretenses, promising legitimate employment before holding them captive and forcing them to carry out criminal activities.
Cambodia is another major hub for such operations. International attention intensified on October 14 when the United States and United Kingdom enacted sanctions against organizers of a major Cambodian cyberscam gang, whose alleged ringleader was indicted by a U.S. federal court in New York.
I magine having a very stable and decent job in a foreign land for many years, then one day being told by your Embassy that you need to return to your home country to renew your passport. Just as your new passport was issued, your government refuses to let you have it and even confiscatedyour ID card. You’re unable to return to work as you can’t leave your country, and instead you’re subjected to multiple interrogations by security officials lasting many hours at a time. While you are not imprisoned, security officers follow you everywhere you go. Your Facebook page is now deactivated, and they ‘guard’ your parents’ home.
What was the ‘crime’? Working for the BBC Vietnamese-language service in Bangkok, writing and broadcasting critically about Vietnam’s state of politics and human rights – and being a Vietnamese citizen.
It’s been months now, according to the BBC statement earlier this week that their unnamed female Vietnamese reporter was unable to return to work in Bangkok.
In a bizarre turn of events, the BBC would not reveal her name.
The BBC, normally known for its detailed coverage, issued the following short statement this week.
BBC statement on journalist in Vietnam
Published: 28 October 2025
“One of our journalists has been unable to leave Vietnam for several months as the authorities have withheld their ID card and their renewed passport. During this time our journalist was subject to multiple days of questioning by the authorities. The BBC journalist was in Vietnam for a routine passport renewal and to visit family.
“We are deeply concerned about our journalist’s wellbeing and urge the authorities to allow them to leave immediately, providing them with their renewed passport so they can return to work.”
A Vietnamese friend of hers told me this week he has “no idea about why and how they had decided not to reveal her name.”
My BBC source, speaking under a condition of anonymity, told me a few days ago that the decision to not reveal her name was for the journalist’s own safety, with no further elaboration.
One possible logical explanation is that, as a Vietnamese national, she is at the mercy of her own government in Vietnam. She may feel that if she is publicly identified, it could backfire and push the repressive Vietnamese authorities into a corner, and she would face more severe backlash. Or perhaps her parents would face immense social pressures from neighbours.
So basically this Vietnamese journalist is in a twilight zone as I write these words – not under house arrest but being monitored and unable to leave Vietnam. She is ‘free’ and not free at the same time.
Basically, she’s still tactically leaving room for the Vietnamese authorities to save face by just letting her go as British press such as The Independent reported on Wednesday, October 29, 2025, that British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is being urged to raise the issue when Mr To Lam, Vietnamese Communist Party Secretary-General, visits London.
Veteran Bangkok-based human rights defender Phil Robertson told me this week in an interview for Khaosod English that the journalist has been asked to formally acknowledge her participation in the writing of 18 articles on the BBC Vietnamese-language service.
“At the end, the MPS [Ministry of Public Security] officials compelled her to sign 18 of her past articles, formally acknowledging her involvement in writing them — which is precisely what officials preparing a possible criminal charge would do,” Robertson told me.
Robertson added that: “There’s no doubt that they are using her as a hostage to intimidate the other reporters at the Bangkok-based BBC Vietnamese service, which reports daily in Vietnamese language about what is happening in the country. This is particularly important to the ruling Communist Party which is preparing for its major national Congress in Hanoi in January 2026.”
Let us call a spade a spade. In a country with very limited press freedom like Vietnam, the Vietnamese authorities must either perceive her as a spreader of ‘disinformation’ about Vietnam, or a spy, or both – thus a traitor.
Even in Thailand, some ultra-conservative hold such views towards Thai NGOs, or Thai NGOs funded by foreign NGOs or governments, as well as some Thai journalists working for foreign news agencies, perceiving them as their enemies, a traitor even.
The fact that this journalist is particularly known for her support of press freedom and freedom of expression only makes it worse.
According to the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF), Vietnam ranks 173rd out of 180 countries in the 2025 World Press Freedom Index – one of the worst countries for press freedom in the world and it’s among the world’s top jailers of journalists. (Thailand is ranked at Number 85 out of 180 countries, although as a responder to RSF’s annual survey on Thailand, I think Thailand is overrated, but that’s for another story)
“Vietnam’s traditional media are closely controlled by the single party. Independent reporters and bloggers are often jailed, making Vietnam one of the world’s biggest prisons for journalists,” RSF stated, adding that at present, 28 journalists are incarcerated. “Independent bloggers and journalists are the only sources of freely reported news and information in a country where all the media follow orders from the Communist Party, in power since 1954 in the North and since 1975 in the South. With 86.4 million users – the seventh highest number in the world – Facebook is Vietnam’s most popular online platform and serves as a major tool for circulating news and information.”
While the BBC earlier this week issued a statement calling for the Vietnamese authorities to allow the journalist to return to Thailand to work, I think any expectations must also be tamed by the ugly realities.
Back in 2017, three years after the European Union (EU) downgraded its relationship with Thailand due to the May 2014 military coup which was led by Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha, it had decided to pursue gradual political re-engagement. I recalled that while attending a diplomatic function at the Sukhothai Hotel in Bangkok in December that year, a diplomat from one of the Northern European Embassies told me that the EU has decided that it made no sense to continue limiting the ties with the Thai military junta as the human rights situation is much more repressive in Vietnam and yet the EU maintains a normal relationship with Hanoi.
Back to the issue of the unidentified Vietnamese journalist, since she works for the BBC, which is one of the most influential global media organisations and a British public broadcaster, her case will be a test of will of not just the BBC but the British government itself.
Emergency personnel inspect a train at the Huntingdon, England, train station in Cambridgeshire after people were stabbed Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025. (Chris Radburn/PA via AP)
LONDON (AP) — British police said 10 people have been hospitalized, nine with life-threatening injuries, following a mass stabbing attack on a London-bound train Saturday evening, and that counter-terrorism police are supporting the investigation.
In a statement early Sunday, British Transport Police, which took the lead in the response given it is responsible for security matters on the trains, said two individuals have been arrested in connection with the stabbings.
“Ten people have been taken to hospital with nine believed to have suffered life-threatening injuries,” the statement said. “This has been declared a major incident and Counter Terrorism Policing are supporting our investigation whilst we work to establish the full circumstances and motivation for this incident.”
The police force also said that “Plato,” the national code word used by police and emergency services when responding to what could be a “marauding terror attack,” was initiated. That declaration was later rescinded but no motive for the attack was disclosed.
“We’re conducting urgent enquiries to establish what has happened, and it could take some time before we are in a position to confirm anything further,” Chief Superintendent Chris Casey said. “At this early stage it would not be appropriate to speculate on the causes of the incident.”
Emergency personnel inspect a train at the Huntingdon, England, train station in Cambridgeshire after people were stabbed Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025. (Chris Radburn/PA via AP)
The attack took place as the Doncaster to London King’s Cross train headed south toward Huntingdon, a market town a few miles northwest of the university city of Cambridge.
Emergency services, including armed police and air ambulances, responded quickly as the train drew into Huntingdon. The attack appears to have been contained swiftly after the train arrived at the station, and police officers wearing forensic suits, with a police dog, could be seen on the platform.
Cambridgeshire Constabulary, the local police force, said armed police attended the incident after officers were called to the scene at Huntingdon station at 7:39 p.m. on Saturday. It added that the two people were arrested at the station, which is around 75 miles (120 kilometers) north of London.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said his “thoughts are with all those affected” after the “appalling incident.”
Paul Bristow, the mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, said he had heard of “horrendous scenes” on the train.
London North Eastern Railway, or LNER, which operates the East Coast Mainline services in the U.K., confirmed the incident had happened on one of its trains and urged passengers not to travel because of “major disruption.”
Chiang Mai International Airport modifies flight schedules to accommodate Yi Peng Festival celebrations and sky lantern releases.
CHIANG MAI — As Chiang Mai gears up for its signature annual Yi Peng Lantern Festival — celebrated alongside the Loy Krathong Festival across Thailand — Chiang Mai International Airport has adjusted flight schedules and implemented extra safety and crowd management measures to handle the surge in travelers and prevent floating lanterns from affecting air traffic.
Garun Thanakuljirapat, general manager of Chiang Mai International Airport under Airports of Thailand Plc (AOT), said Friday that the airport has revised operating hours so that the last flight departs by 7 p.m., avoiding the period when lantern releases are permitted.
Passenger volume during the festival, November 4-6, is expected to exceed 32,000 people per day, a 17% increase from normal traffic, Garun said. To ease congestion, the airport has deployed more staff and encouraged travelers to use self-service systems such as automated check-in kiosks, self-bag-drop counters, and facial recognition systems.
The aftermath: Sky lantern debris accumulated following Chiang Mai’s Yi Peng Festival
As of October 31, the Yi Peng Festival has impacted 161 flights at Chiang Mai International Airport: 65 have been canceled (41 domestic, 24 international) and 96 rescheduled (64 domestic, 32 international). To accommodate returning tourists, authorities have added 44 special flights after the festival.
Strict No-Lantern Zones Enforced
Chiang Mai authorities have designated strict no-lantern and no-fireworks zones across the province to protect public and aviation safety. The ban covers air safety zones (Toffy Zones) and Level 1 special surveillance areas (Red Zones), spanning six districts and 39 subdistricts:
Mueang Chiang Mai District (all subdistricts)
Hang Dong District (all subdistricts)
Saraphi District (Khua Mung, Don Kaew, San Sai, Tha Wang Tan, Nong Phueng)
San Sai District (Nong Han)
Mae Rim District (Don Kaew, Mueang Kaew, Rim Tai, Mae Sa, Rim Nuea)
San Pa Tong District (Thung Tom)
The Chiang Mai CAD Lantern Festival 2025, to be held on November 5–6, 2025.
Penalties and Enhanced Safety Protocols
Violators releasing lanterns or fireworks without permission face up to five years in prison, fines up to 200,000 baht, or both. If the act causes a fire, penalties increase to seven years imprisonment and 140,000 baht in fines.
The airport has intensified safety measures, increasing runway inspections from six to eight daily rounds to clear lantern debris. Surveillance teams monitor sky lantern releases in real-time, coordinating with the control tower and pilots. Random alcohol testing of aviation personnel has also been implemented to maintain safety standards.
Garun added that all airlines have completed schedule adjustments before 7 p.m., resulting in denser daytime flight operations. He warned that festival activities in downtown Chiang Mai could cause traffic congestion near the airport and advised passengers to allow extra travel time and follow airport staff instructions to ensure flight safety.
Tourists stand under the statue of Pharaoh Ramses II, at the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza, Egypt, Friday, May 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)
CAIRO (AP) — Egypt on Saturday was inaugurating the long-delayed Grand Egyptian Museum, the world’s largest museum dedicated to an ancient civilization — a megaproject also aimed at boosting the country’s tourism industry and troubled economy.
Two decades in the making, the museum located near the Giza Pyramids and Sphinx showcases over 50,000 artifacts detailing life in ancient Egypt. It will display the entire collection of treasures from the tomb of the famed King Tutankhamun for the first time since its discovery in 1922.
World leaders, including monarchs, heads of states and governments, were to attend the grand opening ceremony in the Egyptian capital, according to the president’s office, which touted the museum as “an exceptional event in the history of human culture and civilization.”
President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi wrote on social media that the museum will bring “together the genius of ancient Egyptians and the creativity of modern Egyptians, enhancing the world culture and art with a new landmark that will attract all those who cherish civilization and knowledge.”
Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Sherif Fathy, talk to journalists ahead of the opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza, Egypt, Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)
A ‘symphony of humanity’
The museum, known as GEM, is one of several megaprojects championed by el-Sissi since he took office in 2014, embarking on massive investments in infrastructure with the aim of reviving an economy weakened by decades of stagnation and battered by the unrest that followed the 2011 Arab Spring uprising.
The museum is expected to attract 5 million visitors annually, said Egyptian businessman Sir Mohamed Mansour, who is a member of GEM’s board of trustees. That would put it in the ranks of the most popular museums in the world. In 2024, by comparison, Paris’s Louvre brought in 8.7 million, the British Museum 6.5 million and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York 5.7 million.
“It’s going to have a huge impact” on the economy, Mansour told The Associated Press.
The government has heralded the grand opening with a burst of pharaoh-mania. On Friday night, hundreds of drones created a light show in the sky of King Tut’s mask and chariot and other of the museum’s most famous pieces. Media have been playing Egyptian pop songs with videos featuring dancing pharaonic statues.
Visitors pose for a group photo under Hatshepsut statue, at the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza, Egypt, Friday, May 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)
A public holiday was declared Saturday, and security around Cairo was tightened. A stage was built in the museum courtyard where an orchestra and musicians would later perform what the Egyptian media described as a “global symphony of humanity.”
The museum, which has been partially open since last year, was closed for the past two weeks for final preparations.
Ramses the Great and King Tut
Construction on the $1 billion project was begun in 2005 under then-President Hosni Mubarak. It aimed to replace the Egyptian Museum, a more than century-old building in downtown Cairo that had become packed and disorganized, unable to deal with the sheer amount of ancient antiquities in Egypt.
But work on the museum was interrupted by turmoil surrounding the 2011 uprising that brought down Mubarak. Further delays ensued, and a planned grand opening over the summer had to be put off after the 12-day-long war between Israel and Iran erupted in June.
The museum boasts a towering, triangular glass façade imitating the nearby pyramids, with 24,000 square meters (258,000 square feet) of permanent exhibition space.
It opens to a granite colossus of Ramses the Great, one of ancient Egypt’s most powerful pharaohs who reigned for around 60 years, from 1279 B.C. to 1213 B.C., and is credited with expanding ancient Egypt’s reach as far as modern Syria to the east and modern Sudan to the south. The statue greets visitors once they step inside the museum’s angular atrium.
From the atrium, a grand six-story staircase lined with ancient statues leads up to the main galleries and a view of the pyramids. A bridge links the museum to the pyramids, allowing tourists to move between them either on foot or via electric vehicles, according to museum officials.
FILE – A tourist takes a selfie in front of Akhenaten statue during his visit to the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza, Egypt, Friday, May 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil, File)
The museum’s 12 main galleries, which opened last year, exhibit antiquities spanning from prehistoric times to the Roman era, organized by era and by themes.
Two halls that will be opened for the first time with the grand opening are dedicated to the 5,000 artifacts from the collection of King Tutankhamun — a boy pharaoh who ruled from 1361-1352 B.C. The tomb was discovered by British archaeologist Howard Carter discovered King Tut’s tomb in 1922 in the southern city of Luxor. But the old Egyptian Museum didn’t have enough room to display the whole collection, parts of which were often on tour to museums abroad.
Zahi Hawass, Egypt’s most renowned archaeologist and former minister of antiquities, said the Tutankhamun collection is the museum’s masterpiece.
“Why this museum is so important, and everyone is waiting for the opening?” he told The Associated Press. “Because of Tutankhamun.”
Plain clothes policemen stand alert as they guard before the opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza, Egypt, Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)
Boost to tourism and economy
Officials hope the museum will draw more tourists who will stay for longer periods and provide the foreign currency needed to shore up Egypt’s battered economy.
The government has also revamped the area around the museum and the nearby pyramids and the Sphinx. New highways were built, and a metro station is being constructed nearby. An airport, Sphinx International Airport, has also opened west of Cairo — 40 minutes from the museum.
The tourism sector has suffered during years of political turmoil and violence following the 2011 Arab Spring uprising. In recent years, the sector has started to recover after the coronavirus pandemic and amid Russia’s war on Ukraine — both countries are major sources of tourists visiting Egypt.
A record number of about 15.7 million tourists visited Egypt in 2024, contributing about 8% of the country’s GDP, according to official figures. Tourism and Antiquities Minister Sherif Fathy has said that overall, Egypt expects about 18 million tourists this year, with authorities hoping for 30 million visitors annually by 2032.
This will translate into more jobs and pump foreign currency into the economy, said Walid el-Batouty, a tour guide.
“It will be boost the economy of Egypt tremendously not just the hotels and the museum itself,” he said. Whenever a tourist rides a cab or even just buys a bottle of water, “that is pumping money” into Egypt’s coffers, he added.
The museum will open to the public starting Nov. 4 — the anniversary of Carter’s discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb, authorities said.
Rescuers assist a Ukrainian man who was stabbed during an altercation at a condominium in South Pattaya, Chonburi province, on Nov. 1, 2025.
PATTAYA — Police in Pattaya are investigating two violent incidents involving foreign nationals that occurred within hours of each other — one in which a Ukrainian man was stabbed by a Filipino transgender woman, and another in which a Pakistani man was beaten by a group of motorbike riders.
Mosquito Spray Dispute
Police said the first incident occurred around 7:30 a.m. on November 1 at a condominium on Soi South Pattaya 3 in Bang Lamung district, Chonburi province. Officers and rescue workers found Maksym, 37, a Ukrainian national, suffering from two stab wounds to his left ribcage. He was given first aid and rushed to a nearby hospital.
Police later detained Stephen, 38, a Filipino transgender woman, in a nearby room in the same condominium. Stephen appeared distraught and was crying when taken into custody, police said.
Police question a Filipino transgender woman accused of stabbing a Ukrainian man following an argument at a condominium in South Pattaya, Chonburi province, on Nov. 1, 2025.
A Thai transgender witness told police that the victim and suspect had argued after the Ukrainian sprayed mosquito repellent toward Stephen, angering her. The argument escalated into a scuffle, during which Stephen allegedly grabbed a pair of scissors and stabbed Maksym before he ran downstairs to seek help.
A local vendor, Natthapong Kaenakart, 28, said the victim ran up to his stall bleeding and asking for help but could not communicate clearly. “I saw he was injured and bleeding, so I immediately called the police,” he said.
Police said the suspect remains in custody for questioning while the victim recovers. Investigators plan to file charges once statements are completed.
Group of Riders Assault Pakistani DJ
In a separate case, Mughal, 28, a Pakistani national working as a DJ at a local nightclub, reported being attacked by about 10 men on motorcycles around 9:30 p.m. on October 31 near Wat Chaimongkol in South Pattaya, opposite Pattaya City School No. 8.
Mughal, a Pakistani DJ, shows injuries he said were caused by a group of motorbike riders who assaulted him near Wat Chaimongkol in South Pattaya on Oct. 31, 2025.
Mughal told police he was driving away from a traffic light when the group surrounded him and ordered him to stop. One of the men allegedly shouted, “Are you looking for trouble?” before punching him. He said the group then kicked and beat him, using a helmet to strike his head. He suffered swelling, bruises, and scrapes.
The Pakistani man said the assault might have stemmed from a minor road incident two days earlier, when a motorbike rider honked at him and he shouted back, asking why — but no argument followed. He said he was unsure if the same riders were involved in the later attack.
“I’m scared because I have to use that road every day to go to work,” he said, urging police to arrest the attackers quickly.
Police said CCTV footage shows about 10 men on motorbikes surrounding Mughal, forcing him to stop, then punching, kicking, and hitting him with a helmet despite nearby residents shouting for them to stop. The attackers then fled on their motorcycles.
Authorities are reviewing the footage to identify the suspects and said both cases remain under investigation.
