UDON THANI — A 24-year-old nurse has sought police assistance after a food delivery rider allegedly refused to leave after completing a delivery and later sent messages asking to go up to her room to see her cat, despite her not owning one.
Police from Muang Udon Thani Police Station were alerted by the 191 emergency centre at around 13:00 on 26 April 2026 and were dispatched to a dormitory in Muang district after the woman reported feeling unsafe.
At the scene, officers found the woman, a nurse at a state hospital in Udon Thani, in a distressed state. CCTV footage and chat messages between her and the rider were collected as evidence.
The rider, who had already left the scene, reportedly fled after learning that police had been contacted. Officers later attempted to contact him by phone, but he declined to meet police, saying he was not available.
According to the woman’s account, she had ordered a 105-baht dry sukiyaki meal via a delivery application and instructed the rider to leave the food at the stairs of her dormitory.
She said the rider later asked for her Line account, followed by further messages requesting contact details. After she asked for his phone number instead, he sent it and continued messaging her.
The woman said the rider later texted that he was still outside the dorm and asked which room to deliver the food to, adding that he wanted to go up to see her cat. She said she does not own a cat.
Feeling uncomfortable, she told him that her boyfriend would come down to collect the food. The rider then allegedly sent a message expressing disappointment.
The woman said she later saw the rider still waiting on his motorcycle outside the dorm and ran back inside out of fear, before calling police for help.
She added that she did not dare consume the food and planned to file a formal complaint after finishing her shift, requesting police to summon the rider for questioning over his intentions.
MAE HONG SON — More than 400 residents from communities in the La watershed staged a rally opposing a proposed fluoride mining project, declaring their stance of “no mine, only communities” to protect land rights and the environment.
On 26 April 2026, the Rak Lum Nam La Network, together with EarthRights International, Amnesty International Thailand, and the Center for Protection and Revival of Local Community Rights (CPCR), organised an event titled “No Mine, Only Communities: Four Years of La Watershed People Reject Mining” at Ban Hua La village in Mae La Luang subdistrict, Mae La Noi district.
Participants issued a joint declaration opposing a private company’s fluoride mining project, saying it could affect the environment, livelihoods, and community rights in the area.
The network comprises residents from six communities: Huai Makok, Hua La, Santisuk Santipattana, Mae La Luang, and Thung Pa Kha, with representatives from allied communities also joining in solidarity.
Organisers said the rally aimed to urge authorities to halt the project amid concerns over long-term environmental and social impacts.
More than 400 people took part in the march to express their opposition.
A foreign tourist has gone viral online after posting a video of herself making unusual content inside a convenience store in Thailand, drawing widespread criticism from Thai social media users.
In the clip, the woman is seen pouring snacks over her head and splashing milk onto herself inside the store, while suggesting she wished there were stores like 7-Eleven in her home country because of the variety of food available.
The video quickly spread across social media platforms, prompting a wave of negative reactions from Thai netizens, many of whom criticised the behaviour as inappropriate and disrespectful in a public retail space.
Comments included criticism of her manners and concerns over social etiquette, with some users questioning whether such behaviour was acceptable in a place where people regularly shop and pass through.
The incident has reignited online debate over tourist behaviour and public conduct in Thailand, particularly in shared commercial spaces.
BANGKOK — A car lost control and crashed into a KFC restaurant inside a Bangchak petrol station in Bangkok’s Phra Khanong district on 25 April, injuring 12 people and causing extensive damage to the store.
Police from Phra Khanong Police Station, along with rescue volunteers from Ruamkatanyu Foundation, were dispatched to the scene at around 20:15 at a petrol station on Soi Sukhumvit 62.
At the scene, a bronze BMW M5 with Bangkok registration plates was found having crashed through the glass entrance door of the restaurant, shattering the entire panel before coming to a stop inside the counter area.
The impact caused significant damage to the fast-food outlet, with preliminary estimates indicating around 70% property damage.
A total of 12 people were injured, comprising six men and six women. The injured included the driver, identified as 36-year-old Chinese national Chen Zhen, five customers, four restaurant staff, and two delivery riders. One rider was pinned under a table after being struck and had to be rescued using hydraulic cutting equipment before all victims were rushed to hospital. None of the injuries were reported to be life-threatening.
Police said initial investigations found that the vehicle had entered the petrol station to refuel. While waiting, the driver reportedly accelerated in an attempt to overtake another vehicle in order to move to a different fuel pump lane, before losing control and crashing into the restaurant.
Authorities are reviewing CCTV footage and collecting witness statements to determine the exact cause of the incident before proceeding with legal action.
SAMUT PRAKAN — Songkran celebrations are still in full swing in Phra Pradaeng district, where large crowds of tourists and locals gathered on 26 April for one of Thailand’s most culturally distinctive New Year festivals, known for preserving Mon heritage traditions.
By 11:30 on 26 April 2026, the atmosphere in Phra Pradaeng, Samut Prakan province, was lively as visitors continued splashing water under intense heat, particularly in front of the district office where a stage and live performances were set up.
Despite many believing the traditional Songkran period had ended, the festival in Phra Pradaeng—also known as “Songkran Pak Lat”—continues to draw strong participation, with streets and key intersections filled with crowds enjoying water activities and entertainment.
Major roads including Suksawat Road, Pu Chao Saming Phrai Road, and Phetchahung Road, as well as surrounding alleyways, were packed with revellers on both sides, creating a festive and energetic atmosphere across the district.
Authorities have implemented strict traffic and safety measures this year, including a ban on pickup trucks carrying water tanks and passengers from entering 13 main routes, in an effort to prevent accidents and ease congestion.
Police from multiple stations across Samut Prakan have been deployed to manage traffic, maintain order, and ensure public safety throughout the festival period.
Phra Pradaeng Songkran is a long-standing tradition of Thai-Mon communities, featuring cultural activities such as the Nang Songkran procession, floral floats, traditional Mon folk games including “Saba Raman,” and performances like Mon dance.
The festival also features major parades and cultural showcases, which are set to continue through the afternoon with the official opening ceremony and procession.
The event highlights the unique identity of Mon heritage in Thailand and is widely regarded as one of the country’s most culturally significant Songkran celebrations, extending beyond the traditional festival period with activities continuing for several days each year.
Their Majesties King Maha Vajiralongkorn and Queen Suthida of Thailand
BANGKOK — The Bureau of the Royal Household announced on 22 April that His Majesty the King and Her Majesty the Queen will make an official visit to the Kingdom of Sweden from 29 April to 2 May 2026, at the invitation of King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden.
The visit will mark the 80th birthday celebrations of King Carl XVI Gustaf, with Their Majesties scheduled to attend a series of official events in Stockholm.
On 29 April 2026, Their Majesties will proceed to the Royal Palace in Stockholm to attend an informal dinner hosted by King Carl XVI Gustaf for heads of state, government leaders, and members of foreign royal families attending the celebrations.
On 30 April 2026, Their Majesties will attend a thanksgiving service at the Royal Chapel, followed by a changing of the guard ceremony and a choral performance in honour of the Swedish monarch. They will later attend a luncheon at Stockholm City Hall, hosted by the Stockholm City Council.
In the evening, Their Majesties will return to the Royal Palace for an official state banquet hosted by King Carl XVI Gustaf, attended by foreign leaders, royalty, and other dignitaries.
The Bureau of the Royal Household said the King and Queen will depart aboard a Thai Airways flight, TG8886, from Don Mueang Royal Thai Air Force Base at 00:30 on 29 April 2026.
They are scheduled to return on 2 May 2026 aboard flight TG8887, arriving at Don Mueang Royal Thai Air Force Base at 09:00.
BANGKOK — Opposition leader Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut has criticised the government led by Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, saying it appears strong on the surface but is in fact fragile due to networks of vested interests.
Speaking at 11:50 on 26 April at a hotel in Bang Na, Bangkok, the leader of the People’s Party was asked whether the government could complete its full four-year term and what potential political “traps” could threaten its stability.
From the outside, Natthaphong said the administration appears to have stability across multiple fronts, with some analysts attributing its strength to influence over the Senate and independent organisations. However, he argued that beneath that image lies internal weakness.
“What makes this government fragile is that all the power groups tied together are driven by interests,” he said.
He pointed to what he described as political factions absorbed into the Bhumjaithai Party, alleged misuse of power by independent agencies, business groups providing support, and bureaucrats benefiting from the so-called “blue government” network.
Natthaphong said these interconnected interests would become more visible during crises, citing recent tensions over an oil-related issue as an example that exposed underlying weaknesses. He also suggested that even technocratic ministers have been reluctant to criticise sensitive policies such as the land bridge project.
“In every crisis, this internal fragility will emerge. A government that looks strong will ultimately reveal its weaknesses,” he said.
He added that it is the role of the opposition, including the People’s Party, to show the public that such a system could make Thai society more fragile and eventually undermine the government’s stability.
PATTAYA — An Indian tourist has filed a police complaint after allegedly being robbed of a gold necklace worth more than 100,000 baht by a group of transgender women on Pattaya beach.
At 01:30 on 26 April 2026, Rishav Singh, 36, reported the incident to police at Pattaya City Police Station after returning to his accommodation and discovering his necklace missing.
The incident is said to have taken place on the night of 25 April along Pattaya Beach Road, opposite a shopping centre in the Nong Prue area of Bang Lamung district, Chonburi province.
Singh said he had been visiting Pattaya for a five-day trip and went out to entertainment venues on Walking Street in South Pattaya around 04:00 before walking back to his hotel along the beachfront road.
He said that while passing the beach area opposite a shopping centre, two transgender women approached him, initiated conversation and behaved in a friendly manner before hugging him. The tourist said he felt suspicious and tried to push them away.
After returning to his hotel, he later found his gold necklace missing, valued at around 300,000 Indian rupees, or approximately 100,000 baht.
Police said the complaint was recorded as evidence and investigators have been instructed to review CCTV footage from the area. Officers are also compiling records of individuals involved in similar incidents for identification.
If a match is found, authorities said they will move forward with legal action.
Nearly a week after The Wall Street Journal published an article titled “How Cybercrime Became a Leading Industry in ‘Scambodia’,”Cambodian officials and members of the public continue to voice anger, urging the US outlet to remove the term.
The report described Cambodia as a major hub for global cybercrime, alleging that criminal syndicates have corrupted officials, trafficked and exploited workers, and defrauded victims worldwide.
According to The Wall Street Journal, a 2025 expert report cited by US authorities estimated that scam operations in Cambodia generate up to $19 billion annually — equivalent to nearly 40% of the country’s GDP — surpassing its largest legitimate sector, garment manufacturing.
The global impact is also significant. Americans alone lost about $10 billion to online scams linked to Southeast Asia in 2024, marking a sharp year-on-year increase, the report said.
Cambodia’s Information Minister Neth Pheaktra sent a letter to the newspaper’s editor rejecting the term “Scambodia” and stressing that the government is committed to tackling scam networks.
The letter was later published on the newspaper’s website. However, The Wall Street Journal has neither removed the article nor altered the reference to “Scambodia.”
President Donald Trump, left, is seated on stage as U.S. Secret Service agents respond to take him from the ballroom after a shooting incident outside the ballroom during the White House Correspondents Dinner, Saturday, April 25, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
WASHINGTON (AP) — A man armed with guns and knives stormed the lobby outside a high-profile journalists’ dinner attended by President Donald Trump and multiple senior U.S. leaders on Saturday night, rushing toward the ballroom before Secret Service agents swarmed him and took him into custody. The president was uninjured and was hustled away.
Guests went diving under tables as the scene unfolded and some reported hearing shots outside the vast subterranean ballroom in the Washington Hilton where the event was being held.
One law enforcement official said a gunman had opened fire. A law enforcement officer was shot in the bullet-resistant vest but is expected to be OK, several sources told The Associated Press.
U.S. Secret Service agents surround President Donald Trump, third from left, as he is taken from the stage after a shooting incident outside the ballroom during the White House Correspondents Dinner, Saturday, April 25, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
The shooting suspect — described by Trump as a “sick person” — was identified as Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, California, two law enforcement officials told the AP.
“When you’re impactful, they go after you. When you’re not impactful, they leave you alone,” Trump, safe and uninjured and still in his tuxedo, said at the White House two hours later. “They seem to think he was a lone wolf.”
There was no immediate indication of any other involvement, and Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser said she had ”no reason” to believe anyone else was involved. Video posted by Trump showed the suspect running past security barricades as Secret Service agents ran toward him.
“There does not appear to be any sort of danger to the public at this time,” Bowser said at a separate news conference.
All officials protected by the Secret Service were evacuated. Those in attendance included Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio — and many other leaders of the Trump administration on a night when the nation is at war with Iran.
It was the third time since 2024 that the president had been under threat by an attacker in his immediate vicinity — including the assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, that injured him and killed a local firefighter.
“Today we need levels of security that probably nobody has ever seen before,” the president said. But he also said, “We’re not going to let anybody take over our society.”
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said charges related to Saturday night’s attack will be filed shortly, and that the nature of the charges would be obvious considering what had happened at the dinner. Blanche stressed that “the investigation is obviously ongoing and just started.”
FBI Director Kash Patel, flanking Trump, said the agency is examining a long gun and shell casings recovered from the scene, as well as interviewing witnesses from the dinner. He urged anyone with information to come forward.
Dinner turns to disorder
Guests were dining on a spring pea and burrata salad when noise began — noise Trump said he initially thought was a tray dropping but some journalists believed were five to eight gunshots.
The Secret Service and other authorities swarmed the room as guests ducked under tables by the hundreds. Audible gasps echoed through the ballroom as guests realized something was happening; hundreds of journalists immediately got on phones to call in information.
“Out of the way, sir!” someone yelled. Others yelled to duck. From one corner, a “God Bless America” chant began as the president was escorted offstage. He fell briefly — he apparently tripped — and was helped up by Secret Service agents. Outside the hotel, members of the National Guard and other authorities flooded the area as helicopters circled overhead.
After an initial attempt to resume, the event was scrapped for the night and will be rescheduled.
“We will do this again,” said Weijia Jiang, president of the White House Correspondents’ Association. Shortly afterward, staff began breaking down table settings and the presidential lectern.
House Speaker Mike Johnson said he and his wife, Kelly, who both attended the event, were “praying for our country tonight.” The House Democratic leader, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, said “The violence and chaos in America must end.”
The banquet hall — where hundreds of prominent journalists, celebrities and national leaders were awaiting Trump’s remarks — was immediately evacuated. Members of the National Guard took up position inside the building as people were allowed to leave but not immediately reenter. Security outside was also extremely tight.
Republican Rep. MIke Lawler of New York, a guest at the dinner, said he heard a pop and “we didn’t know what the hell it was. And then you heard all sorts of things clatter.” Lawler said he gets “death threats often” and said “I think we live in a climate where everybody recognizes its a problem, but I don’t think people fully appreciate how much of a problem it really is.”
Guests exit during the White House Correspondents Dinner, Saturday, April 25, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Tom Brenner)
The event had initially appeared set to resume after the disorder. Servers refolded napkins and refilled water glasses in preparation for Trump’s return. Another worker prepared the president’s teleprompter for the remarks he was scheduled to make.
Generally, the Hilton hotel, where the dinner has taken place for years, remains open to regular guests during the correspondents’ dinner, and security has typically been focused on the ballroom and rather than the hotel at large, with little screening for people not entering the dinner itself. In past years, that has created openings for disruptions in the lobby and other public spaces, including protests in which security moved to remove guests who unfurled banners or staged demonstrations.
In 1981, President Ronald Reagan was shot by John Hinckley Jr. outside the Hilton — an event that prompted redesigns of the property that increased security and added a special presidential suite near the entrance where chief executives could be taken. Trump was dispatched there briefly after the incident Saturday night.
Event would have highlighted Trump’s relationship with press
Trump’s attendance at Saturday’s annual dinner in Washington for his first time as president is putting his administration’s often-contentious relationship with the press on full public display.
Trump arrived to an event where the leaders of a nation at war mingled with celebrities, journalists and even a puppet — Triumph the Insult Comic Dog — in a dinner that typically generates debate about whether the relationship between journalists and their sources should include socializing together and putting aside sometimes adversarial relationships.
Trump was being watched closely at the event held by the organization of reporters who cover him and his administration. Past presidents who have attended have generally spoken about the importance of free speech and the First Amendment, adding in some light roasts about individual journalists.
President Donald Trump gestures as he speaks in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House after a shooting incident outside the ballroom at at the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in Washington, Saturday, April 25, 2026, as acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and FBI director Kash Patel listen. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
The Republican president did not attend during his first term or the first year of his second. He came as a guest in 2011, sitting in the audience as President Barack Obama, a Democrat, made some jokes about the New York real estate developer. Trump also attended as a private citizen in 2015.
Trump entered the banquet hall of the Washington Hilton to the strains of “Hail to the Chief” and greeted prominent journalists on the dais, also pausing to laud White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt with a cheerful pointing of his finger.
Past dinners have also featured comedians who poke at presidents. This year, the group opted to hire mentalist Oz Pearlman as the featured entertainment.
A few dozen protesters stood across the hotel in the runup to the event. One was dressed in a prison uniform, wearing a Hegseth mask and red gloves. Another carried a sign saying, “Journalism is dead.”
