Month: January 2025

Although he was expecting to have the entire place to himself, Sean King wasn’t alone when he ventured inside Thailand’s now-defunct Phuket Zoo.

The Brit content creator has been documenting his travels across Asia as well as his tours of deserted sites on YouTube (@SeanKing5150) over the last few years.

He’s visited uninhabited hotels, water parks that have fallen by the wayside and other abandoned attractions – but he nearly bit off more than he could chew when he headed inside the zoo.

Tigers, monkeys, bears and elephants are among the creatures which used to traipse across the 4.8 hectares of land, but these days, the place is a ghost town.

And that might be a good job – as Phuket Zoo was constantly shrouded in controversy over the welfare of the animals in its care.

According to PETA, it was described as ‘hell on Earth for animals’ before its doors finally shut for good in 2021 following a tourist-drought amid the pandemic.

Explaining that the private zoo closed due to ‘financial concerns’, the animal rights charity said the zoo’s remaining creatures were going to be sent to nearby sanctuaries.

However, Sean discovered there were a few stragglers still lingering behind when he headed inside Phuket Zoo in June 2023.

In a series of videos of his extraordinary visit, the YouTuber explained he had been inspired to go after ‘researching’ the place and discovering it had been ‘abandoned’ for two years.

“A charity had removed all the animals and relocated them, the biggest rescue of its kind in its history,” he explained.

But he later found out this wasn’t exactly correct while mooching around the neglected site.

Although some structures remained, such as toilet blocks for visitors, Sean said there wasn’t a lot left of the animal attraction and most of it was reduced to rubble.

He then ventured towards a spot which he thought ‘looked a bit ominous’ – and it turned out that his intuition was spot on.

The content creator waded through some thick grass and dodged a big pile of elephant dung before climbing up a series of steps.

Sean was then stood above a pool with a fountain in the middle, seemingly alone – but he realised moments later that he was actually drastically outnumbered.

Peering into the murky water, he said: “No way, f**k! Mate, they are still in here, f**k! You’re having a f**king laugh. This is abandoned!

“One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine…nine. There is nine crocodiles. You’re having a laugh. Ten, eleven! Twelve! F**king hell. Get them out of here.”

Sean tossed something into the water in the hopes of encouraging the camouflaging crocs to emerge from their hiding spots – which they promptly did.

“That is a crocodile pen with twelve crocs in,” the stunned content creator continued. “No way, I’m out of here, I’ve had enough of that! This ain’t funny anymore.

“I was looking but they are so camouflaged. That has freaked me out. I do not want a crocodile on my leg. You saw how they reacted when I threw that brick in – they are hungry.”

Although he wanted to hightail it out of Phuket Zoo there and then, Sean decided to venture further into the grounds to see if any other animals had been left behind.

Unbelievably, the footage shows how he stumbled across a herd of deer and a lone tiger – and Sean believes someone had been feeding them.

Speaking of the tiger, Sean added: “There’s an ice box there with sausages in. [The tiger] is looking at me. Poor f**king thing. That is outrageous!

“Phuket Zoo is beyond belief,” he sighed. “It was probably the worst zoo when it was open and now it’s closed, it’s probably even worse still.”

According to PETA, 11 tigers who were living at Phuket Zoo before its closure were sent to a sanctuary thanks to the efforts of the Wildlife Friends Foundation.

It marked the ‘largest single placement of tigers at a sanctuary in Thailand’s history’.

It is not clear what happened to the animals featured in Sean’s video, although it is believed that Phuket Zoo truly is empty these days.

Viewers were left stunned by Sean’s footage, dubbing it ‘heartbreaking’ and ‘tough to watch’.

One said: “I truly hope someone who is able to help these animals sees this.”

Another wrote: “Gonna be honest my hoop would have nipped up seeing them crocs move. Superb vlog as usual.”

A third joked: “Sometimes you just gotta say ‘Phuket, I’m going in!’”

While a fourth wrote: “What a sorry state of affairs. They need to be held accountable.”

It’s 2025 – if you’re sat there still believing that the Earth is flat after the overwhelming and substantial evidence provided by numerous sources, I honestly don’t know what else to tell you.

Science, logic, and everything that we know about the universe points towards the fact that it is a sphere, yet some geniuses will claim that it’s all a conspiracy. Sigh.

To be fair though, not much is more satisfying than seeing a Flat Earther being proved wrong.

The likes of Professor Brian Cox and Neil deGrasse Tyson haven’t been shy in hiding their thoughts behind Flat Earth beliefs.

In the past, both scientists have pointed towards the visual evidence we have.

Cox stated: “There is absolutely no basis at all for thinking the world is flat. Nobody in human history, as far as I know, has thought the world was flat,” he said.

“The Greeks measured the radius of the Earth. I cannot conceive of a reason why anybody would think the world is flat.”

He went on: “The very simple fact we’ve taken pictures of it. I’m lost for words, it’s probably the most nonsensical suggestion that a thinking human being could possibly make.

“It is drivel,” Cox damningly stated.

The visual evidence is what also drove Tyson to speak up on the subject, as he pointed out: “There are people who think Earth is flat but recognise that the Moon is round, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and the Sun are all spheres.

“But Earth is flat. Something doesn’t square,” he said.

The American scientist added: “We have video from space of the rotating, spherical Earth. The Earth is round.”

Tyson also highlighted: “Almost everything in the universe is either a sphere or light distortion of a sphere, for some other things happening to it.

“We can just see how the universe favours spheres.”

Tyson claimed that it was also the fault of the American schooling system, saying that it doesn’t teach the youth to think critically, which could be damaging for the country’s future.

“Our system needs to train you not only what to know, but how to think about information and knowledge and evidence,” he explained.

Piggybacking on the success of the 1990 original, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York saw Macaulay Culkin’s Kevin once again get separated from his family at Christmas – only this time he’s in the Big Apple.

Coming as a surprise to absolutely no one, a stay at New York City’s Plaza Hotel, with its luxurious suites and Central Park views, is not a cheap holiday.

Two friends found out the hard way after deciding to re-create the Home Alone experience.

US musician and content creator Amira Harvey and her friend Jenna Sinatra opted to see New York in style earlier this year, with their trip including a stay at the Plaza and an indulgent ice cream sundae.

However, the two women received a brutal reality check when they were handed the bill for their dessert.

So how much does a 16-scoop ice cream tower, complete with whipped cream, M&Ms, maraschino cherries and a trio of sauces, at the Plaza cost you? $500 (£409)

No your eyes aren’t seeing double, the cost of this decadent bowl of ice cream is $500. Suddenly the reaction from Kevin’s dad at the end of the film makes a lot of sense.

Recording their reactions in a TikTok titled ‘POV: you accidentally ordered $500 ice cream’ the two women couldn’t believe the final total of their bill.

For context, a menu for the Plaza Hotel lists the ice cream at $350 (£286), however, this is before the $12 delivery fee and a 22 percent service charge is added to your order.

Add a tip on top of all that and you get a figure close to $500, which is a hell of a lot of money for a fancy ice cream.

“I haven’t even seen the movie,” Sinatra admitted, explaining that her friend had been convinced the treat would only set them back around $100 in total, which is pricey but not unreasonable.

The pair then posted a series of follow-up videos of themselves eating the indulgent sundae, likely hoping to earn some money back through views.

The couple created a Pembrokeshire eco-house, which looked magnificent – however, the project wasn’t meant to be.

In the end, it was a total disaster when a house fire destroyed their new home.

The couple used entirely reclaimed materials, which included straw, timber, and even glass.

It was so eco-conscious that it was insulated with sheep’s wool.

The couple began the project, located in Pembrokeshire, with just £500. It took six years to build, but sadly, their dream came to a devastating end after it suffered a house fire.

The house ended up catching on fire due to the electrics, which left it in ruins.

It all began when a faulty electric heater sparked when Jasmine was home. Thankfully, the rest of the family and their two children were visiting family and didn’t have to go through the ordeal.

In a shocking twist, it was the family’s second experience of a house fire, after their first home also burned to the ground.

“We’re still in complete shock, I can’t say how I feel. But we know the feeling, our first home burnt down so we have been here before I suppose,” Jasmine told The Telegraph at the time.

“We’re trying to hope that this will be a blessing in disguise and we have received so much love, but we know we won’t be able to recreate this home.

“The fire was caused by a freak electrical fault. I was in the house just a few moments before the fire broke out, and there is a junction box downstairs with many electrical wires.”

Dai Swan, group manager for Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service, explained that the straw material used on the property made it even more difficult to extinguish the flames.

“It’s utterly heartbreaking for the crews seeing how much workmanship has gone into these frames,” he said.

“Each piece of this building is bespoke, it’s done to a beautifully high standard and to see it damaged by fire is just heartbreaking.”

The couple have said they will always miss the property and the ‘wonderful’ local people.

Simon explained that they ‘didn’t have it in [them]’ to try and rebuild it again.

He told WalesOnline: “We decided we didn’t have it in us to rebuild that house in a way that would fit our children, now 14 and 15.”

Last year, the famous couple announced last year that they had broken up, having first met in 2019 on Love Island.

Since then, Fury has been dogged by claims of cheating and was even asked about it during an appearance on the ITV show This Morning.

Fury has denied the claims of cheating, saying the rumours were ‘completely false’, and in his latest interview with Men’s Health, he’s said that the reason they broke up was because of alcohol.

He said: “All I’ve been seeing for the past six months is ‘Cheater!’, ‘He slept with me!’, ‘He slept with this girl, he slept with that girl!’ Complete and utter b******s.

“We broke up because I had a problem with alcohol and I couldn’t be the partner that I wanted to be anymore. It kills me to say it, but I couldn’t. I loved a pint of beer, loved to drink.

“People go through different things in life. I’m 25 years old. I went through a lot and my breakup was in front of the whole world. It was talked about on Good Morning Britain and I’ve received so much hate for it.

“The most upsetting thing is that not once did anyone say, ‘Oh, he might be going through something a bit more serious. He might be in a bad spot.’ Not one person said that.

“You wake up even worse and you want to drink more to try and feel happy again. That’s the cycle of it.”

He said that he’d ‘got myself out of that now’ and wanted to ‘do my fights, earn my money, and look after my daughter’, promising that he was ‘going to get back in the ring real soon’ and vowed ‘to pick up where I left off’.

Speaking further to Men’s Health, he said he’d had the ‘best year’ in 2023 when he suddenly found himself ‘in a hospital bed being told that boxing might not be a thing for me anymore’ following a hand injury which required reconstructive surgery.

He said: “I’ve only lived for training and my family, and that was all snatched away from me.

“So what I did for fun is I started to drink quite a lot. I found that’s what made me feel better. When I didn’t drink, I’d just look at my hand and think, I might never be able to box again.

“I just wanted to feel somewhat happy. I’d go out and just drink and drink and drink. It went on that way for a long time. I said no to a lot of work because I wasn’t in the right headspace and started drinking more heavily, that’s what really got a grip on me.”

Yet despite the open nature of the adults-only excursion, where polygamy reigns supreme, there are still lots of specific rules you have to follow if you’re taking part in the voyage.

The trip is run by Bliss Cruise, which takes over Royal Caribbean’s Symphony of the Seas with up to 6,700 swingers heading on to the ship for fun in the sun.

Sailing out of Miami, Florida, in the US, the trip takes thousands of passengers on the $1.35 billion cruise ship to the likes of the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico.

Married couple reveal what the cruise is like

Bella and Jase are a married couple who have been together since school. Having an open relationship, they set sail on numerous so-called spicy cruises, documenting their journeys via TikTok and their 4ourplay.com website as they document what life is really like as swingers.

Having recently been on Symphony for the world’s largest spicy cruise, Jase took to TikTok to spill the details about what is really like holidaying among 6,700 other swingers.

He said: ‘”There was about 6,700 swingers on this cruise which was absolutely crazy.”

While there were lots of standard things to enjoy, such as relaxing at the pool, going to the gym, and enjoying the restaurants – the spice obviously had its place, whether that be in the play rooms or in private cabins.

On one night, Jase said they ended up having a ‘very spicy time with some old friends as well as some new friends’.

Rules of world’s largest spicy cruise

Over on the Bliss Cruise website, the travel company sets out a significant set of rules for its passengers to enjoy in their adults-only trips.

First up you have to be at least 21. There is then a big emphasis on respect; which given what happens on board, is more than essential.

“No means no. Anyone that doesn’t understand this or is making unwanted advances could be subject to expulsion from the ship at the next port, without a refund,” Bliss bluntly says.

Nudity also has strict policies. While it is allowed, it is restricted to outside decks, play rooms, and the sauna.

“Please note that you cannot go nude in any elevator; you must be covered. Topless is permitted once inside the discos,” Bliss Cruise says.

“Body paint without clothing may be considered nude. Nudity is only allowed in designated areas listed above. Please sit on a towel at all times if nude, it’s just common courtesy. There is no nudity permitted while in any port of call, unless otherwise instructed by the ship captain, even if you are in your own balcony.”

Drugs are also banned, which includes medical marijuana. You’ll be put in the cruise ship jail if found with any illegal substance on you.

What about sexual activity?

There is only two places you can perform sexual activity on the ship; your private cabin or in a ‘designated play area of the ship’.

“There are no exceptions to this rule,” it says.

On top of that, it is against the rules to approach staff to get involved in this or come in to your cabin

Bliss Cruise says: “They will lose their jobs. Guests violating any rule pertaining to sexual activity in forbidden places may be removed from the ship by its security team at the next port of call. No refunds will be issued.”

Cameras and recording

As with the emphasis on respect, permission is needed to photograph or video anyone.

If you are seen taking photos or video of groups of people without their permission, your camera can be taken by security to be reviewed, Bliss Cruise warns.

It adds: “Inappropriate photos or video will be deleted at the discretion of the supervisor. Any photos or video taken on board the ship are for personal use only.

“Photos and video from this charter cruise cannot be published, printed, made public on the internet, YouTube (or any similar platform), or used for any other purpose without written approval from Bliss Cruise.”

Other rules

There is a ban on prostitution, with payment for sexual activity or entertainment not allowed.

You’ll also be fined a minimum of $250 for smoking in your cabin or balcony.

Getting involved in a fight will see you removed from the ship at the next port of all regardless of fault or blame.