Funguje mi ve všech aplikacích tento kód:

   try 
    {
      $dbh = new PDO("mysql:host=$this->MySQL_server;dbname=$this->MySQL_databaze;charset=utf8", $this->MySQL_uzivatel , $this->MySQL_uzivatel_password , 
        array(
          PDO::ATTR_ERRMODE => PDO::ERRMODE_EXCEPTION,
          PDO::MYSQL_ATTR_INIT_COMMAND => "SET NAMES utf8" ,
        )
      );

    }
    catch(PDOException $e)
    {
      echo $e->getMessage();
    }