Retiree lump sum to be increased

Farangs applying for a twelve months retirement visa for the first time must now have 800,000 baht in a Thai bank as part of the application procedures. This replaces the former rule of 500,000 baht for retirees aged 55 and over. Farangs who can’t raise the new amount at one go would be required to show a monthly income or pension of around 80,000 baht.

However, the revised ruling applies only to new applicants. People already holding retirement visas will not have the base line increased unless they break the sequence, for example by leaving the country without first obtaining a re-entry permit. In this event, they would have to start the process again and would be considered "new" cases.

Immigration police sources point out that the baht has substantially depreciated since the old regulations were introduced. In the past two years, the number of applications from potential retirees has more than doubled. It is still necessary to hold a non immigrant visa, type "B" or "O", before submitting the application.

Thievery ring broken

British tourist’s valuables recovered

On December 10, Pattaya Police arrested Ms. Aphirat (Ooy) Waiyaroop, 41, on charges of robbery for stealing a large cache of goods from an English tourist.

The charges stemmed from a December 8 complaint filed by Ms. Helena Poludava, an English tourist. Poludava told officers that Ms. Ooy stole 425,000 baht from her at the Jomtien Complex.

Police bagged Ms. Aphirat (Ooy) Waiyaroop for stealing.

Ooy allegedly made friends with Poludava and asked if she could give her any work. When Poludava wasn’t looking, she stole her money and ran way with a friend.

Later, Pattaya Tourist Police learned that there was a gang of women thieves engaged in this activity and tracked them to Pathum Thani province, where they arrested them. Officers found Poludava’s valuables in the women’s possession.

The recovered items included: a man’s wristwatch, a gold necklace, gold earrings, gold bangles encrusted with diamonds, a diamond engagement ring, a wedding ring, a tri-gold bangle, platinum earrings, pear earrings, a pearl necklace, a coral necklace, a sapphire and emerald necklace, a pendant, a sapphire ring and 31,000 baht in cash.

Ms. Ooy confessed to all and now awaits due process of law.

Disturbed Swede destroys hotel room

Looked up until he calmed down

An overwrought Swedish national last week became violent and trashed his hotel room.

On December 14, management of the Siam Bayshore hotel called police to the scene. Police found the Swede brandishing a bath towel ‘matador style’ and shouting arcane oaths at an invisible foe. He was throwing hotel bedding and furniture around the room.

Swede Jan Peter Raen become violent and trashed his hotel room before police subdued him.

Officers managed to subdue Jan Peter Raen, 38, and take him to the Pattaya Police station. He was put in a holding cell for a short period until he calmed down.

Officers then notified the Royal Swedish Embassy and requested embassy officials to make arrangements to send the man back to Sweden.

According to Pattaya Police, this was not the first time Raen had done this. The first time, officers kept him in a cell for 24 hours. After he calmed down, they released him.

Police Major Pisanu Kingkaew said that sending the man back to his home country for treatment was the sensible course of action as police do not want to have to go through this trying ordeal again.

The major stated that when incarcerated, police kept him in a special cell so he could not hurt himself or annoy others.

Heart attack death attributed to Viagra

62 year old man dies soon after ingesting pill

On December 11, Pattaya Memorial Hospital informed police that a 62 year old US national, Mr. Donald Yukito, had taken Viagra and suffered a heart attack. He died at the hospital.

Police Colonel Phinij Satchareon and several other officers went to the hospital to investigate.

Mr. Yukito had apparently taken the drug at his hotel and gone into a shock reaction.

He managed to tell doctors that he took 500 milligrams of the drug.

Doctors did their best but could not save Mr. Yukito.

PBTA complains of rising electric rates

Ask to be part of pricing committee

Hotel and business operators, and members of the Thai Hotels Association (THA), are upset over the rising costs of electricity, so stated at the meeting of the Pattaya Business and Tourism Association (PBTA) on December.

Mr. Thanes Suphahasrangsri, a local hotelier and Secretary of the PBTA, stated that EGAT has been adjusting fees every month for the past four months.

Ft pricing, or "automatic pricing" has been the main bone of contention within the group. The PBTA feels that the private sector should be consulted before price changes are made.

PBTA has requested that Dr. Sawit Photivihok, Minister attached to the Prime Minister’s Office, change the current policy to include on the pricing committee members of the private sector, representatives from industry, the Thai Chamber of Commerce and various businesspeople, and make Dr. Piyasawat Amranan, Secretary of the Board of Energy Policy, president of the committee.

The conclusion was that there should be a seminar held in a ‘town meeting’ fashion with members of the Thai Hotels Association of the East Coast participating.

Dr. Sawit stated that the matter would be taken under consideration, with all factors considered and solutions presented.

Clarifying labor laws

Workshop held regarding women and children in the work force

On December 9, Supoj Laowansiri, Deputy Governor of Chonburi, presided over the opening of a workshop, ‘The Duties and Rights of Women and Children Workers According to the Laws of 1998.’

This was initiated by the Labor Protection and Social Security Department of Chonburi.

This meeting was due to the government’s seeing the importance of the labor of women and children in developing the country, in the societal, economic and political sectors.

The trend is for more involvement of women and children in labor, such as industry, commerce, the service industry and other areas.

Due to the physical differences between men, women, children and especially pregnant women, the Labor Protection Department has made special provisions for them in the law.

Women and children may not engage in labor before 6:00 a.m. or after 10:00 p.m.; may not work around machinery with moving parts; supervise vehicles or conveyances; lift heavy objects; work overtime or work on holidays. This law especially applies to pregnant women.

The workshop also talked of safety measures, first aid and prevention of accidents in the workplace.

This was another step forward in making the county more ‘world standard’ in its labor practices, which will bring more foreign currency into the country.

Over 150 child and women laborers attended the workshop, from 30 companies.

Get out the sweaters - winter has arrived in Thailand

Officials warn - be careful of fire

It is now officially ‘winter’ in Thailand. The winds blow, the temperatures drop and everyone who lives here is miserable while tourists cavort with glee.

Winter in Thailand causes many and various things to happen, both good and bad.

The rice farmers have harvested the rice and the vegetables are gathered. The fruit has just set on the trees. The vegetable farmers will now plant their ‘short growing season’ vegetables such as lettuce and kale. This will help the dreadful economic situation.

In the ‘old days’, winter was considered a season of rest for farmers and animals such as cows and buffalo. Local games were played with a vengeance.

The men flew kites and there were exciting cow races.

One of the bad effects is the cold air. In some mountainous areas, it gets so cold that people have been known to die from exposure. This is not uncommon in the northern and Isan areas.

People’s skins dry out; their heels crack and colds are rife. People stay close to fires and put cream on their skin.

Another interesting fact is that more children are conceived during the winter months than at any other time.

Birds, such as swallows and mynahs fly to warmer equatorial climes. Ducks forsake the web-wrinkling water to dip their feet in the South Seas. Some birds are so sensitive that they get cases of the ‘vapors’ and faint from the cold.

Earthworms, not able to stand the cold earth, wriggle to the surface of the ground to breathe their last gasp.

The main problem is forest and grass fires. That, of course, happens only in areas where there is any forest left to burn.

This is also a time when people ‘keep the home fires burning’.

The Pattaya Mail cannot warn too strongly that people must tend these fires carefully, as there is added danger of fire getting out of control.

One should check all power lines, plugs and electrical equipment to make sure that it is in tip-top order.

In Pattaya last week, there were many grass fires a day and we don’t mean the kind usually found in tourist guesthouses. Most of these were due to cigarettes being carelessly tossed away while still burning.

If anyone should see a fire burning in a forest or grassy area, they should call (038) 221-000 24 hours a day.

Pluak Daeng residents stage protest

Fear new factory will destroy local environment

The residents of Pluak Daeng Village are in an uproar about the building of the Thai-Singapore Industrial Estates on more than 10,000 rai of land. They are afraid this may cause pollution. They have sent a representative to deliver a letter to the Ministry of Science and Technology, asking them to carefully review the project and the effects it will have. They are afraid the situation will turn out like the ‘Genco Mob’.

Mr. Prasert Butnampetch, a resident of Pluak Daeng in Rayong, acting representative for the farmers of the village presented the letter to Mr. Pornthep Techaphaiboon, Assistant Minister of Science and Technology and the Environment on November 11, 1998 protesting the building.

The letter stated that the building would be built above the sources of usable water which could lead to pollution of the drinking and bathing water in the eastern province. This has happen before in Mab-Ta-Phut and the government and private contractors involved have never made any information public about the adverse effects the building might have on water and air.

Mr. Pornthep said he received the letter and would give it his full consideration. He also said he would send experts to see if the complaints were warranted or not. He would then review a report they would make of their findings.

He said he could not do this immediately as there was a report being compiled on the effects of a rubbish dump being built and all experts were engaged in this project at the time.

The building project, a joint Thai-Singaporean effort, is comprised of a group of Thai sugar refinery owners and the Jetisia International Company of Singapore, a subsidiary of the Joo Long Town Corporation. The capital investment division is 60%-40% and was begun during the administration of late General Chaovalit Yongchaiyuth.

The first stage will be built on an area of 1,365 rai and consists of 12 prefabricated factories of large and medium sizes. People are afraid that these factories will have adverse effects in many areas, including fresh water resources.

News sources in the province say that the Environmental protection board has received reports that the various countries involved in building the factories; Japan, Taiwan, Singapore and even Germany, have not the least bit of fear and do not accept that there will be any adverse environmental effects. If the factories are set up the villagers will resist it tooth and nail.

This type of thing has caused major demonstrations in this village before.

Baht Bus Problems

Comment by Boonleua Chatri

A large percentage of tourists coming to Thailand visit Pattaya.

Recently Mr. Pairat Suthithamrongsawat, Mayor of Pattaya stated the three most common problems for visitors to Pattaya. The road construction, the 1,000 baht buses in Pattaya and the problem of tourist safety.

His Excellency the Mayor has ordered that these three problems be solved as quickly as possible. Progress has been made with problems one and three.

There has yet to be a sincere effort made to solve the problem with the baht bus cooperative. That the police, city officials and others have vested interest in the baht buses has caused Pattaya to be an ‘incestuous’ city. One may also see that many of the vehicles which block Pattaya’s street and sidewalks are those of public officials. So, it is easy to see why the public’s cries for ‘No vehicles on Beach Road!’ are ignored.

As for the baht bus cooperative, it is continually putting new vehicles on the road making it more difficult to supervise them. All those responsible for monitoring the buses operation should be criticized. We ask officials, why must there be over 1,000 buses for only four main roads?

This is in addition to the over 1,000 motorcycle taxis which ply Pattaya’s roads.

When Thai visitors come on weekends, it is almost impossible for them to find space to park their automobiles. If a visitor should ‘blunder’ and park in an area which is a certain group’s ‘turf’, the visitor often returns from the beach and finds their car vandalized or damaged as a ‘warning’ not to invade. Tires are often slashed. These are not isolated incidents.

The baht buses often take advantage of foreign tourists by charging exorbitant fares. Thai tourists are often subject to physical threats and obscene language. There are no specific routes and drivers stop where they please, often blocking traffic.

The above problems have adverse effects on visitors’ states of mind and a vacation can become an ordeal.

We ask that the Pattaya City administration tend to this problem, before Pattaya receives more coverage on the already infamous baht bus drivers.

In this area of globalization, problems such as this cannot be ‘swept under the carpet’ anymore.

Ethics and the Media Revolution

by Kittisak Khamthong

The Pattaya Mass Media Association held a seminar on December 12. The subject was ‘Revolution in the Media’. Members discussed five topics: ‘Ethics and the Media Revolution’, ‘The Role of the News Monitoring Committee and the Media Revolution’, ‘The Role of Academics and the Instruction of Ethics in the Media Revolution’, ‘The Adjustments Needed to be Made by the Media for the Media Revolution in Order to Serve the Thai People’ and ‘The New Way and the Media Revolution.

Mr. Sukhsomjit, President of the National News Monitoring Committee presided at the opening of the seminar.

Many teachers and professors of journalism were also present at the meeting. There were over 80 scholars, experts in law and ethics. An official from the American Agency USIS was also present.

Ms. Chutima said there were two main reasons for the ‘media revolution’. Journalists felt that the Thai media was not keeping up with the rapidly changing world and was not meeting the public’s needs.

Mr. Suthichai Yoon, a Board Member of the Media Monitoring Committee said regarding the present state of the media, "All reporters coming out of the various institutions are ‘trash’..." due to no training in ethics.

He continued, saying that study of media and journalism had become ‘fashionable’ and a way to boast. He encouraged an increase in viable and ethical reporting.

Professors from various institutions of learning agreed with Mr. Suthichai’s assessment. This one comment in the seminar reflects a view from the ‘outside’, an opinion of the general quality of reporting to the people.

All forms of the media are very aware that the public often ‘gets what it wants but not what it needs’. This seminar shows that a reporter must be flexible yet also educate the public at the same time.

One would think that reporters would feel denigrated by such criticism but it is not so. All forms of the media wish to report news which will inform the people of the needs of society and the problems which exist within it. In the past, the media made the mistake of catering to the lowest common denominator. There is great excitement that serious and analytically probing reporting is now a possibility.

Austration Thai Chamber of Commerce Seaboard Sundowners

The Australian-Thai Chamber of Commerce held its final Seaboard for Sundowners for 1998 at the home of BHP MD Hardy Papson last weekend. Special guest of the evening was the Australian Ambassador, H.E. Bill Fisher, who expressed his delight at being down in Pattaya again.

These Australian get togethers are now becoming very popular, with the legendary Aussie hospitality and lack of pomp and ceremony very much evident. Special mention was made of K. Somsak and the hard working team from the Royal Garden Resort, who again were the caterers for this event.

The following day, Ambassador Fisher and several members of the Chamber went to Ban Khao Huai Mahad School to view the site of the 1999 library project. This school has been chosen as the recipient of the Australian-Thai Chamber of Commerce’s charity scheme for the next year.

Thai windsurf team gains advantage through chiropractic therapy

Members of the National Windsurfing team have learned that performance improves when the nerve system is properly tuned. Dr. Ron Watkins of Pattaya Chiropractic Center has been checking their spines and adjusting any irregularities. With special exercises to strengthen the weak joints, their general health improved. After strenuous competition a spinal adjustment is always gratefully appreciated.

(Front from left) Kookiat Sakulpeng, Su-hi-me Muhamad Gazem, Panutat Ruamsab. (Back from left) Aran Homraruen, Coach Pattana Boonsawad, Dr. Ron Watkins, Pradab Ra-ngabpit, and Napalai Tarnsai.

The team was in excellent condition from the first examination but several had annoying leg, neck or shoulder pains. These improved quickly and they did better at sailing. At the 1997 Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, a few countries sent teams two months early for weather adaptation. Life Chiropractic College checked spines daily for many of the athletes, even though they had no back pains. Coaches were pleased to see the performance improving with this "fine tuning". The Thai team has found similar improvement.

Copyright 1998 Pattaya Mail Publishing Co.Ltd.
370/7-8 Pattaya Second Road, Pattaya City, Chonburi 20260, Thailand 
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Created by Andy Gombaz, assisted by Chinnaporn Sangwanlek.