South Pattaya docks construction receives green light

Construction to begin next year

Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai presided over the opening ceremony of the new Aromatics Factory at the Sriracha Esso Refinery on November 12.

Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai accepted a donation of 2.1 million baht from Esso. One million baht of the donation will go towards educational funds for underprivileged children in Sriracha and the additional 1.1 million baht will support the Sawang Watana Memorial Hospital in Sriracha.

The Aromatics Factory is a combined project between the two companies of Exxon Chemical and Esso, subsidized by the BOI.

The over US$400 million factory can produce up to 350,000 tons of paraxylene per year, and will operate under the project name of Tarp (Thailand Aromatics Recovery Project). The modern factory will produce Purified Terephthalic Acid (PTA), which is polyester film used in various synthetic materials.

The project employed 3,500 people in Thailand during the construction. British Safety Council inspections awarded the project a 5 star approval, as the project demonstrated the best safety statistics in the world, having only a .5 chance of an accident occurring during 11 million hours of operation.

As part of the opening ceremony, Esso also presented one million baht in educational funds to go to underprivileged children in Sriracha, and an additional 1.1 million baht to support the Sawang Watana Memorial Hospital in Sriracha.

Foreign Mafia Suppression Center gets big boost

Receives 3 million baht to upgrade its posture

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, Major General Sanan Khajornprasad, and Director General of the Royal Thai Police, General Pracha Promnak presented funds in the amount of three million baht to the Foreign Mafia Suppression Center in Pattaya. The Center is made up of police agencies in Pattaya and Chonburi Province.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, Major-General Sanan Khajornprasad and the Director-General of the Royal Thai Police, Pol. General Pracha Promnak present 3 million baht to members of the Foreign Mafia Suppression Center to upgrade its operations.

The Foreign Mafia Suppression Center was originally located in Saen Sukh Municipality, but do to the increase in foreign mafia activities the center was moved to Pattaya.

The growing number of mafia related incidents required more attention than the center was capable of monitoring. The increase necessitated new and more modern methods to effectively suppress the crime activities. The funds will support the center’s mission with a modern communications facility that will directly connect it to the office of the Royal Thai Police in Bangkok.

Motorcycle driver rapes passenger

Then charges her for the ride

 Miss Malai Phornaon reported to Pattaya police that on November 3rd she was raped and robbed by a motorcycle driver.

The 26-year-old woman from Ubon told police she was walking on North Pattaya Road in the area of city hall looking for her boyfriend, who drives a tourist van. Since she was unable to find him, she hired a motorcycle taxi from a group of drivers next to the public phone booth near city hall. She asked to be driven to the Pattaya Hills Hotel on Pratamnak Road.

She said the driver entered the Pratamnak Hill area, but stopped next to a wooded area, telling her he had to relieve himself. Miss Malai said she stayed with the bike as he disappeared into the trees.

She said that when the driver returned, the driver struck her in the face with his fist causing her to fall to the ground and lose consciousness. She didn’t awaken until the man was completing having his way with her in the woods. He told her quietly to put on her clothes and not to mention it to the police. She said he threatened he would have her killed if she did.

The driver then took her the rest of the way to her destination, whereupon he asked for 70 baht to cover the fare. Miss Malai said she refused to pay, which caused the driver to curse her and slap her in the face. She said she then gave him 60 baht and he left.

Miss Malai described the man as about 150 cm tall, between the age of 20-25 years, driving a black, older model Honda. She was able to recall the first two numbers, 74, on the license plate.

Police have registered the complaint and are searching for the rapist.

Miss Malai was escorted to the hospital to identify injuries and receive treatment.

Postal employee arrested for credit card fraud

Intercepted Canadian’s card for her personal use

Canadian Richard Froggett reported to the Pattaya Tourist Police on 5 November 1999, that his credit card from the Royal Bank in Canada was never received in the mail and was being used. He said that someone had purchased 153,385 baht worth of merchandise.

Police officers investigated the case and discovered Richard Froggett’s credit card was used to purchase a number of items at the Uraiwan Jewellery Store in Sriracha by a 21 year old girl named Miss Saifon Siangsena who was living in Bang Phra, Sriracha. The items she purchased at the jewellery store included a hand held phone costing 51,397 baht, a diamond ring costing 73,663 baht and a gold necklace worth 28,325 baht.

Police tracked down Miss Saifon at her home and brought in for questioning. She admitted to police she stole the credit card while working as a temporary hire sorting mail at the Sriracha Post Office. Soon after purchasing the items she destroyed the credit card and threw the remains away in February 1999.

Miss Saifon is charged with stealing personal property and falsifying signatures on documents and has been transferred to the Sriracha Police for custody until tried in court.

City busily organizing Fishery Festival

Honoring His Majesty the King and promoting tourism

The city administration and members from the private sector, led by Chonburi Governor Sujarit Pachimnan, are finalizing preparations for the “Pattaya Fishery Festival” set for 3-5 December 1999.

The festival will display the ancient profession with customs and fishing methods from the four regions of Thailand, including various exhibits and entertainment sure to be of interest to visiting tourists. The festival will be located along Pattaya Beach Road near Soi 4.

City workers are busy building fishing hut replicas for the upcoming Fishery Festival to be held from December 3rd to 5th.

Her Serene Highness Phandhusawalee Kitiyakorn will be presiding over a number of ceremonies performed on December 3rd starting at 7:00 p.m. featuring customs and traditions from the different regions.

The community and government administrations from Pattaya, Banglamung and Chonburi are combining efforts in presenting the festival, which will include Buddhist ceremonies honoring the King’s birthday. Similar ceremonies and celebrations will also be taking place at the Royal Grounds in Bangkok and throughout the entire country.

South Pattaya docks construction receives green light

Construction to begin next year

The Pattaya City Council came to an agreement approving the plans to go ahead with the South Pattaya boat dock construction at Bali High Point. The Civil Engineers from the Ministry of the Interior contracted Asdicon Corporation Company Ltd. and the Scott Wilson Kirkpatrick Asia-Pacific Company Ltd. as consultants and planners for the dock construction.

The completed docks will accommodate up to 500 boats. A total of 340 million baht is being budgeted for the project over a three year period starting in the year 2000. Included in the construction are a parking lot, a public park and an administration building. Once the project is completed the responsibility of running the docks will be turned over to Pattaya City.

The parking lot and public park will be situated on 18.79 rai of land at Bali High where the tourist boats are now being parked.

According to the Pattaya City maintenance department the dock construction has been in the planning stages for some time now and the approval to dredge the coastal area was finally received from the National Environmental Committee. However, there still remains the problem of removing 101 buildings and structures in the area and if not feasible a road going around behind the area will have to be constructed detouring around the buildings.

Pattaya joins Budget World Class Drives

Weeks away from a predicted boom-time tourist season, Budget Rent-a-Car has introduced its latest ‘World Class’ Drive - Pattaya and the Eastern Gulf of Thailand.

Covering the greater metropolis as well as Ban Phe, Koh Samet, Hat Mae Pim, and other scenic drives, the comprehensive guide is aimed at the growing motoring leisure market.

Announcing the new personalized driving manual, Budget General Manager, Thailand, Allan Davidson said the company was continuing to target visitors arriving in Thailand who wanted to take advantage of “the great outdoors away from the cities”.

Mr. Davidson said Thailand was growing quickly as a sought-after destination for independent ‘fun’ motoring - for both Thais and tourists alike.

“The addition of Pattaya complements Budget’s other four, highly-successful independent motoring programs which continue to grow in popularity.” (The Phuket, Samui and Krabi loop, the Sukothai loop, the Golden Triangle loop, and the Chiang Mai - Mae Hong Son loop.)

“Following the recent opening of Budget’s Krabi outlet in September, it is shaping up to be a very busy tourist season for us,” Mr. Davidson said. “Indeed, Budget is looking at additional World Class Drives early next year.”

The Kingdom now has more than 16,000 kilometers of modern and well-constructed national highways, offering a huge diversity of scenic tourist attractions along the routes, he added.

Budget Rent-a-Car - one of the world’s largest car rental companies - has over 32,000 international locations worldwide, including 825 airport centers.

Results Ahead of Expectations as Strategy Kicks in

British Airways recently unveiled it pre-tax profits for the second quarter ahead of expectations at ฃ70m, excluding severance and disposals. Pre-tax profits for the six months to 30th September 1999 were ฃ240m, compared with ฃ385m for the same period last year. This included ฃ191 million of profits on disposal, primarily from the sale of remaining interest in Galileo International Inc., during the first quarter.

Operating profits for the six months were ฃ211 million and earnings per share were 20.3pence per share, compared to 33.2 pence last year. A dividend of 5.1 pence per share has been declared, unchanged for the last year.

Cost efficiencies from the last three year Business Efficiency Program have now topped the ฃ1bn per annum target. Further profit improvements of ฃ225m are expected for the full year.

Investment in products and service for customers has also increased, focused on unbeatable premium and economy products for the year ahead and beyond. New products include the Next Generation Club Europe launched in September, Club World Flying Beds from 1st March and the upgrading of Concorde from next September.

With these investments and the continuing company-wide programme of training and motivation, British Airways will continue to deliver the highest standards of customer service. Customer service indicators - including punctuality and baggage handling - have improved over last year. British Airways is now the most punctual major airline in Europe.

Bob Ayling, Chief Executive said: “It has been a tough year for the international airline industry but our strategy puts us in a position to benefit strongly as business picks up. Other airlines are now following our lead in cutting capacity and this will help close the gap in demand. Already, our actions have helped to deliver a good yield performance relative to our competitors and we expect this to continue. We are making significant investments in our products and services which will give us an unbeatable competitive advantage in the years ahead.”

Lord Marshall, Chairman of British Airways, said: “whist the immediate outlook is challenging, the positive actions of the management in changing the fleet and network strategy and the continued focus on customer service and cost efficiency, will store the profitability of the company.”

Qantas and ATC sign three-year global marketing agreement

Qantas Airways and the Australian Tourist Commission (ATC) have signed a tree-year Co-operative Global Marketing Agreement, renewing their joint and continuing commitment to promote Australia in key international markets around the world.

The document was signed by Qantas Group General Manager Marketing Sandra McPhee and ATC Managing Director, John Moss at an official ceremony at ATC headquarters in Sydney, Australia.

Both Ms McPhee and Mr. Moss said that the agreement recognized the importance of the long-standing partnership between Qantas and the ATC and provided a strong basis for further marketing initiatives.

“As the largest stakeholder in Australia’s tourism industry, carrying almost 40 percent of Australia’s international tourist traffic, Qantas is strongly committed to further develop the inbound tourism market,” she added.

Mr. Moss said that the ATC’s partnership with Qantas was vital to the long-term building of Brand Australia and the development of the destination. The next three years will provide some of the most important opportunities ever to build Australia’s inbound tourism industry, creating wealth and employment opportunities for tens of thousands of Australians.

“Our own promotional strategies are strengthened and enhanced through the cooperative work between the ATC and Qantas. The close working relationships between our teams in the international markets are particularly vital to ensure tourism growth opportunities are fully maximized,” he added.

The three year agreement covers inbound marketing, the Visiting Journalist Programme which foster visits to Australia by overseas travel media together with trade promotion and other forms of co-operation.

Copyright 1999 Pattaya Mail Publishing Co.Ltd.
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Updated by Boonsiri Suansuk