New pier construction leavng tour boats “high and dry”

Boat owners complaining about lack of parking space

Twenty of the boat owners stormed into Mayor Pairat’s office on August 8, demanding that construction be halted and that they be allowed to resume parking their boats there.

For the past few years, tour boat operators have been “allowed” to park their boats on public land on Bali Hai Point free of charge. Before that, the tour boat operators had been clogging traffic by putting in and taking out their boats on Beach Road.

The boat operators requested the mayor take emergency action to ease their plight, demanding construction be delayed until a new parking location could be identified. They also appealed to the mayor to allow them to park their watercraft in the area after construction is complete.

Pattaya Mayor Pairat Suttithamrongsawat, however, was not overly sympathetic. He denied their request, saying that the parked boats would obstruct the on-going construction, although the mayor did volunteer city officials to assist in trying to locate a new parking area.

The leader of the group, Sanit Bunmachai was not pleased with the response, but he had anticipated the reply and presented the mayor with a petition delineating the problem. The petition was addressed to the Department of Civil Engineering in the Ministry of Interior. Included in the document was a request for a construction delay and permission to park in the area after construction is completed. It had an added clause agreeing to pay parking fees if necessary.

Mayor Pairat volunteered some assistance to help locate a suitable area but suggested that the boat owners should be making a more concerned effort in finding their own location. He indicated that city officials may not come up with a suitable area according to the needs of everyone involved.

The mayor also said that the current problem stems from the Port Authority issuing too many permits to boaters operating in Pattaya Bay with no limiting controls. Their action resulted in all boat owners using public property to park their craft.

Mayor Pairat said that construction was already underway, and emphasized that there was no city policy in effect allowing the tourist boats to park on public property. He said that all boats need to vacate the area in order to allow construction to proceed.

Mayor Pairat also said the entire project is expected to take up to three years to complete, and afterwards the city of Pattaya will most likely be given the authority to control the area.

The mayor finally opted to present the request to the Saensukh Municipal Mayor Somchai Khunpleum but added he was making no promises as to whether the watercraft could park in the same vicinity after construction was completed. The mayor then said he would discuss the budgeting process with Port Authority officials for the construction of a parking area, which would concern the 2002-2003 budget.

Government outlines decentralization process

Local governments to get more funding

Representatives from local levels of government in the central and eastern regions were given a special lecture on government decentralization presented by Abhisit Vejjajira, Minister to the Prime Minister’s Office, at the Jomtien Ambassador City Hotel on August 11.

Abhisit Vejjajiva, Minister to the Prime Minister’s Office addressed 500 representatives from local levels of government on the government’s decentralization plan.

The 1997 Constitution effectively transfers power to local levels of government so that they may determine their own administrative policies, and control finances and local development. This led to legislative acts in 1999 to delineate the progressive steps required to complete the decentralization process.

The transfer of local authority and financial responsibilities includes local development, improving community quality of life, safeguarding communities and social order, commercial planning, investment, tourism, preserving the natural environment, and preserving cultural arts and local customs.

The plan includes a progressive increase of budget allocations to support the independent administration of local governments, a change from insufficient funding of the past. A 20% budget increase for local administration, equating to over 70 billion baht, is the initial target. This is scheduled to start in the year 2001. The increase is substantial compared to the 8-9% yearly budget increase usually allocated in the past.

The current plan specifies a budget allocation increase of up to 35% by the year 2006, equating to approximately 170 billion baht from the overall central budget. This will come from revenue collected from service charges on hotel rooms, electricity, water and other various taxes.

A committee has been formed to oversee the decentralization process, with a sub-committee formed to detail the plan of action, chaired by Abhisit Vejjajira. A one-year period from 2 February 2000 - 2 February 2001 was allocated to complete the planning of the decentralization process.

During the lecture, Abhisit said that the decentralization process is basically targeted to take place in three phases during a 10-year period. The first phase is scheduled to start in 2001 and take place over a 1-4 year period, possibly until 2005; the second phase will take place over a 2-5 year period from 2002-2006, and the third phase will take place over a 4-10 year period from 2004-2010.

Five hundred representatives of 25 provincial, municipal, and sub-district administrative organizations and Pattaya City attended the seminar.

The seminar will be presented three more times in other regions of the country, and will collect local opinion for further consideration and possible inclusion into the overall plan.

Fake casualties line the roads

Local rescue personnel given “Emergency Mass Casualty Training”

Anyone traveling along Sukhumvit Highway near the Jitibhawan Vocational College on the afternoon of August 9th may have been in for quite a shock. The side of the road was strewn with bodies, covered in “blood”, as dozens of rescue personnel worked feverishly to tend to them and get them to Bang Lamung Hospital.

If you happened to be one of those who witnessed the event, you can sleep easy, for it was just a training exercise conducted as a joint effort by the Sawang Boriboon Rescue Foundation and Bang Lamung Hospital.

Bad luck or good acting? Rescue personnel worked feverishly to attend to the “victims” along Sukhumvit Highway.

The objective of the training exercise was to prepare hospital staff and rescue personnel for emergency situations involving mass casualties, and to familiarize each member with their specific duties under hectic circumstances. The training exercise was designed to simulate the conditions that could arise from a major accident involving large numbers of casualties.

Bang Lamung Hospital Director Doctor Prasit Chittiwachanapong and Sawang Boriboon Rescue Foundation Director Nawin Sribunruang directed the exercise.

Car held for ransom

“100,000 baht or you’ll never see your car again!”

Nofal Fawad, a 30-year old man from Pakistan, had his brown Honda stolen from in front of the Omadtayam Pakistani Restaurant on Soi 16 Pratamnak Road. On August 6th, he was contacted by one of his countrymen who demanded 100,000 baht in exchange for the safe return of his car.

Ali Jaan Chovdhry was arrested and charged with auto theft and holding stolen property for ransom.

Instead of giving in to the demands, Nofal contacted Pattaya police for their assistance.

Pattaya police officers, led by Maj. Kittipong Pongpanich and Cpt. Sirichai Taratan, then surrounded the Hangket Condominium in Nong Prue where Nofal was told to show up with the money in exchange for the car.

Once on the scene, officers observed Ali Jaan Chovdhry, age 38, also from Pakistan, removing sheets covering a green colored Honda. Suspecting the car may be the one being ransomed, police stopped Ali Jaan before he got into the car.

Close inspection of the vehicle revealed that it had recently been painted green from its original brown color. The numbers on the Chonburi license plates were also altered.

Nofal was contacted and he brought in vehicle registration papers identifying the Honda as belonging to him, although now sporting a completely different color.

Nofal got his Honda back and Ali Jaan was charged with auto theft and holding stolen property for ransom.

Man shoots wife dead during domestic dispute

Husband says wife caused the gun to go off

Mrs. Wilaiwan Buaban, age 37, was shot dead on August 5 during an argument with her husband Waichai Yenjai.

Waichai Yenjai shot and killed his wife, but said it was an accident.

Pattaya Memorial Hospital contacted Pattaya Municipal Police after Wilaiwan was brought in with a fatal gunshot wound in the head. She was shot once with a .38 caliber pistol. The bullet had entered the palm of her right hand and exited the other side, proceeded into her right cheek and lodged in her brain.

A crowd of neighbors and relatives of the deceased who had gathered at the hospital told police Wilaiwan was shot by her husband Waichai Yenjai, who they said was still at their house near Nang Nual Restaurant in South Pattaya.

When police arrived at the couple’s house, Waichai still had the weapon in his hand, which he handed over to police with no hesitation. The .38 revolver still had five rounds in the cylinder, with one recently fired.

Before taking Waichai in for questioning, police searched the house and found that a struggle had taken place in the bedroom. There was a large pool of blood and a trail leading out of the house.

Waichai, age 40, denied police charges of murder. Instead, he described the fatal shooting as an accident, claiming he pulled the gun on his wife during a heated argument, pointed it at her mouth, but did not intend to shoot. He said his wife raised her hand in defense, knocking the gun and causing it to go off.

Waichai was arrested and charged with murder.

“Black Money” scam appears again

Will they ever learn?

Thirty-four year old Algerian Mohamed Kovidir was arrested last week for trying to pull the “Black Money” scam on an unsuspecting, and perhaps a bit too greedy Phetchabun woman named Nadtaporn Phubua.

Algerian Mohamed Kovidir (right) was arrested for trying to use the “Black Money” scam on Miss Nadtaporn Phubua (left).

The “Black Money” scam involves convincing an unsuspecting dupe that a certain chemical can “clean” money that banks have supposedly painted black for disposal. The dupe is then convinced to “buy” the money and the chemical so that the scammer can clean the money, which he is more than willing to split with the dupe.

Nadtaporn, 25, told police that she met Kovidir in Bangkok and that after the two had struck up an intimate relationship, he told her of a money making deal that he said could double her investment of 200,000 baht. Miss Nadtaporn said the man performed a demonstration for her, chemically treating a black colored 500 baht bank note, which magically transformed back into pristine condition. He then lured her into investing in the purchase of more of the “black money”, promising an easy profit.

Impressed with the demonstration and the prospect of doubling her investment, Nadtaporn handed over her gold necklace and bracelets agreeing to meet at a specified hotel in Jomtien with another amount of money to invest in the venture.

But before meeting with Kovidir, Nadtaporn talked with friends who eventually enlightened her to the popular scam, which seems to originate from the North African continent.

Miss Nadtaporn Phubua then related her story to Pol. Cpt. Sriprabha Subharatanachot of the Pattaya Police Special Suppression Center handling Children and Women’s Rights cases. Police devised a plan to use marked banknotes to entrap the scam artist.

Kovidir met with Nadtaporn and produced two stacks of the alleged colored money, prompting Nadtaporn to hand over another 5,000 baht. Kovidir commenced to treat the colored money with chemical solutions, but was unsuccessful, whereupon Nadtaporn alerted police officers waiting outside.

During Kovidir’s arrest, police confiscated the pre-marked banknotes, the stacks of phony money, the chemical solution and Nadtaporn’s gold jewelry.

Kovidir confessed to the scam, telling police he targeted the young girl as his prey because she appeared to be naive and was willing to partake in the money making scheme.

Hungarian tourist goes on drunken rampage

Apparently he didn’t like chairs

A tourist from Hungary, identified as Schreil Balzs, aged 33, was busily throwing chairs into the street when police officers arrived in South Pattaya near the King Seafood restaurant late one evening recently.

Hungarian tourist Schreil Balzs spent the night cooling off in the “monkey house” after losing his battle with chairs in South Pattaya.

Pattaya police were called to quell the disturbance before anybody was injured. In his intoxicated state, police were unable to communicate with Balzs and so hauled him into the Pattaya police station where he was identified from his passport. He was charged for drunk and disorderly conduct and held in custody until such time as he recovered from his night on the town.

Bang Lamung District Chief Vichien Chawalit performed the official duties during a ceremony honoring and commemorating HRH Queen Sirikit’s Birthday at the District Administration Building on the morning of August 12.

A large crowd of the Queen’s subjects from area communities, including officials in full dress uniform, local dignitaries and the general public, proudly assembled for the ceremony commemorating the auspicious occasion.

Bang Lamung District Chief Vichien Chawalit performs the ceremony honourning Her Majesty the Queen.

Considered the Mother of the Populous, the Queen’s birthday is celebrated as Mother’s Day throughout the country. The gathering was a sincere display of admiration and high esteem for Her Majesty Queen Sirikit’s assiduous efforts to bring about positive change in society.

HRH Queen Sirikit is highly regarded for implementing advancements in general education, humanitarian activities, improving the general welfare of the Thai people and gaining international recognition for her endeavors in preserving the natural environment.

District Chief Vichien expressed the wishes of the Thai people, calling on all the sacred influences in the universe to invoke the essence of the Buddhist Triple Gem to guide and look after Her Majesty the Queen, provide protection for Her from all harm, and impart to Her good health and long life.

Afterwards, officials and people from all walks of life took turns bestowing garlands and bouquets of flowers before a magnificent picture of Her Majesty Queen Sirikit, honoring and celebrating the occasion.

Education, electricity and trash being given top priority

Pattaya City has just over 205 million baht in its budget for 2001. Nearly 180 million baht of that money goes towards salaries and utilities, leaving almost 26 million baht for other projects. The problem is, at an August 8 budget conference at city hall, various offices submitted requests for over 89 million baht, and council members listed 17 projects requiring over 22 million baht.

City administrators at the conference, chaired by Pattaya Mayor Pairat Suttithamrongsawat, were tasked with paring down the requests and deciding which projects to give top priority, as well as look for ways to trim other unnecessary allocations.

Lively debates ensued, with supporting justifications for each project reviewed. In the end, city council members unanimously agreed upon three projects to receive allocations: 1.7 million will go for educational development, 1.85 million for library improvements and 4.3 million baht for a public electricity facility.

Mayor Pairat then identified the urgent requirement of allocating 15 million baht for sanitation and environmental development, specifically directed at city trash removal and disposal. Pattaya City is currently producing up to 250 tons of trash each day and the Chatrathai Trash Collection Company only has the capability to collect up to 100 tons per day, thereby requiring further upgrades and expansion.

Additionally, the trash disposal site located on 35 rai of land in Soi Chayapryk is at full capacity, causing hazards to residents living in the immediate area.

The mayor singled out trash collection and the landfill in Soi Chayapryk as the two projects requiring most urgent attention. Other projects will be temporarily put on hold.

Mayor Pairat also mentioned a plan to convert the Soi Chayapryk trash disposal site into a public playground and athletic field after it is closed down.