Two men rob Bangkok Bank

Trickery used instead of weapons

Two men described as Chinese in origin stole 14,000 baht from the currency exchange booth outside the Bangkok Bank on Pattaya 2nd Road opposite Soi 6.

Bangkok Bank’s currency exchange booth on Pattaya 2nd Road fell prey to a pair of Chinese con men.

The bank tellers at the foreign exchange both told police two Chinese men between 20-25 years old wearing black jackets came up to the window asking to exchange 500 US dollars into Thai currency. Before handing over the banknotes the two men began bickering, causing some confusion. The teller said he was momentarily distracted as one of the men reached in and grabbed 14,000 baht. The two then ran off, jumped on a large motorcycle that was idling nearby and sped away towards Central Pattaya Road.

Police were unable to find any trace of two men fitting the description. Police are conducting an intensified search and believe the two are the same criminals wanted for a similar robbery at the Thai Farmers Bank in Central Pattaya just a few weeks earlier.

American Tourist dies in hotel room

Police surmise heart attack

Robert John Rochow, a 34-year old American tourist from Minnesota, was pronounced dead by medical examiners on December 28, 2000.

Management at the hotel in Soi Bua Khao where he was staying reported the death to Pattaya municipal police at 2.30 p.m.

When police arrived to investigate, Rochow was lying on the hotel room bed and there was no visible evidence of a struggle.

Miss Pranee Munkaew, age 20, from Ubon Province, who was in the room at the time, told police that she had been staying with Rochow for the past couple of weeks. She said Rochow had gone out drinking the previous night in South Pattaya and stayed out all night. She said when he returned at 9.00 a.m. the following morning, he became violently ill and passed out on the bed. She said she called for a doctor but by the time help arrived it was too late.

The body was transferred to the police forensic lab for further examination to determine the cause of death.

A police spokesman said the initial investigation suggests that excessive alcohol may have induced a heart attack, but police won’t know for sure until the autopsy reveals further information.

The U.S. Embassy has been notified.

Drunken monk arrested during “night on the town”

Making mockery of the faith

Bang Lamung police were called to intervene at the Nong Toi 2 Cafe on Sukhumvit Road near the entrance into South Pattaya at 1.00 a.m. on January 4 where an inebriated man dressed in Buddhist monk robes was demonstrating unsuitable behavior and making a mockery of the faith.

When police arrived, the man dressed as a monk reeked of alcohol and was barely able to stand on his own. Two male employees of the Nong Toi had him in custody.

Police searched him and found 2,000 baht in cash but no documentation identifying him as a monk.

A female singer employed at the cafe told police she was standing with other girls out front waiting to welcome guests when the monk came sauntering up to her and began talking to her using daring language and wanting to buy beer. She said the girls ran inside and informed others of the situation, and the two male employees went out and detained him until police arrived.

During police questioning, the monk identified himself as Phra Somkhuan Pabhadsaro, age 50, from Was Asaromwiwek in Soi Khao Talo, which is just a few kilometers from the Nong Toi.

He told police he felt like having a beer and ended up drinking more bottles than he can remember, and then began wandering along the road. He said that when he saw the group of good looking girls in front of the cafe he was unable to resist and decided to indulge further since he had already failed to control his desires.

The monk was escorted to Wad Sawang Faa Phyrtaram Temple in Naklua to ascertain if he was actually a monk. If he is, he will be defrocked and returned to the police station where he will be charged for his unacceptable behavior and tried in court. If it turns out he is not a monk, other charges would apply for posing as a monk, wearing sacred robes and sardonically damaging the Buddhist faith.

Another skeleton found near Pratamnak Road

Send in past two-months

Miss Uyaree Klinhom notified Pattaya municipal police that she had found a set of skeletal remains at 4 p.m. on January 4.

The discovery was the second of its kind within the past two months.

Miss Uyaree found the skeleton near the entrance of the Thai-Norway Village in Moo 12 off Pratamnak Road on the hill between South Pattaya and Jomtien. Miss Uyaree told police she was out collecting edible plants in the forested area when she stumbled on the skeletal remains. The remains were about 20 meters from the road in an area that was recently burned to clear out the overgrowth.

The condition of the remains made it difficult to discern if the corpse was male or female. However, the initial examination of the frame and its estimated height of about 165-170 cm led officers to believe it was a male.

A stainless steel necklace with a Luang Pho Khun pendant was around the neck with remnants of a multi-colored warm-up suit still clinging to the skeletal frame, which had been burned in the brush fire.

Police found no information to identify the body and the remains were transferred to the police forensic lab for further examination.

Last month another set of skeletal remains were found in a large black plastic bag about 200 meters from where these remains were discovered.

Unidentified man found lynched in Nong Pla Lai

Hands tied, hung by the neck from a tree

On New Year’s Day, Nong Pla Lai Sub-district residents discovered the body of a man hanging from a tree in a secluded area. The hands were securely tied behind the back with a stainless steel belt, and electrical wire was fastened around the neck and connected to tree limbs above.

Bang Lamung police were led to the area, which was about 200 meters from the main road, Soi Nern Kamnan, and 50 meters away from a large pond in an overgrown area.

No one in the local vicinity recognized the man, who is believed to have been between 20-25 years of age. Marks on the body indicated the man was beaten with a heavy blunt object. The condition of the body suggests the death occurred about 5-7 days earlier.

Residents recalled hearing a vehicle drive into the secluded area late at night about the same number of days ago, but no one paid any attention.

Police believe the unidentified man may have been murdered before hanging.

The body was transferred to the police forensic lab and police are still awaiting the final results, which may take up to 30 days to complete.

In the meantime, the fingerprints are being cross-examined in case the body can be identified from a previous arrest, and police investigators are contacting local community leaders to see if the man can be identified from physical markings or if anyone fitting the description has been reported missing.

Hordes of tourists converge on Pattaya for New Year

Traffic dense, beaches packed

Pattaya was brimming with tourists from all parts of the world over the long New Year’s weekend. Beaches in Pattaya and Jomtien were packed, and traffic was dense as holidaymakers headed for the coast to bring in the New Year.

“Tis the season...” Local beaches were packed over the holidays.

Beach vendors were beaming, as business couldn’t be better. Food and beverages were being sold in record numbers and the beach massage trade was bustling.

Traffic was a problem, but the police were out in full force to direct the congestion. Officers controlling the congested areas did a commendable job considering the amount of traffic and the availability of parking.

The long-awaited bathroom facilities at Jomtien Beach could have made a decent profit from the endless stream of visitors, and where people sought relief is obvious; hopefully the new water treatment facility will cancel out the holiday surge in wastewater.

Thai Rak Thai Party campaign vehicle gets stoned

Three area business organizations pushing for zoning

Want to control, not eliminate certain businesses

by Veerachai Somchart

Three local business organizations are pushing local government to implement zoning laws in Pattaya. The Pattaya Business and Tourism Association (PBTA), the Thai Hotel Association Eastern Chapter (THA) and the Pattaya Hotel Community (PHC) are all lobbying to zone Pattaya to keep entertainment places away from schools, residential areas and temples.

A committee made up of members from the private sector, business community, municipal and district police, the city mayor and the district chief has been researching the possibility of zoning. This “zoning committee” is the result of a proposal made during Pattaya’s first Government and Private Sector (G&PS) meeting held last September.

Proponents want to reinvent the city’s image and protect residents from undue noise by isolating such entertainment to specific localities. The backers of the zoning are also concerned with Pattaya’s image in the world media, which, they say, is causing a decline in the number of “desired” tourists (families) to the area. Meanwhile, they say, other categories of tourists continue to increase, attracting criminal elements and other undesirable types.

The zoning committee is also concerned with the recent surge in the number of foreign prostitutes migrating to Pattaya, mostly from Russia, Myanmar and the Philippines. The committee also implied this is coinciding with an increase in the number of high-level officials and politicians converging on the city every week.

The committee’s plans to implement zoning in Pattaya is part of an overall scheme to transform the city’s image into being recognized for something other than a vacation spot for sex entertainment.

The committee has addressed the matter with local senators, the provincial governor and the Ministry of Interior, requesting the matter be carefully considered and that a course of action or at least a possible direction to correct the problem in the future be identified.

According to some members on the zoning committee, there is local government opinion that zoning controls conflict with free trade laws, or that the terminology associated with “free trade” practices is confusing, and therefore, zoning controls are not feasible unless government agencies take an active part in new legislation by re-writing laws governing entertainment businesses. They cited as an example the failure to legally control the number of beer bars and karaoke bars opening in Pattaya.

One committee suggestion would be to give Pattaya’s administration the authority to issue business permits.

However, there is some concern for the loss of revenue in taxes, but the current goal of the committee is not to eliminate the businesses in question or even limit the number. One speaker from the committee, Mr. Suwat Phaebhiromramarat (PHC chairman) said, “confining the types of business to certain localities is all that’s needed, and implementation doesn’t necessarily mean immediate action but rather plans with future goals, even if the desired affect is 3-5 years down the road. Again, what is driving the committee’s push for zoning controls is the numbers of tourists in certain categories having vacation funds available, and willing to spend, electing to travel elsewhere while other visitors with debatable intentions converge on Pattaya. Tourist agencies in many countries such as Brazil and Belgium refrain from recommending tourists from vacationing in Pattaya due to the reputation and the unavailability of suitable attractions.”

First UN treaty against transnational organised crime adopted by assembly

from the Child Labour News Service

With increasing international alarm at the growing power of criminal groups and their involvement in new and alarmingly exploitative crimes, the General Assembly has adopted the first international treaty to address these concerns.

The United Nations Convention against Transnational Organised Crime is intended to close the major loopholes blocking international efforts to crack down on those engaged in a wide range of highly profitable illegal enterprises, ranging from money laundering to trafficking in human beings. Also adopted were two protocols to the treaty covering combating the trafficking in women and children - whether for exploitation as cheap labour, or as prostitutes - and the smuggling of would-be immigrants, which is often carried out at great peril to the victims.

“The Convention adopted will be a welcome tool for investigators, prosecutors and judges throughout the world,” said Pino Arlacchi, Executive Director of the Vienna-based United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention (ODCCP), which did the behind-the-scenes work that contributed to agreement on the texts in record time of less than two years. “This milestone measure is a living tribute to the thousands of men and women who have lost their lives in pursuit of a world free of mafias, drug cartels and criminal gangs.”

The Convention was opened for signature at a conference in Palermo, Italy, held from 12 to 15 December 2000, and will come into force after it has been signed and ratified by 40 countries. At least 20 heads of State attended the Palermo meeting.

Under the terms of the Convention, countries would commit themselves to criminalizing participation in an organised criminal group, money laundering, corruption and obstruction of justice, as well as to eliminating “safe havens”, protecting witnesses, and facilitating the investigation and prosecution of cases involving more than one country. The protocols seek to promote international co-operation and strengthen national legislation to punish the traffickers and to protect the victims.

What was critical, however, would be its implementation. The first steps had been taken, but there was still a long way to go.

(For more information, including complete texts of the Convention and Protocols, please visit the Palermo Signing Conference web site at http://www.odccp.org/palermo/)

Another elephant born in Pattaya