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Police release details
on city traffic plans
Pattaya traffic police inspector, Pol. Maj. Somchai
Pongsai, recently divulged details pertaining to plans to improve city
traffic.
At the beginning of the briefing, the police major
pointed out that contrary to popular belief, the traffic police unit in
Pattaya has been aggressively implementing action against baht busses
erratically parking in front of the large retail stores such as Lotus,
Mike’s Shopping Mall, Central Festival Center, and Tops.
 Pattaya
traffic police inspector, Pol. Maj. Somchai Pongsai demonstrates new traffic
procedures scheduled to take affect soon.
Pol. Maj. Somchai presented figures from the month of
October indicating 287 parking violations were issued, and in November 275
were recorded. Both numbers are separate from the monthly average of 1,000
traffic tickets issued to vehicles and motorbikes for other violations, many
going to baht bus drivers for various driving infractions.
The police major also said that his unit has already
requested funds to support the purchase and installation of 80 signs
designating baht bus stopping points around Pattaya. The request was
coordinated with the committee organized to monitor police operations in
Pattaya.
Referring to the progress underway changing 2nd Road into
one-way from Central to North Pattaya Road, the traffic police chief said
that directional signs along the side streets were already in position, but
have temporary coverings that can easily be removed on the scheduled start
date, January 15, 2002.
Pol. Maj. Somchai also said the U-turn area in front of
Pattaya City Hall was blocked off to prevent dangerous situations resulting
from increased traffic flow going to the new Lotus. At the request of the
city mayor, he said the location was later re-opened to allow traffic
exiting City Hall to complete a turn; however, the location still poses
obvious dangers and a better solution is being sought.
Bad Cops Beware
Committee heads volunteer to accept
information about criminal activity involving men in uniform
Boonlua Chatree
At least one of the committees recently set up to tackle
Pattaya’s problems has taken a proactive stance and is seeking input from
local communities.
The committee, headed by Surat Mekhawarakul, president of
the Pattaya Business and Tourism Association (PBTA), and Chachawal
Subhachayanon, president of the Thai Hotel Association, Eastern Chapter (THA),
announced that they would make themselves available should anyone wish to
report suspected criminal activity involving men in uniform. Surat said that
he, Chachawal and Mrs. Sopin Thappajug could be contacted to expose criminal
activities involving influential persons.
The committee was set up to follow police actions in
Pattaya.
Members of the committee recently brought together senior
police officers and residents from communities in Pattaya, Larn Island, Nong
Phangkhae, Sai, Kophai, Roilang, and the community around Wat Chaiyamongkol.
The goal of the meeting was to survey public opinion about what needs
require the most immediate attention.
However, the main problems representatives from each
community agreed upon were drug addiction, trafficking and related crimes
stemming from the nation-wide drug problem.
The focus of the meeting turned to procedures involved
when reporting suspected drug related activities to police. Recognizing the
difficulties involved when informers can later be exposed to threatening
situations, the committee decided precautions need to be integrated into the
reporting procedure with full cooperation from everyone involved.
One idea proposed was to create detailed forms on which
people could report suspected criminal activities. The forms would be made
available to members in all communities, and would be designed in such a way
as to protect the reporter’s identity.
These reports could also be turned in to members of the
committee from the private sector should anyone wish to report illegal
activities involving “men in uniform”.
Vice Governor opens
Crime Prevention Volunteer Training Class 1
Volunteers play an important part in
reducing crime
Vichan Pladplueng
Suphoj Lawansiri, vice-governor of Chonburi, presided
over the opening ceremony of a training class for 50 volunteer members of
the Banglamung Crime Prevention Volunteers. The class included many
community leaders and sub-district officers, and was held at Wat
Prachumkhongkha in Rong Po.
 Suphoj
Lawansiri, vice-governor of Chonburi, presided over the opening ceremony
of Crime Prevention Volunteer Training Class 1.
The vice-governor expressed his sincere gratitude to
the group for unselfishly sacrificing their time away from home and family
to help protect area communities.
During the vice-governor’s introduction to the class
he cited the rising crime rate and the shortage of police officers to meet
the daily demands as reasons calling for assistance from volunteers to
help maintain social order.
Vice-governor Sophoj reviewed some of the many
achievements that past crime prevention volunteers were instrumental in
suppressing. Most notable, Suphoj said, were efforts in purging areas of
motorbike gangs racing on deserted roads and providing valuable
information leading to the identification of sources trafficking in
illegal drugs.
The volunteers are an integral part in combating crime
in today’s communities around the country, he said, and require solid
representatives from the community that can be counted on to do what is
right, avoid abusing authority, and make residents proud of their
community.
Sattahip Naval Base
assembles for 79th anniversary
Boonlua Chatree
Rear
Admiral Suthas Khayim assembled his staff and sailors on December 25 for a
ceremony to commemorate the founding of Sattahip Naval Base.
Commander Rear Admiral Suthas Khayim assembled his
staff and the sailors assigned at base headquarters on December 25 during
a ceremony commemorating the founding of Sattahip Naval Base.
Commander of the Royal Thai Navy Admiral Prasert
Boonsong was the special guest of honor and presided over the ceremony,
and a host of other guests from the community and public office were in
attendance.
The senior naval officers also performed a
“tamboon” ceremony early in the morning with monks sanctifying the
auspicious occasion. Afterwards sacred offerings were presented at the
monument of HRH Prince Admiral Chumporn Khet Udomsak.
Sattahip Naval Base was first established on December
23, 1922, during the reign of Rama VI, after His Majesty King Vajiravudh
selected the location during a visit to the area. The location was chosen
because of the vast bay area and the many large and small islands in and
around the bay.
The first name given to the naval unit assigned to the
base was “Sattahip Troops” and later the base turned into a training
station. As the mission of the navy expanded the base acquired the name of
“Naval Contingency” and was renamed “Sattahip Naval Base” in July
19, 1974.
Grover Tailors gets
temporary reprieve
Insists order to remove rear extension is
unclear
Grover Tailors on Walking Street in South Pattaya has
been ordered to remove a section at the rear of the building, becoming the
second business targeted by the provincial court. The first was Nang Nual
Restaurant.
The owner of the tailor shop, Harbree Grover, received
notice in August instructing him to remove an unauthorized portion
extended over the shore that had allegedly been added on to the
three-story building.
 This
little extension at the back of Grover’s Tailor is under dispute - the
provincial authorities want it removed.
Grover received another visit from Chonburi litigation
enforcement officials on December 20, who showed up with heavy equipment
with the intent to begin to remove the unauthorized portion of the
building. However, Grover adamantly disagreed with the court order, saying
that it was not written clearly.
Apparently Grover had received a similar order 15 years
ago, in 1988, and told the officials that he had complied with that order.
He took the officials to the back of the building and showed them that the
portion he deemed to be in question had already been removed 15 years ago
when the first order was received.
He told the officials that any doubts could be easily
eliminated either by waiting for the tide to go out or diving underwater
and observing the former foundation that still remains.
Grover also told officials that many other businesses
in full view from the rear of his shop had extensions much longer than the
short section protruding from the back of his place.
Grover apparently complained that clarification is
needed about what type of measuring instruments were used in the past, who
was tasked with taking the measurements is in question, and what exactly
is going on.
The litigation enforcement official, Supachai Pongsiri,
said that he would register Grover’s argument and the information and
outstanding questions would be made available to the city mayor.
Additionally, Supachai said he would register statements with the Pattaya
municipal police describing their efforts having been thwarted by the
occupants of the building. He said clarification should be available
within 15 days.
Documents were then signed and witnessed allowing the
15-day reprieve.
According to the court order issued in August 2001
notifying Grover Tailor to remove the unauthorized extension, he was to
have the removal completed by October 17.
Governor says
permit renewal time key to eliminating social ills
Blacklist of foreigners being maintained
Chonburi governor Chadet Insawang and his deputies said
that refusing permit renewals for businesses that have continually
disregarded the new social reforms would be one way to eliminate social
ills from the city.
The governor and his men, along with leading officials
from both the province and Pattaya City met with members from the press on
December 25 to respond to questions pertaining to current issues on social
reforms.
The areas receiving attention include the city’s
stigma regarding the sex trade, child prostitution, city streets, children
and beggars on the streets, foreigners involved with crime, organizing
vendors on the beach, businesses taking advantage of tourists and other
related problems.
The new district chief officer, Chaen Cheunsiva, said
that only 290 nightspots currently operating in Pattaya and Banglamung
have proper permits.
He said the small percentage equates to the many other
types of entertainment businesses, such as “over a thousand” karaokes
and beer bars, which are not specifically covered in current laws. The
antiquated laws only pertain to discos, massage parlors, teahouses, coffee
shops, and other businesses popular many decades ago.
“Stricter enforcement can be expected,” Chadet
said, “and some businesses may find it difficult to obtain permit
renewals and liqueur licenses depending on past records maintained by the
district office.”
Governor Chadet said that this stricter enforcement
will hold true for police dealing with drug traffickers and foreigners
involved with criminal activities. The governor said that blacklists of
foreigners who are suspected of being involved in criminal activities are
being maintained by the provincial office.
The governor, referring to actions taken in the outer
provinces involving suspected drug trafficking, said that if warnings were
ignored and trafficking continued, the suspects were later discovered to
be “eliminated” through “decisive actions” before the nation was
damaged further.
He said that suspected drug traffickers and related
information can be reported directly to the Chonburi Drug
Suppression/Prevention Center, 38-274404, or the governor’s office at
38-274441 and 277000.
Governor Chadet also said that there are other areas
requiring corrective action that have not previously received mention. He
said a provincial official would be tasked with solving the problem of
squatters taking up business on public property, specifically on Koh Larn
and Koh Sichang.
Officials are considering designating Koh Sichang as a
controlled environmental preservation zone, and implementing taxes to
maintain the natural environment. The governor said the decision should be
final within 30 days.
The governor also made reference to traffic problems in
Pattaya as a problem area not tasked to one of the new committees, and
said due to the enormity of the problem, he plans to personally coordinate
the action with the appropriate offices involved.
Drunken husband
sets house on fire
Wife scolded him for partying too much
Boonlua Chatree
 Prawit Pankaew allegedly set his house ablaze on December
22 after receiving a thorough scolding from his wife for partying too much.
While holding her eight-month old daughter, Mrs. Tu
Pankaew told police that her husband, Prawit, intentionally started the
fire. She said Prawit came home drunk after celebrating the New Year with
some friends, and she thoroughly scolded him for neglecting his family.
She said she then left her husband alone and went into
the bedroom with the baby to sleep, but the smell of smoke woke her up.
Investigating the smell, she said she saw her husband throwing things into a
blazing fire in the outer room. She said she grabbed the baby and ran from
the house yelling for help.
 Mrs.
Tu Pankaew and her eight-month old child stand outside as their house burns
to the ground.
Neighbors called the fire department at 1:20 a.m., and
when the fire department arrived, the neighbors were busily trying to
prevent the flames from leaping to adjacent homes. Using all available hoses
connected to nearby water taps, the neighbors had successfully kept the fire
from spreading.
However, the Pankaew home was a dry, wooden structure and
there was little to save when fire fighters arrived. When the flames were
finally extinguished, all that remained was a burned out shell.
Luckily, no one was hurt.
At the time of this reporting Mrs. Tu’s husband, Prawit,
was still at large. According to Mrs. Tu, he was last seen running off into
the woods behind the housing area.
Five hooligans make
off with veritable treasure, but ...
All five were arrested in nearby lot
mulling over the loot
Boonlua Chatree
Five youths broke into the house of a well-off beer bar
owner and made off with a veritable treasure of cash and jewelry. However,
before they had a chance to decide what to do with it, they were all caught
in a nearby lot, still looking in amazement at what they had just stolen.
Neighbors alerted Pattaya municipal police to the robbery
in progress at approximately 1.00 p.m. on December 22. The house belonged to
Miss Angkhuranant Yasungnern, 45, who owns the Lovely beer bar in South
Pattaya.
By the time police arrived on the scene, the thieves had
managed to break down a door, drag the safe out onto the front lawn and pry
it open with sledge hammers and a steel lever.
Inside the safe, the thieves found gold rings with
diamonds, an assortment of gold chains weighing from 2-10 baht, expensive
watches, fancy pins made of gold and imbedded with precious stones,
pendants, pearls, solid gold belts and 100,000 baht in cash. Most items were
valued at 20,000 to 50,000 baht each, and the decorative gold belts had an
estimated value of 100,000 to 200,000 baht.
All five bandits, 18-21 years old, were arrested and
charged accordingly.
Tourist police
arrest suspect wanted for dumping Larn Island’s trash in Pattaya Bay
Chakrapong Akkaranant
Nathee Nakthong, wanted in connection with causing damage
to the natural environment, was arrested on Larn Island on December 24 and
escorted back to Pattaya to face charges.
Nathee Nakthong’s arrest stems from an incident this
past July when a family of four were arrested while dumping trash from Koh
Larn into Pattaya Bay.
The adult members of the family identified Nathee as the
person hiring them to transfer the trash from the island to Pattaya shores,
where it was to be transported to the city disposal site. The family was
paid a monthly wage of 6,000 baht.
The eldest in the family said that the costs became too
much to transport the trash on land, and that Nathee allegedly ordered the
family to dump the trash into the bay on the way back to shore. He said that
up to 3-tons of garbage was dumped into the bay daily over a period of 7-8
months.
Nathee disappeared after the family was caught and his
boat confiscated, but investigators recently received information that he
was spotted at his father’s home on Koh Larn.
Following questioning by Pattaya tourist police Nathee
was transferred to the Pattaya municipal police station where he remains in
custody awaiting trial for charges in connection with deliberately and
irresponsibly contaminating the environment.
According to the environmental preservation act of 1992,
the same year Pattaya was designated a pollution control area, the penalty
for blatantly polluting the environment is up to five years in prison or a
B500,000 fine or both, although there are no records of the law ever having
been used to its maximum extent.
Beaten man tells police he was robbed
Boonlua Chatree
Three men were arrested on December 26 for mugging
Surasak Nimnual at the Pratamnak/Thappraya intersection in South Pattaya.
Surasak told police that the three had beaten him and
robbed him of 4,000 baht.
However, the three arrested, Ontal Intharapakdee, 19,
Sirichai Sroisingh, 19, and Little John Hiwaluml, 21, told police a
different story.
Police tracked down and found the three men in Naklua
after Surasak had come into the station to report that he had been robbed.
He had s split lip to prove his cause.
But the three accused were quick to deny the charges
after Surasak had identified them.
After intensive questioning back at the station, the
three men maintained their relative innocence, claiming not to have robbed
Surasak of the specified amount. During their version of the incident, they
described how Surasak offered to sell them drugs he alleged to be ecstasy.
They said that after handing over 1,000 baht for a small packet, they
examined the contents while waiting for 300 baht in change.
The accused men told police that the contents of the
packet were not what Surasak allegedly claimed, and said Surasak was not
inclined to return the 1,000 baht or their 300 baht in change - so they
resorted to beating the money out of him.
Police were not impressed by the three men’s defense
and charged each with robbery and physical assault, and said the matter
could be settled in court.
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