Will it be remembered as “The Great Chicken Massacre of 2004”?

Ariyawat Nuamsawat

The outbreak of Avian Flu in Asia is taking its toll on the economy in many sectors, but the hardest hit are poultry farmers, who, with the downturn in sales and fear of infection, are culling approximately 100,000 birds per day.

In the Huay Yai district, south of Pattaya, chickens from 7 days to 1 month old were collected and culled at 30 poultry farms after sales dropped to zero following the virus outbreak.

Nuchara Tonggon, a farmer’s daughter at one of the farms, told Pattaya Mail that demand for chicken has dropped rapidly from record sales to zero in the space of one month.

“With no income from sales, and feed costs amounting between 6,000 to 8,000 baht per day, many farmers decided to cull their stock to avoid the expense and the risk of their stock becoming infected. Over 200,000 birds have been destroyed so far,” said Nuchara.

Despite constant monitoring by poultry farm owners and the Chonburi livestock department, no cases of infection have been officially recorded in the province.

Elsewhere, in the Pong sub-district, poultry farmers are facing similar difficulties with some destroying as many as 10,000 birds per day.

Public reaction to the crisis has resulted in wide spread losses, with many farmers calling for government assistance to wade through the predicament.

On the outer fringe, the Khao Kheow Zoo closed its gates to the public on January 30 as instructed by the National Zoology Department to prevent any chance of infection to the wildlife. Local restaurants and hotels have also taken chicken and duck temporarily off their menus as a precautionary measure.

Provincial authorities are continuing to spread the word of prevention and monitoring, primarily at the concern of public safety, and as the bird flu claimed its third victim in Thailand.

Officials do, however, assure the public that infection comes from contact with chicken feces, and that eating chicken and poultry products poses no threat as long as people do what they should always do, and be hygienic around food.

Teams from the Public Health Department and volunteers are visiting communities and educational facilities to teach methods of infection prevention along with symptoms detection in humans of those who have contracted the disease.

Public health officials urge the public to contact them if they suspect they or someone they know contracts bird flu. The important numbers are 038 276 631-6 for the Provincial Health Department and 038 285 286 for the Livestock Department.

Pattaya’s public phone booths in desperate need of repair

Suchada Tupchai

A large number of public phone booths around the city require urgent attention, as they have fallen into a state of disrepair through lack of maintenance and vandalism. This neglect plays havoc with tourists and residents in search of a usable booth to make a call.

The disregard for this most basic service is causing difficulties for people who don’t have a modern mobile phone and particularly for tourists who do not bring their phones on holiday. As a result, they are forced to trek endlessly in search of a working booth. Surely this does little to enhance Pattaya’s precious image, which the local authorities are desperately trying to revive.

Are the telephone organizations only interested in collecting money and therefore have little interest in supplying the public with reliable service? Or are they just fed up constantly repairing the numerous locations around the city? Public telephone booths are a necessary service and should be kept in good working order. This blatant neglect should be quickly rectified.

Nearby villagers not impressed

Boonlua Chatree

Some people are destined for failure in life and such is apparently the case with 20-year-old construction worker Nikorn Mulpong. The ‘not so bright’ builder was tanked up on booze and decided that it would be fun to fire a loaded 11 mm pistol in a public area.

Local residents in Soi Potisan were not impressed with this display of misplaced machismo and called police, but not before wrestling gun-toting laborer to the ground.

Police questioned Nikorn at the scene and he told officers that he was just delivering the gun to another man, known as Hoenong at a nearby construction camp. Officers escorted Nikorn to the camp and located Hoenong. He denied any knowledge of the weapon saying that in no way had he requested the gun.

Nikorn was then taken to the police station and charged with carrying an unlicensed gun and discharging a loaded weapon inside the city limits. He now faces jail time over his soused antics.

Soi Wongamat a haven for ride-by thugs

Boonlua Chatree

The erosion of tourists’ trust regarding their safety while in Pattaya was dealt yet another blow on January 28. Shortly after 9 p.m. two teen thugs snatched the handbag of Maria Decroot as she walked along the road with her husband Sedeeana Decroot. The bag contained only 1,000 baht in cash but the real value of what was inside was gold and diamond jewelry worth well over 500,000 baht.

The elderly couple, ages 71, reported the incident to police before returning to their hotel, disgruntled and disgusted that such an incident could occur. Police vowed to continue their investigation into the thefts along the soi - which occur daily.

North Pattaya’s Soi Wongamat harbors a string of hotels and resorts and is a very popular haven for foreign tourists wishing to escape the hubbub of Pattaya’s inner city. However, with the increase in foreigners who patronize this area, those with less scruples and no concern for others have turned their hand to relieving visitors of their belongings.

The majority of these thieves are teenagers looking for an easy baht.

The increase in crime among the city’s youth is due to the lax laws and penalties that govern them. Currently the police and the court system are unable to prosecute teens as adults and armed with this knowledge, an increasing number of malicious youngsters are creating havoc in the city.

When tourists refuse to come here because they fear for their safety, these delinquents will have completely destroyed their own future, will almost likely maintain their criminal lifestyle, and will probably end up in jail when they reach the legal age.

Despite regular police patrols thieves continue their spate of thefts along this soi and other parts of the city, knowing full well that they are almost untouchable by the law until it is changed or residents and visitors refuse to accept the conditions and take matters into their own hands - a potentially volatile predicament for all concerned.