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Residents discuss drafting of new constitution
Members of the public are
invited to voice their opinion about the new constitution.
Ariyawat Nuamsawat
More than 100 Pattaya residents gathered at Tiffany’s Show Theater on
February 15 to discuss the drafting of the new constitution. The hearing was
organized by the Ordinary Committee for Hearing Public Opinion held under
the Constitution Draft Committee as part of the process in drafting
Thailand’s 18th Constitution.
The new constitution will replace the 16th Constitution and the present
Temporary 17th Constitution. Numerous sections of society are involved with
the drafting, and members of the public from all walks of life are being
invited to participate, either as representatives of organizations or as
individuals.
Public hearing sessions are being held throughout the country.
At the Pattaya session the subject that generated the most interest, at 37.5
percent, was the issue of the rights and freedom of the people under the
democratic regime. The next was government use of power at 18.5 percent and
the political organization at 10.5 percent.
Miss Alisa Phanthusak, chairwoman of the Ordinary Committee, Monthian
Thongnit, deputy governor of Chonburi, and Chanyuth Hengtrakul, former
member of parliament for Chonburi, conducted the session.
A previous meeting had been held on December 18 when members of the National
Assembly whittled down 1,982 would-be members of the Constitution Drafting
Committee to 200 and the National Security Ministers selected a final 100.
A further session of the Ordinary Committee for Hearing Public Opinion was
due to be held and following this the results will be submitted to the
National Assembly and used in consideration of drafting the 18th
Constitution for submission to His Majesty the King for Royal approval.
Chonburi also has a public hearing scheduled for February 25, from 1.30 -
4.30 p.m. at Sriracha Tiger Zoo.
Food vendors banned
from Walking Street
Plans discussed to turn Naklua Soi 33 into Walking Street
City officials are discussing
a plan to turn Naklua Soi 33 into another Walking Street - perhaps with a
name change.
Narisa Nitikarn
Food vendor stalls will be banished from Walking Street following a decision
made during a meeting of the Walking Street Committee on February 12, headed
by Deputy Mayor Ronakit Ekasingh.
Ronakit said that during events held recently on the strip, at which food
stalls had been allowed, there had been many complaints about health and
hygiene, and the space taken up by the cooking facilities and the tables and
chairs.
As it is difficult to control the vendors once they are there, the meeting
resolved that in future food stands would be banned, leaving the street free
for a greater range of activities.
The same meeting discussed a proposal by business people on Soi Naklua 33 to
open their own “Walking Street”. It was felt that using the same name would
be confusing, but discussions will continue with the Tourism Authority of
Thailand to see if the concept is a viable one in terms of another Pattaya
attraction.
Spraying teams begin work to prevent hemorrhagic fever outbreak
Vimolrat Singnikorn
Pattaya Public Health and Environment Department began spraying public areas
on February 8 to help prevent the spread of mosquitoes and hemorrhagic
fever, the disease they can carry.
 Whilst
spraying went on elsewhere, city workers distributed free packets of Larbait
for people to use in their residences to eradicate common house mosquitoes.
The spraying team, which began in the Wat Chaimongkol Market area, was
organized by Na Anya Chantrakat, head of the Protection and Contagious
Diseases Unit.
Itthipol Khunplome, advisor to the mayor of Pattaya City was also present as
work commenced. He said that the spraying team was concentrating on water
drainage pipes, a common breeding ground for mosquitoes. Disinfectant is
also being distributed for people to use in their homes.
Na Anya said that during 2006, three hemorrhagic fever cases had been
reported in the Banglamung area, and there had been five in Pattaya City,
one of the patients having passed away. Three of the patients were aged
between five and nine years. Young children are most at risk in contracting
the disease.
The Protection and Contagious Diseases Unit will respond to requests for
spraying. The number to contact is 038 420 562 ext 104.
Pattaya businesses rush to support crime fund with over 1M baht received
Failure to resolve crime issue fault of government sector says governor
Chonburi Governor Pracha
Taerat (right) has asked Banglamung District Chief Pratheep Jongsuebtham
(2nd left) and Pattaya Mayor Pairat Wattanasartsathorn (left) to oversea the
fund.
Ariyawat Nuamsawat
Pattaya’s private sector has embraced the idea that a fund be set up to aid
the victims of the ever increasing tourism related crimes, and more than 1
million baht has so far been donated.
Chonburi Governor Pracha Taerat met with more than 200 business operators,
hoteliers, and restaurant and entertainment outlet owners at the Garden
Seaview Resort on February 13.
Governor Pracha had last month proposed the idea of setting up the fund,
which would be used to assist Thai and foreign victims of crime and help to
assuage the damage caused to Pattaya’s image.
The fund, said Pracha, has so far received 1,032,000 baht. April 30 has been
set as the timeframe for establishing the fund, which will be a joint public
and private sector project.
“The fund will require transparency,” he told the assembled business people.
“The provincial administration will not interfere, and will leave management
to a local administrative committee chaired by the Banglamung district chief
and the mayor of Pattaya.
“The private business sector can support the fund on a voluntary basis and
no businesses will be forced to support it,” he said.
Pracha added that it is the fault of the government sector that the problem
of crime in this area had not been resolved. He said that the extra patrols
supported by the military, police and the public have helped to reduce the
crime rate by 60 percent, but that the fund would not be used to help pay
allowances for the patrols.
Motorcycle taxi driver attempts
to rape Korean tourist
Boonlua Chatree
A motorcycle taxi driver who attempted to rape a Korean woman but was
prevented when she fought back, instead snatched her shoulder bag and
escaped with her money.
Police at Dongtan sub-station were called out just after midnight on
February 7 by a report that a foreign woman had been dragged into the bushes
behind the Kasa Hotel Jomtien in an attempted rape. They found the victim,
33-year-old Miss Lee San Hyang, waiting for them at the side of the road, in
tears and covered in mud.
She told officers that she hired a motorcycle taxi at the front of the Long
Beach Hotel in Soi Wong Amat to take her to the Palm Beach Hotel at Jomtien.
As they arrived at Jomtien the driver turned into a quiet unlit soi saying
he was taking a short cut and she believed him. He then pretended to lose
balance, taking the bike down on its side.
He next dragged her into the bushes and tried to tear her clothes off. She
screamed for help and managed to break free. The driver, seeing that his
original intention was not going to work, instead took her shoulder bag
containing US$ 600 and 10,000 Thai baht, and sped off.
Police took the victim to Bangkok Pattaya Hospital and sent officers out to
track down the attacker, who is thought to be aged between 20 and 25 years.
Swiss tourist falls to death from 56th floor of Pattaya Park tower
Boonlua Chatree
A Swiss tourist fell to his death from the 56th floor of Pattaya Park Beach
Resort during the evening of February 8.
Police from Dongtan sub-station went to the scene along with Dr Chanchai
Limthongcharoen, physician on duty at Banglamung Hospital, and officers from
Sawang Boriboon Foundation.
The hotel, which is 58 stories in height, has a viewing deck near the top
floor and the deceased, identified as Willi Elmar Zahner, a 49-year-old
Swiss national, had fallen from there. The body was dressed in a gray
T-shirt and blue shorts. Police found the dead man’s passport and a ticket
to access the viewing platform.
A security guard told police that the deceased was not a hotel guest, and
that he had bought his 200-baht ticket at around 4 p.m. to visit the
viewpoint. Nobody appeared to have noticed any suspicious behavior. The man
had jumped quickly and entirely unexpectedly.
Slow-moving waiter caught trying to rob Finnish couple
Boonlua Chatree
A snatch thief who attempted to rob a Finnish couple and then escape on a
friend’s motorcycle was a little too slow off the mark and was caught by a
security guard before he could get away.
 Kachorndet
Rakkong was caught trying to rob a Finnish couple on Jomtien Beach.
Police received a report at 12:35 a.m. on February 12 that an attempted
robbery had taken place at Jomtien Beach, opposite the Rimhad Condominium.
At the scene, officers found Veikko Orvokki, 50, and Mrs Sirkka Orvokki, 61,
a couple from Finland. Nearby a man was being detained by a security guard
from the condominium. The couple said the man had attempted to rob them. He
was identified as Kachorndet Rakkong, 23, a waiter in a nearby hotel.
Kachorndet admitted that he along with two accomplices had tried to rob the
couple. He said his friends had escaped by motorcycle. He had tried to
snatch a bag from the couple but they had resisted. He tried to jump on the
motorbike to get away, but the guard caught him.
Police put out a radio call, but the fleeing pair had disappeared.
Sirkka said that she and her husband had left the Grand Chalet Hotel in
Jomtien to go to a restaurant near the Dongtan sub-branch police station.
After their meal they walked along the beach and intended to go back to
their hotel. Three men on a motorcycle approached from the opposite
direction and stopped. One of them tried to snatch their white knit handbag
containing 5,700 baht, two digital cameras, and personal items. The other
two waited on the motorbike. She and her husband resisted and shouted for
help. A car was passing by and stopped to help.
As the thief’s friends fled the scene, he ran into some bushes beside the
road, where he was caught by the condominium security guard.
Police have suggested Kachorndet furnish the names of his friends.
Destitute Frenchman with young son tries to hitch a lift to Bangkok
Wife took money and house
Boonlua Chatree
A foreign man holding a young child and attempting to flag down passing cars
on Sukhumvit Road was at first thought to be deranged, but proved instead to
be a Frenchman fallen on hard times and attempting to hitch a ride to
Bangkok.
Police received a report early in the afternoon of February 13 saying that
man in an obviously agitated state was causing concern as he tried to stop
cars at the entrance to Soi Sulaotonkrabok. Officers and rescue workers from
Sawang Boriboon Foundation went to the scene where they found Alexandre
Sylvain Vandenbulcke, a 29-year-old French national, standing by the
roadside clutching his naked two-year-old son.
The man was shouting and disrupting the traffic. Officers spent over an hour
trying to calm him down, but in the end they had to overpower him. He was
taken in for questioning.
Vandenbulcke said that he was in a state of desperation. He had been married
to a girl named Pornthip, who was 23 and came from Buriram. They had one
son, Nino. Vandenbulcke said that he and his wife had had problems and were
now divorced. Pornthip had taken his money and the house he had bought, and
she had left their son with him. He showed police the divorce papers.
Vandenbulcke said he had been taking care of the child for a year and was
renting a small room in North Pattaya. He was a jewelry importer/exporter,
but his business was not successful and he had depleted his funds. He had
considered taking his son back to France, but did not have enough money for
the expenses to travel there. That is why he was holding his son and waving
down cars on the side of Sukhumvit Road. He wanted to get to the French
Embassy in Bangkok to see if they would assist him and the boy in getting
out of the country.
Police did what they could to calm the man down, but considered him too
mentally unstable to take care of the baby. The French Embassy was
contacted.
Vandenbulcke had been in the news in the middle of last year. He had driven
a BMW with his son inside to buy something from a minimart in Central
Pattaya. He had left the infant inside the car while he went into the shop,
but the car had rolled forward and across the road, striking another
vehicle. Police had pried open the self-locking door to release the boy, and
the incident had been widely reported in the local press.
Two female thieves beat and rob Dutch woman 50 meters from police box
Boonlua Chatree
Two women attacked an elderly Dutch woman on Walking Street, within 50
meters of the police box, and escaped with her money and valuables.
The mugging happened during the evening of February 11. Police received a
call at 11:30 p.m. from Pattaya Memorial Hospital to say that a woman named
Anna van As, a 63-year-old from the Netherlands, had been attacked and was
brought in for treatment.
Police went to the hospital where they found the woman lying badly bruised
in a hospital bed. She told the officers she had come to visit Pattaya, and
was staying at a hotel on Jomtien Beach Road. She had taken a taxi from
there to South Pattaya Beach. While she was walking along the beach, two
women tried to pull her handbag away from her. She resisted, whereupon the
women knocked her to the ground. Then they took her 10,000-baht gold chain,
two 14-karat rings valued at more than 10,000 baht, and 10,000 baht in cash
before running away.
At the scene of the attack were street vendors, a car rental stand, and a
motorcycle taxi queue, but no one helped to stop the assault.
Police went to question the vendors and motorbike riders, but no one knew
anything. The scene of the attack was only 50 meters away from a police box
at the beginning of Walking Street, where there were crowds of tourists.
Police surmise that as this area is notorious for mafia pimps collecting
money from the service ladies on the beach, the locals did not want to
become involved.
Foundation stone laid for Father of Thai Law monument
Director general of the Judges
Department Region 2 Rangsan Rojcheewin tosses auspicious flower petals
during the ceremony to lay the foundation stone for the HRH Prince
Ratchaburi Direkrit (Father of Thai Law) memorial in front of the Pattaya
Provincial Court building.
Vimolrat Singnikorn
Director general of the Judges Department Region 2 Rangsan Rojcheewin laid
the foundation stone for the memorial to HRH Prince Ratchaburi Direkrit, the
Father of Thai Law, at the front of Pattaya Provincial Court on February 5.
Among those attending were Mrs Korawan Athamas, chief justice of Rayong
Provincial Court, Mrs Rungrat Vijitjongkol, chief justice of Chonburi
Provincial Court, Mrs Arunee Prayongyam, chief justice of Chonburi Juvenile
and Family Court, Mrs Prathumporn Kamnerdrit, chief justice of Pattaya
Provincial Court, and Mayor Niran Wattanasartsathorn.
Buddhist monks and a Brahmin priest performed the ceremony.
On February 14, the monument was forged at Nakhorn Prathom Province, and it
will be installed in front of the Pattaya Provincial Court Building on March
26. The monument will stand 2 meters high, with the figure of HRH Prince
Ratchaburi Direkrit depicted holding a book in his left hand.
Love is in the air as Pattaya celebrates Valentine’s Day
34 couples say ‘I do’ at registry office
Vimolrat Singnikorn
The first couple to say their wedding vows at Banglamung District Office on
February 14, Valentine’s Day, were there at 6 a.m. and they were followed by
133 other couples who crowded into the registry office during the course of
the day.
 Mrs.
Kanya and Prawit Niyom were the first couple to register their marriage on
February 14, 2007 at the Banglamung District Registration Office.
Love was in the air throughout Pattaya City, with unlikely participants such
as government offices and banks putting up red and pink hearts and ribbons,
and department stores, shops, hotels and restaurants crowded with romantic
customers and all reporting exceptionally good business.
Marriage was very much on the minds of many. Banglamung district chief
Pratheep Jongsuebtham was one of the busiest men in town, giving his
blessings to each new union, and Yodthong Senanan, head of the Yodthong
Boxing Camp, in a spirit of public mindedness was standing by to offer his
services as a witness.
When the registry office doors opened at 6 a.m. Prawit Niyom and Miss Kanya
Thipbangong were the first to tie the knot. They said they had known each
other for about one year, and were now ready to start a family. Amnat
Charoensri, Banglamung’s deputy district chief, at the end of the day
reported that 134 couples had registered their marriages, including 12
foreign couples. This was a substantial increase on the 117 couples who had
married on Valentine’s Day last year.
A heart-shaped souvenir was presented to all the happy couples and there
were vouchers for a free dinner at one of the 20 hotel restaurants around
town that participated in the scheme. Central Festival had its own
promotional campaign named Love @ First Bite, which had a first prize of a
diamond necklace valued at 10,000 baht.
Naklua Market did a roaring trade in selling flowers and gift items, as did
shops and vendors everywhere. Wat Chaimongkol in South Pattaya was an
especially lively location, one vendor saying that long-stemmed red roses
and stuffed red hearts were the most popular items. Price for a single rose
varied between 20 and 40 baht, and dolls were selling well at between 250
and 500 baht, with business especially brisk amongst foreign tourists.
Saturday March 3 is Makhabucha Day
Banks, offices close on Monday March 5
This year, Makhabucha Day (Buddhist All Saints Day) falls
on Saturday, March 3. Since the holiday falls on a Saturday, government
offices, banks and many businesses will be closed on Monday, March 5.
This holy day commemorates the miraculous event when 1,250 disciples of the
Buddha, Gautama Sakayamuni, traveled to meet with the Buddha with no
prearranged agreement, at Weluwan Mahawiharn Temple in the area of
Rachakhryha, India.
Devout Buddhists are expected to turn out in the thousands at local temples
to conduct religious ceremonies.
Ed’s note: We erroneously reported last month that Makhabucha Day was on
February 3. The holy day usually falls in February; however, this year is an
“Athikamat year” when an extra month is added to the religious calendar
during certain lunar years, and because of this, the Department of Religion
has set Makhabucha Day to be in the 4th month of the Thai calendar, which is
March in our calendar.
Ceremony scheduled to cremate remains of dead who had no families
(L to R) Prasit
Thongtidcharoen, chairman of the Pattaya Sawang Boriboon Foundation Rescue
Unit; Wisith Chawalitnititham, chairman of the Pattaya Sawang Boriboon
Foundation; and Banchong Kanawattanakul, Pattaya Sawang Boriboon Foundation
committee member are helping to plan the event.
Narisa Nitikarn
A meeting was held at the Sawang Boriboon Foundation offices on February 11
to prepare for a ceremony to disinter and cremate the bones of people who
have no known surviving relatives. Chairman of the foundation in Pattaya,
Wisit Chawalitnititham, presided.
The ceremony is scheduled to take place sometime next month.
This will be the fifth occasion this ceremony has been held over the years,
the previous one having been conducted 13 years ago. General manager of the
Pattaya branch of the foundation, Thongchai Wongthongsawang said that the
event coincides with the 60th anniversary of the founding of Sawang
Boriboon.
The cemeteries are both the old and new burial grounds of the foundation
itself, where the remains of some 750 people with no known relatives lie.
There is no longer enough space to hold the continual influx of unknown
bodies, or those who have passed on with no one to take care of their
funeral arrangements, and consequently the graves are being cleared and the
remains cremated with all due ceremony and respect.
Chinese and Thai prayers will be held to assist the souls on their way to
the next world, and the ashes will be interred in a large stupa in the
cemetery. A ceremony will be held on Ancestor Worship Day every year.
Sriracha was the first place in Thailand to hold a ceremony for the dead who
had no relatives, the first occasion having been in 1923.
Korean councilors visit city hall on educational mission
Chatchanan Boonnak
Fourteen members of Osan City Council in Korea visited Pattaya City Hall on
February 9 to study how the city’s administration system works.
 Pattaya
city councilman Praiwan Arromchuen (right) receives a souvenir from chairman
of Osan City Council, Cho Moon Hwan.
The delegates, who were led by chairman of Osan City Council Cho Moon Hwan,
were welcomed by councilors Pisai Panomwan na Ayutthaya and Praiwan
Arromchuen.
Praiwan told the visitors that a mayor heads the administration, with four
deputy mayors and 24 members of Pattaya City Council.
Cho said that many Koreans visit Pattaya each year and that guidebooks
published in the Korean language would be very useful. Pisai said that
consideration would be given to this request.
Cho and his team presented mementoes of the visit to Pisai and Praiwan and
thanked them for their kind hospitality.
Road show rolls into Thappraya with scholarships and care packages
Chatchanan Boonnak
Pattaya City’s mobile unit rolled into the Thappraya Community in South
Pattaya Soi 17 on February 8, with Itthipol Khunplome, chief advisor to the
mayor performing the opening ceremony and deputy mayors Wutisak Rermkitkarn
and Verawat Khakhay attending.
 Thappraya
Community people receive eye examinations for free from the Nakhonthon
Eyeglasses Center.
Community chairman Sirichai Incharoen welcomed the city hall team, which
included a number of councilors and senior officials.
The mobile unit visits a different community each month, providing free
health care services care of the Pattaya City Public Health Department, and
advice and information on legal and other matters provided by the Pattaya
City Lawyers Bureau and Pattaya Police Station. Students from the
Redemptorist School provided free repairs to electrical appliances, and
haircuts were given by students from the HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn
Training Occupation Center.
Itthipol presented 10 scholarships, each valued at 1,000 baht, to children
from underprivileged families. The Tesco Lotus stores in both North and
South Pattaya supplied 50 bags of rice and another 50 packs of household
goods distribute to the people of Thappraya Community.
Central Plaza power line
to go underground
Mayor says this is an opportunity to help beautify the city
The Central Group’s new
Central Plaza Pattaya Beach project needs sufficient electrical power to
operate.
Narisa Nitikarn
The Central Group has said that unless a new power line is installed the
company is afraid that there would not be enough electrical supply for its
new Central Plaza Pattaya Beach project.
A meeting was held at Pattaya City Hall on February 5 by Mayor Niran
Wattanasartsathorn to discuss the plans and construction methods of the
proposed 115 KV cable. Amongst those attending were Sittiprap Muangkoom,
permanent secretary of Pattaya City, and Suwit Samanlothiwong, deputy
director of the Provincial Electricity Authority.
Suwit said that Central Plaza would need a large supply of electrical energy
and the new cable could provide this, but a pylon would be needed to carry
the line.
Sittiprap said there are no convenient places in which the pylon could be
erected, as it would be 22 meters high and would need a substantial
footprint. The Provincial Electricity Authority has applied for permission
to build the pylon on the footpath, but this would inconvenience residents,
tourists and wheelchair users.
Niran said that the new cable should go underground, along with existing
power supply lines. This would help greatly in improving Pattaya’s
landscape. The meeting discussed the route, which would start from Sukhumvit
Road, down North Pattaya Road, then turn left at Second Road, cross Central
Pattaya Road, and so to Soi 9, which is the location for Central Plaza.
The project would be a cooperative effort between Central Group, the
Provincial Electricity Authority and Pattaya City, and that Central should
bear the costs of the line from the Second Road crossing to the project, a
distance of about 300 meters, as this section would be of direct benefit to
the project and does not concern the public.
A Central Group representative said that would not be a problem but that a
decision is needed urgently because the construction schedule is a two-year
one and the company is afraid the work would not be completed in time for
the official opening.
Naklua Pier design will be ready by end of March
Lanpho in Naklua is going to
be transformed into a new tourism area for the Naklua inhabitants.
Narisa Nitikarn
A pier that would act as part of the new sea defenses scheme at Naklua and
would also be a new tourism attraction is currently being designed and will
be unveiled for discussion next month.
Permanent secretary of Pattaya City Sittiprap Muangkoom presented details of
the project on February 2, at a meeting attended by councilors from Region
1, Pichet Uthaivatanon, director of the technical office at Pattaya City
Hall, and representatives of PTE Engineering and Consultants Ltd, who are
undertaking the survey and design work.
PTE’s Osatee Ruangsawang said the project consists of three key elements. A
reinforced concrete area of some 4,800 square meters in area would form a
sea wall and provide recreational space, while a pier of 600 meters in
length would be built at the mouth of the Naklua canal and serve fishermen
and boat users. There would be another reinforced concrete area at the canal
entrance, 3,600 meters in area.
The three designs would be finished by the end of March when the documents
would be submitted to the Water Transportation Department and the Marine
Department for a construction permit.
Sittiprap said the three elements of the project would each take a
considerable time to build and it was desirable to complete one before
beginning the next one. He suggested the reinforcements at Lanpho should be
the first stage.
Wattana determined to flush out problem of dirty school toilets
More cleaners may be needed says deputy mayor
Vimolrat Singnikorn
Deputy Mayor Wattana Chantanawaranon has criticized the condition of the
toilets at schools throughout Pattaya, saying they are unclean and that the
problem of bad smells is upsetting for teachers and pupils alike.
 Pattaya
School #6 has hired a cleaner whose job it is to attend to the girls’
toilets there.
Wattana’s comments came at a meeting on February 1 where he and education
department director Thavachai Rattanabun discussed school conditions with
the administrators of the 10 schools under city hall’s jurisdiction.
The meeting was held at Pattaya School No 6, Wat Thamsamkhii.
Wattana talked about the quality of education, saying that schools under the
jurisdiction of Pattaya have continued to improve over the past three or
four years in terms of teaching methodology, and the holding of educational
and sports related activities.
“A main worry at the moment is the cleanliness of school toilets,” he said.
“I have seen almost all Pattaya school toilets and all suffer from problems
of lack of cleanliness and problems of bad smells annoying both teachers and
students. Some toilet doors cannot be locked because they have no bolts.”
Mrs Chanayrat Kanchanabut, director of Pattaya School No 3 said that the
school is suffering from this problem because of bad construction and
sub-standard materials. Maintenance staff have to continually carry out
repairs, she said, and pipes also get blocked by waste matter.
“We have not ignored the problems of cleanliness because we have a cleaner,”
she explained.
Wattana said that pipes often become clogged because cleaners find it easier
to simply wash waster matter into them and eventually a blockage will occur.
“The problem has to be solved even if it means hiring more cleaners
responsible only for toilets,” he said. “Some private schools have already
done this with good results. Requests for other improvements should be
delivered to me directly.”
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