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Local shopkeepers protest
at expansion of Tesco Lotus
Ariyawat Nuamsawat
Local business people are vigorously protesting against the decision to
allow Tesco Lotus to open a number of its smaller Tesco Lotus Express
outlets throughout Pattaya, saying that such an expansion would threaten
their livelihoods.
 Su-Ai-Nee
Piandee, one of the protest leaders, said they will continue continuing to
fight if a fair agreement is not reached.
More than 100 members of the Pattaya Retail and Wholesale Business Group
gathered at Pattaya City Hall on March 6 to file a petition with Deputy
Mayor Wattana Chantanawaranon requesting that permission be withdrawn for
the giant retailer to open Tesco Lotus Express outlets in the Soi
Nernplabwan and New Naklua Market areas, and at other districts in Pattaya
said to total 15 branches.
Suainee Piandee, one of the leaders of the protestors, said that Tesco Lotus
is avoiding the city zoning law by decreasing the size of the business to be
not more than 300 square meters, gaining advantage over a weak point of the
law relating to capital. By having many branches in the city they would be
able to attack the local businesses, which would not be able to compete. If
there were to be 15 Tesco Lotus Express outlets in Pattaya, many of the
local operations would be put out of business.
Suainee said the threat is not just from Tesco Lotus, for such an agreement
would pave the way for other large business operators such as Carrefour and
Big C to open smaller outlets. He added that the proliferation of these
stores would increase consumption amongst Thai people, and consequently
debt. It destroys the concept of a self-sufficient economy, and also
destroys the economics of the community, he said.
Another protestor, Vichian Tangtamsathid, said he does not agree with
government policy, especially that of the Ministry of Commerce, relating to
retail business laws, as too much favor is shown to the big distributors.
The meeting with the protestors was calm and orderly, and after filing their
complaints the members returned to their occupations. A decision is awaited
from city hall, and if that is not to their satisfaction, the group said,
they would take their grievances to the governor of Chonburi.
Wan Lai and Gong Khao schedules finalized
Narisa Nitikarn
Schedules have now been drawn up in readiness for the Wan Lai and the Gong
Khao festivals, following a meeting at Pattaya City Hall on March 2 chaired
by Deputy Mayor Wattana Chantanawaranon.
 Deputy
Mayor Wattana Jantanawaranon says plans are in place for Pattaya and
Naklua’s Wanlai and the Gong Khao festivities next month.
Wan Lai in Naklua will be held on April 18 at Lanpho Public Park. Activities
will start at 7:30 a.m. with an offering of food to monks, a bathing of
Buddha images, and the sprinkling of water as a blessing for elderly people.
Pattaya’s Wan Lai will be held on April 19 at Chaimongkol Temple in South
Pattaya. The main activities will start at 7 a.m. and be similar to the
Naklua Wan Lai, but a parade will be added and there will be more elderly
people taking part.
Wattana said that both the Naklua and the Pattaya Wan Lai festivities are
under the responsibility of city hall, and that the confusion of last year,
in which several units were organizing activities without adequate central
direction, would this year be avoided.
Naklua’s Gong Khao festival, an old tradition in Chonburi province, will be
held on April 20 at Lanpho Field. The Soi Nongyai Community is organizing
many games including the climbing a greasy pole and slingshot contests. The
games will start at noon.
The Gong Khao ceremonies will start at 6 p.m., with people bringing food for
the spirits and praying for the happiness of the community.
Rolling maps to be installed
in time for Songkran
Vimolrat Singnikorn
Pattaya’s rolling maps will be available in time for the influx of visitors
during Songkran, with 12 sites around the city due to have their maps during
the coming weeks.
 The
rolling maps just need to be installed to be ready to provide service during
Songkran.
A Pattaya City Council meeting on February 27 agreed upon a resolution for
the installation of the maps by Major Network Co Ltd.
Major Network’s managing director Anuchit Vanitsermkul said that the
original intention was to have all the maps in place by the end of last
year, but permission had to be obtained from Pattaya City Council following
the installation of the pilot project.
He said that work is due to be completed by the beginning of April, in time
for the large number of visitors who arrive in Pattaya to celebrate
Songkran.
Pattaya City’s engineering department has confirmed the maps will be placed
at 12 locations including Naklua Market, North Pattaya Tourist Information
Center, Tesco Lotus in North Pattaya, Big C in North Pattaya, Carrefour,
Foodland in Central Pattaya, Big C in South Pattaya, Royal Garden Plaza, at
Surf Kitchen in the Jomtien Tourist Information Center, and at Chaiyapreuk
in the Central Jomtien Tourist Information Center.
Part of the delay has related to concern by Pattaya City Council over the
size of the base of the maps, and whether they would block sidewalks and
cause inconvenience to pedestrians. Anuchit said that the precise location
of each of the maps had to be decided before the work could proceed.
The rolling maps are housed in cabinets 65 cm wide and 250 cm high, made of
fiberglass. The maps display lodging, restaurant and tourist location
information. A clock provides the time, and a solar power generator built
into the structure illuminates the inside of the cabinet.
U-turn for 20M baht mobile library
Buses returned to contractor
Ariyawat Nuamsawat
City hall has taken delivery of two hi-tech buses, together worth 20 million
baht, that will supply mobile library and internet services and act as
public records collection and service points, but residents will have to
wait a little longer to be able to use them.
 City
officials hope the mobile library will instill a love of reading among the
public and the young.
Deputy Mayor Verawat Khakhay, Permanent Secretary of Pattaya City Sittiprap
Muangkoom, government department heads and members of the inspection
committee for the mobile public records and library buses gathered in front
of the King Taksin Monument outside Pattaya District Office on March 7 to
inspect the newly arrived vehicles.
The buses have had their bodies extended by a contractor, and have been
fitted with office furniture in addition to the necessary technology.
Verawat said the vehicles had been purchased under a 20 million baht budget
provided by the government sector. The first air-conditioned bus will be
used as a mobile library, high-speed internet and audiovisual unit and is
valued at 6.98 million baht. The second bus will be used for public records
collection and services and is valued at 11.4 million baht.
However, it was found during the inspection that both buses had problems and
the contractors were instructed to take them back, remedy the problems and
redeliver them.
German owner of Sunee Plaza gay bars arrested on
under-age sex charges
Boonlua Chatree
The German owner of a number of gay bars was arrested on March 8 on charges
relating to having sex with underage boys.
Peter Fritz Alfred Kuettner, 53, was in bed with a 17-year-old boy when
police from the Children, Juvenile and Women’s Division arrived at his home
in Somboonsuk Village, Soi Paniad Chang 8, armed with a warrant of arrest
from the Criminal Court and a search warrant from Pattaya Provincial Court.
 Peter
Fritz Alfred Kuettner covers his face as arresting officers lead him away
from his house.
The warrants had been applied for following several reports that Kuettner
was bringing boys back to his house. Inside the two-story house police found
photographs of boys, lewd CDs, and other materials.
Kuettner stated that he had been a captain in the German navy but had
resigned and arrived in Pattaya some 10 years ago, where he ran the Crazy
Dragon and Banana Boy beer bars on Soi Sunee Plaza. He had earlier been
tried in Germany on charges relating to sex acts with boys but had been
acquitted.
Police say there is an open case against him in Thailand relating to sex
acts with a boy between the age of 15 and 18, and that they are still
attempting to gather evidence against him. Kuettner had not been deterred,
and allegedly had continued to bring boys to his home, sometimes in groups
of five or six at a time. Neighbors had filed a complaint, and officers of
the Children, Juvenile and Women’s Division had been dispatched to search
the house.
The initial charge against Kuettner is for obscene acts with a child over 15
years of age but less than 18 years of age, whether the child consented to
it or not.
Shrimp seller killed
in accident with tour bus
Patcharapol Panrak
A 17-year-old girl was killed when the pickup truck in which she was riding
collided with a tour bus on Highway 331, outside Yangyai Temple in Huay Yai,
during the afternoon of February 25.
 A
seventeen-year-old girl was killed when the pickup she was riding passenger
in crashed into the side of this tour bus.
Police and Rochana Thammasathan Foundation rescue workers went to the scene
where they found the Vigo pickup had smashed into the side of the
Bangkok-registered Nissan tour bus, driven by 29-year-old Akhom Imjai.
In the passenger seat of the pickup rescue workers found the body of Miss
Jasada Duangsungngoen, 17, a shrimp seller at Sattahip morning market. The
driver, 19-year-old Thiraphol Runsamphan of Chaiyaphumi had suffered only
minor injuries. Rescue workers provided first aid treatment and took him to
Queen Sirikit Hospital, Royal Thai Navy.
Thiraphol said that he was driving his girlfriend to buy shrimps. The tour
bus had cut across his path and he didn’t have time to brake before crashing
into it. Jasada was flung against the windscreen and killed.
The tour bus driver said that he was taking 50 tourists of Intimate Fashion
from Koh Samet in Rayong to pay respects to a Buddha image at Khao Kae Phra
before returning to Bangkok when the accident happened. None of the tourists
were injured.
14-year-old boy dies as motorcycle crashes into water truck
Patcharapol Panrak
A 14-year-old boy was killed and an 18-year-old youth injured when a
motorcycle they were riding crashed into a water truck.
The accident happened during the afternoon of February 25 at Soi Ban
Rongsee, in Jomtien. Sattahip police and rescue officers from Rochana
Thammasathan Foundation attended the scene.
The dead boy was named as Thanthai Hngaolim, of Huay Yai. The injured youth
had already been taken to Wat Yansangvararam Hospital and was later
identified as Phanuwat Thongiam, also of Huay Yai.
At the scene police found a blue Isuzu water truck, and underneath it a
Yamaha Meo which did not have a license plate.
A witness told officers that the motorcycle was traveling at high speed and
was being driven by Phanuwat. The motorcycle sped out of the soi as the
water truck was passing, and the bike went under the truck. The driver was
knocked into the road and the passenger was run over. The truck driver fled
the scene.
Coyote girl leads to arrest
of ya ba gang
Police rounded up and arrested
members of the Khun Por ya ba gang, led by Komon Prasert (seated, 2nd
right).
Boonlua Chatree
Police have arrested members of a major ya ba distribution gang known as
Khun Por after the mother of a coyote girl reported that her daughter was
being kept against her will and forced to work for the gang members.
Pattaya Police Station received a report from the girl’s mother on the
morning of March 10, saying that 18-year-old Naree Nongkai, a dancer at a
pub in South Pattaya, had been tricked into working for the ya ba dealers,
and was being forcibly held by them.
Officers went to the address given, a wooden house where Naree was said to
be detained. She ran out when she saw the police, and immediately pointed
out Prasan Thumdee, 19, as one of the ya ba dealers. Police detained him and
took him with them to inspect another house on Sukhumvit Soi 60.
In front of the premises was a personal CCTV camera hidden in a plant pot.
Ms Nipaporn Nuankam, 22, Prasan’s wife, was in the room. Officers found 22
ya ba filled straws along with equipment for consuming the narcotic. They
further searched a black Chevrolet pickup and found eight packs of ya ba and
44,300 baht in cash.
Komon Prasert, the gang’s 45-year-old leader, stated that he picked up all
of the ya ba from a Cambodian man named Noi at the Srakaew border. He
intended to distribute it, and would pay for it later. The last lot of 3,200
pills had just been picked up with the truck, and 1,600 pills were
distributed to his right hand man Yodkhun Morkmek, 30, for making up small
packs for individual customers.
Police attention next switched to Yodkhun’s residence, a townhouse at
Sirinda Village in Najomtien. The front door was locked, and on the second
floor balcony were two personal CCTV cameras. In the hall on the ground
floor was one personal CCTV camera, and behind the house was another.
Yodkhun was sitting in the room next to the balcony, holding Ms Chonthicha
Cherdchom, 25, in his arms. She was three months pregnant. In a ceiling
cavity were hidden 407 ya ba pills.
In another room police found Prapon Banchoun, 23, and Ms Monchanok, 21.
There were 542 ya ba pills and 54,300 baht with them. Both stated that they
were with the ya ba gang named Khun Por, which was led by Komon.
Coyote girl Naree told police she had met Komon a month ago at a pub on
Walking Street, and a relationship started. Komon promised to take care of
her as his wife, and asked her to resign from work. She agreed and went with
him to live together at Ban Chang in Rayong.
She was soon forced by Komon to cooperate with the ya ba gang. She had to
count and divide the narcotic, and wrap it into small packs. She was kept at
a hut in a cassava field that belonged to Komon, and is located on Wat
Yan-331 Road. She was under constant supervision and was controlled by gang
members. Komon or Yodkhun would hit her if she didn’t do as she was
directed. This continued until she had the opportunity to call her mother
for help.
Music Festival will hit
a high note this weekend
International performers amongst the lineup
More than 100 performers are
lined up for the three-day Pattaya International Music Festival this
weekend, beginning on Friday March 16.
Vimolrat Singnikorn
Pattaya International Music Festival will be staged over this weekend,
beginning on Friday March 16 and ending on Sunday evening, with the Indoor
Stadium on Soi Chaiyapruk 2 as the venue.
The dates and schedule were announced on March 7 at the Tourism Authority of
Thailand Building on New Petchburi Road in Bangkok.
Deputy Mayor Verawat Khakhay and TAT advertising and public relations
manager Wansadet Thawornsuk co-presented the briefing, with Smitthi
Bhiraleus, general manager of Music Television Network (MTV) Co Lt, Nitipong
Hornak, deputy director of recording at GMM Grammy (Public) Co Ltd, and
Suwat Chenthachotisak, vice president of administration at RS (Public) Co
Ltd also attending.
In addition, well-known singers including Tata Young, Palmmy, Dan-Beam and
the Ponglang Sa-On group were present.
Wansadet said that the Pattaya International Music Festival will this year
be more international in scope, with the participation of top singers from
other countries in the Asia Pacific region including Australia and South
Korea.
Verawat said the location and utilities were 100 percent ready, and that the
toilet and other facilities are enough to support the large number of
spectators. Security and traffic control arrangements are all confirmed.
There will be two stages, a main stage and an auxiliary stage. More than 100
performers are lined up for the three-day event.
City officials have met with Beach Bus Company staff and over 200 baht bus
drivers to designate fares and stopping points throughout the city for the
festival. Stopping points include Rungrueng Bus station, Sukhumvit Highway
Central and South Pattaya entrances, Thepprasit Road and Soi Chaiyapruek,
along with many other spots around the city. The fares will vary from 10, 15
and 20 baht, depending upon the pickup point.
Water supply project moves to completion as temple dispute is solved
Vimolrat Singnikorn
The Provincial Waterworks Authority has resumed work on the Khao Talo Water
Supply Station, following the resolving of a dispute over land possession
with Bunsamphan Temple.
 Construction
on the Khao Talo Water Supply Station was suspended because of a land rights
dispute in the Bunsamphan Temple area.
Work on the project, which includes two tanks that will hold up to 2,000
cubic meters of water, was suspended when the works were 85 percent
complete.
The Provincial Waterworks Authority is supporting the construction budget
for two water supply stations at Khao Talo and Khao Thappraya to help
resolve the problem of insufficient water supplies in and around Pattaya.
Total cost is 261.4 million baht, and the work commenced on August 28, 2005.
Construction of the Khao Talo water supply station, located on a 4,650
square meter area of land near Bunsamphan Temple, was suspended on October
30 last year when it was already 85 percent completed because of a quote for
the rights to occupy the land.
Banchong Srisuk, supervisor of the project for the Provincial Waterworks
Authority of Pattaya City, said that Nongprue Municipality had contacted the
Land Department and received confirmation that Bunsamphan Temple had no
right to possess the land. Therefore, the Provincial Waterworks Authority
had restarted work on February 20, and the project is nearly complete.
The only thing left to do is to test the water tank after it is filled, said
Banchong, and by May everything is expected to be ready for the distribution
of water to the Bunsamphan Temple area in Nongprue Sub-district, and to
neighboring areas.
Thappraya Water Supply Station was expected to be completed the beginning of
March, but it was delayed because Pattaya City asked for construction to be
suspended for one week during the Chinese New Year. This was because
officials were afraid the work would inconvenience tourists while the
festivities were taking place.
Currently the only thing left to do at Thappraya is to lay the water pipe,
which is approximately 40-50 meters long, in the South Pattaya area. A
testing of the system will follow this, and everything is expected to be
ready by April, in time for Songkran.
Giant turtle lays more than
100 eggs on Navy beach
Patcharapol Panrak
A giant Chelonia Mydas turtle has laid more than 100 eggs on the beach
behind the residence of the commander-in-chief of the Royal Thai Navy, at
Sattahip.
The female, thought to be 15 years old and weighing about 150 kg, crawled up
the beach near to where the Sea Turtle Conservation Center at Air and
Coastal Defense Command is located. No microchip was found on the turtle,
which means she is unknown to researchers.
 Officials
watch as a giant Chelonia Mydas turtle lays her eggs on the beach behind the
residence of the commander-in-chief of the Royal Thai Navy, at Sattahip.
Rear Admiral Chaiwat Sriakkharin, commander of Air and Coastal defense,
received a report on March 9 from Captain Kosit Jiamsupakit saying that the
coastguard had reported that a giant female Chelonia Mydas turtle had come
to lay her eggs under a sea bodhi tree.
This is the same location in which other Chelonia Mydas turtles have
recently laid eggs, starting in June 2004. Turtles had not used this part of
the beach before, and the Navy had arranged a guard on the beach to prevent
the eggs being stolen, or eaten by animals. However, no other eggs had been
laid here since 2004.
Captain Kosit, who is director of Air and Coastal Defense Command, went with
his deputy Captain Tinakorn Kanchanataemee, and with Lt Com Khachornyot
Punsiri, an officer at the Sea Turtle Conservation Center, to verify the
sighting. They found the turtle digging a hole in the sand, and watched as
she finished laying and then covered the eggs before crawling back into the
sea.
Unithai launches oilfield
vessel Svitzer Brani
Svitzer Brani - a
multi-purpose and high capacity ship was launched on February 26, 2007.
Vimolrat Singnikorn
The Svitzer Brani, a multi-purpose ship to be used in petroleum exploration
and drilling operations, was launched at Unithai Shipyard on February 26.
Danish company Svitzer Vismuller had commissioned Unithai Shipyard and
Engineering Company to build the vessel, which will be used at the East
Timor Bayu Undan oil drilling station that belongs to the energy company
Conoco Phillips.
Svitzer Vismuller is one of the many companies that work under the AP
Moller-Maersk Group, a worldwide sea commercial and transportation company.
The Svitzer Brani is 45 meters long and has the capacity to pull ships of up
to 75,000 kilograms in weight. Construction started in January 2006 and took
14 months to complete.
Traditional candle procession marks Makha Bucha Day
Vimolrat Singnikorn
Pattaya’s temples were the setting on March 3 for the traditional Makha
Bucha Day candle procession, with residents and their children walking with
lit candles around the main temples such as Chaimongkol, Sawangfapruetaram,
Photisampan, Boonkanjanaram and Nongyai.
 Devoted
Buddhists perform the “wien thien ceremony” - walking three circuits around
Nongyai Temple, paying homage to the “Triple Gem” or the Buddha, Dhamma and
Sangha.
During the morning there had been offerings of food to the monks, considered
to be especially auspicious for entire families at this time of year, and
many people prayed and meditated.
In the evening, people returned to the temples bringing flowers, candles and
incense, and walked around the outside of the temples three times
(performing “wien thien” ceremony). Afterwards they listened to monks preach
the Dharma, or teachings of the Buddha, and received blessings from them.
 People
listen to monks preach the Dharma, or teachings of the Buddha, and meditate
to cleanse their hearts at Nongyai Temple.
This important occasion for Buddhists marks the first sermon of the Lord
Buddha to 1250 monks, and 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.
Worshipping or ‘Bucha’ occurs on the 15th Day of the waning moon of the
third lunar month, or ‘Makha’.
 Women
wear white on Makha Bucha Day as a sign of respect and devotion.
The day gained official recognition in Thailand during the reign of King
Rama IV and became a nationally observed day with all government
institutions closing down and observing the rituals associated with Buddhist
commandments.
Devout followers participate in morning ceremonies, making merit and
listening to sermons at local temples, and later in the evening return to
the temple to perform the “wien thien ceremony” - walking three circuits
around sacred grounds, paying homage to the “Triple Gem” or the Buddha,
Dhamma and Sangha. The day is observed all over Thailand.
 Families
make offerings of flowers, candles and joss sticks at Nongyai Temple on
Makha Bucha Day.
Other countries where the Buddhist faith is predominant and where Makha
Bucha Day is officially observed as a national day include Nepal, Myanmar,
Cambodia, Laos, Sri Lanka and India. Other countries with populations
observing the day but in limited numbers include China, Korea and Vietnam.
Disseminating the Buddha’s teachings and the journey to meet with the Buddha
on the 15th night of the 3rd lunar month are part of the historical events
that include the sermons and truths spoken by the Buddha.
Having good intentions, not harming others, avoiding evil actions and making
the heart and mind pure in thought were among the truths spoken by the
Buddha. Additionally, other truths spoken by the Buddha cautioned individual
restraint in all that attracts one’s attention, to include desiring
possessions belonging to others, and exploiting others for personal gain.
Before departing, the Buddha also referred to the people’s interest in
making merit, gaining self-esteem and a comfortable reassurance that moral
integrity exists. More importantly, having faith in the “Triple Gem”
(Phraratanatrai) was illustrated by emphasizing the importance of avoiding
drunken, irresponsible and immoral behavior, and maintaining focus on
supporting loved ones while being content in one’s existence with friends
and without selfish greed.
Village found to be polluting water in Prince Chumporn Reservoir
Peng Buahorm, deputy head of
the Sattahip Sub-district Administration Organization, and Rungrot Ornwong,
deputy head of the Sattahip Municipality, examine the pollution situation at
the Prince Chumporn Reservoir.
Patcharapol Panrak
With pollution of the Sattahip water supplies becoming a serious problem,
Sattahip Municipality is working with the Sattahip Sub-district
Administration Organization to devise a long-term plan to resolve the
wastewater treatment problems in the area.
Peng Buahorm, deputy head of the Sattahip Sub-district Administration
Organization, and Rungrot Ornwong, deputy head of the Sattahip Municipality,
went on March 1 with officers of the Public Health and Environment Division
to examine the polluted water at Admiral Prince Chumporn Khetudomsuk
Reservoir. They discovered that the canal behind Singhsamut School, which
was created to drain water from the reservoir, is heavily polluted, the
water having become dark green.
The lack of oxygen in the water is killing off the aquatic life there. This
is a tourism area and also a place of importance for residents, as there is
a life-size statue of Admiral Prince Chumporn Khetudomsuk and a Goddess
Takhian Thong Shrine here. After everyone pays their respects to these
sacred images, they set fish and turtles free into the reservoir. Therefore,
this location is abundant with aquatic animals, and is a resource of food
for the community.
A search discovered that polluted water is emanating from the village behind
Singhsamut School, draining from the community without first going through a
water treatment plant. The polluted water is flowing through the canal and
entering the Prince Chumporn Reservoir.
As the problem is within the area of the Sattahip Municipality and Sattahip
Sub-district Administration Organization, joint meetings are being held to
resolve the pollution as a matter of urgency.
City officials receive computer training under 2M baht program
City employees pay attention
as Bunkerd Thammawasee teaches them about computers.
Vimolrat Singnikorn
City hall will spend more than 2 million baht this year in computer training
for officials, with the intention of increasing their work efficiency.
Deputy Mayor Wattana Jantanawaranon launched the project, which is operated
by Burapha University, on March 7.
Project director Bunkerd Thammawasee said the program is being divided into
four training groups and run under a budget of more than 2 million baht
provided by city hall. The first training group comprised 27 community
representatives. Later, 100 city officials would be trained, divided into
two groups of 50 people. Higher-ranking officials would also receive
training.
The course includes the use of a computer with Windows XP operating platform
and an emphasis on Microsoft PowerPoint. Officers also learn about Pattaya
City’s www.pattaya.go.th website and the use of its email system.
Norway Bike for Peace visits Pattaya
to offer support to Ban Garunyawet
The Bike for Peace riders
brave the traffic for a good cause.
Ariyawat Nuamsawat
A group of 15 bicycle riders calling themselves Bike for Peace from Norway
rode through Pattaya on March 8, and as part of their stay visited the
Garunyawet Home for the Disabled in Banglamung.
 Harald
makes friends wherever he goes.
The cyclists are riding to draw attention to environmental issues and to
ways of improving life for the disabled in Thailand. After Pattaya they were
due to head for Rayong.
The route for the Bike for Peace riders had started in Rachadapisek,
Bangkok, and was due to end at Amphur Klaeng in Rayong. One of the cyclists,
Tore Naerland, has had only 5 percent sight since he was 15 years old, but
has been involved in peace activism since 1988. Another, Harald Vik, has
hearing and sight problems, but has been awarded a silver medal for cycling
by the King of Norway.
Both these members are involved in helping the blind in Norway and other
countries around the world and encouraging the disabled not to give up on
life.
Bike for Peace was established in Norway in 1978. Five years later members
rode from Moscow to Oslo. They then flew to New York. In 1999 they organized
a world tour starting in Beijing and moving on through Kazakhstan to Finland
and Norway, a distance of 11,470 kilometers.
Although mostly blind, Harald
Vik (riding aft on the two-seater) continues to participate in fund raising
activities such as this bike ride.
The team is fit and ready to
head out onto the streets.
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