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Panic as bar sign
blazes in Pattayaland
Boonlua Chatree
Four fire engines rushed to the heart of Pattayaland’s go-go bar district
just after midnight on June 12 when a neon sign above one of the bars burst
into flames.
As the sign for the Wild West Boy go-go bar sent clouds of acrid smoke into
Soi Pattayaland 1, crowds of people fled in panic through the narrow street.
Police and fire engines rushed to the property, whose official address is
325/52-53 Pattaya Soi 13/4, South Pattaya Beach Road.
The area is one of Pattaya’s most intensely crowded entertainment zones,
famous for its beer bars and go-go bars that feature female and male
dancers. Wild West Boy occupies the ground floor of a four-story building,
the upper floors of which are used by the staff. The frontage of the
building is covered with neon lights, and the light advertising the name of
the bar, mounted at the fourth-floor level, had caught fire. Foam pieces
surrounding the light also burned, causing dense smoke.
Officers found staff trying to extinguish the fire with chemicals.
Firefighters called the electricity generating services and asked them to
cut the power supply. The concrete walls had prevented the flames spreading,
and the blaze was extinguished in 10 minutes.
Nobody was injured, but staff were shocked and had run out of the bar and
congregated at the front of the building.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the building belonged to Mrs
Nisachol Koedmii, 30, and Steve, her Australian husband. Staff told police
that while more than 100 dancers were performing for customers a loud bang
was heard and everything went dark. Damage is estimated at about 10,000
baht. Forensics officers will investigate further.
Farmers receive title deeds
Ariyawat Nuamsawat
As part of the celebrations surrounding HM the King’s 80th birthday,
Chonburi Land Department has presented 299 farmers with title deeds to their
farms.
On June 11 at Chonburi Town Hall, Pracha Taerat, Chonburi governor,
presented the deeds to farmers from Banglamung, Sattahip, Sriracha, Ban
Bung, Panatnikom and Koh Chan.
Similar presentation ceremonies are taking place throughout the kingdom.
The land department measured land and made a map covering hundreds of fields
in Chonburi. It also investigated who has the rights to which parcels of
land.
The national land department is also undertaking a major project to survey
land for farmers. It hopes to finish within the next five years and pass
land on to other farmers in different parts of the country.
Pattaya schools need to clean up their canteens
Students being called upon to help
Vimolrat Singnikorn
An inspector at Pattaya Sanitation Department has warned that most Pattaya
school cafeterias do not meet the standards of the Ministry of Public
Health.
 Youngsters
are being called upon to help the FDA monitor and clean up local school
canteens as part of the Little FDA project.
Only three schools under the city’s direct jurisdiction meet the standards,
namely Pattaya School No 3, Pattaya School No 5, and Tantrarak School, says
Bubpa Songsakulchai.
Bubpa was speaking at the opening of the consumer protection project for
schools known as the Little Food and Drug Administration project, on June 7
at Pattaya City Hall conference room 401.
Deputy Mayor Wattana Chantanawaranon presided over the opening ceremony for
the session, which had 100 children from 18 schools taking part.
The youngsters are trained to observe procedures at their own school
cafeterias that could lead to food contamination.
Bubpa said that inspectors of the Pattaya Sanitation Department had visited
Pattaya’s schools to examine the cafeterias, and had found that most of them
still did not meet Ministry of Public Health requirements.
Inspectors said the cooking utensils were unclean, some of the food
ingredients had not been cleaned properly, and the cooks were wearing
clothes that were not clean, or they were not wearing caps, or they had
uncut fingernails.
Wattana said the Little FDA program had taken place over the past two years,
and was found to be effective. It changed the way in which school meals were
prepared and served, and subsequent monitoring revealed that more than 60
percent of the food stands had become more aware of their quality standards.
However, said Wattana, only three schools had passed the tests of the
inspectors, and clearly the program needed to continue if standards were to
improve.
Deputy chief of national police reviews progress on crime war
Theerarak Suthatiwong
The deputy commander-in-chief of the Royal Thai Police visited Pattaya on
June 12 to review progress in combating crime in the city.
 Pol
Lt Gen Adul Sangsingkaew says that even though crime statistics have
decreased recently, police shouldn’t relax their efforts.
Pol Lt Gen Adul Sangsingkaew was welcomed at the Provincial Police Region 2
Front Office Center at Pattaya Police Station by Pol Maj Gen Somdet Kaokam,
deputy commander of Region 2, Pol Maj Gen Bandit Khunachak,
commander-in-chief of the Provincial Police in Chonburi, and senior officers
from the Provincial Police stations, the Pattaya Immigration Bureau, the
Water Police, the Tourist Police, and the Highway Police.
Pol Maj Gen Somdet presented a summary of progress on the Pattaya 50 Plan, a
concentrated crackdown on crime that began on March 25. He reported that
crime had decreased in all areas of responsibility, and there was an
increase in arrests concerning narcotics. When narcotics problems decrease,
other problems will decrease as well, he said. The anti-crime drive has been
undertaken in cooperation with several sectors, including the military and
the private sector.
Pol Lt Gen Adul said that even though the statistics for crime have
decreased, the police could not relax their efforts. Pattaya is an
international tourism destination, and unless the incidents of crime are
kept low, visitors would stay away.
Link to filtration plant demanded as
20% of city’s tap water is untreated
City hall and PBTA to lobby Chonburi governor
Bangpra reservoir is the main
water resource for Chonburi, and currently contains plenty of water.
Ariyawat Nuamsawat
Pattaya City Hall and the business community represented by the Pattaya
Business and Tourism Association are lobbying the governor of Chonburi for a
water pipe connection to connect the Naklua Filter House to Mabprachan
Reservoir.
PBTA president Chamroon Witsawachaiyapan held a meeting on June 13 at the
Green Park Resort along with city hall officials and representatives of the
Tourism Authority of Thailand, the Department of Irrigation, Eastern Water
Resource Development and Management Company Ltd and the Provincial
Waterworks Authority to discuss Pattaya’s water woes.
Although the present supply situation is stable, the quantity of untreated
water making up tap water for Pattaya residents and businesses is more than
20 percent. The raw water comes from Mabprachan Reservoir.
Chamroon said that current water supply does not present a problem because
the amount of untreated water required is plentiful. Eastern Water has also
laid a new system of pipes to bring water from Rayong and Bangpra Reservoir
to the Banglamung Filter House and Nong Klangdong Filter House. From this
there is 75,000 cubic meters of water per day in the system.
Additionally, the Waterworks Authority buys 25,000 cubic meters of untreated
water from Sattahip that is processed by the Chaknok Filter House. However,
Pattaya City uses 130,000 cubic meters of water per day, hence an additional
30,000 cubic meters of water is taken from the Mabprachan Reservoir on a
daily basis, and is untreated.
Boonsom Yutithampinyo of the Department of Irrigation said that at present
the untreated water situation is satisfactory. However, the problem of
untreated water could be remedied by connecting a water pipe between Naklua
Filter House and Mabprachan Reservoir.
Deputy Mayor Ronakit Ekasingh said that Pattaya City Hall and the PBTA would
work in cooperation to submit the proposal to Chonburi’s governor.
22 Uzbekistani women arrested on prostitution charges
Twenty-two Uzbekistani women
were arrested for allegedly selling sexual favors in and around Walking
Street.
Boonlua Chatree
Twenty-two Uzbekistani women selling sexual favors in and around Walking
Street were rounded up on June 14 in a swoop organized by Pattaya
Immigration Police that saw 20 regular officers and 30 volunteer police
officers take to the streets for the roundup.
Brought in to Pattaya Immigration Office for questioning, the 22 women said
they performed sexual services for between 2,000 and 3,000 baht a time.
They were charged with disturbing the peace and soliciting under the
Prevention and Suppression Act B.E. 2539 (1996), which carries a fine not
exceeding 1,000 baht.
Four youths questioned over rape of two 13-year-old girls
Boonlua Chatree
Charges are being sought against four youths by the aunt of one of two
13-year-old schoolgirls who were allegedly raped by the youths repeatedly
over the period of the past three months.
Mrs Chamnian Kamngern, 40, filed a report with Pattaya Police Station on
June 13 against three youths aged between 17 and 18 years and named as Ball,
Madkao, Maddam and Mins, saying they had raped the girls at the Full Love
Inn Motel in Central Pattaya.
Both schoolgirls stated that at approximately 9 a.m. on April 13, which was
during the Songkran festival, they had gone to the beach at Central Pattaya
where they met the four youths. They became friendly and joined in the
Songkran activities. The youths had two motorcycles, and at 6 p.m. the girls
asked to be taken home.
The youths, however, stopped at the Full Love Inn Motel on Soi Bongkot in
Central Pattaya and paid for two rooms. Ball and Madkao took one girl into
one of the rooms, and Maddam and Mins took the other girl into another room.
They raped the girls before taking them back to their residences. They
threatened the girls to not tell anyone, otherwise they would come and get
them from their schools and rape them again. The girls were afraid, and
didn’t dare tell their parents.
Later, the four youths came to wait for the girls in front of their school.
When they found the girls had not told anyone of the rape, the youths felt
secure and told the girls they would see them again. This they did, it is
alleged, taking the girls at the weekends to several other motels around
Pattaya and raping them. This continued for three months.
The brother of one of the girls noticed that his sister was apprehensive
when her mobile phone rang, and before leaving the house. He made her tell
him the truth. He then told Chamnian, who approached the police.
The girls were taken to Banglamung Hospital for a medical examination and
the youths are being questioned.
Live wire kills cable thief
Theerarak Suthatiwong
A thief attempting to steal an electric cable neglected to check whether it
was live, and died when he cut through it.
Banglamung Police Station received a report at 1 p.m. on June 6 that a man
had been killed at the Pokakit It Block Company on Soi Nongprue.
Officers and Sawang Boriboon Foundation rescue workers found the dead body
of Patipan Keeram, a 30-year-old resident of Buriram. He was lying on his
back on the ground, and his right hand was burned. Beside the deceased were
a black electric power line and a cutter.
The employee who found the body said the first anyone was aware of the
incident was when the electricity supply to the factory failed. Firstly the
fuses were checked, and found to be in working order. Then a check of the
area around the premises revealed Patipan’s body beside the wall. He was a
garbage collector, and lived near the company.
Police have assumed that the deceased was stealing electric power cables and
hadn’t realized he was cutting a live wire.
Thief steals Korean’s car and girlfriend
Boonlua Chatree
A thief jumped into a car left momentarily outside a bank while its Korean
owner used the ATM, and drove off with the Korean’s girlfriend still in the
vehicle.
Pattaya Police Station received a call from an aggrieved Chang Sueng Woo
just after midnight on June 11 to say that a thief had just driven away in
his bronze Honda automobile.
The 38-year-old Korean is the owner of Golf Pattana Laem Chabang. He stated
that he had gone out for dinner with Ms Duangthida Sarasin, a 25-year-old
resident of Ayudhaya. On the way back he stopped in front of the Bangkok
Bank on Pattaya Second Road, opposite Soi 6 to withdraw money from the ATM.
The car’s engine was running, and Duangthida was waiting inside the car.
Immediately, a slim man jumped into the car and drove away in the direction
of North Pattaya. Duangthida was frightened and afraid he would injure her.
She jumped out when the car slowed down in front of the Alcazar Theater,
sustaining minor injuries. She said she shouted for help, but no one was
interested.
Police radioed ahead but as of press time, officers had been unable to find
the vehicle.
Girl, 16, lied about rape
Police angry over search for 20 non-existent men in van
Boonlua Chatree
A 16-year-old girl who made the national headlines when she claimed she was
kidnapped and raped by 20 men in Pattaya is now in trouble for wasting
police time after admitting her story was a lie.
The girl, who has been given the alias of Ple, had said she was bundled into
a van in Bangkok’s Chinatown district at 11 a.m. on June 10, and raped in
the vehicle by 10 men wearing balaclavas. She then said she was transferred
to another van and raped by another 10 men somewhere on the motorway near
Pattaya.
Ple said she had managed to trick her captors by saying she needed to use
the bathroom, and when they pulled the van over she ran away from them in
the rain and took refuge in a nearby shop owned by Prateung Am-yerm, 37.
Prateung, shocked by the bedraggled girl’s story, called the police who came
out to the premises on the Bangkok-Pattaya highway, where they found the
tearful “victim”.
The story sparked a manhunt, with headlines in the Thai national press and
wide coverage on television. However, with police unable to turn up any hard
evidence and with medical tests failing to corroborate Ple’s story, doubts
began to grow.
On June 18, Ple was taken to Banglamung Police Station and asked to tell the
whole story again in the presence of Prateung. Ple confessed in tears that
the whole story was a lie and that she had made it up because she was afraid
that a man who she had met earlier could harm her.
Ple told police that she had left her home in Bangkok’s Yaowaraj district
and sat at a nearby bus stop in the street, because she had been upset at
something. As she was sitting there alone, a man who she had never met
before, aged between 30 and 35, had come along on his motorcycle and stopped
to speak to her.
The man told her his nickname, Yam, and asked her if she wanted to take a
trip down to Bangsaen with him. She said yes, and climbed onto the
motorcycle. Yam then took her to Bangsaen and rode on to Takientia district,
where they stopped at a house near a construction site. They spent the night
together and had sex before he left for work in the morning.
Ple said she took that opportunity to leave the house after she asked Yam to
take her back to Bangkok but he refused.
She then walked for about 4 kilometers to get to a location to catch a bus
back to Bangkok. Miss Prateung, who was at her shop, saw her in distress and
offered to help. The news became national headlines when Ple told the
distorted story to Prateung, who reported it to the police.
Ple admitted there was no minibus and no gang-rape by 20 men. She said she
had voluntarily hopped on a man’s bike in Bangkok and had sex with him at
his house in Banglamung.
After the questioning, police searched the house where Ple had been taken.
They found her blouse on the premises. The owner of the house, Yam’s sister,
told police that her brother Yam (Nikorn Thongkheaw), age 30, from Nakhon
Ratchasima, was a motorbike taxi rider at a rank not very far from the
house.
Police found Yam at the motorcycle taxi stand and transferred him to the
police station. Yam denied all charges but the evidence that police had
gathered was enough to refer him to Pattaya Provincial Court where he was
charged with having sex with a woman less than 18 years of age.
Police said later that they had been working hard to find the supposed
attackers and that a lot of police time had been used on what had proven to
be a lie. At the time of going to press, no charges have been brought
against the lying girl.
20,000-seat soccer field planned for Pattaya
Sawittree Namwiwatsuk
A soccer field with 20,000 spectator seats will be the main addition to the
new facilities at the Indoor Stadium, following Pattaya City’s acquisition
of the stadium from the Sports Authority of Thailand at the beginning of
this year.
 Narong
Wongwai (left), chief architect, discusses suggestions for the new football
field at the Indoor Stadium.
A master plan was subsequently set up for further developments at the
stadium, and a meeting on June 7 at Pattaya City Hall with Mayor Niran
Wattanasartsathorn present discussed progress on the leading feature,
Chonburi Eastern Sports Field.
Space Architects Co Ltd have been hired to draw up the master plan, and they
have undertaken a study of comparable facilities worldwide to see how best
to develop the potential of the Indoor Stadium.
Proposed are a soccer field with seats for 20,000 spectators, a 3,000-seat
swimming pool with a standard diving board, and a 1,000-seat tennis court.
Plans are also being discussed for beach soccer, beach volleyball, takraw,
basketball, and a shooting gallery. Other facilities would include a 220-bed
sportsmen’s building, offices, and a parking lot.
Niran said that Chonburi Eastern Sports Field would be located on an area of
more than 200 rai. Constructed to international standards, it would be used
to support regional and national competitions.
The master plan will be used as the basis for drawing up a budget. This
first stage of development already has a 15 million-baht budget.
Tourists flee as fire breaks out in Walking Street hotel
Boonlua Chatree
Tourists fled in panic during the early hours of June 15 when a fire broke
out on the fourth floor of the Jasmine Hotel on Walking Street.
 Fire
police initially believe that a short-circuit at the air conditioner was the
cause.
The hotel’s front desk cashier Ms Anataporn Kampa, 26, called the police to
say that there was a fire in room 403, and police officers and fire engines
from Pattaya City Fire Department rushed to the scene.
Smoke poured from the windows of the 52-room hotel and the fire alarm was
ringing, causing the foreign guests to flee in fear of their lives.
The fire was, however, quickly brought under control, firemen taking just 20
minutes to extinguish the flames.
Preliminary investigations of the room in which the blaze started indicated
that a short-circuit at the air conditioner was the cause, but an official
report is awaited from forensic specialists.
Anataporn told police that a 47-year-old British man named Alistair Scott
Clynch was the occupant of the room but said he was not there when the fire
started. Police were due to question him.
No one was injured during the fire, which caused an estimated 50,000 baht’s
worth of damage.
Baywatch: A drain on resources
Narisa Nitikarn
Residents and business operators in the area between Soi Boon Samphan 3/1
and Soi Boon Samphan 2/2 at Ban Khao Noi, a 100-meter stretch that passes
the front of the 7-Eleven store are bewildered what to do next.
They say that at the entry and exit points of the soi the drainage pipes are
blocked, and the road surface has badly deteriorated. Nongprue Municipality
earlier on cleaned out the pipes and filled in the pot-holed road with
gravel, but both problems have reappeared.
The pipes remain blocked and unwary drivers fall into pot holes. Water
splashes onto the pavement, wetting pedestrians. “We don’t know what to do
next,” said one business operator.
Rocks rolled away for public safety
Workers remove sharp rocks
from the beach on World Environmental Day.
Vimolrat Singnikorn
Officers from the Public Health and Environment Department of Pattaya City
led a team clearing away sharp rocks on Pattaya Beach on June 5, World
Environmental Day, as a public safety measure.
Worachat Kongsamut, a community public health officer, said a similar
exercise had been carried out last year, when a sweep of the beach collected
some eight tons of sharp rocks. This year, he said, there were fewer rocks
to clear away, because there are regular clean-up programs for the beach.
But even so, the tide still brings in the rocks, and they need to be removed
for the safety of tourists.
The cleanup teams worked along Pattaya Beach while another team tackled
Jomtien, the work being done at low tide for maximum effectiveness. Worachat
said there would be another sweep of the beach in August.
Cheers to Singha for beach cleanup
Leo Girls and students from
Pattaya 5th and 7th schools participate in World Environment Day activities.
Vimolrat Singnikorn
A beach and underwater cleanup operation on Pattaya Beach and around Koh
Saak was organized by Boonrawd Trading Company Ltd in cooperation with
Pattaya City Hall on June 4.
Part of the activities surrounding World Environment Day, the cleanup was
presided over by Mayor Niran Wattanasartsathorn, with mayoral adviser
Itthipol Khunplome, senior marketing support manager of Boonrawd Trading
Somchai Chaichanawong, and Boonrawd distributor Suwan Traitrungpattana also
present.
Second and third year secondary school students from Pattaya No 5 and No 7
schools rolled up their sleeves to take part, professional divers were
helped out by local stars who are also amateur divers, namely Mathew Dean,
Byron Bishop and Aks Piyawimuktayon, and seven lovely Leo Girls enlivened
the scene.
Shatchai Viratyosin, marketing director of Singha Corporation Ltd said the
event was being staged as both a practical cleanup operation and as a way of
promoting a sense of responsibility amongst the young to take care of
Pattaya’s beaches.
The cleanup squads worked along the beach between Central and South Pattaya,
and the divers scoured the seabed around Koh Saak.
Most of the waste comprised plastic bags and other small items. The beach
was not greatly littered, because the city cleans it regularly. City
officials were asked about this and Pramote Sapdaeng, head of Environmental
Management said that the cleaners are allocated to three main zones, namely
Jomtien, Naklua and Pattaya. The officers also take care of tourist safety
by removing sharp stones that are brought up onto the beach by the tides.
The World Health Organization designated June 5 as World Environment Day in
1972.
Careless filling station attendant pumps wrong petrol into German’s 24M baht Ferrari
Ariyawat Nuamsawat
A German motorist is anxiously monitoring his 24-million-baht Ferrari 430
after a careless filling station attendant pumped the wrong grade of
gasoline into its tank.
Bruno Pringle filed a report with Banglamung police on June 5 that the Esso
filling station on the Sukhumvit Road at Bang Saen had said they would take
full responsibility for any damages.
 Bruno,
the owner of the Ferrari, said he won’t press charges just yet.
Pringle, who has a home in Pattaya, said that he bought the car six months
ago for 24 million baht. Two days previously he had stopped at the Esso
station to fill up, and had told the attendant several times which petrol to
use, because he couldn’t read the Thai signs. He felt suspicious when he saw
the petrol was cheap at just over 27 baht a liter while at other pumps it
was 30 baht, but the attendant told him that was the standard price. The
Ferrari was filled with 1,850 baht worth of petrol.
Shortly after leaving the filling station the car stalled and the ignition
began to show problems. Pringle called into a Jet filling station and
noticed a price difference. He went back to the Esso station and was told
the car had been filled with the wrong type of petrol. He told the
attendants to drain off the petrol, but didn’t receive any service, so he
filed a complaint with the police.
Pringle said he had drained the petrol from the tank and taken the car back
to Pattaya, where he called the Ferrari Service Center who sent out a
mechanic. He said the mechanic told him that no damage had been done, but
Pringle is still afraid to drive the car. He said that if anything goes
wrong with the engine or the ignition, repairs will start at around 600,000
baht and he will claim compensation.
Filling stations should have signs written in other languages in order to
avoid similar incidents, he added.
New OTOP skills for Pattaya housewives
Sawittree Namwiwatsuk
Pattaya City helped residents gain new skills by teaching them how to make
artificial flowers from soil under a project entitled: ‘Supporting and
Developing Careers’ (OTOP).
 Watsachon
Chang-pradit teaches women how to make artificial flowers.
Deputy Mayor Wutisak Rermkitkarn launched the project, which shows villagers
how to make the artificial flowers from the soil. The training project took
place from June 12-14 at Pattaya City Hall, and is in line with the
government’s aim to solve the problem of poverty and generate income for
people.
Watsachon Chang-pradit, an artificial flower trainer, taught the group of 18
housewives from the Nong Yai and Ha Tanwa slums. Pattaya City Hall sponsored
the event.
Wutisak said the reason for this training was because most people didn’t
have sufficient skills to have careers so they could be self-sufficient and
look after their families. The artificial flowers were sold at an
information desk at Pattaya City Hall and at OTOP booths.
Public Health Dept sends
mobile checkup unit to
Soi Dec 5 Community
Sawittree Namwiwatsuk
Pattaya Public Health and Environment Department organized a mobile service
for residents of the Soi December 5 Community at the sports field in front
of Ban Rotfai School on June 12.
 The
city sent out workers to spray areas to prevent the breeding of the
mosquitoes that carry hemorrhagic fever.
Free checkups were given on general and dental health, and domestic pets
were also given a free health check.
Kitti Ngerntuam, an inspector at the Public Health Department said the
purpose of the mobile service was for people to receive primary healthcare
checks near their homes, rather than them having to use their time going to
a hospital, and that this was part of the ongoing program to improve the
general health of people in Pattaya and to stop the spread of infectious
diseases.
The latter also involves the spraying of areas and deployment of antiseptic
to prevent the breeding of the mosquitoes that carry hemorrhagic fever.
“Many people in the December 5 Community came for checkups, including a
large number of students from Ban Rotfai School,” said Kitti.
Students from Ban Rotfai
School receive dental treatment from the Public Health Department.
Public Health officers explain
how to use medicine.
Public Health officers provide
blood pressure checks during the event.
Third attempt to be made at juvenile camp
Narisa Nitikarn
A third attempt at holding a camp for the rehabilitation of homeless
delinquents will begin on June 26.
 Pol
Capt. Jirawat Sukhontasap (left) and Sopin Thappajug (right) will help
revaluate the youngsters before, during and after the camp to monitor their
progress and to assess whether the camp is worthwhile.
This staging of the Sai Yai Rak Youth Camp will be watched particularly
closely, as the two previous camps failed to have a significant effect on
those taking part.
Deputy Mayor Wutisak Rermkitkarn announced the camp on June 13.
Thirty young offenders are being selected by organizations that include the
Supanimitra of Thailand Foundation and the Chonburi Youth Provincial Court.
The camp will be staged from June 18 to August 1 at the Royal Thai Navy’s
Wiwatpolmuang School in Sattahip.
 Deputy
Mayor Wutisak Rermkitkarn opens the event.
Wutisak said the last two projects had failed because the youths had not
felt happy taking part in the activities at the camp. They had returned to
the streets and acted in the same way as before, only a small number of them
deciding to return to society and live a normal life.
The third camp will focus on emotional development and social studies, as
well as providing enjoyable leisure activities.
The youngsters will be evaluated before, during and after the camp to
monitor their progress and to assess whether the camp is worthwhile.
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