HEADLINES [click on headline to view story]:

Alcohol ban over election weekend

Charity night raises funds for planting Cassia Fistula trees

Beach Road will be closed to weekend traffic starting from January 1

Lucky escape for three German balloonists

Beach use by vendors to be reduced and more strictly controlled

Spotlight believed to have caused fire at Japanese restaurant

Police cleanup nets the Nung Chonburi drugs gang

Silent nights for the pubs with no beer

Ceremony held at Kaonoi Temple for new Buddha image

Lions Clubs organize ceremony and activities to celebrate birthday of HM the King

Messages of love from two baby elephants charm Nong Nooch visitors

Sattahip cycles to promote environmental message

80,000 turn out to vote in advance of official election day

Scouts gather to honor HM the King’s birthday

Lions charity concert uses songs of daily life as theme

Free aerobics sessions at Public Health Center are open to all

Lives of cows redeemed as merit making for HM the King

---

Alcohol ban over election weekend

The Election Commission has issued a letter warning the public that serving alcohol during the election weekend is punishable by law.
Notices have been sent out to business operators that they are to refrain from selling alcoholic beverages between 18.00 hrs on December 22 until 24.00 hrs on December 23.
This ban includes sales, distribution and organizing any parties serving alcoholic beverages.
Violators face a fine of up to 10,000 baht or a maximum of 6 months in jail or both.

Charity night raises funds for planting Cassia Fistula trees

Representatives from government and private organizations gathered
recently to plant trees near Buddha Mountain.

Vimolrat Singnikorn
BBTV Channel 7 joined with Honda Automobile (Thailand) Co Ltd, PTT Public Company Ltd, Singh Cooperation Company Ltd and the Thailand Tourism Authority to plant 999 Cassia Fistula (golden shower) trees at Cheechan Mountain on December 11.
Deputy Governor of Chonburi Chatpong Chatput, Mayor Niran Wattanasartsathorn, director of the TAT Central Region 3 Office Chaiwat Charoensuk, Kenji Ottaka, chairman of Honda Automobile (Thailand) Co, and Sompong Atchananukroh, manager of BBTV Channel 7 led the planting ceremony.
Sompong said that the funds were raised for the golden shower trees through Women’s Golf Honda LPGA Thailand 2007. This competition was held late in October, and a charity night was held on October 24 in which bidding on memorabilia from international female golfers raised income to buy the saplings.
The total amount raised for the trees was 1,001,270 baht, and planting will continue until the budget is exhausted.

Beach Road will be closed to weekend traffic starting from January 1

Pedestrians often take their lives into their hands just trying to cross the street.

Ariyawat Nuamsawat
Pattaya Beach Road is to be closed to traffic Friday, Saturday and Sunday, returning to normal on Monday each week in an experiment ordered by the governor of Chonburi to try and resolve the traffic problem and make the beach a more attractive area for pedestrians.
The new measures, which will start on January 1, will see Second Road opened to two-way traffic when Beach Road is closed.
Large tour buses will also be prohibited from dropping off their passengers along Beach Road at this time.
Governor Pracha Taerat announced the new plans at Pattaya City Hall on December 6, saying that the activities of the city’s 700 baht buses and the tendency of the vehicle rental firms to hire out cars and motorcycles to large numbers of inexperienced and unskilled drivers was making the Beach Road traffic intolerable.
He said that Chonburi Land Traffic Department had been assigned to devise a solution to the problem, and that initially this would be a pilot scheme with a survey being conducted to see if it is viable as a permanent solution.
If this were the case, then Beach Road would become a Walking Street during the weekends.

Lucky escape for three German balloonists

Theerarak Suthatiwong
Three German balloonists escaped injury when their hot air balloon went down in the middle of a village during the Pattaya International Balloon Fiesta.

Due to fuel problems, this balloon went a bit off course during the Pattaya International Balloon Fiesta.

The incident happened at 5 p.m. on December 8. Balloons from many different countries had taken off from the Thammasat University field. One of the balloons, got into trouble and had to descend quickly. The balloon came down in S.P. Village III, in Banglamung District, 5 km away from the launching field. There were no injuries.
Bas Spierenlwig said that at a height of 400 meters a problem developed with the fuel supply. He and the other two crewmembers did their best to control the descent. Officers from the 31st Infantry Regiment, who were the field officials, took a vehicle to collect the three Germans and their balloon. They were taken to the director’s center at the competition field.

Beach use by vendors to be reduced and more strictly controlled

Chonburi governor warns about unfettered use of public land

Ariyawat Nuamsawat
The enormous area of Pattaya’s beaches taken up by beach chair concessionaires and other vendors is to be reduced in an attempt by the governor of Chonburi to clear the public areas and control the undisciplined sprawl of commerce along the oceanfront.
Governor Pracha Taerat on December 6 said that adjustments had to be made to the management of public land as a matter of urgency, especially the beach area, and he has asked Mayor Niran Wattanasartsathorn and Banglamung District chief Monkol Tamakittikhun to devise a strategy.

Governor Pracha Taerat is mandating that at least 50% of local beaches be taken back from beach chair vendors and returned to being open, free to use for the public.

Pattaya City permanent secretary Wuttipol Charoenphol reported at the Pattaya City Hall meeting on the problems with public land use at Pattaya and Jomtien beaches, saying there were more vendors than there should be. There are 384 entrepreneurs on 749 plots. Jomtien Beach has 454 plots with 256 entrepreneurs, and Pattaya Beach has 275 plots with 108 entrepreneurs. On Wongamart Beach in Naklua there are 20 plots with 20 entrepreneurs.
“In the past Pattaya City could not manage the beach 100 percent, because the entrepreneurs didn’t cooperate as they should have,” said Wuttipol. “Other entrepreneurs were allowed to enter, including street vendors. Lots of them tried to trespass outside of authorized zones, and they left the beach unclean. There were complaints from tourists over inappropriate attire, low quality of food, and more expensive than normal prices.
“Specifically regarding the benefits for the town, Pattaya City only collects 1,000 baht per year for each entrepreneur. They have neglected to pay since 2005. It has become like this, because the responsible authority hasn’t paid attention.”
Governor Pracha said if Pattaya City cannot solve this problem, then he will order a new arrangement on the beaches, starting with Pattaya Beach. There must be an evaluation for leaving 50 percent of the land open to the public, where it will be strictly forbidden to install beach beds and umbrellas. For this a GPS system will be used. In previous times the people had the right of possession, but in the future only one person will be able to occupy one plot.
The Chonburi governor said that the rules must be followed, and that measures would be taken to enforce them. Residents and tourists have lost the use of much of the common area, and this must be reversed.
Bidding will be set up for the concession areas every year for an appropriate price. This is to prevent transferring long-term rights. A responsible committee must be formed for arranging this, and the mayor of Pattaya City and the Banglamung District chief must sit on this committee. This would begin at the start of next year.
If the problems continue, said Pracha, and people don’t follow the rules, then all those responsible would be disqualified from using the plots. This could include the mayor himself, said the governor.
Unless these measures are undertaken and adhered to, control of the public areas will pass into the hands of those who are not afraid of anything, said Pracha. If that happened, law enforcement would become more difficult. The problem has to be resolved now, before it is too late.

Spotlight believed to have caused fire at Japanese restaurant

Damage estimated at 10M baht as timber building is destroyed

Firefighters battle the inferno at the Kabuto Yakiniku Japanese
and Korean beef grill on South Pattaya Road.

Boonlua Chatree
A roof-mounted spotlight is believed to have caused a fire at a Japanese restaurant in the early hours of December 16, leading to 10 million baht worth of damage.
Pattaya Police Station received a report at 4 a.m. that fire had broken out at the Kabuto Yakiniku Japanese and Korean beef grill on South Pattaya Road, and the officer on duty alerted the Pattaya Fire Department, which sent out five fire engines.
Pol Col Nopadon Wongnorm, superintendent at Pattaya Police Station led a team of officers to the scene.
The restaurant is a well-known upmarket Japanese and Korean grill, located on an area of 2 rai. Fire had broken out on the roof. The structure was made of wood with tiles, and the flames spread very quickly. Gas tanks exploded, which spread the flames even further. Firefighters had the blaze under control within 30 minutes. Nobody had been inside the building, as the restaurant was closed, and despite the huge amount of damage no one was injured.
Wirot Duangsoong-nern, a 32-year-old security guard from the SK Company at Sattahip, stated that the restaurant had closed at the normal time, approximately 12:20 a.m. He was on duty, and heard a noise like an electrical short circuit coming from the roof. There was an explosion and then the fire spread quickly along the top of the roof, where spotlights were installed to illuminate the exterior of the restaurant. Wirot raised the alarm.
Sakda Rotchanaporn, the 34-year-old owner of the restaurant arrived at the scene with his wife and his business partners.
“There was more than 20 million baht invested in this restaurant, and it had been open for less than one year,” said Sakda. “The event is regrettable, and it is estimated that the costs for the damage will be no less than 10 million baht. Fortunately, no one was injured.”
Sakda said the restaurant was insured with Siam Commercial Bank.
Pol Col Nopadon said that preliminary investigations indicate the fire occurred because of a short circuit. The security guard also stated that the fire started where the spotlights were located on the roof. However, forensic experts will be submitting a report.

Police cleanup nets the Nung Chonburi drugs gang

Police have hauled in the notorious Nung Chonburi narcotics gang.

Boonlua Chatree
Pattaya police on an avowed cleanup of the city before election day have hauled in the notorious Nung Chonburi narcotics gang and have also busted a pair of water meter thieves.
Pol Col Pairat Supasawat, deputy commissioner of the Chonburi region and Pol Col Noppadon Wongnorm, superintendent at Pattaya Police Station, held a media briefing during the morning of December 1 to announce the arrests.
The six members of the Nung Chonburi gang, a large distributor of ya ba in the province, were named as Siwadol Jongsuk, 24, Watcharapong Sangkhachai, 36, Miss Sujitra Kaetao, 24, Maetha Yingkamhaeng, 19, Banharn Suksai, 31, and Miss Buakaew Duangchampa, 26.
Pol Col Noppadon said that officers had had the gang under surveillance for a month before moving in to arrest them with the evidence.
Police confiscated 7,200 ya ba pills, several bank books with transactions running into many millions of baht, two handguns with clips, and three vehicles.
All six members of the gang were arrested in the A-One Hotel, room No. 101, the hotel coming under the responsibility of Banglamung Police Station. The investigation expanded to room number A 512 at the Village Condominium, which is under the responsibility of the Sursak Police Station in Sriracha; and to room B 207 at the Kasalong Resort Hotel, which is under Banglamung Police Station.
Panuwat Kamnet, the 36-year-old leader of the gang managed to escape as the police were closing in on him at room A 512 in the Village Condominium.
Two men who were caught in the act of stealing a water meter at View Point Village on Soi Chaiyapruek were found to be in possession of seven other water meters and a pair of pliers. They have been charged with theft.

Silent nights for the pubs with no beer