Boonlua Chatree
Police are waiting to question a British man who was attacked and injured by a group of youths on February 13.
Pattaya Police Station received a report at 5 a.m. that a man had been attacked outside the Siri Guest House near Oscar Karaoke on Soi Buakao, and officers were dispatched to investigate.
At the scene they found a rock the size of a fist with traces of blood on it. Eyewitnesses said that three or four youths had been involved in attacking a foreign man, striking him about the face and head with the rock, although there was no apparent reason for the attack. Afterwards the group had fled in an old black Nissan Sunny, with a Bangkok license plate.
Sawang Boriboon Pattaya rescuers had already transferred the injured man to Pattaya Memorial Hospital for treatment by the time the police arrived.
He was identified as Roger Parker, a 50-year-old British citizen. His injuries included a broken nose, bruising around both eyes, a cut to his head, and bruises on his body. He was in a state of drunkenness.
Police have initially assumed that the beating was the result of a dispute with someone who sent the group of youths after him in the car. Officers were waiting for Parker to recover sufficiently to give a statement.

American tourist beaten and robbed by three men posing as volunteer police

Ted Dragen (left) points out the men who attacked him on Pattaya Beach.

Theerarak Suthatiwong
Three men dressed as volunteer police officers attacked and robbed an American tourist on Pattaya Beach on February 17.
Ted Dragen, a 45-year-old US citizen was robbed of 30,000 baht opposite Soi Yamato.
Police officers have apprehended three men, namely Apirak Chandarak, 24, Theerapong Tonthong, 26, and Uthai Runket, 23. They have been described by police as vagabonds, and are not volunteer police officers at all.
Uthai stated that he was sitting on the beach with Theerapong and Apirak, and they had a folding knife. Dragen had arrived with a beer, and told them not to play with the knife because it was sharp and could harm them. He said Dragen then went to buy two bottles of beer, and gave it to them to drink. Later on they became drunk, and they felt antagonized and started to hit Dragen. Then they noticed Dragen’s wallet on the ground, and picked it up. They divided up the money and fled.
Asked why they were dressed like volunteer police officers, they said they had injured security guards from a private company, and had taken their radios and handcuffs. They were acting like officers, and people believed they were officials.
An eyewitness, Mrs Somkid Sira, 36, said she was sitting on the beach and saw the crime. She said the three men grabbed and beat the American as he walked by, then robbed him.

Guns found on pub customers

Officers found a cache of weapons during
 a search of vehicles outside a North Pattaya pub.

Boonlua Chatree
Police confiscated guns and ammunition when they searched a number of people outside a North Pattaya pub in the early hours of February 7.
Pol Col Nopadol Wongnorm, superintendent at Pattaya Police Station received a report that a number of customers at the Noir Pub on Petchtrakul Pattaya Third Road were carrying weapons, and sent a team of uniformed and non-uniformed officers to investigate.
Arriving at the scene the police found the pub busy, even though it was after the official closing time. There were many Thai and foreign customers, and music was being played loudly. Several cars and motorcycles were parked in the lot in front of the premises. The officers surrounded the pub and asked the manager to stop serving customers and to turn the music off. As the customers left the premises, they were searched. The police also checked the parked vehicles.
In a blue Isuzu belonging to Athid Khamhaeng, 25, they found an unlicensed 9mm automatic Para Bellum weapon and six bullets. Found in a gray D-max pickup belonging to Wallop Wichainchai, 31, was an automatic 9mm Sig Sauer, license Gor Thor 39130736, and 10 bullets. Jetsada Rattikul, 17, had an unlicensed .357 revolver and six bullets in his car. Police seized the vehicles and weapons and charged the three men with possessing and carrying arms and ammunition into a public place.
In a bronze Honda belonging to Adisorn Panchusri, 21, the officers found a 1-meter sword and a baseball bat. Adisorn was also arrested and charged.
Police said that this pub has a record of remaining open beyond the official closing time, despite warnings having been issued to the owner.

Police say Australian woman’s rape allegations were false

Theerarak Suthatiwong
Pattaya police say accusations of rape filed by an Australian woman against three Thai men before she departed for her home country are in fact fraudulent.
Mrs Matilda Cavcic, 25, filed a report with Pattaya Police Station on February 17. She said that she had been walking back to her hotel when a Thai man had approached her with an offer to take her out and show her the nightlife. After that, he said, he would take her home. Because he seemed a sincere kind of person, she had accepted, she said.
They had ridden on his motorcycle along Sukhumvit Road, before turning into a soi and traveling through the backstreets. She said she couldn’t remember the roads. They had then arrived at an abandoned building, where he stopped the motorbike. He dragged her into the building, where he raped her. Then another man appeared and also raped her.
A third man then arrived and suggested he take her back to her room. The route back was through darkened sois with heavy foliage, and the man had also raped her before they arrived at her accommodation, where he left her.
Initially, the police had immediately sent the victim to hospital for an examination, while attempting to find her attackers. However, police now believe that she filed a false report. She has already returned to Australia.
Pol Col Nopadol Wongnorm, superintendent at Pattaya Police Station said that in verifying the account, officers had found the locations and the times in her statement did not match. At the time she stated the man had taken her back to her room at a hotel in Central Pattaya, it was apparent she was closely acquainted with the man she arrived with. He allegedly kissed her goodnight, then left as she went into her room alone. After that, she had filed her report.
Following her visit to the police station, Cavcic had packed her luggage and left the hotel without paying her bill. It was later discovered she had returned to Australia. Police say they know her male companion, and would invite him in for questioning. Police intend to pursue the case, as it is a very damaging one to the country’s reputation.

City launches 4M baht campaign to attract domestic tourism

Emphasize put on inland market

Pramote Channgam
Pattaya City has launched a 4-million baht promotional campaign aimed at stimulating inbound tourism from the domestic markets.
Sittiprap Muangkoom, Pattaya City permanent secretary chaired a meeting on February 8 at Pattaya City Hall to discuss the campaign.

Niti Kongkrut (left), director of the Tourism Authority of Thailand European Marketing Bureau and Pattaya Councilor Pisai Panomwan Na Ayutthaya (right) discuss marketing options at the meeting.

Niti Kongkrut, director of the Tourism Authority of Thailand European Marketing Bureau said that during the previous meeting to discuss promoting Pattaya, it was decided to emphasize the inland market. As a result, Creative Juice G1 Co Ltd had been asked to work with the committee and suggest a campaign geared to a 4 million baht budget.
Creative Juice presented a campaign logo to the meeting, and the slogan “Amusement in Every Square Inch of Pattaya” was suggested to accompany the graphic. Thai text would be used, as Thai people are the target group.
Creative Juice representatives then outlined their advertising campaign, suggesting that the target groups could be reached through the use of radio, TV, leaflets, and the internet. However, the meeting decided to withdraw the leaflets element and use that part of the budget for more radio advertising.
Primary radio advertising would be broadcast on FM 103.0 MHz. Advertising spots would be bought in the Ec Entertainment TV program on Channel 5 that broadcasts every Thursday from 6pm to 6:55pm, and the Hua Jai Sapai Pae program on Channel 9 that broadcasts every Friday from 12:30am to 1:30am. A website would be created for the internet, with an email link for those seeking information.

Training attempts to reduce incidence of child sexual abuse

Vimolrat Singnikorn
The Chonburi Provincial Social Development and Human Security Bureau is conducting training sessions in an attempt to reduce the problem of the sexual abuse of children.
Panom Rodiam, an official at the bureau said that the current round of training is taking place at the Redemptorist Vocational School for the Disabled in Pattaya.

Teacher Kea Kaewket (left), director of the Youth Development Center and Mrs. Napa Setakorn (right), deputy director of the Department for the Development of Society and Welfare, tell the seminar how sexual harassment problems have decreased, but the numbers are still too high.

He said that the children are often from broken homes or disturbed backgrounds and have only a limited education, and are consequently vulnerable to approaches by those who offer to find them sexual partners, or to those who approach them for sexual services. They are also vulnerable to those who offer them narcotics.
Vagrant children are part of the problem, said Panom. Pattaya City authorities regularly detain vagrants, usually as many as 500 or 600 per year, and that the younger ones can be sent to the Chalermprakiet Training Center.
Mrs Napa Setakorn, deputy director of the Department for the Development of Society and Welfare said that the sexual abuse of children is the number one problem for children and youngsters in society. The second problem is that of physical abuse, much of it stemming from families in which there is alcohol and narcotics abuse.
Overall, she said, the overriding cause is families that lack warmth and cohesion, and that consequently the children are neglected.
Napa said that the cases under treatment are decreasing, but they are still very high. Two years ago, the number of cases stood at more than 70,000. This has now been reduced to 50,000 cases. Of these, 20 percent relate to the sexual abuse of children.

Awards go to prompt taxpayers

Five companies and five individuals receive awards

Five companies and five individuals receive awards
for paying their taxes on time.

Pramote Channgam
Plaques were presented to the best building and land taxpayers of 2007 in a ceremony at the Taksin conference room in Pattaya City Hall on February 12.
Presenting the awards, Mayor Niran Wattanasartsathorn said the companies and individuals being honored were selected in accordance with the Pattaya annual tax payment regulations.
Building and land tax are local income, and must be collected from the owners of buildings in accordance with Building and Land Tax Act BE 2475 (1932). Taxable property is defined as that being continuously used, leased out for trading, used for industrial operations, and used as residences. The tax year runs from February to January.
For nominating the awards, Pattaya City used a standard means of selection from the list of people that applied to pay tax for buildings and land within a specified period of time each year, and who didn’t have a record for paying taxes through installments.
There were 10 names that were divided into five companies and five individuals. The companies were Ekachai Distribution System Co Ltd (Tesco Lotus), Zencar Co Ltd (Carrefour), Asia Hotel Property Growth Fund (Thailand) (Hard Rock Hotel), PG Siam Property Funds (Asia Wan Resort), and Siam Bay Shore Co Ltd (Siam Bayshore Resort). The individuals were Mrs Nipa Chanrakkarnkha, Mrs Waritha Watcharapai, Suchart Karnchanahattakij, Sa-Nguan Satidsaemakul, and Mrs Sommana Sueksamat.

Grandmother Ying continues to struggle for her living

Doughty lady refuses to be a beggar

Grandmother Ying sells her coconuts for 15 baht each.
 It’s a struggle, but she refuses to be a beggar.

Patcharapol Panrak
Grandmother Ying is a well-known character in the Sattahip area, an elderly lady with a humpback, who makes her living by selling coconuts from a cart.
Her real name is Mrs Yupin Phopan, and she is 73 years old. She lives in a small house in Moo 4, in Sattahip Sub-district. Yupin pushes her cart for about 10 hours every day, and many local residents help support her by buying the coconuts even if they don’t want them.
Pattaya Mail spoke to Yupin on February 10. She was pushing her heavy cart with its reflective triangle traffic sign and loaded with 100 coconuts along the Sukhumvit-Pattaya Road. Such is the measure of her deformity and the effort she puts into pushing her cart, from the back you can see only her legs up to her waist.
Yupin said that she had two sons, and that one had passed away. He left his daughter with her when she was born; Miss Dolaya, or Bell Bunkeb, is now 21 years old. Her other son has also had a hard life, and fights to survive. She lives with her niece in a small house on a small piece of land that she says she is being cheated out of. Yupin’s deformed back was caused by an accident. She is not able to perform other work and survives by selling coconuts.
Grandmother Ying proved to be a spirited lady. She said she doesn’t want to beg for anything from anyone. She is able to earn approximately 100 baht per day. She sells the coconuts for 15 baht each, and most of her customers have sympathy for her. They usually give her 20 baht and allow her to keep the five baht change.
Miss Dolaya also spoke to Pattaya Mail. She said that as her parents passed away when she was young, she lives with her grandmother. Her education was completed only up to primary school class 6, which has made it difficult for her to find a job. Her grandmother doesn’t allow her to go out to work at night, so she stays at home and takes care of her grandmother and feeds her grandmother’s rabbits.
Dolaya added that she is afraid her grandmother might have an accident, but her grandmother has told her that she would fight for a living until her last breath, and refuses to be a beggar.

Saensuk to fund cost of education center from own cash flow

Administrators approved a 90 million baht budget to construct a child development center and recreation area for Saensuk Municipality’s children.

Ariyawat Nuamsawat
Saensuk Municipal District is to spend 90 million baht on the construction of an education center and the laying out of recreation land on a total area of 25 rai, taking the whole of the money from its own reserves.
Saensuk Mayor Sawad Hompluem presided over the first council meeting of the year on February 4, during which the new project was the primary subject of discussion.
Sawad said this is a large amount of money to spend, but that the education center would be for the mental and physical development of young children, who represent the future of the community.
The municipality is facing a problem in the support of pre-school children and kindergarten pupils. Previously, the local schools had accommodated them, but as the population of school-age children has grown there has become less room for the younger ones. The construction of a center has therefore become a matter of urgency.
The municipality is therefore proposing to build a center and lay out a sports field on an area of 25 rai of land, under a budget of 90 million baht.
Earlier, when the project was initially being discussed, the municipality approached the Communication Authority of Thailand for a loan of 60 million baht, intending to meet the other 30 million baht from its own reserves. Interest on the loan was calculated over a period of 10 years, and it was agreed that such a loan would not be advantageous for the municipality.
An audit revealed that the municipality has accumulated reserves of 177,123,419 baht. After spending the required 90 million baht on the center, the remaining balance would be approximately 87.3 million baht.
The administrators considered that Saensuk Municipality has enough of a budget to meet the costs, and that the financial condition of the municipality is stable. The decision was therefore made to go ahead without a loan from the CAT.

Complaints on the rise about increased prices

Complaints about prices and services are on the rise.

Kamolthep Malhotra
Consumers are complaining in increasing numbers about the high prices of consumer goods and about poor service, figures from the Department of Internal Trade reveal.
The department has just released details of the complaints it received from around the country in the year 2007. Many of the complaints came in via Household Hotline number 1569, while others were sent by email, letter, fax, and in person.
In all, 7,271 people filed complaints about high prices. The department figures show that a total of 561 people complained about prices of items in the food and beverage category. Most related to the price of vegetable oil, processed milk products, canned fish, and yogurt, which had all increased because the Internal Trade Department had approved the upward adjustment of prices to take into account the increased costs of manufacturing capital and transportation.
The department said that 522 people complained about other groups of products. Additionally, 226 people had complained about the agricultural sector, 154 people complained about petroleum products, and 58 people complained about goods in the domestic utensils category.
Personal appliances attracted 54 complaints, 36 people complained about the electrical appliances and tools category, 24 complained about the vehicle and equipment group, 15 about the construction materials group, nine about the paper products and stationary group, and 58 people complained about the service group.
Following up on the complaints, the Internal Trade Department discovered that 1,690 people had flouted the law. Fines were issued of up to 200,000 baht per person.

Three Marines injured in Southern bomb blast return to home base

Patcharapol Panrak
Three Marine Corps combatants injured in the South by an explosion that killed a Marine have been returned home to a warm welcome from their relatives.
The three were amongst five Navy personnel and two civilians injured when a remote controlled 5kg bomb hidden in the gas tank of a motorcycle exploded.

Families, friends and medical personnel greet the injured Marines upon their return from the south.

The motorcycle had been left beside the road near a grocery shop and a shrine in Taluban Sub-district, Pattani Province.
Caught in the blast were Marine Corps personnel Chaiyong Thopanja, 30, Nantawat Kruawal, 31, Pongsak Chantara, 30, Sorot Rotkamlang, 28, and Wirot Thinsuwan, 28. The two civilians were Gorsem Chuchama, 50, and Tuanya Yakariya, 17. Wirot later passed away at Yala Hospital Center from his injuries, while Pongsak remains in critical condition.
The three homecoming Marines were transported from Banthon Airport in Narathiwat to Utapao Airport on February 7, where they were welcomed by their families and friends bearing garlands of flowers. The Marines were then transferred to Somdej Phranangchaosirlkit Hospital Naval Medical Department for further treatment.
Pongsak has meanwhile been transferred to Songklanakarin Hospital in Hadyai.

Youngsters from South visit HTMS Chakri Naruebet

Patcharapol Panrak
Youngsters from Pattani and Narathiwat visited the HTMS Chakri Naruebet last week where they were greeted by Rear Admiral Soracha Sornprathum, commander-in-chief of the Offshore Helicopter Carrier Patrol Squadron.

Students from the south visit the bridge on the HTMS Chakri Naruebet.

Captain Chettha Chaipiam, director of the Division of Information and Psychology Procedures at the Naval Civil Affairs Department supervised the visit of the 35 youngsters, who were aged between 13 and 17 years and came from the Saiburi and Maikaen districts of Pattani Province and the Muang, Bajor and Yingor districts of Narathiwat Province.
The group had traveled first to Bangkok and then on to Sattahip where they toured the Chakri Naruebet, which is moored at Juksamed Pier.
Commander of the Chakri Naruebet Captain Chaiyong Khuntha gave a presentation to the youngsters on the role of the aircraft carrier in national security, and the part it plays in non-military duties such as on the support it gave to the victims of the 2004 tsunami.
The youngsters were then taken around the ship and shown the aircraft control tower and the navigation system used for controlling the vessel in domestic and international waters. They then visited the flight deck where the commander explained the procedures for aircraft takeoff and landing operations.
HTMS Chakri Naruebet has recently been reopened to visitors, following a one-month spell in dry-dock for maintenance and repairs.

BAY WATCH: Drain cleaning takes place before rains begin

Pattaya City’s public utility maintenance department has sent teams of workers out onto the streets to collect garbage and clean out the drainage pipes to prevent them clogging up during the rainy season. First up to get the treatment are Pattaya Beach Road and Second Road, with city hall promising that the other areas will be taken care of before the rains begin.

Jesters give the kids a new bus

Mike Franklin
With the 11th Jesters ‘Care for Kids’ Charity Drive already well underway, it was time to put the finishing touches to a record 10th year in 2007. That included the donation of a new bus for the kids at the Fountain of Life Center.

Mike Franklin (left) interviews Lewis Underwood (right) for Pattaya Mail on TV. The brand new bus serves as the backdrop.

However, the recently repainted blue Isuzu is not going out of service and will be put to good use in the grounds of the Center. The Sisters of The Good Shepherd Foundation like continuity, so no surprise that the vehicle is a sparkling new silver Isuzu. An Isuzu ‘Gold’ pick-up in fact, modified and fitted out to give the kids a safe and enjoyable ride.
Woody and I visited the Fountain of Life Center on Valentines Day to see for ourselves and recorded the visit for PMTV. The opening sequence was in front of the old bus, exactly as we stood a year ago when we shot the feature film ‘A Day at the Fountain of Life’. The film is now on the Jesters ‘Care for Kids’ web site at www.care4kids.info and the link scene to the film is on the home page.
So that brought back fond memories, as did the annual visit of the monk on Valentine’s Day to talk to the kids about love and its particular meaning within the various religions represented by the kids, and routinely acknowledged by the Fountain of Life. At 3 pm as the kids left to go home they were all given a pink balloon, with some of the balloons escaping to be carried away on the mid-afternoon breeze.
It was another happy day for the kids and a day of special meaning for them, as it was Valentine’s Day. You can see the kids with their new bus and pink balloons on PMTV Saturday, February 23.

29 youngsters to become novice monks at Bhuddhagaya

Chonburi youngsters prepare to learn dharma in the land of Buddha.

Ariyawat Nuamsawat
Twenty-nine students from Chonburi Province have traveled to Bhuddhagaya in India to be ordained as novice monks as part of the celebrations surrounding the 80th birthday of His Majesty the King.
On February 11, the students and their parents went with Pinyo Tanwiset, head of the Chonburi Provincial Administrative Organization (PAO) to visit Chonburi Governor Pracha Taerat, who gave his blessings and advice to them before they set out on their journey.
Chonburi Province has worked in cooperation with the PAO and Educational Zones 1, 2, and 3 to organize the ordaining of the novices in India. From the three Educational Zones, 24 students under the PAO were selected. Five other students from schools under the PAO were also selected, one student per school. A total of 29 students were chosen, along with four monks and 10 officials who will take care of them.
They traveled on Jet Airways to Bhuddhagaya in India on February 16 and will stay there until March 1, a total of 15 days. The ordaining of the novices will be held under the bodhi tree where the Lord Buddha was enlightened, and afterwards the novices will sleep at Wat Thai Kusinara Chalermraj in Kushinagar City.
During the 15 days the novices will learn the chronicles of Buddhism, absorb the moral principles of the Lord Buddha’s teachings at the original location, and go on a pilgrimage to several holy sites including the place where the Buddha was born, in Lumpini Sub-district at the Naerunchara River.
While they are staying at Wat Thai Kusinara Chalermraj, the novices will attend a lecture by the temple’s Abbot Rattanarangsri.
Governor Pracha congratulated the youngsters, saying they were about to undergo a great experience in their lives, and asked each of them to pass on as much of their learning as they can to their friends and schoolmates.
Mayor Pinyo said that a budget of 1,200,000 baht had been prepared in support of this project, which came under the policy of the governor.

Chonburi cracks down on spillage from ships

Theerarak Suthatiwong
An inspection of goods being transferred onto ships in Sriracha Bay and off Koh Sichang was carried out on February 6 by Mrs Orapha Korapin, deputy municipal clerk of Sriracha, representing the Chonburi Integration and Coastal Management Project, or Chonburi ICM, along with Marine Department officials.

Spillage when offloading ships near Koh Sichang is causing some environmental problems.
The inspection was carried out because of the large amount of dust that is occurring from the transfer of goods, especially commodities such as tapioca flour and coal, and which is being dropped into the sea. This affects marine resources, and drifts to housing on the edge of the bay and on Koh Sichang, affecting the health of the inhabitants.
Orapha said that a report is being drawn up following the inspection, which would be submitted to the relevant bureau. A provincial committee has been established that will liaise with the national government, as the problem is categorized as a national one and could lead to new laws on the transferring of goods at sea, in order to restrict the negative effects on the environment.
The initial findings of the inspection were that shippers and vessels had improved their handling procedures to be more efficient and to minimize the effects of dropped loads and spillage, but that this still tended to be a matter of individual endeavor rather than one affecting the entire business, as many had done little or nothing to improve their practices.
On the following day, February 7, Sriracha District chief Thanit Noipeng went to the Koh Loy Sriracha Pier to inspect the standards on the boats traveling between Sriracha and Koh Sichang. This was done due to the Chinese New Year having a large amount of people going to pay respects at the Kao Yai Shrine on Koh Sichang. Chonburi Province cooperated with the various associated units and the ferry operators to ensure safety standards were being followed and to help prevent any accidents from occurring.
Thanit said that the business people and the ferries were well prepared in terms of safety measures, including having a sufficient number of lifebelts for passengers. Marine Department officials were appointed to control the number of passengers boarding the boats and prevent overloading. Container ships and fuel loading vessels were forbidden to use the route passing in front of Koh Sichang during the holiday, and instead had to use the route going behind the island.

Integrated training begins for Navy divisions

Patcharapol Panrak
An integrated training exercise for the Navy divisions began at Sattahip Bay on February 11, with Admiral Wichai Yuwanangkul, deputy commander-in-chief of the Royal Thai Navy and director of training formally inaugurating the session.

Royal Thai Navy training tests all aspects of military preparedness.

Held every year, this training brings together combat personnel from the Naval Air Command, the Royal Thai Marine Corps, Air and Coastal Defense Command, the Naval Special Warfare Group, and the Navy SEALS Support Services Unit.
Admiral Wichai said that the Royal Thai Navy must prepare for every contingency in protecting the country, and that instant readiness and complete cohesion of all divisions is crucial to national security.
The exercises test all elements of readiness, including combat personnel and equipment, chain of command, and support services. They also include testing of secret assault procedures by the Naval Special Warfare Group, and operations in the three troubled Southern provinces by the Royal Thai Marine Corps.