|
Happy Birthday HRH Princess Chulabhorn
by Peter Cummins
Special Correspondent, Pattaya Mail
Photos courtesy of the Bureau of the Royal Household
Born on July 4, 1957, Her Royal Highness Princess Chulabhorn is the youngest
daughter of Their Majesties King Bhumibol Adulyadej the Great and Queen
Sirikit of Thailand and herself has two daughters, the princesses
Siribhachudhabhorn and Adityadhornkitikhun.
 Happy
Birthday HRH Princess Chulabhorn.
Princess Chulabhorn graduated from the Faculty of Science and Arts at
Kasetsart University with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Organic Chemistry,
First Class Honours, in 1979, following with a doctorate in 1985, being
awarded a Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Organic Chemistry from Mahidol
University in July of that year, capping off a record of excellent academic
achievement.
In 1986, she was appointed as an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of
Chemistry in London and was awarded the Einstein Gold Medal by the United
Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
The following year, she undertook post-doctoral studies in Germany, and has
since been a visiting professor at universities in Japan, Germany, and the
United States, as well as holding Honorary Doctorates from nine universities
around the world.
Her Royal Highness is chairperson of the Working Group on the Chemistry of
Natural Products collaborative program between the Japanese Society for the
Promotion of Science and the National Research Council of Thailand.
HRH the Princess has received international recognition for her scientific
accomplishments, resulting in her appointment to various United Nations
posts, namely special advisor to the United Nations Environment Program and
member of the Special High-Level Council for the International Decade for
Natural Disaster Reduction of the United Nations.
As a result of her experience as a scientist, HRH the Princess became aware
of the difficulties Thai researchers have in obtaining the necessary funding
for their research and so, in 1987, she established the Chulabhorn Research
Institute to provide a new fund-raising agency for such research.
This institute now acts as a focal point for the exchange of intellectual
and other resources in Thailand, for the purpose of solving urgent problems
confronting the country in areas of health, environment, and agriculture.
As president of the Chulabhorn Research Institute, HRH the Princess
currently directs five special research projects; the AIDS program, a
programme on restoration and integrated development of the flood-affected
areas in Southern Thailand, seawater irrigation for cultivation of economic
marine species and preservation of the mangrove forests, and a rabies
eradication programme, with a special project for accelerated immunization
in five southern provinces in Thailand.
Through these programs HRH the Princess plays an auspicious role in
improving the environment and living standards of the villagers in a number
of Thai provinces.
One of the vitally-important duties HRH the Princess has undertaken in the
immediate past has been the establishment of the Ban Namsai Community
Project, to assist the victims of the 2004 tsunami, by applying the
expertise of the biotechnology and sea life experience of the Department of
Sea and Coastal Resources of the Chulabhorn Research Institute to alleviate
the suffering of the people affected by this freak of nature.
HRH Princess Chulabhorn visits
rural children and their families during one of her many tours of the
countryside to help promote education in the Kingdom.
On the occasion of HM the Queen’s sixth cycle,
seventy-second birthday on 12 August 2004, and the 30th anniversary of the
founding of diplomatic relations between China and Thailand, HRH the
Princess presided over and presented Third Thai-China Relationship Concerts
in October 2005 at different locations in the Kingdom.
Four years ago, on her fourth cycle, forty-eighth birthday, the Princess
delivered the address, Innovative Scientific Paradigms in Cancer
Chemotherapy, aimed at supporting researchers and scientists at the highest
levels of Biomedical and Life Sciences in Thailand.
The honoured Innovative Scientific Paradigms in Cancer Chemotherapy speech
for HRH Princess Chulabhorn was held for the third time.
The Chulabhorn Research Institute, in collaboration with the Royal Thai
Ministries of Health and the Environment, held a broad- ranging Technical
Subjects Meeting on the Environment of Asia and the Pacific, held in Manila,
December 2005. Representatives of many Asia-Pacific countries, vitally
interested in the affects of waste, pollution and other toxic substances on
the environment and health, contribute to this important area of human
development.
More recently, HRH the Princess delivered the keynote address to
participants at the Fifth International Symposium on Chromatography of
Natural Products, at the Polish Academy of Science and the Phytochemical
Society of Europe, held at the Medical University of Lublin, Poland.
Probably one of the most outstanding events in the life of this talented and
hard-working Princess - especially in view of the 60th anniversary of His
Majesty King Bhumibol’s accession to the Thai Throne celebrated three years
ago - is the day, some 16 years ago, when she went to Cambridge, near
Boston, Massachusetts.
Cambridge is generally known as home of the prestigious Harvard University.
But for the Thai people, the name of the city also brings a special warm
feeling, for it is where the country’s beloved Monarch was born. When HRH
Princess Chulabhorn visited the city, it was more than a personal
sentimental visit to her father’s birthplace. It was an official occasion of
pride and was joy both for Thais and for the citizens of Cambridge: the
inauguration of the King Bhumibol Square in honour of “Baby Songkhla”, as
His Majesty was identified on his birth certificate at the Mt Auburn
Hospital in 1927, when his father HRH Prince Songkhla was a medical student
in the United States.
The city of Cambridge passed a resolution, “by acclamation” to dedicate
“King Bhumibol Square”, in recognition of the King’s birth in Cambridge, as
well as to acknowledge his world-renowned achievements and dedication to the
welfare of the Thai people. Hundreds of Thais and Americans crowded in to
the new Bhumibol Square to witness the event and the street sign reads:
“King Bhumibol Adulyadej, Born December 5, 1927, Mt. Auburn Hospital,
Cambridge, Massachusetts.” It also bears the “tri-colour” of the Thai flag.
HRH the Princess then delivered a speech to thank the city of Cambridge. The
square, she said, was more than a reminder of His Majesty’s birth because it
also embodied the common goals of both countries to work for the benefit of
humanity.
Thank you HRH Princess Chulabhorn for your own lifetime of dedication.
All of us at the Pattaya Mail, Pattaya Blatt, Pattaya Mail on TV and
the Chiang Mai Mail join the entire Kingdom in wishing Her Royal
Highness Princess Chulabhorn a Most Happy 52nd Birthday on the fourth of
July 2009.
Navy recruiting center hit by H1N1 flu outbreak
Masked officials look in on
some of the 200 conscripts who have been quarantined with flu-like symptoms
at the Royal Thai Navy’s Recruitment Training Camp in Sattahip.
Patcharapol Panrak
More than 4,000 Thai Navy conscripts have been confined to base and
family visits suspended after eight recruits tested positive for the A(H1N1)
influenza virus.
Royal Thai Navy officials say about 200 conscripts at its Recruitment
Training Camp in Sattahip were ill with flu-like symptoms and have been
quarantined. Random checks by the Chonburi Public Health Office found eight
servicemen with the H1N1 virus and checks of the others are ongoing. The
Navy said two of those personnel were hospitalized in intensive care.
Military officials - who had actually held a flu-prevention seminar for 200
personnel just three weeks ago - said they’re uncertain how the conscripts
came down with the H1N1 virus, but Vice Adm. Sirichai Kanithakul,
director-general of Naval Education Department said the assumption is it was
spread to the 4,200-person academy by a family member. Visits are now being
strictly controlled and officials are contemplating suspending all outside
visits to prevent the disease from spreading to military families.
Plans to dispatch conscripts that have completed their training have also
been put on hold, effectively confining all personnel to the base.
Sirichai said the Recruitment Training Center is working with the
epidemiologists at Apakorn Kietiwong Hospital to control the outbreak and
have stepped up hygiene measures. However, he said, with 4,200 recruits all
working and living together, colds and flu can spread quickly.
The number of reported H1N1 cases in Thailand has soared to more than 1,200
and last week the country reported its first two fatalities.
Top up your electric meter
Sawittree Namwiwatsuk
If you’re often shocked at the size of the monthly electric bill,
the Provincial Electric Authority has something new for you: Pre-paid
electric meters.
 Somsak
Pithayaporn, Provincial Electric Authority office manager, explains the
pre-paid electricity meter system.
Operating much like mobile phone top-up cards, you can now buy electricity
in 500 baht and 1,000 baht chunks, punch the code into a new 4,000 baht,
15-amp meter and spend only as much as you want on electricity. PEA Pattaya
office manager Somsak Pithayaporn said the new system will help some people
better budget their utility bills.
The utility company is also rolling out a new rate system for conventional,
post-paid customers. For an additional 1,000 baht customers can enroll in
the Time of Use system, which charges 50 percent lower rates from 10 p.m. to
9 a.m. and on weekends and holidays.
Kitten stuck in minivan drives monks crazy
Monks and mechanics work
desperately
to find and rescue a kitten stuck inside their van.
Patcharapol Panrak
Bunsong Chantimo knew there was a problem with the minivan at his
Thepprasit Temple when it started meowing.
Hardly the mechanic, Bunsong, deputy abbot at the Sattahip temple, called
sub-district Mayor Pairoj Malakul Na Ayutthaya June 20 looking for help: a
kitten was stuck in the dashboard.
City crises and politics would have to wait. The mayor joined the monks
along with some temple goers to rescue the kitty. It proved to be no easy
feat. Even after removing the dash, the cat could not find its way out. It
was lost deep in the chassis.
Finally, one enterprising monk thought to grab the cat’s mother. Her calls
proved to be more persuasive than the men in gold and, after an hour, mother
and kitten were reunited.
Bunsong said the cat caper was just the latest problem faced by the
benevolent monks who’ve seen the temple’s pet population jump recently.
People have been leaving dogs and cats at the temple, leaving to more poop
scooping and more cat capers.
Pattaya launching largest-ever crackdown on child beggars
Ariyawat Nuamsawat
Pattaya hopes the flower girls, bird sellers and other children
selling trinkets to tourists on Walking Street will soon be a thing of
the past as the city prepares to launch its largest-ever crackdown on
underage street vendors.
 Deputy
Mayor Ronakit Ekasingh wants to solve the underage begging problem once
and for all.
Armed with a new budget, the city will serve as a national test site for
a program to stem the flow of child beggars to Thailand’s tourist
centers. The program will be carried out by both city and tourist
police.
Police arrested more than 1,800 children since October for begging and
selling on Pattaya’s streets. But because the law forbids authorities
from actually jailing the street urchins, they’re back hassling tourists
the next day. At a June 23 meeting of police and the city’s Walking
Street and community committees, Deputy Mayor Ronakit Ekasingh said a
more comprehensive approach needs to be taken to prevent the children
from even coming to Pattaya.
Most of the children, he said, are immigrants from neighboring countries
who end up in Pattaya without parents. They work in gangs and often get
involved in drugs and crime, spoiling Pattaya’s image abroad.
Pol. Lt. Col Sutham Chaosrithong, Pattaya Police Station deputy
superintendent, said officers continually patrol Walking Street, making
arrests daily for prostitution, drugs, using wild animals and other
offenses. The street children problem, he said, is worst after midnight
when officials from the Child Protection Services division are not
available. Hence, he said, police can only fine the street children’s
handlers and let the kids go.
Tourist Police Capt. Suprapan Phopirom said a “global solution” is
needed to stem the tide of children working the streets. There’s now a
plan to clean out the beggar communities and step up enforcement, he
said. Undercover and uniformed officers will now patrol Walking Street
until after 3 a.m. to keep Walking Street urchin free.
Floating feline fine after rescue
T’was a bad week to be a kitten…
Patcharapol Panrak
It wasn’t a case that quite matches up to the Disaster
Prevention and Mitigation Office’s name, but for a 2-month-old kitten
that got stuck in a water-filled drain pipe for 13 hours, it was a
pretty big deal.
 A
rescue officer finally managed to get a hold on the drenched, but still
alive kitten.
Officials with the Sattahip disaster office received a call after
midnight June 17 that a wayward kitty had been paddling in a water pipe
for nearly half a day and needed rescue. The mother cat was there but,
like other humans who responded to the frantic mewing, she couldn’t
reach the kitten.
Rescuers threw the kitten a line, but the small cat wouldn’t grab it. So
they finally made a noose and lassoed the floating feline and pulled it
to safety.
Buddhist Lent begins next week
July 7 & 8
This year, the Buddhist holy days of Asalaha Bucha and
Khao Pansaa fall on July 7 and 8. Both are recognized public holidays, and
therefore banks and most businesses will be closed. It is also against the
rules to sell alcoholic beverages during the beginning of Buddhist Lent.
Many activities are planned throughout the city, especially at our temples,
and everyone is invited to take part.
Asalaha Bucha Day (July 7)
The Buddhist Holy Day of Asalaha Bucha falls on the 15th night of
the full moon during the eighth month of the Buddhist Lunar calendar, this
year equating to Tuesday, July 7. “Asalaha Bucha” means paying homage and
worshiping on the day identified according to the Lunar calendar during the
eighth month, Asala being the name of the eighth month in the Pali language.
Asalaha Bucha Day is worshipped because of three important events occurring
on the day. Called the “Triple Gem” (the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha), these
commemorate the first sermon given by the Buddha, called the
“Dharmachakapavattama Sutta” concerning the “Four Noble Truths” presented to
the Buddha’s first five disciples. The sermon set in motion the “Wheel of
Dharma”, which is the meaning of “Dharmachaka”.
The sermon concluded that: 1. All things are a source of suffering from the
constant cycle of birth, disease, old age and death. 2. Desire or the
inability to obtain what one desires is the cause of suffering resulting
from cause and effect. 3. Freedom from suffering can be obtained after the
complete cessation of desire. 4. The last of the Four Noble Truths is the
“Middle Way”, or the path between extremes of asceticism and indulgence
leading to the eliminating of desire. The Eight-Fold Path consists of
possessing the correct: Views, Resolve, Speech, Conduct, Livelihood, Effort,
Mindfulness, and Meditation (or Concentration).
Secondly, the day is considered to be the birth of Buddhism, as the Buddha
departed the location where he obtained his enlightenment two months earlier
and then, coming to a forest area in the city of Pharansi, he showed favour
to five ascetics who became his followers.
The third of the Triple Gems is the Sangha. On this same day, the first
person listened to the Buddha’s sermon, realising the truths contained
therein and becoming the first Buddhist monk. This created the Buddhist
order “Sangha” and the day is known as “Sangha Day” as well as Asalaha Bucha
Day.
The Thai government established the observance of Asalaha Bucha Day in 1958.
Buddhist temples throughout the Kingdom arrange ceremonies venerating the
important historic events in the past. Devout Buddhists participate in the
ceremonies by presenting offerings to monks, listening to sermons and
performing ritual prayers.
The entire day is revered and certain precepts are adhered to by the more
devout Buddhists, and by those who have the inclination and opportunity to
do so. The Wien Tian ritual ceremony is performed in the evening as many go
to nearby temples bringing candles, flowers and joss sticks, completing
three trips walking around the temple area sacred grounds.
“Khao Pansaa”
(July 8)
The day following the start of Buddhist Lent (Asalaha Bucha Day),
another important Buddhist holy day begins in Thailand with the custom
called Khao Pansaa. This day falls on the first full moon (1 kham) of the
Buddhist Lunar calendar during the eighth month of every year, which this
year equates to July 8, and ends on the 15th full moon (15 kham) of the 11th
month of the Buddhist calendar, usually in mid-October. During a leap year
it is identified during the second eighth month.
The term “Khao Pansaa” can also translate to entering the months of the
rainy season when monks return to the temple for the duration of the rains,
usually to the temple where they were ordained. They stay there for
approximately three months. The monks are not supposed to depart the temple,
or stay overnight at any other location during the months of rain. Although
the rainy season is considered to be longer than three months, lasting up to
four or even more, monks are only required to remain at the temples for
three months. During the last period of the rainy season they can then go
elsewhere when the “Katin” ceremony is performed presenting robes to the
temples.
Initially, monks were discouraged from travelling during the rainy season
because of the idea that it was inappropriate to walk about during the rainy
season when many small living creatures were about, which could be
accidentally stepped on. This included the rice crops. Inclement weather
also made it difficult to get out and about. Therefore, it was established
long ago that the monks would remain in temples during the rains for three
months, discussing and studying Buddhist scriptures, following Buddhist
disciplines, meditating and performing ritual ceremonies.
The custom of Khao Pansaa has continued on to this day with three classes of
ceremonies, a Royal ceremony conducted by HM the King of Thailand, ritual
ceremonies for devout followers of Buddhism throughout the Kingdom and
ceremonies performed by monks in the temples.
The Royal ceremony is similar to the ceremony performed by the general
public, but more elaborate. HM the King and members of the Royal Family
perform ritual ceremonies to pay homage to Buddhism, and present Khao Pansaa
candles and traditional garments to Buddhist monks. The Royal Family also
donates many other items used in these ceremonies.
Other followers of Buddhism all over Thailand will attend temples in the
morning, bringing food, necessity items, money, the traditional candles,
garments and ceremonial items for the monks, with flowers and candles in
hand.
For those people having devout faith they may refrain from the recognised
eight offences for the duration of the three month rainy season just as
monks do, while others may give up a single vice, with yet others
recognising 5-8 offences for the day.
The ceremonies performed by monks in temples revolve around rituals
accepting new monks, who take vows for periods up to the three months, with
some staying even longer. Senior monks at each monastery perform other
ceremonies leading followers in worship and prayer.
The two main items presented to monks during Khao Pansaa are candles and the
garments worn by monks, specifically the bathing robe. The candles were
essential in former times and needed for ceremonies, studying scriptures and
performing various other functions. The candle offering has developed into a
custom still followed.
The presentation of garments worn by monks is said to have originated from
methods of bathing in former times, commonly done in community areas using
streams, rivers, ponds and other sources of water, with monks requiring a
bathing robe. The garments worn by monks continued to develop until the
custom included presenting the entire arrangement worn by monks.
Many people take time away from their work on Khao Pansaa to recognise the
importance of the Buddhist holy day. Everyone is invited to participate in
the temple ceremonies and to refrain from offensive behaviour for the day,
and to make the same effort thereafter.
Police volunteer arrested
for selling ya ba
Boonlua Chatree
Authorities have arrested yet another Pattaya police volunteer for breaking,
not upholding, the law.
 Somsak
(left) and Amnart (right) were arrested for allegedly selling a Class 1
narcotic to an undercover officer.
Somsak “Sak” Mahamad, 35, and his 22-year-old accomplice Amnart “Nat”
Poh-Ngern were apprehended after attempting to sell ya ba to undercover
investigators. Police seized 180 methamphetamine tablets and Somsak’s
Pattaya Police Volunteer identification card, which bore an assumed name.
The June 25 arrest was actually the volunteer policeman’s second since
January on such charges.
The investigation into the two had been building for a while, with regular
officers suspecting them of distributing ya ba. They set up a sting
operation to purchase 70 tablets for 14,000 baht on Soi Nong-Or Abbey in
central Pattaya.
Somsak and Amnart arrived in a black Toyota Vios truck. The buy was made and
police swooped in to arrest both men. Seventy tablets were taken off Amnart
and another 110 were found hidden in the vehicle. They were charged with
possession with intent to distribute a Class 1 narcotic.
Anyone seen an
inflatable dolphin?
Patcharapol Panrak
They stole his toys, the neighbor’s ladder, motorbikes and a spare
tire, but a Sattahip toy store owner said a gang of local thieves crossed
the line when they took his inflatable dolphin.
 Toy
shop owner Tawatchai Im-sunthorn shows a printout of security camera footage
showing young thieves stealing an inflatable dolphin from in front of his
shop.
Tawatchai Im-sunthorn, 32, filed a complaint with Sattahip police and made
an appeal to the media June 24 to help find the men behind the dolphin’s
kidnapping, as well as a number of other thefts over the past year from his
Sukhumvit Road toy shop. Tawatchai was in the habit of leaving toys hanging
outside his store, even after closing, and was repeatedly frustrated when he
returned in the morning to find them missing.
Other times thieves broke into his truck and stole a spare tire, as well as
at least one motorbike and the neighbor’s aluminum ladder. So Tawatchai
installed a security camera outside the shop, then parked his truck within
its view so it would be protected as well. The thieves were undaunted.
Video from June 23 supplied by the shopkeeper showed two teenagers on
motorbikes pull up to his shop at 3:23 a.m., jump on top of his truck to
reach the hanging dolphin, then cut it down with a long-handled knife and
speed away.
That, he said, was the final straw and asked the media to tell his tale of
woe in hopes the blow-up cetacean’s captors can be found.
Jet Ski operator killed in Jomtien
Boonlua Chatree
Police are searching for the killers of a long-time jet ski vendor
whose body was found outside a Koh Larn food stall.
Known only as “Chian,” the deceased was said to be a former Surin resident
of Cambodian extraction. He’d been working for jet ski owner Anan Puttha for
seven years, renting out the watercraft to tourists and sleeping nearby to
guard them at night.
On June 18, Chantana Puaksaard, who operates the Yajai Food Shop on Tien
Beach, said she opened her stall to find Chian’s body clad only in blue
underwear and draped in a pink mosquito net. A rope was tied around the
man’s necks and he’d apparently been beaten. Police said it appeared the man
had been dead for two days and the body had been dumped at the restaurant.
Anan, who said he’d not seen his salesman for two days, told police he was
unaware of any disputes that could have lead to the homicide.
Police collected what evidence they could from the dump site and speculated
Chian was killed due to a business dispute with other jet ski vendors.
Pol. Lt. Col. Samroeng Ratananam said police will continue to investigate
Chian’s activities and search for the primary crime site.
Police push for snake-free
Walking Street
Pol. Lt. Gen. Ta-ngai
Pratsajaksattr, commissioner of the Central Investigation Bureau, and his
entourage tour Walking Street.
Boonlua Chatree
Top police officials have ordered Pattaya’s Tourist Police to step
up efforts to rid Walking Street of giant snakes.
Shortly after midnight June 25, Pol. Lt. Gen. Ta-ngai Pratsajaksattr,
commissioner of the Central Investigation Bureau toured the popular
entertainment district with Tourist Police Lt. Col. Suwan Un-Anan after
several tourists complained about men hanging snakes around their necks for
photos. As they are wild, protected animals, the commissioner ordered an
immediate investigation.
Ta-ngai took time to greet tourists along Walking Street before emphasizing
to Tourist Police that merchants cannot use wild animals for profit and
that, if found, such vendors should be arrested and charged accordingly.
Headless body may be that
of missing dive instructor
Patcharapol Panrak
In fishing villages like Samae San, locals are used to having the
sea often give back ones it has taken. A month ago the ocean claimed the
life of a Thai dive instructor. Last week, it may have given back his
headless body.
Former village headman Jarey Maihom found the corpse on the beach at Rong
Kohn Rong Nang Island near where 35-year-old Wiwat Tiranakornkul disappeared
May 10. The body was badly decomposed and missing its head. However there
was still skin on the back, which showed a large flower tattoo. It was taken
to Sattahip Hospital where authorities will try to identify the remains.
Sattahip Pol. Capt. Bandit Techawong said the body could be that of any one
of several people, but that there was a good chance it was Wiwat’s, as
examiners said the body had been in the water for at least a month. Police
will contact relatives to have them try to identify the tattoo.
Wiwat, of Bangkok’s Dive Evolution, was teaching an advanced diving course
with four students when one, 25-year-old Pote Sawangwongsaree, reportedly
panicked while trying to clear water from his mask. Three students surfaced
while Wiwat went to rescue Pote. The student’s body was found May 13 nearly
50 meters deep on a reef near the popular Hardeep shipwreck and the same day
one of Wiwat’s white dive fins was recovered.
The Royal Thai Navy deployed a plane, search vessel and divers in the
search, which was assisted by local dive operators. But after two weeks, his
body was not found. Wiwat’s relatives even invited a psychic from Trang to
pray for the sea to give up the body. On May 25, the family conceded and
held a funeral ceremony at a Bangkok temple. After seven days of mourning,
the rock from Rong Kohn Rong Nang, seen as a vessel for the man’s soul, was
to be cremated.
Thaksin phones in at Pattaya stage
Staff reporters
After a two-month lull, red-shirted anti-government protestors are
reviving their campaign to bring down Thailand’s government, returning to
Pattaya to stage a 3,000-member strong rally before their much larger
kickoff event in Bangkok.
The June 23 assembly at a privately owned plot off Soi Kao Tao saw top
leaders of the so-called United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship
take the stage before the UDD’s icon, deposed prime minister Thaksin
Shinawatra, phoned in from overseas exile to rally his troops. It was the
first major gathering of UDD red-clad supporters since they over-ran the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Pattaya in mid-April.
Approximately 12,000 red shirts braved pouring rain in Bangkok June 27 for
the start of what the UDD said was its new campaign to force Democrat Party
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva dissolve parliament and call an election.
The Pattaya ramp-up event, staged as a live broadcast of the UDD’s regular
“The Truth Today” radio program was called “Who Really Harmed Thailand?”
Thaksin’s position was no surprise, mocking the coalition of former
political rivals that allowed the Democrat Party to take power over his
hand-picked successors in the Puea Thai Party.
Thaksin also spun his version of the April summit crisis, saying the red
shirts had only wanted to present a letter to Abhisit, but were provoked by
attacks from blue-shirted government supporters. He went on to thank
Pattaya-area red shirts for supporting the ASEAN summit plan.
The former prime minister also used his 20-minute chat to accuse the
Democrats of corrupt ties to business and said that real democracy ceased to
exist in Thailand since the scrapping of the 1997 constitution after 2006’s
military coup. Thai people were better represented and cared for under his
regime, Thaksin claimed.
Before closing, the ex-premier said the current government is plunging the
country back into debt through its large economic stimulus plans. The
criticisms were met with cheers from his followers.
City plans Buddhist Lent candle parade
July 3 from Beach Road Soi 4 to Pattaya
Tourist Information booth in South Pattaya
Pattaya City will stage a Buddhist Lent Candle Parade on
July 3, with prizes for the winners.
July 8 is Buddhist Lent Day, and the Buddhist Lent Candle Parade will be
held in the run-up to this festival. The parade will start at 4 p.m. on July
3 at Beach Road in front of Soi 4, and will end at the Pattaya Tourist
Information booth on Beach Road, just before Walking Street in South
Pattaya.
There will be cash prizes and trophies for best decoration for the parade,
which will be determined and awarded at Wat Chaimongkol in South Pattaya in
the evening on July 3.
On July 4, there is a candle presentation ceremony planned, beginning at
9:30 a.m. at Wat Chaimongkol. From there, participants will present candles
to temples throughout Pattaya.
Sea turtle set free 2 years
ago returns home
Patcharapol Panrak
An endangered sea turtle released into the wild two years ago
inadvertently returned home after getting caught in a crab net near Ban
Chang.
Dalong, a 5-year old female Green Turtle, got tangled in crabber Kamol
Netpakdee’s net off Pala Beach June 8. He alerted authorities who took the
turtle to Sea Turtle Conservation Center of the Royal Navy in Sattahip.
There officials found a microchip embedded in the reptile’s fin.
It seems Dalong was one of a group of young turtles released into the wild
two years ago by the Sea Natural Resources and Shore Research Center East of
the Siam Gulf in Rayong. On June 20, the turtle was again set loose by Royal
Thai Navy officials.
Vice Adm. Chakchai Phucharoenyot, commander in chief of the Air and Coastal
Defense Command, said the area’s sea turtle population has declined
critically in recent years and that the Conservation Center has worked hard
to rebuild the population. He praised the fisherman and local officials for
rescuing the turtle and allowing it to again be set free.
Fisherman Kamol Netpakdee and
his first mate (right), along with Vice Adm. Chakchai Phucharoenyot and his
assistant (left) re-release Dalong, a 5-year old female Green Turtle into
the sea.
|
