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Deals, traffic aplenty as Pattaya swarms ‘Shops on the Beach’
Mayor Itthiphol Kunplome, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Commerce
Yanyong Puangrat and R.S. Entertainment performers join the opening ceremony
for the big shop on the beach event.
Phasakorn Channgam
Local and Bangkok merchants alike rang up lots of
interest and sales at the Commerce Ministry’s special “Shop on the Beach”
sale event June 5-6.
Commerce Ministry Permanent Secretary Yanyong Puangrat,
Pattaya Mayor Itthiphol Kunplome and city council members plus performers
from R.S. Entertainment kicked off the “grand sale” on Beach Road at Soi 4.
Yanyong said the sale - which saw 800 Bangkok and Pattaya
vendors hock discounted goods along Beach Road from the Dusit Thani Hotel to
Walking Street - was the second in a series of planned markets to help
Bangkok small businesses recover from last month’s “red shirt” protests,
riot and fires.
Both Thai and foreign shoppers crowded the beachfront and
one lane of Beach Road was closed both days, aiding market browsers but
creating two days of teeth-gnashing traffic for drivers whose trips from
north to south took 45 minutes instead of the normal ten.
Koh Larn residents fume over bridge to nowhere
The
abandoned project on Naban Beach, Koh Larn,
which has been left unfinished for over two years.
Vimolrat Singnikorn
Two mayors promised to build it, but two years after
construction began the bridge and pier at Koh Larn’s Naban Port remains
unfinished.
Initiated by former Pattaya Mayor Niran
Wattanasartsathorn, the project got off to a proper start, with concrete
supports planted in the sea bed. But work stopped when the contractor walked
off the job, never to return. During his election campaign, current Mayor
Itthiphol Kunplome promised to complete the pier, but nothing was ever done.
Today the project remains a bridge to nowhere. The
pillars laid two years ago are decaying and harbor users can only scratch
their heads, wondering why the new pier has been ignored even as the city
tries to drum up tourism for Koh Larn.
Koh Larn residents are urging the city to revive the
project. With the island’s popularity burgeoning, the lack of a proper pier
and access to it are making things difficult and inconvenient for business
owners and tourists alike.
Father Ray Foundation, Royal Cliff to host charity talk show
Organizers and children announce the “Giving Love, Sharing Smiles”
talk show to be filmed July 4 at the Royal Cliff Hotel.
Phasakorn Channgam
The Father Ray Foundation and the Royal Cliff Beach
Resort are teaming up to sponsor a charity talk show July 4 called “Giving
Love, Sharing Smiles.”
City officials and community leaders announced the 1:30
p.m. to 3:30 p.m. program May 27, noting proceeds from tickets and related
sales will go to benefit the disabled and underprivileged children under the
care of the Father Ray Foundation.
The talk show will feature well-known speakers Chatuporn
Chomphoonid and Sukhum Nuansakul. There also will be a performance by the Jo
Louis Puppet Theatre, a “wheelchair dance,” and shows performed by children
from all the foundation’s schools and shelters.
Tickets will sell for 400-2,000 baht and are available at
the door the day of the event or by reserving in advance at the Father Ray
Foundation or calling Atjuma Chawaritthamrong at 089-505-9058.
22 workers hospitalized after chemical leak in Chonburi industrial estate
Twenty workers were hospitalized Friday due to chemical
inhalation after a chemical leak in the Amata Nakorn Industrial Estate in
Chonburi.
The chemical leak occurred at Siam Keeper Mfg, a producer
of O-rings and oil seals in the Amata Nakhon Industrial Estate.
Chonburi senior medical official Marut Jirasetsiri said
their conditions were not severe and according to the initial inspection, an
industrial fan malfunctioned, causing the chemical to evaporate into the
factory atmosphere forming a haze within the building.
The chemicals that caused irritation to respiratory
system are believed to be xylene, ethanol and methyl ethyl ketone, he said.
The plant was ordered closed temporarily for safety
reasons.
About 100 workers were working at the time and evacuated
the factory when the chemicals leaked. The area was cordoned off.
Chonburi Governor Senee Jittakasem inspected the site and
ordered officials to speed up investigation and find the cause of the
chemical leak.
Witoon Simachokedee, permanent secretary for industry
said that the initial investigation showed that the chemical leak may be
related to human error.
As xylene can affect the conjunctiva and nostrils, the
ministry ordered a machinery shutdown until the investigators determine the
cause of the accident and safety is ensured. (TNA)
Social Welfare Department preps opening of new Pattaya center
Pattaya Social Welfare Department’s center for helping people
with social problems will open soon for service.
Vimolrat Singnikorn
The Pattaya Social Welfare Department is putting the
finishing touches on a new temporary shelter for poor, HIV-infected and
other disadvantaged locals who need a place to stay before being
transferred to a permanent facility.
The 21 million baht facility in Nong Plalai is set to
open in July on a 4-rai plot off Sukhumvit Soi 3 with separate buildings
for men and women, a kitchen, cafeteria, meeting room, nursing center
and counseling room.
Social worker Arunrasamee Bunkerd said the center
will be the department’s primary way station for both needy children and
adults. Work began on the facility in December 2008 with primary
construction completed in October. Interior design and furnishing should
be complete this month, allowing the center to open shortly after.
In addition to sheltering infirm, disabled, elderly
and homeless people, the center will be a meeting place for
social-welfare organizations to meet and perform research, Arunrasamee
said.
Water levels down, but remain enough to last Chonburi through August
Bunsom Yutithampinyo (inset), chief of water allocation
and irrigation
for the Chonburi Department of Irrigation, says that although
water levels are down in local reservoirs, we have enough to make it through
August.
Theerarak Suthathiwong
Water levels in Chonburi’s eight reservoirs are down more
than 10 percent from a year ago, but remain sufficient to last through
August.
Bunsom Yutithampinyo, chief of water allocation and
irrigation for the Chonburi Department of Irrigation, said the reservoirs
have about 85 million cu. m. of water, down 10 million cu. m. from the same
time last year.
Bunsom blamed El Nino conditions that began after last
year’s rainy season. Since then, the area has had only 364.2 mm of rain.
He said, however, there is nothing to worry about as the
amount of water remaining is enough to carry Chonburi through rainy season
at the end of the summer.
Sattahip School learns the environmentalist’s 3 Rs
Youngsters bring their recyclables
to the new 3R Recycling Bank Project at Sattahip School.
Patcharapol Panrak
Students at Sattahip School are learning that the 3 Rs
can also mean “reduce,” “reuse,” and “recycle.”
The school, in partnership with Sattahip sub-district, is
serving as a pilot project for a new recycle bank, which pays people who
donate recycled goods and stresses the importance of reducing waste and
garbage.
Sub-district Mayor Pairoj Malakul Na Ayutthaya kicked off
the 3R Recycling Bank Project at the school in the Naval Operations
Department area June 3. Vice-Principal Capt. Bongkot Khayankarn said it will
be an important way to raise youth consciousness about the environment,
which is under siege from a swelling population and the garbage it produces.
Instead of burying or burning garbage, people need to
increase recycling. Paying people can be an effective incentive for people
to separate their trash and bring it to be reused and recycled, he said.
The funds will come from the sub-district’s budget.
Pairoj said the local government is already spending a million baht a year
to handle garbage. Savings will result from the recycle bank project if
overall garbage levels drop.
The program stresses first reducing the amount of waste
people generate, then reuse what can be reused and recycle what cannot. The
pilot project has about 200 participants.
Pattaya awash in waves of funny money
Boonlua Chatree
Pattaya Police are warning area merchants to beware
counterfeit currency after a wave of complaints about funny money of all
denominations.
Lt. Col. Tarathep Tupanit explains how to tell the
difference between genuine banknotes and forgeries.
Lt. Col. Tarathep Tupanit said there have been numerous
incidents in which vendors have been paid in fake 100, 500 and 1,000 baht
notes at night. In all cases, the sellers didn’t realize the money was
counterfeit until it was too late.
Police said detecting genuine currency is not difficult
under an ultraviolet lamp. Under the black light, bills show a line that
glows red, yellow and blue; letters and numbers change from red to orange
and a circle-and-pattern in the center of a bill changes to yellow.
Tarathep said anyone presented with counterfeit notes should immediately
inform police.
Thai hotels group wants loan assistance, tax breaks to recover from protests
Phasakorn Channgam
Thailand hotel executives have asked the government for a
range of financial incentives to help them recover from two months of
tourism-crushing political protests.
Bundarik Kusolvitya, president of the Thai Hotels
Association Eastern Chapter, unveiled the seven proposals at the group’s May
27 meeting at Pattaya’s Ravindra Beach Resort and Hotel.
Bundarik Kusolvitya, president of the Thai Hotels
Association Eastern Chapter.
Loan assistance topped the list of relief requests, with
the association asking the government to help hotels negotiate three-year
loan extensions and grant a six-month grace period on payments on existing
loans.
The group also wants the government to pay 2 percent of
the interest payments owed by Pattaya and provincial hotels and 3 percent of
the interest on loans by hotels in Bangkok where the protests took place.
The “red shirt” protests and ensuing riots affected not
just hotels in Bangkok’s Ratchaprasong shopping district, but throughout the
city and country, Bundarik said. And the curfew that followed - plus the
worldwide media coverage of the street violence that left 89 people dead in
two months - prompted cancellations that led to a 50 percent drop in tourist
arrivals.
In addition to loan assistance, the association is asking
the government to exempt hotels from property taxes in 2010, suspend hotel
taxes of 80 baht per room for a year and provide a 12 million baht budget to
retrain employees. The hotels also want exemption from making social
security payments for the rest of the year.
The requests were sent to the Prime Minister’s Office for
consideration.
Convicts clean temple,
sit for Buddhist morality lesson
Prison inmates and convicts on probation clean
Kao Bangsrai Royal Temple in Chonburi.
Theerarak Suthathiwong
About 65 prison inmates and convicts on probation cleaned
Kao Bangsrai Royal Temple in Chonburi and heard lectures on Buddhism in a
government project aimed at helping the criminals get their lives back on
track by developing a sense of morals.
The “Public-State Virtue Project” was organized by Radio
Thailand, the Chonburi provincial government and Probation Office, the
Chonburi Women’s Prison and the Buddhism Office of Chonburi May 24. About 50
convicts released on probation and 15 current Women’s Prison inmates
participated.
Together they cleaned indoor and outdoor areas of the
temple then listened to Dharma lessons that stressed the importance of
following Buddha’s virtuous ways to lead a better life.
Chonburi Gov. Senee Jittakasem said in a statement that the project will
instill morality and refinement in criminals that had little of either, and
benefit the public.
Buddhist Association soliciting donations for Vegetarian House
The Meng Kiang Huk Toa Vegetarian House and Deva Temple
for the God Jowsue is only 30 percent complete, and Sriracha’s Buddhist
Association is hoping charitable donors will help them complete
construction.
Theerarak Suthathiwong
Sriracha’s Buddhist Association is hoping charitable
donors will help it complete construction of a new “vegetarian house” and
temple after organizers ran out of funds to finish it themselves.
Work on the 24 million baht Meng Kiang Huk Toa Vegetarian
House and Deva Temple for the God Jowsue is only 30 percent complete. Amat
Sopanarom, president of the Buddhist Association at Pong Lai Sajab Sa Siew
Kho Bung Rai 1 said the project is an expansion of a vegetarian house that
has been in the Bung neighborhood for 40 years.
The facility is used to honor the god Jowsue and mark
various occasions for Thai and Thai-Chinese deities. The expansion was made
possible by the donation of 2 rai of land next to the existing vegetarian
house, which sees use during Vegetarian Lent.
The Association is asking people to donate to the
construction budget through its Bank of Ayudhya account at the Pin Thong
Industrial Estate Sub-branch, account number 542-1-10660-3.
Curious waiter shakes, triggers
Rayong ‘bomb’ before calling police
Theerarak Suthathiwong
Rayong police responding to reports of a possible bomb
discovered the suspicious object was simply a chemical tank marked
“dangerous” that a local waiter had buried in the sand after shaking and
opening it.
Rojsak points to the devise whilst holding the triggering
mechanism he pulled, giving him a nasty surprise.
Senior Sgt. Maj. Supot Nonglek of the Mae Rampeung police
responded to the Talay Lungtung restaurant on Mae Rampeung Road May 28 after
fears a cylindrical object on the beach was a bomb.
Rojsak Sermsap, 32, told investigators he’d found the
object the night before and thought it was an empty tank that had washed
ashore. Despite its large “dangerous” label, he said he tossed the object
back and forth, then pulled a trigger-like valve to see what would happen.
What he got was a blast of chemical smoke to the face that caused him to
pass out.
Angry that his new toy spurned him, Rojsak put the tank
valve down in the sand and buried it, then called police.
Police suspect the item could have been a maritime signaling device.
Drunk Iranian punches
Thai man, denies charges
Boonlua Chatree
Iranian Ramin Asgarinik is brought in and booked on
assault charges.
A drunk Iranian seen by police chasing and punching a
Thai man at Bali Hai Pier slept off his rage in a Pattaya jail cell after
denying hitting anyone.
Ramin Asgarinik, 46, was arrested around 1 a.m. June 1
after punching 36-year-old Prathum Sa-ardnak for no apparent reason. The
Iranian did not go quietly and was forcibly taken to Pattaya Police Station
after resisting arrest.
Prathum said he was merely walking along a footpath at
the pier when Asgarinik attacked him. It seems the Thai man was walking near
where the drunk Persian had parked his motorbike.
Canadian overstays visa 2 years
Pledges to return after deportation
Boonlua Chatree
A 66-year-old Canadian is facing deportation for
overstaying his visa for two years, but has pledged to return to Thailand
again.
Michael Grabowski sits at the police station trying to
explain his 2 year overstay.
Pattaya Police officers patrolling near government
housing on Thepprasit Road around 1 a.m. May 27 stopped Michael Grabowski
and checked his passport. They discovered the retiree had entered the
kingdom in April 2008, with his tourist visa expiring on Mat 24, 2008. He
had not extended his visa since.
Under questioning at Pattaya Police Station, the Canadian
said he liked Pattaya so much when he first visited here, he simply decided
to stay. He accepted that his fate will lead him to being deported, but
pledged to return to Thailand again someday.
Aussie, 60, abandons baby of 24-year-old girlfriend arrested for drugs
Boonlua Chatree
An elderly Australian man abandoned an 8-month-old baby
outside a Pattaya hospital after his 24-year-old girlfriend was locked up on
drug charges.
Pol. Maj. Col. Suparuek Yuprai brings the abandoned child
into Pattaya jail to gain a positive identification from its incarcerated
mother.
The child was found by a security guard at Pattaya
Memorial Hospital in the wee hours of June 3. It was left in a stroller with
some clothes and a milk bottle. The guard said it had been dropped off by a
foreigner around age 60.
Police discovered the child was the daughter of Orasa
Donsakhu of Roi-Et, who had been in custody at Pattaya Police Station since
the day before for illegal amphetamine use. Amid a tearful reunion with her
child, she said she’d left the baby in the care of her elderly Aussie
boyfriend who, it appears, had not a clue what to do with a crying infant.
Police contacted Orasa’s mother in Roi-Et and arranged
for her to take her daughter and granddaughter back to Issan where they
could be properly cared for.
Sattahip cop shoots,
kills thief who stole
mother-in-law’s gold necklace
Patcharapol Panrak
A Sattahip police officer shot and killed a man who
snatched a 3-baht gold necklace from the neck of his mother-in-law.
Senior Sgt. Maj. Seksan Pumpuang points to the gun next
to the motorbike that they say belonged to Jirawat Amcharoen.
Jirawat Amcharoen, 22, was shot in the back by Senior
Sgt. Maj. Seksan Pumpuang while trying to escape arrest for stealing the
necklace from the officer’s mother-in-law while going to make merit at a
temple on Visakha Bucha Day.
Police officials said the shooting was justified, using a
Thai saying that equated the killing to setting an example for other
would-be robbers.
Sattahip police recently have stepped up patrols after a
flurry of robberies from youths they say come from Naklua and Pattaya to
take advantage of the area’s smaller police presence. It was one of these
patrols on May 28 that spotted Jirawat holding up Seksan’s mother-in-law
Yaowapa Yangpol, 55, at gunpoint.
Police pursued the Naklua resident on his white Honda
Wave motorbike. During the pursuit, Jirawat collided with Senior Sgt. Maj.
Wittaya Sanamchai, injuring the officer. He then tried to escape across a
Sukhumvit Road median and Seksan fired two warning shots into the air.
Police claim Jirawat then shot back with a handmade pistol and Seksan
returned fire, killing him.
Officers said Jirawat was well known in Sattahip and
Pattaya and had allegedly committed a number of robberies. Sattahip police
said he’d specifically come to the area knowing many women would be dressed
up to visit temples on the holiday.
Police raid illegal Pattaya abortion clinic after patient’s near-death
Boonlua Chatree
Police raided and shut down an illegal Third Road
abortion clinic after a 28-year-old university student nearly died.
Police and social workers search through the illegal
abortion clinic.
Pattaya and Chonburi police stormed the Wetchakam Clinic
May 26, arresting office staffer Nisa Theerasujimanat, 21, and cleaner Hansa
Leethongdee, 40. The owner of the clinic, Somjai Buasaen, 43, was not at the
scene and police are now looking for the Ubon Ratchathani native.
Police were following up on a complaint by a Sukhothai
Thamtirat University student who had suffered extreme pain and bleeding
after the clinic apparently botched her abortion. She said clinic operators
had attempted to manually terminate the pregnancy, rather than through a
chemical injection, and had not given her any pain medication.
The victim returned to the clinic and demanded a refund.
When none was given, she decided to file charges. Abortion is illegal in
Thailand.
Nisa said she was Somjai’s niece and only worked there to
take care of the three-storey clinic. She denied knowledge of the abortion
services and equipment found in the basement.
Chonburi MP urges police to find vandal who threw
‘blood’ on PM’s billboard
Chonburi
Democratic Party MP Maitree Soiluang’s aide Natthachai Saengsri points to
the defaced billboard.
Patcharapol Panrak
Chonburi Democratic Party MP Maitree Soiluang has filed a
complaint with Sattahip police alleging that a member of the “red shirt”
opposition movement threw “blood” on a billboard image of Prime Minister
Abhisit Vejjajiva.
Maitree aide Natthachai Saengsri filed the complaint at
the Sattahip Police Station June 4, saying that Abhisit’s face on the
billboard at the Sattahip Market intersection was splashed with either blood
or red paint. He alleges the deed was done by government opponents who claim
the premier “murdered” red-shirted protestors last month.
Police inspected the billboard, which also depicts
Maitree and two other Democratic Party MPs. Only Abhisit’s image was
defaced. But the sign is very high and police surmised the vandal could have
only accessed it using a crane.
Natthachai said the vandalism cannot be tolerated, as it
will impede the country’s reconciliation. He urged police to track down any
crane owners to quickly find the perpetrator.
Police arrest alleged leader of Thai-Bahraini human trafficking network
Police
lead suspected human trafficker Surirat Chaiphom
(talking on phone) out of Royal Garden Plaza.
Theerarak Suthathiwong
Police have arrested the alleged ringleader of a human
trafficking network that trapped at least seven Thai women into jobs as
prostitutes in Bahrain.
Officers from National Police Operations for the
Prevention & Suppression of Human Trafficking Division arrested 34-year-old
Surirat Chaiphom of Chiang Rai inside a McDonald’s restaurant in Pattaya’s
Royal Garden Plaza June 1. She was charged with collaboration in human
trafficking and kidnapping.
Police Col. Surachet Hakphan said seven Thai women who
had supposedly escaped their Bahraini captors had gone to the Thai embassy
to ask for help and complain they’d been tricked into coming to the country
by Surirat, who had promised them jobs as housemaids.
The women said Surirat was the leader of the operation,
which paid for airfare and other travel expenses under the premise they
could repay their debts with their salaries later. In truth, police said,
Surirat and her cohorts were paid as much as 600,000 baht for each woman
they delivered to work in entertainment venues as prostitutes.
Surachet said Thai authorities have been working with
Interpol to bust up the trafficking ring, which is known as “Mae Tack.”
Arrest warrants have been issued for several other gang members, including
Surirat’s Bahraini husband.
A search of the woman’s Soi VC apartment uncovered a
passport with multiple Bahraini stamps. Surirat told police she had gone
there to work independently as a prostitute and was not involved in any
trafficking. She added, however, that the women knew fully what they were
going to the Persian Gulf country to do.
The arrest is the second in seven months involving
Pattaya-based plots to traffic women to Bahrain. In November human
trafficking police arrested Mohamed Ebrahim Yasuf Naserisa, 27, and
Patcharee Thepbat, 32, for their roles in luring Pattaya-area women into
forced prostitution in Bahrain.
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