Environmental dive this weekend

Divers can enjoy a weekend outing and make a valuable contribution to the environ-ment at the same time by taking part in a reef transplant operation this weekend, March 29 and 30, off Sattahip.
Wendel Sims of Mission Divers is organizing the event, with help from the Royal Thai Navy. In the restricted area near Sattahip naval Base, divers will lift sections of coral reefs and move them to areas containing damaged or dead reefs. The transplanted reefs will be anchored at the new site where there is a good chance they will flourish and grow.
The Navy will provide equipment, tanks and a barge to serve as a dive platform.
Interested divers can contact Karen Wiebelhaus at (038) 570150-5, 01-617-1596, fax (038) 57044, or e-mail [email protected].

Sea-walking tours on hold

The Tourism Authority of Thailand has temporarily put a hold on issuing licenses to underwater “sea-walking” tours, stating that sea walkers damage the fragile underwater ecosystem by trampling on delicate coral.
Environmental agencies in Phuket were the first to publicly announce worry over the damage such tours can cause without proper administration. Ramate Sukpum, an environmental officer at the Science, Technology and Environment Ministry, said that last year the Phuket Marine Biological Centre found coral around Hay Island in Phuket had been damaged by sea walkers, stating that coral are highly sensitive to touch, temperature changes and sediment levels.
TAT said that it will set up a body to regulate tour agencies, which will include representatives from the Office of Environmental Policy and Planning, the Fisheries, Forestry and Harbour departments, local authorities and TAT officers. The joint committees will have the power to grant and terminate two-year sea-walking licenses.
Vidhya Poolsong, Director of the Bangkok Tourist Business and Guide Registration Office, said that, “The Tourism Business Committee ordered the TAT to stop granting tour agencies licenses to operate sea walking trips late last year”.
Sea walkers can tour the ocean floor with the help of a special underwater helmet connected to a pumped air supply at the surface. Tourists pay 1,000-1,500 baht for a 15 minute walk, generating as much as 100,000 baht a day. With such profits booming, it may be difficult to regulate the business.
Sea walking is popular with Taiwanese, Japanese and Korean tourists. Local tour operators conduct sea walking tours on Koh Larn.

Laem Chabang port being promoted

Deputy transport and Communications Minister Pinit Charusombat has just concluded a trip to Vietnam where he extolled the virtues of using Laem Chabang port for overseas shipping by the Vietnamese.
“It will be cheaper to export Vietnamese products from Laem Chabang than through Singapore and Hong Kong, as ports in Ho Chi Minh City and Haiphong have to use feeder services,” Pinit said.
Karn Tantivejakul, Laem Chabang Port’s managing director concurred. “In terms of trans-shipment costs, exporting through Laem Chabang would be about US$20 (500 baht) per container cheaper than through Singapore. In terms of freight cost, Laem Chabang was US$150 (3750 baht) cheaper than Singapore on the same route to the United States,” he said.
Mr. Karn also said that Laem Chabang currently handles about 800,000 containers a year, com-pared with 1.2 million at Bangkok Port. The con-tainer volume passing through Laem Chabang is about 20% of its predicted level for 2005.
Bangladesh, Burma, India, Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore are also being encouraged to use the deep sea port, which is now being used by large mother vessels as well as feeder services. Theparak Leungsuwan, managing director of Cosnam Shipping, the agent for China’s Cosco line in Thailand, said that Cosco’s vessels, capable of handling a total of 5,400 containers, now call at Laem Chabang five times a week.

Armed robbery at Jiffy Mart

Two armed robbers held up the Jiffy Mart in North Pattaya last week, pistol whipping two employees and escaping with 5000 baht in cash.
Ms. Ratana, the cashier, and Mr. Khanthong, the gas pump attendant, received head injuries after one of the armed robbers beat them unconscious when they were unable to produce the keys to the safe containing the store’s reserve cash.
When police arrived on the scene, the two terrified employees told them that two men, approximately 25-30 years old, had entered the store and asked to buy 8 bottles of imported whisky. As Ms. Ratana was ringing up the sale, one of the men produced a gun and pointed it at her head, telling her to give him all the money in the till.
It was at this time when Mr. Khanthong entered to bring in the money from his shift at the gas pump. When neither were able to produce the key to open the till, they were beaten until unconscious.
The armed robbers searched the shop and took 5,000 baht in cash, 1 Buddha image, 1 gold ring, and the whiskey, then drove off on Sukhumvit Road.

Pattaya leaders and FCCT members conduct open discussion at City Hall

 FCCT President Philippe Decaux discusses matters with Panga Vathanakul.

The meeting of the Foreign Correspondent’s Club of Thailand, the business and private sector and the Pattaya government sector was held on Sunday, March 23rd at Pattaya City Hall.
The governor of the province was unable to attend as he had emergency meeting in Bangkok.
The meeting was called to order by Pratheep Malhotra, the editor of the Pattaya Mail. He introduced Dr. Virachai Techavichit, Advisor to the Prime Minister. Dr. Virachai talked on several issues. First, he spoke on the financial “importance of the Eastern Seaboard and Pattaya to Thailand”. He spoke about the economic problems facing Thailand now and the various solutions the government had decided on to alleviate them. One of the plans to help ‘jump start’ the economy is to offer an attractive climate for foreign investment. Dr. Virachai pointed out that this climate already exists in that Thailand’s investment costs are ‘rock bottom’.
He mentioned his recent visit to Brunei and Singapore, relating the successful outcome of the talks. He said that there was firm agreement between governments that it was time for both countries to begin investment in Thailand and her Eastern Seaboard.
Dr. Virachai mentioned that the Prime Minister was very aware of the existing problems with law and order and that there has been large scale ‘crack-downs’ on crime, which is a top priority issue. This includes a ‘clean-up’ in the police department and a cleansing of Pattaya which is a haven for foreign Mafia of various nationalities and a hide-out for foreign criminals. Dr. Virachai said the Prime Minister realises that this is a necessity that may have been neglected, but is now being seriously addressed by the central government, not only for the safety of the Thai people but also for the tens of thousands of expatriates and their families who are now living on Thailand’s Eastern Seaboard.
Dr. Virachai closed by telling all present that every matter discussed would be submitted to the Prime Minister for his immediate attention.
Dr. Prasarn Stianrapapongs of the Pattaya Business and Tourism Association then spoke about the U-Tapao Airport, which the Provincial Council has been trying to put into full operation for many years. Although this airport was approved ‘in principle’ for commercial use, this has yet to become a reality. No international airline, including Thai Airways lands there at present. Although the airport has a fully developed infrastructure and is already providing maintenance to commercial aircraft, only a few charter flights land at U-Tapao on a regular basis.
Dr. Prasarn explained the lack of logic in this as Pattaya has over 2 million tourists per year who enter the country by air. At this time, they are still forced to land at Don Muang Airport in Bangkok and then suffer bad traffic for several hours to reach Pattaya.
Dr. Prasarn reported that the 3.5 kilometre runway, built during the Indo-China war, was constructed to accommodate B-52 bombers and was the most solidly constructed in Thailand. He said that the airport had an area 3 times that of Don Muang in Bangkok.
Dr. Prasarn said that the central government’s agenda on this airport was constantly being pushed back, the main excuse being that U-Tapao was ‘too far from Bangkok.’
Next to speak was Michael Vogt, representing the Thai Hotel Association. In a powerful speech, Mr. Vogt called for fair reporting by the media and requested that members of the FCCT educate their less knowledgeable colleagues overseas about Pattaya. He asked the members of the group to notice the myriad five star hotels in the city, the comprehensive sports facilities and the value for money that Pattaya provides as a family destination.
Mr. Vogt brought up some of the humiliation Pattaya residents experience when visiting overseas. He said his 12 year old daughter was subjected to comments such as “Pattaya? You mean you live in the world’s biggest whorehouse?” Or, “How many girlfriends does your daddy have?” This is a fact to which most Pattaya residents can attest.
Mr. Vogt concluded his speech by thanking the FCCT for its willingness to engage in dialogue and to give credit for the city’s efforts and successes in many areas.
David Rice of Foster-Wheeler Inc. spoke as a representative of a large multi-national corporation with offices in Thailand. With typical Scots logic and common sense, Mr. Rice pointed out that his family’s safety was of paramount importance to him and that he had no qualms about residing in Chonburi and Pattaya. He praised the educational system and also brought up the interesting point that in certain countries, foreign business people and even news correspondents were forced to live in walled, guarded camps. Mr. Rice pointed out that this was for the safety of the foreign nationals residing in these countries. He said that he would much rather live in freedom and safety than in a box.
After this, City Manager Songsak Yomchinda presented the FCCT President Philippe Decaux the keys to the city, and Mr. Decaux reciprocated by presenting gifts to members of the city administration.
After this, Peter Malhotra opened the floor to discussion and requested comments and opinions from members of the media.
Mr. Decaux began by explaining that most of the sensational stories on Pattaya were done by ‘fly-by-night’ journalists who came here to write their stories which are usually published during the months of June and July when publications in Europe go through their slow period. The lurid stories they produced could be very profitable and these unethical reporters who do not approach their subjects in a balanced manner were very difficult to stop. He recounted that he and other colleagues were often approached by writers from ‘scandal sheets’ for tips which he said an ethical reporter would not provide.
Jim Eckhardt from Manager Magazine said he did not know what could be done about these reporters but asked why the city did not close down the paedophile bars.
Another thing which Mr. Decaux suggested was that certain things should be expected from tourists and their conduct. He especially mentioned the quality of tourist that one sees in Pattaya. He talked about the slobs one sees coming out of some of the best hotels. He felt that a certain amount of decorum regarding dress should be required of tourists. When these types are seen in foreign media pictures, it immediately gives the resort a bad image. This view is in line with Thai culture and desire as is witnessed by the call for ‘quality tourists’ from many of the local organisations. Mr. Decaux said that making decent dress a requirement would also weed out a lot of undesirables as they are they incorrigible type and this simple issue would deter them.
Mr. Decaux said that a good deal of clean-up was still necessary in the city, especially in the Jomtien Beach area. He said that this once beautiful beach had become a ‘hang-out’ for paedophiles and that it was one of the main blights on the city’s image. He told of being threatened by foreign homosexual paedophiles who had unceremoniously told him to ‘get out of their territory.’ He also said that he and others had been solicited by children offering sexual services.
Mr. Decaux also mentioned the eye-sore beer bars and that news people with cameras had been physically attacked at these bars which are often run by foreign misfits. Mr. Decaux strongly suggested that if these bars were allowed to continue, they should be relegated to one place, away from the main populace.
Dr. Virachai responded to this saying that the government was aware of this problem and that the police force had been told that turning a blind eye to this would result in dire consequences for them.
Emilia Casella from CNBC then asked the assembly if Pattaya had talked to the so-called ‘fly-by-night’ reporters and given Pattaya’s side, or if they had refused them. Khun Phanga Vathanakul answered her truthfully that in every case, the various city organisations always give them interviews but when the interviews were published they were distortions of what had been said and often had nothing to do with the subject discussed.
Bertil Lintner of Swenska DB then mentioned the paedophile bars and the damning effect they had on the cities reputation. Khun Panga said that she had never seen such bars. This is probably because morally sound people don’t go looking for them.
Mr. Decaux explained about these to Khun Panga and then Mr. Malhotra took the floor as it was almost time for buses to return to Bangkok. Discussion could have gone on for hours.
Mr. Malhotra summarised the meeting by explaining that the intentions on the part of Pattaya City had come from the heart and a desire for fair play on everyone’s part. Just as Pattaya was making strides in cleaning up her act and improving her image, he felt that this should be reported in a fair manner. He stressed the importance of the foreign media playing a very important part in helping in, as one foreign journalist put it “The Rebirth of Pattaya” He stressed that if the foreign press could write more on the needs of Pattaya and the urgency of this coming forthwith from the central government, it would bear more weight and would make the powers that be take notice. He urged those present in the image promotion business to propose to the city fathers of their concepts and projects that could improve the image of Pattaya The chances are that these proposals would be accepted and that would bring about changes. He said that he hoped all the members of the FCCT who attended would see that the intention in sponsoring the conference was an attempt at glasnost between members of the FCCT and Pattaya City.
Mr. Malhotra thanked the members of the FCCT and concerned citizens of Pattaya for attending and expressed his hopes that everyone had enjoyed themselves and hopefully seen that there was concern about Pattaya within the community.

Shooting at (not so) Lucky Star Bar

Hospital workers attend to the wounded man.

English national Philippe Morduz (sic), was released from the hospital last week after being shot in the neck at Lucky Star beer bar complex in South Pattaya.
At the scene, police learned that a foreign man had been shot and several concerned citizens had taken him to the hospital. Police found a pool of blood on the road in front of the bar and a 9 mm bullet casing.
Mr. Steve Ball, 22, and Ms. Khampoon Oonsing, 20, were standing at the scene drenched in blood. Seeing this, police accosted them and asked them if they knew what happened. The couple said there were 4-5 assailants who fled after the shooting.
Police rushed after them, but found no-one, yet on their return to the scene of the shooting saw Mr. Seubsap Phosri, 39, walking on the street exhibiting strange behaviour.
Upon questioning, he confessed that he and a Mr. Amnaj, along with 4 other men were drinking at the Lucky Star. At that time a supposed ‘tourist’, who was the ‘boss’ of ‘Joy’, who was drinking with them, became annoyed with the wounded man, Philippe Morduz (Sic). An argument occurred with ‘Thomas’, ‘Joy’s’ boss. The Thai men began kicking Morduz, and one of them took out a gun and shot him.
Police officials then went to Pattaya International Hospital and found the wounded man. The bullet had entered the left side of his neck and came out on the right side. Doctors say it was a miracle that the deadly projectile missed his trachea and carotid artery. He was in the Intensive Care Unit and unable to gave testimony.
Police charged Seubsap with fleeing the scene of an attempted murder and assault.

No free lunch for fake policeman

Back in civvies and still as hungry as ever, Suthinan now has only prison food to look forward to. At least its free!

Crime Suppression Division Police received a report that a Thai man dressed in full police regalia was bumming free food in restaurants.
The restaurant at which he was caught was the Nong Fluke in Banglamung.
Police found him showing off for the girls in the uniform which he had purloined. Officers asked him what he thought he was doing and the staff chimed, “He ordered food and refused to pay for it, and is also pretending to be a police Lt. Commander.”
Officers then made the man, Suthinan Rujiraprawat, pay for the food and took him into custody.
He was taken to the Pattaya Police Station and charged with impersonating an officer of the law.

Major Ya Ba producers/distributors nailed

Chalerm Yubamrung, Deputy Minister of the Interior, Police Colonel Salang Bunnag, Deputy Super-intendent of the Crime Suppression Division, and Pol. Lt. Col. Kittichote Saengnil gave a news conference con-cerning the large amphetamine bust in Khao Saming in Trat province.
A group of ranking police officers, 30 members of the Trat-Chantaburi Border Patrol and officers from the Drug Enforcement Agency of the United States of America tracked the source of manufacture of amphetamines to the Thai-Cambodian border, and made a large bust after successfully setting up a sting operation, during which a suspected dealer agreed to sell undercover officers a tablet manufacturing machine and 500,000 ‘speed’ tablets for 14 million baht.
After the deal was agreed upon, the larger group of drug busters walked 10 kilometres to the factory in the forest to catch the manufacturers off guard. They found that the factory was a single storey, one bedroom house in the middle of a Durian orchard.
The forces spread out to surround the place, then rushed in and arrested 4 people; Sergeant Sompong Budkad-tang from the Surasing Army Base, Ms. Wongduen Budkudtang, Mr. Anan Uthaya and Sompong aka “Chern Long” Sukapakorn. The intrepid force confiscated one tablet press, with a capacity of 10,000 tablets per hour, 30,000 ‘orange speed’ tablets and 470,000 ‘white speed’ tablets. An Isuzu pick-up was also confiscated. The street value of the confiscated material was over 50 million baht. All suspects were charged with possession of schedule 1 drugs with the intent to sell.
The Ministry of the Interior has made the eradication of amphetamines a priority as the drug is destroying the country’s economy and human resources. There are hundreds of thousands of addicts in the country now and the number increases each year.

Mini-bus driver sought in attempted rape

Despite all the educational seminars recently held to promote the contrary, some mini-bus drivers are still doing their best to keep Pattaya tourist free.
A young woman native of Hong Kong reported to police that she had agreed on a fare of 50 baht to return to her hotel. Instead of taking her to the hotel, the driver zipped into a patch of woods behind the Moo Ban Roi Lang housing project.
Being afraid, the woman passenger jumped down from the bus and was chased and pulled into the woods by the driver. The 17 year old woman said she assumed he was going to rape her. She fought with all her strength, pretended to give in and then kicked the assailant in the crotch while he was undoing his trousers.
She said he then jack-knifed in pain and she took the opportunity to run but her wallet containing 500 baht and 500 Hong Kong Dollars fell to the ground. She saw her attacker take it as she was running away. She said he didn’t seem very interested in chasing her after the kick.
She hired a motorcycle, went back to her hotel and told the Thai tour guide of the incident.
The police took her complaint and then sent her to the hospital for treatment of the scratch wounds and bruises she had received in the battle. Police did not doubt her story at all, saying that any woman who was a willing participant in sexual activities would have not received those type of wounds. They contacted the mini-bus co-operative and are having the head call the over 1,000 drivers for the young woman to see and point out which one was her attacker. They are also checking the criminal records of all of the drivers.

“Burglary in the night”

The light-fingered Chatchai was caught with an apartment full of stolen goods.

Police, acting on a report from Rat Charoenrak that his mini-market had been robbed, went to the Kanokwan Apartment in Banglamung where it was reported that the robber was hiding.
They burst into the apartment and found Chatchai Meehiran of Tak province. During their search of his apartment, police found 1 small safe, a work-table, 3,000 baht in 10 baht coins, a watch, 17 Buddha images, 2 VCR machines, a video camera and 65,000 baht in cash. Police also found many pieces of equipment for prying open doors and other apertures.
Police kept all this as evidence and arrested Chatchai on charges of ‘burglary in the night’.

Nurse’s handling of dying patient causes uproar

A crowd gathers in protest outside Banglamung Hospital after the unfortunate death of Mrs. Vilai.

A tragedy occurred and a demonstration ensued due to a crabby nurse. The demonstration caused the Banglamung Hospital to be closed for a period as 30 uniformed and undercover police were called in to quell potential violence.
The problem began when Mr. Klin Vichaphan, 60, took his wife, Vilai, 47, to the hospital after she had eaten contaminated horseshoe crab (Maeng Da Talay) about which warnings were published by the Public Health Department in the Thai language and the Pattaya Mail newspaper in English.
Mrs. Vilai unfortunately died from eating the arthropod. The public protest was due to Banglamung Hospital’s refusal to accept Mrs. Vilai as a patient and telling her husband to take her to Chonburi Hospital where her death occurred due to the delay required by the trip.
The saddest part of this was that the whole incident was due to a misunderstanding caused by a nurse’s rudeness. The nurse told Vilai’s family upon arrival that they had to pay a treatment fee of 4,000 baht before any examination was done.
A long argument ensued. A concerned hospital official intervened and enquiring found that the nurse either had not, or refused to tell the family that an Electro-Encephalogram needed to be performed and the hospital did not have the proper equipment.
Later, Pairat Suthithamrong-sawat, Mayor of Pattaya, acted as mediator and listened to the public’s grievances. The mayor talked with hospital administrator Dr. Prasit Chitiwatanapong. When told of the reason for Mrs. Vilai’s death, the public asked the administrator to please improve the public relations and teach his staff some manners that could save lives.
Dr. Prasit apologised and said he would see to the matter immediately.
Medical authorities said that Mrs. Vilai’s death was unfortunate, but so far all people who have been poisoned by eating horseshoe crabs have died. The Public Health Department repeats that eating horseshoe crab should be avoided.

Room “cleaned out” by wayward teens

The wayward youths hide their heads in shame after being caught with stolen goods belonging to Mr. Gerry Tolman.

By Boonleua Chatri

Police received a complaint from Gerry Tolman, a British national, that his hotel room had been ransacked and his property stolen. Many items of electrical equipment, an expensive camera and cosmetics had been taken.
After checking at the hotel, police learned that a group of 7 teenagers had opened a room at the hotel next to Tolman’s. Suspicious, police entered the room and found both boys and girls strewn over the beds.
Police searched the room and found all of the missing items, then brought the group to the police station for questioning.
The 6 inside at the time were Viroj Ratanakul, a college student, Surachai Meeyoo, 15, Phanu Maspho, 15, Pornthep Mandaeng, 16, Ms. Siriporn Khamtonwong, 16, and Ms. Supharat Jaitamdee, 15. None of these adolescents are poor and supposedly come from good families.
They confessed to stealing the goods, telling officers that they had come to Pattaya during school vacation and had gone to the Palladium Discotheque where they had spent all their money drinking. Not knowing what to do as they had lied to their parents as to where they were going, their only choice was to steal the foreigner’s goods to pawn them for money.
Gary Tolman told police that he did not want to press charges. He said he could not believe that these young people’s parents showed so little interest in their children as to let young men and women conduct orgies in hotel rooms. He said their behaviour portended bleak futures for these teenagers who are supposed to be the future of Thailand. He asked the police to give the kids a talking to as it made him feel very sorry to see Thailand’s future in the hands of people such as these.