Pattaya Mail — News

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Bomb scare on Jomtien Beach

"Dark hands" surreptitiously placed what police and navy experts believed to be a bomb on Jomtien Beach, approximately 30 meters distant from the Jomtien Police sub-station.

Police received a report from a citizen that she had found a suspicious looking bag on the beach. The black canvas bag was laid on top of a traditional Thai waist sash. The zippered bag, about 30 inches long and 12 inches high, was locked.

Photo: Barricades were set up and onlookers moved back when a bomb was discovered near the police sub-station on Jomtien Beach. Navy experts later moved the bomb out to sea.

Police decided to cut the thread holding the zipper and peek into the bag. Inside, police found a 7 kilogram package tightly bound with electrician’s tape. An electrical circuit-board detonation device was connected to the top of the package. Four flashlight batteries were bound to the device.

A ballistics expert verified that this was the work of a person highly skilled in the use of explosives.

Officers placed 4 rubber tires around the bag and circumspectly moved people in the area away from the scene. A ‘no-cross’ tape was put up around the area and blockades were put up around the area near the bomb.

Police then questioned Ms. Naruemon Duko, the owner of the beach lounge under which the bag was found. She told officers that before she found the bag, two men between 25-35 years of age, who appeared to be 1.7 meters tall, were at the scene. Ms. Duko said they appeared to be of Northeastern origin.

They had brought the bag with them, sat down and read newspapers. At first she paid no attention to them, thinking they were tourists. After about an hour, they left.

When she was gathering up her lounges for the night, she found the suspicious bag. She said she couldn’t say why but she felt something was ‘wrong’ and notified police.

She told police she did not think the bomb was intended for her, as she had no enemies she knew of.

The police then notified the governor of Chonburi, who requested help from Navy ballistics experts at the Sattahip Naval Base.

The Navy sent two ballistics experts to the scene, who certified that the bomb was C-4 capable of total destruction within a 100 meter radius.

After examining the bomb, the experts said the fuse was remote-controlled. This made defusing a much more dangerous operation.

The experts suggested that defusing be delayed until dark, so as not to cause general panic. In the meantime, they kept people away from the area, telling reporters that whoever was in possession of the remote might want to make a ‘statement’ by killing reporters and other onlookers.

After nightfall, navy experts transferred the bomb out to sea, although it is unknown what they did with it.

Tourists and locals are warned not to touch any unattended items, especially baggage that has no known ownership.

Public to pay for water treatment

The public and business sectors in Pattaya will be responsible to pay for waste water treatment next year when the new central waste water treatment plant goes on line.

The plant will be built on 80 rai of land and will be completed in June next year when it will be able to treat water in the area of Naklua and Central Pattaya.

The fee for using the service of this plant will be 3.20 baht per cubic meter for residences, 6 baht for business establishments, and 10 baht for hotels. The fees will be used to offset the cost of operating the plant, estimated to be between 40 - 50 million baht per year. The plant will be able to treat 65,000 cubic meters of waste water per day.

Pattaya currently has 3 waster water treatment plants, but they are not enough to treat all the water.

On March 6th, Yingphan Manasikarn, Minister of Science, Technology and Environment, presided over a ceremony to lay the foundation stone of the plant, which will be built by the Samprasit Co. at a cost of 1.8 billion baht. Chonburi Governor Sujarit Pajchimanan and Pattaya Mayor Pairat Suthithamrongsawat also attended.

Following the ceremony, the involved agencies held a seminar at the Royal Cliff Beach Resort to encourage the co-operation of the public.

Minister Yingphan stated, "The government has seen Pattaya’s importance as a tourist center and wants to clean it up. Pattaya has been declared a pollution control area. We must let the public know that if they destroy water quality, they must pay.

"I think the public understands that this will improve Pattaya. Everyone must help pay for this. Pattaya people pay for maintenance already because water treatment is expensive."

The minister continued, "The central government wants to see Pattaya administer its own income and stand on its own two feet. So we must look for more income. If not, we must find private sectors to come in and administer this project.

"The massive amounts of sediment will be sold as fertilizer and water. This will give some help with expenses."

Phanga Vathanakul, Managing Director of the Royal Cliff Beach Resort, stated, "Pollution is a basic problem which contributes to Pattaya’s poor image... The advantages of this project will benefit Pattaya forever."

Phanga also stated that, "The Royal Cliff is now constructing 3 waste treatment plants. The treated water is now being used to water trees and shrubs on the ground. The hotel has received an award for environmental excellence from Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai."

Pattaya Mayor Pairat Suthithamrongsawat stated, "The people of Pattaya must help each other to improve Pattaya. This sacrifice will be in the form of fees for use of the waste water treatment plant. This will pay for upkeep and maintenance of the machines used in the plant. Pattaya City will probably have to find a company capable of maintaining all the high-tech machines."

The government assigned the public relations work to the ‘Magic Eyes’ program. This was to help the public understand the dangers of pollution and co-operate with the environmental sector in the plant’s operation.

Optimism expressed at British Chamber of Commerce brainstorm session

A British Chamber of Commerce sponsored seminar on the current economic crisis was held at the Dusit Resort this week. Attendees were told that US$ 3 billion was already sitting in Thailand waiting for the right investment. With input from the over sixty participants, a clear picture began to emerge of the Thai economy and how it is regarded by the movers and shakers of Industry, both here and overseas.

The seminar was addressed by three keynote speakers, representing Private Industry, the Property Industry and Multinational Corporations.

The overall feeling from the group was one of optimism, though a cautionary note was expressed as far as the time frame for recovery is concerned.

The first speaker, Alan Craig, principal of the "Survive in Asia" management consultancy group, expressed the most "bullish" opinions. He pointed out to the seminar that crises have been experienced by all economies, he himself having gone through three very similar situations in the UK to that which Thailand is experiencing right now.

He felt that Thailand had an excellent infra-structure which would underpin the recovery. The Privatisation Programme was the biggest in the world and would bring enormous benefits to the country, but the timing of this would probably not happen until well after 1998, in his view.

He also said that the "Amazing Thailand" campaign should not be underestimated in its ability to help "kick-start" the economy.

Ralph Kugler of the Unilever Corporation reiterated much of Alan Craig’s views and gave an insight into the corporate thinking at Unilever. "Whilst we will not meet budget by June," he said, "We are still committed and believe in the long term prospects in Thailand." He continued by confirming that his corporation would be investing half a billion baht this year.

Unilever’s reasons for optimism were multi-factorial but included the fact that the company had been through similar situations in other countries. He believed that the economic factors leading to the recession were easy to understand including over-capacity, over-investment, currency pegging and speculation, and that the IMF conditions would help Thailand return to good practice.

He gave advice to the decision makers in industry regarding the management of liquidity and costs. In these regards he expressed caution but stated that growth should continue, but "don’t buy a Mercedes when a Toyota will do..."

He was very much against reducing the work-force as a cost management process as he felt this was always counter-productive. Sackings produced anxiety and stress in the workers who were left and did not help production. His plan involved keeping workers on to give confidence and motivation to cost save.

It was up to senior management, in his opinion, to communicate effectively with the work-force. In this way, difficult decisions are then shared by the entire company.

Unilever’s plan was to keep a long term viewpoint but they expected the Thai economy to experience a credit squeeze in the third quarter of this year and it may be necessary to extend credit terms in the short term.

His final opinion was that of "short term concern but long term optimism".

Final keynote speaker Jeremy Stewardson, from the Jones, Lang, Wootton Property Management group, expressed his company’s confidence in Thailand. "Normally investment activities are reduced in a recession, but we have three billion $US sitting on the table right now."

The JLW group presented comparative figures between Thailand and Hong Kong, showing Thai rentals were less than one tenth of the HK figures. Mr Stewardson said that the Thai government was impressing the IMF with its handling of the crisis, but one major hindrance in the overseas investment market was the stability of the currency. All three speakers felt that the baht had not fully stabilized, but estimated that the exchange levels would most probably remain around their present range till June at least.

Spirited debate ensued, with majority feelings on definite positive notes, despite some negative remarks on "cronyism" and "greed". Speakers felt it was not necessary to stamp out some of these ingrained Thai family business concepts, but companies had to learn to work within the current framework. Ralph Kugler even felt that "The tiger economies will be even stronger than before". This viewpoint was also shared by the Economist publication in their latest edition.

Improved efficiency through stable government, increased exports and investment demand from North America all helped produce an attractive economic environment in Thailand, but it was felt that impediments to foreign business should be removed, or at least reviewed. This would include the Alien Business Law and the new Thai Labour Laws.

In his final summing up of the seminar, Jeremy Stewardson said "Strong growth will resume but will be slower than in the boom days of the tiger economies." This was the consensus of all present, the only remaining question mark hovering over the time frame. The doomsday economists were very much outnumbered and Thai business should view the next twelve months with renewed optimism.

Pattaya Mail receives award

The Pattaya Mail received a well-deserved award at the ‘Media Day of the East’ celebration.

Photo: Pratheep Malhotra (left), owner and Editor in Chief of the Pattaya Mail, accepts the 'Outstanding work in the area of Media Presentation' award from Mr. Songkhram Kosuthithirakul, Deputy Governor of Chonburi Province.

The festivities were held at the Bangsaen Beach Resort Hotel. Over a thousand people attended the event and there was a starry roster of honoured guests, including Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Co-operatives Vithaya Khunpleum, Chonburi Governor Sujarit Pajchimanan, Deputy Governor Songkram Kongsuthithirakul, and Pairat Suthithamrongsawat, Mayor of Pattaya.

Padungsak Tantrawarasin, Head of the Media Association for the Eastern Seaboard and President of the Newspaper Reporters Association of the East, announced the awards presentation.

Somchai Khunpleum, the Founder of the Association, was at the ceremony as an ‘elder statesman.’

Awards were given to government officials; local leaders and administrators, charity organisations, working groups and foundations who had been helpful in helping the Media do its work.

The Pattaya Mail received award for ‘Outstanding work in the area of Media Presentation’. The Pattaya Mail was lauded for its constant assistance to the community and media coverage both domestically and internationally.

This is a source of satisfaction for the staff of the Pattaya Mail and we plan to continue helping the community in every way possible.

Pratheep Malhotra, owner and Editor in Chief of the Pattaya Mail accepted the award from Mr. Songkhram Kosuthithirakul, Deputy Governor of Chonburi Province.

New work safety centre set up in Laem Chabang

by Veerachai Somchart

A work safety centre in Laem Chabang Industrial Estates was set up to increase efficiency in all aspects of fire-fighting. The centre was set up by the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare, the Ministry of Industry, the Ministry of Public Health and the Ministry of Science.

The centre’s main objective is fire prevention. The centre will be equipped with fire fighting chemicals, and new equipment, such as helicopters and aeroplanes to assist in this program, will be purchased.

These emergency operations will require a large budget. The Laem Chabang Industrial Estates will fund the program and must follow these guidelines: 1. The government will not provide the budget. 2. Government officials will not participate in its operations. 3. The businesses must incur no more expenses than they already are from regular insurance policy payments.

The administrative structure of the centre will be a ‘board of directors’ consisting of 14 members from the public and private sectors in Chonburi.

Sophon Phongsophon, the Director of the Centre said there were two such places in the east. The centre at Laem Chabang will use private funds. The centre in Chonburi will use government funds.

Sakchai Sakulawong, the Secretary of Labour, presided at the opening. Others present included Chonburi Governor Sujarit Pajchimanan.

There are 70 businesses operating in the Estate with 27,914 workers.

Chiva Suksa offers new hotel course

Due to the importance of tourism on the Eastern Seaboard, the Chiva Suksa Academy has opened a new hotel course curriculum at its Bangsaen campus.

The curriculum is based on the German system.

Students attending this course will receive two things. Expertise and a diploma. This is a co-operative effort between hotels and the academy.

The academy is accepting students with a 9th year school diploma or equivalent.

There are four majors; Front of the House Management, Housekeeping Management, Food Preparation and Food and Beverage Service.

Applications are being taken between March 25-30, 1998.

For more details, Telephone (038) 277-043.

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