HRH Crown Prince awards Pol. Lt. Col. Jirat Phichitpai with Outstanding Individual Award for Youth Developmant

Juvenile elephant prankster scares the wits out of woman driver at night

Mother elephant watches at a distance

Chakrapong Akkaranant

A juvenile elephant jumped out in front of Mrs. Siriwipa Krint’s vehicle late at night on October 11, then proceeded to play a little prank on the frightened driver.

Perhaps by this time bored with the silver pick-up, the youthful prankster took to playing with police and rescue personnel.

Mrs. Siriwipa told police that she had been visiting friends in Nong Prue. At the end of the function she was driving out of the side street when a small elephant darted in front of her vehicle and blocked her way. She said the small elephant began thumping and violently shaking the car with its trunk.

She said the elephant’s slapping trunk knocked loose one of the windshield wipers, and then it continued to shake the car, scaring the wits out of her. She said she finally decided to run for safety hoping the elephant would be more interested in the car than her.

After police and rescue personnel arrived on the scene, and as Mrs. Siriwipa was describing the incident to them, the small elephant continued to play with members from the rescue unit, chasing them and slapping them with its trunk. The mother elephant stood off in the distance, keeping a watchful eye but not intervening.

The young elephant was obviously a frisky but friendly character, and seemed to be thoroughly enjoying its unexpected visitors at the late night hour.

Police eventually cleared the way for Mrs. Siriwipa to exit the area.

The two elephants were most likely from the nearby Thin Chang Thai elephant park, and investigating police said it was lucky that no injuries or serious damage resulted from the playful antics of the young elephant.

Push-cart vendors rally at Banglamung district office

Complain vendor was beaten by extortionist

Chakrapong Akkaranant

One-hundred push-cart vendors assembled at the Banglamung district office on the morning of October 11 after one of their fellow vendors received injuries from a band of thugs allegedly extorting money from vendors at the Amorn Nakhon Market in Naklua.

The vendors and henchman meet for discussions in the market.

The injured party was Sunthorn Wongpakdee, a 27-year old vendor selling vegetables at the market. He registered the complaint and identified 4 of the 9 individuals who physically assaulted and threatened him and others in the market.

Sunthorn said the nine thugs claimed to be with some organization they called the “territorial security enforcement volunteers”. They said they wanted protection money from the vendors. When Sunthorn refused to contribute, he said, four of the nine men began beating him.

Banglamung district chief officer Vichien Chawalit and the district chief of police Pol. Col. Suphot Kasemchaiyanan met with the vendors, and later, one of the four men who had caused the disturbance was brought in for questioning. He was identified as Suphot Chalernlap, 32, and he quickly offered an explanation in an attempt to defend his actions.

Suphot Chalernlap told police that a retired army sergeant named Jamnong Phanklin, who goes by the nickname of “Ja Kafae”, hired him and others to instill some organization amongst the haphazard collection of vendors operating in the market. He said thus far he had registered the names of 70 vendors and collected 200 baht from each.

Suphot said that Jamnong represented the owner of the market who wanted to improve the market to attract more customers. He said the plan was to have each vendor wear a numbered vest, similar to hired motorbike taxis. The idea was to make it easier to identify the authorized vendors and quickly spot someone not paying the monthly 200 baht vendor fee.

Suphot was quick to admit to his wrongdoing when roughing up Sunthorn, and said he was willing to make a financial settlement. He also proposed that the matter could be decided in court if Sunthorn so preferred.

District chief officer Vichien Chawalit later said that the incident was still under investigation and police were trying to collect all the facts. He added that if any police officers or government officials were connected with the incident, the appropriate action would be taken.

American ex-pat found dead in his condo

Police surmise he tripped and fell onto a glass coffee table

Boonlua Chatree

Pattaya police were summoned to Center Condo on South Pattaya Road on the afternoon of October 8, after Michael Arthur Anderson was found dead in his condo on the 15th floor. Richard Terrance McBroom, Anderson’s next door neighbor and friend discovered the body.

Police surmise Anderson, a 52-year old American citizen, died from excessive blood loss after falling onto his glass coffee table. The broken glass table was next to the body and shattered glass littered the area.

McBroom told police that Anderson was a diabetic and suffered from high blood pressure. He said his friend had often suffered fainting spells in the past.

A table next to the refrigerator had a large assortment of medications that police collected for possible connection to the death.

Dr. Sawadpong Todika, medical examiner from the Banglamung Hospital, and Pol. Col. Phadungsak Ubekhanon, Pattaya municipal police chief, conducted the preliminary examination of the corpse and reported that a gash severed a main artery opposite the elbow of the left arm. Contusions covered the right arm and another open wound was located above the right eye.

The condition of the corpse suggested that the death occurred approximately 2-3 hours prior to police arrival. Sawang Boriboon Rescue personnel transferred the body to the police forensic lab for further examination to determine the cause of death.

The initial investigation suggests the cause of death was excessive loss of blood, probably from a fall onto the glass table which knocked Anderson unconscious.

Anderson was a former soldier assigned with the 101st Airborne Division in Vietnam in 1968-69. He had a large tattoo of the 101st Airborne Division insignia covering his upper arm.

Three die, three injured in Khao Mai Kaew traffic accident

18-month-old girl among the deceased

Vichan Pladplueng

An 18-month-old girl was among three killed in a traffic accident on the main road in Khao Mai Kaew sub-district, Moo 5, kilometer marker 101, just after noon on October 9. The infant girl was later identified as Prinya Promma.

Sawang Boriboon Rescue personnel work to extricate the victims of a traffic accident that took three lives and seriously injured three others.

Chatrachai Sawangchit, age 16, and the driver, Charan Sawangchit, age 40, were also killed in the crash.

Three others, Miss Nucharee Sawangchit, 20, Mrs. Charern Sawangchit, 38, and Prayad Sawangchit, 24, were seriously injured, but managed to get out of the vehicle and were transferred to Banglamung Hospital.

Witnesses told Banglamung police that the Toyota pick-up full of people was proceeding at a high rate of speed, coming from Chonburi headed in the direction of Rayong, when it tried to overtake a truck near the Forestry Department office in Banglamung. Unable to complete the pass, it was forced to evade an oncoming car and went out of control. The vehicle collided with a tree after rolling and was nearly cut in two.

A team from the Sawang Boriboon Rescue Foundation had a difficult time extricating the victims from the wreckage, as it was over-turned and in a crumpled mass.

British woman found dead

Excessive alcohol, lack of food may have been cause

Boonlua Chatree

A British woman, identified as 31-year-old Kahesine Jamesmitk (sic) was found dead at her 2-story home in Rung Land Village off South Pattaya Road on the evening of October 9. No obvious clues explaining the woman’s demise were evident.

The body was found naked, lying face down, covered with a single white bed sheet. The preliminary examination found no evidence of foul play and police investigators noted nothing peculiar in the household.

The condition of corpse suggested that the death had occurred approximately three hours prior to police arrival. The body was transferred to the police forensic lab for further examination.

The initial investigation revealed that the woman was a heavy drinker and it was suggested that she might have gone without food for days. This may have precipitated her death.

Local business prepare for tourism drop-off

U-Tapao’s purpose under discussions again

Huay Yai resident close road to old trash site

Thaksin government gets 63.6% approval rating from Eastern Seaboard

Updated every Friday
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Updated by Chinnaporn Sungwanlek, assisted by Boonsiri Suansuk.
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