Suchada Tupchai

The dangerous conditions that motorists now face when they try to navigate through the snarls that surround the intersections of Pattaya Second Road and the Dolphin roundabout finally prompted traffic police and city officials to seek ways to alleviate the congestion in this area. However, a recent meeting at city hall revealed there are no ‘quick-fixes’.

A variety of opinions were voiced at the meeting, since the junction feeds traffic coming and going in so many directions, and the pros and cons of the one-way system provoked debate.

Major road construction and improvements are being implemented in the central Pattaya area. Because of this, a one-way system was temporarily introduced on Pattaya Second Road, from Tops Supermarket to the Dolphin roundabout, which also leads to the Pattaya/Naklua Road. These projects are still not completed and the flow of traffic has been severely disrupted. The former straightforward routes usually taken by motorists in this area have now become more complicated.

Authorities say they are aware that months of construction work in one of the busiest areas in town is causing great inconvenience to residents and businesses. However, the improvements were long overdue and needed to be implemented to accommodate Pattaya’s rapid growth and higher expectations from the international tourism industry.

Traffic police representatives suggested that Pattaya Second Road continue being one-way because it improves the flow of traffic and reduces accidents, and if meticulously regulated, some of the drawbacks could be overcome.

But city council members disagree. They say the change is creating more harm than good.

Council members said after this controversial road became a one-way track, more vehicles jammed Beach Road. This detracted from the plan to create a clean, attractive and peaceful section of the city that faces its most precious attraction for tourists - the beach.

It was cited that Beach Road could not accommodate bumper-to-bumper traffic and retain its popularity with tourists. The one-way system on Pattaya Second Road forces many vehicles to use this road as their only choice, whereas the former two-way system left more alternatives and reduced traffic on the most scenic road in the area.

City council members added that presently, local passengers and tourists must hire baht buses to navigate a circuitous route to get to destinations in Central and South Pattaya, which is time consuming and more expensive.

Nevertheless it was decided that the road will continue to be one-way.

Another issue concerning Sukhumvit Highway traffic was brought up. The city is planning to make the first left-hand lane at every traffic light juncture a ‘non-stop’ lane during weekends, starting from Naklua to Thepprasit Road, to solve the massive traffic jams.

Mayor Pairat said, “After a serious study on Pattaya’s traffic pattern, it has been concluded that there are three main causes for our current traffic woes - the vast number of baht buses, illegal parking of private vehicles along roadsides, and the tremendous increase of vehicles in the city.”

The mayor cited that currently there are almost a thousand baht buses running on Pattaya roads. Many problems including overcharging, bad driving and overlapping services have not been solved. He said the issue would be brought to the governor of Chonburi to urge quicker action to unravel this ongoing dilemma. He concluded that traffic professionals absolutely must work out a compressive and effective plan for traffic control in Pattaya City.

Suchada Tupchai

Pattaya motorists received further aggravation last week when the regional electrical authority undertook the mammoth task of re-routing and replacing power poles along Central Pattaya Road.

Huge cranes lined the outbound side of Central Pattaya Road for the better part of the day. The project had electrical workers, crane drivers and countless others working furiously to complete the project in the allotted one-day program.

Huge cranes lining the outbound side of Central Pattaya Road caused aggravation for locals and tourists, but city officials said it was for the good of everyone, for once finished, fewer power lines will replace the old rat’s nest mess that formerly lined the street.

Many residents and businesses along Central Pattaya Road were left without power for the day, but the work will improve overall safety by replacing the power lines and poles. In addition, the finished look will be slightly more attractive than the previous tangled mess once seen on the roadside.

The new poles are taller and the new cables are able to carry more voltage than before, hence the need for fewer cables. The replacement project was apparently planned to reduce the previous dangers presented by numerous cables and wires leading to premises and shop signs.

No information was released as to whether the other side of the road will also be completely revamped or whether other areas in the city, apart from Beach Road beginning next year, will also receive these upgrades.

Luckily no oil leakage was reported

Patcharapol Parnrak

On Sunday, October 5, a fuel tanker named Ao-Thai 1 capsized in Rayong Bay. The tanker was being used as an offshore refueling station, and was filled with 60,000 liters of diesel.

A Royal Thai Navy patrol ship keeps a watchful eye on the nearly sunken Ao-Thai 1 offshore refueling ship.

The Ao-Thai 1’s sister ship, the Ao-Thai 2 was the first on scene to provide assistance, and was able to rescue all 6 sailors from the Ao-Thai 1 without incident. However, there was still a significant risk of the fuel spilling out into the bay.

The Royal Thai Navy was notified at 2 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 5, and by 6 a.m. the navy had dispatched a ‘Sea Hawk’ helicopter, a patrol ship and life saving boats to evaluate the damage.

Navy boats warned passing ships to stay away from the area so as not to rock the overturned ship and cause the fuel to leak. Navy planes scouted along Sattahip and Rayong shores for signs of oil, but luckily found none.

Environmental experts from the navy were brought in to help with damage control, and the Fisheries Department was contacted to tow the ship to shore. However, the latter found that, due to the ship’s condition, towing wouldn’t be possible, and elected instead to try and pump the seawater out of the ship, right it, and then tow it to shore.

Both ships belong to the Supply and Service Company from Samut Prakarn province. An initial examination revealed that a water pipe used to cool the engine had broken and flooded the engine room, nearly sinking the ship. Only a tightly sealed, empty fuel compartment filled with air kept it from sinking to the bottom.

At last report, the Supply and Service Company was sending their expert crew to pump out the oil from the ship.

The Royal Thai Navy has sent out a team on the sea and in the air to inspect possible damage to several islands, including Samet, Juang, Jarn, Kham islands, which are habitats for sea turtles to live and lay their eggs.

Mayor and police at odds about the law

Boonlua Chatree

Complaints about the Srimongkol Tour Bus Company situated on Pattaya Third Road have been pouring in. Residents are fed up with the company’s practice of parking their buses on the road and causing traffic jams in the area.

Passengers who want to travel to Ubon from Pattaya will now have to find another place to board their bus, as the Srimongkol Tour Bus Company has been asked to refrain from parking their buses on 3rd Road.

In response, Mayor Pairat Suthithamrongsawat, Supakorn Chusilptong, director of building control and Pol. Maj. Somchai Pongsai, head of Pattaya traffic police went to inspect the company which runs its buses from Ubon to Pattaya. The group found the buses parked where residents had complained and informed the manager of the company to file a report with the Chonburi Transport Department and remove the buses from the side of the road for the convenience of motorists.

However, Pol. Major Somchai asked the mayor what he wanted to do about the situation since as a policeman; he was only there to perform his duty. He added that in fact the company was operating within the law as there were no signs or markings to indicate a no-parking area and even the motorcycle taxis are able to park there.

The mayor - not pleased with the issue - said that in the near future no motorcycle taxis or buses would be allowed to park on any road in Pattaya where they would cause traffic snarls and possible accidents.

“The building and transport law Paragraph 10, Section 62, which affects car parks, buildings used for parking and boat mooring will be enforced to solve this type of chaos on the street. I want to remove this type of problem once and for all,” concluded the mayor.

Mother caught selling children for sexual favors

Boonlua Chatree

Last week, Pavena Hongsakula, president of the Pavena Hongsakula Foundation for young children and women, along with a team of Laem Chabang police officers raided the Fuang Far karaoke bar in Thungskhala district, Sriracha, to rescue two young girls reportedly being forced into prostitution.

Pavena Hongsakula (left) once again saves the day, this time rescuing a 13-year-old girl and a 16-year-old girl from a karaoke bar where their mother was forcing them to sexually service customers.

Fifty-year-old Char Mee-amnat made a report to Pavena Hongsakula that his two daughters were being forced to sell sex services in a karaoke bar in the Laem Chabang area. Pavena contacted Laem Chabang police and a sting operation was arranged. An undercover officer was sent in to sting the culprits in the bar with 3,000 baht.

The officer confirmed that the bar was offering sexual services with underage girls and immediately radioed his waiting team to move in.

Police arrested Dao Mee-amnat, age 47, the mother of the two daughters, a cashier named Nayana Yothayaksa, age 25 who received the sting money from the undercover officer and Uthai Piyang, age 34, the manager of the bar. The two girls broke into tears, rushed to their father and hugged him when they saw him. Police arrested 8 more service girls and fined them 200 baht each.

At the police station, Pavena Hongsakula had a conversation with Char and his daughters, who were only 13 and 16 years of age. The children told Pavena that their mother, Dao, had been forcing them to offer sex to strangers in the karaoke bar for the past month. They said they were very unhappy and wrote letters to their eldest sister to tell her about their sorrowful lives. The eldest sister told the story to her father. When Char heard of his daughters’ plight he went to Pavena to ask for help in getting his children out of that sinful bar.

After Pavena listened to the whole story from every side, she commented, “The reason that these children had to suffer this misfortune was because of their parents. Both parents were having huge and unsolvable problems and were living separately.”

The girls’ father, Char pleaded with Pavena to take his daughters into care and sponsor their school expenses because he was only a construction laborer and was not earning enough money to support them.

Special wooden tool used to concoct anti-toxic potion

Patcharapol Parnrak

Pra Boonsong Chatimo, deputy abbot of Thepprasart Temple or ‘Wat Taotan’, used a magic wooden penis to save 66-year-old Ladda Satiya’s life after she had eaten a number of toxic brown mushrooms.

Ladda Satiya, holding the magic penis in one hand and the dastardly mushrooms in the other, stands healthy after drinking the magic potion that cured her.

Ladda called Pra Boonsong when she felt dizzy and breathless after eating the mushrooms.

Pra Boonsong gave a small wooden carving of a penis to her brother Boonyong Indi, 49, and told him to use it to grind rice and water and let her swallow the mixture. Miraculously, the woman began feeling better soon after consuming the magic white liquid.

“It felt quite warm inside my body like eating pepper but those terrible symptoms quickly disappeared,” exclaimed Ladda.

Pra Boonsong said, “The carved penis was made from wood in the northeastern forests of Thailand and I cast a spell on it to make it auspicious for its holder. This kind of wood is able to heal people poisoned by toxic substances and people also believe it can prevent its bearer from black magic. Ancient people had it for the protection of their family. But I can’t reveal which kind of the wood it is as I’m afraid of the possible forest destruction.”

Body found five days later in klong

The body of local English businessman Robert William Henry, aged 42, from the United Kingdom was found dumped in a Na Jomtien klong. He had been shot six times in the back and head.

Robert William Henry

Sattahip police officers received a call from residents at 2 a.m. on Saturday, October 10. Police and Rojanatham Institute Foundation and medical personnel rushed to the crime scene where they found the body of a foreigner face down in the shallow waters with 6 bullet wounds from either a .38mm or 9mm pistol. Preliminary medical examinations revealed that the man had been dead approximately 5 days before being discovered and was already in a state of advanced decomposition. Near the body police investigators found a map of the location, motorcycle helmets from two South Pattaya motorcycle shops and registration papers for two bikes.

Wilai Cheiwcharn

A local resident told officers that around 5 days prior he was riding by and saw a large amount of blood on the side of the road but paid no attention to it. Other residents had heard two very loud motorbikes at around 10 p.m. on the same day.

Due to the style of the shooting, police initial suspicions pointed to a contract killing with the killers meeting the dead man at the location where the body was discovered.

Last Sunday, local police sifted through evidence and said they are certain of making an arrest, but refused to divulge any other details in the case.

The dead man’s wife, Wilai Cheiwcharn came forward to identify the body as that of Robert William Henry. She said she had last seen him on October 4 and that he was a director of a local skydiving company, Siam Airsports.

Police questioned the woman and she told them that she had argued with her husband on the morning of his disappearance. She stayed at a friend’s house and was given 4 sleeping pills. When Wilai awoke her husband’s friend told her the following day Robert Henry had gone to the Sky Dive Bar, located in Soi 6. She tried to find her husband but was told by business associates that her husband was missing.

Wilai told officers that she thinks her husband was killed due to problems in any one of his businesses, which included the Sky Diving company, a money lending business in which both Thai and foreign nationals were involved, or other illegal activities. She surmised that Thais were involved in the shooting.

Wilai also said that when her husband first went missing, she received a phone call from someone demanding 4 million baht ransom. Then, a few days prior to discovery of the body, the caller called again and demanded 2 million baht for her husband’s return.

Police investigators are currently searching for Robert Henry’s business partners and others involved with his business dealings in Pattaya.

Region 2 police headquarters ordered Pattaya police to aid in the investigation. They discovered that there were problems with insurance payments with last year’s plane crash in which 7 people were injured. Documents within the court system were uncovered and officers began searching for Robert Henry’s business partners. Immigration officers were informed and asked to prevent any suspects in the case from fleeing the country until they were questioned.

On Sunday, local police sifted through evidence and said they are certain of making an arrest, but refused to divulge any other details in the case. Three separate units were dispatched to gather further evidence at the crime scene. Officers are knocking on local residents’ doors to gather further information from potential witnesses. Police also now believe that Robert Henry was shot elsewhere and dumped in the klong.

A spokesman from region 2 criminal investigation told reporters, “The case is becoming difficult because it is now down to the finer points. We know that Mr. Henry was involved in business dealings both legal and illegal ... the motive for the shooting most likely stems from the latter.”

Phone records show that Robert Henry last called a business associate, identified only as Raffree (sic) at 6 p.m. on October 4 before his disappearance. Wilai told police that the pair had been conducting business for over a year but did not know what type of business. Also involved were an Englishman identified as Davis, a close friend of Robert Henry, who on the same day Robert’s body was found had tried to get his passport back from the person holding it. All suspects have been stopped from leaving the country.

Two other associates, identified as Paul and Ron Loveridge, are currently under suspicion in the case. They allegedly told Wilai that her husband had been kidnapped. On October 6 they travelled to Cambodia to renew their visas.

Wilai told reporters that she suspected that Paul might somehow be involved in her husband’s murder because of his unusual behavior. She alleged that he had tried to persuade her not to inform police of Robert’s disappearance, plus, after Wilai had been hit by her husband during their argument, she alleged that he called friends to relay the story. She also alleged that after police discovered her husband’s car on Jomtien Beach Road on October 6, Paul went to renew his visa and allegedly told Wilai to transfer all her husband’s fund to his bank account because, she said he told her, Robert was not returning. Wilai said she refused, telling him that she could not do that without express permission from her husband, and she wouldn’t touch a single baht in the account. She also said it seemed as if Paul was preparing to leave the country in a hurry.

Culprit told cops he sold his own phone and needed a replacement

Boonlua Chatree

Last week Tuesday around midnight, Pattaya police received a report from German national George Hedger that his expensive mobile phone had been stolen.

The 46-year-old German tourist told officers he was having a drink in a bar on Pattaya Second Road when a local map seller came up and snatched his phone and ran off.

Suraphol Chaiyakote (seated), sold his own phone and tried to take an easy route to replace it - by stealing German tourist George Hedger’s nice, new, high-tech phone. The hitch in the plan was that he got caught.

A police squad immediately spread out and looked for the thief. The brief hunt turned up a Thai man identified as Suraphol Chaiyakote, age 36, from Sri Saket province who still had the German’s phone in his possession.

Suraphol was transferred to Pattaya police station and under interrogation confessed. He explained that he had recently sold his own phone and was looking for a better one. He said while he was selling maps along the street, he noticed the German’s high-tech hand phone and grabbed it.

The rash map seller was charged with theft and spent the night in the local lock-up before paying his fine the next morning.

Elfi Seitz

An old song, written by famous Austrian singer Udo Juergens, says that life starts at 66. The mayor of Bangsaen, Somchai Khunpluem, and the father of the minister for tourism and sports, proves this saying. He is still going strong and he showed it recently during his 66th birthday party which he celebrated amongst hundreds of his friends and associates at his private house in Bangsaen. Tents were set up and tables were overflowing with food and drinks for all who came.

Somchai Khunpluem graciously received all the well wishers - many of them high-ranking politicians and well known personalities in society and business circles - who came to wish him a happy birthday and present him with gifts of flowers. Numerous people from Pattaya also attended the celebration to congratulate Somchai on this auspicious occasion.

The well wishers also brought baskets loaded with fruits, food and other items for daily life, knowing that Somchai Khunpluem is a very charitable man and would pass these useful items on to needy members of the community. A very nice and laudable gesture indeed!

YWCA president Nittaya Patimasongkroh (4th from left) together with other members of her club.

The mayor of Bangsaen, Somchai Khunpluem (center), recently turned 66, and threw a great birthday party with his wife Stil (left) and hundreds of his friends and associates at his private house in Bangsaen.

Santsak Ngampiches, advisor of the minister of tourism and sports (right) and his son Poramej, member of Chonburi parliament.

Chanyuth Hengtrakul (right), advisor to Somchai Khunpluem’s son, who happens to be the minister of tourism and sports, and Khru Yodthong Saenanand from the Professional Boxers Association of Thailand.