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800 customers sent scurrying
in late night Hollywood Disco fire
None injured, but over 2 million baht damages
Boonlua
Chatree
Hollywood Disco was hot on May 9 - not because of
sweating revelers, although late Saturday night/Sunday morning the disco was
in full swing, but because of a fire that destroyed a big billboard, damaged
the building and blew up several motorbikes outside.
A fireman
extinguishes the final burning embers of what were once motorcycles.
The fire broke out shortly after midnight at the South
Pattaya Road venue. An estimated 800 people were inside at the time, and
luckily all escaped without injury.
A witness said they were alerted to the fire when smoke
began drifting in through the entrance.
The entrance/exit is located about 50 meters away from
where the billboard was on fire, and although there was a certain amount of
panic, everyone managed to escape without injury.
One of the car-park attendants said, “There was a
short-circuit in the lighting of the billboard and then we saw sparks
falling down on the motorcycles below. This ignited the fire that spread
fast, destroying (a total of 18) motorbikes.”
Some of the motorbikes exploded as the flames reached
their fuel tanks.
The billboard was about 24 meters wide by 12 meters
(2-storeys) high.
The pub’s owner called the police, who arrived on the
scene with 15 fire engines. It took firefighters 30 minutes to bring the
fire under control.
The pub’s owner also said later at a press conference
that the fire caused an estimated 2 million baht damages to the building,
motorcycles and lost revenue. Apparently many of the customers inside took
beer and whisky with them when they fled, and, of course, no one paid their
bills that night.
The actual cause of the fire is under investigation.
Heavy rains create havoc on Pattaya Roads
City still trying to wade through solutions
Suchada
Tupchai
May marks the beginning of the rainy season in Thailand
and, right on cue, many spots in Pattaya were flooded last week.
Heavy rain turned Pattaya Third Road into a mini-swimming
pool at one stage. Motorists had to negotiate more than 100 meters of
flooded road with great care.
 This
isn’t some 4WD jungle trek; it is Pattaya 3rd Road during a typical
rainstorm.
On Friday, May 7, in some areas water was half a meter
deep because the drainage system was unable to cope with the large amount of
water from over an hour of solid rain. With the heavens dropping buckets of
water, the city’s main roads and sois quickly filled until they became
more like rivers than roads.
One motorist told reporters, “I normally use Pattaya
Third Road but the water is so high I had to find another route. Many others
have the same idea and the lucky ones just drive straight through. It is
still dangerous as you can’t see the road or any potential dangers.”
An hour after the ‘flash floods’ the waters and the
traffic subsided back to regular chaos.
One city worker, who spoke on the condition of anonymity
said, “The city officials are still searching for a way to solve these
recurring problems and improve the drainage system in time for the oncoming
rainy season. Many residents affected by flooding have received help from
municipal works department to pump excess water away from their property. We
can expect to be quite busy over the coming months ...”
Whatever the case may be, residents and motorists will need to prepare
for the rains and flooded roads. Extra caution during wet weather is
strongly advised to reduce the chance of accidents, specifically for
motorcycle riders.
Iron-gut contestants make quick work of crocodile eggs in Labor Day competition
Hard boiled fun, and only a little indigestion
Suchada Tupchai
May 1 was filled with Labour Day activities throughout
the country. So, too, in Banglamung’s Million Years Stone Park and
Crocodile Farm.
Among the numerous activities for those taking the day
off, the annual crocodile egg eating competition offered an eventful, if
rather strange, way to spend part of the afternoon.
 No
table etiquette here, as brothers Payup and Panandt Parnsaengthong pound
crocodile eggs into their chompers. Payup (center) won the competition when
it took him only 4 minutes to inhale 10 eggs.
Thirty-seven contestants, including local Muay Thai
boxers, news reporters, foreign tourists and the general public, lined up
along the tables to see who could devour 10 croc eggs in the fastest
possible time under 10 minutes, for the first prize of 10,000 baht.
Last year’s champ, Chana Suksabai faced stiff
competition in defending his title.
All contestants scoffed down the crocodile eggs, but it
was Payup Parnsaengthong, 34, from Ban Bueng who gulped down the 10 eggs in
under four minutes to claim first prize. He was followed shortly after by
Panandt Parnsaengthong at five minutes for second place and 5,000 baht, as
Supan Muangyot managed his basket of eggs in eight minutes for third place
and 3,000 baht.
Payup, a motorcycle mechanic by trade, told reporters,
“Wherever there is an eating competition, my brother enters. We’ve had
plenty of experience in eating competitions but this is the first time
I’ve eaten crocodile eggs.”
He added that both he and his brother were already quick
eaters and that they had prepared for the competition by not eating the
previous evening.
Suan Panomwattanakul, head of the Chonburi Thai Culture
Council and Million Years Stone Park and Crocodile Farm managing director
said, “The aim of the day’s activities is to support Labour Day, promote
local tourism and encourage Thai and foreign tourists to visit destinations
in the region, plus promote crocodile eggs on the market, since they are
quite nutritious.”
Crocodile eggs currently cost 100 baht for three.
Rotary Club, Ge Laurent Foundation contribute to road safety
Donate much needed computer equipment
Suchada Tupchai
Rotary Club of Jomtien Pattaya has given the Pattaya
police station an Intel-Inside W-tech computer and a printer to enhance
their road safety operations.
“This project is aimed at bringing something useful to
the police station and it has been gradually conducted for years,” said
Peter Malhotra, president of Rotary Club of Jomtien Pattaya.
 The
Rotary Club of Jomtien Pattaya and Ge Laurent Foundation presented a
computer to the Pattaya Police Traffic Department, represented by Pol Lt Col
Somchai Phongsai.
“The computer will be used in the road safety campaign,
which is supported by Rotary and the Ge Laurent Foundation. It helps provide
information about how to drive and ride safely and gives a motorbike repair
service. I hope the presentation of this computer will help the road safety
project,” said Malhotra.
Pol Lt Col Somchai Phongsai, of the Pattaya Traffic
Department said, “The road safety project has been supported by Rotary
Club of Jomtien Pattaya and other organizations for many years. They help us
with some of our expenses and significant equipment. Definitely, the
computer the club has given us today will be very useful for our traffic
project.
“We provided lectures about traffic and road safety to Pattaya children
during this summer break. We hope it can instill a good sense of traffic
discipline which will reduce traffic problems and casualties from car and
motorcycle accidents.”
Shake-up in Pattaya songtaew service to benefit drivers, commuters
Baht buses to be allowed to run on air-con bus route
Ariyawat
Nuamsawat
Pattaya City will run a free songtaew (baht bus) service
using bus lanes for a trial period later this month, to be followed by a
period in which songtaews will charge 5 baht.
Twelve clearly identified songtaews will run along set
routes and stop only at set bus stops.
 Asst.
Prof. Dr. Thawatchai Laosirihongtong, director of the TDRC said that
currently the songtaew service is quite a mess, and has offered a solution.
On May 4, the city announced the results of a report on a
free microbus service try-out in Pattaya. Members at the meeting agreed to
let the songtaews use bus lanes.
Due to inadequate public transportation, Pattaya City and
the Traffic Development Research Center (TRDC) of the King Mongkut Institute
of Technology launched a free air-con bus trial in Pattaya from February 14
to March 31, and a 5-baht service from April 1 to May 15.
A survey revealed that most residents prefer the air-con
bus service to songtaews because it is safer and more convenient.
However, this led to a conflict between the bus service
and the private songtaews, as the trial arrangement affected the songtaew
drivers’ income.
As a result, Pattaya City and TDRC reviewed the problem
and have agreed to a new proposal: free songtaews will be allowed to run in
bus lanes for a new trial period from May 16 to June 30, and the 5-baht
songtaew service from July 1 to August 13.
Assistant Professor Thawatchai Laosirihongtong, director
of the TDRC said, “I want the Songtaew Cooperative to rearrange operation
of the songtaew service as it is now quite a mess. The drivers do not run
along the allowed routes and this makes Pattaya traffic chaotic. The more
obvious and certain services will benefit both the drivers and people.”
Twelve 12 songtaews will participate in this revised songtaew service
project, distinguished by their color and stickers. The songtaews will run
in bus lanes and will stop only at designated bus stops.
British VCD movie filmed at Pattaya restaurant with a view
“Crazy in Love”
Ariyawat
Nuamsawat
Watch out for the British VCD comedy “Crazy in Love” -
it will feature scenes of Pattaya.
Last Monday night, Horizon Rooftop Restaurant welcomed a
movie production team from the UK, which chose the restaurant as a location
to film the comedy that stars Matt Routledge and a Thai model, “Mod”
Nattcha Shongsuwan.
 ‘Mod’
Nattcha Shongsuwan (right) and Matt Routledge (left) rehearsing their roles
for the movie ‘Crazy In Love’.
The team said that they chose the restaurant as a location
in one of several scenes in Pattaya because it gave “a quite romantic and
fabulous atmosphere” from a high vantage point with a panoramic view of
Pattaya city.
Horizon Rooftop Restaurant is located on the 23rd floor of Pattaya Hill
Resort in Soi 2, Pratamnak Road.
Baywatch
Suchada Tupchai
 Motorists
and motorcyclists using the busy soi running beside the Bangkok Bank on
Pattaya Second Road now have an extra obstacle to navigate. The drain cover
appears to have become dislodged through a combination of heavy rains and an
increase in the shift of topsoil. Local business operators have erected a
makeshift warning at the potentially dangerous spot. The narrow soi is
constantly used as a shortcut to Pattaya Third Road and Central Road. The
odds of someone either riding, driving or walking and falling into the drain
have increased. One would hope that city maintenance officials are able to
beat their poor maintenance average and restore the road to how it should be
- free from dangerous obstacles.
Armed youths pick on wrong person
One youth shot dead in gunfight, officer sustains 3 gunshot wounds
Boonlua Chatree
Two armed youths made the big mistake of trying to stick up
a policeman in the early hours of Sunday morning. The youths, armed with a
22-caliber pistol, stopped in front of Pol Sgt Maj Chainarm Woynarng, a crime
suppression officer, as he rode along in front of the Toh Rung fresh market in
Naklua.
The police officer pulled out his weapon to defend himself,
and shot one of them three times with his 38-caliber pistol.
The other youth escaped on his motorcycle, leaving his
friend in the middle of the road.
The injured youth was taken to Banglamung Hospital for
treatment but later died of his injuries.
Pol Sgt Maj Chainarm Woynarng sustained three bullet wounds
in the firefight. He told fellow officers that he was riding along when the
two men stopped in front of his motorbike and produced a gun, demanding the
vehicle. Chainarm added that he dropped his bike before pulling out his pistol
and firing three shots.
The dead youth, aged about 19 years, had a number of
tattoos of names on his body.
Banglamung police are continuing in their investigation to
find the second youth who got away.
Four young women arrested for grisly murder
Underage girls to be tried as adults
Boonlua
Chatree
Banglamung police have arrested four young women
from a karaoke bar for the gruesome murder of Sittiporn
Takiengthong, whose body had been mutilated, stuffed into plastic
bags and discarded in two separate locations in the Banglamung area.
Two of the women, aged 16 and 17, who cannot be
named because they are minors, and Marisa Darataku, 27, and Kaewta
Khamchini, 19, were detained by police and extradited to Banglamung
where police laid criminal charges of first degree murder and
improper dealings with human remains.
One of
the underage girls reenacts for police how she clubbed the victim
over the head with a piece of wood.
Two of the women were arrested in the province of
Petchaboon, one was detained in Chonburi as she was about to get on
a bus and another in Bangkok.
Police investigations led them to the Rung
Karaoke Bar in Soi Potisarn where the gruesome chain of events took
place. Officers confiscated a meat cleaver, two knives and a lump of
wood used to render the 53-year-old man unconscious. They also found
pools of blood and strands of the victim’s hair at the crime
scene.
Each of the suspects confessed to their
involvement in the macabre murder and initially appeared jovial
while being interrogated.
During the interrogation it was revealed that
Sittiporn was involved with the 16-year-old girl, the niece of the
bar owner. She attempted to break off the relationship with him but
became annoyed when he persisted.
The young girl allegedly engaged her friends to
rid her of the older man and set about planning the murder.
They tried to drug Sittiporn and when he failed
to fall asleep, the 17-year-old girl allegedly hit him repeatedly
over the head with a lump of wood. She also stabbed him six times
with a knife.
According to police reports, the girls were
laughing and joking as they dismembered the man after removing his
gold jewelry.
Once the gory task was complete, they agreed to
split the 9,000 baht profits before fleeing the city.
Following their arrest the girls were then taken
to the scene of the crime where they re-enacted the macabre chain of
events. Almost 500 nearby residents stood outside the karaoke bar as
the four girls replayed the event for police.
Two of the women, Marisa Darataku and the
16-year-old girl, sat on either side of their intended victim. A
third suspect, the 17-year-old “Mot” (not her real name) hit
Sittiporn over the head four times with a piece of wood until he
fell off the sofa. She then picked up a knife and stabbed the
injured man.
“Mot” had previously worked in a chicken
slaughterhouse and made quick work of Sittiporn before all four
stuffed him into a number of plastic bags and containers.
They later called a songtaew and told the driver
to take them to a specific location, giving the excuse that they
were moving to that area. They then dumped the black plastic bags at
two separate locations.
Marisa Darataku, Kaewta Khamchini and “Mot”
told police that they knew their victim and each time he visited the
karaoke bar he would spend a lot of money as well as wear a lot of
gold.
When they were approached by their young friend,
they agreed to help rid her of the older man in exchange for his
gold and cash.
The young 16-year-old girl, at the center of the
murderous quartet, was quoted as saying to police and reporters that
she was not worried about being caught as she was a minor and the
court system would go easy on her.
Pol Lt Gen Jongrak Jutanont, Region 2 police
chief said, “This is a horrific case, especially since they were
laughing as they cut the man into pieces. The fact that Sittiporn
was 53 and the girl was 16 is a match destined for disaster.
“I would urge all older men to be wary of
falling for young women as they are more likely to be interested in
your monetary assets rather than in you as a person,” he added.
Due to the grisly nature of the crime, the two teenagers would be
tried as adults in the case against them.
Gun-toting karaoke bar robbery suspect arrested behind Najomtien temple
A man in his early 20s walked into a karaoke bar, held a
gun to the owner’s head after arguing with a group of youths, and fled
with her valuables.
Police received a call from Kaewmanee Talard, owner of
the Nakhon Panom karaoke bar in Soi Kor Pai on May 5, alerting them to the
crime.
Pattaya police the same night scoured the city, following
the victim who helped them identify the large Honda motorcycle the armed
robber was riding. Police radioed ahead with a description of the young thug
and caught up with him behind Wat Boonkanyararm in the Najomtien area.
Twenty-two-year-old Sirichai Thongra-or was arrested in connection with the
armed robbery.
Back at the police station, Sirichai allegedly confessed
to his crime, saying that he threw the gun away, fearing a roadblock. A team
of officers searched for the weapon and found it where he said it would be.
The weapon, a .38 caliber pistol, contained five rounds of ammunition and
officials kept it as evidence in the case.
Under interrogation, Sirichai allegedly told police that
he had committed numerous thefts, each time escaping on his motorcycle.
Hearing the news, another victim came forward and
positively identified Sirichai as her attacker in a similar incident near
Soi Arunotai, where the man had made off with gold jewelry.
Sirichai was charged with carrying a loaded weapon inside
the city limits without specific reason or license and two initial charges
of armed robbery.
Pattaya detectives are continuing their investigation in
search of the suspect’s accomplices in previous robberies.
Australian found dead
in Bua Khao apartment
Scene similar to 3 previous deaths
The fourth of a series of bizarre deaths
involving foreigners occurred last Wednesday when police were called to an
apartment block in Soi Diana.
In the fourth-floor apartment, Pattaya police found the
body of Troy Anthony Hall, 39, from Sydney Australia at about 9.50 a.m.
Hall’s body had a plastic bag around his head, sealed shut with tape and
his hands were tied behind his back with shoelaces.
Police removed the bag and laces to examine the man.
Initial examinations revealed that he had been dead for about two to three
hours and there were no signs of a struggle in the room or unusual markings
on Hall’s body, which was naked from the waist up.
A hotel housekeeper, Duangjai Wonginyu, who found the
man, told police that she was carrying out her duties when she noticed the
door slightly ajar. She peeked in to see the man dead on the bed and
immediately reported the find to management.
Initial police suspicions have not ruled out suicide as
the cause of the Australian’s death due to financial difficulty, as hotel
records showed that Hall was yet to pay his hotel bill. They are also not
ruling out the possibility of the foreigner being murdered and will continue
their investigations once results come back from the police forensic
department in Bangkok.
Hall is the fourth person to die in similar circumstances
since October last year when a Dutch national was found in a Soi 8 hotel.
One month later a French and a Danish national were discovered in the Kao
Karat condo not far from the most recent find.
In all cases suicide was more-or-less ruled as the cause,
even though there are numerous similarities between the four deaths - each
having plastic bags taped over the heads and, in two cases, hands being
bound.
TGI joins dialogue forum in Vietnam on “Women and Technology”
Sue Kukarja
The Thai-German Institute recently sent delegates to
participate in the “Women and Technology” forum held in Vietnam.
Organized by InWent, Capacity Building International,
Germany, (former Carl Duisberg Gesellshaft, CDG) the three-day dialogue
forum was held with the following key objectives:
Once the work
was finished, the fun began, as can be witnessed by the happy faces in this
group photo.
* To facilitate women’s access to executive levels in
the technology sector
* To enhance the share of female participants in
technology-focused training
 InWent
Organizers, from left: Olaf Neussner the regional coordinator, Anja Schmidt
Attachee - Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany, Tran Han Gian Ph.D.
and director of the Institute of Family and Gender Studies, Dr. Goetz Nagel
director of Division 7 InWent, and Carmela Ariza-Deiparine Moderator.
* To integrate more female experts in the process of
defining relevant training needs
* To achieve better awareness for women as participants
in international dialogue programs on all levels
Two other workshops were previously held - in South
Africa in October 2003 and in Peru in November 2003.
 Four
out of five representatives from Thailand (from left) Ponsiri Muenchaisi,
Sirigul Sakornrattanakul-GTCC, Suwannee Phuphong, and Sue from TGI.
This time the symposium was held in Hanoi, Vietnam in
March 2004. Eighteen women from six countries - Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia,
Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand - took part. Representing the
Thai-German Institute, and delegated by TGI directors Walter Kretschmar and
Narong Warongkriengkrai, the two TGI participants were Suwannee Phuphong,
the human resource and administration manager, and Sue Kukarja, the
communications and intercultural training manager/consultant.
Workshop activities included:
* Analyzing gender-specific impediments to training
program participation
* Defining training contents conforming to professional
interests of women
* Discussing the role of international women
organizations in planning an development of training projects
* Working out an action plan aimed at enhancing the share
of female participants in InWent’s technology-focused training
 Workshop
participants were quite busy throughout the three-day workshop, but also
took home with them many new thoughts and ideas how to improve the situation
of women in the workforce.
Nieves Roldan Confessor, dean of the Asian Institute of
Management Philippines, the guest speaker on one afternoon noted, “In the
knowledge economy, where significant material, sectional and global economic
and social restructuring is occurring it is essential that women’s
potential be fully recognized and fully utilized. The waste of resource as a
result of the steady attrition of girls and women from primary education to
secondary and tertiary decision-making is too expensive a road to travel for
any developing nation seeking to compete in the new economy.
“We will need to let go of glass ceilings and walls,
artificial ‘pedestals’, and desist from assigning women to the ‘sticky
floor’ as underpaid workers on low technology assembly lines.”
The outcome from the three-day workshop will be combined with the results
of the action plans worked in the three continents and the findings
integrated into the conception of projects.
Rare whale shark caught in fishing stake
A rare 7-meter whale shark was released back into the sea
around the popular tourist resort of Bang Saen after being discovered caught
up in a fishing stake - an indication, according to local ecologists, that
the health of the coastal ecosystem is improving.
According to Prasarn Bensa-art, an education official at
the local Underwater World, the whale shark was found on May 8, without any
obvious injuries or signs of illness.
He speculated that the whale shark - a protected species
under the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species
(CITES) - had come to the area to take advantage of its large population of
shrimps.
Noting that this was the first time a whale shark had
been sighted in the area, he said that its presence indicated that the Bang
Saen coast was rich in marine biodiversity. (TNA)
Ancient junk proves precious ocean find
The ocean is said to yield a lot of junk. But traces of a
400 year-old ‘junk’ - or traditional Chinese sailing ship - discovered
recently by archaeologists working in conjunction with naval officers in the
Gulf of Thailand, could prove to be one of the more important recent
archaeological finds in Thai waters.
According to Erb-prem Wacharangkura, head of the
underwater archaeological team from the Department of Fine Arts, the junk
sank around 400 years ago around 40 nautical miles from the shoreline. Naval
officers first got an inkling of the ancient vessel last year, when they
retrieved the wreckage of a sunken gas tanker just two nautical miles away.
Working on the wreckage of the junk, the underwater team
has unearthed Sangkhalok and Chinese pottery buried 140 feet under the
seabed. What they have not yet discovered is the junk itself. Already the
archaeologists have determined the provenance of some of the pottery. Some
vessels are known to have come from kilns in Sri Sachanalai in Sukhothai
Province, while others are thought to have been made in the Mae Nam Noi
kilns in the central province of Singburi. The Chinese willow-pattern bowls,
meanwhile, are believed to have been made in kilns in southern China.
The findings have led archaeologists to speculate that
the junk traded in pottery and other goods between Southeast Asia and China
during Thailand’s Ayutthaya period. (TNA)
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