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Ripley’s Infinity Maze opens in Pattaya
On March 4, Ripley’s World of Entertainment at the
Royal Garden Plaza in Pattaya opened the 30 million baht “Ripley’s
Infinity Maze”. The celebrations were presided over by William E.
Heinecke, CEO of Minor International Co., Ltd. and Mayor Niran
Wattanasartsathorn.
Ripley’s
Infinity Maze is now open in Ripley’s World of Entertainment at the Royal
Garden Plaza in Pattaya.
Amongst the many celebrities and actors attending was
well known actor Brook-Danuporn Punnakan who, wearing gloves and socks,
dived into the maze. On his emergence, he exclaimed that it was just
awesome. “It’s like going into a different world altogether,” he said.
“It is full of electrifying sounds and lighting effects. It’s an amazing
adventure, and you will not want to go out into the real world again.”
The Ripley’s Infinity Maze attraction is only one of the many
attractions at Ripley’s World of Entertainment. There are three others
including Ripley’s Haunted Adventure, which opened at the end of last
year, Ripley’s Believe or Not! Museum, which has an unbelievable
collection of artifacts from all corners of the world, and the Ripley’s 4D
Moving Theater, a hi-tech 4 dimensional adventure through a giant 70mm
screen which has you rocking in 8 directions. It is considered to be the
most exhilarating attraction of them all.
23 Swedes throw away their glasses
And it wasn’t vodka glasses!
At a ‘thank-you’ party held at the Welcome Jomtien Hotel, a group of
Swedish tourists toasted local ophthalmologist Dr. Somchai T.shokesatian, the
senior eye surgeon at the Bangkok Pattaya Hospital. Many of the happy Swedes
were couples who were seeing each other plainly for the first time in years.
However, all still seemed happy with their choice of spouses!
We can see!
Some very happy Swedish tourists toast local ophthalmologist Dr. Somchai
T.shokesatian (front, center), the senior eye surgeon at the Bangkok Pattaya
Hospital.
For the 23 health tourists, they were seeing the world in a
new light, having gone through the ‘SuperSight’ surgery procedure, by which
the failing lenses in their eyes were replaced by soft intra-ocular lenses that
can be made to focus for reading as well as being able to see distances, just as
in natural (younger) vision.
Dr. Somchai is the world leader in this breakthrough surgery,
which allows older people to throw away their glasses and have ‘normal’
vision once more. With a ‘success’ rate of around 95 percent, demand for the
procedure is outstripping the time Dr. Somchai has available for the operations.
The sheer demands on his talents have been so onerous that he is now down to 44
kg! The ‘SuperSight’ procedure also involves re-training the brain to
facilitate the close focusing capabilities of the new lens, as well as the
introduction into the chamber of the eye.
While Dr. Somchai does point out that not everyone is
suitable for the SuperSight operation, for those who are and are over 50 years
of age, this can be an important turning back of the clock, visually.
Hang Loose Bar holds grand opening
The Rock does it again
Suchada Tupchai
The Hang Loose Bar officially opened its doors with a lavish
grand opening on March 12. Located on the 2nd floor of the Hard Rock Café้,
the venue is trendy, relaxing and stylish. Urs ‘Mee’ Mosimann, executive
assistant manager of Hard Rock Pattaya presented the opening to the many guests
who attended.
Urs
‘Mee’ Mosimann (back), executive assistant manager of Hard Rock Pattaya,
management and the Roxy Girls livened up the proceedings.
Previously the Hard Rock Sky Bar, the new Hang Loose Bar has
been totally transformed to provide a natural setting of tropical serenity, sea
breezes and an atmosphere of intimacy.
A lavish buffet of Thai, Western and Japanese cuisine was
laid out for the party and guests who kicked back and enjoyed a spectacular
sunset. The ambiance of the venue matches the hotel’s concept of “Love All -
Serve All”, which means the service is first class and performed from the
heart.
The d้cor is a marvel. Decoration includes comfortable
furniture such as a swing, a hammock, and a private desk. Who would have thought
of that except the Rock?
At the party, music from the 60s set the pace, with a little
Latin music to add romance and sparkle to liven things up. A swim suit fashion
show wowed the guests and a “Roxy Girl 2005” competition highlighted the
evening.
The Hang Loose Bar opens at 5 p.m. and everyone is welcome. For more
information call 038-426635.
What are you prepared
to sacrifice for your career?
For some people, the sacrifice for career can mean loss of spare time or even
putting romance on hold, but for “Sora”, one movie star from Korea, the
sacrifice was much more than that! “Sora” sacrificed the ability to stand up
to pass urine!
“Sora” came to the Bangkok-Pattaya Hospital, having heard
about the expertise exhibited by its Thai cosmetic surgeons in gender
re-assessment. As his livelihood in Korea in the movies, TV and as a fashion
model was as a ‘woman of the second category’, it seemed more natural for
him to go ‘all the way’ for the sake of the career.
 Sora
made certain sacrifices for career, but also gained something in return.
The decision was not a spur of the moment one, as “Sora”
had been living and dressing as a woman for the past ten years. However, this
was going to be a total make-over, because if the bottom was going to be
remodeled, the top and eyes had to match.
After only a few days, “Sora” was able to leave the
Bangkok-Pattaya Hospital, having traded in three bits no longer required, for a
couple of outstanding issues out front, and some newly contoured eyes.
“Sora” left with her blow-up ring pillow, still a little sore, but
definitely not sorry! For many of these entertainers, it was only a little
sacrifice anyway. But one that requires the person to have no hang-ups about the
hang-downs.
EDITORIAL: Sounds of the Pattaya Music Festival
By Suchada Tupchai
The fun and festive feel of the Pattaya International Music
Festival has now subsided. The event, now in its fourth year, has seen music
fans enjoy 3 days of live music, this year with a more international feel. Even
with the ‘music without borders’ concept and some well known but not top
line musicians attending, it has reached another level of success. Visitors,
local and from abroad, flocked to the city, especially hardcore fans wanting to
see and support their idols live on stage.
Despite this not being the first year the event has been
organized, the problems that arise are, however, the same year after year. This
year city administrators mapped out their plans carefully, arranging car parking
at four major locations, each capable of taking well over 1,000 vehicles. Public
transport was made available, and motorcycle parking was set up at 3 spots.
Beach Road was closed to traffic to allow more people to walk along the busy
road. However, in contrast to the PR campaign, traffic officials failed to
strictly enforce the road rules, causing choking traffic jams on many of the
city’s arterial roads and side sois from the morning till well after the music
ended. The complaint, as with every year, is when will the city really rectify
the traffic problems?
Other issues also plagued the event. For instance, groups of
youths fought over small and silly reasons during the concert. This has become
normal in an abnormal way. Most of these ‘kids’ are fuelled by alcohol and
hot tempers and cause problems for those wanting just to enjoy the music.
Security this year was tight and managed to quell much of the potential violence
by checking for weapons and acting quickly when scuffles broke out, but this
type of bad behavior, which would concern any parent, was left up to security
officers to handle. It would be more appropriate to step up law enforcement to
ensure greater safety.
Then, as with any large event, there are those less desirable
human creatures, the criminal element that use the opportunity to relieve people
of their cash and property. Numerous cases were reported, and many went without
a single culprit being apprehended throughout the festival. It is incidents such
as these that security officials must also be aware of.
During large events, Pattaya becomes a Potemkin village.
Behind the facade, the city is a place where people visit or reside to find
treasure by many means. City administrators and government departments must
initiate better security planning to ensure tighter safety in the coming years.
Despite the appearances of a successful music festival, with
revenue in the millions and people numbering in the hundreds of thousands,
safety and traffic issues are still a problem. The heart of the matter - in the
long term - is to make sure that visitors to our city enjoy their stay. It’s
time for officialdom to rethink the situation, develop a stable plan and act
accordingly, in earnest, to create a confident feeling that Pattaya is special -
in this specially governed city.
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