HEADLINES [click on headline to view story]: 

Ripley’s Infinity Maze opens in Pattaya

23 Swedes throw away their glasses

Hang Loose Bar holds grand opening

What are you prepared to sacrifice for your career?

- EDITORIAL -

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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