NEWS
HEADLINES [click on headline to view story]:

Thai Kingdom celebrates Royal Wedding Anniversary

Rabies fears grow as summer heats up

Retailers ponder implications of proposed sim card controls

Water cannon warriors warned

Sailors receive training before Andaman posting

City Hall hosts traditional Songkran ceremonies

Cobra Gold 2005 Joint Exercise set for May 2 – 13

Rust contamination of water supply breeches contract say villagers

Police bag fake Vuitton vendor

Raids reveal underage workers

British driver injured in collision with motorcycle

Police seize youth carrying loaded gun

Police briefs

- Editorial -

Hundreds attend Buddha casting ceremony at Wat Sawangfah

Thai Kingdom celebrates Royal Wedding Anniversary

April 28 marks Their Majesties 55th wedding anniversary

This year marks the 55th anniversary of the Royal Wedding of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej the Great and Her Majesty Queen Sirikit.

His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej and Mom Rajawongse Sirikit Kitayakara were married by Her Majesty Queen Sawang Vadhana, the paternal grandmother of His Majesty, at the Sra Pathum Palace in Bangkok on April 28, 1950.

Mom Rajawongse Sirikit, the daughter of the Thai Ambassador to France Mom Chao Nakkhatmongkol Kitayakara and Mom Luang Bua Sanitwongse, met the soon-to-be-King at the Thai Embassy in Paris in 1948. They were engaged to be married at the Windsor Hotel in Lausanne, Switzerland on July 19, 1949.

They returned to Thailand during the government of Prime Minister Field Marshal Pibul Songkhram and a stunningly beautiful marriage ceremony was held while the Thai military forces formed to honor and salute the Royal Couple.

Following the Royal marriage, His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej the Great ascended the throne, becoming the ninth King of Thailand in the Chakri Dynasty with all the pomp and pageantry befitting a Royal coronation on May 5, 1950.

Their Majesties have four children, HRH Princess Ubolratana, HRH Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn, HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, and HRH Princess Chulabhorn.


Rabies fears grow as summer heats up

Suchada Tupchai

The public is afraid that a summer hotter than in previous years will increase the number of rabies cases, and Pattaya City administration has issued a warning about epidemics.

Pattaya’s Environment and Health Department is urging the public to take precautions with their pets over rabies as summer begins, saying that animals such as dogs, cats, monkeys and squirrels can become infected. Rabies can be passed to humans from bites, scratches, licking and the body fluids of infected animals, the infection being passed through saliva or seminal fluid.

Stray dogs in the community are a worry to the public during summer time.

Rabies symptoms in humans begin with a feverishness, stiffness, itching, and pain at the bite wound. This is followed by delirium, extreme sensitivity to light and noise, convulsions, loss of consciousness, and paralysis. If untreated, death occurs within seven days of the symptoms first appearing.

Pattaya authorities advise immediate treatment for animal bites, setting out a number of distinct steps to follow: 1. Wash the wound with soap and water many times. 2. Clean again with iodine and alcohol. 3. If the wound is large and bleeding, let it bleed for a while to wash out the saliva, which may be toxic. 4. If the animal is traceable, it should be detained for at least 10 days. 5. If the animal dies, the head should be cut off and taken in for examination. 6. Immediately see a doctor for treatment. 7. A wound should only be cleaned, without stitching, so that infection can be expelled. 8. Closely follow the doctor’s orders for taking medication.

If the wound is found to be not healing properly, the bite victim experiencing severe pain, numbness or itching at the wound site, or a fever, a doctor should be immediately consulted.

In their attempts to control rabies in the Pattaya area and Koh Larn, Pattaya City authorities are continually checking the number of domestic animals. Services such as vaccinations, purging of tapeworms, and sterilising of dogs and cats are carried out. However, there are fears over animals that live outside of residents’ homes. The town has many stray dogs, for example, which live around the temples and amongst the local community.

This year is also hotter than others. Dogs and pets can be easily irritated, which may be dangerous for the public, especially anyone unaware of the facts, such as children.


Retailers ponder implications of proposed sim card controls

Narisa Nitikarn and Vimolrat Singnikom

Pattaya’s mobile phone and sim card retailers have mixed reactions to the government’s attempt to regulate the sale of sim cards. The reasoning behind the new regulation stems from recent bombs exploding in the nation’s troubled south, where the perpetrators used their mobile phones to detonate the devices.

Local retailers are divided in opinion about pending sim card regulations.

Pattaya Mail spoke to a number of businesses in Pattaya’s Tuk.com Mall about the new regulations affecting the pay-as-you-use sim cards.

Most, however, were unclear on the regulations and were divided in their opinions.

Supporting the changes, one mobile retailer said, “It’s a good idea because the government can then trace the history of the number and prevent the criminal element from carrying out attacks. It can also be beneficial for those who have their phones stolen for the card can then be traced.”

Against the changes, another retailer cited that a number of customers are under the age of 15 who do not have national ID cards. Also, a large number of foreign clientele use the system because they do not have to register for monthly service.

A shop owner outside Tuk.com added, “Sim cards are cheap and many people change their numbers frequently depending on the type of promotion. The reasoning covers many areas but if and when it becomes law, retailers will follow accordingly.”

The new regulations have been put forward to the national communications committee before going to parliament to make it law.


Water cannon warriors warned

Boonlua Chatree

Many foreigners used water cannons made from PVC pipes during the Songkran period, and police following complaints from the public took to the streets looking for people using these potentially dangerous water squirters.

Police confiscated 500 PVC water guns during the Songkran festival.

Led on April 19 by Pol Col Somnuk Chanket, Pattaya police station superintendent, officers found foreign tourists using the guns on passing vehicles. The perpetrators were warned that the force of water is enough to hurt people or cause an accident, particularly to a motorcyclist, and a total of 500 of the water cannons were confiscated and removed to the police station.

Use of the big PVC water guns is forbidden, and police say that if a Thai or a foreign tourist is breaching this order by using one for water games or for causing harm to others, they will immediately be detained and charged.

The Songkran festival in Pattaya City officially started on April 18, with a traditional water sprinkling ceremony. This was followed at 8 a.m. the next day with the Wan Lai parade, which began in front of Wat Chaiyamongkhol in South Pattaya and continued around Pattaya City.

Thai tourists and foreigners joined in the parade, as did employees from the bars and other Pattaya entertainment establishments, many of them wearing what the government would refer to as inappropriate dress. Powder was also thrown, in contravention of official directives, and there was some lewd behaviour, but no one complained because most people consider Pattaya a foreigner’s area.

There were no problems reported between foreign tourists, but there were many altercations between Thai tourists, most caused by drunkenness. Police officers took the miscreants to the station to let them calm down.


Sailors receive training before Andaman posting

Readying for possibility of another tsunami

Patcharapol Panrak

Vice Admiral Yordchai Raksamruat, commander of the Coast Guard at Prince Jetsada Camp in Sattahip, has been appointed to oversee a sea security training course for 40 officers from the Royal Naval Operations Department, Royal Coast Guard, Aircraft Fighter Command, and the Navy medical and transportation departments.

The course is part of the Royal Navy’s directive to organise personnel, vessels, aircraft and other equipment for control and readiness for emergency deployment in the event of another tsunami.

The group now under training will be posted to the Andaman Sea in accordance with the government’s policy of setting up security centres. There will be four main centres, in Ranong, Phang-Nga, Phuket and Satun; and in seven sub-areas, namely the Surin Islands, the Similan Islands, Ban Khaolak, Patong Beach, Adang-Rawi, Phi Phi, and Lanta Island.

In the future the centres will be expanded to cover all sea tourism areas in the country.

This is the first training programme of its kind for Royal Navy sea security action to help the public. It covers areas such as rescuing drowning victims, beach lifeguard duties, first aid, diving and underwater retrieval, inflatable boat navigation, and aircraft equipment use.

The training also provides knowledge about basic life preservation and patient transfers.


City Hall hosts traditional Songkran ceremonies

Narisa Nitikarn

The Eastern Seaboard traditionally celebrates Songkran later than the rest of the country, and Pattaya administrators held the traditional Songkran ceremonies on Monday April 18.

Senior administrators Tawit Chaisawangwong, city council chairman and Mayor Niran Wattanasartsathorn received blessings from the ranks, along with other senior officers.

Tawit Chaisawangwong (seated center), city council chairman and Mayor Niran Wattanasartsathorn (seated to Tawit’s left) were the first to receive the blessings.

Wattana Chantawaranont, deputy mayor representing city hall staff, bestowed traditional wishes and blessings on senior and older city officers as well as led the bathing of the Buddha statue.

Over 200 children and staff from Pattaya School No 10 took part in the ceremonies, with everyone wearing brightly coloured floral shirts and smiling as they took turns blessing the seniors.

After the formalities, city hall staff and management continued the Songkran festive fun, ever mindful of preserving the cultural traditions of past generations.


Cobra Gold 2005 Joint Exercise set for May 2 – 13

Thailand, the United States, Japan, and Singapore recently announced that they would participate in the joint Cobra Gold 2005 exercise held in Thailand from May 2-13.

Cobra Gold is a regularly scheduled joint and combined multilateral exercise held in the Kingdom of Thailand. Cobra Gold 2005 is the latest in a continuing series of exercises designed to promote regional peace and security.

The exercise will combine Thai, United States, and Singaporean armed forces under a combined/joint task force headquarters to conduct field training, an executive level workshop and a computer-assisted staff exercise. Japanese self-defense forces will participate in the workshop and staff exercise.

This year’s Cobra Gold 05 is Thailand and the United States’ 24th joint training, the 5th joint training in which Singapore has participated, and the first time Japan has participated.

This year’s exercise will focus on capturing lessons learned from the humanitarian assistance/disaster relief operations in response to the December 26, 2004, earthquake and tsunami that affected nations surrounding the Indian Ocean. Studying the lessons learned from the tsunami disaster relief operations will allow the services to better prepare for future relief efforts. Participating forces will also conduct humanitarian-civil assistance projects in various locations.

Following the tsunami disaster, the Royal Thai Government hosted the multinational disaster relief operations center at their Royal Thai Navy air base in Utapao. Similarly, the Royal Thai Government has invited various nations and agencies to participate in capturing lessons learned from the tsunami relief operations during exercise Cobra Gold 05.

In addition to the main participants, the following countries have been invited to send personnel, in various roles: Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Israel, Korea, Malaysia, Maldives, New Zealand, Philippines, Russia, Sri Lanka, and the United Kingdom. There will also be significant participation by representatives from the United Nations and the international humanitarian community.


Rust contamination of water supply breeches contract say villagers

Patcharapol Panrak

Buyers of Sammakkee Village Project 25, a total of 180 houses on Soi Chamchuree in Sattahip, are making a claim against the project owner over the water supply. Under an agreement, the villagers pay for water drawn from an artesian well, but they have been unable to use it because the water is contaminated with rust.

Sattahip district spokesman Pheng Buahorm listened to the villagers’ problems. He explained that a piped water supply is not yet available, because piping has yet to be laid to the village, and there is not enough water for distribution. The Provincial Waterworks Authority has promised to look for a solution.

In Sattahip there are many village projects being built to accommodate Royal Navy families. Buyers are warned to study their contract and its details closely before purchasing public utilities. In the event of a contract being breached by the village project owner, a complaint should be filed with the Consumer Protection Department.


Police bag fake Vuitton vendor

Boonlua Chatree

Pattaya police raided a South Pattaya bag shop on Monday afternoon and arrested the owner for intellectual property rights infringement. Officers found the entire shop full of Louis Vuitton copied bags and accessories.

Police confiscated 234 bags and fashion accessories, all fake copies of the Louis Vuitton brand name.

Kanya Polsaen, 18, the owner confessed everything to police saying that there was more to be found at the store near her shop. Police obtained a search warrant and raided the storeroom, finding a further 234 bags and fashion accessories with the Louis Vuitton brand name.

Kanya was charged with breaking intellectual property laws and illegally selling banned merchandise. She was remanded into custody pending court proceedings.


Raids reveal underage workers

Officials continue ID checks at city entertainment venues

Boonlua Chatree

Senior police officers from Pattaya and Banglamung carried out simultaneous raids on four entertainment venues at around 1 a.m. on April 21. Officers were on the lookout for underage patrons and other illegalities.

The first venue to be checked was The Cottage on Pattaya Third Road, where they found one 17-year old youth on the premises. The manager was detained for allowing underage customers in the venue.

Across the road, the Blue Chili Pub was investigated, and everything found to be in order. Next police entered the Susie Bar on Soi 4, where again everything appeared in order.

Police then moved back to Third Road, where they entered the Forte Karaoke Bar. An ID check revealed seven staff aged 16-17, as well as a few who were not carrying ID cards, which is an offence.

The manager was arrested for allowing minors to work in the establishment.

Those without identification had their details recorded and were fined 100 baht, as was the underage staff. The manager, however, faces stiffer penalties as a result of the infringements with the venue likely to be temporarily closed as a result.

More raids and inspections are expected to take place in the near future.


British driver injured in collision with motorcycle

Motorcycle driver flees the scene

Patcharapol Panrak

Sattahip police on April 21 received a report of an accident involving a motorcycle and a foreigner’s car at Samakkee hill on Sukhumvit Third Road, at the U-turn to Bangsaray Beach.

Officers went to the scene with a security officer from the Rotchana Thammasathan Sattahip foundation, and found a British man, Ian Richard Mambow, aged 50, who was having trouble breathing.

His green Peugeot 406 was damaged and had come to rest in the middle drainage ditch of the road, and a green Suzuki motorcycle was also in the middle of the road. The motorcycle belonged to Santi Raksawong, aged 35, from Sattahip, who had fled the scene.

Mambow had been returning to Pattaya from Rayong. The motorcycle had cut off up at the U-turn, and he had been unable to stop in time. The car hit the motorcycle, then a palm tree in the middle drainage ditch.

Mambow was transferred to Bangkok Pattaya Hospital for treatment.


Police seize youth carrying loaded gun

Boonlua Chatree

Police Lt Col Sutham Chaoseethong and other officers were on patrol in the Kao Rai karaoke bar area on Pattaya Third Road around 3pm on April 15 when they noticed a suspicious looking man sitting in a restaurant. The police stopped their car and went to investigate.

Narin Siri was arrested for illegally carrying a loaded weapon in a public place.

They discovered that Narin Siri, a 19-year old from Pichit, was carrying a loaded 20-calibre handgun and two spent cartridges. The police kept them as evidence before transferring him for further investigation to the Pattaya police station.

Narin admitted that he had bought the gun and ammunition from his friend for 1,200 baht for the purpose of protecting himself. Previously he had a dispute with a man named Art (unknown surname), who is allegedly a well-known miscreant at the Kao Rai Karaoke Bar. Narin said that Art hit him and then threatened to shoot him. He was waiting for Art to clear up unfinished business.

The police charged him with illegal possession of a gun and ammunition, and with taking a firearm into a public place.


Police briefs

Boonlua Chatree

Teenage ride-by snatchers arrested

Two teens, aged 16 and 17, were arrested by police as the pair fled the scene of their last ride-by theft. Officers caught the two boys red-handed on Central Pattaya Road around 1 a.m. on April 17 in possession of the mobile phone they had stolen from Ladda Prethires, 18, just minutes before on Beach Road.

Police took the two youths, who cannot be named, to Soi 9 where Ladda positively identified them and her 20,000 baht Nokia phone. Ladda thanked police and then took off her shoes. But before she could beat the thieves, police stopped her. She then proceeded to give the pair a verbal lambasting, calling them good for nothing animals.

The pair confessed to their crime, saying that it was easy pickings and they had committed numerous offences before being caught. The teens were transferred to the inspector’s desk for processing and jail time.

Teen shot as
jealousy sparks karaoke fight

Jealousy provoked a fight in a Pattaya Third Road karaoke bar, leaving a teenager with gunshot wounds. The melee erupted when rival groups of youths were vying for the affections of karaoke staff, and spilled out onto the road where the shooting took place.

Police arrived at the Puenpueng Karaoke Bar just after midnight on Monday morning to find 16-year-old Nopaporn Kooharwail on the ground in agony after suffering a wound to the leg from a Thai-made pistol that fired shotgun cartridges.

The injured youth was rushed to the Pattaya Memorial Hospital where doctors removed the pellets.

Investigations revealed that two groups were in the bar when the fight broke out. When Nopaporn ran outside, one teen pulled out a gun and shot him.

Police investigating the shooting discovered that the group of teens responsible is wanted for numerous offences. The gang leader, known as Art, is wanted for similar incidents in the past. Art is described as having a shaven head and is said to be a danger to the community. Police are trying to trace the gang before more shootings occur.

Drug user arrested at police
checkpoint

A check-point set up by police in Soi Bongkot, an area well known for dealings in illicit drugs, resulted in the arrest of a drug user on April 20.

Officers were inspecting motorcycles, and stopped one man speeding along the soi. Aphisit Sueasart, 19, was found to be carrying six methamphetamine pills, aka ya ba, in a small plastic bag when police stopped him.

He was immediately taken to Soi 9 where he told police that he purchased the pills in the Chatngaew sub-district and had intended to use them with friends in Pattaya.

Aphisit was charged with possession of a class one illegal drug and remanded into custody pending court proceedings.

The same checkpoint also netted over 40 illegally modified and unregistered motorcycles.


Editorial: Helmet law saves lives

Suchada Tupchai

As the national road safety campaign continues, accident statistics back up the need for adherence to road regulations. The helmet law, in particular, is being, and should be, enforced for both motorcycle riders and pillion passengers. We should even take this one step further and require that not only do motorcycle riders and pillion passengers wear helmets, but that they wear safe helmets that would actually protect them in an accident. To paraphrase the good Dr Iain, if you think you have a 100 baht head, then wear a 100 baht helmet...

Many see the wearing of a helmet as an annoyance, impinging on their right to choose, so much so that when confronted by police they argue the point. Yet during Songkran, large numbers of accidents occurred, many with incurring severe injuries due to people not wearing helmets.

The major causes of these accidents were drunk driving and pure negligence, particularly so among the youth sector. And although the numbers were high, unfortunately they were not much different to previous years. (Over the 2004 New Year period, for instance, there were 18,803 accidents reported with 612 deaths and 25,580 injured, 20,735 of which resulted from motorcycle accidents).

Thailand implemented helmet laws in 1993, announcing they would be in force throughout the country by 1997. Even though road deaths were reduced by 27 percent, it was evident that this wasn’t enough. The need for leaving motorcycle headlights on was then being considered, as research shows that turning motorbike headlights on during the day reduces the potential for accidents. When Japan implemented the policy they had a 40 percent reduction in accidents. Malaysia experienced a 29 percent reduction. Thailand, however, is still in the throes of dealing with the new regulations, which began with a campaign in Songkhla between August and October in 2003. After the headlights campaign began in Songkhla, the road toll figures there were reduced from 26 to 18 out of every hundred.

Chonburi traffic officials are clamping down on people not following the helmet and lights-on laws and dishing out fines. The results of such actions have shown a 90 percent compliance with a significant drop in accident rates.

With all this evidence, it is obvious that everyone using the road, whether during festivals or any “normal” time of the year, would benefit from following the rules. This wouldn’t take any extra work or effort, as it just involves a tweak in attitude. This is in everyone’s best interest, as “it is better not to see the coffin at all than change after the tears have flowed.”


Hundreds attend Buddha casting ceremony at Wat Sawangfah

Suchada Tupchai

Hundreds of people joined dignitaries at the special casting of a “Luang Por Sothorn” Buddha statue at Sawangfah Temple in North Pattaya. The event was part of the annual Thai New Year celebrations and merit making ceremonies held over four days. On April 17 the casting began with monks and members of the public performing prayers.

The ceremonial casting of the new Buddha statue was a site to behold.

Phra Nattawut, Sawangfah Prutthram Temple Abbot said, “Once the casting of this image is complete, the statue will be positioned outside the new Kuti (monk’s residence) for everyone to pay their homage and respects to.”

The abbot added that the casting of the new 39-inch wide bronze statue would be completed in approximately a month’s time.

Gen Kanit Permsap, deputy chief aide-decamp to HM the King, Mayor Niran Wattanasartsathorn and Chonburi MP Chanyuth Hengtrakul presided over the casting ceremonies as honoured guests.