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Local leaders can improve quality of life for the disabled, seminar is told
Suchada Tupchai
Developing the skills of local leaders so that they in turn
will be able to take a more active role in the creation of a better quality of
life for disabled people was the subject of a seminar held by the Redemptorist
Foundation for the Disabled in cooperation with the Social Development and
Human Security Department of Chonburi on December 14.
 (From
left) Chonburi Deputy Governor Veravit Vivatthanavinich, Rewat Pollook-In,
deputy chief of the Chonburi Provincial Administration Organization and Father
Lawrence Patin, director of the Redemptorist Foundation for Disabled
Development discuss ways to improve disabled people’s lives.
Deputy Governor Veravit Vivatthanavinich presented the key
talk at the event, which was attended by Redemptorist director, Father Lawrence
Patin, along with the deputy chief of the Chonburi Provincial Administration
Organization Rewat Pollook-In, and local organization leaders.
Chanjira Thaibandit, representing the Social Development and
Human Security Department, said that according to the constitution of 1997,
“The government will decentralize the local administration to make decisions
by themselves according to the public’s wishes in each province.”
The Decentralization Act of 1999 increases the local
leaders’ ability to have more important roles in developing disabled
people’s lives, such as increasing the standard of living for families of the
disabled, improving access to information for education and jobs, understanding
the rights to which they are entitled, and improving the quality of their
lives.
Veravit said that the province has many disabled people yet
only 10 percent were disabled at birth. Ninety percent have been disabled
through accidents.
Everyone should worry about young mothers, especially at Banglamung
Hospital, who’s youngest mother, at 15 years old, is asking the hospital to
take care of her pregnancy, he said. Problems during pregnancy can result in
disability for the baby. Furthermore, there should be continual vigilance and
pressure on all fronts to reduce accidents, and consequently reduce the number
of disabled people.
Top models to parade through Pattaya on Friday
Thirty
of the world’s top models will be in Pattaya from December 23-25 when
they will help to promote the city as a tourist destination before flying
on to the International Model competition in China at the beginning of the
New Year.
The 30 top models from around the world will be
participating in a charity parade on Friday, December 23, from 2-4 p.m.
The parade starts at North Pattaya Beach and finishes at Bali Hai Pier.
FTV Top Modeling will be bringing the 30 models, from
30 different countries, into Pattaya where they will promote the tourist
attractions before going on to the competition in China.
The event in Pattaya is being heavily supported by the
TAT, which intends Thailand to be a leading venue for glamour events.
There also will be a gala dinner and fashion show at
the Dusit Resort.
More details are available from the YWCA at 01-817
0397, Pattaya Mail and Pattaya Blatt at 01-863 9014, and Pattaya Expats 06
312 0141.
Huge force of volunteers turns out to clean up city
Ariyawat Nuamsawat
A major cleanup of Pattaya was organized on December 15
as part of the celebrations surrounding the birthday of His Majesty the
King. City administrators, members of the city council, navy personnel and
2,000 new recruits from the Navy New Recruit Training Center rolled up their
sleeves and fanned out through the city.
These
navy recruits had little to do as the beaches were already clean.
Deputy Mayor Wuttisak Rermkijakarn said that Pattaya is a
renowned international tourist destination and that it should present a
clean and environmentally aware image to the world.
The campaign was held throughout Pattaya and included
homes, entertainment venues, schools, and government offices. The volunteers
cleaned along roads that were dirty or covered in sand, dredged drainage
channels, collected garbage along the beaches and asked householders and
shop owners to clean up their premises.
The project received good cooperation from the public and Pattaya was
left spick and span as a result.
Police brief gold shop owners and bank managers on New Year safety measures
Boonlua
Chatree
Police invited gold shop owners and bank managers in the
Pattaya area to hear about safety measures that are being introduced for the
New Year period.
Pol Col Somnuk Changate, commander of Pattaya Municipal
Police, Pol Lt Col Nattasit Bunnuam, deputy commander of crime suppression,
and Pol Maj Sutham Chawseethong, crime suppression superintendent, conducted
the briefing.
 Pol
Col Somnuk Changate (left), commander of Pattaya Municipal Police, and Pol
Lt Col Nattasit Bunnuam (right) deputy commander of crime suppression.
The new safety measures stress eight points to protect
the life and property of gold shop owners and bank employees during the New
Year festivities when many foreign and local tourists will visit Pattaya.
The eight points are:
1. Install video cameras and carry out frequent checks of
the equipment.
2. Install of internal emergency call buttons in order to
let people outside know that there is a problem within the premises.
3. Try to notice and remember all people that enter the
premises, sometimes it is possible to notice irregular behavior that will
give away the intent of criminals and implement preemptory measures in the
nick of time.
4. Provide service to customers in a careful manner.
Anyone entering the premises wearing dark glasses or hats should be told to
remove them.
5. Some banks leave stacks of banknotes lying around on
tables behind the counter when customers deposit large amounts of cash.
Money should be put away in a safe place to avoid temptation.
6. The premises should cooperate better on opening and
closing times. Banks should not close too late in the evening and gold shops
should not remain open later than 8 p.m. as this could lead to security
loopholes.
7. Take special care when opening or close to closing as
this is the time when criminals could strike as there are not so many
customers.
8. In the event of emergency telephone anyone possible immediately. The
telephone number of Pattaya Police Station is 038 424 186, or just dial the
emergency number: 191.
PBTA voices concern over rampant illegal construction work
Suchada Tupchai
Pattaya’s rampant growth and the frequent building of
illegal structures causes a problem for the city’s image, says the Pattaya
Business and Tourism Association. A meeting was called on December 14 at the
Green Park Resort by association chairman Thanet Supornsaharungsi to see if
there was any way of controlling the unauthorized construction work.
 Thanet
Supornsahasrungsi (left), Pattaya Business & Tourism Association
chairman, led a meeting to discuss the building problem Pattaya is
experiencing.
PBTA vice chairman Sanga Kitsamret was one of the
speakers and he said that most of the problems stem from the performance of
city hall officials who cannot handle and control all corners of the city,
and who sometimes are prepared to grant privileges to entrepreneurs.
Specifically, said Sanga, foreign entrepreneurs are granted privileges over
and above the rules and regulations. He said the PBTA would like those in
responsible positions to exercise more control, and to apply the same rules
to everyone.
 There
is a lot of construction going on in Pattaya City, both licensed and
illegal.
Pichet Uthaiwattananont, director of the engineering
department, said that although Pattaya covers an area of only 53 square
kilometers, there are many applications each day for building construction.
The town also has problems with the number of personnel who have
responsibility over new works. These “zone inspectors” control
construction, plans, utility systems, wastewater, and building business
performance. Normally the government specifies one zone inspector to control
a one square kilometer area to avoid critical situations, but at present
they have only six officers, which means there is one officer for every 10
sq km. That, he said, is the reason for the present amount of illegal
construction.
Deputy Mayor Ronakit Ekasingh believes that nobody is to blame for these
problems, but they need to resolve the matter together. Pattaya City must
cooperate and work with the official departments and the business
organizations.
US Embassy gives equipment to support tourist police duties
Ariyawat
Nuamsawat
The United States Embassy has donated security equipment
to Pattaya Tourist Police Station, with a handover ceremony conducted on
December 16. Receiving the equipment from Scott M Bernat, chief of Naval
Operations Force Protection Detachment of the US Department of Defense, was
Pol Lt Col Wuttichat Luansukhan, inspector of the tourist police in Pattaya.
 Scott
Bernat demonstrates the under-car incendiary spotter device donated to the
Pattaya tourist police.
The equipment was donated in the spirit of helping the tourist police
operate with security checking, and included two mobile metal detector sets,
an under-car incendiary spotter device, two spotlight sets, and four
searchlights. Officers will use the equipment for tourist safety at Walking
Street and other crowded areas.
Scott M
Bernat, chief of Naval Operations Force Protection Detachment of the US
Department of Defense, donates security equipment to the tourist police,
represented by Pol Lt Col Wuttichat Luansukhan, inspector.
Australian former windsurfer dies mysteriously in condominium
Boonlua Chatree
An Australian former national windsurfer has been found
dead in his Pattaya apartment.
Police were called out in the evening of December 15 to
Building 2A of the Sea View building, where they found the body of Michael
Anthony Carey, age 65, a native of Brisbane. He had suffered a massive head
wound and had been dead not less than 24 hours.
The officers also found blood in the bathroom and on a
green hand towel on the floor near the bathroom washbasin. There were,
however, no traces of assault on the body and no evidence in the room of a
struggle. At this stage police do not know whether or not any property is
missing.
Police questioned Vachirawit Bunkrai, 40, a friend of
the deceased who had reported the death. Vachirawit said that Carey was a
former Australian national team windsurfer and after retirement 10 years
ago had moved to Pattaya.
In the middle of the night on December 12 the deceased
went out drinking and on his arrival back at the condominium the security
guards allegedly had to help him back to his room. No one had seen him
since.
After noticing that his friend had been missing,
Vachirawit said he telephoned him but received no answer so he came to the
condominium. He used the spare key to open the door and found his friend
dead.
Police believe that the cause of death was a result of a
fall in the bathroom, hitting his head on something and using the hand
towel to stem the blood. He then walked to his bed where he laid down and
died. However, police have not yet ruled out other possible causes of
death.
The body has been sent to the Department of Forensic
Medicine to determine the cause of death.
It’s in the bag, four youths nabbed with illegal CDs
Boonlua Chatree
A group of four youths who were riding on one motorcycle,
without crash helmets, and carrying a large bag on the front of the bike
loaded with illegal CDs, were arrested when they drove down Beach Road Soi 8,
a few yards away from Pattaya Police Station.
The youths were from Kanchanaburi and had brought the CDs
to sell in Pattaya. Inside the big black bag police found 172 CDs along with
tapes and TV equipment.
The four were identified as Sodsai Buasri, 20, Sompong
Sornpalee, 20, Ti (an alias), 15, and Nop (alias) 16. Only Nop owned up to
being the owner of the CDs. They have all been charged with illegal
distribution.
Cyclists pedal to fight
the drug peddlers
Chatchanan Chaisree
A bicycle rally to publicize the fight against drugs was
staged at Sattahip on December 5, organized by Pairoj Malakul na Ayuthaya,
director of the Sattahip District Administration Organization, and Tahveesak
Nimanong, president of the Sattahip Bicycle Club and head of Sattahip Public
Health Department, in honor of His Majesty the King’s birthday.
Cyclists
of all ages and both sexes were ready at the start.
Santsak Ngamphiches, advisor to the foreign affairs
committee in parliament, presided over the opening ceremony held at Nong
Takian Public Park.
The object was to give the young an opportunity to
participate in the celebrations, get some exercise, put their free time to
good use, stay away from drugs, be physically strong and show them and the
general public the importance of regular exercise in a positive fight
against drugs.
The cyclists set out from the park and headed for Lek Charoen Resort,
then on to Sirikit Hospital, Nang Ram Beach, Chakri Narubet Aircraft
Carrier, the Naval Air Strike and Coastal Defense Command, along the coast
around the Strategic Command, then to Sattahip Market and back to Nong
Takian Park.
Police briefs
Firefighters put out blaze
at stainless steel plant
Fire broke out at a disused stainless steel plant in
Nongprue on December 18 when the premises were being demolished.
Nongprue firefighters sprayed water over the flames and
brought the blaze under control in just over an hour.
Anuphong Srichak, 30, the contractor hired to pull down
the plant, told officers that the premises were a stainless steel plant
owned by JS Manufacturing Co Ltd, which had ceased operations for quite a
while. The premises had been put up for auction.
Inside the building there was a large quantity of paper
and plastic. As the plant was being dismantled a steel cutter ignited the
paper and the fire spread rapidly.
German man kills himself
on shooting range
A German man on a shooting range at Pattaya Third Road
hired a handgun for target practice and unexpectedly turned the gun upon
himself, putting a bullet through his head.
Police and rescue workers rushed to the scene where they
found the injured man had already been taken to Pattaya International
Hospital, where he subsequently died.
He was identified as Konrad Deupsch Graning, age 50.
Witnesses said he had arrived at the shooting range and hired an 11 mm
handgun and 10 bullets. He fired all 10 bullets and then left. He returned a
short time later and bought seven bullets. Vichit Foidaeng, trainer and
caretaker at the range, took him to the target area where Konrad fired three
bullets before turning the gun to his head unexpectedly and firing the
fourth. Konrad dropped to the ground face down seriously injured and was
rushed to hospital.
So far police are unable to say why the man shot himself.
Two youths with gun steal
woman’s motorcycle
Two thieves used a gun to steal a motorcycle from a woman
who was riding through Tung Krad Village on the evening of December 18.
Miss Kanchana Palikrand, 23, an employee of Big C North
Pattaya branch filed a report with Banglamung police stating that she was
riding her red-pink Yamaha Meo motorcycle. When she arrived at the dimly lit
road at Tung Krad Village two men aged about 20 and with their faces covered
by caps rode up beside her on a red-black Honda and the passenger pushed her
motorcycle over with his foot. The passenger then got down from the Honda
and proceeded to take away her motorcycle. She tried to keep hold of her
bike but the driver of the Honda pulled out a gun and pointed it at her. The
two then sped off in the direction of Nikhom Laem Chabang.
Police put out a radio call without result. Kanchana
believes that the pair are teenagers living around her apartment area and
had followed her before committing the crime. Police are looking for the two
thieves.
Annual celebrations held at the King Taksin the Great - Chao Po Gate Ngam shrine on Beach road
Narisa Nitikarn
The annual celebrations to commerate and
solemnize the King Taksin the Great-Chao Po Gate Ngam shrine on
Beach Road was held on December 10.
The ceremonies were presided over by Ronakit
Ekasingh deputy mayor of Pattaya whereby 9 Buddhist monks from
Sriwanaram temple chanted prayers and blessed the revered shrine.
 Citizens
pay their respects at the Chao Po Gate Ngam shrine during the
ceremonies.
Surin Ruangrung, chairman of the celebrations
committee, said that this wooden shrine was built in the traditional
Thai style and is located under a big ‘Gate’ tree. Inside the
shrine is an image sitting in a state of meditation. Since the
shrine rested under a ‘Gate’ tree the villagers of that period
called it “Jao Por Gate Ngam Shrine”. Although believed to exist
prior to 1957, no evidence of when the shrine was actually
constructed is known.
 A
sword-fighting demonstration was held as part of the ceremony.
The image in the shrine had been carved from
limestone but with the passage of time and the natural elements the
figure had begun to erode. Villagers decided to cover the image with
a synthetic material, but that also didn’t last long. Finally in
the year 2000, the shrine committee put in a request to the
authorities to create a replica in the same likeness and built a new
shrine over the original one.
At the consecration ceremonies, rituals were held
to invite the spirits to take up residence. That was when it was
discovered that the spirit of the shrine was indeed that of King
Taksin the Great, who had meditated under this very ‘Gate’ tree
centuries ago.
 Traditional
dance was performed to pay homage to the great king.
It is an historical fact that in 1767 King Taksin
had come through Pattaya with his army on the way to Chantaburi to
regroup and strengthen his forces for the ultimate battle to drive
out the Burmese invaders and regain freedom for the Siamese nation
and her people.
The annual ceremony at the shrine is held on the waxing moon on
the ninth day of the first lunar month. In addition to the religious
service there was a fireworks show, a display of traditional dance,
and a sword-fighting contest. Donations of scholarships and sports
equipment were made to Pattaya City children.
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