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Klong Nokkrayang villagers anxious over move
Land is needed for drainage project
Villagers from Klong
Nokkrayang meet with Deputy Mayor Ronakit Ekasingh.
Vimolrat Singnikorn
Villagers from Klong Nokkrayang petitioned city hall on November 20
regarding their rights to live on land that is scheduled for a drainage
project.
They were met by Deputy Mayor Ronakit Ekasingh, who said that Pattaya City
is preparing an area of land for those who are being displaced, and has
leased an area of 2 rai 2 ngan and 84 square wah from Wat Chonglom.
The Klong Nokkrayang villagers, numbering between 60 and 70 families, would
have to move there, said Ronakit, explaining that their present homes have
been built on public land.
City hall needs the Klong Nokkrayang area to build a water drainage system
that would solve the flooding problem in the Naklua area, and will add
landscaping once the project is completed.
The villagers have been asked to submit their house registration and ID
cards, and city hall officers will explain the transfer process and give
help and advice.
“I have lived in Klong Nokkrayang for 30 years,” one of the villagers, Apiya
Yingprasert, told Pattaya Mail. “I accept they will demolish my residence,
but I want to see a Pattaya City officer because I am afraid that I will
have no place to live after that.”
Pier and observation tower planned for Lanpho and Naklua canals
Ariyawat Nuamsawat
City hall is planning to install a pier with an observation tower at the
mouth of the Lanpho and Naklua canals.
 An
artist’s rendering of the planned new pier in Naklua.
PTE Engineering Consultants attended a meeting on November 21 at Pattaya
City Hall to discuss designs for the project. The meeting was chaired by
Deputy Mayor Wutisak Rermkitkarn, with deputy head of administration
Sittipab Muangkum and director of the engineering department Pichet
Uthaivatananon attending.
Sittipab said the intention was to develop tourism locations along the beach
at Lanpho and at the mouth of the Naklua Canal. This would also help
modernize these areas for the transportation and distribution of seafood.
A representative of PTE Engineering Consultants said the area was already
attractive with its fishing boats, and that the company had a concept to
construct a pier 500 meters out into the sea. The pier would have a width of
3 or 4 meters, and there would be an observation tower at its end. Forty
boats would be able to use the pier.
Reinforced concrete would be used for building the pier, and there would be
no necessity of land reclamation. The project would also include developing
Lanpho Public Park and a public car parking area, and there are plans to lay
out a multipurpose field and build an OTOP exhibition center at the mouth of
the Naklua Canal.
Sittipab said that extra work would be needed on the design, and that Harbor
Department and the Environmental Department would be consulted.
Weekend parking ban for vehicle rental operators
The number of vehicles has
become a problem along Pattaya Beach Front.
Ariyawat Nuamsawat
City hall has banned parking by vehicle rental operators along Pattaya Beach
Road at weekends.
The ban, which covers the period beginning Fridays at 4 p.m. and runs
through Saturday and Sunday, came into effect on November 24.
Deputy Mayor Ronakit Ekasingh said that consultations were held with the
police on beach parking before the ban was imposed. Parking space along the
beachfront is inadequate because of the large number of visitors, and this
has resulted in double parking and parking in no parking areas. This
congestion can lead to accidents, as well as making the beachfront
unsightly.
“We have asked that the 44 beachfront car and motorcycle operators cooperate
by not parking along the beachfront from 4 p.m. on Fridays and all day
Saturday and Sunday,” said Ronakit.
Grand parade will open the festivities celebrating birthday of HM the King
Vimolrat Singnikorn
Pattaya City is preparing for the celebrations that will be held in honor of
His Majesty the King’s birthday, which takes place on December 5.
 Deputy
Mayor Wutisak Rermkitkarn presides over a meeting to announce Pattaya’s
participation in the national celebration of HM the King’s Birthday on
December 5, which will held at Bali Hai Pier in South Pattaya.
On November 17 at conference room 401 in Pattaya City Hall, Deputy Mayor
Wutisak Rermkitkarn presided over the preparation meeting for the
festivities, which will center on Bali Hai Pier and begin at 19.39 hrs.
A parade will be held before the celebrations begin, with government
departments and bureaus and the private sector participating. The parade
will begin from Royal Garden Plaza on Pattaya Beach Road at 5.30 p.m., and
each organization will bring a gold and silver tray to present at the image
of His Majesty.
City hall has requested all participants to wear a yellow shirt, marking
this auspicious year of His Majesty’s 60th anniversary of ascending the
throne.
Country music will also be a feature of the celebrations, with Monsit
Khamsroi, Kasem Komsan, Jomkwan Kalaya and Raenu Phuthai amongst the
performers booked to appear.
Fast police action lands 2 snatch-and-run thieves
Suwit and Suchat confessed to
five snatch-and-run robberies.
Boonlua Chatree
The police crackdown on snatch-and-run thieves resulted in the arrest of two
men who had snatched the gold necklace of a Finnish visitor, and the public
parading of them at Pattaya Police Station on November 20.
Pol Col Ittipol Piriyapinyo, commander of the police in Chonburi province,
along with Pol Col Suthin Sappuang, superintendent of Pattaya Police
Station, presented the two miscreants to the press. They were identified as
Suwit Inapai, age 18, of Nakhon Sawan, and Suchat Sonarin, age 23, of
Chumporn.
The two had stolen the 18.6 karat necklace of Finnish national Orvo
Raatikainen at 8:30 a.m. that same morning. The theft took place at the
intersection of the Grand Condotel on Thepprasit Road while the victim was
in a baht bus. Police went in pursuit and caught the thieves on Soi Bongkot
2. They were still in possession of the necklace.
Suwit and Suchat confessed to five snatch-and-run robberies, saying that
most of the property they were able to steal was sold or pawned. They used
the money for entertainment.
Police charged them with theft and using a vehicle in committing a crime.
Thai wife with bottle attacks her husband’s attacker
Boonlua Chatree
An Australian man who confronted a Swedish visitor in a bar was injured when
the Swede’s Thai wife hit him over the head with a beer bottle.
Police were called out at 4 a.m. on November 16 to the Salt & Pepper
restaurant located in front of the Best Inn Hotel on Soi Buakhao where it
was reported a Thai woman was in a dispute with a foreigner.
At the scene the officers found tables and chairs overturned, and a pool of
blood on the floor. An injured man identified as a 65-year-old Australian
named Amparis was slumped over a table. He had been hit with a bottle to his
right temple, and had a long gash on his head. Mrs La-Iad Petlorm, 43, a
resident of Kampangphet, was still holding the blood-stained bottle with
which she had hit him, and protecting a man named as Richardson, a
55-year-old Swedish national.
Police questioning revealed that Richardson was drunk and had got into a
dispute with Amparis, who was also drinking beer in the restaurant. They
started to fight, and La-Iad, Richardson’s wife, tried to separate them.
Amparis pulled her hair and flung her away, which was a mistake, for La-Iad
flew into a rage, seized a beer bottle, and hit him over the head with it,
very hard. Restaurant employees called the police for assistance.
Amparis told the police that he didn’t want to press charges against La-Iad.
A Sawang Boriboon Foundation officer applied first aid, and the parties went
their separate ways.
German drugs dealer on
the run is arrested in Pattaya
Boonlua Chatree
A German drugs dealer who was on the lam from a case in his home country and
was hiding out in Pattaya has been arrested by Immigration Police.
 Michael
Kunze was arrested in Pattaya for an outstanding drugs charge in Germany.
Michael Kunze, age 30, was living in Ratsamee Apartment on Soi Naklua 19.
Superintendent of Pattaya Immigration Police, Pol Cap Ittipol
Ittisarnronnachai was directed to arrest him by Pol Col Monthon Wattana,
deputy commander-in-chief of the Immigration Police, following the issuing
of an arrest warrant by a court in Germany.
Kunze, who had been living in Thailand for three years, was transferred to
the Immigration Police headquarters for deportation.
Irishman confesses to frenzied murder of service girl
Taxi driver turns in vicious killer
Boonlua Chatree
An Irishman has confessed to the frenzied killing of a Thai service girl at
a building in Na Jomtien, following a police manhunt and a tip-off by a taxi
driver who reported that a man resembling the suspect was in the back of his
cab.
 Police
lead confessed killer Denis Anthony Leahy into interrogation.
Denis Anthony Leahy admitted to killing 24-year-old Bupa Tangchiangpin at
the Lalana Garden Village in Soi Chaipruek on November 19 by stabbing her 15
times in the back, three times in the face, and by slitting her throat. He
left her lying face down naked and fled on a motorcycle, taking the murder
weapon with him.
At 2 p.m. the following day, Pol Col Suthin Sappuang, commander of Pattaya
police, received a report from Isaraphong Nongyai, 35, a taxi service
proprietor, who said a bald headed man resembling the suspect was in the
back of his taxi, which was parked at a petrol station on Sukhumvit Road in
Central Pattaya, ready to go to the Thai-Cambodia border. Pol Lt Col Chonpat
Bualak, Pol Lt Col Santi Chainiramai, Pol Capt Chairiks Thongin and a team
of officers went to investigate.
On arrival police saw the vehicle parked at the front of the restrooms.
Leahy was asleep in the back of the vehicle. He was wearing a yellow
long-sleeved shirt and blue shorts, and had covered his face with a cap. He
had many scratches over his body. Police produced an arrest warrant and took
him to Pattaya Police Headquarters.
Leahy admitted to the killing. He told officers that he had had an argument
with his wife and after she left to open the fish stall she operated he rode
his motorcycle to collect Bupa, a service girl at Jomtien Beach, and took
her back. He said that he had taken some muscle enhancing drugs and went
crazy and viciously attacked Bupa with the knife.
He told officers that he hid the motorcycle in the bushes behind Pattaya
Park Hotel and slept there all night. In the morning he bought some clothes
and hired a taxi to take him to the border.
During questioning, members of Bupa’s family who were listening to Leahy’s
statement cursed him and attacked him, and police had to drag them off.
Leahy, who is 40 years old and an Irish national, was taken to the scene on
November 21 where he re-enacted the crime. He has been charged with
first-degree murder.
A sign of the times for Pattaya takes shape on Radio Station Hill
Workers have started to
install the “Pattaya” characters on Radio Station Hill.
Ariyawat Nuamsawat
Work on the new “Pattaya” sign on Radio Station Hill will be completed in
time for His Majesty the King’s birthday on December 5.
A progress report on the project, which is part of the Royal Thai Navy FM
Stereo Multiplex 104.75 Broadcasting Station beautification program, was
presented at a meeting in the Pattaya Public Works Department conference
room on November 23.
Sitthiphap Muangkhum, Pattaya City municipal clerk, Pichet Uthaiwattananont,
director of the Public Works Office, and government department heads and
officials were briefed by a representative of Nong Nuch Landscape and Garden
Company, who were hired by the city under a 54,950,000 baht contract to
improve the appearance of Radio Station Hill.
A sign with the characters “Pattaya” spelled out with LCD technology is the
central feature, and landscape viewing points and a CCTV network have also
been included.
Pichet said that the project has progressed greatly and the meeting was
being held primarily to fix specifications and standards of equipment that
are to be installed.
The Pattaya sign is more than 13 meters high and 20 meters in length.
TAT urges hotels and golf courses to sell Jazz Royale tickets
(From right) Peerasan
Assawakitiprapa, marketing director of Creative Juice\G1, Thanaporn
Boonyungyuen, chief operating officer of Creative Juice\G1, Chaiwat
Charoensuk, Tourism Authority of Thailand Central Office Region 3 director
and Akkrawit Thapasit, Tourism Authority of Thailand Central Office Region 3
assistant director, are urging local companies to sell tickets to the
upcoming Jazz Festival.
Narisa Nitikarn
The Tourism Authority of Thailand Central Region 3 Office is urging local
tourism related businesses to help sell tickets for the Jazz Royale Festival
2006, the Pattaya leg of which will take place at Horseshoe Point on
December 11 and 12.
Director of TAT Central Region 3 Chaiwat Charoensuk together with
representatives of Creative Juice\G1, the organizer of the event, held a
meeting at the Garden Cliff Resort and Spa on November 23 with local
business operators.
Chaiwat said that the festival, which is being staged in total at four
regional venues in Thailand, would attract an anticipated 2,000 to 3,000
people a day during its Pattaya performances.
Tourism business operators are being urged to sell tickets and thus increase
the number of ticket sales points. Tickets are at present sold only through
www. thaiticketmaster.com and Central Department Store Pattaya.
If hotels and golf courses and other tourism related businesses help promote
the event and sell the tickets, a far wider potential audience could be
reached.
“Business operators who agree to act as ticket agents will be paid a
commission of 20 percent per ticket, which are for sale at 1,500 baht,” said
Chaiwat.
“The venue is quite a distance from Sukhumvit Road. Getting too, and leaving
the venue could be problematic. Timetables will be announced at a later
date,” he added.
Sikhs donate rice to flood-stricken Angthong Province
The Thai-Sikh community in
Pattaya worked hard to help pack lunches for approximately 300
flood-stricken people in Angthong Province.
Narisa Nitikarn
The Thai-Sikh community in Pattaya has collected rice and dried food for
donating to the people in Angthong Province who are suffering from severe
flooding in the region.
Amrik Singh Kalra, head of the Pattaya Thai-Sikh Association, on November 17
led a delegation to Angthong Province, which has suffered a month of
flooding since the Chao Phraya River burst its banks, and which is still
waiting for the bulk of its relief supplies from government and other
private organizations.
The 26-strong delegation presented rice and dried food, and organized a free
lunch for approximately 300 people and students at Watkhoi School in
Porangnok sub-district.
The supplies were presented to the Angthong Province Public Health Office,
where they were received by Dr Prarinya Pattamakamin, who confirmed there
was a great deal of hardship in the province amongst those who are waiting
for aid to reach them.
A certificate of appreciation was presented by the province to the Pattaya
Thai-Sikh Association.
Health care workers
set for visit to North
Primary Health Care members
that attended the meeting prepared for their educational trip to Northern
Thailand, in the hopes they would gain experience to develop their own local
community.
Vimolrat Singnikorn
More than 200 members of Primary Health Care gathered at the Health Service
Center on Soi Buakhao on November 17 for a briefing by Deputy Mayor Verawat
Khakhay before they were due to visit the North of Thailand on an
educational tour.
The visit was scheduled to take place from November 20 to 24, with 280
Primary Health Care personnel inspecting facilities in Chiang Mai and Chiang
Rai.
Verawat said that in 2007 Pattaya City would provide a budget of more than
700,000 baht for Primary Health Care.
Chanya Sroifa, one of the Primary Health Care members taking part in the
educational visit, said that previous trips have always worked well. “I
always saw something new, such as the local life in the villages, and the
development of tourism locations in the provinces where I was located. I was
able to bring this knowledge and adapt it to use for Pattaya City.”
Dharma course shows youngsters how to develop willpower and character
Pattaya students listen to
monks from Yanasangwararam Temple during the dharma training project.
Ariyawat Nuamsawat
Deputy Mayor Wutisak Rermkitkarn, together with the director of Pattaya’s
Department of Education Thawatchai Rattatanyu on November 13 opened a dharma
training project for youth at the Somdhej Prasrinagarindha Building in Wat
Yanasangwararam.
273 students from Pattaya Schools 1 and 7 attended the course, which was
scheduled to run over the period November 13 to 15.
Wutisak said that schooling in the principles of dharma are important for
developing mental strength and strength of character, which in turn allows
young people to resist temptations such as drugs.
Thawatchai said that nowadays young people are open to many influences that
can lead them to drug abuse and other forms of antisocial behavior that will
prevent them growing up to become responsible and respected members of
society.
Dharma is not a fast-acting remedy to combat this, he said, but when an
individual follows and absorbs the principles of dharma, he or she will
eventually find great happiness and contentment.
New Naklua Market opens for business
Stringent new regulations for food safety will be closely monitored
The New Naklua Market is now
open for business.
Vimolrat Singnikorn
Vendors opened for their first day of business at New Naklua Market on
November 9, and professed themselves satisfied with the facilities and with
the volume of business, as many local residents turned up to take a look at
the new building and do their shopping.
There are now more regulations for the vendors, with a strong emphasis being
placed on food safety. Inspectors are due to visit two weeks after opening
day and at regular intervals after to ensure that everyone is following the
rules.
Prices are kept low, and every stall now displays its food prices.
Bupha Songsakulchai of Pattaya Public Health Department said the first stage
of ensuring food safety would be to inspect the market during its second
week of operation and to assure the public that all the regulations are
being followed. This in turn will instill confidence amongst consumers,
which will encourage them to use the market more.
A Buddhist ceremony led by nine monks had been held on the day previous to
the opening, on November 8, with Mayor Niran Wattanasartsathorn, Deputy
Mayors Verawat Khakhay and Wattana Chantanawaranon, and Pattaya City
councilors, vendors and the public taking part.
Free digital photography course at city hall
Vimolrat Singnikorn
Free lessons on how to use a digital camera will be held over this weekend,
from December 1 to 3, at Conference Room 401 in Pattaya City Hall.
 Norm
Pongkanjananukul, chief photographer to His Majesty the King, presents a
souvenir to Mayor Niran Wattanasartsathorn.
A briefing was held on November 16 by Mayor Niran Wattanasartsathorn,
Ittipol Khunplome, chief advisor to the mayor, Norm Pongkanjananukul, chief
photographer to His Majesty the King, Nitivat Vajanavaranan, sales manager
of the image communication products division at Canon Marketing (Thailand)
Co Ltd, and Sermsak Sapanon, chairman of the organizing committee.
The idea came about because of His Majesty the King’s interest in
photography, and the fact that His Majesty is celebrating the 60th
anniversary of his ascension to the throne this year and his 80th birthday
next year.
The training program, which is being held in association with the Tourism
Authority of Thailand Central Office Region 3, is being organized so that
Pattaya residents can learn how to use a digital camera for tourism
photography, and to help promote the city’s tourism attractions.
Amongst the other experts lending their skills to the project are Prof
Sumitra Khantayalonggod, professor of photography and movies at Bangkok
Technical College, and Prof Noppadol A-chasantisuk, chairman of the Camerade
Magazine administration committee. Canon cameras are available at a special
price during the course.
Redemptorist School readies for Royal visit
Vimolrat Singnikorn
The Redemptorist School is preparing to welcome Her Royal Highness Princess
Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, who will visit the school on February 15 next year
to open a multi-purpose building.
 The
multipurpose building is nearly ready.
Sister Pawinee Pichaisrisawad, director and chairwoman of the Redemptorist
School Executive Committee, held a meeting on November 22 at the school with
Deputy Mayor Ronakit Ekasingh, Redemptorist School committee members Sopin
Thappajug and Suporntham Mongkolsawad, together with others involved in
planning the visit, to check on the progress of the arrangements.
This meeting received a report on the construction of the multi-purpose
building, which was begun in March last year. As at November 17 it was 95
percent complete. Work still outstanding includes detail work to the back
and front of the structure, the drilling of a well for water supply,
interior decoration, and the testing of the elevator electrical system.
The budget to construct this building was 17,889,075.26 baht. It is
anticipated that the building will be open for service on December 7. Her
Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn will officially open the
building on February 15.
The same meeting also discussed the presentation of school certificates to
students during a ceremony to be held on December 9.
After the Gala Ball, PILC Welfare work continues
Helle and members of PILC at
Koh Pai Kindergarten.
Elaine Poole, PILC
The Gala Ball at the Royal Cliff Hotel was a great success and was enjoyed
by everyone. The evening raised a lot of money for charity… but what will
PILC Welfare do with the money? The answer is quite simple. Spend it! Young
children from poor, underprivileged families are always at risk. Helle
Rantsén and her Welfare Team have worked for many years try to provide a
safe environment for children in and around Pattaya. The following is
another example of how the money raised by the PILC is used to help provide
nursery care for the very young.
Koh Pai - A Special Kindergarten in Pattaya for very young
underprivileged children
Pattaya has its fair share of slum areas. One of them is located
on a soi off Pattaya Tai. It is one of the bigger slum areas with 400
families living in their “houses” made out of all sorts of second hand
materials; tin sheets, bits of plastic, piece of wood and very often with no
access to toilets and shower facilities.
A lot of children of all ages live in this area. Some of the older ones
attend school, if they have the correct papers. Some of the over 3 year olds
attend the Fountain of Life, a charity supported by PILC, while their
parents are working during the day.
But who looks after the under 3 year olds? It was apparent that there was a
very big need for a kindergarten for these very young children with working
parents; a safe place, where parents could leave their children, knowing
that the children would be looked after in a proper way, by people who
cared.
World Vision, Fountain of Life, City Hall, Mercy Centre, Jesters Care for
Kids and PILC all worked together to create the foundation of the
kindergarten. Qualified staff were found and trained and salaries for staff
are paid. Proper equipment/toys for the children were purchased, as well as
food, milk and so on.
The kindergarten quickly became a very big success. Now the staff takes care
of 15 children. But the kindergarten cannot take care of all children. Yet,
every day many more children stand outside the gate of the kindergarten.
They are now being invited in to join the activities, but only for one hour
per day. It is obvious that there is a pressing need for more facilities for
the very young children for this slum area.
It is the hope that this kindergarten will be the first of many in slum
areas. Kindergartens where very young, underprivileged children are safe and
cared for. By supporting the activities of PILC, you are helping this become
a reality. Thank you!
Helle Rantsén
Welfare chairperson PILC
If you would like any further information about PILC Welfare activities,
please contact Helle Rantsén, Welfare person, hella_rantsen@
access.inet.co.th
Mothers with the some of the
young children looked after by the staff at the kindergarten.
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