Boonlua Chatree
The Tourist Police have arrested a British man on charges of molesting a 14-year-old boy, and officers were astonished to find that the man’s room contained what they said was more than 40,000 photos of naked boys.

Alan Charles Mawson (center) was arrested on charges of molesting an underage boy.

Investigations having revealed that a man was paying boys 400 baht a time for sexual favors at his room on Soi Buakhao, police obtained a search warrant from Pattaya Provincial Court on October 23. At 6 p.m. on the same day a team of officers led by Pol Lt Col Suwan Un-Anan, inspector at the Tourist Police Center Section 4 entered the premises.
In the room were a 14-year-old boy and a 74-year-old British man named Alan Charles Mawson. On searching the room, the officers found an enormous quantity of pornographic material, consisting of 104 albums of pictures, one large package of videos, and a large quantity of CDs. Six cameras were also found.
Mawson has been charged with molesting a child under 15 years of age, whether consenting or not. He denied the charges, saying that he only paid the boys 400 baht to take pictures of them, and asked the boys to perform masturbation for him. The boy found in the room has, however, stated that Mawson had sex with him.

Drunken Australian man attempts to swim home

Boonlua Chatree
A drunken Australian tourist who had a breakup from his girlfriend and who insisted that he was going to swim home was pulled from the sea by rescuers in the early hours of October 25.

John Trevor was remanded into custody for his own safety.
Pattaya Police Station received a report at 3 a.m. that a naked man had plunged into the sea at Pattaya Beach, opposite Soi 10, and disappeared.
Officers went to the scene along with Sawang Boriboon Foundation rescue workers and Pattaya City sea rescue service personnel. They found a crowd of Thai and foreign tourists looking for the man in the dark waters. His shirt and pants had been left in the middle of Soi 10. Bystanders said that the man had been walking on this soi with a bargirl and a bottle of beer. There had been an argument, and the girl had left the man and jumped on a baht bus.
Witnesses said the man had then finished his beer and broken the bottle, crying out in despair. He took off all his clothes, then ran to the sea and began to swim out from the shore. Everyone assumed he would come back, but after 30 minutes had passed someone called the police.
Pattaya sea rescuers and Sawang Boriboon officers went out with inflatable rubber boats, life buoys and life jackets to look for him. They discovered that he had swum to a fishing boat that was moored 500 meters away from the shore. He was startled when he saw the officers and tried to swim away, shouting for them to leave him alone. He wished to swim back to his hometown in Australia, he said. The officers tried to persuade him to come back to shore, but they were unsuccessful. However, after an hour the man became tired and accepted the officers’ assistance.
Back on shore, he was identified as John Trevor, a 42-year-old Australian citizen. As well as being seriously drunk, Trevor had injuries to his feet and bruising to his head. Officers treated him, and tried to find out if he had relatives or friends who would take care of him. He was placed in the cells for his own safety, and was charged with being drunk and disorderly and causing a public disturbance.

Major narcotics haul at Laem Chabang

Theerarak Suthatiwong
Laem Chabang Port authorities have confiscated more than 50 tons of a narcotic substance that was awaiting export and that could have been used to make a vast quantity of the drug ecstasy.

Officials display the confiscated barrels of narcotic substances.

An announcement was made on October 22 at Laem Chabang Port by Somsak Potpatinya, director of the Laem Chabang Port Customs Office, Chatchai Suthiklom, advisor to the Narcotics Protection and Suppression Bureau, and Satit Srisattayawet, director of the Food and Drugs Administration, who said that a cooperation between the three organizations had resulted in the haul.
Investigations had revealed that a company named as Victory Commerce Partnership Ltd was planning to send a consignment of sassafras oil from Laem Chabang Port. Analysis had shown that the oil contained a safrole component. This is considered a Class 4 narcotic. Most of this substance was illegally produced in Cambodia by cutting down several large genus Cinnamomum trees from a natural forest. The bole and roots of the trees are cut into small pieces and then boiled to refine the oil.
Customs officers confiscated three containers of this merchandise, with 240 tanks in total weighing 50.4 tons and valued at more than three million baht. Two of the containers were being prepared for shipping to China and carried 160 tanks in total, weighing 33.6 tons. The third container had 80 tanks and weighed 16.8 tons.
The substance is used to produce the narcotic ecstasy, also known as “ya E”, and possession can carry a punishment of up to 15 years imprisonment and a fine of 100,000 to 1,500,000 baht.
Officers are transferring the case to the Office of the Narcotics Control Board and Suppression, which works in accordance with the 1988 United Nations Convention against the Illicit Trafficking of Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances, in which Thailand is a member.

Two boxers snatch Russian woman’s handbag

Boonlua Chatree
Two boxers who were down on their luck and who snatched a Russian woman’s handbag while she was on Pattaya Beach have been arrested and charged with theft, despite the plea that the money was needed only for medical bills for the sick mother of one of the men.

Russian tourist Tatiana Solodovrnik (left) points out the two thieves (seated).
Police were called out at 2:30 a.m. on October 20 to the scene of the theft on the beach, opposite Royal Garden Plaza.
Miss Tatiana Solodovrnik, a 22-year-old Russian citizen was waiting in a frightened state. She told the officers that she had been visiting Walking Street and had then gone to the beach. She placed her white handbag that contained cash and a digital camera on a table. Suddenly, two men appeared and snatched the handbag, then fled. She shouted for help, and passers-by pursued the criminals.
The thieves were caught on Second Road about 100 meters away from the scene by 29-year-old Banchong Phothong, and the officers took Tatiana to identify them.
They were identified as Theerapong Chanpet, 20, of Surin and Panya Pladpring, 22, of Bangkok. They still had Tatiana’s handbag in their possession. It contained 1,850 rubles, 20 euros, 100 baht, and one Sony digital camera. Tatiana thanked Banchong and the other public-spirited citizens who had caught the thieves.
The two arrested men stated that they worked in a boxing show at the Best Friends beer bar group on Pattaya Beach. After the show they walked around the beach attempting to sell their sexual services to foreigners. They saw Tatiana on the beach, and Theerapong snatched her handbag and passed it to Panya as they fled the scene.
Theerapong said that he needed money to cure his sick mother at home. The officers didn’t believe him. Checking his record, they found he had previously been charged with attempted murder, and had been released from prison two years ago. Panya had previously been charged in a drug case. Both men have been charged with theft.

HRH the Princess Mother honored on National Nurses Day

Somdej Phranangchaosirikit Hospital at the Naval Medical Department honor Her Royal Highness the Princess Mother on National Nurses Day.

Patcharapol Panrak
The Somdej Phranangchaosirikit Hospital at the Naval Medical Department honored Her Royal Highness the Princess Mother on National Nurses Day.
Hospital director Rear Admiral Nikorn Petweerakul presided over the opening ceremony of the event, which had been organized by Capt Saichon Kong-On, director of the hospital’s nursing department.
Ten monks from Ratsamakkee Temple were present to chant and offer prayers to Her Royal Highness, and Rear Admiral Nikorn along with officers and nurses paid respects at the Princess Mother’s monument in front of the hospital.
October 21 is the birth date of Her Royal Highness. She graduated as a nurse and initiated projects throughout the country in education and medical care for the lives of the poor and the underprivileged people in remote areas.
Capt Saichon and the nurses organized health consultations and free medical checkups for people on National Nurses Day, which takes place every October 21 and was first celebrated in 1990, when it was organized by the Thailand Nursing and Midwifery Council in cooperation with the Nurses’ Association of Thailand.

Sattahip celebrates end of Vegetarian Festival

Sattahip people gathered at the ceremony to celebrate the final departure of the gods to their home.

Patcharapol Panrak
A ceremony to celebrate the end of the Vegetarian Festival was held at Sattahip on October 20 by Narong Bunbancherdsri, head of the Sawang Rotchana Thammasathan Foundation in Sattahip, along with committee members consisting of Thai people with Chinese heritage, and members of the public.
Worshippers had, over a period of nine days, from the first waxing moon to the ninth waxing moon, according to the vegetarian period of the ninth lunar month of the Chinese calendar, been conducting ceremonies to send nine gods back to their homes in paradise.
During this period, believers make merit by abstaining from eating meat, hence the Vegetarian Festival. On the last vegetarian day, Sattahip people gathered at the ceremony to celebrate the final departure of the gods to their home.

Sawang Boriboon holds meditation ceremony for recovery of HM the King

Members of the Sawang Boriboon Thammasathan Foundation in Pattaya meditate for a speedy recovery for His Majesty the King.

Theerarak Sutthatiwong
President of the Sawang Boriboon Thammasathan Foundation in Pattaya, Wisit Chaowalitnititham, presided over the signing of messages for a speedy recovery for His Majesty the King, and good wishes for His Majesty’s 80th birthday, at a ceremony on October 16.
Prasit Thongnitcharoen, head of the rescue workers at Sawang Boriboon, led more than 500 officers and volunteer rescuers in attending the seated meditation ceremony. The messages were entered into a book on a signing desk.
Wisit said that His Majesty’s health is a subject of great national concern. Many organizations have held ceremonies for the signing of good wishes, and the Foundation committee felt that a meditation and signing ceremony to support His Majesty’s recovery was appropriate.
During the event, the new and existing volunteer workers conducted their annual pledge ceremony to perform their duties with honesty and good morality.

LICA organizes beach cleanup as annual seminar gets underway

Vimolrat Singnikorn
LICA, the Life Insurance Counselors Association, along with American International Assurance Co., Ltd. on October 19 held a cleanup of Pattaya beach, in association with city hall.

LICA, the Life Insurance Counselors Association, along with American International Assurance Co., Ltd., clean up Pattaya beach.
The cleanup, undertaken in the spirit of maintaining Pattaya’s environment, marked the beginning of the LICA annual seminar, attended by members and AIA agents from nationwide.
Deputy Mayor Verawat Khakhay, LICA president for 2006-2007 Pansak Wattanasaenee, and Sattaya Thepbanthoeng, deputy senior president and deputy general manager of AIA Thailand jointly cut the ribbon to start the cleanup.
The LICA seminar was held at Ambassador City over the period October 20 to 21, and attracted 24,000 members. The cleanup, held before the event got underway, covered the area from Central Pattaya Beach to South Pattaya Beach.

Wreaths laid, beach cleaned in honor of the revered King Chulalongkorn

Patcharapol Panrak
Government department heads, representatives of private organizations and Sattahip citizens, totaling in all 43 groups of people, gathered at Sattahip District Office on Chulalongkorn Day, October 23, to lay wreaths in memory of HM King Rama V.

Royal Thai Marines and their families pay their respects to HM King Chulalongkorn by cleaning Gold Coral Beach on Chulalongkorn Day.
Sattahip District chief clerk Prakit Rotchanadilok led the ceremony to pay respects to the man who was born Phra Chula Chomklao Chaoyuhua on September 20, 1853, and who went on to become one of Thailand’s most revered monarchs.
HM Chulalongkorn was the ninth surviving son of HM King Rama IV, and the first son of HM Queen Thepsirindra. He ascended to the throne in 1868, and died from nephritis syndrome when he was 58 years old on October 23, 1910.
During his long reign HM King Chulalongkorn was a great modernizer, and profound advances were achieved for the country. He formed the ministries that are still in place today, creating a governmental structure that was based on European concepts and which helped enable the country to resist the move towards colonization that was occurring elsewhere in Asia.
He also established a teacher training school based along European lines that trained teachers according to European methods.
The Royal Thai Marines and their families gathered to pay their own respects by cleaning Gold Coral Beach on Chulalongkorn Day. Capt Klahan Petmeesri, commander of Infantry Regiment 1 at Prince Jetsada Camp in Sattahip led the teams in the cleanup operation. The beach has become famous owing to the gold coral that has arisen there on the same day for the past two consecutive years.

More water promised for early next year

Without new projects the city would face drought warns Waterworks Authority

(From left) Prapan Atsawa-Aree, Dr. Somkiat Prachamwong, Itthipol Khunplome and Preecha Ukachok discuss Pattaya’s impending water problems.

Ariyawat Nuamsawat
The volume of water being supplied to Pattaya City is being increased by an extra 24,000 cubic meters per day, as part of the official plan to meet escalating water needs and stave off a serious shortfall in supplies that would otherwise occur within the next few years.
At a meeting of the Pattaya Business and Tourism Association at the Long Beach Hotel on October 24, the organization’s president Chamroon Witsawachaipan said that the Provincial Waterworks Authority has declared its readiness to resolve the water supply problem that the city has been experiencing for at least a decade.
Production will be increased and an additional source of water added to the system to increase supplies and eliminate the shortages that have dogged the city as it expands and the number of visitors increases.
Itthipol Khunplome, chief advisor to the mayor, said at the meeting that the supply of public utilities is essential if Pattaya is to continue to be an important tourism destination. The year 2005 had seen the water supply situation reach a critical level. The community is still growing, so all official departments must prepare for the future.
Dr Somkiat Prachamwong, assistant director general of the Irrigation Department said that Chonburi Province uses three main reservoirs, namely Bangpra, Nongkor and Mabprachan. The province needs more than 90 million cubic meters of water every year. Unless action is taken now, serious problem would occur within three years’ time.
The Irrigation Department has prepared three projects.
First would be the construction of the Klong Luang Reservoir in Koh Chan District in Chonburi Province, under a 1 billion baht budget. However, this project has environmental problems. Chulalongkorn University has been assigned to study this, and will finish a report by this December.
Second would be the laying of a pipeline from the Prince Chaiyanuchit Canal in Chachoengsao Province to the Bangpra Reservoir. This project is very important and the most beneficial, but there are problems with government support, as the pipeline might cause supply difficulties for farmers and residents at the water source.
Third is the Mabwaisom Reservoir project at Ban Kainao, which is in process.
Preecha Ukachok, deputy director of the Provincial Waterworks Authority said that Pattaya City uses about 40 million cubic meters of water per year from five reservoirs, and currently these have reserves of 77 percent of total capacity. This amount is sufficient, but 130,000 cubic meters of water is being consumed per day, and this is increasing.
Predictions are that by 2017 Pattaya City would consume 240,000 cubic meters of water per day. The capacity of the current reservoirs would not be enough. The Provincial Waterworks Authority has therefore designed a plan for the long-term solution to the problem.
A budget has been applied for to create a project that would increase production at the Banglamung Filtration Building and the Chaknok Filtration Building, providing an extra 24,000 cubic meters of water. This is planned to be completed by the beginning of 2008, and will increase daily supplies to 162,000 cubic meters for the consumer sector.
There is additionally a request for a budget of 800 million baht to lay a water pipe from Bangpra Reservoir to Nongklangdong Reservoir, and another from Mabwaisom Reservoir, which the Irrigation Department will construct at Ban Huaykainao, to Mabprachan Reservoir. This project would increase the volume of water to 240,000 cubic meters per day within five years, and therefore secure Pattaya for at least 10 years.
Still being pursued is the project to lay a pipe from Prince Chaiyanuchit Canal to Bangpra Reservoir to add more water.