Boonlua Chatree
Police arrested a Cambodian man for allegedly using three Cambodian girls, aged four to seven, as slave labor to sell goods in the street. He has also been and him for their physical abuse.

Taew was arrested for abusing three young Cambodian girls.

Pol. Lt. Col. Omsin Karnkha led a team of officers from the Crimes Against Women and Children Suppression Division Region 2 and Child Welfare and Development Center to swoop down on a townhouse in Park Rungruang Village in Nongprue on January 15, after receiving reports that children were being mistreated there.
Taew, 22, was arrested after officers were shocked to find that the three young Cambodian girls had been beaten black and blue on their buttocks and backs and one girl had bruises around her right eye and the right side of her head.
There was also evidence of the goods that the children sell while wandering around the streets at night.
The girls were taken to the Banglamung Children’s Home to be looked after until they may be able to reunite with their families.
They told police that they were often beaten by Taew to force them to go out to sell things such as flowers, chewing gum and neon glow lights and for them to beg for money from foreign tourists at bars on Soi 7 and Soi 8 along Pattaya Beach Road.
They said he forced them to work from 9 p.m. to 3 a.m. every night and gave them only one meal a day.
Taew said girls were his nieces and that he had never beaten them or forced them to sell things. He only punished them because they did not obey him and were misbehaving. He said one girl received the bruises from falling in the bathroom.
Neighbor Somboon Buranachiwee, 59, a Pattaya Baht Bus Cooperative driver, said he often saw the girls going around selling things and annoying foreign tourists by asking for money.
He also heard them crying and thought only that the children were being punished for misbehaving.
Supakorn Noja, director of the Child Welfare and Development Center, said that the Child Welfare and Development Center had received complaints from tourists and residents that the Cambodian girls were being mistreated.

CAT fire shuts down phones

Theerarak Suthatiwong
A fire at CAT Telecom Public Company caused the telephone system and Internet in Pattaya to fail on January 14.
At 12 p.m. Pol. Lt.-Col. Samran Kamwattana at the Pattaya Police Station was alerted about a fire on the second floor of the six-story CAT building. The office was crowded with staff and customers.

Officials inspect the fire damage.

There was some quick evacuation as firemen took some 20 minutes to bring the fire under control. No one was seriously injured.
The cause was traced to the battery backup for the building’s power supply.
Prasert Meksornsawan, manager of CAT customer services, said electricity blacked out suddenly causing computers to shut down and along with them telephone and internet services in the city and the province.
Normally the battery backup would kick into action if electricity fails but this time it was the backup system itself which caught fire from suspected short circuiting.
Prasert said a technician discovered sparks and a lot of smoke in the battery section and alerted customers and employees to immediately evacuate the building.
The technician then tried to extinguish the fire with a chemical fire extinguisher. Water could not be used because the battery backup was connected to a high-voltage power supply.
An initial estimate put the damage at more than a million baht.
CAT needed to turn off all computer systems, international telephone and Internet services to repair damages and bring the system back to working order.

Retired French policeman stabbed

Boonlua Chatree
A retired French police officer was stabbed and seriously wounded allegedly by his Thai mistress.
At 4 a.m. on January 13 Pol. Lt-Col. Patsa Detpakkul from the Pattaya Police Station led police to the Pink Apartment complex on Soi 12 to investigate a dispute.
They found Serge Alain Delplanque, 59, from Paris, lying on his back on the floor in pain with stab wounds in his left arm and lower abdomen. The injured man was rushed to Bangkok Hospital Pattaya for treatment where his condition was reported as serious.
Police arrested Wipa Srithong, 22, from Ratanaburi in Surin Province, and confiscated a knife some 15 cm. long, covered with blood with a broken handle and lying on the floor.
According to police, the woman said she had lived with Delplanque for more than a year.
The former French policeman, just retired, had come for a vacation in Pattaya. The couple had been out on the town that night before coming back to the apartment.
Police said the Thai woman became angry when the Frenchman criticized her and in the violent argument the women stabbed the man twice before the knife broke.
Police are waiting for the injured man to recover from his wounds so he can decide whether or not to press charges.

The injured Frenchman is removed from the back
of an emergency vehicle at hospital.

Car catches fire at condo

Boonlua Chatree
A car belonging to a foreigner who is away overseas mysteriously caught fire where it was parked in the parking lot at a condominium on Pratamnak Road in Nongprue.

Firefighters respond to an automobile fire in a parking garage on Pratamnak Road.

Security guard Bunterm Sakulnoi, 30, said that while on duty he heard an explosion and smelled smoke coming from the second floor of the parking space and saw the car, parked there unused for about a year now, engulfed by fire.
He tried to tackle the fire with an extinguisher but had to call for support.
At 9.30 p.m. on January 11, Pol. Lt-Col. Samroeng Ratananam at the Pattaya Police Station called out two fire trucks and Sawang Boriboon Foundation rescuers to the 16-storey Thepthip Mansion Condominium’s parking lot.
Police said the car belonged to an unnamed foreign resident who had left for overseas more than a year ago. The cause of the fire is being investigated and arson has not been ruled out.

Police foil suicide attempt

Boonlua Chatree
Police dramatically talked a woman out of committing suicide from a 10th floor of a hotel in Pattaya after she quarreled with her German husband.
Pol. Lt. Somchai Chaikananukul from Pattaya Police Station was called out to the hotel at Soi 12 with other officers and Sawang Boriboon Foundation at 4 a.m. on January 16.
They found Jitthip Kaechornsat, 37, from Sakhon Nakhon, drunk and crying on the balcony, threatening to jump off.
Her German husband, Hartwij Maitems, 73, was trying to calm her down from inside the room with support from police officers and rescuers.
It took some anxious time before the officers were able to grab the woman and bring her back into the room safely.
It was discovered that Jitthip had also taken almost a full packet of medicine to reduce fever and had drunk alcohol.
Officers rushed her to the hospital for treatment.

World ‘Idea’ organization honors HM the King

Thailand’s thoughtful and inventive monarch has been singled out as the first recipient of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Global Leaders Award.
Deputy Commerce Minister Alongkorn Pollabutr said WIPO Director-General Francis Gurry will have an audience with His Majesty the King on Wednesday at which the monarch will be bestowed the award, which is WIPO’s highest honor for world leaders in recognition of their outstanding creativity in relation to intellectual property for further development. His Majesty is the first recipient of this award.
Alongkorn said the WIPO praised His Majesty’s ability and reasoned that the award was due to his dedication to his subjects and his inventions which improve the quality of life of Thais.
His Majesty is a strong advocate of intellectual property, owning over 20 patents and 19 trademarks.
His royally-initiated development projects include the creative application of artificial rainmaking techniques, Chaipattana Low Speed Surface Aerator, and “Aggravating the Soil” project, which was to improve swamp lands of stagnating water for maximum use in agriculture.
Moreover, as a prolific artist, His Majesty’s prominent works have been copyrighted, including paintings, photos, and other literary works such as songs and novels. (TNA)

City offers free service for pets

Ariyawat Nuamsawat
Pattaya City is offering free pet vaccination and sterilization for owners on January 30.
The city in collaboration with Chonburi’s Domestic Animal Office is providing volunteer veterinarians to sterilize pets and vaccinate them against rabies, fleas and other parasites.
The service is free of charge and will take place on January 30 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the back of the Pattaya Public Health Center building.
Chaiyapak Dog Training School will also present dog shows on that day.
Pets that will be sterilized must not be fed food and water in the six hours period before the operation.
More information is available from the Animal Control Department of the Public Health and Environment Center, Pattaya, tel. 038-420562 ext. 113.

Volunteer traffic police prepare for training

Vimolrat Singnikorn
An intake of 20 candidates has been selected to be trained as volunteer Pattaya municipal police officers to help in traffic police work.

Lecturer Rungratree Thongsaai, senior public relation specialist for Pattaya City on the last day of the training.
On January 12 at city hall Deputy Mayor Ronakit Ekasingh addressed the new municipal police training group, which had been selected from 104 applicants.
Pattaya City previously called for applicants to sign up for the volunteer force, then put them through comprehensive selection tests based on physical fitness, interviews and their aptitude at assisting police traffic affairs.
Deputy Mayor Ronakit said monitoring of traffic is important work that requires knowledge and ability, knowledge of the law, patience, and sensibility to reduce problems for the public, including providing effective support in emergencies.
The volunteers were trained for five days, from January 12-16, both in theory and practical application covering traffic affairs, traffic signs, administering first aid and fire extinguisher use as well as the ethics involved in providing service to people.
Ronakit said the traffic work performed by municipality police officers is demanding and needs a reserve force for support.
After this introductory training, the officers are trained for another month in the field and then assessed before certificates are issued.
Teachers from the Pattaya Police Station, TAT Pattaya Office, Marine Corps Command Center, Sattahip Naval Base, Public Health and Environment Bureau, Disaster Protection and Prevention Section, and the Sea and Coastal Rescue Section provide the training. Rungratree Thongsaai, Senior Public Relation Specialist for Pattaya City gave the final training on January 16.

New municipal police prepare for traffic duty.

Meeting held to set standards for evaluating public service

Pramote Channgam
Pattaya City held a public hearing to set up evaluation standards for public service on January 13 at City Hall.
Deputy Mayor Wattana Chantanawaranon welcomed Jaturong Panuadilok, deputy under secretary at the Prime Minister’s Office, and his team in the Thappraya Conference Room.

Jaturong Panuadilok, deputy permanent secretary at the Prime Ministers’ Office.

They came to attend the public hearing on evaluation standards for public service work of Pattaya City. City council members and 27 community representatives attended the meeting.
The standard evaluation for the management of public service for Pattaya City was setup according to the 2009 budget and will be in operation for 12 months from October 2008 to September 2009.
There are several standard categories covering basic structure, support for quality of life, management of the community, order, planning, investing to support commerce and tourism, managing conservation of natural resources, art, culture, religion, traditions and local intellectual property.
All of these will be divided into 25 activities with 119 key performance indicators designed to measure progress toward defined organizational goals.
Prof Dr Chatchai na Chiengmai, chairman of a special sub-committee overseeing this evaluation process, said that the self-evaluation standards for the management of public service are useful to devolve responsibilities amongst the local administrations.
Self-evaluation is useful and leads to more efficient operations so it is a worthwhile investment of time and effort, he advised.
The meeting focused on the standards and steps for the evaluation process and gathered comments and opinions.

City makes mobile welfare visit

Staff reporters
Ton Krabok community, situated around the Chinese shrine on Sukhumvit 28, was this month’s lucky recipient of Pattaya City’s innovative touring welfare visits which will each month move to one of the 27 communities in the city.

Mayor Itthipol Khunplome and city officials hand out free rice.

On January 8, Mayor Itthipol Khunplome and city councilors presided at the event in which the Social Welfare Center joined with Public Health Center of Pattaya to bring many welfare services for community residents right to their doorsteps.
There were free health checkups, dental care, family planning with free contraceptives and condoms handed out and health insurance cards issued by Banglamung.
Results of the health check showed that many residents of the Ton Krabok community, many of whom are elderly, suffer from diabetes and high blood pressure.
Other free services included barber and beauty salons, recyclable rubbish brought in to trade for fresh eggs and pet vaccinations.
There were officials there to listen to general complaints, give information on ID card registration, tax and regulations on setting up a local shop.
On sale were inexpensive locally-made products and organic vegetables.
The city joined Lotus Hypermarket Pattaya to donate 150 bags of rice that were distributed to low-income families at one bag per household.