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ASEAN summit moved to Pattaya due to booked hotels
Bangkok (AP) - A summit of Asian leaders scheduled
for April 10-12 will be held in Pattaya, a last-minute switch of venue due
to a lack of available hotel rooms on the popular resort island of Phuket,
the Foreign Ministry said Thursday.
Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said the plan to host the annual East Asian
Summit in Phuket posed too many “logistics difficulties” because it
coincides with the April 13-15 traditional Thai New Year, one of the busiest
holiday weekends of the year.
The meeting in Pattaya will group leaders from the 10-nation Association of
Southeast Asian Nations and counterparts from the six Asian economic
powerhouses: China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand.
Talks are expected to focus heavily on how the region can best cope with the
fallout of the global financial crisis.
Thailand has faced numerous hurdles since taking over ASEAN’s rotating
chairmanship last year.
The annual summit of 16 Asian nations was originally scheduled for December
in Bangkok but postponed because of political upheaval in Thailand. It was
rescheduled for February and moved to the seaside resort of Cha-am to escape
lingering protests in the capital.
But Beijing couldn’t make the February meeting, so Thailand scheduled a
second summit for April in Phuket, drawing complaints from several countries
including Cambodia, where Prime Minister Hun Sen called back-to-back summits
“a waste of time” and money.
Hearing held to determine
shop opening hours
Vimolrat Singnikorn
The Office of Justice of the Ministry of Justice held a public
hearing in Pattaya on March 10 on “Law for wholesale or retail business
operations” to gather information from businesses as a guide for formulating
future regulations.
 Wisit
Wisitsora, deputy permanent secretary of the Ministry of Justice, opens the
public hearing.
The seminar is part of a series to be held also in Ayutthaya, Nakhon
Ratchasima, and Prachuab Kirikhan before findings are submitted to the
Cabinet.
The Office of Justice Affairs in Chonburi and the Law Development
Sub-committee held the forum at the Sea Breeze Hotel, attended by wholesale
and retail business people who voiced their opinions.
Wisit Wisitsora, deputy permanent secretary at the Ministry of Justice, said
that the hearing for the public and entrepreneurs was held to gauge the
people’s requirements to be submitted to the law development committee.
This draft will be very useful for the public and retail entrepreneurs and
will cover issues such as local benefits, fair prices for consumer and
opening hours for large stores and small retailers, allowing people to
express their views on these important matters, he said.
The appropriateness of opening hours such as whether to allow larger retail
shops to open for 24 hours and how that would affect the income of small
retail shops in the villages was one of the main topics at the meeting.
New radio band to help tourists
Vimolrat Singnikorn
Thappraya Radio 2310 Club has opened a citizen’s band radio
frequency at 245 MHz (Channel 69) for use in the service of tourists in
Pattaya and surrounding areas.
Deputy Mayor Ronakit Ekasingh and Manaswee Pinyasiri, president of the
Thappraya 2310 Club, gathered on March 11 at Pattaya City Hall to chair a
meeting for members concerning the new radio frequency.
 Deputy
Mayor Ronakit Ekasingh (right) and Manaswee Pinyasiri (left), president of
the Thappraya 2310 Club, at the radio meeting.
The radio range covers Sriracha, Laem Chabang and Sattahip and is available
for use by official and private organizations to support troubled tourists,
including crime suppression and prevention of mishaps in the community.
Manaswee said the radio club took its name from the Buddhist year of 2310
(1767) before the loss of Ayutthaya to the Burmese when Praya Taksin was
still Praya Kampangphet and he brought his army this way.
Realizing he could not hold the old capital of Ayutthaya against Burma, he
withdrew his forces from the capital and came to Intharam Temple before
proceeding to Chantaburi. Along the way he also stopped at Ban Nongpai in
the Naklua Sub-district near where the Pattaya Police Station is located
now.
The meeting called for members to apply for their radio sign-on aliases as
some have not done so. They can call 038-416000 for more information.
Deputy PM attends sufficiency seminar
Patcharapol Panrak
Deputy Prime Minister Korbsak Sabhavasu slipped in quietly to avoid
protesters and chaired the opening of the Sufficient Community Project
conference in Jomtien on March 8, attended by 3,000 community
representatives from around the country.
 Deputy
Prime Minister Korbsak Sabhavasu addresses the seminar in Jomtien.
He was welcomed at the Ambassador City Hotel by Dr Wongsawat Sawatpanit,
director-general of the Department of Interior, as well as national and
local administrative officials.
Vice-Premier Korbsak told the meeting that the Sufficient Community Project
is being run by the Office of Sufficient Economy to implement the
government’s policy to promote small-scale community economic development
from the grass roots level. The project is being run in more than 82,000
communities in the country.
The seminar is a training framework for government officials such as
district chiefs, municipal mayors, the district director in Bangkok and
community development officials.
They must do all they can to support all efforts towards self-sufficient and
sustainable community development, he urged.
Villages themselves are encouraged to present their development projects to
the Office of Sufficient Community to receive financial concessions and
support according to set regulations designed to facilitate this help.
He said that this seminar receives support and is being promoted by several
networks such as those operated by Meechai Viravaidya, president of the
People and Community Development Association, and Wiwat Salyakamthorn,
president of the Institute of Sufficient Economy and the Villager Philosophy
Network.
Director-General Wongsawat said that according to government policy issued
by the Office of the Permanent Secretary, this seminar aimed to provide
training and understanding and to move towards “stopping poverty” - ideal
timing, he said, for national ending poverty “D-Day”.
There were some anxious moments at the start of the seminar when no one,
including the police, knew which route the vice-premier was taking to the
seminar, because of the secretive security arrangement to avoid red-shirted
anti-government protesters who had previously disrupted meetings and thrown
shoes.
The tight security worked as no red-shirts were present at the seminar.
Baby elephant rock saved
A mahout from the
Sea View Elephant Camp points to the destroyed beach.
Patcharapol Panrak
Protests by residents resulting in the Marine Department
revoking the license it gave to a company to quarry rocks from the Hin
Look Chang Beach in Sattahip came too late to save the original scenery
of the site that fishing folk regarded as being sacred.
However, at least the Hin Look Chang (baby elephant rock) was saved.
Workers at the See View elephant camp were depressed because their
business of taking tourists on elephant rides to see Hin Look Chang had
been nearly ruined by a Thai investor taking most of the rocks away.
Only the baby elephant rock itself was left after the area on the beach
was leveled, destroying the original scenery that attracted tourists to
travel there on elephant back at sunset. Only Chinese customers now want
to ride there as they believe that riding an elephant will lead to the
birth of sons.
The investor allegedly accepted a foreigner’s offer to modify the rock
beach into a sand beach and, armed with a license from the department,
brought in heavy machinery of backhoes, crane and tugboat and pontoon to
transport the stones away.
Village chief of the Najomtien Sub-district, Somsak Tabklad, led a
village protest, filing a complaint against a Bangsarae company to stop
the destruction of the site where fishermen pray for luck before setting
out to sea.
In the latest action, Wittaya Chaiyanukulkitti, chief of the Marine
Department 6 Pattaya Branch, suspended his previously issued license
“because the licensee did not operate according to the law and caused a
large amount of the old environment to be destroyed.”
Pornchai Pongsuk, 43, manager of the Sea View Elephant Camp in Village
No. 3 in Najomtien, said that his elephants had taken tourists to
witness sunsets at the beach for many years.
But he said the company had permanently destroyed the old scenery and
not many want to visit it now.
He said it was strange that when elephants took tourists to the beach
the visitors liked to go to the Hin Look Chang and whispered their
greetings to it. Then it was discovered that the stone was sacred for
fishermen and the inhabitants who had worshipped it for their good
fortune for a long time as part of the local folklore.
It was no wonder that neither the backhoes nor the tugboat could quarry
this rock from the beach, developing engine problems and lacking enough
power to dig up the rock, he said.
Pattaya Sports Club donates scholarship funds
Bernie Tuppin and Dennis
Willet (front, center), flanked by Sopin Thappajug on their left and Nittaya
Patimasongkroh on their right, pose with YWCA members at the donation
presentation ceremony.
Sawittree Namwiwatsuk
Pattaya Sports Club recently donated nearly 600,000 baht to the
local YWCA for scholarships to go to local students.
On March 10 at Diana Garden Resort, YWCA Bangkok-Pattaya, led by Chairperson
Nittaya Patimasongkroh, held their second meeting of the year. The main
subject on the agenda was the PSC’s donation to the Happy Family project,
which distributes scholarships to needy students, and the Shark project,
which distributes scholarships to students with a grade point average of 3.0
or better.
PSC President Dennis Willet and Charity Chairman Bernie Tuppin attended the
meeting, handing over 595,000 baht to the YWCA. 195,000 baht was earmarked
for 130 scholarships in the Happy Family project, with the remaining 400,000
baht going to the Shark Project.
There are currently 400 students in the Happy Family Project, each receiving
1,800 baht to go towards their schooling.
The Shark Project currently helps 40 students, each being given 10,000 baht
for three years.
Students with excellent achievements will then be supported further through
higher education.
Immigration upgrades online hotel visitor registration
Sawittree Namwiwatsuk
Pattaya Immigration Police are trying to make it easier for hotels
to register their foreign guests. Notification can now be done online via a
better web site while information about illegal migrants can now be made to
a police post office box.
 Pol.
Col. Arnonnun Kamollut, Superintendent of Pattaya Immigration Police.
Pol. Col. Arnonnun Kamollut, superintendent at the Pattaya Immigration
Police, announced on March 6 the www.pattayaimmigration.org web site has
been updated, making it easier to report details about foreign visitors. He
also talked about PO Box 1178 at Jomtien Post Office into which immigration
crime can be reported in addition to calling the usual 1178 telephone
hotline.
Col. Arnonnun said that the new online facility is for operators of hotels,
houses and apartments complexes to report the passport number of their alien
guests within 24 hours of their arrival. Previously a manual system was used
through messengers.
This facility is an improvement on the system already in use for 3 to 4
years. The previous system was deemed too slow. Officers using this new
system will be able to search much faster, finding names, passport numbers,
hotels and apartments.
On March 26 Pattaya Immigration will give a seminar in the Bangkok Hospital
Pattaya conference room on these reporting changes. 300 people have already
registered to attend.
He said that the post office box is to make it easier for people to provide
information or complaints and for them to inform police about immigration
crime.
He said this new system, which started a week ago, should help them better
combat human trafficking, which he said is “The main crime in Chonburi.”
Schoolboy shot at and beaten
Theerarak Suthatiwong
It was a day that tenth grader Sompong Yartcharoen, 16, clearly
should not have gotten out of bed.
Firstly, on his way to visit his girlfriend, he was chased by no fewer than
10 bully boys who even fired a pistol at him that fortunately missed.
Then, when he ran to take refuge in his girlfriend’s room, her father
returned home to find him there and whipped the poor boy with, of all
things, a dried stingray tail, leaving him very bruised and sore back in the
arms of his mum.
Around 10 p.m. on March 10, Sawang Boriboon Thamasathan Rescue Foundation
radio received a call from Nuananong Yartcharoen, 46, that her son Sompong,
a student at Pattaya City School 2 in Banglamung, was injured and the two of
them were waiting for rescuers in front of a house around Wat Nongketyai.
Rescuers found Nuananong sitting with her son who was lying down shirt-less
moaning in pain with bruises all over the body. He was transferred to
Banglamung hospital for treatment.
Nuananong said that she would not press charges as she wants the whole thing
to end. She said that her son was a good student and a good person but this
was just a day of bad luck.
As for Sompong, he said that the bullet did not wound him because he wore a
Phrasomdej Wat Rakang amulet around his neck at all times.
German dies in beach chair
Boonlua Chatree
A German tourist, identified as Michael Herbert, 47, was found dead
sitting in a beach chair looking out to sea on Jomtien Beach last week. The
cause of his death was being determined.
At 8 a.m. on March 11, Pol. Lt. Col. Apimuk Amnatmankong at the Pattaya
Police Station, Dongtan Sub-branch, and Sawang Boriboon Foundation rescuers
went to investigate after another foundation rescuer raised the alarm.
Police said the man allegedly had run out of money and did not have enough
to go home so had been sleeping out in the open.
Police questioned Somsak Kuan-Kaneung, 52, a volunteer rescuer with the
Sawang Boriboon Foundation who is also a motorbike taxi driver, who found
the body.
Somsak said he went to work at 5.30 a.m. and spotted a foreigner lying in a
beach chair with a beer bottle and a bag. He at first did not pay further
attention because he was thinking that he was most likely a tourist who was
resting on the beach. But he soon became suspicious and went to have a
closer look and found that the man had died.
Police said the man was wearing an army t-shirt, blue shorts and sandals and
he had been dead for about eight hours. There were no obvious injuries. In
his right hand was a pair of glasses and a dropped cell phone was found in
the sand.
An empty bottle of beer, a glass of whisky, a pack of cigarettes and a
lighter were found. Under the table was a plastic bag from 7-Eleven
containing a bottle of water, a small bottle of Thai whisky and a can of
soft drink that had been opened.
Another bag contained his clothes, a pillow, a blanket, other personal items
and ID documents.
Police called the last number that was dialed in the deceased man’s phone,
which was answered by a Thai woman (name withheld).
She explained that the deceased had been staying in Pattaya for quite a long
time. Lately, he had been sleeping outside in the street or on the beach,
because he had run out of money and could not afford to pay for his room.
She said that he had tried to borrow money from friends to buy a ticket to
return home but that he still did not have enough.
He had called her the night before and he sounded very drunk before the
connection was lost.
Police sent his body to the Forensic Institute at Royal Thai Police Hospital
for autopsy to ascertain the cause of death.
Fire near whisky warehouse alarms residents
Patcharapol Panrak
A fire in a rubbish collector’s shed was put out before it spread to
a whisky warehouse and more than 30 wooden houses in Thamwittaya community
in Sattahip.
 Firefighters
are able to extinguish the blaze shortly after arriving on the scene.
Fortunately, no one was hurt.
On March 7 at 4 a.m. Sattahip Mayor Narong Bunbancherdsri was told that fire
broke out beside a whisky warehouse on Banna Road. He sent two water trucks
and went himself to the scene.
Firemen took about 20 minutes to douse the fire, which started in the shed
of a rubbish collector named Dam. He was not in his shed at the time.
Kan Lawanwong, 19, who lived nearby said that he was sleeping in his house
when smoke came in through the window. He woke and saw the fire in the shed
and called residents to fight it but it was out of their control.
Residents said Dam always lit a candle before going to sleep and suspected
that he left candle burning before going out to collect rubbish at the
Sattahip Market as usual.
Mayor Narong Bunbancherdsri said that it was fortunate that no damage was
caused to the large whisky warehouse and old wooden houses nearby. At least
30 families live in the small community.
Poor rubbish man Dam was tracked down questioned about the cause of the
fire.
Police deport British pedophiles
Boonlua Chatree
Immigration Police deported two convicted British pedophiles after
they were found to be living in Pattaya. The two had served jail sentences
of 7-9 years in Britain.
 Brian
Peter Neilson (left) and Thomas Charles Hadley (right) are being deported
from Thailand due to their criminal background.
At 4 p.m. on March 11, Pol. Col. Arnonnun Kamollut, superintendent at
Pattaya Immigration, received an order from Pol. Lt-Gen. Chatchawan
Suksomchit, Commander in Chief of the Immigration Office, to arrest and
deport the two men according to Prevention and Suppression of Human
Trafficking Act B.E. 2008.
The two British citizens, Thomas Charles Hadley, 58, and Brian Peter
Neilson, 66, were prohibited from staying in the kingdom according to a
cancellation ordered on February 23.
This was due to them having been imprisoned back home for sexual assault of
male children, possession of child pornography and receiving stolen
property.
Col. Arnonnun said the arrest of the two men was due to information received
from the UK regarding their behavior of sexually assaulting children,
especially boys under 15 years of age.
The men were deemed by Thai police as still posing a danger to youngsters
here and ordered their deportation.
TAT to promote tourism from Dubai and India
Ariyawat Nuamsawat
The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is bouncing back and plans
to take Pattaya hoteliers on a Thai road show to the Arabian Travel Market
2009. The market is scheduled for May 5-8. TAT hopes to promote tourism from
the Middle East to replace that from Europe, reduced by the economic
depression.
 Niti
Kongkrut, director of the TAT Pattaya Office, provides information about the
forthcoming Arabian Travel Market.
Thailand will be promoted at the Dubai International Convention Center,
airing all its attractions of delicious food, nightlife entertainment, cheap
shopping, beaches, 5-star hotels and golf courses.
On March 10 in the conference room at Pattaya City Hall, Deputy Mayor
Verawat Khakhay, Niti Kongkrut, director of the TAT Pattaya Office, and 20
Pattaya hoteliers and entrepreneurs from tourist destinations attended the
meeting to prepare for the promotional foray west. The trip will include
going to table-top sales in Mumbai and New Delhi May 10-13.
Pattaya entrepreneurs are asked to take information about hotels,
accommodations, services and shopping to help with the promotion.
Niti said that at the Arabian Travel Market, TAT Head Office has reserved a
stand area of 40 square-meters for Pattaya City and Chonburi near other Thai
stands.
Pattaya City’s stand will be located near that of Samui Island. This stand
will have 20 reservation booths consisting of 10 desks for the Thai Hotel
Association, 10 desks for the Pattaya Business & Tourism Association, and
one central information desk.
“In the past Middle Eastern tourists were not the primary tourists in the
Pattaya market but they are now considered as a high-potential tourist
group. It will be very interesting if they can be brought in this summer to
replace the lack of European tourists due to the world economy which also
has affected the numbers of Chinese and Taiwanese tourist arrivals,” said
Niti.
Naval learning center awarded for sufficient economy in agriculture
Jun Igi Soki (left) and Capt
Nopadol Supagon (right)
at the awards presentation ceremony.
Patcharapol Panrak
The work of Naval Recruitment Learning Center in Sattahip to teach
His Majesty the King’s sufficient economy in agriculture received
recognition from the MOA Thai Foundation which awarded the center an
honorary certificate.
The foundation held its third general meeting with the theme “Strong
network, happy people” at the Grand Mercure Fortune Hotel in Bangkok.
Nineteen certificates were presented to agriculturists who were applying the
new alternative self-sufficient theory of agriculture for a better quality
of life.
The center received this award because it had become an effective learning
center and an intellectual resource for soldiers, government officials,
families, educational institutions and the public, attracting deserved
attention also for its educational work for youngsters.
Capt Nopadol Supagon, commander of the Recruitment Center, Naval Education
Department, said that he was very happy that the center had received this
recognition for applying the new agricultural theory centered on living
within one’s means and trying to live well on what could be grown.
He said his center annually trains more than 10,000 people, from marines and
sailors to students, people and organizations, confirming its reputation as
a center of quality and resource for educational institutions to awaken the
interest students and youngsters in a new approach to agriculture.
Jun Igi Soki, chairman of the board of MOA, said that the foundation is a
charitable organization aimed at creating an idealistic world of truth,
kindness, living in the best way in nature and art and obtaining benefits
from both Asian and Western civilizations.
The foundation develops activities with government and private organizations
to promote health, art, culture, natural agriculture and organic food to
help develop Thai society.
Mobile municipal service does all
Checking eyes at the Sattahip
mobile services at Sattahip Market.
Patcharapol Panrak
Sattahip Municipality made it easier for their citizens by parking a
mobile municipal service at Sattahip Market for people to lodge complaints,
pay taxes, receive medical check ups, have a haircut, be vaccinated against
rabies and even change engine oil.
On February 28, Narong Boonbanjerdsri, municipal chief of Sattahip,
organized a mobile service for citizens at the multi-purpose field next to
the clock tower at the navy base’s Krom Luang Chumporn Park.
Some 300 citizens came to use the municipal service.
Narong said that reaching the citizens with this mobile service attracts
much more attention and interest, as some people are not available during
service hours or live too far away to visit the office.
The amazingly wide range of services offered also includes document
registrations, and even changing engine oil.
He said that other than the general service, there were also demonstrations
of prevention and alleviation of public hazards, all helping to build good
relationships between the authorities and citizens.
Water police begin making boats
Patcharapol Panrak
Naval Commander of Region 1 and Director of the Sea Protection
Center, Vice-Admiral Chaiyawat Puggarat, praised the water police for
successfully making their own boats to patrol the sea despite the lack of
funding and resources.
 Pol.
Lt-Col. Manop Meesaeng stands by one of his outfit’s homemade boats.
On March 6 Vice-Admiral Chaiyawat and Rear Admiral Taweep Sukkapinit went to
observe the water police station 6 at Prachuab Kirikhan Province where they
were welcomed by Pol. Lt-Col. Manop Meesaeng and other officers.
Col. Manop reported that currently the water police station is using the
land of Mae Ram Pueng management organization and working with obstacles
such as lack of boats, police officers and a very limited budget.
“Although everyone still works their best to serve the population, the
police officers need to be trained to adapt to the sea life as they aren’t
from the navy but from various police fields which have nothing to do with
the sea,” he said.
Their task is to patrol criminal activities on the sea, especially during
February 15 until May 15, when seasonal activities on the Gulf of Thailand
are reduced.
The water police use mini boats that they had to assemble, fortunately
having the use of paddles and Honda engines donated by the public to improve
their efficiency in suppressing crime.
Vice-Admiral Chaiyawat said that he was full of admiration for Lt-Col. Manop
“who is a very good example for his subordinates to follow as he works hard
without giving up and lives his life sufficiently.”
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