Ariyawat Nuamsawat
Members of the Pattaya Business and Tourism Association (PBTA) met on April 29 at the Green Park Resort to discuss measures to restore tourism in the city to levels enjoyed prior to the political chaos.
Association president, Jamroon Wisawachaipan, chaired the first management committee meeting after its election for years 2009 to 2012.

Mayor Itthipol Khunplome (left) and Jamroon Wisawachaipan (right), PBTA president.

Mayor Itthipol Khunplome joined the meeting and reported that a budget of 900 million baht has already been allocated for restoring the tourism industry. Another six billion baht has been earmarked for SME banks to lend to entrepreneurs.
Jamroon said, “The chaos that led to the cancellation of the ASEAN Summit in April destroyed the tourism industry in Pattaya.”
He went on to say that the Tourism Industry Council of Thailand proposed three measures:
1) Boosting travel for both domestic and international tourism, whilst increasing public relations and marketing campaigns to restore a positive image, and arranging to host another ASEAN summit in the city soon.
2) Offer attractive loans for entrepreneurs in the tourism industry.
3) Budgeting 10% of the national budget for the development of tourism.
Jamroon said that these ideas had been proposed to the government and he is waiting for feedback.
Mayor Itthipol said that the PBTA committee was set up with the governor of Chonburi as president. Two promotional ideas came out of this committee: 20,000 free hotel rooms, and discounts on service charges all over the city starting May 1.
The PBTA and the Thai Hotel Association - Eastern Chapter have written a letter to Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva asking for assistance to solve the tourism crisis, requesting the holding of another ASEAN Summit in Pattaya; holding more government meetings in the city; asking domestic and international commercial flights to lower their costs; and allocating more of the national budget to promote tourism.
The mayor said that the requests should receive a response from government within two weeks.

Irishman held for suspicion of drug dealing

Police put Thomas McCauley and the evidence on display for the press.

Boonlua Chatree
Banglamung police arrested Irish national Thomas McCauley, 48, and charged him with dealing in various types of narcotics and allegedly collected a large amount of evidence.
A 9.30 p.m. on April 28, Pol. Col. Somnuk Changate, Superintendent at the Banglamung Police Station, and Pol. Maj. Kamol Taweesri, Inspector in Crime Suppression, escorted McCauley into custody.
Police said they found ya ice in two clear plastic bags, seven ya ba tablets, two ya E tablets, a pack of dry marihuana weighing 11.4 grams, 12 grams of opium and three sets of drug consumption paraphernalia, 52,500 baht in cash and a black Toyota.
The man was charged with illegal possession of class 1 narcotics (ya ice, ya E and ya ba), and class 2 and 5 narcotics (opium and marihuana).
Pol. Col. Somnuk said that this arrest followed an investigation into McCauley’s activities that had lasted several months. McCauley allegedly had been distributing drugs to teenage drug users in the Banglamung area. He was eventually caught in a police sting operation.
On April 27, undercover police made contact to buy one pack of ya ice for 6,000 baht from the suspect. They set up an appointment to collect the drug from in front of a 7-Eleven on Soi Kao Talo in Nongprue. When McCauley showed up in the Toyota, allegedly to deliver the ya ice he was arrested by an undercover police officer.

Arrests made over arms buying for Hong Kong mafia

Boonlua Chatree
Police arrested a Chinese national and a Thai sailor and charged them with buying military weapons in Thailand and shipping them to gangsters in Hong Kong.
On April 30, Pol Col. Kittipong Ngaomuk, deputy superintendent of the investigation unit for region 2, and Pol. Col. Nattapong Satyanurak detailed the arrest of Weiming Li, 28, from Guangdong, China and Sergeant Rungarun Uraikot, 27, from Sattahip Naval Base for arms dealing at Bali Hai Pier in South Pattaya.
Evidence seized were one M16 rifle with 527 rounds of ammunition; one AK47 rifle with 85 rounds of ammunition; one 9 millimeter hand-gun with 28 rounds of ammunition; one bulletproof vest, three mobile phones, and one Chevrolet truck that belonged to Sergeant Rungarun.
After a lengthy investigation, police alleged that the Li had made five arms dealing transactions with the Thai sailor and/or other groups, each time shipping the weapons by non-registered ships to Hong Kong to be sold to local mafia gangs at much higher prices.

Baby born in traffic jam

Patcharapol Panrak
A pregnant woman could not wait for the bad morning rush hour traffic and gave birth to her son in a car at kilometer 180 on the Sattahip-Rayong Road, 10 kilometers short of her destination - Sattahip Hospital.
At around 8.20 a.m. on April 24, Chaiyawat Panwej, 40, the driver of the car, was trying to rush Somjai Wittayanukoon, 26, to hospital in his Mitsubishi Lancer.
As they reached the Rajanavy Sports Center, Somjai could not hold on any longer and delivered her son on the backseat, helped by Narumol Panvej, 33. The umbilical cord was still uncut and the woman had to stay very still until finally reaching Sattahip Hospital.
Chaiyawat said that Somjai was a distant relative who was having trouble with her marriage and had moved into his house recently.
On their arrival at the hospital, nurses cut the umbilical cord and hurried them in. Mother and baby are fine.
Chaiyawat then set about trying to locate Somjai’s husband and parents.

American found dead in house

Boonlua Chatree
American Peter Woods, 62, from Massachusetts was found dead in a house at Moobam Rawiporn on April 26.
Pol Lt. Colonel Jiwatwong Reuangdee of Banglamung Police went to the scene with doctors from Banglamung Hospital and Sawang Boriboon Foundation rescue team.
The one-storey house was securely locked from the inside and police had to break the lock to enter. They found the body of the man on the floor in an advanced state of decomposition having been dead for at least three days.
There are no attack wounds on the body and no evidence of theft. There was medication bought from a local clinic and a hungry cat which was fed by police.
Neighbors said that Woods was staying with his Thai girlfriend, who may have returned to her home time several days ago. It was the unpleasant smell that led the neighbors to alert police.
Police suspected that the man must have been ill and, without the help of his girlfriend, may have fallen and passed away. An autopsy will try to determine the cause of death.

Royal Plowing Ceremony May 11

The annual Royal Plowing Ceremony at Sanam Luang near the Grand Palace in Bangkok, and the accompanying Cultivation Ceremony held at the Temple of the Emerald Buddha the day before, are of great significance in Thailand. This year the ceremonies are taking place on May 10 and 11.
During the ceremonies, appropriate strains of different grains for cultivating crops are selected just prior to the planting season, and rituals are performed to interpret the year’s harvest. Grain selection is an important consideration when planting crops, as the crops rely on soil, ample rainfall and other natural factors.
The Cultivation Ceremony is also performed to help keep the different grains free from disease, producing a bountiful harvest.
His Majesty the King, accompanied by Her Majesty the Queen, always presides over the Cultivation Ceremony held at the Temple of the Emerald Buddha.
The Royal Plowing Ceremony signals the beginning of the planting season in Thailand. Two well cared for oxen of the same color pull an ancient plow, breaking the ground so that sacred seeds may be planted. Two other oxen wait in reserve.
Two Brahman priests sprinkling sacred water along the path lead the royal procession, with its nine-tiered royal umbrella.
Two pairs of female guardians carry grain in one gold and one silver container following behind the plow, seeding the tilled ground.
Three circuits tilling the earth around Sanam Luang are completed and at the end the oxen are offered seven types of foods to select from: rice grain, corn, peas, sesame, liqueur, water and grass. Brahman priests then interpret their selection.
Following the ceremony, many people collect the seeds from the ground to keep as sacred objects promising a prosperous year, while others sow the ceremonial seeds mixed in with other seeds to sanctify the season’s crop.

City council spends to boost tourism

Sawittree Namwiwatsuk
At its first meeting for 2009, the city council discussed ways to spend a budget of 3.6 million baht to boost tourism in Pattaya.

Deputy Mayor Wattana Chantanawaranon clarifies details of the city’s current tourism promotion.

On April 30 at city hall, Council Chairman Tavich Chaisawangwong gave a welcome speech to the council with Deputy Mayor Wattana Chantanawaranon and members of the management committee also present.
Talks focused on ways to restore the city’s tourism image after it had been adversely affected by last month’s political violence. Members sat down to work out ways to use the budget for promotional activities to attract tourism.
Deputy Mayor Wattana clarified details of the project which would last six months. This includes working with both the domestic and international media to show that all is back to normal, or better, at this popular tourism destination.

Arrests made over rental car thefts

Boonlua Chatree
Police arrested four members of a gang that allegedly steals cars by hiring rental vehicles and simply not returning them to the car rental companies.
On April 29, Sombat Nualchan from Iochi Bangkok Insurance filed a report at the Banglamung police station that a customer, Sunisa Saenthat, had rented two cars from the company and failed to return them.
He told police that on March 20 he had rented out a Toyota Altis at a rate of 23,000 baht a month to Sunisa without taking any down payment.
On March 27 he rented out a Toyota Vigo for 28,000 baht a month but only received a deposit of 5,000 baht for this car.
After the one-month contract was up, Sombat said he still had not received any payment but Sunisa had contacted him to rent yet a third car, a Toyota Fortuna. She did not mention anything about the other two cars.
Sombat said he suspected that she was part of a car theft gang that steals rental cars to sell.
After Sombat informed the police, they set up a sting operation to catch her. They called Sunisa to pick up the requested third car.
As soon as a Toyota Altis with the correct license plate approached, police pounced, arresting all four people inside. Along with Sunisa, police arrested her husband Wichit Nithanwithaya, 26, from Trad, along with Narong Boonsiritrakul, 36, from Phitsanulok, and Somsamai Singrueng, 24, also from Phitsanulok.
Police said Sunisa later admitted the crime, saying that the gang rented cars to sell them off at a gambling den in the north.
She said it started when she was lured into gambling in Phitsanulok where she lost all her money. The mother and son who ran the gambling den agreed to lend Sunisa 30,000 baht in order to go and rent cars from several places in Pattaya and to pawn them off at the gambling place at the rate of 170,000 baht, of which Sunisa would receive 30,000-40,000 baht.
She said she still owed money to the dens so she started to hire cars again and had already stolen 11 cars this way.

Trees planted for sister spirits

Patcharapol Panrak
A hundred Takhianthong trees (Hopen oderata Roxb) were planted at the Nong Takhian Public Park, also known as Prince Chumporn Park, in Sattahip to continue the local folklore regarding the spirits of two sisters associated with the site.

Officers, students and locals plant trees around Prince Chumporn Park.

On April 21, twenty government officials from Sattahip District, Royal Thai Navy, police, schools and members of associations and clubs were led by Vice-Admiral Sriwisut Ratarun, commander-in-chief of Sattahip Naval Base, to plant the trees.
The trees were planted around the park where the Takhianthong Goddesses’ spirits are believed to inhabit big Takhianthong roots at the bottom of Takhian reservoir.
In ancient times this reservoir was the site of a Takhianthong forest but now there is not one tree left.
Sattahip Mayor Narong Bunbancherdsri said that Nong Takhian is an ancient natural reservoir which is connected to the sea but has fresh water.
In the middle at the bottom of this reservoir there are two large pairs of old Takhian roots and local villagers dreamed that the spirits of two sisters were attached to these roots.
The lake was dredged several times to remove the roots, but their attempts went in vain as many obstructions repeatedly stopped the work.
In the end, residents gave up and instead made a shrine to the protective spirits east of Nong Takhian.
Funding was available from the Provincial Administrative Organization to landscape the park so that residents can exercise there. The planting ceremony helped to preserve local folklore and reduce global warming at the same time.
The admiral said that the park’s name was recently changed to Prince Chumporn Park. It is managed by the Sattahip Naval Base as a healthy place for residents.

Tons of bachelor fun arrive at Khao Kheow

Ariyawat Nuamsawat
There was no need for these two swinging bachelors to check their brains at the airport. Weighing in at four and three tons apiece, brains aren’t the reason these two were brought here. They have a much nobler cause: propagation of a species.

One of the two now rhinos arrives at Khao Kheow Zoo.

Ingozi and Sudi, two lucky male white rhinoceroses from Singapore Zoo, arrived at Khao Kheow Zoo last week to take part in a rather primal mating game. Perhaps not so discreetly or daintily waiting for them were two white rhino ladies already living at Khao Kheow Zoo.
Khao Kheow Zoo director, Suriya Saengpong, supervised the arrival of the hunky bachelors, Ingozi, 6, and Sudi, 4. They are here according to a multi-national animal exchange program to preserve endangered wild animals.
“We are happy to welcome the two new rhinos to our zoo and to have them mate with our current female white rhinos to prevent this species from extinction,” Suriya said.
Zoo officials hope the two couples will hit it off and someday soon there will be little Ingozis and Sudis running around underfoot. Are those wedding bells we hear?