HEADLINES [click on headline to view story]:

After 3 area deaths, Pattaya called free of H1N1 flu

Famed general, Sriracha founder honored

1 dead, 639 quarantined as flu ravages Navy recruit center

Senate mulls funding to fix Pattaya’s water, garbage, crime and erosion problems in attempt to revive tourism

Environment, technology dominate Pattaya’s draft three-year development plan

13 Pattaya hotels clean up to prevent Legionnaires’ disease

TV actress Marisa rolls her Mini Cooper, lives to tell

Dog fights python for survival

Ya ba dealer takes wrong way home, ends up in jail

Body of Thai man found floating in Bang Saray Bay

Noisy burglar goes to jail for 700 baht and brass knuckles

1,500 monks collect alms for brothers in South

‘Children’s Street’ lets kids get creative while learning to be good citizens

3,000 palm trees planted in Sriracha

Thai-built Toyota Camry Hybrid to power green industry campaign

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After 3 area deaths, Pattaya called free of H1N1 flu

 Entertainment business employees clean their venues
to eradicate the A (H1N1) virus.

Ariyawat Nuamsawat
Although three of Thailand’s seven deaths from the influenza A (H1N1) virus have come from the Pattaya area, the city’s entertainment venues are virus-free and no new cases have been reported, Chonburi Gov. Senee Jittakasem said.
The governor led a team of doctors and public officials on an inspection of discotheques and other entertainment establishments July 3. He said disease-control measures put in place by the Chonburi Public Health Department and Banglamung District have quashed the disease, although the virus continues to rage other areas of Thailand.
As of July 6, 2,272 cases had been reported in Thailand, although only 35 patients remained hospitalized and none in critical condition. Three deaths, including a conscript at the Royal Thai Navy’s recruiting center in Sattahip, were reported in the past week.
Marut Jirasetsiri, a physician with the Chonburi Public Health Department, said officials across the region are cooperating in carrying out a unified strategy to defeat the virus.
“There was also a call made to the entertainment industry to properly clean their venues, which are vulnerable to spread of the virus,” he said.
Senee said this week’s inspections found businesses alert to the virus’ threat and actively working to prevent the disease.

Famed general, Sriracha founder honored

Pramote Channgam
He founded Sriracha, owned the first car in Thailand and built the Eastern Seaboard’s first Royal residence and each July residents remember Field Marshal Chao Phraya Surasak Montri.
Chonburi Gov. Senee Jittakasem and Sriracha Mayor Chatchai Thimkrachang led this year’s memorial July 1 in the shadow of the general’s statue outside the Sriracha Municipal Office attended by city workers and local residents.

Field Marshal Chao Phraya Surasak Montri’s monument.

The ceremony featured nine Buddhist monks chanting, offerings given to another 80 months and Thai folk music, traditional song and films about the hero of the 1902 Shan Rebellion and a ceremonial wreath-laying.
Chao Phraya, whose given name was Cherm Saengchuto, was born March 28, 1851 and died July 1, 1931. He joined King Chulalongkorn’s 1st Royal Guard at 19 and played a prominent role in campaigns in Thailand’s north and northwest from the 1880s through the early 20th century, albeit with varying results.
Chao Phraya was sent by King Rama V to lead the final Siamese campaigns in the Tai uplands against Chinese insurgents in 1887-89 but was met by several hundred French soldiers which occupied the area despite general’s protests that Siam had historical claim to the area and its Lao people.
Around the turn of the century, Chao Phraya founded a sawmill in Sriracha. When it was learned that Queen Sawang Waddhana had fallen ill and that the king thought living near the sea would help her recover Chao Phraya built her a wooden manor on its own island 40 meters from shore. Over the next year she recovered considerably and asked Chao Phraya to construct a hospital even further out to sea.
The hospital opened in 1902, the same year King Chulalongkorn sent the field marshal on his last campaign: the Shan Rebellion. His assignment was to put down an uprising of Burmese immigrants in Phrae Province after the oppressed minority group had sacked and looted Phrae City.
Chao Phraya retired from military service but took up several government posts, including serving on King Rama VI’s Privy Council. During that time his Sriracha village became was a bustling city. In 1917, he persuaded the regent of Prachinburi to relocate the district office from Bangpra to Sriracha.
Among his many accomplishments, Chao Phraya, said to be fascinated by all things mechanical, was the first to demonstrate electricity during his term as Defense Minister and, in 1915, was the first in Thailand to own an automobile. He bought the car from foreign visitor and drove it around Bangkok until 1928 when, during a stint in a repair shop, the vehicle was stripped clean by scrap merchants.
Honoring his life’s work, Chao Phraya was given the honorary title of Field Marshal in 1925.

1 dead, 639 quarantined as flu ravages Navy recruit center

Patcharapol Panrak
Influenza continues to ravage the Royal Thai Navy’s Sattahip recruitment center where one conscript has died of complications from an A (H1N1) infection and more than 600 others have been quarantined.
Natthapong Faijaidee, 21, became the third of Thailand’s five H1N1-related fatalities when he died June 29 at Queen Sirikit Hospital of pneumonia and respiratory failure. Navy officials said the recruit had developed a high fever June 15 but refused hospitalization and continued with training. He was finally admitted to Queen Sirikit June 22 where he was diagnosed with the H1N1 strain. Hospital officials said Natthapong actually was virus-free when he died and succumbed to a severe lung infection.
Natthapong was one of at least nine conscripts reported to have been infected with H1N1. Officials have not released updated numbers of those with the 2009 virus since initially quarantining and randomly testing 200 personnel with flu-like symptoms late last month. Capt Noppadon Supakorn, commander of the Naval Education Department’s Recruit Training Center, said that 639 personnel were being isolated as of June 30, although he noted many do not have fevers.
While Noppadon urged family members and local residents not to panic, he added that the Navy is taking the outbreak very seriously. Plans to dispatch conscripts that have completed their training have been put on hold, families have been banned from providing homespun remedies and anyone with coughs or sneezing is placed under observation for two days. Moreover, a team from Apakorn Kiatiwong Hospital at the Sattahip Naval Base are on-site to care for the five buildings of quarantined recruits as well as step up hygiene at the academy.
Vice Adm. Sirichai Kanithakul, Commandant General of the Naval Education Department, said the military has the situation under control and that no new cases had been reported for two days. However, he added, family and friends visiting the center should take precautions against infection and spread of the influenza bug.
As of July 6, 2,272 cases had been reported in Thailand, although only 35 patients remained hospitalized and none in critical condition, with younger people and those with other ailments suffering the worst. Thailand’s other fatalities were a 15-year-old Chonburi girl who had both a brain tumor and diabetes; a 42-year-old Pattaya man who’d just returned from abroad; a 47-year-old man reported to be a heavy smoker and drinker; and a 48-year-old woman who’d undergone heart surgery.
In Natthapong’s case, obesity was the primary risk factor. The 170 cm soldier weighed 105 kg. Doctors said rigorous training and inadequate rest, combined with being out of shape, might have worn down his immune system.
Top Navy officials paid respects to Nuanchan and Tosaporn Phosri, the recruit’s parents with Capt Noppadon presenting the grieving couple with a settlement of 100,000 baht. The Navy transported Natthapong’s body to the family’s home in Srakaew for the funeral.

Senate mulls funding to fix Pattaya’s water, garbage, crime and erosion problems in attempt to revive tourism

Ariyawat Nuamsawat
A Thai Senate committee may fund Pattaya’s efforts to fix its ongoing water, trash, crime and coastal erosion problems, along with the redevelopment of Utapao-Pattaya International Airport, as part of a national effort to revive tourism.

Thanyarat Atchariyachai, president of the Senate Tourism Committee.

Members of the Senate Tourism Committee visited Pattaya last week, telling local leaders that while they needed to do as much as possible to attract visitors, the national government was willing to provide funds for larger projects to improve the area’s image or infrastructure.
“Statistics show that tourism in Pattaya has decreased and that businesses have started to lay off employees. As such, the state must urgently provide support to immediately revive tourism,” Thanyarat Atchariyachai, Tourism Committee president said at the June 26 Pattaya City Hall hearing. “However, we’ve asked the city to accelerate marketing efforts and urge the private-sector to cooperate and not just wait for the state to act.”
Committee Vice-President Sukho Wutthichot said the panel is looking at four long-standing problems that negatively impact tourism and that Pattaya has been unable to solve: the water supply, garbage, crime and coastal erosion. The panel also is considering further efforts to redevelop Utapao, which could attract new tourists to the area.
While city leaders have said Pattaya has enough water until mid-2010, Sukho said the large agricultural and industrial demand on the Eastern Seaboard means a longer-term solution is needed to ensure Pattaya has a steady supply.
Trash collection and crime are also factors that detract from Pattaya’s image, the senator said. Garbage handling was at the top of list of things Chonburi Governor Senee Jittakasem said needed immediate attention when he visited local headsmen last month. As for crime, Pattaya city and tourist police have pledged to crack down on street vendors, beggars and other annoyances to tourists while Senee plans to restart funding for joint police-military patrols.
Regarding coastal erosion, a Pattaya Public Works Department study estimates that the city’s northern beachfront will shrink 15 meters and central and south Pattaya by 12 meters over the next 30 years if nothing is done to protect them. Province-wide, Chonburi has already lost more than 122 rai of beachfront worth 610 million baht to the sea, according to a 2006 report from the Chonburi Environmental Office and Thailand’s Ministry of Nature and Environment.
“Since Pattaya is best known for being a beach city, erosion is an urgent problem that needs to be solved,” Sukho said.
Finally, he said, the redevelopment of Utapao could open Pattaya up to more tourists. The government has already approved a 995 million baht budget to build a new terminal and other facilities and is now awaiting procurement plans from the Royal Thai Navy, which runs Utapao.
Mayor Itthiphol Kunplome said the city needs extra funds if it hopes to expand its tourism-promotion efforts. Pattaya received 1.49 billion baht in national funding this year, but will see its budget cut to 1.35 billion next year. “That could be a critical obstacle to promoting tourism unless we receive additional assistance,” he warned.
Tourism is Pattaya’s top industry, with 674 hotels, 21,761 rooms and 30 tourist attractions. The city saw 6.9 million tourists last year who generated 59.3 billion baht in revenue.
The Senate committee is holding similar hearings in popular tourist destinations such as the Andaman coast, Koh Samui, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, and Koh Chang.

Environment, technology dominate Pattaya’s draft three-year development plan

Sawittree Namwiwatsuk
Mayor Itthiphol Kunplome’s vision of the Pattaya of the future is a secure city where development doesn’t come at the expense of the environment, where technology streamlines the bureaucracy and improved beaches and new facilities revive tourism.

Mayor Itthiphol Kunplome chairs the meeting on the city’s 2010-2013 development plan.

The mayor and city council began work on that vision last week at a brainstorming session for Pattaya’s 2010-2013 development plan. The June 25 meeting at Pattaya City Hall brought together the mayor, council members, department heads and community leaders to devise a blueprint that emphasizes environmental conservation while bolstering the city’s infrastructure and services.
The draft development plan is a five-part strategy encompassing 1,489 projects and a budget of more than 5.9 billion baht.
The first part calls for long-lasting ecological development, such as building a comprehensive wastewater removal system and construction of 55 roads fitted with sufficient water-drainage pipes.
The second step focuses on improving quality of life through such things as increased security, construction of the new Pattaya Hospital and Eastern Sports Stadium.
Improved city management is the target of the third facet of the plan, including giving residents more understanding of the law and city processes.
The strategy’s fourth element is technology. Improving communication systems and harnessing data through such things as geographic information systems can not only save money, but make Pattaya’s government more efficient.
Finally, tourism development rounds out the strategy. Here the city can rebuild its main industry through such projects as the Krathinglai Beach adjustment and programs such as the city’s Musical Development Project.

13 Pattaya hotels clean up to prevent Legionnaires’ disease

Vimolrat Singnikorn
Flu may be the disease on everyone’s lips, but Pattaya public health officials say Legionnaires’ disease could be much more damaging to tourism and is working with area hotels to prevent an outbreak of the deadly bug.

Bubpa Songsakulchai, city sanitation technician, advises Pattaya hoteliers how to keep their facilities free of Legionnaires’ disease.

Named after the 1976 outbreak at an American Legion convention in Philadelphia that killed 29 people, Legionnaires’ victims are often guests at hotels cooled by massive air-conditioning systems. The waterborne bacteria Legionella pneumophila incites pneumonia and other respiratory illnesses.
Pattaya’s Sanitary Office and Public Health Department hosted a seminar July 2 for hotels participating in the city’s “Livable Hotel” pilot program and presented them with shrines denoting them as Legionnaires-free.
Pattaya Deputy Mayor Wutisak Rermkitkarn said that given the negative impact on tourism from the influenza A (H1N1) pandemic, both the public and private sector need to be vigilant to prevent more problems.
Pattaya has not seen a Legionnaires outbreak since 1995, although a group of Norwegian tourists were sickened in a 2007 outbreak in a Phuket hotel.
“Even though there have been no reports of this disease in Pattaya, this project is being launched to ensure accommodations maintain a standard that creates a positive image for tourism,” said City Sanitation Technician Bubpa Songsakulchai.
Bubpa said a 2008 inspection showed several hotels use central air-conditioning systems with cooling towers where the bacteria can breed. It’s also found in untreated water resources, water filtration systems, water reservoir tanks, showers, tap water, pools, spas, and Jacuzzis.
Bubpa said the seminar’s aim was to educate hoteliers on cleaning and maintenance procedures to prevent the germ’s spread.
The 13 hotels participating in the pilot program are the Siam Bayshore Resort and Spa, Siam Bay View Hotel Pattaya, Island View Hotel, Golden Beach Hotel, Marriott Resort and Spa Pattaya, Amari Orchid Resort and Tower, Asia Hotel, Flipper House Hotel, Flipper Lodge Hotel, Dusit Thani Hotel, Gulf Siam and Resort, Amari Nova Suite and Nova Platinum Hotel.
“This year Pattaya aims to inspect at least 20 hotels here of all categories to reach the standard,” he said. “However, success depends on the hotel’s readiness, as each inspection costs 9,000 baht to 10,000 baht.”

TV actress Marisa rolls her Mini Cooper, lives to tell

Theerarak Suthatiwong
Television actress Marisa Anita will need a bit more makeup for a few days after nearly totaling her yellow Mini Cooper during heavy rain on the Bangkok-Chonburi motorway.
The 26-year-old Marisa, best known for her role in the Channel 7 show Sao 5, avoided serious injury in the June 29 accident. She was treated at Bangkok Hospital Pattaya for bruising to her arms, legs and collarbone.

Actress Marisa Anita is a bit banged up, but happy to be alive after her auto accident on the Bangkok-Chonburi motorway.

“Nong Sa,” as she is known in the tabloids, said she was driving about 100 km per hour in the heavy rainstorm when she lost control of the vehicle in a flooded curve in the road at kilometer marker 75-76. The car was practically totaled and she said she believes brass amulets given to her by her uncle saved her.
Marisa’s arrival at the hospital set off quite the media buzz, especially when singer/actor/boyfriend Paopol “Ta Barbie” Thephasadin Na Ayutthaya showed up to check on his paramour.
Speaking to the press, the actress said that while waiting for help she witnessed two other accidents in the same spot. She urged authorities to investigate the dangerous stretch of roadway.
Marisa was not hospitalized and has returned to the set for more filming, perhaps at a bit slower pace.

The pranged Mini Cooper won’t be starring
in any ‘Italian Job’ remakes anytime soon.

Dog fights python for survival