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Happy Royal Birthday
HRH Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn
(Photo courtesy Bureau of the
Royal Household)
His Royal Highness Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn was
born on July 28, 1952, in the Ambara Villa of the Royal Dusit Palace in
Bangkok. He is the second of four children, and is the only son of Their
Majesties King Bhumibol Adulyadej the Great and Queen Sirikit.
The Crown Prince received His primary schooling at Udorn Hall of the Dusit
Palace and attended secondary school in Sussex and Summerset, England. In
August 1970, the Crown Prince attended the King’s School, Paramatta, Sydney,
Australia and in 1976, He received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Military
Studies at the University of New South Wales. The Crown Prince also attended
the Royal Thai Army Command and General Staff College, graduating in 1978,
and later received a Bachelor of Laws Degree from Sukhothai Thammatirat
University in Bangkok in 1987. In 1990, He successfully attended the Royal
College of Defense Studies in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland.
His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej conferred his son with the title of
“Somdech Phra Borama Orasadhiraj Chao Fah Maha Vajiralongkorn Sayam
Makutrajakuman” on December 28, 1972, making him the Crown Prince and Heir
to the throne.
HRH Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn attended numerous military training
courses in Australia and the United States, with observation tours in
England, Belgium, Germany, France and the Netherlands. A long list of
military courses attended by the Crown Prince includes helicopter and high
performance aircraft flight training, special warfare training, demolition
training, parachute training, and courses in small arms and other weapons
used in modern warfare.
Some assignments include Commanding Officer of the King’s Own Bodyguard
Regiment and Command, Commanding General of the Royalty Security Command,
and Instructor Pilot of the F-5 E/F. Intermittently, He engaged in actions
for counter-insurgency purposes in the North and Northeast areas of Thailand
as well as for protective purposes in areas around Cambodian refugee camps
at Khao Lant, Trat Province.
The Crown Prince has continued the Royal Family’s assistance programs to
underdeveloped areas around the country and visited depressed urban areas
around Bangkok distributing food and necessity items to people in need.
Another impressive undertaking was His participation in a fertilizer
preparation project in Suphan Buri Province using natural ingredients to
enrich the land in support of the country’s great agricultural pursuits.
Farming is considered to be a highly significant and noble profession in
Thailand and the Royal Family takes an active role in advancing the vital
industry of agriculture.
HRH Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn and Mom Srirasmi Mahidol are the proud
parents of HRH Prince Dipangkorn Rasmijoti, born on April 29 at 6:35 p.m. at
Sriraj Hospital in Bangkok. It is the couple’s first child.
Pattaya plans Mother’s Day parade, ceremony
Sawittree Namwiwatsuk
Pattaya will mark HM Queen Sirikit’s 77th birthday with a parade,
brass bands, traditional Thai music and lavish ceremony at Bali Hai Pier
Aug. 12.
 Deputy
Mayor Wattana Chantanawaranon chairs the meeting to prepare for HM the
Queen’s birthday Aug. 12.
City officials, community leaders and school principals met July 15 at
Pattaya City Hall to draft the events schedule for this year’s Mother’s Day
celebration, which will see participants dressed either in blue or in
traditional Thai costumes.
Festivities will start with a parade from Royal Garden Plaza to Bali Hai
featuring brass bands from 11 Pattaya city schools. Each school will also
perform Thai dance and music shows at the Bali Hai stage.
At 7 p.m. each group will present jasmine trays; then the event chairman
will present a bouquet of flowers to honor HM the Queen and consecrate the
royal praise celebration. The ceremony will continue with a royal blessing,
candle lighting, and orchestra and vocal performances of the royal anthem.
Parking lots will be set up at Pattaya School #8 and under the Bali Hai Pier
bridge. Officials said up to 10,000 people may attend the festivities.
Navy targets pirates, drug runners with 4 new high-speed boats
The Navy’s new boats have a
top speed
of 42 knots and a range of 370 nautical miles.
Patcharapol Panrak
High seas criminals will have to move a lot faster to get away from
the Royal Thai Navy after four specially equipped speed boats joined the
fleet this month.
The 18-meter boats capable of transporting up to 16 seamen will be deployed
in Navy operations targeting international terrorism, human trafficking,
narcotics and smuggling. They’ll also find use during ocean rescues.
The boats were presented to top Navy officers July 10 at Laem Tien Pier in
Sattahip by builders Marson Shipbuilding Co. Ltd. Vice Adm. Apiwat
Sriwatthana, deputy information office director, said the vessels will
improve the Navy’s operational capabilities, cut costs, save time and
increase efficiency.
Navy Commander-in-Chief Adm. Kamthorn Pumhiran said procurement of the new
boats is only part of an overall expansion of the Naval Special Warfare
division. The unit has also added personnel and restructured to handle more
missions.
The boats initially have been deployed to protect national marine resources,
Kamthorn said, but will soon be sent on maritime-security missions, such as
protecting freighters from pirates.
The vessels have a top speed of 42 knots and a range of 370 nautical miles.
In addition to the crew, the boats also have space to carry two rubber
Zodiac boats.
Chevron helps pump up
turtle population
Patcharapol Panrak
Chevron Corp. may pump more oil and natural gas out of Thailand’s
waters than any other energy firm, but the company also tries to give back
to the environment, most recently by helping release several hundred turtles
into the Gulf of Thailand.
Sixty-five family members and employees of local subsidiary Chevron Thailand
Exploration and Production, Ltd. visited the Sea Turtle Conservation Center
at the Sattahip Naval Base July 14 where the company donated 20,000 baht
toward conservation efforts and helped release five Green Turtles and 360
white snappers into the sea.
Capt. Aran Jiamyoo, deputy director of the Air and Coastal Defense Command,
and Rear Adm. Chaiwat Sriakarin, representing the Commander in Chief of the
Air and Coastal Defense Command, welcomed the group and led them on a tour
and presentation about history and activities of the center’s turtle-shaped
building.
Tour group leader Wachiraporn Thapsithi said the outing was organized to
motivate the youngsters in the group to take an active role in protecting
the environment. Sea turtles are a prime example of Chevron’s efforts, he
said, as they are both endangered and protected.
Aran said the center is preparing to release 500 young turtles to mark HM
the Queen’s birthday Aug. 12.
The Chevron group releases
five Green Turtles
and 360 white snappers into the sea.
Plutaluang Temple takes steps to let disabled join candle parade
Patcharapol Panrak
This month’s Buddhist holidays were extra special for disabled
residents of Sattahip’s Plutaluang sub-district as one temple’s
construction of a special path allowed handicapped worshippers, some for
the first time, to take part in an Asalaha Bucha candle parade.
Responding to concerns from the Sattahip Disabled Club, Khao Kantamart
Temple set up the walkway around the temple grounds to give those in
wheelchairs and unable to walk easily a flat path to participate in the
July 8 parade.
Temple Abbot Silsirathikhun, who is also the dean of monks for
Plutaluang, said it actually was the second time the parade route was
set up for the disabled.
Disabled Club President Montree Mookham said many disabled people in
Sattahip want to join in on religious celebrations but are often
hampered by the terrain inside and around temples and obstacles to
facilities such as restrooms. As a result, he said, some disabled
residents had never been to a Buddhist celebration.
The club members, he said, were very appreciative of the abbot’s efforts
and expressed their thanks to the temple.
Construction of a special
path allowed disabled worshippers of Sattahip’s Plutaluang sub-district
to take part in an Asalaha Bucha candle parade.
Returning from suspension, Pattaya police chief tells officers to shed ‘9-to-5 attitude’
Ariyawat Nuamsawat
In a town that never sleeps, the police shouldn’t either. That’s
the message Pattaya’s police chief gave officers upon returning to duty
after a three-month suspension stemming from April’s anti-government
protests.
 Pattaya
Police Superintendent Col. Sarayut Sa-nguanpokai and Deputy Superintendent
Lt. Col. Sutham Chaosrithong.
Pol. Col. Sarayut Sa-nguanpokai told the 400 officers assembled at Pattaya
City Hall July 13 they needed to shed their “9-to-5 attitude” and work
harder and longer. After spending three months as an assistant to the Region
2 Provincial Police commander, the superintendent told his subordinates
their poor work ethic was giving the Pattaya force a bad name in national
law enforcement.
Three months ago, it was Sarayut’s standing that was called into question
after Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva’s car was attacked by red-shirted
protesters who later stormed the hotel staging the Association of South East
Asian Nations summit, forcing its cancellation. Abhisit was humiliated on
the world stage and the blame landed squarely on Sarayut shoulders. Within
days, he was transferred to the assistant’s position.
While in exile, Sarayut said he was questioned by top provincial police
officials regarding his Pattaya officers’ work ethic. Faced with criticism
that his officers merely were a bunch of clock watchers, Sarayut said he
returned to duty determined to get officers to work to their full potential.
Part of that plan is a restructuring of the police force that covers even
his own position.
“I want Pattaya to be a tourist city safer than it is now,’ he said.
During the meeting, the police chief also awarded promotions to 33 officers
and special commendations to volunteer police officers who nabbed a thief
who stole a necklace from a shopper at Fly Bird Market in June.
Canadian man reported missing in 2006 arrested for life as Pattaya drug kingpin
Boonlua Chatree
A man reported missing from a Canadian farming village in 2006 has
been found living the life of a drug kingpin by Chonburi police who raided
his 10 million baht Pratamnak Road home, arresting him and three others and
seizing large quantities of drugs, cash, fake passports and a gun.
 The
alleged drugs dealers are led through the police station to their holding
cells.
Andrew David Barber, 33, girlfriend Anusara “Noi” Ronpimai and two
unidentified foreign friends were caught using drugs when a team of 14
officers stormed the house around 6:30 a.m. July 11. Seized were 340 g of
cocaine, 78 g of marijuana and 60 g in seeds, 136 grams of hashish, 10 ya ba
tablets, seven counterfeit passports, a 9mm pistol and ammunition, various
scales and paraphernalia and an Apple iPhone.
The Canadian-Thai couple is believed to have run a large drug-dealing
operation that supplies revelers at various Pattaya entertainment venues
with all manners of drugs. Caught red-handed, police said the couple
attempted to buy their way out of arrest with a 1 million baht bribe.
Police seized the money and slapped bribery charges on top of the pair’s
list of serious offenses.
Barber’s arrest comes more than two and a half years after he allegedly
disappeared from rural Perth County, Ontario. According to the Ontario
Provincial Police’s Missing Persons and Unidentified Bodies Unit, he was
last seen by his father on New Year’s Day 2006. The MPUB website still shows
his case as open. Ontario police did not respond to requests for details on
the case.
Chonburi Police Lt. Col. Chaikrit Thong-In said it is believed that Barber
had been living in Thailand at least part-time for 10 years. During that
time, he and Anusara got rich supplying Pattaya nightclub-goers with
narcotic party favors and became underworld celebrities. It was indeed a far
cry from life in Perth County, home to scattered farming hamlets where the
largest city, Stratford, boasts only 30,000 people and where the biggest
event is the annual Stratford Festival.
Barber and Anusara were charged with possession with intent to distribute
classes 1 and 5 narcotics, illegal possession of a firearm and attempted
bribery of a police officer.
Fast-thinking captain’s makeshift raft saves 7 fishermen after boat sinks
Captain, crew and rescuers
happy that all are still alive.
Patcharapol Panrak
His fishing boat sinking under him, an industrious captain tied
together light poles, supplies, and oil and water tanks to form a makeshift
raft that saved him and six crewmembers from certain drowning during the
fierce storm that lashed Sattahip Bay last week.
Sadet Thong-Em was at the helm of squid-farming boat Laemthong Namchok 2
July 12 about three nautical miles from Samae San between Koh Hangjarakhae
and Koh Nen when the storm hit.
Water crashed over the bow for more than an hour, swamping the vessel. He
radioed other boats for help, but they were facing the same conditions and
could not assist. Soon the vessel’s pumps couldn’t keep up and when the
engine died, the experienced 36-year-old skipper knew it was time to abandon
ship.
Sadet quickly threw together the squid lights, supports and anything that
would float then buoyed them with empty oil and water tanks before his
vessel capsized in the five-meter seas. He and his crew floated on that raft
for more than nine hours before making their way to the rocks at Khao Laem
Poochao. It was a difficult night with one Cambodian crewmate losing
consciousness as others tried to keep him on board the raft.
Royal Thai Navy officials were alerted to the anglers’ plight around 12:30
a.m. July 13 and dispatched two patrol boats which found nothing. Sailors
from Sattahip Naval Base eventually found the seven men tired, but unhurt,
on the island and returned them safely to the Prathuang Fishing Pier where
the sunken boat’s owners met them.
Sadet’s boat would not be the only one to sink that day. Another vessel, the
Ancharika, went down in equally high seas between Koh Khram and Koh Rin. Its
crew was rescued by other nearby fishing boats which waited out the storm in
deeper waters where the swells aren’t amplified by currents running between
the islands.
Escaped prisoners are back behind bars
Boonlua Chatree
It took five days, but two prisoners who escaped custody outside
Pattaya Provincial Court - one by using a toothbrush to open his leg chains
- are now back behind bars and facing even longer sentences.
 Police
were able to re-arrest Eknarong Tangkaenu.
Ekayut Prom Promchanya, 23, and Eknarong Tangkaenu, 21, got away from
officers while being transferred from court back to Nong Pla Lai prison July
9. Ekayut was recaptured 30 minutes later, but Eknarong managed to elude
authorities until July 14 when 11 officers found him hiding with his gay
lover in a 14th-story apartment at Pattaya Centre Condotel in South Pattaya.
Ekayut and Eknarong were arrested June 22 for stealing 75,000 baht in
property, gold and Thai and British currency during a nighttime burglary and
were being held at prison outside Pattaya where conditions are so bad,
Eknarong said, he simply had to escape. He said more than 60 prisoners
shared his cell, making it difficult to sleep or use the toilet and that
there was not enough water to drink or bathe with.
So the two hatched a plan to escape while they and 49 other prisoners were
being transported back to jail after their hearing. While officers were
busy, the two men rolled under a truck, used a toothbrush to pick the locks
on their leg irons and climbed over a wall adjoining the Sugar Hut resort.
Police searched nearly a hectare of brush between Pratamnak Road, Sugar Hut,
Soi Thai-Norway and the courthouse before recapturing Ekayut. Eknarong’s
re-arrest came after police were tipped off he was staying in the South Road
complex with a man he’d met recently.
Both convicts have had escape charges added to their rap sheets.
Beaten, robbed French tourist gets
payout as police arrest 3 of 5 suspects
Boonlua Chatree
Police have arrested three Thai gang members who conspired with two
others to beat and rob a French tourist so badly that even Pattaya’s mayor
put his hand in his pocket to help him.
Philippe Charles Jean Paul Bootz sustained severe injuries to his face and
arm July 15 when he was attacked by five men on Beach Road across from the
Best Friend beer bar complex in South Pattaya around 8 p.m. Bootz was found
by paramedics lying in a pool of blood, his nose broken, both eyes
blackened, and lip, forehead and elbow cut.
After the assault, Bootz was robbed of 5,000 euro, 5,000 baht, a gold ring
and bracelet, his phone and passport.
 Mayor
Itthiphol Kunplome and Sanga Kijsamrej present Bootz with funds to help to
cover his medical expenses.
Shocked by the crime, Pattaya Mayor Itthiphol Kunplome organized a donation
of 20,000 baht from the Pattaya Tourist Assistance Foundation and personally
gave 5,000 of his own money to cover medical expenses.
“We are not unconcerned by this matter and we have worked closely with the
police to quickly arrest three of the suspects,” Itthiphol said. “The victim
chose to visit Pattaya and we consider him an important guest and will take
care of his accommodations during his stay.”
The mayor added that to better prevent such crimes in the future, the city
would install more lighting along the beach and step up patrols by police
volunteers.
The 52-year-old Frenchman was on his way to exchange euro into baht when he
was solicited for sex by 22-year-old Kanya “Nat” Sithong. Little did he know
was being set up for robbery. When Bootz, who has a family in Korat, spurned
the offer, he was set upon by Kanya’s boyfriend and four other members of
the “Kah Joe” gang that allegedly runs the majority of girls and drugs on
the beachfront.
Police believe Kanya, a Srakaew native, conspired with her boyfriend and the
Frenchman’s other four attackers to set up Bootz for the beating and
robbery. Investigators pointed to the gang’s escape as evidence of
pre-planning: the attackers fled on motorbikes, but dumped them in favor of
a pickup truck parked nearby on Second Road.
Following the attack, Deputy Pattaya Police Superintendent Lt. Col. Chanapat
Nawalak and a team of nine officers alerted currency-exchange booths to be
on the lookout for Thai men exchanging large amounts of European currency.
It didn’t take long for one greedy thug to fall into the trap. Jo Khumpum,
31, was arrested the following afternoon exchanging 500 euro at an exchange
booth on South Pattaya Road.
Under questioning, Jo claimed he had nothing to do with the attack and had
merely been given the currency to exchange by ringleader Damrong “Black”
Chanket. He then ratted out his fellow gang members, giving police enough
information to issue arrest warrants for all the attackers.
On July 17, police apprehended Damrong, a 24-year-old Trat native, and
Naklua resident Manu “Nu” Chantra, 36, at a Sukhumvit Road gas station.
Inside the Toyota Mighty X escape vehicle officers found 3,500 euro, a Nokia
mobile phone and Bootz’s passport with his photo removed.
Pol. Lt. Col. Prachuab Sentha, who is leading the team of investigators,
said the men confessed to the crime and said they had collaborated with
Kanya to stop the victim so they, Jo, and the two gang members still at
large - 22-year-old Samrong “Kae” Kaewphu and Somthin “Ed” Kaewphu, 26, of
Udon Thani - could rob him.
For his part, Bootz thanked the city for the financial aid and the quick
action to find the perpetrators. He said such efforts reassured him Pattaya
was still a place he wanted to visit.
Thai-U.S. Navy medical team
strengthens bodies, friendships
Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Jason M.
Tross, Commander, Task Group 73.5 Public Affairs
U.S. Navy physicians and hospital corpsmen teamed up with their Royal Thai
Navy counterparts to provide medical and dental services to 268 local
residents on July 10.
The medical civic action program (MEDCAP) at Kiriparawanawan School was one
of two planned in Thailand for the 15th annual Cooperation Afloat Readiness
and Training (CARAT) exercise series.
 Lt.
Brandt Cullen, dental officer aboard the dock landing ship USS Harpers Ferry
(LSD 49), extracts a painful tooth from a Thai patient during a medical
civic action program at Kiriparawanawan School as a Royal Thai Navy Sailor
looks on. (U.S. Navy photo by Lt. Mike Morley/Released)
The patients, mostly children from Kiriparawanawan School and the
surrounding area, came for checkups, eye exams, vaccinations, urgent dental
work, minor illnesses, medicines and preventive treatments.
Whether in the dentist’s chair or on the practitioner’s table, the goal was
creating great smiles.
 Chief
Hospital Corpsman Vincent Abella examines a young monk during Cooperation
Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) Thailand 2009. (U.S. Navy photo by Lt.
Mike Morley/Released)
“My first patient today had excessive tooth decay,” said Lt. Brandt Cullen,
dental officer for the dock landing ship USS Harpers Ferry (LSD 49),
describing one man’s painful molars. “We gave him anesthetic and extracted
both teeth for him.”
MEDCAP events provide patients direct access to top-level medical and dental
care. In many cases, medical treatment is affordable but usually not
accessible, as medical facilities may be many kilometers away.
 Lt.
Brandt Cullen speaks with a Royal Thai Navy Sailor during a medical civic
action program at Kiriparawanawan School. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass
Communication Specialist 2nd Class Jason Tross/Released)
Kiriparawanawan School teacher Nuanla-or Imjolroen feels the visit proved
helpful to children and adults alike and helped build a positive image of
cooperation between Thailand and the U.S.
“Seeing the U.S. Navy like this is very good - and the children see that
very clear,” said Nuanla-or, who received a checkup herself. “It makes
everyone here smile.”
Since 1995, CARAT has provided the U.S. and six Southeast Asian nations -
Thailand, the Republic of the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei and
Indonesia - the opportunity to exchange knowledge and enhance maritime
security through shared training, equipment and manpower.
Thai Marine Engineers, Seabees team up for new addition to Thai school
Rear Adm. Nora Tyson,
Commander, Logistics Group Western Pacific, and Royal Thai Navy dignitaries
take part in a dedication ceremony for a new multi-use building at Ban Khao
By Si School. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class
Thomas Brennan/Released)
Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Jason M.
Tross, Commander, Task Group 73.5 Public Affairs
Royal Thai Marine Engineers and U.S. Navy Seabees gave Ban Khao By Si School
a new look July 15, dedicating a new building and renovated school
facilities.
Seabees from Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 40 and their Thai
counterparts were on hand for the grand opening of a new multi-use building,
part of an engineering civic action program for Cooperation Afloat Readiness
and Training (CARAT) Thailand 2009.
Rear Adm. Nora Tyson, Commander, Logistics Group Western Pacific, and Vice
Adm. Komin Komutanon, Royal Thai Navy (RTN) deputy commander in chief,
officially dedicated the building on behalf of the U.S. and Royal Thai
Navies and commended the weeks of teamwork between Thai and U.S.
construction forces.
“Everything we did was a team effort and that’s how we got it done,” said
Builder 3rd Class Royce Bacon of NMCB 40. “It was a pleasure being here and
working side-by-side with these folks [Royal Thai sailors] to accomplish
something good.”
Ban Khao By Si School is for students with various disabilities, ranging
from learning and social to physical and emotional.
“We feel it is very important to do work like this,” said Royal Thai Navy
Lt. Jartuporn Gongtimthai of the Royal Thai Marine Engineers. “The navy must
show our people we care and do things that help everyone.”
While local communities gain through civic action programs such as the
construction project at Ban Khao By Si, Sailors from both countries find out
that they, too, are gaining something.
“There’s a certain sense of satisfaction you get when you do something
helpful for someone - especially folks in need,” said Bacon. “Just working
around the autistic children made me feel like I was helping. I value that
experience and feel I’ll use it in so many areas of life.”
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