|
Pattaya celebrates HM the Queen’s birthday with grand merit making ceremony
Ariyawat Nuamsawat
North Pattaya’s Dolphin Roundabout was awash in a sea of orange and
white as 5,000 people watched an epic merit-making ceremony with 999 monks
and 99 novices paying honor to HM the Queen for her birthday and praying for
Buddhists working in Thailand’s far south.
 Mayor
Itthiphol Kunplome leads local officials in making merit by offering
necessities to Buddhist monks at city hall.
The early morning July 9 ceremony was led by Prakru Vijt Dhamasarn, dean of
Banglamung Temple with Mayor Itthiphol Kunplome presiding as layman
representative. About 5,000 city officials, community leaders, residents,
business owners and tourists, most dressed in white, attended.
The ceremony was meant to not only mark the Queen’s 77th birthday Aug. 12,
but provide moral support to 266 Buddhist clergies in Thailand’s four
Muslim-dominated southern provinces. Teachers and monks have often been the
target of violence there.
Itthiphol hailed the “Dtàk Bàat Pra 999+99” (Give alms to 999 monks + 99
novices) event as one of the greatest merit-making efforts ever seen in
Pattaya.
Following the Buddhist ceremony, the mayor led an all-faiths celebration at
city hall to honor King Somdet Phrachao Taksin Maharaj, (His Majesty King
Taksin the Great) the 18th century monarch who liberated Siam from Burmese
invaders. HM King Taksin the Great “Saviour of the Thai nation” is highly
revered as protector of Pattaya City and his huge statue adorns the front of
City Hall..
Pattaya’s Sikh community joins
the all-faiths celebration
at city hall to honor HM King Taksin the Great.
Christians pray for the city
during the all-faiths celebration at city hall.
Members of Pattaya’s Muslim
community were among the honored guests at the all-faiths celebration at
city hall to honor HM King Taksin the Great.
Anti-Thaksin groups protest against pardon petition drive
Sattahip citizens march in
protest against the UDD’s petition drive.
Boonlua Chatree and Patcharapol Panrak
With more signs the Pattaya region remains split along color lines,
residents of both Naklua and Sattahip opposed to a “red shirt” effort to
obtain a pardon for deposed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra took their
case to the streets last week calling the petition drive an insult to the
monarchy.
Nearly 1,000 people rallied at Sattahip Temple Aug. 5 against the petition
drive by the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship to secure a
royal pardon for Thaksin, who fled Thailand to escape a conviction on
corruption charges.
Led by Sattahip Mayor Narong Boonbanjerdsri, the group maintained that the
ex-premier must gather signatures himself, not through politically aligned
proxies. Such political manipulation is an insult to the monarchy, they
contend, and the red shirts should be prosecuted under the country’s lese
majeste laws. In response, they’ve begun a petition drive of their own.
In Naklua, another 100 people calling themselves “The Citizen Group of
Banglamung District” marched through the Amorn market area Aug. 2 led by a
loudspeaker truck.
The peaceful rally concluded in the Lan Po area where group members
distributed information urging others not to join the petition, calling it
“highly unacceptable.”
Folks in Naklua march against
a petition drive
by the red shirted UDD to pardon Thaksin Shinawatra.
Political ally defuses worrying red shirt protest at ASEAN dinner
Ariyawat Nuamsawat
Fast talking from a political ally was the only thing that kept
red-shirted antigovernment protestors from possibly wrecking Pattaya’s
second attempt at hosting an Association of Southeast Nations meeting.
 The
situation began to become a bit tense until House Second Deputy Speaker
Apiwan Wiriyachai (right), a member of the red shirt-aligned Puea Thai
party, stepped in to defuse the situation.
While members of the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship have
shied away from the Royal Cliff Beach Resort where ASEAN’s
Inter-Parliamentary Assembly was holding its 30th general meeting, the red
shirts rallied to crash an AIPA dinner at a Sukhumvit Road museum Aug. 4.
About 100 red shirts mobilized a parade of 20 motorbikes, four cars and a
loudspeaker truck outside Sukhavadee House. Their target was National
Assembly President Chai Chidchob who was heading Thailand’s AIPA delegation
and hosting the dinner.
Protestors waved banners and shouted insults at the House of Representatives
Speaker and his son, Newin Chidchob, head of the “Friends of Newin” faction
that defected from the red shirt camp to take power in the Democratic Party
coalition last year.
While the dinner was being guarded by 300 police officers, the mood grew
increasingly tense. At that point House Second Deputy Speaker Apiwan
Wiriyachai, a member of the red shirt-aligned Puea Thai party, stepped in to
defuse the situation.
On behalf of the Parliament the Nonthaburi MP accepted the red shirts’
petition to demand that the assembly deal fairly to settle the issues
dividing the country and urged them to let the dinner proceed peacefully.
Faced with the request from a political ally, the protestors obliged and
disbanded without further incident.
Puea Thai rally fires
up Walking Street
Boonlua Chatree
With all the lights, screaming and banner waving, tourists out for
the evening on Walking Street thought movie stars had come to town. It
turned out to be a bunch of politicians.
 Former
PM Somchai Wongsawat (2nd left) and former Chonburi MP Chanyuth Hengtrakul
make their way through Walking Street in South Pattaya.
Members of the opposition Puea Thai Party, led by former Prime Minister
Somchai Wongsawat, converged on the nightlife district July 29 amid cameras
and a coterie of red-shirted supporters to condemn the current government
and stump for parliamentary candidate Chanyuth Hengtrakul.
Somchai, accompanied by Puea Thai leader Yongyuth Wichaidit and other party
members were greeted by red-shirted supporters waving placards and banners.
The politicians chatted with vendors and local residents, asking them about
the impact of the slow economy on their lives and soliciting advice on how
to boost tourism.
Somchai also campaigned for Chanyuth, a former Chonburi MP seeking
re-election. He also invited business owners to attend a meeting the next
day to discuss the economy.
Thaksin’s Pattaya birthday bash a bust
Theerarak Suthatiwong
With heavy rains and an absent guest of honor, the local
observance of deposed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s 60th birthday
proved more bust than bash for most who attended.
 Heavy
rain put a quick end to Thaksin’s Pattaya birthday party.
The July 26 celebration behind North Pattaya’s Big C department store
got off to a festive start despite the fact the birthday boy couldn’t
attend for fear of being arrested. Thaksin allies rallied the 300 guests
with speeches critical of the new government and cheers went up when
Thaksin appeared from exile via video conference to thank all his
followers nationwide.
The festivities came to an abrupt halt during Thaksin’s talk when the
skies opened and torrential rain sent the red shirts scrambling for
shelter. Only a few hardcore members remained behind, shivering under
umbrellas, to sing “Happy Birthday” and blow out the candles.
The rain soon stopped, but the party was over. Most people had left,
leaving those cutting the cake a bit lonely.
Red shirts go black, mourn democracy with mock funeral for PM
Boonlua Chatree
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva was alive and well only minutes
away, but you wouldn’t have known it from a rally by anti-government
protestors who marked the premier’s 45th birthday by staging a mock
funeral and burning him in effigy.
 Red
shirts donned black for their Aug. 3 rally at Pattaya City Hall, burning
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva in effigy.
About 200 local members of the United Front for Democracy against
Dictatorship ditched their normal red shirts and donned black for their Aug.
3 rally at Pattaya City Hall and “funeral procession” of 60 cars and
motorbikes around the city.
Even as Abhisit led Thailand’s delegation at an Association of Southeast
Asian Nations’ meeting in Jomtien Beach, the red-turned-black shirts
“mourned” for the loss of their anti-government comrades killed in April’s
Bangkok riots and, they claimed, democracy in Thailand which they say died
when Abhisit and his Democrat Party took office last year without an
election.
The UDD group, which consistently has maintained it’s a non-violent
movement, beat, kicked and finally incinerated an effigy of the prime
minister with some members saying the premier deserved to die for assuming
power from successive incarnations of political parties aligned with UDD
icon and deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. During the effigy’s
“cremation,” sanitary napkins were burned with the coffin instead of
flowers.
Speaking at the “funeral,” UDD leaders bemoaned the loss of members killed
during confrontations with police in April and for Thailand’s past heroes of
democracy. They claimed Abhisit not only took power illegally, but had
mismanaged the country and lacked ideas and vision. They finished by saying
if Abhisit died on his birthday, then the country would be restored.
‘Ghost ship’ no mystery for Thai Navy
Patcharapol Panrak
Sattahip-area fishermen who saw Wiwek Chamnongwaree plowing through winds
and waves with no one at the helm, the obvious conclusion was the boat was
haunted.
 After
finding Wiwek’s boat during an air search, Navy officials called in local
fishermen to tow the boat back to shore.
Navy rescue teams fortunately don’t believe in ghost ships and recovered the
vessel after finding it adrift and out of fuel Aug. 1. Its captain, however,
is still missing.
Family members of the 50-year-old squid fisherman said Wiwek had left to lay
traps having not eaten. With only a cup of coffee in his system, they
believe the captain passed out and fell overboard while his boat’s propeller
was engaged.
Fishermen became concerned when they saw Wiwek’s familiar boat chugging
along with no one at the wheel. They notified Royal Thai Navy officials they
believed Wiwek had died and his boat was now haunted. Navy officials then
dispatched a search plane to find it.
After an hour-long search, the boat was located 40 miles from Koh Talu. Navy
officials then had local fishermen tow the boat back to shore.
Police search for trio who robbed German suicide victim
Boonlua Chatree
Police are searching for three people who allegedly looted the home
of a German suicide victim even as his body hung from a rafter of his Naklua
residence.
Peter Gittel, 55, was found at his ransacked Garden Villa 3 home Aug. 3.
Despite obvious signs the house had been looted, authorities said the body
showed no signs of foul play and that Gittel’s residence was likely robbed
after he killed himself. However, until they find and interrogate the
thieves authorities said they will not rule out homicide.
 Investigators
search Gittel’s house for clues as to who might have looted it even whilst
the body still swung from the rafters above them.
Witnesses reported seeing Gittel’s maid and another woman who believed to
operate a nearby beer bar leased from the German loading a safe and other
items onto a baht bus driven by an unidentified man. Police believe the safe
contained a 10-baht gold necklace worth about 1 million baht.
The safe, crudely opened, was recovered Aug. 7 on a footbridge near Tungklom
Tanman Temple with only worthless documents and two empty jewelry boxes left
behind.
Gittel reportedly had lived in Thailand for a decade earning a modest wage
from renting out beer bars in Naklua. He reportedly suffered a long-running
illness, one compounded by drinking and bar hopping. The two women who
robbed him were believed to be not only his maids and tenants, but would
often stay the night with him.
Police believe it was his painful health condition that led him to kill
himself. Police found the body suspended with a nylon rope in the bathroom.
An overturned chair was below him and the body showed no signs of struggle
or violence.
His home, however, was another matter. The house had been ransacked with all
valuables removed. In the bedroom lay an electric drill, screwdriver and
builders’ equipment.
Police said the investigation is continuing and police are researching the
man’s condition to better understand the circumstances behind his death.
Four women have been interrogated so far but none fit the profile of the
witnesses. More time will be needed, investigators said, to close the case.
Taunting teen tagged
by ticked-off elephant
Theerarak Suthatiwong
In cases of elephant vs. teenager, the elephant wins every time.
Temple boy Veerapong Pongpan found that out the hard way July 28 after the
15-year-old taunted an elephant named Plaikaew with fruit. Although chained
to a tree, the watermelon-craving pachyderm still managed to belt the boy in
the head with its trunk and knock him to the ground.
 Veerapong
sits in hospital after losing a fight with an elephant.
Rescuers from Sawang Boriboon Pattaya arrived at Krathing Lai temple in Nong
Pla Lai to find the youth conscious with a black eye and a cut above the
eyebrow.
Monk Pranoi Dhamathepo told officers Veerapong had returned to the temple
grounds with the day’s offerings, including food and watermelon. Passing
Plaikaew, he inexplicably teased him by offering the animal fruit, but
taking it back before it could be eaten.
The elephant was not amused and gave the naughty boy a smack, sending
Veerapong flying into the shrubbery. Monks then quieted the angry - and
normally friendly - animal and called authorities. Police said no action
will be taken against Plaikaew or his mahout.
Police hunt for 2 Chinese diamond thieves
These two men, caught on surveillance video,
are being sought for diamond theft.
Boonlua Chatree
Police are searching for two Chinese men who allegedly stole a
1-karat diamond ring from a jeweler at Central Festival Pattaya Beach.
Siriporn Bangrakket, owner of The Diamond Shop on the mall’s ground floor,
said the two men entered her store Aug. 3 asking about a ring priced at
230,000 baht. After the shopkeeper placed the ring in a gift box, one man
wearing a long-sleeved white shirt was shown in security footage distracting
her while her partner, wearing a black t-shirt, took the ring from the box
and dropped it in his back pocket.
The men then tried to pay for the ring with a credit card, which Siriporn
refused, asking for cash only. The trio haggled over payment until the men
gave her 1,000 baht and said they needed to use an ATM to get the rest of
the money. When they didn’t return after 20 minutes, Siriporn looked in the
gift box and discovered the ring was gone.
The owner has offered a 50,000 baht reward for recovery of the ring. Police,
using photos from the security camera, are searching for the two men. They
also had used a credit card with another merchant who listed the man in
black as Ly Kang, 30. His accomplice was reported to be 40 years old.
Not-so-giant lizard terrorizes Sattahip villagers
Patcharapol Panrak
It wasn’t exactly Godzilla, but a rather large lizard did a good job
of frightening superstitious villagers near Sattahip until it was hauled
away by animal-control officers.
The 1 m. water-monitor lizard set off the uproar when it wandered onto Soi
Bon Khai in Sattahip’s Amphue sub-district July 28. Residents who called the
Sawang Rojanatham Foundation complained it was bad luck for a lizard to
enter a house.
 This
meter-long water monitor lizard had villagers scampering for cover until the
rescue unit came along and captured it.
Officers arrived to find about 10 people chasing the state-protected
reptile, which escaped and hid inside a house whose owner was not home. It
then darted back outside, scattering a crowd of panicked villagers before
finally being caught. It was later released away from the village.
Water monitors are one of the most-common lizards found around Southeast
Asia, although they are less common in Thailand. Villagers, in fact, said
they’ve never seen one. The animals can grow as large as three meters long
and weigh up to 90 kg. Carnivores, they eat frogs, rodents, crabs, snakes
and occasionally birds and will only attack people in self defense.
According to locals, however, having a Water monitor enter your house is a
bad omen and nasty things will befall the home.
Out of options, parents
of child with rare birth defect hope for a miracle
Theerarak Suthatiwong
The parents of little Somphorn Pongkeawngam can see a cure for their
ailing infant from the door of the Naklua shack they call home but, without
help, they may never reach it.
 Young
Non needs an operation, but his parents are indigent and cannot afford the
operation.
Somphorn Pongkeawngam, whom his parents call “Non”, was born with an
imperforate anus, a birth defect resulting in a missing anus. If his parents
hadn’t been impoverished junk scavengers, he might have gotten the
reconstructive surgery he needed instead of a colostomy.
Ironically, Non, his father Sangvien Pongkeawngam, mother Somjit Duchairom
and 3-year-old sister live in the shadow of Banglamung Hospital. Their abode
is a ramshackle hut with no water or power. The yard is strewn with trash
and recyclables, which his parents sell to buy food. The takings are meager
and sometimes only the children can eat.
The parents have few options. Sangvien lost his job due to poor health and
was forced into junk collecting. Somjit must help him while caring for the
children. Both said they were mistreated by two hospitals because they are
poor and Non was given only absolute minimum treatment.
A colostomy is one method for treating the boy’s condition, but not an
optimal one. Somjit said the incision in his abdomen itches and the child
constantly scratches it until it bleeds. Doctors warned the boy’s growth may
be stunted without expensive anoplasty.
The future does not look bright. Their only hope, they said, was to appeal
to the media with hopes their plight might be heard.
If you wish to help, their phone number is 089-401-6756 (Thai only).
Naval center to unleash worms on Sattahip farmers
Top Navy brass arrives to
launch the new worm project.
Patcharapol Panrak
Officials at the Royal Thai Navy’s Recruit Training Center are
preparing a new weapon they plan to unleash right on their Sattahip
neighborhood: earthworms.
No, it’s not some science fiction-inspired biological terror, but simply
part of the Navy’s efforts to help the community while broadening education
for new conscripts. The Naval Education Department facility has begun
breeding worms in soil combined with biodegradable agricultural materials to
create organic fertilizer that can be used to increase the local food
supply.
The new Learning Center project will also broaden the curriculum available
to Navy personnel, their families and local residents.
Service Brigade Capt. Pongsawat Sawatdichai explained that there are two
main types of earthworms; one lives underground and the other above ground.
Together they work to regenerate soil by breaking up organic matter and turn
it into fertilizer.
Kasem Hosuwan, mayor of the Kledkaew Sub-district, said Sattahip has a
problem with leftover agricultural byproducts degrading the soil. Earthworms
grown at the naval camp can help treat the soil and increase farming output,
he said.
Y.W.C.A. reaches out
to Chonburi prison inmates
The Y.W.C.A. Bangkok-Pattaya
Center visited the Chonburi Women’s Prison
to deliver medicine, toiletries and other items.
Vimolrat Singnikorn
Hoping to bring some comfort to a place infamous for having none,
the Y.W.C.A. Bangkok-Pattaya Center led a delegation to Chonburi Women’s
Prison to deliver toiletries, basic medicines and other necessities.
The Aug. 3 mission led by Y.W.C.A. Chairwoman Nittaya Patimasongkroh and
Bernie Tuppin, former charity chairman of the Pattaya Sports Club, saw
56,000 baht in headache and stomach medicine, salves, powder, soap, sandals
and other items given to the prison’s 800 inmates.
Thai jails are known worldwide for their harsh conditions with dozens of
prisoners packed into cells and families or friends expected to supply
anything more than basic nutrition and water. Disease can spread quickly in
such conditions, a point brought home by the prison’s requirement that the
aid-bringers wear masks to prevent infection from the A(H1N1) flu outbreak
sweeping through the jail.
Women’s Prison Director Kalyani Chanma also imposed other conditions upon
the care givers, including prohibiting them from bringing any sort of paper
inside or taking photographs. Gates permitted only one visitor to enter at a
time.
Nittaya said prisoners lack items necessary for making it through the day
and were suffering from living in unclean conditions. It was hoped the
items, donated with the help of Somchai Manothaworn, chairman of the Gold
Shop Group, can make life more bearable.
Of the prison’s total population, about 90% are incarcerated on drug
charges. During the day prisons are given vocational training in cooking and
sewing, and can participate in physical fitness, such as boxing.
Long boat race set for November
Saksiri Uraiworn
Thailand’s top long-boat racers will compete for cash and prizes at
the 9th “Pattaya Longtail Boat and International Sailing Race” Nov. 21-23 at
Mabprachan Reservoir.
 Mai
Chaiyanit, mayor of Nongprue municipality, says officials are already
preparing for this year’s longtail boat races in November.
Pattaya and Nongprue officials met July 30 to begin preparations for the
sailing competition, which features longtail boats with deep roots in Thai
culture. The race will be supported by Chonburi Province and the Thailand
Rowing and Canoeing Association.
Trophies will be awarded in six categories: Large boats (55 paddlers),
longtail boats (30 paddlers), large boats types A and B, small boats type B
and international boats (12 paddlers).
City humbly presents forest to HM the Queen for her birthday
City officials and students
plant trees
to celebrate Her Majesty Queen Sirikit’s birthday.
Vimolrat Singnikorn
Her Majesty Queen Sirikit’s 77th birthday will be remembered as the
year a forest took root on Koh Larn.
To mark HM the Queen’s Aug. 12 celebration, Pattaya Deputy Ronakit Ekasingh
led city workers, residents and students in planting the first of 19,500
trees to be laid down on a 500-rai plot on the nearby island.
At the Aug. 6 ceremony, Ronakit said the Khao Nom forest project is also a
way to restore the area’s battered environment and boost awareness of the
importance of conservation.
|
