500,000 expected to attend 7-day Pattaya Countdown 2010
(L to R) Kobkiat Sangwanich,
business development manager for GMM Media Co. Ltd., Mayor Itthiphol
Kunplome, Tanatchon Sunthornsilpachai of the Chonburi Provincial
Administration, and Marut Chonwuth, customer service manager of the TOT
Public Co. Ltd’s Pattaya office announce Pattaya Countdown 2010.
Sawittree Namwiwatsuk
More than a half-million people are expected to countdown to 2010
over seven nights as Pattaya hosts a week-long New Year’s party featuring
fireworks, music, food, shopping and a 100,000 baht lucky draw at Bali Hai
Pier.
The city is investing 7.5 million baht in its second Pattaya Countdown,
which kicked off Christmas night with a fireworks show at 8.30 p.m., and
continues nightly with a fireworks display beginning at 8.30 p.m. every
night until New Years Eve. Attendees are encouraged to photograph the
seven-minute light show and opening ceremony and then submit their photos
online at www.pattaya.go.th for a chance at winning 100,000 baht.
Tourists and locals will be entertained nightly at Bali Hai. This year’s
theme is “Amazing Pattaya, Amazing Countdown” and as 2010 draws closer the
music, food and activity will only increase.
Top Thai bands from the sponsoring Grammy music label will perform,
including Paradox, Star 4, Retrospect, Clash, Chin Chinwuth, Nologo, Da
Endorphine, Bodyslam, Hangman, Buddha Bless and So Cool. Other sponsors
include TOT Public Co. Ltd., MCOT Public Co. Ltd. and the Chonburi
government.
The week-long party will climax New Year’s Eve at 10:30 p.m. when Channel 9
begins a 2.5 hour live broadcast of the Pattaya New Year’s celebration. At
midnight more than 10,000 fireworks will be shot into the air.
At a Dec. 18 press conference Mayor Itthiphol Kunplome said Pattaya
Countdown has become a huge draw for international tourists and the city
could see tourists spend 500 million baht during the weeklong party on
hotels, food, shopping and entertainment.
Download Pattaya Bali Hai New Year Countdown Festival 2010
City, Tourist and Pattaya Police map out New Year’s security
Maj. Gen. Adis Ngamjitsuksri,
commander of the Tourist Police Division, visits the troops.
Ariyawat Nuamsawat
Gearing up for the peak of the high season, Pattaya’s deputy mayor
and the head of the Tourist Police marshaled about 100 law enforcement
officers and volunteers to lay out a strategy of how to protect tourists.
Tourist Police Commander Maj. Gen. Adis Ngamjitsuksri and Deputy Mayor
Ronakit Ekasingh hosted the meeting Dec. 15 at Pattaya Police Station. The
aim was to ensure the city has good security during this year’s New Year’s
celebration as the city will play host to a large number of international
and Thai tourists. “If people fall victim to crime or are badly
inconvenienced, the city’s reputation will suffer,” Adisorn said.
“All kinds of public servants including rescue, municipal and police
officials need to sacrifice their personal time to protect the interests and
safety of tourists, monitor that businesses do not treat tourists unfairly
and ensure the happiness of our guests so that they’d have good memories and
impressions of Pattaya,” he told the group. “We want to make sure they visit
again and bring more people to the city.”
Adis also ordered that special teams watch crowded areas, such as Walking
Street, as well as the shoreline against crime. He also told regular police
and volunteers they can call on the Tourist Police for backup should they
find there’s too many tourists and not enough officers in a particular area.
Sattahip health workers get crash course on H1N1 prevention
Sattahip health volunteers
receive training in H1N1 prevention.
Patcharapol Panrak
Hoping to prevent this year’s influenza A(H1N1) from coming back next year,
Sattahip Mayor Pairoj Malakul na Ayutthaya organized a new briefing for
public health volunteers on preventive measures and available health
services.
About 150 volunteers from nine communities participated in the December 17
workshop at the Sattahip health offices. They were taught about proper
hygiene and sanitation, given mosquito repellant to reduce the spread of
dengue fever and trained on animal vaccinations against rabies.
Pairoj said that while numerous diseases were covered, special attention was
given to the H1N1 virus, including urging volunteers to get those with high
fevers and flu symptoms to visit the hospital.
Municipal Clerk Somboon Chompali said the seminar also aimed at getting
health professionals to not only educate the public, but to protect
themselves as well.
Applications open for 8th
Thailand Tourism Awards
(L to R) Noppadol Pakprot,
director of the Tourism Promotion Department, Niti Kongkrut, director of the
TAT Pattaya office, Wiwatchai Bunyapak, director of the Tourism Products
Promotion Department, and Waran Chalermritthichai, director of the Dusit
Thani Hotel in Pattaya announce the contest.
Sawittree Namwiwatsuk
The Tourism Authority of Thailand will host the 8th Thailand Tourism
Awards 2010 Sept. 27 as it continues to promote international standards in
the Thai tourism industry.
Tourism Promotion Director Noppadol Pakprot said the Thai Tourism Industry
Awards are important for developing the Thai economic system. They help
ensure Thailand’s popularity, as well as increase credibility amongst both
domestic and international tourists.
One of the challenges in recent years, he said, has been adjusting to the
increased demand for tourism providers that are sensitive to environmental
needs. He said it has been a challenge for Thai companies to match
international “green” standards.
The 8th Thailand Tourism Awards will coincide with World Tourism Day.
Noppadol said they will boost the credibility of Thai businesses among
domestic and international tourists.
The awards are divided into five categories consisting of: tourist
attraction, tourist accommodations, tourism development and promotion
organizations, tour programs, and health tourism, which corresponds to the
UNWTO 2004 Tourism criteria.
Applicants must have an office in Thailand, operate according to Thai law,
have no affiliation with the TAT, must be operating at the time of the
awards and cannot have previously won a Thailand Tourism Award. Applications
can be obtained at TAT officers worldwide or downloaded from the TAT website
at www.tourismthailand.org until Jan. 15.
Sattahip mobile
services unit brings power to the people
Patcharapol Panrak
In an effort to bring the government to the people, Sattahip
officials rolled out a “Mobile Civil Services” unit to offer health,
occupational and agricultural services to residents of Kredkeow
Sub-District.
Sattahip District Chief Chaichan Iamcharoen and Kasem Hosuwan, mayor of
Kredkoew Sub-District, led the Dec. 16 outreach at Mae Yoo Sa-ngad
Temple in Bang Saray where more than 300 residents turned out for health
checks, occupational counseling and other services.
Free
dental treatment is a big part of Sattahip officials’ “Mobile Civil
Services” unit.
Also available free to locals was a lecture on influenza A(H1N1)
prevention and treatment, tax advice, agricultural seminars,
hairdressing and handouts of free rice.
Chaichan said the mobile unit was dispatched to help residents who’ve
been hit hard by the economic slowdown. The project is carried out once
a month in various sub-districts in an effort to improve the quality of
life for locals and improve the relationship between civil servants and
the general population.
Huay Yai residents rally to support police as ‘influential’ forces push
to have station closed
Huay Yai citizens rally in
support of their local police.
Boonlua Chatree
After a string of high-profile arrests and drug busts, Huay Yai
police officers are facing possible eviction, reportedly by the criminal
forces they’ve been pursuing.
Lt. Col. Prakob Saengpring, police chief for the Pattaya district, confirmed
last week that a group of “wealthy and influential people” have been
pressuring police to relocate out of Huay Yai, one of the area’s worst
drug-trafficking neighborhoods. Alarmed residents have decided to fight
back, descending on the Huay Yai Police Station Dec. 15 to shower officers
with praise and flower baskets.
Somyot Nanaprasert, head of the Huay Yai Civil Defense Volunteers, and
Aniroj Santichotinan, president of agricultural cooperative Natural Wat Yan
Co. Ltd., led 50 residents to the station to meet with Prakob and more than
50 of his officers.
Somyot said that since the station opened a year ago, there has been a
noticeable drop in drug-related crime and an increase in arrests. Police
also arrested 23 area youths for the horrific gang rape of a 16-year-old
girl, busted a Huay Yai gang with stolen motorbikes and guns, and arrested
teachers dealing drugs in area schools.
In doing so, the aggressive crime busters have made themselves a target. But
after rumors that “influential” people were trying to bribe top police
officials into moving officers out of Huay Yai, residents rallied.
“We have gathered here to give flowers to encourage the police and will be a
defensive wall to protect the police, who have worked hard to protect us,”
Somyot said.
Prakob was visibly humbled by the outpouring of support, saying it was the
first time he’d ever been so honored by those he served.
“I and my subordinates promise we will serve as the best policemen we can be
and will not get involved with drugs and not take money from drug dealers or
overlook the drug problem in the area,” he said. “We are already planning on
drug suppression and prevention measures for next year in order to make
people feel safer.”
However Prakob did acknowledge the pressure being put on police and said a
move could still happen and that it was out of his control.
“Transfers are normal,” he said. “But if we are libeled or treated unfairly
I and my subordinates are ready to fight back against illegal influences.”
Police hope bomb parts lead to attackers who injured teen in Naklua
Boonlua Chatree
A 17-year-old was injured when two unknown teenagers tossed a
homemade bomb at a telephone booth 100 meters from a Naklua police station.
Doctors
attend to Theerapong’s wounds. Police do not believe he was the target of
the attack.
Theerapong Khrulam, who was making a call in the booth in the early hours of
Dec. 13, sustained cuts to his arm, leg and abdomen when the telephone
kiosk’s glass exploded. The window of a nearby building was also shattered
by the apparent pipe bomb.
Theerapong, who was transferred to Banglamung Hospital for treatment, told
police two young men approached Naklua Soi 1/1 from Sukhumvit Road and
tossed a piece of metal or a can into the road, which then exploded.
Officers found a hole in the road near the booth and pieces of the homemade
device.
Police do not believe Theerapong was the target of the attack. More likely,
they said, the teenage bombers were testing their device or simply causing
mischief. Forensics experts are now examining the bomb parts and
investigators hope to trace its components back to the bombers.
Late-night lover drugs,
punches, robs elderly German
Detlef Brodhange (right) files
his report with police.
Boonlua Chatree
For the second time in three days, a foreign tourist who picked up a
girl and brought her back to his hotel was drugged and robbed by her.
A drowsy Detlef Brodhange, 67, was taken to Pattaya International Hospital
after waking up with a black eye and throbbing headache Dec. 10. He
complained to police that a well-endowed, 165 cm. tall, light-skinned woman,
aged 32, he’d picked up outside a 7-Eleven about 3:30 a.m. that day had
drugged his beer, stolen his valuables and punched him in the face.
A woman matching a similar description allegedly robbed a 26-year-old
Russian three nights before by putting sleeping mediation in his drink and
on her breasts.
He told police the woman had agreed to go to his hotel in South Pattaya with
him for 1,000 baht but soon after kissing her and drinking his beer he lost
consciousness. He awoke slightly at the sound of someone rummaging through
his possessions, but was knocked out for good when the assailant punched him
in the eye.
Reported stolen were 1,500 baht, 50 euros, video camera, digital camera and
notebook computer.
Police are still searching for the women, or perhaps just one woman, behind
both recent crimes.
Marine injured in Narathiwat
bomb blast arrives in Sattahip
Patcharapol Panrak
A Royal Thai Marine injured while trying to take down a
booby-trapped banner in Thailand’s restive southern province of Narathiwat
has returned to his wife and daughter at Queen Sirikit Naval Hospital in
Sattahip.
Chief
Petty Officer 1st Class Kitikorn Chuaythong, injured in Narathiwat, is
reunited with his wife and daughter.
Part of a team securing the violence-riddled area before a joint tour by the
prime ministers of Thailand and Malaysia Dec. 9, Chief Petty Officers 1st
Class Kitikorn Chuaythong and Rerngsak Tosamlee accidentally hit a sling
tied up to a bomb detonator when they tried to remove a banner that
proclaimed, in Thai and Malaysian, that Pattani State was part of Malaysia.
Both men suffered shrapnel injuries to their legs in the morning attack in
the Yignor district incident. They were taken to Nara Hospital and then
transported Dec. 16 to Queen Sirikit Hospital.
Kitikorn was met at U-Tapao Pattaya International Airport by Capt. Arun
Tongtae, deputy commanding general of the navy, his troops, his wife Prawpun
and 10-year-old daughter Sirintorn.
Marines Commander Vice Adm. Suwit Tararoop said Kitikorn, who suffered two
broken legs in the attack, will be given a medal for his service.
Sattahip donates 20,000 baht to
Navy officer whose home burned down
Sattahip Mayor Pairoj Malakul Na Ayuddhaya and
other officials present
a donation to 60-year-old Burapa Chotina.
Patcharapol Panrak
The Sattahip municipal government has donated 20,000 baht to help a
senior Royal Thai Navy official rebuild after his house burned down Dec. 1,
costing 200,000 baht.
Sattahip Mayor Pairoj Malakul Na Ayuddhaya and other officials presented the
money to 60-year-old Burapa Chotina and his family Dec. 14.
Burapa is an officers with the navy’s Building and Development Department.
The fire broke out on the second floor of the two-storey home and quickly
spread to consume the whole building. Nearly all Burapa’s possessions were
destroyed or heavily damaged in the fire.
City officials said the money, while not nearly enough to cover all the
damage, was an effort to help the officer get through the tough times and
was a thanks to the Navy which plays such a large role in the Sattahip
community.
Navy cleans up Dong Tan Bay to honor ‘Father of Thai Navy’
Sailors from the Royal Thai
Navy clean beaches along
Dong Tan Bay to mark Prince Chumphon’s birthday.
Patcharapol Panrak
The Royal Thai Fleet marked the birthday of the father of the modern
navy by joining local officials and students in cleaning up beaches along
Dong Tan Bay.
Rear Adm. Suppakorn Booranadilok, commander of Royal Thai Fleet, led the
group of sailors to the beachfront Dec. 18, a day before the birthday of
Prince Chumphon who modernized the Siamese navy at the end of the 19th
century to become the “Father of the Royal Thai Navy.”
Participants cleaned the beach, fished trash out of the water and pruned
trees along the shoreline. Officials said the activity was not only meant to
commemorate Prince Chumphon’s birthday but honor HM the King as well.
Prince Chumphon, the 28th child of King Chulalongkorn, was the first member
of Thai royal family to study naval warfare in England. He returned home and
served in the Siamese navy and contributed significantly to its advancement
and modernization. Today there are more than 500 statues nationwide honoring
the prince and the Sattahip Naval Base was built on land he once owned.
Poor families to receive 83 cattle under Navy program to honor HM the King
Cattle are being saved from
the slaughterhouse as part of a navy program
to honor HM the King’s sufficiency economy principles.
Patcharapol Panrak
The Royal Thai Navy will donate 83 cows and buffalos to poor farmers as part
of a program to honor HM the King’s sufficiency economy principles.
Capt. Sirichai Kanchanabodi, director of the Technical Division of the Naval
Civil Affairs Department traveled with his team to the Recruit Training
Center of the Naval Education Department in Sattahip Dec. 15 to accept the
cattle on behalf of Rear Adm. Chumpon Wongwekin, director general of the
Naval Civil Affairs Department. The 50 cows and 33 buffalos, all females 2-4
years old, were purchased from slaughterhouses in Ayutthaya with funds
raised by navy personnel.
The cattle are to be given to poor farmers in the navy’s “sparing cattle’s’
lives” program organized for HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s 82nd birthday Dec.
5 and as part of the navy’s effort to make 2010 a year of “protecting and
praising the monarchy.”
Chumpon said the cattle will be raised by residents with help from the Naval
Welfare Department’s agricultural division under the sufficiency-economy
project as well as a sustainable cattle-raising development project
initiated by HM Queen Sirikit. He said the “sparing cattle’s lives” activity
planned for Dec. 18 was an opportunity to make merit for HM the King and
express loyalty to the monarchy.
The Naval Education Department gives livestock to locals in different
provinces on one condition: They can’t kill, sell or exchange the cattle and
can only use them in agriculture.
“Green” kids given hands-on
experience restoring nature
Global Green Global Kids hold
up their banner before planting coral.
Patcharapol Panrak
Children from around Thailand participating in a Tourism Authority of
Thailand eco-tourism program were given hands on experience in preserving
nature when they released baby turtles into the wild and planted Staghorn
coral.
About 50 children aged 7-15 participated in the 3rd “Global Green Global
Kids” program, which featured a three-day, two-night Environmental
Preservation Camp for the Natural Resources, Recreation and Marine
Environmental Preservation Project at Chao Din Camp Dec. 14-16.
TAT program leader Pattarapol Wattana said the project aims to make youth
acknowledge the value and recognize the importance of environmental and
natural resources. Goals include increasing environmental awareness among
youth, educating them about the perils and prevention of global warming, as
well as promoting eco-tourism.
The camp kicked off with a visit to Koh Kaitia Marine Bay where students
with Royal Thai Marines planted coral to help rebuild local reefs.
Capt. Narongsak Jatakanon, director of tourism affairs for the Marines, said
coral has several direct and indirect benefits to man. Not only does it
serve as an excellent breeding ground for marine life, some of which is
consumed by humans, it also forms a natural breakwater to protect the
shoreline. In the exercise, students planted 1,999 pieces of coral.
On Dec. 16, the focus moved from the shoreline to the sea, when the Global
Green Global Kids released baby turtles into the wild at the Sea Turtle
Conservation Center in Sattahip.
Capt. Tinnakorn Kanchanatamee, deputy director of the Sea Turtle
Conservation Center, welcomed students and led them on a tour that included
an introductory video, visit to the center’s aquarium and nursery and then
to the beach where students let 6-month-old turtles find their way into the
sea.
Tinnakorn said the TAT program was a good one in that the young students
will eventually grow up to become tomorrow’s leaders and decision makers.
“They will be conscious about the environment and help balance nature
again,” he said.
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