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HEADLINES [click on headline to view story]:

500,000 expected to attend 7-day Pattaya Countdown 2010

City, Tourist and Pattaya Police map out New Year’s security

Sattahip health workers get crash course on H1N1 prevention

Applications open for 8th Thailand Tourism Awards

Sattahip mobile services unit brings power to the people

Huay Yai residents rally to support police as ‘influential’ forces push to have station closed

Police hope bomb parts lead to attackers who injured teen in Naklua

Late-night lover drugs, punches, robs elderly German

Marine injured in Narathiwat bomb blast arrives in Sattahip

Sattahip donates 20,000 baht to Navy officer whose home burned down

Navy cleans up Dong Tan Bay to honor ‘Father of Thai Navy’

Poor families to receive 83 cattle under Navy program to honor HM the King

“Green” kids given hands-on experience restoring nature


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.