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HEADLINES [click on headline to view story]:

Local red shirts loud but peaceful

Pattaya International Music Festival this weekend

Despite drought, Pattaya still has plenty of water, officials say

Firm agrees to clean Rayong plot amid coal-dumping complaint

Rayong house burns while sub-district officials squabble

Tourist police tighten security

Chonburi police raid 2 counterfeit clothing shops

Slipway slip leaves residents up the junction

‘Neglected’ 80-year-old grandmother arrested for drug dealing

Canadian falls from 4th floor balcony

Sattahip finally nab ‘100 Hotels Man’ drug dealer

Rayong man kills boy, self in molestation-tinged murder-suicide

4 men, 1 woman charged in gang rapes of 15-year-old Khao Mai Kaew girl

Naklua Market motorbike taxi busted for gold snatch

Police officer complained of work-related stress in suicide note

HM the Queen praises Navy staff for blood donations

Chonburi, Navy win extracurricular education awards

Thailand, 9 Asian countries move to preserve underwater heritage

Bay watch


Local red shirts loud but peaceful

Pattaya tourists, bookings unaffected by Bangkok protests

It’s business as usual along Pattaya Beach despite all the commotion in Bangkok.

Phasakorn Channgam and Theerarak Suthatiwong
Mirroring their compatriots’ efforts in Bangkok, local anti-government group members generated a lot of noise, but little else during a Pattaya assembly staged before they departed to join other red-shirted protestors in the capital.

About 200 members of the Pattaya Love for Democracy Group paraded through North Pattaya, loudspeakers blaring, March 12 before stopping to pray and wish for good fortune at Pattaya City Hall’s King Taksin the Great monument and assembling at a field behind Central Center.

Deputy Mayor Ronakit Ekasingh and Pattaya City Council Vice-Chairman Adisorn Pollook-In greeted the red shirts, telling them City Hall welcomed protests as long as they remained peaceful. The PLDG, a sub-group of the United Front for Dictatorship Against Democracy, did just that before pointing their caravan toward a larger red shirt assembly in Bangkok around 8 p.m. March 13.

The UDD - backed by fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra - had threatened to assemble a million anti-government red shirts in Bangkok from March 13-16 in hopes of forcing current PM Abhisit Vejjajiva to dissolve Parliament and call new elections that, they predict, would return Thaksin’s political operatives to power. But through Monday, the group fell woefully short of its goal with even the UDD’s rosiest calculations totaling no more than 300,000 people and the government estimating around 70,000.

The protests were largely peaceful, although two soldiers were badly injured from an M79 grenade attack at the 11th Infantry Army headquarters Monday. Organizers, forced to cancel Saturday’s events and regroup after embarrassingly low turnout Friday, turned up the rhetoric Monday and threatened to splatter 3,000 liters of blood on government facilities Tuesday if their demands weren’t met.

But the government’s demonizing of the red shirt leaders and scare tactics seem to have done their job and scared most red-shirted sympathizers into staying home. But the same tactics also backfired on the country’s tourism industry with Bangkok hotels and tour companies reporting widespread cancellations and no-shows by tourists fearing a repeat of last April’s violent red-shirt riots on the street of the capital.

In Pattaya, however, the red-shirt uprising seemed to have little negative effect on tourists in town or bookings from those planning to come. Life along Beach Road seemed to play out normally with few locals showing much concern - or even interest - in the red shirt machinations two hours to the northwest.

Local hotels and tourist-related businesses, in fact, received a small boost from the protest, as many Bangkok residents chose to flee the street closures and uncertainty to enjoy a relaxing low-stress weekend at the beach. Combined with early bookings from Thais coming for this weekend’s Pattaya International Music Festival, this year’s red shirt antics haven’t yet resulted in red ink.


Pattaya International Music Festival this weekend

The Pattaya International Music Festival returns this weekend, March 19-21, bigger than ever with a 28 million baht budget funding performances on six stages throughout the city.

Deputy Mayor Verawat Khakhay and Tourism Authority of Thailand Pattaya office director Niti Kongkrut said they expect this year’s festival will attract more visitors than ever.

TAT has contributed 20 million baht toward the music fest, with the balance coming from the Chonburi Administrative Organization, as Verawat said budget cuts made funding from the Pattaya City budget impossible.

The festival will have two TAT-sponsored main stages. One will be located at Bali Hai Pier and feature international artists. Another stage on Pattaya Beach at Soi 4 will showcase well-known domestic and Indie artists.

Two other stages, organized by the city, will be at the intersection of Beach and Central roads and in front of Central Festival Pattaya Beach. Two additional stages will also be set up along the beach.

The festival also features food and floral floats, beauty contests, stalls selling local delicacies and a spectacular fireworks display on the beach. The free music concerts are put on by a wide range of local and international talent.

Organizers announced that Beach Road will be closed from 4 p.m. - 2 a.m. on all 3 days. 2nd road will remain one-way, making 3rd road the access road to South Pattaya from the north.

For more information and a schedule of events, turn to Arts - Entertainment .


Despite drought, Pattaya still has plenty of water, officials say

The water level at Mabprachan Reservoir is down, but officials say there
is enough to get us through the dry season.

Staff reporters
While drought has dropped the Mekong River in Thailand’s northeast to its lowest level in two decades, the Pattaya area still has more than enough water for the summer months, city waterworks officials say.

Ratanai Sangsawang, chief of water-supply production at the Provincial Waterworks Authority, urged the public not to worry about drought affecting Pattaya’s water supply, as its four filtration stations at the Mabprachan, Banglamung, Saknok and Nong Klangdong reservoirs have a combined capacity of 6 billion cu. m.

“The Pattaya area needs 40 million cu. m. of water per year, and currently uses 140,000 cu. m. per day,” Ratanai explained, adding that it also purchases water from the Eastern Water Management and Development Co. Ltd. to supplement its own supply.

Waterworks Authority Deputy Manager Chaitad Idsang noted residents living in higher elevations have experienced some water-supply issues, but said the authority is working on a resolution. The city has plans to lay a new, larger pipeline to the Nong Klangdong Reservoir which he hopes will solve the problem.

The long-term solution, he added, is increasing the amount of water coming from Nong Klangdong and Banglamung stations.

Chaitad noted that although the drought affecting other areas of Thailand does not affect Pattaya, residents should still watch their water use.

“People should not worry, but should be aware of using it conservatively,” he said.


Firm agrees to clean Rayong plot amid coal-dumping complaint

Theerarak Suthathiwong
A concrete block company that used coal ash as landfill on a Rayong plot has vowed to clean up its property after residents complained the hazardous dust caused skin irritation and may pollute the local water supply.

Tapong sub-district resident Danai Ratanawichit shows us some of the coal being dumped in the area.

Residents in the Tapong sub-district alerted authorities and the media Feb. 27 to the continued dumping of coal waste on a 1-rai plot of land there. Resident Danai Ratanawichit, 40, said trucks deposited the coal ash there nightly and residents who took some of it to use for themselves developed skin rashes. This fueled fears the coal would soon pollute the local water table.

It was soon learned that Porn Charoen concrete brick plant owned the land and was using the coal ash as landfill. Officials from petrochemical firm IRPC (Public) Co. Ltd. admitted they had sold the ash byproduct to a coal-fired power plant operated by Thorus Pos So Lans Co. Ltd. which in turn sold it to Porn Charoen.

Villagers filed a written claim with Porn Charoen which has agreed to clean up its property and remove the coal dust.

Coal dumping remains a problem in Rayong with residents in the Pae area also complaining about the dumping of ash on a 20-rai piece of property there.


Rayong house burns while sub-district officials squabble

Firefighters arrive in time to put out the final few flare-ups,
 but were too late to save the house.

Theerarak Suthathiwong
A mysterious explosion followed by bureaucratic squabbling resulted in a Khao Chamo home burning to the ground before firefighters arrived.

No one was hurt in the March 9 blaze in the Rayong district’s Nam Pen area. Local officials came to the scene, but delays in getting authorization from nearby sub-districts to dispatch firefighters resulted in the house being destroyed before help arrived.

Thawat Pasingchob, 62, and wife Patcharee, 52, were unhurt in the fire, which cost an estimated 700,000 baht in damage. A neighbor reported seeing an explosion inside the unoccupied house, which was soon consumed by flames.

The couple was offered temporary shelter and given necessities to get by until they can salvage what is left of their home.


Tourist police tighten security

Maj. Col. Arun Promphan, accompanied by a throng of tourist police
and volunteers, hands out safety material to tourists on Walking Street.

Boonlua Chatree
Maj. Col. Arun Promphan, superintendent of Pattaya’s 4th Division Tourist Police Station, addressed 50 officers and volunteers March 9 on security measures to keep tourists safe during their visits to Pattaya.

Afterward the officers were dispatched to various posts and patrolled Walking Street, handing out brochures containing tourist information and emergency contact details. The Tourist Police can be reached by calling 1155.


Chonburi police raid 2 counterfeit clothing shops

Boonlua Chatree
Chonburi police not fooled by the designer labels rounded up shopping baskets full of counterfeit shirts, shoes and shorts in two separate Pattaya-area raids.

Some of the confiscated merchandise is spread out on the floor for easier identification.

Teams of officers swept into a small shop on Soi Yensabai March 9, arresting owner Anchalee Kamprom, 38, and snapping up 46 t-shirts bearing the American Eagle logo as well as seven pair of purportedly Puma sneakers and copied Clarks sandals.

Later that day the same team raided a booth in front of Modern Plaza on Beach Road where they arrested proprietor Anchalee Jiewsui, 22, and seized 45 deceptively D&G, Armani and Lacoste shirts, 10 almost-Adidas cloaks and a half dozen less-than-Lacoste shorts.

Both vendors were charged with selling copies of registered trademarks with the intention of deceiving shoppers into thinking they were getting delicious designer deals.


Slipway slip leaves residents up the junction

The new Highway 7 extension near Chaiyapornvitee Road allows access north towards Bangkok, but doesn’t allow a left turn to Pattaya.

Staff reporters
Residents are calling for help to give them full access to a new motorway.

The extension to Motorway 7, which links Bangkok to Pattaya, is nearly complete. But the lack of a slip road from Chaiyapornvitee Road means anyone coming from that direction can’t use the road to get to Pattaya.

Instead, residents have to use the old route which means driving to Naklua and then driving back towards Pattaya. A residents’ group claims putting in a slip road to access the motorway would have been easy to do and at least halved the current travel time.

The group is now hoping City Hall can take action to help the hundreds of residents who live on that side of Pattaya. City Hall, however, are not commenting on the situation and seemingly avoiding questions about it.

A slip road does currently exist from Chaiyapornvitee Road but runs parallel to the new motorway and doesn’t join it.

Stuart Saunders, from the Pattaya Progress Association said, “A connection would save fuel, time and maybe even lives. From the other side you can go north towards Bangkok, but we can’t turn left to Pattaya, which is the route used by people living here far more often. All it needs is a little bit of road works.”


‘Neglected’ 80-year-old grandmother arrested for drug dealing

Patcharapol Panrak
An 80-year-old Sattahip grandmother who claimed she was neglected by her 17 children and grandchildren was arrested for dealing methamphetamines to raise money she said she needed to live.

80-year-old Grandma Waen (center), her daughter Sompit and customer Namfon have been arrested for ya ba.

“Grandma Waen” Srisuk was taken into custody early March 8 at her Soi Thamwittaya home after undercover officers purchased three ya ba tablets from her for 740 baht. Also arrested at the scene were daughter Sompit Srisuk, 39, who was her agent and alleged customer Namfon Soisuwan, 27.

The elder Srisuk was charged with possession of a Class 1 narcotic with intent to distribute while her daughter Sompit, caught with six tablets, was charged with possession only. Namfon was also arrested for buying the drugs.

Grandma Waen confessed to police, saying she purchased the drugs from her daughter Sompit for 200 baht per tablet and then resold them for 250 baht, then spent the profit on food, utilities and other necessities because neither her daughter or any of her extended family cared enough for her.

Grandma Waen claimed her drug-dealing daughter purchased drugs from feared area dealer Surapol “Chae” Putraksa, 52, who is wanted on an arrest warrant from Plutaluang police, but allegedly still operates in the Sattahip area, and recently began reselling them in Pattaya.

This month’s arrest is not Grandma Waen’s first brush with the law. She served 11 years in prison after being convicted of heroin dealing in 1994. She told police she was well taken care of in prison, due to her age. If convicted, she’ll most likely end her days being cared for again by the state.


Canadian falls from 4th floor balcony

Boonlua Chatree
A Canadian man became the latest foreigner to fall from a balcony but this time the victim survived, albeit with serious injures.

Nicholas Patrick Roenisch, 25, was taken to Bangkok Hospital Pattaya to treat wounds from his four-storey fall from a commercial building on Soi Welcome Hotel in Jomtien Beach March 11. At the time of going to press, he was expected to be placed in the critical care unit.

Investigators checking Roenisch’s room found the door locked and, once inside, two empty beer bottles on the balcony.


Sattahip finally nab ‘100 Hotels Man’ drug dealer

Patcharapol Panrak
Sattahip’s alleged “100 Hotels Man” drug dealer may finally have a room he’ll be unable to check out of.

Sattahip and Royal Thai Navy police and volunteers officers arrested Pramot Penkoksoong, 26, during a sting operation March 5 using two trusted customers arrested earlier for drug possession as bait. Found on his person were a half-gram of ya ice, two ya ba tablets and marked cash.

Long sought by police, Pramot had been able to avoid arrest by constantly changing hotel rooms and most recently hiding out in Ban Chang.

His downfall came, however, when he agreed to deliver crystal methamphetamines to two women he didn’t realize had been arrested earlier for possession of ya ice. Yupa Bun-on, 42, and Thanya Saithong, 19, were apprehended using narcotics at a row house near Nongthip Market in Taothan.

When the two told officers they had purchased the drugs from the 100 Hotels Man, a plan was hatched to have them telephone the purported dealer and set up a buy which police would be watching. When Pramot arrived on his black Honda Click to deliver the ya ice, officers made their move.

Pramot confessed to dealing drugs and evading arrest, but quickly ratted out his own supplier, Sitthichai Promchan, 23, who police are now looking for.


Rayong man kills boy, self in molestation-tinged murder-suicide

Theerarak Suthathiwong
A mid-20s Thai man allegedly molesting a 12-year-old boy shot and killed the youngster in his Rayong bedroom before apparently turning the gun on himself.

Police from the Pae Police Station discovered the bodies of young Warayut Srijang and a Sri Banpae Pier ice vendor identified only as “Det” lying together on the floor of the boy’s Moo 2 Pae home in the early hours of March 7. Both had suffered .38 caliber gunshot wounds to the head and the pistol was lying nearby amid signs of a struggle.

Police believed Det and the boy were engaged in a sexual relationship, as his mother, Malee, told authorities the man, believed to be between 25 and 30 years old, repeatedly came to her home with toys for the Kaosampaothong School Grade 6 student. She said she didn’t know anything about him except that her son told them they were “close friends.”

The night before the shooting, Malee said, Det came to her house around 10 p.m. to see her son. She left them alone and heard nothing, other than the sound of something being pulled into the boy’s bedroom, until morning, when the two shots rang out.

From the way the older body was found laying on top of the boy, police assume Det had tried to pressure the boy into having sex. The youngster refused, which might have set off an argument and the murder-suicide.


4 men, 1 woman charged in gang rapes of 15-year-old Khao Mai Kaew girl

Boonlua Chatree
Four Thai men and a woman who cheered them on have been arrested for allegedly twice gang-raping a 15-year-old Khao Mai Kaew girl.

Police bring in alleged rapist Theerapol “Mac” Prasongsuk.

Child and Women’s Protection Center officers arrested the girl’s boyfriend of one-month, 20-year-old Theerapol “Mac” Prasongsuk, along with three teenage men - Trin Chansuthi, 19; Komsan Phuraya, 19; and Mana Klinchanhom, 18 - at a football field and at their homes in the Banglamung sub-district on March 9. Also taken into custody was 18-year-old Na Phuraya, who allegedly stood at the door, watched and cheered on her male friends in assaulting the girl.

Lt. Col. Kreetha Tankanarak, deputy superintendent for operations at the Chonburi Child and Women’s Protection Center, said the charges stem from two attacks in mid-January.

The first rape occurred on January 15 when the secondary school student at Khao Mai Kaew School said she was tricked into going a house near a tapioca flour gristmill in Huay Kainao Village where she was raped by Theerapol and three friends in turn.

Two days later, Theerapol telephoned to apologize and asked to meet her, allegedly intending to negotiate a settlement for the first rape, but he and his friends ended up raping the girl again.

A report was lodged to the police by the parents and an arrest warrant was issued by the Pattaya court sometime later.

After their arrest on March 9, the Thai men confessed to the charges with Theerapol rationalizing by saying the first attack occurred after they had finished playing football and decided to get drunk.


Naklua Market motorbike taxi busted for gold snatch

Theerarak Suthathiwong
Figuring he could make more money through crime than carrying customers, a Naklua Market motorbike taxi driver now finds himself behind bars for allegedly snatching a fat gold necklace from the neck of a man near Pornprapanimit Village.

The face of a ya ba addict - Supat Thanborisutkul was arrested for gold theft when he fell through the roof of a house where he was hiding.

Supat Thanborisutkul, 28, was found under the bed of a home in the Nongprue neighborhood March 9 after trying to escape police by hiding on the roof of a village house. Police found Supat after he fell through the roof. Half of a 3-baht gold necklace belonging to 40-year-old Saroj Suwanlamai was discovered in his back pocket.

Saroj said he’d been walking on Soi Pornprapanimit when a large Thai man dressed in black streaked by on a blue Honda Wave motorbike and attempted to steal his necklace. Quite thick, the necklace broke, rather than breaking away, and the driver lost control of the bike and crashed. He then shed his black shirt and ran into the village.

Police and volunteer officers surrounded the village and found Supat after the owner of one home ran outside, saying a man had crashed through his roof. The thief, with injured foot and gold chain, was taken away.

Supat told police he’d twice been arrested for methamphetamine use and was behind on payments on his motorbike due to having few customers. Police don’t believe this was the first time the motorbike taxi driver has tried a necklace snatch and are investigating similar reports in the area.


Police officer complained of work-related stress in suicide note

Boonlua Chatree
A Pattaya police officer who committed suicide in his barracks March 4 told colleagues in a note he left behind that he’d been suffering from work-related stress.

Senior Sgt. Maj. Suporn Uncharoen, 48, was discovered by his school-age son lying on a blanket on the floor of his third-floor room behind the Pattaya Police Station. He suffered a single gunshot wound to the chest. The gun and one bullet casing was found at his feet.

The Pattaya Courtroom Chief, Suporn left behind two letters, one to his family and the other to colleagues. In the first, he asked his family to forgive him. In the letter to fellow officers, he expressed his fondness for all his co-workers, but added he’d been under a lot of stress that he didn’t want to deal with any longer.

Police Superintendent Col. Nantawut Suwanla-ong added that Suporn also had fretted about his health, having just undergone minor heart surgery to widen arteries constricted by coronary artery disease. The gunshot was to the heart.

Suporn is survived by a wife and two children who were not at home at the time.


HM the Queen praises Navy staff for blood donations

Vice Adm. Surachai Sangkhapong and other top officers visit navy personnel
to congratulate them for donating blood to the Red Cross.

Patcharapol Panrak
HM Queen Sirikit, Thai Red Cross Council Chairwoman, graciously presented a speech to be read March 11 at the hospital bearing her name to congratulate Royal Thai Navy personnel for doing a good deed for their country by donating blood.

Following orders for all Navy personnel to make merit on a regular basis, Vice Adm. Surachai Sangkhapong, commander of Navy Region 1 and other personnel rolled up their sleeves at Queen Sirikit Naval Medical Center in honor of the nation and monarchy.

HM the Queen, the Thai Red Cross chairwoman, hailed the Navy personnel, saying blood is nourishment for life and is the best gift someone can give.

Similar blood drives take place every three months.


Chonburi, Navy win extracurricular education awards

Award recipients and guests listen to guest speakers
 at the awards presentation ceremony.

Patcharapol Panrak
Chonburi Province won 14 awards and the Royal Thai Navy another two from the Education Ministry for best non-conventional education efforts.

The Office of Non-Conventional and Conventional Education presented the plaques and honors for educational programs aimed at older and underprivileged students and those who missed their opportunities at regular primary- and secondary-school education at a March 8 ceremony at Teacher Council Hall in Bangkok.

The local award winners for this year were:

* Outstanding Student - Capt. Wirat Somchit, deputy commander of the Naval Recruit Training Center’s Learning Center for the Sufficiency Economy Philosophy in Bang Saray.

* Best Alumni - Jinda Tanomrod of Sriracha District.

* Best School Director - Puangsuwan Panmamaung, director of non-conventional education for Panthong District.

* Best Community School Teacher - Hathaiporn Maneesang of the Non-Conventional and Conventional Education Center in the Panatnikom District.

* Best Librarian - Supaporn Inthamat of the Chonburi Public Library.

* Best Librarian Employee - Lt. Pasuda Kaewkiew of Chalermratkumari Library.

* Best Teacher or Education Personnel - Thipawan Sithirangsan from the Center for Training and Development for Agricultural Occupations at Yanasangwararam Temple in Banglamung.

* Best Permanent Employee - Thamrong Leekul of the Center of Non-Conventional and Conventional Education in Borthong District.

* Best State / Private Education Units - Naval Education Department in Sattahip; the MOA Thai Foundation, Chonburi Public Library and Chalermrat Kumari Public Library in Banglamung.

* Best District for Non-Conventional and Conventional Education - Panthong District.

* Most Innovative Research - Research for development of learning by storyline method by the Panthong District.


Thailand, 9 Asian countries move to preserve underwater heritage

Ariyawat Nuamsawat
Thailand and nine other Asian-Pacific countries have agreed to work together to preserve underwater archeological sites.

On March 4, Aurbprem Watcharangkul, head of the underwater archeology group at Thailand’s Fine Arts Department discussed the launch of an Asia-Pacific underwater-archaeology training center. The goal, he said, is for countries to jointly promote conservation of underwater archeological sites.

Diver’s with Thailand’s Fine Arts Department, Underwater Archaeology Group inspect a site containing artifacts in the Gulf of Thailand.

Like many Asian countries, Thailand’s offshore and inland waters are literal treasure troves of historical artifacts. From ancient pottery wrecks in the Gulf of Thailand to entire villages and temples submerged in freshwater lakes in the northeast, treasure hunters, divers and looters pose a significant threat to history. While Thailand, like many countries, has laws prohibiting divers from taking artifacts from undersea sites, more needs to be done, experts say.

Aurbprem said smugglers have often dug up underwater antiques to sell, sometimes damaging them in the process. To prevent its history from washing away, Thailand has joined with Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Vietnam as well as UNESCO to preserve its history.

To setup the center, experts from Thailand and abroad were invited to provide theoretical and practical experience to project attendees, as well as draft organizational plans. But Aurbprem admitted there are still obstacles to effective conservation, such as inadequate staffing and budgets. He said more work and cooperation between member countries can resolve those issues.


Bay watch: Beach promenade landscaping continues

Vimolrat Singnikorn
The landscaping work along Pattaya Beach continues through Songkran, this time with bricks being laid down to support the growth of grass between the trees. Once fully grown, the grass will make a nice spot for lounging around, but has to be less than comfortable for these ladies until then.