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Chonburi celebrates Songkran with annual festival
Chonburi Governor Senee Jittkasem pastes gold leaves on
the highly revered Buddha Sihing image as part of the festivities.
Vimolrat Singnikorn
Chonburi celebrated the start of another Thai New Year
with opening of the annual Chonburi Festival.
Gov. Senee Jittakasem kicked off the festivities April 9
in front of Buddha Sihing Hall in Chonburi. The festival runs through April
19.
The festival, which began in 1932, combines the ceremony
venerating Buddha Sihing with celebrations of Songkran and the Red Cross
Fair together into one. Activities included a procession for venerating Phra
Buddha Sihing Buddha image, water pouring for the elders, folk games,
classical masked-dances from the Department of Fine Arts, cultural
performance, exhibitions and stalls.
The festival, started to promote peace after riots in the
year the absolute monarchy was dissolved in Thailand, aims to conserve and
promote local customs as well as to instill a sense of value for the
cultural heritage. It also raises income to support Chonburi Red Cross.
Other activities included a Songkran parade and a Miss
Songkran pageant with 140,000 baht in prizes, Thai and Chinese
entertainment, movies and concerts. Finally, a lucky draw with 3 million
baht in prizes will be held.
“The Chonburi annual fair contributes to the economy and society through
sports, entertainment, local tradition and cultural preservation,” Senee
said. “This fair has been the case for 78 years and is considered the grand
festival of the eastern region. It is sincerely hoped that Chonburi
residents and all attendees will enjoy fun, happiness, knowledge and good
luck.”
Chonburi Governor Senee Jittkasem hits the ceremonial
gong to open the Chonburi Songkran celebrations.
Prepare to get wet - Songkran weekend is here
Pattaya Beach Road to be closed to traffic April 19
With the national Songญkran festivities all but finished,
expect an influx of tourists, both Thai and international, to “invade”
Pattaya this weekend as we celebrate our version of Songkran on April 18 and
19.
Police warned that roadblocks will be set up throughout
Chonburi province to check for drunken drivers. Police are also warning
people to not use powder and high powered water cannons, refrain from
throwing ice water, and no public consumption of alcohol will be permitted.
Pattaya City announced that Beach Road will be closed on
April 19 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., from the Dolphin Roundabout in North Pattaya
all the way to Walking Street.
Traffic will most likely once again come to a complete
standstill on many other roads in Pattaya and Jomtien. Police, along with
Pattaya Mail and most everyone in the city, are urging people to avoid
unnecessary travel, and if you do need to venture out, please use extreme
caution, especially if you travel by motorcycle.
Wear a helmet, too. There is no excuse not to. And by all
means, do not drive under the influence of intoxicants.
Plenty of activities are on the schedule, in addition to
the “wan lai” or water throwing, and the general mayhem that is both a local
custom and a tourist attraction.
Happy New Year!
Preventing global warming from the afterlife
Mayor itthiphol
Khumplome (centre) and Sinchai Wattanasartsathorn (5th left) symbolically
receives the coffins from Viroj Suriyasenee (3rd right).
Vimolrat Singnikorn
A local funeral company donated 50 “green” coffins to
help the deceased reduce global warming from beyond the grave.
Viroj Suriyasenee, President, Siam Funeral & Repatriation
Co., Ltd presented the coffins to Pattaya Mayor Itthiphol Kunplome and
Sawangboriboon Thammasatharn Foundation Vice-President Sinchai Wattanasart-
sathorn April 1.
A look at how a cardboard coffin is assembled.
These coffins are made from recycled paper from Japan.
However, they are strong and can support up to 250 kg and absorb water well.
Donated to the city for use with people who die poor, the coffins burn
easily and don’t contribute as much to global warming.
These coffins were turned over to the Social Welfare
Department to be used in upcoming funerals.
Navy plants Indian Laburnum trees to honor HRH Princess Sirindhorn
Rear Adm. Rangsit Panin
leads his men in planting Indian Laburnum trees
to commemorate HRH Princess Sirindhorn’s 55th birthday.
Patcharapol Panrak
Two hundred Royal Thai Navy personnel from the Bay
Inspection Division marked HRH Princess Sirindhorn’s 55th birthday by
planting 99 Indian Laburnum trees at Apakorn Marina Park in Sattahip.
Division chief Rear Adm. Rangsit Panin who led the April
2 ceremony attended by division personnel, Royal Thai Navy Chief of Staff
Capt. Tiwa Daramuang and the staff from the HTMS Harn Hak Sattru and
Headquarters Division.
Thais believe Indian Laburnum trees, or Cassia fistula,
to be lucky and bring dignity and honor if planted on their property. They
also use the tree’s leaves in religious ceremonies to ward off ghosts and
evil spirits. Boiling the wood and bark also have medicinal properties.
City promises to clean out bums, trash from Lan Pho park
Residents of Naklua take their grievances to Deputy
Mayor Wutisak Rermkitkarn.
Thanachot Anuwan
Pattaya officials are promising to clean up Lan Pho
Public Park within two weeks after a group of Naklua residents
complained about persistent trash and vagrancy problems there.
Community representative Chariya Iampinyo and ten
others calling themselves the “Preserve Naklua Group” called on Deputy
Mayor Wutisak Rermkitkarn to take charge of the park’s administration.
They say that since Lan Pho opened no single organization has managed
it, which has led to the park increasingly being used as a trash dump
and haven for vagrants.
Wutisak said he has ordered city security officers
and the Social Welfare and Human Stability, Sanitary Engineering and
Public Health and Environmental departments to investigate and remedy
the residents complaints.
This will include new 24-hour patrols of the park,
arrests and fines for sleeping and loitering, and daily trash pickups
after the Lan Pho Market closes. All the new processes should be in
place within two weeks, he said.
City officials inspect Lan Pho Park after receiving complaints from
the residents about trash and vagrancy.
Tourism practically destroyed by political turmoil
Pattaya tourism down 30%; further declines expected
Phasakorn Channgam
Ongoing anti-government protests in Bangkok have cut
Pattaya tourism about 30 percent and last week’s deadly clash between “red
shirt” forces and the military likely will mean even more cancellations.
Sinchai Wattanasartsathorn, vice president of the Pattaya
Business & Tourism Association.
Pattaya Business & Tourism Association Vice-President
Sinchai Wattanasartsathorn said before the April 10 Bangkok showdown
crackdown that left 21 people dead and 879 injured that bookings had already
fallen between 20 and 30 percent from last year. Chinese tourists, in
particular, are canceling their tours en masse.
But he noted bookings are also down from Europe, due to
both the struggling economy there and because only frequent tourists know
Pattaya is peaceful and located far from the actual riots.
“During this year’s high season, Russians were about the
large tourist group here and they have now started to go home,” Sinchai
said. “This will make it difficult for Pattaya to have enough tourists to
support its economy.”
He noted, however, the PBTA is working on plans to
increase domestic tourism to try and replace the many lost foreign visitors.
The clear sign of decreasing numbers of tourists.
Navy awards 187,000 baht in scholarships
Rear Adm. Rangsit Panin greets the children after the
scholarships presentation.
Patcharapol Panrak
Officials from the Royal Thai Fleet’s Patrol Squadron
handed out 75 scholarships worth 187,000 baht to support the education of
navy children.
Division commander Rear Adm. Rangsit Panin bestowed 33
scholarships on students with strong academic records and 42 school
class-based awards April 8 at the Patrol Division headquarters in Sattahip.
The scholarships are part of an ongoing program to support children of navy
personnel, many of whom lack the funds to ensure kindergarten through
university educations for their kids.
The scholarships were divided among 33 children with good
school marks; 20 scholarships for the primary school class worth 2,500 baht
each, 12 scholarships for the secondary school class or similar level worth
3,000 baht each, and one scholarship for the university level worth 5,000
baht.
The 42 awards for educational support were divided into
eight scholarships for the kindergarten level worth 1,500 baht, 13
scholarships for the primary school class worth 2,000 baht each, 16
scholarships for the secondary school class or similar level worth 2,500
baht each and five scholarships for the university level worth 4,000 baht
each.
Project aims to boost city employees’ physical, spiritual health
Thanachot Anuwan
Pattaya city employees will compete to see who is the
healthiest during the 500,000 baht Health Care Project April 27.
Apichat Phuetphan address the meeting.
Organized with the help of the city’s Buddhist, Dance and
Health Care clubs, the activity will include aerobics and other exercises,
dancing, a merit-making trek to nine temples, disease-prevention lectures
and an online radio program.
About 200 club members and city officials attended
project’s organizational meeting April 8. Deputy Pattaya Permanent Secretary
Apichat Phuetphan said the event, funded by the Association of Occupational
Disease and Environment, aims to improve the physical and spiritual health
of Pattaya municipal employees.
During the event, attendees will be scored to see how
fast they complete various activities. The winners will be named examples of
good health for fellow workers.
Red shirts rally at Pattaya City Hall before Bangkok sojourn
The Red Shirts gather in front of City hall passing out
leaflets
to promote their cause to people driving by.
Bunlua Chatree
Red-shirted anti-government protestors bound for Bangkok
protests stopped first at Pattaya City Hall to vent their displeasure with
the country’s government.
About 100 Pattaya Love for Democracy group members
assembled April 6 to rally and hear anti-government speeches.
Leaders said they did not intend to close city hall, but
simply gather and recruit those loyal to fugitive former Prime Minister
Thaksin Shinawatra and distribute literature defending their view that the
current government is illegitimate.
Darul Ibadah mosque holds annual faith day celebration
Rewat Phonlook-in and
Sonthaya Khumplome
are greeted by the Muslim leaders at the celebrations.
PM News
Boonlua Chatree
Members of Pattaya’s Darul Ibadah mosque and government
officials celebrated the continued expansion of the facility at its annual
Fountain Day of Faith.
Former Tourism and Sports Minister Sonthaya Kunplome
presided over the April 3 event attended by national, provincial and local
leaders.
The annual celebration marks the construction and
continued expansion of the mosque and its financial support from the
government. Sonthaya was behind the multi-million baht government grant that
established the mosque seven years ago.
Children dressed in colourful costumes performed dances
for their guests.
Hajji Faruk Wongborisut said a mosque was first built on
the Sukhumvit Road-Central Pattaya Road location in 1943. It was replaced by
a two-storey wooden building and, then again, by a single-story concrete
structure 30 years ago. But that mosque had fallen into disrepair and the
current Darul Ibadah was built in 2003. Construction on its facilities
continues to this day.
The part also saw a distribution of honorary plaques to
the organization supporters for construction of this Darul Ibadah mosque and
a seminar for Muslims and Buddhists. This included Christians living
together, adapting to live in peace with a professional lecturer from the
National Institute of Development for Administration and providing knowledge
and ideas for all the Fountain Day of Faith 2010 attendees, for further
adaptation to live in peace.
Masseuse scams 40 women into overseas work scam
The victims of the scam file a complaint at the Pattaya
Police station.
Theerarak Suthathiwong
About 20 Thai women who paid more than 30,000 baht for a
chance to work as masseuses in Qatar were left standing at the airport while
the employment agent fled with their cash.
The victims filed a complaint at Pattaya Police Station
April 3 against 48-year-old Wanna Dang Sa-Ard, who they claim duped them
into working at her Wanna Massage parlor opposite the High Land View Hotel
on Pratamnak Road after paying her 31,499 baht each to arrange a job,
airfare and documentation to work in Qatar at wages they could only dream of
in Pattaya.
Lamphu Chindasri, a 36-year-old victim, said as many as
40 masseuses were drawn into the scam.
According to her, Wanna had made plans for her and nine
other women to travel to Qatar on March 18, but postponed due to supposedly
not having the correct immigration documents. They were then supposed to
leave March 19 but Wanna never showed, again claiming documentation
problems. The suspect then paid for the women to stay at the airport, but a
week later they were still there and Wanna could not be reached. They then
found out her massage shop had gone out of business.
Police are now trying to locate all the victims, many of
whom took out unconventional loans to afford the huge down payment, as well
as locate the malevolent masseuse.
Police seize karaoke machine playing slots, not songs
Boonlua Chatree
Police have arrested the owner of Central Road pool hall
who allegedly modified a meager karaoke machine into a lucrative, but
illegal, slot machine.
The modified karaoke slot machine, the ruin of many a
poor boy.
Anan Jengsiri, 65, was arrested by officers from the
Pattaya police force supported by the National Operations Center for
Prevention and Suppression of Human Trafficking in the wee hours of April 8
after undercover investigators went to check out reports that the karaoke
machine in the Pa Kae snooker palace was playing slots, not songs.
Sure enough, officers found teenagers lining up at the
one-song bandit and used 500 baht in marked money to buy their own tickets.
When they cashed in their 20 baht in winnings, they arrested Anan, who was
acting as cashier.
He was transferred to Pattaya Police Station for further processing.
Aussie charged with ya ice, cocaine dealing
Boonlua Chatree
An Australian man has been arrested on charges of dealing
cocaine and crystal methamphetamines.
David Neil Hill is taken into custody by undercover
policemen.
David Neil Hill, 31, was taken into custody store early
April 6 outside a Family Mart convenience on Soi Arunothai. On him were
found a 1.3 g. bag of ya ice and two 1.3 g. bags of cocaine. He was charged
with possession with intent to distribute class 1 and 2 narcotics.
The Australian confessed to police he had purchased the drugs from an
Icelandic man identified only as Phillip and that he had been buying about
10 grams of drugs a week to sell. Officers are now searching for Hill’s
dealer.
Young couple robs gold shop of 100,000 baht
Photos taken by a
security camera show
the sequence of events during the robbery.
Boonlua Chatree
A young couple escaped with two necklaces worth almost
100,000 baht during a daylight robbery at a Soi Nongketyai gold shop.
Police were called to the Soipet Gold Shop around 11 a.m.
April 6 where owner Soipet Phu-Am said the necklaces each 1-3 baht in weight
were taken.
Soipet said a Thai woman approximately 20 years old had
come into the shop asking about a necklace. She was soon joined by a man
around the same age. They then fled out the door with two necklaces and fled
on a motorbike. The owner said she tried to grab a pistol she had in a
drawer and follow them, but she fell going out the door.
Police are reviewing security-camera footage in hopes of
catching the young thieves.
POLICE BRIEFS
Thief succeeds at stealing
necklace, fails at getaway
Boonlua Chatree
A necklace thief who hadn’t mastered the art of the
getaway landed behind bars after his escape vehicle failed to start.
Tawatchai Yutitham, 21, was caught by witnesses after he
allegedly snatched a 1-baht gold necklace from the neck of 22-year-old
Nipaporn Hensui and her Australian boyfriend around 5 a.m. near the 99
Golden Queue Snooker on Third Road.
Nipaporn said she and her Australian boyfriend were just
leaving a noodle stand to go home when Tawatchai grabbed the necklace and
ran to his own motorbike to escape. However, the bike didn’t start and he
was caught.
The suspect told police he had snatched necklaces four
times before and used the money to feed his ya ba habit.
Half of transvestite tag
team tripped up
Boonlua Chatree
One half of a pickpocketing transvestite team was
arrested after pulling more than 1,600 baht out of the trousers of a German
man.
Parinya Khammakhun, 25, was nabbed by passers-by the
intersection of Soi Pattayland 2 and Beach Road around 10 p.m. April 5 after
Aleksander Ostrousky, 35, cried out that he had been robbed.
Ostrousky said he was walking with friends when a pair of
laydboys approached him. One hugged him while making a lewd proposition and
used the distraction to pick his pocket of 1,650 baht.
One of the katoeys managed to escape, but Parinya’s high
heels couldn’t carry him away fast enough.
Upon his arrest, the transvestite told police he took the
money to pay the rent.
Brochures, not bomb,
inside suspicious bag at police box
Boonlua Chatree
A suspicious-looking bag left in front of the Pattaya
highway police box turned out to be not a bomb, but a stack of brochures.
Garbage collector Chainarong Silakul, 19, reported the
heavy bag left on the side of the road to police April 1. Authorities
blocked off the vicinity before examining the object. Once opened, it was
discovered that only brochures for an air-conditioning merchant were inside.
Police assume the bag was simply dumped there with no
intention of an April Fool’s prank.
UK journalist cleared
in long running libel case
Appeals Court overturns guilty verdict
Staff reporters
The Appeals Court Region 2, overturned an earlier Pattaya
Provincial court’s decisions clearing a British freelance journalist of two
counts of criminal libel charges on March 18, 2010.
The long running legal battle involved Andrew Drummond
who was accused by James Lumsden a Pattaya expatriate businessman of writing
stories which were deemed libelous and detrimental to his reputation.
The court cases dating back to 2002 filed by James
Lumsden, manager of a bar and guest house in Pattaya, centred on a piece
written by Andrew Drummond that appeared in the Perspective section in the
May 20, 2001 edition of the Bangkok Post. The Court of First Instance ruled
that inferences made in the article were damaging to Lumsden’s reputation,
and found Drummond guilty of Defamation, Offence relating to the Printing
Act of September 30, B.E. 2546 (2003).
According to court documents, Drummond admitted that he
was the writer of the article, and that the wording about unscrupulous
businessmen was a warning to tourists. In the investment aspect it was a
warning to businessmen to choose other types of business and that they
should investigate thoroughly the company to be invested in. This was aimed
to benefit businessmen to invest in Thailand.
However, the Pattaya Court ruled that if Drummond had
intended to warn businessmen in good faith, it would not have been necessary
to mention names and put the photographs of the plaintiff in the said
article. This argument of the Second Defendant (Drummond) was not
significant and is not accepted.
The original reports were printed in London and Glasgow
but Lumsden chose to sue in Thailand, which he considered his home, after
the Bangkok Post printed similar stories. Drummond was subsequently given
two two-year suspended prison sentences.
Andrew Drummond appealed the Court of First Instance
decision and in a long running legal battle was finally cleared of those
charges by the Appeals Court Region 2 last month.
The Appeal Judges, ruled: “The defendant was doing his
job as a journalist, making facts public for foreigners doing business in
Thailand. There is nothing defamatory in what he wrote.”
Mr. Lumsden said, “I am not satisfied with this decision
and have lodged appeals on both cases to the Supreme Court.
Political unrest angers Bangphra’s Songkran devil puppets
Theerarak Suthathiwong
Bangphra’s annual devil parade this year features
fiercer-looking puppets than in the past, a reflection of the puppeteer’s
feelings about Thailand’s degenerating political situation.
Prapan puts the finishing touches to his latest creation
which reflects the current political and social unrest in Thailand.
Prapan Polamuangrat, who has made devil puppets for the
sub-district’s unique Songkran holiday celebration for eight years, said the
long-running “red shirt” uprising that resulted in the death of more than 20
people in Bangkok last week inspired the angrier face depicted on his work
this year.
The 60-year-old puppeteer said he believes that by
showing the public an angry devil, they will work to make the country more
peaceful. It’s also, he admitted, a reflection that it is the Chinese year
of the tiger.
Bangphra’s devil parade is the only one of its kind in
Thailand. It was born out of reverence for the fierce animals that once
stalked the jungles in the sub-district. By creating their own devils,
locals felt they could control malicious spirits and ghosts. Now, however,
it continues due its popularity as a draw for tourists.
Pattaya’s latest world record attempt: 10,000 dirty dishes, 1 bottle of soap
Phasakorn Channgam
After lining up the longest line of models on earth,
Pattaya will next seek the world record for washing the longest string of
dirty dishes with one bottle of detergent.
Deputy Mayor Ronakit Ekasingh announces another Pattaya
attempt to get into the Guinness Book of World Records.
Representatives from the city and Unilever Thai Trading
Co. will attempt to wash a row of 10,000 dirty plates stretching from the
Dusit Thani Hotel to South Pattaya with a single 875cc bottle of Sunlight
liquid detergent April 26-30. No word on where all the dirty flatware will
come from.
The “Sunlight Guinness World Record” event is the latest
zany attempt to get Pattaya into the Guinness Book of World Records
following such memorable feats as this month’s “longest catwalk.”
The previous record was set Aug. 26, 1999 in the
Philippines when 8,754 dishes were washed. Those plates stretched a distance
of 2.2 kilometers. Pattaya’s will supposedly line up for 2.5 kilometers.
Navy personnel rescue
cow from ditch
Patcharapol Panrak
Sattahip ranchers missing one cow found it lying injured
in a storm-drainage ditch.
The very-pregnant heifer named “E-hod” had been traveling
with a herd of 40 other cattle to the Naval Ordinance Department when it
somehow got separated. Cow herder Chalerm Promdung, 23, didn’t notice E-hod
was missing until all the cows were back on the farm.
Navy personal help ‘E-hod’ get back on her feet safe and
sound.
Navy personnel went to find the missing milker and found
it lying in a ditch off Bor 2 Road in Tarua Thungprong in front of Nattha
Village. The animal was clearly exhausted, could not stand and was bleeding
from the snout.
Rescuers were afraid to bring the cow up quickly for fear
her unborn calf could be killed. But eventually they used roped to bring the
bruised beast to the roadside. They guessed E-hod had been grazing when she
slipped and fell into the storm water channel.
Two hurt in train vs. pickup accident in Ban Chang
Theerarak Suthathiwong
Two people were hurt when their pickup truck was hit by a
train at a Ban Chang rail crossing.
The mini truck was no match for the humongous iron horse.
Police and Siam Ruam Jai Thai Foundation medics were
called to the Dao Company crossing around 10 a.m. April 7 where Yoong
Supakosang, 26, and an unidentified Burmese man were trapped inside Yoong’s
blue Mazda. The left side of the vehicle had been smashed in by train No.
4004 and the conductor was waiting nearby to give a statement.
Chatchai Sangsorn, 48, said Yoong had driven through the
rail crossing without looking for oncoming traffic. The train, loaded with
empty tanks to be filled with oil, could not stop in time and propelled the
pickup about 300 meters. The train’s engineer suffered minor injuries.
Police took statements and evidence then awaited for the
truck passengers to recover to continue the investigation.
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