Pattaya ‘sky train’ receives mixed reviews at 1st public hearing
Phasakorn Channgam
Plans for an elevated train line along 2nd Road Pattaya
were met with mixed reactions at the project’s first public hearing.
At the Sept. 6 meeting, 34 community leaders were split
on whether the sky train running from Pattaya City Hall along Beach Road to
Bali Hai would actually be used enough to warrant the improvements it might
offer the city’s traffic and reputation problems.
Prapat Krangphanich (right) makes his presentation.
Prapat Krangphanich, a planner with the Chotejinda
Moosell consulting company hired to prepare the rail line’s feasibility
study, said the rail line would start at City Hall on North Pattaya Road,
turn left at the dolphin circle onto Second Road, passing Big C (First
station), crossing Central Road, passing Central Festival Pattaya Beach
(Second station), further down crossing South Pattaya Road passing Pattaya
School No. 8 (Third station) turning right at the flyover onto
Chalermprakiat Road and ending at the Bali Hai Pier.
Boonma Fungrak of the Rong Maikeet community complained
there were too few stations spread too far apart. He said people wanting to
use the rail line would have to pay for other transport just to get to the
station.
The rail line, he added, likely would be popular at
first, but as the novelty wore off would be largely ignored by locals. She
added that traffic created by the likely lengthy construction would be
“unbearable.”
Surin Yimyai, chairman of the 5 December community, said
he approved of the idea because it would help alleviate traffic problems in
Pattaya. He added that it would also enhance Pattaya’s image as an
international tourist destination.
Chonburi has edge in bid for World Expo, governor says
Prinya Thetsawad
Convenient transportation links and solid tourism
infrastructure make Chonburi the best choice to host the 2020 World Expo,
Gov. Senee Jittakasem said this week.
Chonburi Governor Senee Jittakasem
is confident that Pattaya will win the bid to host World Expo 2020.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva confirmed Sept. 5 that
Thailand would be bidding for the expo, which is currently running in
Shanghai and will next be in Italy in 2015. He said three governments are
vying to be host: Chonburi, Ayutthaya and Chiang Mai.
At a Sept. 6 press conference, Senee said he believes
Chonburi is best suited to host the fair, thanks to its proximity to
Bangkok, the large number of hotels and tourism facilities in Pattaya and
the area’s many transportation links.
Thailand will compete against Australia, Brazil, Canada,
China, Denmark, France, Philippines, Turkey, United Arab Emirates and the
United States to be the host of the expo, which is held every five years.
The winner will be announced by year-end.
If awarded to Chonburi, the expo would be staged on
1,200-1,500 rai of land next to Thammasat University’s Pattaya campus near
Siam Country Club. That property currently is home to the Bira International
Circuit race track.
Chiang Mai, meanwhile, plans to integrate the World Expo
with its famous Chiang Mai Zoo, while Ayutthaya would house the event at the
city’s Vocational Training Center.
Senee said Chonburi has a number of advantages over its
competitors, including transportation. Chonburi is within an easy drive of
Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi International Airport and minutes away from smaller
U-Tapao Pattaya International Airport. It also can be accessed via the
deep-water Laem Chabang Port.
By 2020, he added, the region may even have a high-speed
rail line linking Bangkok, Chonburi and Rayong, cutting the travel time from
the capital to just 25 minutes. Compared with Chiang Mai’s smaller airport
and northern location and the relative remoteness of Ayutthaya, Chonburi is
much more convenient, Senee said.
Pattaya, known worldwide as a leading tourism resort,
also has an advantage in hotel rooms and other facilities, the governor
said. With more than 700 million people expected to visit the expo,
Pattaya’s 300 hotels and 37,000 rooms will come in handy.
Senee said if Abhisit chooses Chonburi as Thailand’s
bidder, planning would begin immediately, as China, he noted, took 10 years
to plan the Shanghai expo.
While the expo’s impact on tourism would be huge, the
governor noted the benefit of hosting the exposition would last long after
the fair closed. The Thammasat area would become a new city called “Green
Pattaya 2” and house an exhibition center similar to the BITEC facility in
Bangkok. It will also be used as a showcase for locally made Thai goods and
feature an international sports complex.
“Chonburi will benefit tremendously from this event, in
both the industrial and agricultural sectors,” Senee said.
“Tourism growth will be incredible,” he continued.
“Pattaya will become a world-famous cosmopolitan region, not unlike
Shanghai. I am convinced that in 10 years people from all corners of the
world will come to Pattaya because the city will offer all the comforts and
convenience for our visitors, be it for their business ventures or for their
recreational enjoyment.”
City donates 60 first aid kits to Gopai neighborhood group
Deputy
Mayor Verawat Khakhay (right) talks with Gopai neighborhood residents before
distributing first aid kits.
Vimolrat Singnikorn
Continuing the city’s “20,000 Beds Hospital Project,”
Deputy Mayor Verawat Khakhay presented 60 first aid kits to residents in
Pattaya’s Gopai neighborhood.
Verawat and Pattaya City Council members presented the
kits to Gopai Neighborhood Association Chairman Wirat Noijinda Aug. 24. He
said the supplies are a key part of the Doctor at Home initiative, which
aims to provide medical care to those who often cannot make it to a doctor’s
office.
It’s also just part of the larger 20,000 Beds project,
which attempts to provide medical care to the underprivileged and
chronically ill. By allowing the elderly, infirm and those with diabetes,
high blood pressure, AIDS and other chronic conditions to be cared for at
home, hospital crowding and city traffic can be reduced while making medical
care more convenient, Verawat said.
Noijinda said the medical sets would be well received in
the Gopai neighborhood, a community of 770 homes spread over more than 900
rai. The area traditionally has been very crowded, with pockets of run-down
buildings that played host to young drug users. The community, he said, has
improved of late thanks to the city’s active involvement.
Vendor pitches wireless
video system to city
Sophon
Nanasombat, business development manager for CMS Technology, pitches his
wireless video system.
Thanachot Anuwan
Police and rescue officials could monitor public events
and transmit video during emergencies using a British wireless surveillance
system pitched to the city by its Thai distributor last week.
Sophon Nanasombat, business development manager for CMS
Technology, met with Mayor Itthiphol Kunplome Sept. 3 to show off the
features of the Rinicom Ltd. Coded Orthogonal Frequency Division
Multiplexing video transmission system. The U.K. company claims to have
created the world’s smallest such device, and showed off how it can be
hidden in a jacket for use by undercover officers at public events.
Sophon also said the equipment “is ideal for use in
emergency situations, whereby pictures and sound from the affected areas can
be transmitted to the command center where instructions on rescue procedures
can be swiftly transmitted to emergency teams in the field.”
Sophon said Rinicom product range and expertise has made
it a successful competitor in the market of equipment manufacturers for
first responders, critical infrastructure management teams and other
emergency services. Connections can be made with the touch of a button
without complicated configuration.
The system has a transmission range of eight kilometers,
but requires a WiMax Internet access network, which Pattaya does not have.
Each unit also costs upwards of 1 million baht, so the mayor thanked the
vendor for the presentation and said the city council will consider his
proposal at its next meeting.
Small fire at North Pattaya Big C frightens many, injures none
Firefighters extinguish a small fire near Big C in North Pattaya.
Boonlua Chatree
A short-circuiting spotlight is being blamed for a
fire at North Pattaya’s Central Center that scared many, but injured
none.
Nearly 1,000 people fled from the Big C mall when
smoke began pouring out of a top-floor storeroom before noon Aug. 26.
Five engine companies responded to the fire, but the minor blaze was
extinguished in 10 minutes with no substantive property damage
estimated.
The fire broke out in a storage area near the SF
Cinema City movie theaters that housed dolls and a mattress. Earlier
that day a spotlight shorted out, melting an electrical line that
sparked flames on a mattress. Employees put out the fire without fanfare
and it’s assumed the same wiring caused the larger fire that morning.
City to regulate water vending machines after random checks find coliform bacteria
Vimolrat Singnikorn
Pattaya will begin requiring that drinking water vending
machines be registered and inspected by the city after a number of
dispensers were found contaminated with coliform bacteria.
Bubpa Songsakulchai, a Pattaya Sanitation Department
researcher, and her team conduct random tests on drinking water vending
machines in Pattaya.
Bubpa Songsakulchai, a Pattaya Sanitation Department
researcher, said random tests on water-vending machines in South Pattaya
turned up five dispensers on Soi Day Night with coliform bacteria, most
likely due to the vending machines’ filters not being changed regularly.
Bubpa said to ensure quality, the machine’s filters must
be changed every three months and their internal storage containers cleaned
regularly. The machines have gained popularity in Pattaya due to both their
convenience and lower price compared with bottled water.
The researcher said the Consumer Protection Division is
drafting regulations to require that water vendors attend a maintenance
seminar and that their machines be inspected. Consumers will be able to
check if a machine is clean and safe by looking for an official city
sticker, she said.
Bubpa said if the city finds unregistered water machines,
they will be hauled away and their owners fined 20,000 baht and will face up
to two years in prison. He said the city hopes to have all water-vending
machines under control by the end of the year.
Thieves steal drain
covers in Sattahip
Patcharapol Panrak
Sattahip police are searching for thieves that stole
three iron drainage covers from a small soi off Sukhumvit Road.
Locals put up makeshift warnings to alert motorists about
the missing drain covers until authorities could replace them.
A truck driver reported to Sattahip officials Aug. 27
that someone had removed the drain covers from the roadway between Sukhumvit
51 and 53, creating dangerous holes in the soi for motorists. The truck
driver covered the gaps with concrete slabs and called authorities, who
replaced the missing covers.
Authorities speculate local drug addicts may have taken the valuable
drain covers to sell as scrap. Police are now investigating.
No one hurt in North Point construction site fire
Vimolrat Singnikorn
On September 6 at about 11.45 a.m. a fire broke out in
the storeroom of the Bouygues-Thai premises in Pattaya, on a plot of land
adjacent to Northpoint condominium in Naklua Soi 6.
Fire fighters struggle to put out the flames as thick
smoke rises from the burning storeroom fire.
The one storey storeroom built of concrete, wood and tin
sheets, houses construction material such as electrical equipment, paint,
gas tanks and other tools.
At the time of the fire there were no workers in the
vicinity as they were working at the main building construction site or were
out to lunch.
The storeroom is located about 100 meters from the main
construction site, consisting of a 54 storey building and a 46 storey
building, a 5 storey car park and a building to house power generators and
an underground water storage facility.
Small explosions were heard during the firefighting
efforts which may have been caused by the gas tanks.
Fire fighters managed to control the fire in 30 minutes.
The cause of the fire has yet to be determined, but
police speculate that it could have been caused by an electrical short
circuit.
Officials at Northpoint released a statement saying,
amongst other things, “Property management company Savills has contacted and
reassured Northpoint residents, who are all safe and were not affected by
the incident.”
Illegal loggers raze 3 rai
of Sattahip hillside, shoot at police
Patcharapol Panrak
An illegal timber operation clear cut more than three rai
of land in Sattahip before police and district officials chased off the
lumberjacks.
Officials inspect damage done by illegal loggers in
Sattahip.
Officials responded to the Khaomom Hillside after
complaints the area was being deforested by illegal wood cutters. They
arrived to find three large Dipterocarpus downed by three men fleeing on
foot after firing a shotgun at authorities to ensure their getaway.
Further inspection showed that more than three rai had
been razed of valuable Keruing trees as well as rubber plants. Local
residents confessed they’d known loggers had been illegally taking trees for
two months but were scared to interfere because they were armed.
Authorities took possession of 12 felled Dipterocarpus
trees and are now investigating the logging company and the men who fired on
police.
Grief-stricken American father commits suicide after losing
child for second time
Theerarak Suthathiwong
The grief-stricken father of a 4-year-old boy who died
after falling from the 10th floor of a Jomtien Beach condominium apparently
killed himself with an overdose of sleeping pills four days later.
This photo of Brett Wolfe and his son Michael was found
near the deceased’s body.
American Brett Wolfe, 40, was found by authorities about
six hours after he died, lying on a bed in a Jomtien Plaza room he’d rented
Aug. 25, the day after his son, Michael, had tumbled off a chair on the
balcony of Wolfe’s View Talay 2 apartment. On the table next to the father
was a glass of water and about 20 tablets. A suicide note was left on the
dining room table.
In the hand-written letter he said he felt sad and guilty
over losing his son, who had apparently climbed onto a chair while playing
unattended on the balcony. “I have nothing left in my life,” he wrote,
adding that it was simply “better” to end it all.
The tragedy was not the first trauma the single-father
had endured with his young son. According to the Arizona Republic newspaper
in the United States, young Michael was kidnapped by his babysitter in
February 2008, setting off a national “Amber Alert” for the missing child.
Police found the toddler three days later and arrested the 15-year-old nanny
- whom Wolfe had found through a Craiglist advertisement - and her
35-year-old accomplice.
The child was held by state child-protection officials
for several days amid accusations of neglect and illegal custody. Welfare
officers questioned why Wolfe had hired a teen runaway he found on the
Internet as a live-in nanny and Michael’s mother, Relaiza Labadan, told
authorities via telephone from her native Philippines that the child was
taken to the U.S. without her permission.
Labadan later recanted the story, saying she was angry
about their breakup. Michael was returned to his father and they continued
to live in Surprise, Arizona until Michael moved to Pattaya to work as Muay
Thai boxing instructor five months ago.
American becomes latest tourist
drugged, robbed by late night escorts
Boonlua Chatree
An American man who picked up a woman at a Walking Street
disco and took her back to his room full of gold and electronics woke almost
a day later from a drug-induced nap to find his date and valuables gone.
Police say this woman might be responsible for drugging
and robbing an American tourist.
James Edward Porter, 45, said he invited the woman he met
at the Insomnia disco back to his ST Court Hotel room in the wee hours of
Aug. 28. She asked him to stop at a 7-Eleven store where she bought coffee
for them first. She then asked him to shower first when they got to their
hotel room. After he did, he downed the coffee and soon fell into
unconsciousness.
Porter reported he awoke around 11 p.m. the next day to
find his 150,000 gold bracelet, 100,000 baht gold necklace, 200,000 baht in
cash, Olympus digital camera, passport and keys gone.
Police are pursuing a women Porter identified as the
culprit.
DSI, 100 officers
raid South Pattaya gay bars
Boonlua Chatree
Thailand’s Department of Special Investigations and seven
other agencies raided several South Pattaya gay bars after allegations of
lewd shows, sexual services and narcotics being sold there.
Police look over the license documents for one of the
bars on Soi Pattayaland 1.
More than 100 officials stormed the X-Boy, New Dynamite
and Kawai Boys bars on Soi Pattayaland 1 around 1:45 a.m. Aug. 29. They
found more than 80 male dancers cavorting with foreign customers. Three were
underage and had fake identification cards and all were subjected to drug
tests.
Col. Tanongsak Raksaksakul, commander of the Office of
International Affairs and International Crime, said gay bars generate a
large number of complaints about drug use, prostitution, human trafficking
and child molestation. So, he said, DSI formed the interagency task force to
attempt and sweep out this harmful element from Pattaya.
Gun-toting Kiwi arrested after late-night shoot ‘em up
Boonlua Chatree
Pattaya Police arrested a New Zealand man carrying a
loaded pistol who allegedly shot into the air outside a Thai woman’s house
on Soi Khao Noi.
Police bring in Gary Clarke for questioning.
Gary Clarke, 29, was taken into custody around 3:20 a.m.
Sept. 4 after officers who pulled over his Toyota Fortuner saw he had a 9mm
Berretta tucked in his belt.
Clarke’s vehicle was apparently red-flagged by police
after 26-year-old Rachnee Rachtan called police claiming the Kiwi had shot a
gun into the air outside her home. Neighbors reportedly spotted the Phuket
license plate and alerted police.
Police charged Clarke with the possession of a lethal
weapon and ammunition without a permit and carrying the weapon in public.
Police asked Rachnee to file an official police report after which more
charges may be added.
Police suspect inside job
in 1 million baht theft of
Dutch couple’s safe
Boonlua Chatree
Police speculate that a thief who stole more than a
million baht in cash and jewelry from the safe of a Dutch couple had
intimate knowledge of their Jomtien Beach home.
Frederik and Josina Gordijn called police after returning
home Aug. 31 to find their bedroom ransacked but only the safe’s contents
missing. Opened with a key hidden in the couple’s wardrobe, the safe had
contained 2,040 euros, 20,000 baht, three gold necklaces weighing nine baht,
a 12-karat Russian diamond set valued at 20,000 euro, and a pair of diamond
earrings.
Frederik, 67, told police he and his 64-year-old wife had
gone out that morning, leaving their Burmese handyman, “Charlie” in their
two-storey Soi Eden house. The gardener told investigators he’d been inside
all day watching television, but had heard nothing. Suspicious of his
behavior during questioning, but lacking any sort of evidence the Burmese
man was complicit in the burglary, officers simply took his passport while
they investigate.
Police say the thief had to have been known to the
couple, as there were no signs of forced entry and the safe was opened with
a key. There was also a guard dog that apparently didn’t raise a fuss.
Police hunt for Serbians alleged to have stolen Rayong ATM
Police
inspect the stolen ATM left in a cassava
field sans the 4.3 million baht in had inside.
Theerarak Suthathiwong
Four Serbian men are believed to be behind last month’s
theft of a Rayong automated teller machine containing more than 4 million
baht.
Police Sept. 1 found the two trucks the thieves used to
haul away the ATM, which was found later in a cassava plantation in Huay Yai
sans 4.3 million baht. Maj. Gen. Tanitsak Theerasawat, commander of the
Rayong Provincial Police, and Pattaya Police Superintendent Nantawaut
Suwanla-Ong examined the Toyota and Isuzu trucks at the T.C.C. Car Center on
Sukhumvit Road in Pattaya.
The team of 30 officers seized the vehicles and paperwork
related to their lease, including copies of passports the thieves used.
Using that, investigators determined that two of the men had already fled
across the border into Cambodia, but police on September 7 tracked down and
arrested two others who were hiding out in Bangkok and transferred them to
Rayong for further investigation.
Car dealer Akarapol Chansaereekul said he rented the two
trucks Aug. 19-20 and Aug. 25-27, but had no idea they were used in the Aug.
27 heist. He confirmed the drivers to European and the vehicles matched that
shown in security camera footage at the bank.
3 Pattaya discos recognized for following law, regulations
Chonburi Public
Relation Department
Chonburi officials have nominated three Pattaya
discotheques to receive awards for strictly following the law.
Chonburi Governor Senee Jittakasem presides over a
meeting of deputy governors and provincial chiefs.
At an Aug. 30 meeting of deputy governors and provincial
chiefs, Deputy Gov. Pornchai Kwansakul said Pattaya’s Hollywood, Star Dice
and X-Zyte discos all met Interior Ministry requirements to be listed as
“white service” locations that comply with social laws and regulations. Also
nominated to receive honorary plaques were UEFA in Sriracha and Bebe in
Chonburi.
Pornchai also announced that the Interior Ministry would
bestow the “Mark of Territorial Great Life” on Chonburi Juvenile and Family
Provincial Prosecutor and the Deputy Provincial Administrative Organization
for their efforts in supporting the ministry’s National Defense Volunteer
program.
In other business, Social Development and Human Security
Administrator Somchai Sirorat reported that the Social Welfare Council of
Thailand selected two women to receive “Best Mothers” awards. Samrong Tam-Saard
was recognized for benefits to society and Walaiporn Sujiranutham for
patience and diligence.
Closing the meeting with status reports, the Khao Kheow
Open Zoo discussed its plant breed conservation project, the Sports
Authority updated officials on preparations for the 39th National Games,
bureaucrats presented an update on the Chonburi pillar project and health
officials provided the latest information on influenza H1N1 cases and
control.
Navy stages anti-drug
program at Rayong school
Rear Adm. Prathee Sukpinit spearheads a Royal Thai
Navy-sponsored seminar
to teach Rayong students about the dangers of drugs
and how to avoid them.
Theerarak Suthathiwong
More than 100 Rayong students learned about the dangers
of drugs and how to avoid them during a Royal Thai Navy-sponsored seminar.
The Aug. 17 activity for 120 teens at Rayong Wittayakom
Paknam School included a seminar, photo exhibition, selection of youth
leaders to take charge of the anti-drug effort at the school and a sports
competition.
Rear Adm. Prathee Sukpinit, deputy commander in chief of
Navy Region 1, said children need to be given activates that keep them busy
in their free time and away from drugs. Sports, he said, offer a great way
of doing that.
While there are several organizations working to raise
youth awareness of the drug problem in Thailand, the Navy, he said, has a
commitment to work closely with schools in the Rayong area.
Bang Saray boaters race
to pick up garbage
And
they’re off!
Patcharapol Panrak
Bang Saray-area organizations discovered a unique way to
get locals to help clean up the beach: turn the cleanup into a boat race.
Residents from eight neighborhoods and schools joined
sub-district officials, the Royal Thai Navy and more than a half-dozen other
groups in a Aug. 27 beach cleanup and rowing competition that not only
rewarded the fastest boat, but the one that could collected the most trash
from land and sea.
Mana Bunmee of May Name Sattahip Supply Part Ltd. offered
to pay 1 baht for every kilogram of refuse collected and 10 baht for every
used tire. Each team ended up collecting more than 50 kg..
Bang Saray Mayor Pinsom Nimsuwan said the beach has been
under pressure from erosion and development. Realizing the impact the
beachfront has on people’s lives and occupations, local groups wanted to do
something to restore the natural scenic beauty, he said.
Participating were the Royal Thai Navy’s Naval
Recruitment Center, the Sriracha Fisheries Research Station, Kasetsart
University, Kledkaew Sub-district, A.D. Condominium, Underwater World
Pattaya, May Name Sattahip Supply Part. Ltd., Mae Mae Ubon Group and local
fisheries groups.
The
winning team poses next to their garbage.
Pattaya seminar pushes
street vendors to clean up
Pattaya
vendors listen to presenters at City Hall teaching them about health codes,
garbage disposal and presenting a good image.
Thanachot Anuwan
Hoping to inspire the city’s many street vendors to clean
up their acts, Pattaya officials staged a seminar to teach them about health
codes, garbage disposal and presenting a good image.
About 200 vendors attended the Aug. 31 workshop at
Pattaya City Hall. Mayor Itthiphol Kunplome opened the event, telling the
food sellers and wandering merchants that their products and behavior can
leave a good or bad impression on the tourists so vital to the community’s
welfare.
Vendors were briefed on proper sanitation practices,
health regulations and cleanliness.
Sattahip woman finds 2-headed gecko, inspiration to play lottery
Patcharapol Panrak
If not for its size, the two-head gecko Chanthom Kreetha
found in her Sattahip house might have had her running for the hills.
Instead, it inspired her to bet on the lottery.
Two heads are better than one - unless you plan to use
them to play the lottery.
Chanthom, 52, said she wasn’t frightened by the mutated
reptile. She noticed it while cooking an early morning offering for a monk
at Samnak Patibattham Temple on Soi Yenruedee. The housewife took it as a
sign her kindness was being repaid with a visit from a unique creature to
bring her luck, as other family members had won after finding lizards with
two tails.
She placed the freakish little fellow in a silver bowl
with a candle and some money for good luck then set out to buy a lottery
ticket with her house number and age as the lucky numbers. Alas, her numbers
didn’t come through. Maybe she’ll be luckier in the next draw.
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