Five youth bands battled for professional and public acclaim as Central Festival Pattaya Beach hosted the 12th Singha Showcase on Stage.

Sponsored by the beachfront mall, Singha Corp., Jukebox Radio Pattaya and the Tourism Authority of Thailand, the musical contest featured performances from Misty Blue, Wednesday Child, Phayak and California Night, and winner of the 2012 Pattaya Music Challenge, Awaken.

Police and consumer-protection officials are calling for swift remedial action after finding a majority Pattaya retail, hotel and vehicle-rental companies are selling uncertified products or lack licenses altogether.

The Transport Ministry will spend 15 million baht to create a wheelchair-accessible pedestrian bridge over Sukhumvit Road.

Assistant Minister Prasert Janthrawongthong joined Rev. Michael Picharn Jaiseri, president of Father Ray Foundation, and Deputy Mayor Ronakit Ekasingh at the Redemptorist School for Disabilities Jan. 24 to inspect the site of the planned elevators and bridge over Sukhumvit near the 145-kilometer marker.

Property Developers N.C. Group has announced that the first phase of its new Natureza Condominium venture has sold out even before the project’s official launch.

Bangkok Hospital Pattaya kicked off its fifth year of blood drives benefitting the Chonburi Red Cross.

Hospital Deputy Director Dr. Supakorn Winwan joined staff and officials from Queen Savang Vadhana Memorial Hospital Jan. 17 for the start of the “New Blood for This World” campaign.

Pattaya officials are proposing building a landfill on Koh Larn, where broken sanitation trucks and suspended ferry service has left the island choking on garbage.

Tourists and foreign business owners are being invited to brainstorm and suggest ideas to stem Pattaya’s surging crime rate during a half-day seminar organized by the Royal Thai Police.

The committee tasked with resolving Pattaya’s long-running jet ski scandal has approved a revised insurance scam that would force watercraft vendors to carry policies covering a minimum 50,000 baht for damage, death and total disability.

The Department of Alternative Energy Development and Efficiency offered Chonburi builders advice on how to comply with Thailand’s energy conservation laws when constructing new buildings.

Chonburi officials failed in their attempt to cut the number of New Year’s holiday road accidents by 5 percent, with crashes and fatalities instead jumping by double-digit percentages.