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Oops! Where did that reef come from?
Canadian murder suspect to be tried in Thailand
Road rage in the “Land of Smiles” leads to murder
American sailor arrested for possession of drugs
Five men steal van, handcuff driver to a tree
Residents protest Hwy 36 U-turn inconvenience
Angry elephant runs amok in Jomtien “Mad” mahouts give chase Plai Srichai, a 36-year-old bull elephant had a shocking experience last week, literally, and ran amok through the southern Jomtien area. Police were called in to try and control the situation, and when they arrived, they were met by the elephant’s mahout, Jamras Kerdudom. Jamras innocently told police that Plai Srichai had become unmanageable and began running wild in Ban Thin Chang Thai, Soi Chaiyapruek.
Police soon learned that Jamras wasn’t quite as innocent as he led them to believe. Jamras said that Plai Srichai was a very strong elephant, but he was suffering from an illness caused by his former owner having cut off his tusks. The injured area had become infected. On top of that, Plai Srichai was “in must”. The mahout didn’t think very much about it and was not aware that something was wrong. Jamras decided that Plai Srichai needed a nice cool bath so he began to hose him down. The water caused an irritation to the pachyderm’s wound, which caused him to become wild and he tried to attack the mahout. Jamras ran for his life, calling on his mahout colleagues to help him subdue the rampaging elephant. As thoughtful, experienced and compassionate as any mahout can be, they tried to calm the suffering elephant by inflicting electric shocks. This, as any idiot would know, caused Plai Srichai even more pain and suffering, and he then turned and ran towards the village. Police called on the Sawang Boriboon Foundation and veterinarian Dr. Alongkorn Mahanop to come to assist in pacifying and treating the mangled elephant before it caused physical harm to tourists and the villagers. Our poor run away friend proved to be smarter than his mahout and the police-led hunting party. Having been hurt by man he did not want to have anything to do with them again. He eluded the humans by running down to Jomtien Beach, swung around behind a hotel, into the tall undergrowth off Soi Wat Boon, emerging into a small opening in the forest where he found a nice quiet pond and submerged himself hoping to find relief from both the physical and mental pain. The exhausted team of well and not so well intentioned trackers arrived to find Plai Srichai at peace with himself in his natural bathtub. The kind hearted police kept everyone away from the relaxing elephant, knowing very well that that was the best way for the elephant to be calm again. After patiently waiting and watching Plai Srichai for four hours, the officials decided that the huge beast of burden was calm enough to attempt to cajole him back home. Jamras then called out to Plai Srichai, coaxed him out of the water and as he came close he gave him some food. Finally gaining confidence in each other, Plai Srichai reluctantly allowed Jamras to climb up to his neck and ride him back home.
South Pattaya pier 35% complete Plethora of boats in the area causing problems The new pier in South Pattaya is now 35% complete, despite all the problems being caused by the enormous amount of boats in the area. The Engineering Department under the Interior Ministry is overseeing construction, and estimates the pier will be completed in 2003. Engineers say that concrete slabs will be laid along the pier in July. Plans have been slightly altered so that the pier can accommodate 500 boats form the original plan of only 100.
Initially, the project for the landfill and pier would have covered an area of 119 rai, but was reduced to 18.79 rai. The many boats beached on the construction site are causing delays. The contractors, Bangsaen Mahanakorn Co. Ltd. have made arrangements for the boats to be parked on land made available on Thepprasit Road. But the boat operators seem to prefer to stay where they are, which gets in the way of construction equipment. One official observed that in 1996-1997 there were only 100 boats accounted for, but now there are more than 500. He said he didn’t understand where they came from. Sources say that the management of the pier would be the city hall’s responsibility. This would cover all aspects of beauty, cleanliness and most important it’s environmental friendliness. The official further said that that the engineering department has learned a tough lesson from their blunder on Koh Larn. The pier that was built at Had Ta Waen Beach was built without taking tides and wind changes into consideration. During most of the year, boats aren’t able to use the pier because of dangerous conditions. He says that now during the period of June to October when the conditions are better and the seas are calmer the boats are able to berth there. The authorities plan to build a breakwater so that the pier can be used all year round. This of course has been passed the stringent conditions laid out by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment. The pier is one of nine main projects the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment approved in 1990 for rejuvenation of Pattaya. Construction commenced on June 26, 2000, and was to be completed on December 12, 2002 at a cost of 238,320,500 baht. This cost includes 18.79 rai of landfill, an 803.30 meter long pier, parking space for cars, recreation and service buildings, parking space for boats, public parks, footpaths and the extension of 3rd Road to Walking Street.
Banking, globalization and rural development are keys to Thailand’s economic recovery Prime Minister outlines his government’s agenda during FCCT speech Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, speaking at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand in Bangkok on June 4, outlined his government’s agenda to revitalize the Thai economy. “To my mind, the major challenge in Thailand’s economic arena is the need to put our banking sector and ‘real’ corporate sector back on a recovery path in the face of a rapidly deteriorating global economy,” PM Thaksin said. “Our social and economic policies are also geared to create a stable platform for future investment.” The Prime Minister said that there is a lot of work to do, and that there are no overnight solutions. “Our policies to kick-start the economy must also be policies to restructure key sectors, namely, the banking sector, the corporate sector and the government sector. This will certainly take some time and one cannot hope for any quick fixes,” he said. “Our near-term priority is to fix the banking sector,” he continued, and said that, “The government must step in and shoulder a fair share of the burden.” Tourism, agriculture and industry are important factors for generating income. “The Government will focus on key priority sectors where we believe Thailand has unique advantages and untapped potential. Such industries include tourism, agribusinesses, automotive-related enterprises, and electronics, to name a few. The tourism sector, in particular, generates tremendous foreign exchange value-added income, helps globalize Thailand, and has a pervasive impact on income distribution,” he said. Revitalizing domestic spending is also an important step towards economic recovery in the Kingdom. “The economic slowdown in our major export markets has hurt our export performance this year. Therefore, due to a deceleration of external and domestic demand, we believe that counter-cyclical fiscal stimulus is necessary to revive the economy. For this reason, the Government plans to implement a fiscal stimulus package in the next fiscal year to support domestic demand. “Furthermore, we intend to tackle the problem of government debt, in part by ‘unlocking’ the value of our state assets in the government and state enterprise sector through a focus on management, efficiency and quality improvements. I also attach a high priority to the privatization strategy and the related regulatory framework,” the Prime Minister said. The Prime Minister also told the FCCT that ending corruption is a high priority for his government. “Critical to the revival of the corporate sector is our continuing commitment to better governance, accountability and transparency,” he said. “One way to provide equal opportunities for our people is to eradicate corruption - a problem that is all too pervasive in our society. That is why this government has declared a war against corruption and is determined to instill better governance in both the public and private sectors.” Turning his attention to the rural community, the Prime Minister said his government is dedicated to improving the lives of farmers. “The village revolving fund and temporary debt suspension for our poorest farmers are aimed at providing assistance and support to people at the grassroots level. By assisting in the improvement of the farmers’ skills, we hope to help them to better help themselves. “The village fund should enable people in the rural areas to process their agricultural products, develop handicraft skills, and add supplementary vocations for higher income during the off-season.” PM Thaksin also puts a lot of emphasis on bridging the technology gap. “Our government’s line of thinking is to place emphasis on better management, task-oriented technology, improving competitiveness, and long-term commitment to continuing reform.” He also said that this might take changing traditional ways of thinking. “As the leader of the government, I would like to encourage all Thais to think ‘out of the box’ to create a new paradigm, a new system, to unleash Thailand’s potential and create a new society that is both more prosperous and more equitable.” Prime Minister Thaksin hinted that the government may be more liberal towards foreign investment. “We have already taken steps to re-invigorate the Stock Exchange of Thailand, including offering tax incentives, plans for new listings, and provisions to allow greater foreign participation. “Thailand’s past and future success is based on its openness to foreigners and its participation in a globalizing world. We aim to achieve the right balance of internal focus on strengthening domestic corporate and government institutions and external focus on being a value-added partner to a growing world economy. We realize that our economy is susceptible to powerful external forces-both positive and negative-and that we must be prepared to adapt to such global events. “While Thailand will continue to maintain an open, free-trade economy, we will also vigorously pursue closer bilateral ties with other countries, especially our partners in Asia, to promote trade and economic cooperation.”
Updated every Friday Updated by
Chinnaporn Sungwanlek, assisted by Boonsiri Suansuk. |
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Mike
Karas, circa 1996
American
serviceman Jason Beck was arrested for drugs.
Plai
Srichai outruns and outsmarts his pursuers through South Jomtien
South
Pattaya’s new pier is 35% complete