Vol. 8 No. 11 16 - 28 February 2009
NEWS
Pattaya Today 7
Police give donations Raja Maritime School’s 10th anniversary to the disabled-needy
At Pattaya Police Station, Police Colonel Sarayoot Sa-ngawnpokai, Pattaya Police Superintendent and Foreign Police Volunteers Group 5 donated necessity items to Karoonyawet Banglamung Home for the Disabled to the value of 19,000 baht.
Police Colonel Sarayoot revealed that this donation was a new year present from Pattaya Police Station to people in need, especially the disabled and the less fortunate. Also, it wanted to change people’s idea that police never give cash to charity. In fact they do.
Navy Officers trained to disperse protestors
Captain Noppadon Panyachome, Director of Royal Thai Navy Security Department, ordered 225 navy officers to train in crowd dispersal at a soccer field at Samnakkraton School, Bangchang, Rayong. The purpose of the training exercise was to prepare the officers in case any protesting crowd get out of control and creating mahem in the streets. The training focused on new tactics to disperse mobs without destroying property or injuring any human beings.
A mass rally against the government is protected by the constitution and, as long as the crowd protests in peace, there will be no loss of lives nor any public property damaged. If matters turn violent that may be different. Nevertheless, there should be professionaly trained officials to disperse the crowd in case they are out of control and this training would definitely enhance the skills of those trained who would thus be ready to do the job if needed.
Press conference for the Honda LPGA 2009
At the Siam Country Club's Plantation Course, Pattaya, Mr. Pitak Puettisasikorn, Managing Director of Honda Automobile (Thailand), Mrs. Surang Prempree, Managing Director of Channel 7, and Mr. Prasertchai Porn-
prapa, Managing Director of Siam Country Club's Plantation, held a press conference for the forthcoming Honda Ladies Professional Golfers Association (LPGA) Thailand 2009 golf tournament. The Honda Ladies Profes-
Raja Maritime School, located on South Pattaya Road, celebrated the 10th anniversary of the school, when local officials and dignitaries attended the ceremony. The event started with 9 Buddhist monks chanting the liturgies for good luck and prosperity for the staff, students and the school
generally. After the religious ceremony, the honorary guests toured the exhibition of school’s past, present, and future. The Raja Maritime School was officially opened on January 24th, 1999 and offers maritime courses and training for those who wish to work in the maritime industry.
Statues of the dead almost killed sculptor
A navy man who was a gifted sculptor was commissioned to make 2 sculptures of sentries to be erected in front of Pramaha Jetsadaratchao Marine Division, Royal Thai Marine Corps. While he was making the sculptures, he wanted them to look more human so had performed a ritual to call on the dead soldiers’ spirit to take up residence. After calling the spirits, it seemed like bad luck had descended on him
and his beloved wife -- they had been cursed ever since. For example, he slipped and fell twice and almost died of his injuries. His wife’s middle finger was cut off by a coconut grater machine in an unrelated incident. This paranormal tale had been revealed by Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy Pramote Wantong, aged 45, and Mrs. Junjira Wantong, the wife, aged 41, who lived at Sattahip, Ban-
sional Golfers Association (LPGA) 2009 was scheduled to take place on February 26th thru March 1st, 2009 at the Siam Country Club's Plantation Course, Pattaya, Chonburi. The golf course was designed by SchmidtCurley Inc, and the contest is a 72-hole, stroke play event. Female Superstars from the LPGA Tour are led by Lorena Ochoa, Yani Tseng (2), Paula Creamer (3), Suzann Pettersen (4), Helen Alfredsson (6), Cristie Kerr (7), Angela Stanford (8), Karrie Webb (9) Seon Hwa Lee
(10), Se Ri Pak, Inbee Park, Morgan Pressel, Juli Inkster, Jeong Jang, Laura Davies, Ai Miyazato, Christina Kim, Russamee 'Russy' Gulyanamitta, Stacy Prammanasudh etc. The prize money for this golf tournament is $1.45 million or about 50 million baht. Ticket prices for Thursday and Friday are 200 baht. Saturday and Sunday 400 baht. Under 18s and over 60s can attend the event for free. Golf fans can purchase tickets at www.thaiticketmajor.com
glamung, Chonburi. They said that after the ill omens kept plaguing them, they decided to seek advice from a Brahma priest. The priest told them to perform another ritual to ask for forgiveness from the guardian spirits and offer food and beverages to them. Khun Pramote admitted he had performed a ritual to call on solders’ spirit to possess his statutes in order to make them look and feel human and he did not tell any one about his ritual. While he was asleep, he dreamt of a dead man who was a seaman from North East named Rapee. His wife, for her part, began sleep walking and talking to unseen guests. In the morn-
ing, she turned on her coconut grater machine and her middle finger was cut off due to a malfunction of the engine or some interference by the supernatural. Khun Pramote then slipped and fell twice in the bathroom and each time almost killed himself. Khun Pramote said that he was a self-taught sculptor and never even attended school for this subject. He further stated that he might have made mistakes during his ritual to invite the spirits of the dead to possess his statues. However, after apologizing to the spirits in the ritual suggested by the priest, all matters had returned to normal. Thank goodness for that.
Pattaya music festival now back after a break Pattaya deputy mayor Weerawut Kharkai chaired a planning meeting to pave the way for the musical event on February 20 thru’ 22 at various locations throughout the city. The Thai tourist authority had allocated 20 million baht in funds to spend on high quality Thai and international singers to perform in front of the masses. The music festival did
not occur last year, so after a 12 months break, this year the centres will be at Bali Hai pier, sois 4-6 on beach road and the area in front of Central Festival. The provincial administration organisation of Chonburi has also kicked in 10 million baht to ensure the whole thing is a wow event for young and old enthusiasts of music in all its styles and glory.