Tuesday 30 December 2014

Pattaya Journalists Spend a Day on Pattaya Beach

Being a journalist in Pattaya can be a tough job. Late nights attending gruesome accident scenes. Putting their lives on the line reporting on raucous rioters or just plain mind numbing hours of boredom attending an endless stream of Pattaya City Hall committee meetings.

News must be slow in Pattaya. A group of budding media moguls were given the onerous job of spending a day on the beach. Their task to report on tourist numbers, or lack of tourist numbers and what the foreign and Thai tourists get up to when they take their clothes off.

Well according to the Journos tourist numbers are healthy and folks seem to be taking advantage of the new beach regulations that have been set up where beach lovers can set up for their vitamin D fix without having to use the services of the beach brolly brigade.

Naklua North Pattaya Seafood Market

If you stroll down Walking Street in Pattaya on any evening and can tear your eyes away from the welcoming welcome girls who make such a welcome sight you will notice another bunch of welcomers brandishing menus and guiding you to their place of work at a nearby seafood restaurant.

The fish, crabs lobsters look great and the prices not so great. Still you are paying to dine in one of the regions prestigious if a little salubrious prime tourist traps.

Most of the seafood on display is caught locally and sold to wholesalers, restaurateurs and the general public at a sea side market in Naklua North Pattaya. Fresh off the boat and at prices that are half what you would pay in Walking Street this is the place to shop if you have a craving for crab have a hankering for Haddock or loony about lobsters.

There are a number of food stalls who, for a small charge will cook and present your recent purchases which you can enthusiastically devour at fold up tables and plastic stools or packed into Styrofoam to be taken home or consumed in a beach seafood picnic.

Years ago paid one of my regular visits to Naklua Seafood Market - I have a particular penchant for prawns. I bought a bunch of large shrimps to put on the barbi and a couple of giant sized live crabs. The first crab was very tasty and the second placed to one side for later.  The shrimp were succulent and when I turned to sacrifice the second crab - well I was to be disappointed it had done a runner and was never to be seen again.

Cambodian Construction Worker Chokes to Death on Chicken in Jomtien Near Pattaya

A unit of he Sawang Boriboon Rescue Foundation was on standby at a Jomtien location when they received a call asking them to provide assistance to a young man who was unconscious at the side of the road and apparently not breathing. The rescue Unit rushed to the scene on Soi Chayaupreuk 1 outside the entrance to Lalana Garden Village Housing Estate.

The victim a 27 year old Cambodian man appeared to have choked on a piece of fried chicken and collapsed. Medics cleared his airway and removed the chicken. CPR was administered as he was transported speedily to Banglamung Hospital.

A taxi driver on duty at his taxi rank outside of the housing estate that two young men who appeared to be inebriated had approached him asking for him to take them to Jomtien Beach. As he got on the bike he fell to the floor convulsing and a call for assistance was made.

Despite the efforts of emergency medics at the scene and the doctors at Banglamung Hospital the 27 year old Cambodian construction worker was declared dead at the hospital.

As is the custom The Cambodian Embassy will be notified of the death of one of it's citizens.

Na Jomtien Pattaya Traffic Checkpoints

Pattaya Police are utilising the power of the press to get their road safety messages across to the general public. Journalists and other members of the media being invited to observe and report on the activities of the fine boys  in brown as they set up extra traffic checkpoints across the region.

In Na Jomtien near Pattaya the highway traffic officers assisted by Pattaya police volunteers set up checkpoints at the crossroads by the region 2 Prosecutors building a place for reasons I won't go into I know very well. The crossroads is a busy spot with the main road to Huay Yai district crossing the multi lane Chonburi to Sattahip Sukhumvit Road highway.

The police are on the look out for motorcyclists and their passengers riding without helmets and peering through windows to spot motorists too lazy to click on their seat belts. When a stop is made paperwork is scrutinised, registration documents, driving licences and the like.

Whilst the journalists were there one motorist whose breath seemed to suggest that more attention was warranted. He was asked to blow into a breathalyser which suggested that he may have partaken of Seang Som rather than Som Tam. A group of teenage motorcyclists were pulled up for a chat. They turned out to be clean and their paperwork even cleaner.

Three Children Killed in High Speed Motorcycle Crash on Sukhumvit Road North Pattaya

Three teenagers killed in a horrific motorcycle accident in North Pattaya. Three 15 year old kids killed whilst riding a single motorcycle at high speed on Sukhumvit Road North Pattaya. That's three young lives snuffed out in one crash. What are the parents thinking about. Why does it seem that Thai parents don't give a monkey's about the lives of their offspring.

OK rant over - I am supposed to report the news not comment on social values or lack of social values in an obviously third world country.

Pattaya Police and rescue units from The Sawang Boriboon Rescue Foundation arrived on scene to find a 50 metre debris field of what remained of a pink Honda Scooby. Scuff marks on the road surface and nearby street furniture suggested a high speed crash although in the early hours of the morning there were no witnesses. 

I won't go into details of the blood and gore that littered the scene. One girl, one young 15 year old girl pronounced dead at the scene and two 15 year old boys pronounced dead after being transported to Bangkok Pattaya Hospital and succumbing to their injuries.

Rest in Peace Luuk

Bike Gangs Tossing Grenades Wake Up Pattaya Community

It's not unusual for local residents in and around Pattaya to have their sleep interrupted by the sounds of screaming motorcycle engines as gangs of often alcohol and drug fueled Thai yobbos compete to see who can be the most obnoxious.

Pattaya Countdown festivities over The New Year saw a dramatic increase irresponsible in idiots roaming the highways, byways and sois of this fair city. Residents in Soi Khopai awoke not just to the sound of manic mopeds but also to the ominous sound of bombs going off.

Police rushed to the scene but the dumb wits had already disappeared into the night. There was clear evidence of a small device that had detonated and then police came across a couple of grenades that had failed to explode. Military bomb disposal experts were called in to do what they do best expertly dispose of bombs.

Residents and witnesses in the now not so sleepy community gave accounts of what appeared to be rival gangs of about 10-15 goons chasing their own tail pipes and then an escalation as they tried to wipe each other off the face of the earth by tossing hand grenades at each other.

Monday 29 December 2014

Brit Paints Walls of Wat Suttawat in East Pattaya

At last a story with many happy endings. Happy for a Brit, Happy for a temple, happy for the community and unexpectedly happy for me your humble news reader.

Before Christmas 77 year old Brit Mr. Terry Smith had got down on his knees and started the mammoth job of painting the perimeter walls of Wat Suttawat at the end of Soi Nernplubwan in Nongprue District East Pattaya.

Terry who had converted to his Thai wife's religion of Buddhism had noticed the walls were well due to a coat or two of paint and with the Abbot's permission a bucket of white paint a brush in hand and his wife cheering him on he got down to work.

A video of him hard at his charitable work went viral on the Interweb with foreign and Thai posters on Facebook praising his efforts. There were a few naysayers on the forums and chat rooms who did the Bah humbug impressions and warned that he could well end up in jail for working without a work permit.

This of course was never going to happen - instead over Christmas and New Year hundreds of locals , army officers the old and the not so old worked tirelessly with 20,000 Baht of buckets of donated paint to finish the job that Mr. Terry had started. Making merit and celebrating His majesty King Bhumiphol's extended reign as the King of Thailand was their declared aims

And an additional and unexpected happy ending. I live near Wat Sutthawat Temple and took a motorcycle taxi from Big C Extra Central Pattaya a few days ago. I was rummaging in my pocket for the 150 Baht fare when the motorcycle taxi driver waied me and said you are a good guy paint temple no charge and rode off. Now that was a very nice gesture but a little disconcerting as I am a long way off the 77 years young Mr. Terry.

Pattaya Drug Dealing Chain Arrested

Chonburi police officers accompanied by Sattahip drug enforcement agents set up a sting operation in Bang Saray District that snared a low level low life drug dealer Khun Seksak AKA Crane aged 29 who they found was in possession of 10 Yaa Baa (Methamphetamine) tablets and 1,200 baht

The officers had already arrested another dealer in death Khun Suppachai aged 28 who was detained along with the 20 Yaa Baa tablets that he was carrying. Khun Suppachai was a good singer and did his canary impression by giving up his supplier the aforementioned Khun Crane.

Khun Crane was a serial loser he had only recently been released and had served 2 years in prison  for an earlier drug trafficking offence.

The daisy chain of drug dealing dim wits continued with Khun Crane now snitching on his supplier Khun Wut who he had recently purchased 50 Ya baa tablets to sell during the New Year holidays. Looks like they will be celebrating this New year, next New Year and hopefully many more New Years courtesy of the Thai Department of Corrections.

Young Thai Lady Dies in Fall from Central Festival Shopping Mall Pattaya

Pattaya Police had only a short distance to cover from Pattaya Police Station to the second Road entrance of Central Festival Shopping Mall after a report came in that someone had jumped from the car park at the side of the Shopping Centre. At the scene they found only a blood stain on the ground as the person had already been taken by staff of the shopping mall to the nearby Pattaya Memorial Hospital.

At the hospital police ascertained the identity as Miss Nathan aged 26 from Buriram Province. It is thought that she was a shop worker at the Central Festival shopping mall.

As soon as the incident had occured a security guard was confronted with the massively injured body of Miss Nathan and had rushed to inform Mall management staff. A manager decided that it was not a nice thing for the dead body to be left in situ as it was high season and the sight of a mangled body would upset Thai and foreign customers coming and going at The Mall.

Whether she committed suicide by jumping from the 5th floor, was murdered and her body tossed over the parapet or this was an accidental death of some form we may never known as the only evidence was immediately removed.

Fatal Motorcycle Accident in Nongprue East Pattaya

Police Officers from Nongprue police station in East Pattaya were called to the scene of an accident after local residents had heard the sound of a crash. They rushed to attend the scene along with a unit of The Sawang Boriboon Rescue Foundation.

At the scene near a flyover on Highway 36 they found the wreckage of a Suzuki motorcycle which appears to have collided with a road sign in the centre of the road. The rider of the motorcycle Khun Yupin aged 32 had sustained massive traumatic injuries in the crash and appears to have died instantly from her injuries.

The extent of the damage to the Suzuki and the severity of the injuries suggested that the deceased was driving her motorcycle at high speed at the time of the crash. The accident scene also revealed some clues that maybe another vehicle which left the scene may have been involved in Khun Yupin losing control of her machine and subsequently losing her life.

Khun Yupin was transported to Banglamung Hospital for a full forensic post mortem to be carried out before the body can be released to relatives for funeral rites to be carried out.

Pattaya Walking Street Entertainment Venues Undergo Fire Safety Inspections

Just before the Christmas and New Year celebrations in Pattaya swung into full gear Khun Komsan the Governor of Chonburi Province tasked Khun Amnat, the Chief Bailiff of Banglamung District with carrying out a series of inspections of safety standards in the town's nightclubs, discos and entertainment venues.

A team of Banglamung officials, fire safety experts and building safety officials and Pattaya Police officers started their task on Walking Street in South Pattaya where the bulk of foreign and Thai tourists will be flocking to enjoy the seasons festivities. Establishments were checked to make sure that they met stringent fire safety standards with requisite fire extinguishers and that water fire suppressing sprinkler systems and fire exits were available and serviceable.

The authorities are haunted by the tragic events of the Santika nightclub disaster in 2009 when a fire swept through the venue taking the lives of 59 mainly Thai revellers.

Some irregularities were found during the visits and the venues were served with notices and instructed to make make urgent changes otherwise they could be subject to temporary closure orders which would be devastating for the business in the midst of the high season.

Whilst touring Walking Street venues the Officers also detained a number of street vendors who were selling illegal fireworks in contravention of local regulations. 

Saturday 27 December 2014

New Pattaya Beach Vendor Regulations

The Royal Thai Army are conducting manoeuvres on beaches in the Pattaya area. No they are not practising D-day style military beach landings the yare assisting Pattaya police to enforce a new set of regulations to make Pattaya a cleaner and clearer spot for tourists to comfortably cultivate their tans before they return home to snowy Siberia or frosty Finland.

Beach operators who man the numerous concessions along Pattaya and Jomtien Beaches are not happy chappies or chapessess. A complicated array of regulations has declared designated areas as public open beaches where vendors are not allowed to stick their brollies and line up their tables and deck chairs. Other areas where the operators are allowed to operate have found that hey can only open their operations for six days a week. 

To add insult to injury January 6th and 7th has been designated Pattaya Beach Cleaning Day and no yes you heard that nill, nada deck chairs or umbrellas will be allowed out of their well guarded deck chair stacks.

So a minus minus for the beach operators. A plus for the much cleaner if rapidly eroding beach and a plus plus for the tourists who will be able to bring their own mats and towels and not have to pay for a nice comfy deck chair under a nice shady beach umbrella with a nice ice cold beer in their hands.

Pattaya Countdown 2015 Counting on Huge Influx of Tourist Dollars, Baht, Yen and Roubles

From the start of the Pattaya Countdown to 2015 which will culminate with the final Count down a few seconds before midnight on the 31st of December the town of Pattaya has been a buzz of frenzied activity with hundreds of thousands of extra and much needed tourists expected to attend the Countdown activities and Countdown music concerts.

Pattaya business folks and vendors are counting on Countdown to bring in millions of Baht, Dollars, Yen and Rubles that will be eagerly be collected, counted up and handed over to counter staff at the local banks.

Top Thai bands are being counted on to provide stellar performances. Legendary Thai Rock Band Black Head along with star performers such as Big Ass and Bodyslam will draw in huge crowds of foreign and Thai tourists who hopefully have brought along huge amounts of money to spend in this quiet family orientated palm fringed resort called Pattaya

And of course even before the last fireworks dives into the blackness of The Bay Pattaya officials will be counting down to the time of the first preparedness meeting for Countdown 2016. Of that fact you can count on for sure.

Thailand Minister of Public Health Inspects Pattaya New Year Carnage Preparedness

At New Years in Thailand millions of folks undergo long treks back home to celebrate the New Year with friends and family back home in Nakhon Nowhere. Millions will be cavorting in pubs and clubs consuming copious amounts of alcohol and then the carnage begins as they attempt to mount or enter a lethal weapon in an intoxicated state.

Police and emergency services plan months in advance to cope with this certain carnage which will see thousands killed on the roads of Thailand and tens of thousands left severely injured or maimed for life during the main five days between December the 31st and The 4th of January.

Police officers are put on overtime to man the checkpoints. Blow in the bag kits prepared. Thousands of extra body bags ordered and distributed to be made available at traditional Thailand death spots. Doctors, nurses, paramedics put on emergency readiness and 24 hour round the clock standby.

In Pattaya Dr.Ratchata Ratchatanawin The Minister of Public Health and his entourage descended on one of the main accident emergency centres in the area BangLamung hospital to inspect the preparations for this years season of blood and gore.

The minister visited the command and control centre which will co-ordinate the dispatch of ambulances and emergency medics whose prompt and professional attendance at accident scenes will give victims a better chance of survival. Next on the tour was the emergency rooms, ICU Unit and the checking of stocks of medical equipment, medical supplies and of course blood for transfusions. No doubt a visit to the mortuary was also undertaken to make sure there are plenty of chilled cabinets available.

Satisfied with Banglamung Hospitals battle preparedness he and his entourage mounted up and moved on to other medical facilities across the Chonburi region.

Pattaya Walking Street Doorman Loses His Cool Pattaya Police Officer Loses Face

A curious incident on Pattaya Walking Street saw a Doorman losing his Cool And a Pattaya Police Officer Losing Face. The doorman who works for a club on Walking Street thought it wise this week to surrender to the police after his unwise actions on Christmas day had led to a senior Pattaya Police officer being allegedly assaulted when he attempted to enter the club on official duties.

Pattaya Police Captain Yongyut was attempting to enter the Angkor Nightclub located in Soi 16 off Walking Street to investigate an alleged disturbance when he was prevented from doing so by one of the Doormen, Khun Witune aged 40.

The Police captain said that he was shoved in the chest. The doorman who claims he had only worked at the club for a couple of weeks claimed that he did not know that Police Captain Yongyut was a policemen as there were many Thai men trying to enter and most were not in the usual uniform but wearing orange and brown attire that did not signify the presence of official law enforcement officers.

Yes there was a disturbance in the club but he was worried about allowing Thai blokes to enter for fear that they maybe boyfriends of the female Thai staff in the venue which could stir up further trouble. Police made a number of arrests, unrelated to the alledged assault on the Police Captain. Seven of the staff at the Nightclub were found to be Cambodian Nationals and could not produce passports or work permits.

Police Colonel Supatee, the Pattaya Police Chief said that the Doorman had apologised for his actions and Police have charged him with a misdemeanor of interfering with the duty of a Royal Thai Police Officer and Khun Witune has been released on 30,000 Baht Bail pending a future Court appearance.

North Pattaya Late Night Drinking Venue Raided

A task force of over 100 police officers led by senior officers from Chonburi and Pattaya gathered outside a pub in North Pattaya in a well planned operation to raid the after hours establishment. At 3.30 am a raiding party of officers entered the premises of The Noir Pub and Restaurant in North Pattaya where around 300 revellers were having a jolly good time.

The throbbing music was turned off and the lights turned on. For reasons known only to themselves many of the disco dancing dumb wits decided it was not wise to hang around and attempted to exit stage left stage right stage back and stage front. They did not get far as police officers had anticipated the party goers urge to head home and had cordoned off the whole venue.

The early morning drinking den was thought by the police to be a haven for drug taking, debauchery and underage drinking. The reluctant revelers now guests of the boys in brown were searched, had their ID's checked and then had the piss taken out of them by drug enforcement agents.

As expected a number of urine samples turned a pretty purple colour and 9 young persons became longer term guests and were given a free ride to Pattaya Police Station to undergo further tests for the presence of narcotic substances. Small quantities of illegal drugs were found on the persons and dumped around the premises this included 12 cigarettes that seemed to contain more than the normal tobacco contents and 5 Ecstasy tablets wrapped in tissue paper.

There was a curious incident also when a fellow claiming to  be a police officer attempted to plant drugs in the club with the intention of extorting 50,000 Baht from the already unlucky patrons. Apparently the pseudo policeman slipped out from his fellow real police officers and disappeared into the night.

A senior officer explained to the gathered media that this was just one of a series of ongoing raids on late night entertainment venues with the aim of suppressing drug use and quelling the growing preponderance of fights and violent altercations that are a natural result of gangs of drug and whiskey Thai youths not always seeing eye to eye in the early hours of the morning.

Friday 26 December 2014

Pattaya Orphange Christmas Giving

It is so good to see that the gift of giving at Christmas time seems to be a worldwide phenomenum unless you are unlucky enough to live in places like Afghanistan.

Pattaya Orphanage played host to local children's charities who put on a grand Christmas shin dig that put the biggest of smiles on the kids with the biggest of hearts in Pattaya. Guests of honour and guests who were not so honourable took part in bestowing the big smile theme with Christmas presents for all the kids.

Fun activities and shows for the kids and the adults kept the happy theme going well into the day. An auction was held where donated prizes were snatched up by folks paying often much over the odds to provide funds that will see the Orphanage well funded into the New year.

And of course food - lots of food. There's nowt more satisfying than a well stuffed kid snoring away with a big smile on his or her face.

Pattaya Countdown 2015 starts with Christmas Opening Ceremony

Christmas day in Pattaya is the time for tourists to make merry and stuff themselves on turkey and trimmings. Christmas evening was when The business folks in Pattaya put together their well oiled annual plan to stuff the tourists over the holiday period. It is called the Pattaya Countdown.

An elaborate ceremoney at Bali Hai Pier saw Khun Itthipol the mayor of Pattaya along with his elder Brother, Khun Wittaya, the Chairman of the Chonburi Provincial Administration declare open season on tourists which will see a seven day frenzy of merry making, music making and of course money making.

Big name Thai bands including Klear, Sweet Mullet, Blackhead, Paradox, Big Ass, Bodyslam and numerous other Thai Superstars will serenade, or rather blow out the ear drums of tourists along beach road. Traffic will grind to a halt and local bank tellers will be working overtime to count the piles of Thai Baht, Roubles, Francs, Pounds, Dollars and Dongs as the expected hundreds of thousands of tourists are expected to spend millions of Thai Baht, Roubles, Francs, Pounds, Dollars and Dongs.

The culmination of this massive frenzy will end on New Years Eve when a massive fireworks display will bring in the New Year with massive oohs and ahhs from massive crowds of farang and Thai tourists.

Sattahip Attempted Rape

Sattahip police and a volunteer rescue foundation unit rushed to the Royal Thai Navy Stadium after reports came in that a suspected rapist had been arrested by members of the public. At the stadium they found the suspect Khun Jeerawat aged 30 who had been stopped from leaving the scene of the incident and was clearly not about to go anywhere.

The victim Khun Panida aged 29 told the police that she was at the stadium to sell furniture in the OTOP exhibition. As she entered the bathroom the suspect Khun Jeerawat pounced, covered her mouth to stop her screaming and dragged her into a toilet cubicle. 

Fortunately her boyfriend Khun Sulak aged 29 spotted the commotion and intervened before his girlfriend came into serious physical harm. Khun Sulak and friends detained the offender and called the police.

Khun Jeerawat said that he was drunk at the time and carried out the attack on the spur of the moment decision. He faces serious charges ranging from indecent exposure to attempted rape.

Increase in Traffic Stops in Pattaya Area Over New Year Holiday

Police in the area across the region and indeed all over Thailand have been planning their New Year Party for a long time.  Senior Police officers at Na Jomtien for example explained that they plan extra patrols and police traffic check points on the Sukhumvit Highway which traverses their jurisdiction.

Regular traffic cops will be bolstered by police volunteers who have been ordered rather than volunteering to man the checkpoints in an effort to curtail the tsunami of illegal activities like riding a motorcycle without a helmet, driving a car without a seat belt or God forbid not carrying a valid driving licence.

Thais and farangs alike whinge at these draconian tactics. There is however a real motive for this apparent petty pestering of the travelling public.

Sukhumvit Highway is not only a major thoroughfare for traffic but also a hub for the trafficking of illegal drugs and firearms which are often found and seized in these seemingly routine traffic stops. 

New Year as well as Songkran has been the traditional time for the culling of the Thai population. Warning The Royal Thai Police are getting tough on idiots who operate lethal machines on Thai roads whilst under the influence of alcohol. So unless you have loads of dosh in your wallet or a get out of jail free card then get well oiled to your heart's content but leave those car, motorcycle keys at home.

Pattaya Girl Dressed as Santa Robbed on Soi Buakhow Gets a Happy Ending

A couple of Pattaya low lifes decided to get themselves a Christmas present and some dosh to celebrate the New Year in Style. Drugs and alcohol are not cheap in Pattaya especially when the wallet is clearly devoid of pictures of our beloved King.

They soon spotted Santa Claus riding a motorcycle along Soi Buakhao. Santa was wearing a a short red skirt a red hat with a white fluffy pom pom and sporting a nice gold necklace that they were sure would look a lot better behind the counter of a pawn shop. The dimwits did not take into account that Santa doesn't normally ride a Honda Wave, there was no snow on Soi Buakhow and the young lady although she was dressed in a Santa outfit did certainly not sport a long white beard.

They rode up alongside Khun Rungfah aged 28 and relieved her of her hard earned gold necklace. Unluckily for them some of Santa's helpers were nearby and spotted the highway robbery go down. The elves disguised as Pattaya Police officers gave chase as the thieves sped off.

A high speed chase ensued around the streets of Pattaya and finally ended by the railway tracks in East Pattaya when the boys in brown bagged the barmy bandits.

Khun Rungfah was delighted to get her slightly damaged gold jewelry back. Khun Jetsada aged 18 and Khun Wittaya aged 19 however were not so happy and ended up spending Christmas in a cell in Pattaya Police Station. When Santa drops by the station they will certainly be on the naughty list. No drugs for you this year young men.

Thursday 4 December 2014

Russian Wife Confronts Pattaya Police Chief Over Accident Investigations

Following the serious road accident last week when a Chevrolet pick-up truck crashed into the back of a Baht bus injuring 10 Russian tourists and two Thais the wife of one of the victims arrived at Pattaya Police Station with an interpreter and a Russian cameraman to ask about progress in the case.

Mrs. Elena Naydina aged 27 whose husband Mr. Mikhail Kuznetsov also aged 27 confronted Colonel Suppatee The acting superintendent of Pattaya Police Station.

Mr. Kuznetsov suffered serious leg injuries in the accident and has undertaken a series of complicated surgeries on the nerves in his injured leg. She has paid 300,000 Baht so far but the hospital are asking for more money and the total bill has risen to 455,000 Baht.

A foundation that has been set up to aid foreign tourists who come to grief in Thailand has already given her 10,000 Baht but she is worried sick of how she is going to raise the money to pay the ever increasing hospital bills. A Thai Bank account has been opened for her where she can receive donations. Colonel Suppatee pledged every assistance in helping her to raise more funds. Meanwhile he told her that the driver of the pick-up who fled the scene after the accident had been identified as a 20 year old Khun Nuttapon and expects that this individual will be arrested very shortly.

Rival Thai Gang Force Motorcycle Crash in Central Pattaya

Pattaya Police and a unit of The Sawang Boriboon Rescue Foundation responded to a road accident in Central Pattaya which had injured 3 Thai youths. At the scene near Big C Extra on Central Pattaya road they found a Honda Wave motorcycle which had crashed into the side of a Toyota Altis car.

One of the accident victims was unconscious and seriously injured - he was rushed to hospital immediately for emergency treatment. The other two aged around 20 had abrasions and facial injuries.

They were able to tell police officers that they had been drinking at a pub on third road and had been involved in an altercation with another group of young men. They had left the venue on a motorcycle and were followed by the other gang in their pick-up truck. A chase ensued and near Big C the pick-up had forced them to crash into the parked Toyota. The pick-up then fled the scene in the direction of Sukhumvit Road.

The police collected evidence at the scene of the accident and are now looking to collect the gang of youths who used their pick-up as a lethal weapon.

Russian Arrested at Jomtien Gym for exporting Steroids

Pattaya Immigration police arrested a Russian body builder who is accused of sending Steroids back home to Russia. 47 year old Russian national Mr. Igor Cherkesov was taken into custody at a gym in in Soi Watboon, Jomtien by Pattaya Immigration officials accompanied by Thai military officers.

The arrest follows up on an international warrant issued by Russian authorities who want Mr. Cherkesov to be returned to Russia to face drugs charges for his illegal steroids importation business.

It is thought that he bought the steroids from a local Thai agent who supplied the muscle enhancement drugs to the Russian who then exported them back to Russia where they were sold for a large profit. Mr. Cherkesov was taken to Pattaya Police Station where pending a Court appearance he faces eventual  deportation to Russia.

Russian Bottled in Naklua North Pattaya

In the wee hours of the morning Pattaya Police and a unit of The Sawang Boriboon Rescue Foundation were called to attend an incident where a couple of foreigners had been assaulted and robbed on the Womgamat Beach at the end of Soi 20 off the Naklua Road in North Pattaya.

A Russian Restaurant owner had been attacked by what turned out to be a group of Cambodian construction workers as he was sat canoodling on a desolate dark deserted beach. Mr. Lyosha Leehachov aged 27, who runs a Restaurant close to Pattaya Park in South Pattaya was with his Russian girlfriend, Miss Catherine aged 21 at the time of the attack. One of the attackers had smashed a beer bottle over Mr. Leehachov head and then ran off with a bag containing nothing valuable apart from a set of motorcycle and condo keys.

Locals had spotted the fleeing Cambodians and in short order a Mr. Khern aged 18 was apprehended. He later told Police the names of his two Cambodian campadres Mr. Wine and Mr. Nes, who are currently being sought by the boys in brown.

The pissed off and now bloodied Prussian restaurateur was rushing to blame the police for his predicament saying that they were failing in their duties to clamp down on crime in the area.

So let me get this right a foreigner who lives and works here in Pattaya and knows that this is a high crime area is out with is girlfriend sitting on rocks on a dark beach at 3am. I would like a bottle of the type of Vodka he drinks.

Pattaya Crocodile Caught in Jomtien Lake

Locals living near the go-kart track on Soi Teppraset in Jomtien near Pattaya called on the experts to provide assistance after what was thought to be a crocodile was spotted in a small lake behind the track.

A team of reptile rescuers from The Sawang Boriboon Rescue Foundation arrived n scene. A short survey of the scene showed no sign of the snapping creature. Boats were brought in and as pumps drained the pond the water level started to subside. 

Lures were laid out ladened with chicken carcases but obviously the croc was not hungry. After about 24 hours the reptile was spotted lurking in some bushes near the bank. The rescuers moved in and snared the beast. The crocodile around 1.8 meters long and weighing about 20 kg was handed over to Fisheries Department officials who will find a safer spot to release the predator well away from humans and go-karts. Meanwhile a search was made of the rest of the pond just in case the crafty croc had a mate lurking nearby.