Chonburi Buffalo Racing Preparatory Meeting

If you are planning to come to the region to look for some beautiful buffaloes then delay your trip by a few weeks. October is the month to mark in your calender.

Big buffaloes, old buffaloes, young buffaloes, thin buffaloes, fat buffaloes and beautiful buffaloes oh and of course the fastest buffaloes in Thailand will be on show at the 143rd year of the famous Chonburi Buffalo Racing Festival.

IN the meeting room at Chonburi Provincial headquarters Khun Chawalit presided over a preparatory  meeting of the Permanent Committee for Organising Buffalo Racing.

The aim to lay on the best buffalo event ever and pull in the best number of tourists and their tourist Baht, Dollars, Roubles etc.

Various representatives of various committees were present to present their presentations. The Committee on Food and Beverages. The Working Group on Peace Keeping and of course probably the most important committee of all with all that Buffalo crap coming to Chonburi The Committee on Sanitation and cleanliness.

The Chonburi Buffalo Racing Festival will be held between the 4th to 7th of October at the showground in front of Chonburi Provincial Offices.

Gas Leak Accident at Laem Chabang Port

Whoops dropped it!! or something similar in Thai came from the lips of a crane operator unloading cargo from a vessel at Laem Chabang Port.

Oh Sugar!! was the cry when the gas cylinder split open and ruptures spilling gas. 

Oh my God!! along with further expletives came from the port officials when they realized that only did the cylinder contain Butyl Acrylate which is poisonous it was also highly inflammable.

The alarm was sounded and port authorities and emergency services responded. Whilst the officials considered their options to deal with the leakage of dangerous chemicals representatives from factories In The Laem Chabang Industrial Estate nearby came to the scene to assess whether to evacuate their workers. The Marine Department finally made a decision and had the ship towed out to see while the gas dissipated.

A good day eventually for Laem Chabang Port and The Marine Department but not so good for local citizens and school children from a local school. Some passed out, others suffered severe irritation from the corrosive gas and staff at Laem Chabang Hospital were kept busy with 60 people neading medical attention.

Chonburi Entertainment Venue Raids

Under directives issued by The National Peace Keeping Council Chonburi police launched a series of raids in the city of Chonburi aimed at clamping down on illegal activities in entertainment venues.

20 officers took part in the raids and paid a visit to check on licencing documents and staff at the venues. They were looking at the ID cards of the staff it is illegal to employ persons under 18 at an entertainment venue. They also conducted urine tests to check for anyone using illegal drugs.

Venue owners were warned that these checks would be on-going and if they wanted to avoid closures than should get their act together and make sure that there wore no infractions of the law at their business premises.

Burmese Workers in Thailand Fight at Chonburi Construction Camp

Many migrant workers have returned back to their homes in Cambodia and Burma after rumours that their presence was no longer welcome in Thailand and they feared for their safety. But not all have left - many work on at low paid menial jobs in factories and one construction sites.

Phanthong police in Chonburi got wind of a fight at a construction camp at Moo 5 in Tambon Nong Kha. There were reported to be over 50 Burmese workers seriously slugging it out inside the camp. The police responded in force with Rescue foundation vehicles on standby outside the camp to deal with any casualties of the fracas. There were about 100 workers housed in the camp and about 34 had joined in with a fine display of Muay Thai or should it be Muay Burma.

The police quickly stopped the fight and isolated the ringleaders. The cause of the altercation - traffic jams. Because of delays due to workers arriving late for work the construction company had asked that workers arrive on site at 6.30 am instead of 7 am. Some workers agreed to this some did not as they valued their beauty sleep too much and the ringleaders goaded their fellow workers into fisticuffs to settle the matter.

The police negotiated a peace treaty and the antagonists agreed to dissagree and dispersed nursing a few bruises to get in an early night as it was to be an early start at work tomorrow.

Chonburi Furniture Factory Raided For Illegal Timber

A case of the authorities in Phanatnikhom, Chonburi not being able to see the wood for the trees.

Enforcement officials from the Office of Forest Resource Management in Chonburi had received intelligence from concerned Thai citizens - I know that is an Oxymoron that a factory processing wood furniture located at 172 Moo 10, Tambon Wang Muang was in possession of illegal timber species including illegally obtained rose wood and sandal wood smuggled from Laos.

The Chonburi Branch of The Office of Forest Resource Management obtained a search warrant for the wood processing plant. They searched the piles of wood soon to become furniture mainly destined for places like Israel and what they saw was piles of sawn timber but not a splinter of alleged illegally obtained timber.

The owner had in his possession the legal permits to operate. Nonetheless the officials seized over a million Baht worth of the precious furniture raw materials in the hope that the owners may or may not have the correct permits that would definitely show the origin of the species.

Storm Dumps Crane at Leam Chabang Port

A miraculous escape for a crane operator working a huge container moving crane at Leam Chabang Port in Sriracha. A storm over Leam Chabang resulted in a strong gust of wind that latched on to his massive crane. As he was manoevering his huge machine the gust of wind lifted his crane weighing hundreds of tonnes and unceremoniously dumped it off the end of the pier into the harbour.

The crane operator with seconds to spare jumped into the water way below and survived with only minor injuries.

The crane and the cargo container it was transporting fared less well and ended up at the bottom of the harbour. No damage was reported to the multi million dollar wharf.

Port officials are now attempting to retrieve the cargo and the lost crane - using of course another crane. It is expected to take 2 to 3 days and cost 100 million Baht for the recovery operation. I hope they are careful to watch out for black clouds over Leam Chabang. 

Thai Birds in Pattaya Getting Lazy

It is a well known fact that Thai birds are lazy, but this is the hot season. Soaring temperatures are making them listless and they will just not get off heir nests. They are just not the easy Lay-ers they once were. 

Journalists, reporters and members of the media flocked to The Vibul Chicken farm in in Moo 7 of Bang Bung district in Chonburi to hear first hand from Khun Vanvipha of an eggciting topic that is the talk of the town among egg producers, egg distributors, egg stalls in the markets of the area and of course us who consume copious amounts of the egg shaped delicacies especially around breakfast time.

The subject of course in no Yolk. We are all aware that eggs are getting smaller. Consequently egg prices are sky high with the price of the average egg going up from a modest 2 Baht 50 satang to a whopping 3 Baht 20 satang - and that is the wholesale price - egg sellers are having to crack into their savings to buy eggs at these highly inflationary prices.

The reason for the poultry product price rises - global warming - well at least the high temperatures being experienced in Thailand at this time of year which is commonly knowb as the Hot Season.

Seams like Thai roosters are getting a little lazy in these sweltering temperatures and the lazy Thai hens can't be bothered to venture far from their nests to gobble up the feed that nurtures their egg laying activities.

We can all help to aleviate this dire situation - leave those gas guzzling, planet destructing SUV's at home and as you stare down at those diminutive fried eggs on your breakfast plate do the funky chicken dance around table - it may not bring about the start of an early rainy season but it may bring more public awareness to this terrible problem of global warming and an emphatic SOS - The Shrinking Omelette Syndrome.

Did anyone tell the Thais that this is The hot season and there has been no global warming for the last 18 years - ah well any old reason for a price hike.

Chonburi Beauty Clinic Raided

Thai women are beautiful on that we can all agree so it is perhaps surprising the lengths, expense and medical procedures they often put themselves through to enhance their natural beauty. In particular they seem to suffer from obsessions about the whiteness or lack of whiteness of their skin.

Beauty shops and skin clinics abound. Unfortunately they use non regulated products and un-licenced beuticians to perform their miracle and expensive skin whitening cures. This draws the attention of the authorities who can always find a new clinic to raid or a repeat offender to raid one more time.

The latter was the case that Chonburi Provincial Health officials along with Chonburi police officers decided to persue with a raid on a beauty clinic in SeamSuk District of Chonburi whose owner Nittaya was a serial skin offender. 

On the premises they found beauty and skin whitening concoctions that had been illegally imported into Thailand along with cosmetics that were incorrectly labled and medical devices used in the operation of these beauty intensifying procedures.

So be warned being in possession of illegal skin whitening products could bring down the full force of the Thai authorities with large fines and up to 5 years in prison. Now that could ruin any young ladies complextion for sure.

Paper Rolls off Back of Lorry in Chonburi

Things falling off the back of lorries is a common event all over the world. I remember once buying a DVD player that had fallen off the back of a lorry back in The UK and it worked fine even if it was slightly dented.

Chonburi police and rescue units were called in after some paper fell off the back of a lorry on the Chonburi By-pass in Ban Suan District and was causing immediate danger to traffic

The paper wasn't your run of the mill paper it was three rolls of paper weighing two tonnes per roll. 

The driver of the truck who's load of paper became a rolling traffic hazard was a Khun Anon aged 30. He said that he was on his way from Kanchanaburi Province to make a delivery in Rayong when a group of teenagers on 5 motorcycles overtook him and cut him off causing him to brake hard lose control and lose his paper.

A crane was called in to lift and load his paper rolls back on the truck. I am sure Khun Anon will strap his load a little more securely and drive a little more cautiously the rest of his way to Rayong. 

If his customer complains about dented paper rolls he can always tell them they fell of the back of a lorry.

Chonburi PTT LPG Disaster Drill

The PTT company a major provider of fuels and lubricants in Thailand stage an emergency disaster preparedness  exercise in Baan Rong Po District.

The drill simulated a large gas leak and subsequent explosion and fire of LPG gas from storage tanks at the location. The drill tested response by emergency services to douse the flames and involved calling in extra fire fighting units from Banglamung District as well as medics from rescue agencies to evacuate casualties.

Khun Khosan The manager of the LPG facility at Baan Rong Po said that this type of exercise was held on an annual basis to test the response of emergency personnel and the effectiveness of emergency equipment.

Queen Sirikit National Convention Center Chonburi Tourism Promotion

Khun Whitthaya head of the Chonburi Provincial Administration Organization presided over the opening ceremony of a promotional event to promote the sights, sounds and delights that can be found in abundance in the Province of Chonburi.

The Bangkok based event held at The Queen Sirikit National Convention Center, 2nd Floor, Zone C is aimed to give tourists both Thai and foreign and local Bangkokians an urge to get on the bus, get in their cars or get on their bikes and make the 160 km hop skip and a jump down the eastern seaboard and sample the delights of hidden gems like Pattaya City which I am sure no one in Bangkok has ever heard of.

Exhibitors representing many of the best of Pattaya tourist attractions and Pattaya hotels put on a fine show and a brave face. With the dismal tourist arrivals and plethora of empty hotel rooms in Pattaya events like this are more acts of desperation than acts of tourist promotion.

Armed Robbery at Chonburi Gold Shop

A gang of ruthless armed robbers struck a gold shop in Baan Bung District of Chonburi. Police and rescue workers rushed to the scene as soon as reports of the raid came in.

At the scene they foun  Khun Paiboon the 50 year old owner of the gold shop. He had been shot in the head with a .38 calibre weapon. He was still clinging to life and rushed to hospital for emergency treatment for his life threatening gunshot wound.

Khun Wanpen the 35 year old wife of Khun Paiboon was also at the scene and was not injured but clearly in a distressed state. A well as another lady Khun Natthaya aged 21 who was shocked to have seen such a dramatic event.

Three young men wearing helmets to hide their identities and wearing black jackets had arrive on a Honda Wave Motorcycle. They entered the gold shop shot the owner and using an axe and firing their weapons they shattered the glass of the showcases and then made their escape with what is believed to be over 100 Baht in Gold chains with a value of some 2 million Baht.

Six shots were fired in the robbery. The police collected evidence including shell casings and CCTV images meanwhile an alert went out over the police radio but as yet the dangerous armed robbers are still at large.

Cruise Liner Docks at Laem Chabang Port

Laem Chabang Port is located about 20 Km north of Pattaya and is well known as a major deep sea container port which is fast becoming the main port for Thailand as it expands to take over a lot of the traffic that was once serviced by Klong Toey Port in Bangkok.

This week the director of Laem Chabang Port and senior harbour management were on hand to welcome the captain of the cruise ship "The Mariner of the Sea" which is the first of a series of super size cruise ships that are scheduled to make Laem Chabang one of their regular stops.

"The Mariner of the Sea" is 312 meters long and has 2,000 cabins and carries around 3,800 passengers. With a contingent equivalent to 100 jumbo jets heading out for trips to Pattaya and Bangkok this is a well needed boost to the Thai tourist industry which is suffering badly from a significant drop in tourist arrivals post high season and of course affected by the current political turmoils in Bangkok.

The Director of the port said that Laem Chabang is one of only 6 ports that have the capability to handle these massive maritime floating hotels and with the completion of the new Jetty in phase 3 of the port even larger ships will be able to dock and enjoy the extensive port facilities and the easy and quick transport connections to local tourist destinations.

This contingent of tourists on a cruise which takes in Vietnam, Singapore Malaysia and Thailand are mainly Asian tourists from China, Malaysia and Singapore.

We wait in eager anticipation for the Vladivostok Voyager and Comrade Cruise Lines.

Thai Technical Nonwovens Textile Factory Fire in Chonburi

A large fire in Bangbeung District of Chonburi caused major damage to several factory buildings and the machinery and products inside. The factory belonging to Thai Technical Nonwovens Co., Ltd. produces synthetic textiles for domestic use and for export.

10 fire engines and dozens of fire fighters converged on the scene and they faced a very difficult task. With heavy smoke billowing out of the building and a genuine fear that the main building where the fire started would collapse. It took the fire fighters over 30 minutes to bring the flames under control and then came the arduous job of sifting through the debris and trying to find the cause of the fire.

From these investigations and statements from the workers who were on shift at the time it is thought that a piece of machinery, a material oven dryer had overheated which then burst into flames. The fire being fed with oil and chemical materials nearby.

There were no injuries reported either to the workers at the factory or to the fire fighters who responded. There has been no comment as yet from the management of the factory but it is thought that there are millions of Baht worth of damage and much more in lost production until the factory and machinery can be restored.