26th Year
Established in 1993
VOL.XXVII No. 17
Pattaya’s First English Language Newspaper
FRIDAY APRIL 26 - MAY 2, 2019
30 BAHT
Explosions kill at least 310 in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday 386 people killed during 7 dangerous Songkran travel days The government’s Road Safety Operation Center reported there were 3,338 traffic accidents, down 10.4% from last year, in which 386 people were killed, down 7.7% from last year, during seven days of the dangerous Songkran travel week (April 11-17). Apart from the death toll, the accidents also injured 3,442 people, down 11.7% from last year. No one was killed in traffic accidents in the five provinces of Trang, Phangnga, Mae Hong Son, Sukhothai and Ang Thong. Chiang Mai and Nakhon Si Thammarat posted the highest number of traffic accidents with 128 incidents
while the highest death toll, 15, was reported each in Nakhon Ratchasima and Udon Thani provinces. Most accidents involved alcohol, speeding and motorcycles. Chayapol Thitisak, director-general of the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation and secretary to the Road Safety Operation Center, said the center would gather road safety problems and recommendations from all parties and work out road safety solutions and measures for the cabinet to implement during normal time and festivals.
This Sunday, April 21, 2019 photo shows a view of St. Sebastian’s Church damaged in a blast in Negombo, north of Colombo, Sri Lanka. Sri Lankan authorities blame seven suicide bombers of a domestic militant group for coordinated Easter bombings that ripped through Sri Lankan churches and luxury hotels which killed and injured hundreds of people. It was Sri Lanka’s deadliest violence since a devastating civil war in the South Asian island nation ended a decade ago. (Story on page 7.) (AP Photo/Chamila Karunarathne)
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Pattaya deputy mayor pays Joint command center opens for public safety during for Naklua bridge steps coronation ceremonies
Deputy Mayor Banlue Kullavanijaya used his own funds to pay for construction of new steps at the Naklua long bridge.
Pattaya’s deputy mayor used his own funds to pay for construction of new steps at the Naklua long bridge. Banlue Kullavanijaya admitted that bureaucratic red
tape would tie up a city budget request to rebuild the stairs, which were steep and deteriorated, leading to accidents. With people complaining about frequent accidents,
Banlue decided that repairs needed to be done now and put his hand in his own pocket to pay for the six 1.5meter-long, 40-centimenter steps. (PCPR)
Police hand out ice cream, water for Songkran
The government has opened a joint command center in Bangkok for public safety and traffic measures, which will be carried out around the clock during the coronation ceremonies held from May 2 thru May 5. Beginning on May 2, His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn is scheduled to proceed to the Royal Plaza, Phra Buddha Yod Fa Bridge and the Grand Palace to pay homage before the statues of former kings during which traffic will be temporarily closed from 01.00 a.m. on eight roads, namely Na Phra Larn, Na Phra That, Ratchadamnoen Nai, Sanam Chai, Hab Phoei, Lak Muang, Kalyanamaitree and Soi Saranrom. On May 3, six roads will be temporarily closed, these being Rajini, Sanam Chai, Na Phra That, Phra Chan,
The government has opened a joint command center in Bangkok for public safety and traffic measures which will be carried out around the clock during the coronation ceremonies held from May 2 thru May 5.
Maharat and Thai Wang, from 03.00 p.m. to 12.00 a.m. On May 5, 34 roads, mostly lying in the perimeters, will be temporarily closed to accommodate people who will attend the coronation ceremonies, these include Ratchadamnoen Nok, Sri
Ayutthaya, Phitsanulok, Chakraphadiphong and Nakhon Sawan roads. People planning to attend the ceremonies or travel through Bangkok during the coronation period can obtain more information via the Phra Larn website. (NNT)
Fire engulfs drifting boat Boonlua Chatree Authorities are investigating how a boat moored offshore caught fire in Pattaya Bay. It took firefighters about an hour to extinguish the flames that engulfed the Phomanee 3 April 18. The challenge was actually catching the boat, which began to drift after fire burned through its anchor line. Wind and waves blew the burning boat into an area where other fishing boats were moored, sparking fears the blaze would spread. Authorities are investigating how the No one was injured in the incident but the Phomanee 3 moored offshore caught fire cause of the fire is under investigation. in Pattaya Bay.
Impounded motorbike used by Huay Yai police employee Tourist police distributed ice cream and drinking water to cool down Pattaya Beach Road on Wan Lai Pattaya.
Boonlua Chatree Police distributed ice cream and drinking water to cool down tourists on Pattaya’s “wan lai” Songkran day. Tourist Police commander, Pol. Lt. Col. Piyapong Ensarn
and officers dressed up in colorful Songkran garb as they patrolled along Pattaya Beach April 19. From a command post at Soi 9, they handed out 1,000 ice cream bars and 1,000 bottles of water donated by
traffic inspector, Pol. Maj. Aruth Spanon. The booth also displayed photos of criminals wanted on various warrants so both officers and the public could more easily spot them if they appeared on the beach. None did.
Boonlua Chatree A Songkran reveler’s Thai New Year was ruined when he saw his motorbike impounded by police two years ago being ridden around Naklua by a police department employee. Posting on Facebook under the name “Por Kradangnga
Racing”, the aggrieved former bike owner posted a video of his old bike being ridden by a woman who told him she knew the police with control over impounded bikes and was able to use the motorbike even though it wasn’t hers. The post attracted plenty of criticism of authorities. The Huay Yai Police Station employee in charge of
impounded vehicles – identified only as Chanai – said the bike was seized for being used in illegal street races two years ago. He admitted it was taken from the impound lot without permission and he had already identified the staffer who took it. That woman will be subject to punishment once the Huay Yai police chief returns from his Songkran vacation.
A Songkran reveler’s Thai New Year was ruined when he saw his motorbike impounded by police two years ago being ridden around Naklua.
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Coronation commemorative pins available at various spots nationwide Coronation commemorative pins are now on sale and the government is inviting people to wear the pin for four months to celebrate the important royal ceremony. The 3.8cm commemorative pin is made of a copper-tin alloy, its front gold against a blue backing, and it bears the King’s emblem, a nine-tiered and a seven-tiered umbrella, a strip of gold silk and a lion in white enamel. There is a Kochasinga in pinkish purple enamel, royal coronation 2019 text in rusty green. The pin is sold in a box of
Coronation commemorative pins are now on sale and the government is inviting people to wear the pin for four months to celebrate the important royal ceremony.
embossed coated paper, coated with golden yellow and plastic. The top is decorated with a royal coronation emblem. The pins are 300 baht each. The proceeds, after deducting all expenses, will be presented to His Majesty the King to be dispensed through royal charity projects. For general attire, the pin should be attached to the left side and for a suit, the left collar. The public can place orders at Thailand’s post offices
Chonburi police chief plays DJ for Songkran Boonlua Chatree
Chonburi’s police chief, Pol. Maj. Gen. Nantachart Suppamongkol (white shirt) wowed Songkran revelers when he took over as deejay on Pattaya’s “wan lai” party.
Chonburi’s police chief wowed Songkran revelers when he took over as deejay on Pattaya’s “wan lai” party. Pol. Maj. Gen. Nantachart Suppamongkol was joined by Pattaya police chief Pol. Col. Prawit Chorsang and immigration and tourist police officers in walking along Pattaya Beach April 19 to reinforce the city’s safe image for the Thai New Year.
Nantachart said 700 officers and volunteers were on duty for the Songkran finale, manning checkpoints and patrolling on land and sea with officers ready to respond to any incident. He then moved behind the mixers to spin electronic dance music tunes for an amazed crowd. Tens of thousands of people packed Pattaya Beach and nearby streets, bringing Songkran mania to a close for another year.
Read more news at pattayamail.com
nationwide. Online orders are accepted at www. thailandpostmart.com. Orders can also be placed through Big C Supercenter Plc., which has been provided with
150,000 pins for distribution. Each person is entitled to two commemorative pins. The reservation period starts on April 25 until stocks run out. (NNT)
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3 killed on roads in Pattaya Thai wife allegedly slashes foreign husband for insulting her parents area over Songkran Boonlua Chatree
Warapun Jaikusol Three motorists died in the Pattaya area during Songkran’s “seven dangerous days” on the roads. Deputy District Chief Chawat Theptat said all three fatalities reported April 11-17 involved motorbikes, including a foreign driver. The unidentified foreigner had his arm crushed by a bus and later died at the hospital. Two Thais died in separate accidents, one on Thepprasit Soi 5/1, where the driver ran into a utility pole, and the second in a collision with a car at the Rong Mai Keed U-turn. The driver was not wearing a helmet. Overall in Chonburi, authorities reported 17 major accidents with nine killed
Three motorists died in the Pattaya area, adding to a total of nine deaths in Chonburi Province during Songkran’s “seven dangerous days” on the roads.
and nine injured. Speeding and not wearing helmets contributed to 65.5 percent of the injuries and deaths. Elsewhere in Chonburi, Sattahip recorded six accidents, with other districts reporting only one or two wrecks. Police and locals governments
set up four major checkpoints in Banglamung District in front of the Banglamung and Huay Yai municipal offices, Big C South Pattaya and Nongprue’s Chalermprakiat intersection. There also were seven minor checkpoints in each of Banglamung’s subdistricts.
Girlfriend held for stabbing death of jealous lover
There are a few don’ts one should learn while residing in Thailand. Don’t touch someone you don’t know on the head, don’t point with your foot, and don’t cause someone to lose face are a few that come to mind. And whatever you do, don’t insult your wife’s family. After a night of drinking with his wife, Briton Benjamin Laister Crowson, 28, learned the hard way when his missus, Montita Buatong, 23, took exception to what Crowson was saying about her family during a heated argument. She allegedly displayed her displeasure with the aid of a sharp kitchen knife. Police were called at 6.30 a.m. on April 16 to the couple’s Soi Buakow flat on the 4th floor of Pandeer rentals. What they
Rescue workers extract the injured and bloody Briton Benjamin Laister Crowson from his 4th floor flat on Soi Buakow.
found was lots of blood and Crowson with severe cuts to both legs and his left hand. The crying Montita surrendered to police without a fight. The couple regaled police with the tale of a night of drinking together in the bars, the drunken quarrel after returning to their flat and the subsequent insults thrown
20 drunk drivers arrested in Sattahip Patcharapol Panrak
Boonlua Chatree The girlfriend of a jealous Chanthaburi construction worker is being held for killing her lover who beat her after she went out with friends on Songkran. The unidentified suspect, 46, was taken into custody April 18 at a house on Khao Talo Soi 24 where police and paramedics arrived to find a bleeding and unconscious Boonmee Tanonsak, 47, lying in the front yard. Medics treated the stab wound in his side for 20 minutes, but could not save Boonmee’s life. The woman said Boonmee had been drinking with friends outside their house while she slept inside. He
Sattahip police announced the arrest of 20 drunk drivers at a KM. 1 Junction checkpoint outside Sattahip Market during Songkran. The unidentified girlfriend of a jealous Chanthaburi construction worker is being held for killing her lover who beat her after she went out with friends on Songkran.
later came in and kicked her twice, asking who she went out with the day before. When she told him she went out to throw water around
with friends, he tried to strangle her, the suspect claimed. She admitted then stabbing him and left the room to call authorities. She didn’t think he would die from the wound, police said.
at Montita and her family, whereupon Montita (allegedly) grabbed a knife and began hacking away. Crowson was sent to Pattaya City Hospital for medical treatment. Montita was taken in to the police station for further questioning and to be charged with as yet undetermined offences.
Sattahip police announced the arrest of 20 drunk drivers during Songkran. All were male and all tested in the 60-190 mg range. Pol. Col. Charothorn Prempree, Superintendent of Sattahip Police Station said the arrests were made at a KM.1 Junction checkpoint outside Sattahip Market. The drunk drivers were charged with drunk driving and their motorcycles were seized. They face imprisonment, fine, or both.
Three shot on Songkran finale Boonlua Chatree Three people were shot when an argument broke out during Nongprue’s Songkran finale. Saman Tummee, 47, was shot twice in the leg; Rewat Salubsri, 28, once in the side and arm, and once in the leg; and Nattapong
Wongkaew, 22, twice in the leg in the April 18 shootout at the Chaknok Reservoir. They were admitted to local hospitals for treatment. Witness Thitima Changklay, 23, said she was at home when a friend called to say her brother had been attacked. So
she called friends to go to the lake to help him. When the group arrived, a rival group fired off 10 shots, hitting three of their party. With the area packed with youths for Nongprue’s “wan lai” water festival day, police were unable to identify the shooters.
Songkran crackdown nets police 240 PVC water guns and 22 loud MCs Jetsada Homklin An April 14 police crackdown netted police 240 PVC high-powered water guns and 22 motorcycles modified with loud exhausts. Pol. Lt. Col. Saranpong Maithongkulthorn, Pattaya Police Station Inspector and his intrepid team of highly trained bobbies, confiscated the PVC guns with a directive from higher ups that the high-powered water ejectors could cause harm to revelers. It could also lead to accidents if shot at motorcyclists. They also impounded the motorcycles and announced the “situation was normal.” There was no mention of fines or arrests, or any penance the per- Pol. Lt. Col. Saranpong Maithongkulthorn, Pattaya Police Station petrators might have suffered due Inspector and his intrepid team of highly trained bobbies, confiscated 240 PVC water guns. to their inappropriate behavior.
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Dusit Super Heroes gear up for action during Pattaya ‘Wan Lai’ The management and staff along with hotel guests of Dusit Thani Pattaya joined the Pattaya City’s traditional Songkran celebrations, known as ‘Wan Lai’, held on Pattaya Beach Road, April 19. The hotel set up a special booth where staff and hotel guests were invited to dress in vibrant costumes under the theme of ‘Dusit Heroes’ to enjoy a day of watersplashing fun. Hotel General Manager, Neoh Kean Boon, surprised everyone by turning up in a world renowned Thai-style fighting heroes, Muay Thai,
Sand Pagoda Festival highlights Songkran in local communities Warapun Jaikusol & Jetsada Homklin
The Dusit Pattaya Super Heroes in action.
costume. The activity was full of happiness and laughter
creating a memorable experience for one and all.
Nongprue hosts Kong Khao ceremony Warapun Jaikusol Nongprue capped a frantic Songkran with a quieter Kong Khao rice-piling ceremony at the subdistrict’s Health Garden. Mayor Mai Chaiyanit and Banglamung District Chief Amnart Charoensri opened the April 19 event with a parade featuring angels and forest sprits that traveled from Nongprue Market to Chalermprakiat Park. Upon arriving, the angels and sprits walked around food piled high three times. Then a ceremony was
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Nongprue capped a frantic Songkran with a quieter Kong Khao rice-piling ceremony at the subdistrict’s Health Garden.
performed by Amnart and special guests co-cut the
opening ribbon and released balloons to start the event.
The Songkran holiday is celebrated in many communities with residents building sand pagodas at their local temples. The Sand Pagoda Festival has been a religious tradition in the Thai culture for centuries. It’s usually held during the Thai New Year and highlights teamwork by residents who work together to build the pagodas. In the course of a year, a lot of sand is taken away Nongprue Sub-district residents and employees from temples on the bottom enjoyed the Songkran holiday by building sand of people’s shoes. So once pagodas at Suttawas Temple. a year, local people are invited to bring back some of the sand and use it to create pagodas to be used in religious ceremonies. The sand pagodas are decorated with materials commonly found in the community, like colorful flowers, bamboo twigs and hardened powder. Tradition says such activities bring civility to villages, the community and surrounding areas. The day is also celebrated as family reunion day with family members and close relatives Families gathered at Khao Sao Thong Thong getting together to join the Temple in Nongprue Sub-district to assemble their sand pagoda and keep up Thai tradition. sand-building.
Tourism and Sports Ministry offers ‘dos & don’ts’ to Pattaya tourists The Tourism Safety and Security Standards Division also created video clips warning about risks facing tourists and offering recommendations to prevent problems, such as educating travelers on the channels they can use to complain. Similar advice also was displayed on LED screens at Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang international airports. Currently, the Ministry of Tourism and Sports operates 17 Tourist Assistance Centers staffed by a total of 260 employees. In 2019, the project is following the concept of “Your Safety is Our Priority” to
Panida Kumsamruang of the ministry’s Tourism Safety and Security Standards Division and Jaturon Pakdeewanitch, Chonburi’s Tourism and Sports chief, led a delegation to Bali Hai Pier where pamphlets in Chinese, English and Thai were distributed listing “dos and don’ts” for tourists to help keep them safe.
Ministry of Tourism and Sports officials distributed pamphlets listing “dos and don’ts” for tourists to help keep them safe. Panida Kumsamruang of the ministry’s Tourism Safety
and Security Standards Division and Jaturon Pakdeewanitch, Chonburi’s Tourism and Sports chief, led the April 21 delegation to Bali Hai Pier where the booklets in Chinese, English and Thai were handed out.
The goal of the public relations exercise was to give knowledge and enhance understanding by tourists traveling in Thailand and to open communication channels for them to seek help.
gain trust and good attitudes towards tourism in Thailand. Public relations events are planned for 12 provinces and already have been completed in Chonburi, Phuket, Surat Thani, Krabi, Phangna, Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai.
Next up will be Trat, then Buri Ram, Trang, Songkhla and in Bangkok at the Chatuchak Market. Tourists can call the Call Center at Suvarnabhumi at 02-134-4077 24 hours a day.
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Royal Coronation May 4, 5, & 6 The Royal Coronation Ceremony for Hi Majesty King Rama X Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun will be held next weekend, May 4 – 6, in Bangkok. There have been many events leading up to this most auspicious day, with a few more on the way. On 2 May 2019, 16.09-20.30 hrs., His Majesty the King pays homage to the Equestrian Statue of King Chulalongkorn at the Royal Plaza and the Memorial of King Rama I at the foot of Memorial Bridge. He also worships sacred beings at Baisal Daksin Throne Hall and Chakrabat Biman Royal Residence. 3 May 2019, 10.00 hr. The Royal Golden Plaque of the official title of His Majesty the King, the Royal Golden Plaque of His Majesty’s horoscope, and the Royal Seal of State are transferred from the Temple of the Emerald Buddha to Baisal Daksin Throne Hall. The most important process of the Royal Coronation Ceremony takes place on 4 May 2019, marking the Coronation Day of King Rama X.
Three-Day Royal Coronation Ceremony 4 May 2019 10.09-12.00 hr The Royal Purification, or the “Song Muratha Bhisek” Ceremony, takes place at Chakrabat Biman Royal Residence. “Muratha Bhisek” refers to the action of pouring holy water over the head of the king, also known as ablution. It is followed by the Anointment Ceremony at Baisal Daksin Throne Hall. Then His Majesty the King proceeds to the Bhadrapitha Throne and sits under the Royal Nine-tiered Umbrella, where the Chief Brahmin presents him with the Royal Golden Plaque of His Majesty’s official title, the Royal Regalia, the Ancient and Auspicious Orders, and the Weapons of Sovereignty. After the Crowning and Investiture Ceremony, His Majesty presents the First Royal Command. 14.00 hr His Majesty the King grants a grand audience to members of the Royal Family, the Privy Council, and the Cabinet, as well as senior officials, gathered to offer their best wishes to His Majesty at Amarindra Vinicchaya Throne Hall. 16.00 hr His Majesty proceeds to the Temple of the Emerald Buddha to proclaim himself the Royal Patron of Buddhism. 13.19-20.30 hr The ceremony of Assumption of the Royal Residence takes place at Chakrabat Biman Royal Residence. The purpose of the ceremony is to symbolically take up the royal residence and perform housewarming. 5 May 2019 09.00 hr The ceremony to bestow His Majesty’s Royal Cypher and Royal Title and to grant the royal ranks to members of royalty takes place at Amarindra Vinicchaya Throne Hall.
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Sacred water moved to Suthat Thepphawararam temple
Vases of sacred water for the coronation ceremonies of His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn were recently transported from the Ministry of the Interior to Suthat Thepphawararam temple for a consecration ceremony.
Royal Emblem for Coronation ceremonies.
16.30 hr His Majesty the King rides in the Royal Palanquin in the Royal Procession on Land to encircle the city, affording people the opportunity to attend and pay homage to their new King. • Routes of the Royal Land Procession • - From the Grand Palace, the procession comes out from Abhorn Bimok Pavilion through Vises Jayasri Gate. It turns right to Na Phra Lan Road, turns left to Ratchadamnoen Nai Road, turns right to Ratchadamnoen Klang Road, and then turns left to Tanao Road before moving toward Wat Bovoranives. The Royal Palanquin stops in front of Wat Bovoranives, where His Majesty the King enters to pay homage to the main Buddha image in the ubosot. - The procession continues to move along Phra Sumen Road and turns right to Ratchadamnoen Road, passing through the Rattanakosin Exhibition Hall. Then it turns left to Atsadang Road and Bamrung Mueang Road. The Royal Palanquin stops in front of Wat Rajabopidh, where His Majesty enters to pay homage to the main Buddha image in the ubosot. - The procession leaves Wat Rajabopidh, passing through Fueang Nakhon Road, and then turns right to Charoen Krung Road. The Royal Palanquin stops in front of Wat Phra Chetuphon, where His Majesty enters to pay homage to the main Buddha image in the ubosot. - The procession with His Majesty riding in the Royal Palanquin leaves Wat Phra Chetuphon along Thai Wang Road, moving back to the Grand Palace. It enters Vises Jayasri Gate to Abhorn Bimok Pavilion. 6 May 2019 16.30 hr His Majesty the King grants a public audience on a balcony of Suddhaisavarya Prasad Hall in the Grand Palace to receive his well wishes from the people. 17.30 hr His Majesty grants an audience to members of the international diplomatic corps, who offer their felicitations on this special occasion at Chakri Maha Prasad Throne Hall.
PATTAYA MAIL PUBLISHING CO., LTD. 62/284-286 Moo 12, Thepprasit Road, Nongprue, Banglamung, Chonburi 20150. Administration, Advertising and Editorial Offices: Tel: 038 411 240-1, 038 413 240-1 • Fax: 038 427 596 E-mail: ptymail@pattayamail.com • Website: http://www.pattayamail.com Managing Director Pratheep S. Malhotra e-mail: pratheep@pattayamail.com Executive Editor Daniel M. Dorothy e-mail: dan@pattayamail.com Deputy Managing Director Kamolthep Malhotra e-mail: prince@pattayamail.com Director-Business Development Suwanthep Malhotra e-mail: tony@pattayamail.com Editor Nopniwat Krailerg e-mail: editor@pattayamail.com Sports Editor Martin Bilsborrow e-mail: martin@pattayamail.com Executive Editor-Pattaya Blatt Elfi Seitz e-mail: elfi@pattayablatt.com Director of Communications Supa Kukarja e-mail: sue@pattayamail.com Senior Special Correspondent Peter Cummins e-mail: npetercummins@hotmail.com Advertising Department Nutsara Duangsri e-mail: nutsara@pattayamail.com News Department: Boonlua Chatree, Urasin Khantaraphan, Patcharapol Panrak, Theerarak Suthathiwong, Jetsada Homklin © Copyright Pattaya Mail Publishing Co., Ltd. (e-mail: newsdesk@pattayamail.com)
Vases of sacred water for the coronation ceremonies of His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn were recently transported from the Ministry of the Interior to Suthat Thepphawararam temple for a consecration ceremony. A religious ceremony was organized before the sacred water was moved to the temple, which is about 740 meters from the Ministry of Interior. On this occasion, the Interior Minister, the Deputy Minister of Interior, the Permanent Secretary for
Interior, high-ranking officials, the Bangkok governor, and governors of other provinces took part in the procession to deliver the water. The procession required 86 people to carry 86 vases and was attended by some 500 members of the public. In the evening, the sacred water was consecrated at the temple by His Holiness the Supreme Patriarch as the president of the clergy. Following the consecration ceremony, the sacred water was transported from
Suthat Thepphawararam temple to the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. Roads around the temple were temporarily closed to traffic from 6 a.m. to 11 a.m. However, police reopened the roads to traffic in some instances to facilitate traffic flow. The consecration of sacred water is part of coronation ceremonies that have been carried out since the Rattanakosin era, and the tradition is in line with royal ceremonies in the Ayutthaya period. (NNT)
Royally-bestowed ‘Yellow Star’ tree planted at Government House
Prime Minister Gen. Prayut Chan-o-cha leads cabinet ministers in planting a royallybestowed “Yellow Star” tree at the Government House compound in Bangkok.
Prime Minister, Gen. Prayut Chan-o-cha, led his cabinet ministers in planting a royally-bestowed “Yellow Star” tree at the Government House compound in Bangkok last week. The tree inaugurates the “One Province, One Road in Honor of His Majesty the King” project.
On Monday (Apr 15), His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn granted an audience in which Gen. Prayut and the governors of 76 provinces plus the Bangkok Governor received “Yellow Star” trees, which will be planted to mark the occasion of His Majesty the King’s coronation
next month. The “Yellow Star” tree is the symbolic tree of His Majesty the King, and it is also a symbol of abundance. The trees will be planted along one of the selected main roads in each province of Thailand to promote its identity. (NNT)
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Explosions kill at least 310 in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday Bharatha Mallawarachi & Krishan Francis Colombo, Sri Lanka (AP) — At least 310 people were killed and hundreds more injured in eight blasts that rocked churches and hotels in and just outside Sri Lanka’s capital on Easter Sunday, officials said, pitching the South Asian island nation into the worst chaos it has seen since a bloody civil war ended a decade ago. Defense Minister Ruwan Wijewardena, who described the blasts as a terrorist attack by religious extremists, told reporters Sunday evening that seven suspects had been arrested, though no one immediately claimed responsibility for the blasts. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said he feared the violence could trigger instability in the country and its economy. Since the end of the nation’s 26-year civil war, in which the Tamil Tigers, a rebel group from the ethnic Tamil minority, sought independence from ethnic Sinhala Buddhist majority Sri Lanka, the country has seen sporadic ethnic and religious violence. But the scale of Sunday’s bloodshed recalled the worst days of the war, when the Tigers and other rebels set off explosions at Sri Lanka’s Central Bank in downtown
Colombo, a busy shopping mall, an important Buddhist temple and tourist hotels. Wickremesinghe said his government would “vest all necessary powers with the defense forces” to take action against those responsible” for Sunday’s attacks, “regardless of their stature.” The nearly simultaneous first six blasts Sunday morning toppled ceilings and blew out windows at a famous Catholic church in Colombo, the capital, and at three luxury hotels in the city. The other two occurred at St. Sebastian Catholic church in Negombo, a majority Catholic town north of Colombo where footage showed people dragging the injured out of blood-splattered pews, and at the Protestant Zion church in the eastern town of Batticaloa. Three police officers were killed while conducting a search operation at a suspected safe house in Dematagoda, on the outskirts of Colombo, where the last of eight blasts took place. After police moved into Dematagoda, at least two more blasts occurred, with the occupants of a safe house apparently blasting explosives to prevent arrest. Shops were closed and streets deserted in Colombo even before the government imposed a nationwide curfew
This Sunday, April 21, 2019 photo shows a view of St. Sebastian’s Church damaged in a blast in Negombo, north of Colombo, Sri Lanka. (AP Photo/Chamila Karunarathne)
from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. Police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekara said 290 people were killed and many more wounded in the blasts. Two of the blasts were suspected to have been carried out by suicide bombers, a senior official told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak with reporters. Worshippers and hotel guests were among the dead, the official said. Sri Lanka’s foreign secretary, Ravinath Aryasinghe, said the bodies of 39 foreigners
from 9 different countries died in the attacks. Countries around the world condemned the attacks, and Pope Francis added an appeal at the end of his traditional Easter Sunday blessing to address the massacre. Speaking from the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica, Francis said, “I want to express my loving closeness to the Christian community, targeted while they were gathered in prayer, and all the victims of such cruel violence.” St. Anthony’s Shrine and the three hotels where the
blasts took place are frequented by foreign tourists. Local TV showed damage at the Cinnamon Grand, ShangriLa and Kingsbury hotels. The Shangri-La’s secondfloor restaurant was gutted in the blast, with the ceiling and windows blown out. Loose wires hung and tables were overturned in the blackened space. A police magistrate was at the hotel to inspect the bodies recovered from the restaurant. From outside the police cordon, three bodies could be seen covered in white sheets.
Alex Agieleson, who was near St. Anthony’s Shrine, said buildings shook with the blast, and that a number of injured people were carried away in ambulances. Foreign tourists on the Classic Sri Lankan tour hurriedly took to their cellphones to text family and loved ones around the world that they were OK after the blasts. “Having experienced the open and welcoming Sri Lanka during my last week travelling through the country, I had a sense that the country was turning the corner, and in particular those in the tourism industry were hopeful for the future,” said Peter Kelson, 41, a technology manager from Sydney. “Apart from the tragedy of the immediate victims of the bombings, I worry that these terrible events will set the country back significantly.” Sri Lankan security forces in 2009 defeated Tamil Tiger rebels who had fought to create an independent homeland for the country’s ethnic minority Tamils. The U.N. initially estimated the death toll from 26 years of fighting to be about 100,000 but a U.N. experts’ panel later said some 45,000 ethnic Tamils may have been killed in the last months of the fighting alone.
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VOL. XXVII No. 17
Israeli team assesses what went wrong with lunar landing Isabel Debre Jerusalem (AP) — The team behind the Israeli spacecraft that crashed into the moon moments before touchdown is working to try and piece together what derailed the ambitious mission, which sought to make history as the first privately funded lunar landing. SpaceIL, the start-up that worked for over eight years to get the spacecraft off the ground, revealed that a technical glitch triggered a “chain of events” that caused the spacecraft’s engine to malfunction just 14 kilometers (8.7 miles) above the moon, making it “impossible to stop the spacecraft’s velocity.” The main engine managed to restart soon after, but it was too late: the lander was on a collision course with the moon at 500 kilometers (310.7 miles) per hour.
Radio signals from the spacecraft flat-lined as the scheduled touchdown time came and went, leading engineers to assume that the small spacecraft was scattered in pieces after slamming into the landing site. The crew said it would conduct comprehensive tests to better understand what happened. Had the mission succeeded, it would have made Israel the fourth nation to pull off a lunar landing — a feat only accomplished by the national space agencies of the U.S., Russia and China. The failure was a disappointing end to a lunar voyage of 6.5 million kilometers (4 million miles), almost un- People watch the live broadcast of the SpaceIL spacecraft as it lost contact precedented in length and with Earth in Netanya, Israel, Thursday, April 11, 2019. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit) designed to conserve fuel For the past two months, the entering lunar orbit — a first Although the crash dashed and reduce price. The space- lander, dubbed Beresheet, for a privately funded lander. the hopes of engineers and craft hitched a ride on a Hebrew for “In the Begin- Israel can count itself among enthusiasts around the SpaceX rocket launched ning,” traveled around the seven nations that have suc- world that had been rooting from Florida in February. Earth several times before cessfully orbited the moon. for the scrappy spacecraft’s
safe arrival, the team emphasized that the mission was still a success for reaching the moon and coming so close to landing successfully. Beresheet was about the size of a washing machine. It cost $100 million — more than the entrepreneurs had hoped to spend, but far less than a government-funded spacecraft. After getting its start in the Google Lunar XPrize Competition, which ultimately ended last year without a winner, Beresheet’s lunar voyage gained momentum over the years, coming to be seen as test of Israel’s technological prowess and potential key to global respect. “Israel made it to the moon, and Beresheet’s journey hasn’t ended,” said Israeli billionaire Morris Kahn, one of the project’s major sponsors. “I expect Israel’s next generation to complete the mission for us.”
How not to break the bank on streaming services Mae Anderson & Sarah Skidmore Sell New York (AP) — With more TV streaming services than ever before, from newcomers like Disney Plus to stalwarts like Netflix, consumers may feel the ideal viewing experience is finally at hand. Americans have, on average, three streaming video subscription services, according to a recent study of digital media trends by Deloitte. While some have dropped cable and its average bill of around $100 a month altogether, about 43% have both pay TV and streaming subscriptions.
Yet patching together a variety of services to get just what one wants isn’t always seamless. Families and individuals can still find themselves with service that doesn’t perfectly suit their viewing habits. And those monthly subscriptions can add up fast. “It doesn’t make sense to pay for a bunch of content you have no interest in watching,” said Bruce McClary, vice president of marketing for the National Foundation for Credit Counseling. “Finding a service that lets you scale your channel lineup based on your interests can also help you avoid paying for things you don’t need.”
A little research on which services are best for you can help save big bucks.
For Families Disney is making the biggest play for family viewership. The owner of Disney Channel, the Star Wars franchise and most recently Fox’s entertainment business is betting its mix of family-friendly franchises and beloved animated classics, along with original programming, will make the Disney Plus service irresistible to families, even if they already subscribe to other services. The service, launching Nov. 12, will cost $7 a month initially. For some kids, there may be no substitute for watching Disney’s “Frozen” over and over again. But other services that families might already subscribe to have a lot of family-friendly programming too. Amazon Prime ($119 per year or $13 per month for Prime loyalty program membership; Prime Video alone costs $9 a month), Hulu ($6 to $12 per month), and Netflix ($9 to $16 per month) all offer kids programming. Another choice for parents: HBO Now ($15 a month) is the home for the classic kids TV show “Sesame Street.” And for spendthrifts, YouTube’s free Kids channel offers an endless stream of kid-friendly fare, although quality varies widely.
For Movie Buffs Movie fans will soon have to work a bit harder to find movies to stream. As Disney, Fox, Universal and Warner Brothers and others offer their own streaming services, they will all eventually pull their content from Netflix.
There are more TV streaming services than ever before and more people are opting to drop cable in favor of streaming services. But monthly subscriptions can add up fast. A little research on which services are best for you can help save big bucks. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)
But niche services are there to fill the void. Classic movies can be difficult to find streaming. Movie fans suffered a loss when AT&T, which bought Time Warner last year, decided to discontinue Film Struck, a streaming service that was a collaboration between Turner Classic Movies and the Criterion Collection. But a similar service called The Criterion Channel that offers 1,000 classic and contemporary films is stepping up to fill the void. It costs $11 a month or $99 for a year. Other movie-centric streaming services include Fandor ($6 per month or $50 per year) or Mubi ($11 per month). Both offer a curated selection of movies. Those on a budget can try Kanopy, a streaming service that works with public libraries and universities to offer library card holders streaming movies for free.
For Sports Fans Sports fans do have streaming options, but they cost more since sports must be watched live. Basic live TV options are cheaper but may not include sports channels. Which service you choose depends on which sport or which team you want to watch. There are a variety of live TV streaming services that offer a wide range of sports, but they’ve recently been raising their prices. Fubo TV offers more than 85 channels including ones that broadcast football, baseball, soccer and other sports. It costs $45 for the first month, then $55 a month after that. DirecTV Now costs $50 a month for the cheapest tier. Sling TV costs $25 to $40 a month. Hulu raised the price for its liveTV service in February, by $5, to $45. Sony’s PlayStation Vue costs $45 to $80 a month. Google’s YouTube
TV is increasing its monthly fee to $50. It launched at $35 and has raised prices as it added more channels. Most of the live TV services offer the major sports channels such as Fox Sports and NBC Sports Network, as well as games broadcast on network TV. But ESPN, for example, is on Hulu Live and YouTube TV but not Fubo TV, so fans of a specific team or sport should examine the channel listings for each service. There’s no budget offering for watching high profile sporting events. But Disney’s ESPN Plus costs $5 a month or $50 for the year. It offers some live games, including some hockey, soccer and baseball games, as well as content about sports like ESPN’s “30 for 30” documentary series. But you can’t watch most major league sports games on the service.
Mix and Match If you’re a sports fan who also loves movies and has a family, you’ll have to mix and match services while trying to stay within your budget. It is still possible to stay below the monthly cost of cable, says the NFCC’s McClary. “The acceptable threshold for spending is up to each household, but most ‘live’ and ‘on demand’ streaming services would be on the low end of the scale compared to traditional cable packages,” he said. “One good measuring stick is to compare the monthly rate to your monthly content consumption patterns and what it would cost if you paid movie rental rates each time you watch a program.”
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Back Pains? Get down on your hands and knees One of the commonest ailments to result in a GP consultation is low back pain. The cause of this is locked in the history of the development of mankind. You see, when we walked on all fours, we didn’t get low back pains at all, because our spines were designed to be horizontal and weight was carried on the back, just like a horse does today. The design of the vertebrae is such that the spine in the horizontal position ‘locks’ to be able to bear weight. Now, here’s where it all went wrong. We decided we looked much better standing upright and we could walk much quicker using our hind legs only. This meant that our spine was now vertical and we could bend it backwards and forwards. Backwards and the bones all locked together again, but forwards and the vertebrae unlock making the spine unstable. The next factor was we began to try and lift weights in this new upright position. We bent forwards (unstable) and lifted items like that. The era of low back pains had arrived. I was reminded about back problems when I experienced an acute lower back pain myself last weekend. The symptoms were classical and the ones we meet so frequently. I had been bending over, wrapping tape around the garden hose, and suddenly I was frozen in position. As an aside, I was once called out to a factory toilet
where the chap was bent over the urinal, and too afraid to move, the pain was so acute. And this was very much like what happened to me! Let me assure you that the condition can be crippling and not “cute” in any way. Let’s begin then with the “slipped disc” problem. First thing – discs do not “slip”. They do not shoot out of the spaces between the vertebrae and produce pain that way. The disc actually stays exactly where it is, but the center of the disc (called the nucleus) pops out forwards through the edge of the disc and hits the nerve root. When this happens you have a very painful condition, as anyone who has had a disc prolapse will tell you. Think of the pain when the dentist starts drilling close to the tiny nerve in your tooth. Well, the sciatic nerve is a large nerve! When the nucleus of the disc hits the sciatic nerve, this produces the condition known as Sciatica - an acute searing pain which can run from the buttocks, down the legs, even all the way through to the toes. To accurately work out just what is happening requires bringing in those specialist doctors who can carry out extremely intricate forms of X-Rays called CT Scans, Spiral CT’s or MRI that will sort out whether it is a disc prolapse, arthritis or another soft tissue problem. The equipment to
do these procedures costs millions of baht, and the expertise to use them takes years of practice and experience. This is one reason why some of these investigations can be expensive. After the definitive diagnosis of your back condition has been made, then appropriate treatment can be instituted. The forms of treatment can be just simply rest and some analgesics (pain killers), physiotherapy, operative intervention or anti-inflammatories and traction. Now perhaps you can see why it is important to find the real cause for your aching back, as well as standing erect. The treatment for some causes can be the wrong form of therapy for some of the other causes. You can see the danger of “self diagnosis” here. Beware! So what do you do when you get a painful back? Rest and paracetamol is a safe way to begin. If it settles quickly, then just be a little careful with lifting and twisting for a couple of weeks and get on with your life as normal. Might even be a good idea to miss the next couple of golf games. If, however, you are still in trouble after a couple of days rest, then it is time to see your doctor and get that definitive diagnosis. You have been warned! There is a branch of the Bangkok Spine Academy in my hospital.
Special evaluations can help seniors cope with cancer care Lindsey Tanner, AP Before she could start breast cancer treatment, Nancy Simpson had to walk in a straight line, count backward from 20 and repeat a silly phrase. It was all part of a special kind of medical fitness test for older patients that’s starting to catch on among cancer doctors. Instead of assuming that elderly patients are too frail for treatment or recommending harsh drugs tested only in younger patients, they are taking a broader look. Specialists call these tests geriatric assessments, and they require doctors to take the time to evaluate physical and mental fitness, along with emotional and social well-being. They also take into account the patient’s desires for life-prolonging treatment regardless of how much time might be left. An avid walker with a strong network of nearby family and friends, Simpson, now 80, says she “wanted to do the maximum I could handle” to fight her disease. She scored high enough in her 2017 evaluation to proceed with recommended surgery and chemotherapy. “It gave me encouragement. Then I felt like I am OK and I can get through this and will get through this,” said Simpson, who lives in Fairport, New York, near Rochester. These tests are sometimes done with other illnesses but only recently have been recommended for cancer. In new guidelines, the American Society of Clinical Oncology recommends the evaluations for patients aged 65 and up, particularly before making decisions about chemotherapy. The idea is to find ways to help patients tolerate treatment, not rule it out. For example, if walking tests show balance problems
In this Monday, March 4, 2019 photo, Dr. Allison Magnuson (left) speaks with patient Nancy Simpson at the Pluta Cancer Center in Rochester, N.Y. Before she could start breast cancer treatment, Simpson, 80, had to walk in a straight line, count backward from 20 and repeat a silly phrase. It was part of a special kind of medical fitness test for older patients. (AP Photo/Adrian Kraus)
that chemotherapy might worsen, patients might be offered physical therapy first. Relatives or friends might be called on to help cook for seniors who live alone and would become too weak to prepare meals during chemo. And for those who want to avoid the hospital no matter what, treatment that could put them there would be avoided. Almost 1 million U.S. adults aged 65 and older will be diagnosed with cancer this year, the American Cancer Society estimates. Nearly two-thirds of all cancer patients are in that age group. And yet, most cancer treatments stem from studies on younger, often healthier patients. That leaves doctors with limited information on how treatments will affect elderly patients. Geriatric assessments can help bridge that gap, said Dr. Supriya Mohile, a specialist in geriatric cancer at the University of Rochester Medical Center. These tests may require 15 to 30 minutes or more and
recent research has shown they can accurately predict how patients will fare during and after cancer treatment, Mohile said. Older patients who get chemo and have other health problems are more vulnerable to falls and delirium and at risk for losing independence. “We hear all the time about ‘decision regret,’” she said, meaning patients who got harsh treatment but were unaware of risks and other options and who say, “I wish someone had told me this could happen.” Mohile co-authored a recent study that found just 1 in 4 U.S. cancer specialists did the assessments. She said doctors say it takes too long and that patients don’t want it. But she hears from patients and caregivers: “I’m so happy you’re asking me about these things. Nobody ever asked me.’” One of Mohile’s colleagues did Simpson’s evaluation, which showed she was strong enough to endure a standard, aggressive three-drug
chemotherapy combo for breast cancer. She chose a variation that was gentler but extended the treatment by several weeks. The evaluation showed “I wasn’t in as that bad of shape as my age would indicate,” Simpson said. Her walking buddy and four attentive children gave her strong social support, and she lived independently, doing her own cooking and cleaning. Treatment left Simpson with hair loss, fatigue and excruciating mouth sores. She knew about the risks but has no regrets. Cancer “gave me a different perspective on what is important in life and what isn’t and I’m still adjusting to that,” Simpson said. Dr. Hyman Muss, a geriatrics specialist at the University of North Carolina’s Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center says there’s no question the evaluations are important but insurance coverage is sometimes a problem. Medicare will pay
for yearly physical exams but not geriatric assessments, he said. Doctors can sometimes squeeze the tests into other office visits, but there is no billing code for the exams, he said. Advocates note that the evaluations can include questionnaires that patients can fill out at home to shorten time in the doctor’s office. Beverly Canin, 84, of Rhinebeck, New York, became an advocate after declining chemotherapy following surgery for early breast cancer 20 years ago. She didn’t have an assessment, and says her doctor dismissed her concerns about harsh side effects and refused to consider other options. A 2015 medical report Canin co-authored told of a patient who had the opposite experience. The 92-year-old man
with rectal cancer entered hospice care after he declined surgery, the only treatment his primary care doctor recommended. The doctor determined the man would not tolerate rigorous chemotherapy and radiation because of his advanced age. A specialist approved the treatments after the man had a geriatric evaluation and declared he wanted care that would control his symptoms and prolong his life. The patient managed well and was cancer-free two years later. Canin said his stress and treatment delay could have been avoided if a geriatric evaluation had been done first. “The risks with older adults traditionally are overtreatment and undertreatment. What we need is more precision treatment,” she said.
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Odds and Ends The Associated Press
Woman charged for damaging neighbor’s racy Easter display Clifton, N.J. (AP) — A New Jersey woman who used garden shears to destroy her neighbor’s racy Easter display has been charged with criminal mischief. The display at a dental office in Clifton, New Jersey, featured five mannequins dressed in lingerie, all holding Easter baskets and surrounded by Easter eggs. It had drawn mixed reviews from neighbors, as well as passersby who stopped to take photos. A television news crew was filming the display earlier this week when 37-year-old Desiree Shepstone took it down. She says she didn’t want her 16year-old son to be subjected to the “disgusting” display. The dentist who created the display, Wayne Gangi, says he will soon have it back up. He says he got the idea for the Playboy bunnies-themed decorations during a trip to Party City.
(Ed Murray/NJ Advance Media via AP)
No kidding: Woman pulled over had baby goat in lap Marlborough, N.H. (AP) - Police in New Hampshire say they cited a driver who had a kid in her lap - the baby goat kind. Marlborough police say they pulled the woman over on April Fool’s Day when they saw her using her cellphone. They soon realized that she was driving without a valid license - and with the goat. Police said the driver was a 60year-old woman from Sullivan, New Hampshire. She was released on a citation for operating without a valid license. She also was counseled about distracted driving. Police posted the encounter on Facebook, with the comment, “I wish this was another April Fool’s joke baaaht it’s not.”
Creepy cargo: Philippines seizes 757 tarantulas from Poland Manila, Philippines (AP) - Philippine customs officials were astonished when they opened nicely gift-wrapped boxes of cookies and oatmeal flown in all the way from Poland and found a hair-raising contraband: hundreds of live tarantulas. Bureau of Customs personnel seized the 757 tarantulas at a mail exchange center near Manila’s international airport Monday and later arrested a Filipino man who tried to claim the long-legged and venomous spiders, which were declared as “collection items.” Many of the baby tarantulas were concealed in small plastic vials punctured with holes for air while bigger spiders were shipped in see-through plastic containers. Officials estimated the value of the unusual shipment at 310,000 pesos ($5,900). Philippine wildlife laws prohibit the trading, collection and possession of such spiders, which are popular pets among arachnid enthusiasts, without permits. Despite threats of hefty fines and imprisonment, a startling array of wildlife has been seized by the hundreds by airport customs inspectors in Manila since last year, including geckos, iguanas, chameleons and a popular reptile called bearded dragons.
Crossword No 1343
sponsored by
Massic Travel
Across 1 Female relative (4) 3 Moved up (8) 9 Implicate (7) 10 Type of parrot (5) 11 Sharp hooked claw (5) 12 Be unsteady on one’s feet (6) 14 Putrid (6) 16 Deteriorate (6) 19 Breathe in (6) 21 Trunk of body (5) 24 Zest, relish (5) 25 French cooking (7) 26 Pining (8) 27 Canvas shelter (4)
Down 1 Airmen (8) 2 Work of fiction (5) 4 Afternoon rest (6) 5 Ant (5) 6 Edicts (7) 7 Daybreak (4) 8 Brief look (6) 13 Blameless (8) 15 North African country (7) 17 Set of clothing (6) 18 Signal fire (6) 20 Decorate (5) 22 Lift up (5) 23 Offensive to the sight (4)
Last week’s answer Across: 1 Trotter, 5 Filch, 8 Kitty, 9 Mustard, 10 Notions, 11 Spies, 12 Shandy, 14 Caught, 18 Solid, 20 Entreat, 22 Pretext, 23 Scowl, 24 Rites, 25 Nunnery. Down: 1 Takings, 2 Octet, 3 Thyroid, 4 Remiss, 5 Fasts, 6 Leading, 7 Hades, 13 Ailment, 15 Artisan, 16 Totally, 17 Beaten, 18 Super, 19 Dregs, 21 Erode.
Ten-Minute Sudoku An easy Sudoku puzzle that should not take long to complete. The rules of Sudoku are simple. Enter digits from 1 to 9 into the blank spaces. Each row must contain one of each digit. So must each column and each 3x3 box. Answer next week.
Last week’s answers:
No. 246
(AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
Big Sexy found after bolting from NY firefighter shoot New York (AP) - Big Sexy the cat went on a five-week romp around New York City, bolting from a photo shoot for a barechested firefighter charity calendar. The big black feline was finally found Friday on Staten Island after disappearing from a lower Manhattan firehouse. The lost pet showed up in the backyard of a woman whose firefighter husband was a 9/11 first responder who died of cancer last year. The firefighters called the cat Big Sexy, but its real name is Buddy. Staten Island resident Michele Froehlich-Perosi snapped a photo and posted it on Facebook. And the owner, Leslie Silbert, recognized her cat. The code on the cat’s embedded chip confirmed this was, indeed, Big Sexy, aka Buddy.
VOL. XXVII No. 17
Answers next week.
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Kids can take great pix Looking over many of the outtakes I should have thrown away, showed me that I took a lot of shots of almost exactly the same things. One wrong shot was repeated over and over again, as if I expected God to come and fix the photo for me. He didn’t. God is not a photographer. So, if you are teaching your children to take photographs, get them to take several shots of the same subject, but vary the approach. Shoot in landscape format and portrait formats. Shoot from above, low down and central positions. If possible, with your camera, use different lenses or at different extremes of a zoom lens. Backgrounds can make or
break a photograph. Teach your children to look at the background as well as at the subject. Backgrounds do not add to a shot, but they have the ability to ruin a shot. How many photographs have you made with trees growing out of people’s heads? Another problem which shows up with many child photographers is the horizon line being off at a drunken angle. Teach your children to look critically at the framing of the shot before squeezing the shutter button. And after, when reviewing the shot in the LCD, to take it again if the horizon is skewed. Teach your children how to hold a camera with two hands and none of this one-handed approach while waving three fingers with the other and saying “Nung, song, sam”. Despite anti-shake technology, there is a limit! For me, one of the first ‘rules’ for photography is to Move In Closer. Make the subject fill the frame. In other
Dear Hillary, I feel you are being a trifle harsh in stating recently that the all men have on their minds is Beer and Sex. I can assure you that on occasions many also think about Football, particularly at this stage of the season. While we stand in awe of the fair sex’s ability to multi-task, quaffing champagne while also chatting endlessly on the phone say, things are not so easy for us chaps. Yes, Beer and Football can be simultaneously enjoyed, even Beer and Sex (albeit with danger of spillage) but Football and Sex is a much trickier combination. It’s not easy being a man. Dave on the Darkside Dear Dave OTDS, You expect me to be sorry for your plight, my Petal? It’s no good just rambling on about beer and football and sex. What code, man? What code? There’s 15 of them, which you overlooked trying to open that can of Fosters in your undies.
words, make the subject the obvious ‘hero’ and your child will get better photos. Another factor to teach your newbie photographer is that when illustrating a school outing, for example, they will need to show where they went, as well as their class mates who went on the trip. This is also a time to take plenty of shots, but not 100 shots all the same! It is important for your child to understand that good photographs are ‘made’, they just don’t happen. To sparkle up their shots, look for points of interest to include in the viewfinder. Then work out how to really use that point of interest in the shot. This may require shifting position, but is worthwhile. No lessons on photography can go by without mentioning the Rule of Thirds. Placing the hero at the intersection of thirds can be a little hard for youngsters to understand, but even to show them to place the subject
off-center can be enough. Provided your child is a teenager, he or she is old enough to be taught the different ‘modes’ offered by almost all digital cameras these days. This includes ‘Portrait’, ‘Sports’, ‘Flash’ and ‘Fireworks’ and many others. Teach them that modes just take some of the mechanical/ optical steps away from the photographer and uses the automatic functions in the
That grew to a water fight between the little children and then the older children and finally the adults. And then the tourists joined in and it just grew from there. The official Songkran day this year was on the 13th, but with public holidays and a weekend after that, it went for over a week in Pattaya. You should also understand that Thai people do not “celebrate” Songkran, they say they “play” Songkran. I stay indoors for the week and order takeaway pizzas, which they can slide under the door. Dear Hillary, Further to old chaps being ripped off by the younger and smarter ladies. The old coots with poor eyesight think they are “hot desirable stuff” however and arrive off the plane a few bricks short of a full mental foundation. How can we protect these people from the bar predators? Rob
Dear Hillary, You’ve just had Songkran, which I believe is the Thai New Year, but is the money that the tourists bring in the only important thing? Hundreds of people are killed, so it isn’t much of a New Year for many Thai families. It is advertised as the biggest water fight in the world, but nobody says anything about it being the celebration with the biggest road toll in the world. Has it always been like this? Jeffery
Dear Rob, I think you are being unkind, but I love the “full mental foundation” concept. However, what are these older gentlemen leaving behind? A council flat where they are in the minority group? Weather that defies logical choice. Who wants to freeze to death in winter? And the “old coots” as you call them don’t think they are “hot desirable stuff”, but the clever young girls make them think that way. Some of my sisters are very good at separating a man from his millions even better than the Ponzi schemes.
Dear Jeffery, No, it was not like this in the past. It was a sign of respect for one’s elders to pour sacred water, which had been blessed by the monks, over the hands of your relatives.
Dear Hillary, I know it sounds funny asking you to help, but I can’t find an electrician that I can trust to work on a project of mine. It is a new development of an old principle and I believe I can
camera instead. However, the modes do not signify the only way to take a sports photograph, for example. Just as their teachers grade their school homework, sit down with your budding photographer and discuss their images. Get them to understand which shots are good, and which are not so good, and why. One of the most important items for new photographers
is a small notebook and pencil. Teach your children to make notes as to the camera settings they are using for every shot. Then while going through the shots with them you can see areas where they can improve over the settings they used to take the shot. But with no notebook, both of you are flying blind. Older children can be introduced to the basics of exposure values, using the Aperture Priority mode and the Shutter Priority mode, and the concept of ISO ratings. They can then take shots moving between the three variables and have a very practical lesson in how these affect the final images. Photography is a good hobby for children and teaches them to think and look critically at their own images. Self-examination is an important factor in growing up. The camera can assist. The photo this week was taken by a 12 year old.
make a lot of money if I can get the electrics sorted out. Can you help me please? OHM Dear OHM, Are you for real? What are you making? A portable electric chair? Have I got an electrician? No. Am I an electrician? No. Are you really this simple? Stick the red wire in one hole and the black one in the other and the green one you stick in the ground. Hope that helps, but make sure you are covered by insurance. Dear Hillary, A couple of weeks ago one of you (sic) writers was wondering if his wife was straying, with the friends from the village and temple trips. Of course she’s cheating on you, Thai girls keep as many as they possibly can, as long as you stay dumb. And you don’t need a PI, you’ve got Hillary. Harry Dear Harry, Do I hear the voice of experience here? Not all Thai girls, but any girls from any country can stray and will use local excuses to explain their absence from the family home. So, asking again, do Thai girls cheat? Of course they do, but then so do Australian women, English women, Lithuanian, Uzbeks and so on. So in Thailand it is friends from upcountry and dutiful visits to the temple, and one too far away to just drop by and look inside. You don’t need PI’s, just careful monitoring and looking at the photos taken there. She will get the tales mistaken if you wait. Then there are three options, walk away, confrontation or send her packing. You work out what is best for you, my Petal.
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HHN drop-in center honors seniors Jetsada Homklin Children and staff at the Human Help Network Thailand and ASEAN Learning Center celebrated Songkran April 12 with a traditional water pouring ceremony. Rattanamada Sangrung, head of the ASEAN Learning Center, presided over Buddha image bathing rites and lustral water pouring. Drop-in center manager Pirun Noyimjai, foreign volunteers, and Youngster learn early about the solemn children under the center’s care Songkran Buddha image bathing rites tradition. took part in pouring water on senior citizens’ hands. The children then honored their elders by pouring water on the hands of Rattanamada Sangrung, Pirun Noyimjai, and foreign volunteers. After traditional ceremonies were finished, children performed a Fon Ean Kwan dance show, followed by a ceremony where winners of a recent art contest were awarded certificates. Contest winners were Rod, Kream, and Namfon who finished first through third in the under 9-year-old category. Sakorn, Wanna, and Srida in the under 12 category, while Prung, Jariya, Winners of the school’s art contest are awarded and Tone won in the under 15 certificates. category.
Children honor their elders by pouring water on the hands of Rattanamada Sangrung and others.
Marbpradu students taught to spot and fend off human trafficking
Drop-in center children pour water on the hands of volunteers.
Researching Elon Musk and Protest Art Mark Beales
The Pattaya Social Development Office and the Human Help Network Thailand Drop-In Center mobile team hosted a day of child protection card games to train Marbpradu students to spot and fend off human trafficking and others seeking to exploit them.
Jetsada Homklin The Pattaya Social Development Office and the Human Help Network Thailand Drop-In Center mobile team hosted a day of child protection card games to train Marbpradu students to spot and fend off human trafficking and others seeking to exploit them. The main theme of the day was to teach children that they own their bodies and to instruct them about their
personal areas where they should never let anyone touch. Children should always be aware, as sexual abuse can happen anywhere, in schools, department stores, or even in their home. The child protection card game gives kids knowledge about preventing abduction and exploitation through questions and answers. Youths also learn survival skills in cases of emergencies or when faced with adversity.
After the card game, children were shown a video about a daughter who was sexually abused by family members. They were also shown photos of bodies and body parts that children should know about where it’s prohibited for anyone to touch, including friends, family members or strangers. They were helped to put their hands on body parts shown in the photos marked green for safe and red unsafe.
Protest art, Elon Musk’s leadership style and social media are just some of the areas being explored by IB students at a school near Pattaya. IB1 students from Garden International School (GIS) held an Extended Essay Day, where they each gave a 10minute presentation about their chosen topic. The EE is a research-based essay that gives IB students many of the valuable skills needed for university-level study. After their presentations,
An IB student explains her plans for researching a literary text.
they will then go and carry out research before writing
up their essay. GIS is based in Ban Chang, near Pattaya.
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Thailand busts ‘seasteading’ effort by American Grant Peck Bangkok (AP) — Thai authorities have raided a floating home in the Andaman Sea belonging to an American man and his Thai partner who sought to be pioneers in the “seasteading” movement, which promotes living in international waters to be free of any nation’s laws. Thailand’s navy said Chad Elwartowski and Supranee Thepdet endangered national sovereignty, an offense punishable by life imprisonment or death. It filed a complaint against them with police on the southern resort island of Phuket. Thai authorities said they have revoked Elwartowski’s visa. Elwartowski said in an email that he believes he and Supranee — also known as Nadia Summergirl — did nothing wrong. “This is ridiculous,” he said in an earlier statement posted online. “We lived on a floating house boat for a few weeks and now Thailand wants us killed.”
The couple, who have gone into hiding, had been living part-time on a small structure they said was anchored outside Thailand’s territorial waters, just over 12 nautical miles from shore. They were not there when the navy carried out their raid last Saturday. The Thai deputy naval commander responsible for the area said the project was a challenge to the country’s authorities. “This affects our national security and cannot be allowed,” Rear Adm. Wintharat Kotchaseni told Thai media. He said the floating house also posed a safety threat to navigation if it broke loose because the area is considered a shipping lane. Seasteading has had a revival in recent years as libertarian ideas of living free from state interference — such as by using crypto-currency including Bitcoin — have become more popular, including among influential Silicon Valley figures such as entrepreneur Peter Thiel. Elwartowski, an IT specialist,
Destination
This Saturday, April 13, 2019, photo provided by the Royal Thai Navy, shows a floating home lived in by an American man and his Thai partner in the Andaman Sea, off Phuket Island, Thailand. (Royal Thai Navy via AP)
has been involved in Bitcoin since 2010. Several larger-scale projects are under development, but some in the seasteading community have credited the Andaman Sea house with being the first modern implementation of seasteading. “The first thing to do is whatever I can to help Chad
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octagonal house at the center of the controversy had been profiled and promoted online by a group called Ocean Builders, which touted it as a pilot project and sought to sell additional units. The group describes itself as “a team of engineering focused entrepreneurs who have a passion for seasteading
and are willing to put the hard work and effort forward to see that it happens.” In online statements, both Elwartowski and Ocean Builders said the couple merely promoted and lived on the structure, and did not fund, design, build or set the location for it. “I was volunteering for the project promoting it with the desire to be able to be the first seasteader and continue promoting it while living on the platform,” Elwartowski told The Associated Press. “Being a foreigner in a foreign land, seeing the news that they want to give me the death penalty for just living on a floating house had me quite scared,” Elwartowski said. “We are still quite scared for our lives. We seriously did not think we were doing anything wrong and thought this would be a huge benefit for Thailand in so many ways.” Asked his next step, he was more optimistic. “I believe my lawyer can come to an amicable agreement with the Thai government,” he said.
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VOL. XXVII No. 17
Measure for measure
The Chandos Portrait of William Shakespeare.
Last night I was browsing through my well-thumbed reference book The Art of Music Engraving and Processing. It was written in 1970 by Ted Ross and it’s one of a handful of rather technical books which are essential reading for those involved in the writing, production or printing of music. Of course, back in the 1970s we didn’t have computers to do the job, though music typewriters were being developed.
Generally they produced pretty awful results and they didn’t catch on. In the 1970s, commercially printed music was usually produced by manually engraving a reverse image of the music on to a pewter plate. Every page required its own plate and the notes and other musical signs were produced with punches hit with a small hammer. It was a slow and laborious business preceded by a process known
as “casting off” during which the number of staves and measures to a page would be decided. You probably know that most printed music is divided into what Americans call measures and the British call bars. Their main purpose is a visual aid to the performer because they divide the printed music into small manageable chunks. Each measure contains a specified number of beats and the measures are divided by vertical lines known as “bar lines”. The number of beats per measure (known as a time signature) is shown at the start of the music. Much 20th century music contains different numbers of beats in each measure so that extra time signatures are added as necessary. My musing about measures reminded me of the Shakespeare play of the same name which is thought to have been written in 1603 or 1604. By the oddest of coincidences, I discovered that he was baptized on 26 April 1564. No one is certain in what year Shakespeare was born for much of his life is surrounded by mystery. We don’t even know what he looked like. The so-called Chandos Portrait is the one most often reproduced in books, but no one knows who painted it nor whether it really depicts Shakespeare. Even so, his thirty-seven
Thai Cultural Centre by the Thai Youth Orchestra which was founded in 1986.
An instrumental part in which the number of beats changes in every measure.
plays have inspired countless musical works including over three hundred operas. In recent years musicologists have discovered that there are over two thousand musical compositions linked to Shakespeare’s works.
Peter Tchaikovsky (1840-1893): Romeo & Juliet Fantasy Overture. Thai Youth Orchestra cond. Paye Akkrawat Srinarong (Duration: 21:13; Video: 1080p HD) During Shakespeare’s lifetime, Romeo and Juliet was one of his most popular plays and even today it’s performed more frequently than the others. It was written early in his career, probably between 1591 and 1595 though it drew heavily on earlier historical sources. Many composers have written music inspired by this play and the stand-alone overture by Tchaikovsky and the full-length ballet by Prokofiev are two of the bestknown. The play has been adapted numerous times for
stage and film, perhaps most notably as the basis of the 1957 musical West Side Story. At least twenty-four operas have been based on the play. Tchaikovsky was profoundly inspired by the works of Shakespeare, whose work was well-known in19thcentury Russia. The idea of using the Romeo and Juliet story as the basis for an orchestral work came from Tchaikovsky’s older colleague, the composer Balakirev. Tchaikovsky produced three versions of the work, not all of them successful and the one usually heard today is the final version completed in 1880. Even if you don’t know the work, the famous “love theme” (08:22) will probably sound familiar. This performance was recorded last August at the
Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953): Romeo and Juliet Suite. Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France cond. Myung-Whun Chung (Duration: 24:25; Video: 720p) Prokofiev wrote the score for a full-length ballet based on the play in 1935. As so often happens, Prokofiev later reworked music from the ballet to form three orchestral suites and a solo piano work. If you haven’t got two-anda-half hours necessary to watch the entire ballet, this suite is a delightful sampler. It is typical of Prokofiev’s tuneful, sometimes angular, spiky music. It is also one of the few classical orchestral scores that include a tenor saxophone. There’s some lovely music here and if you are new to Prokofiev, this is a splendid place to start.
To watch these YouTube videos, either use your Smartphone to read the QR codes or go to this article online, click on the “live” links and go direct to the videos. If you have a laptop, sound quality can be improved significantly by using headphones or external speakers.
An undiagnosed illness haunts D.J. Palmer novel Jeff Ayers A teenage girl seems to have an illness that doctors cannot diagnose in D.J. Palmer’s psychological thriller, “Saving Meghan”. Fourteen-year-old Meghan continues to show symptoms of some mysterious disease that has her consistently dizzy, dehydrated, and losing weight. Her mother, Becky, demonstrates signs of devotion to her daughter, but others wonder if she’s smothering Meghan. Her father, Carl, has taken an opposite approach in caring for his little girl by being hands off to the point where some question if he even cares about Meghan’s health. Meghan begins to question her sanity and her mortality while she watches her family start to implode. Is Meghan sick, or is something else going on? One doctor with potential ethics violations believes Meghan is suffering from a rare disease involving her mitochondria.
Another doctor feels it’s all in her mind, and the constant health issues stem from an overbearing mother. Legal and law enforcement debate whether this is a classic Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy, a form of abuse where the person supposed to care for the individual makes up or causes the condition. Becky says no, but Carl starts to believe otherwise and begins to work to remove his wife from his daughter’s care. Becky has to prove her innocence to keep her family together and her daughter alive even though the evidence against her is overwhelming. Palmer knows how to ratchet up the suspense and paranoia in “Saving Meghan” while keeping the reader continually guessing to what is happening to Meghan. He also has the talent to create an emotional investment in the characters while also keeping the repulsion factor of what’s being discussed low. The finale might not be a happy ending in the traditional sense, but it’s unpredictable and unforgettable. (AP)
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The Room: ‘Caught By The Machine’ mott@pattayamail.com The Room are the new face of progressive rock music. Formed in 2010 by Andy Rowe (bass guitar and vocals) along with Martin Wilson (lead vocals) and Steve Anderson (lead guitar and stunt guitar), the latter two from the highly recommended Grey Lady Down, the band have spent the last decade treading the boards with a certain wariness that can only be reached with experience of what is left of our music industry. After two rewarding albums, “Open Fire” (2012), “Beyond the Gates” (2015) and a Live DVD “Live at The Robin 2” in 2017, they recently signed up to the White Star Records label and were given full reign to cut loose musically with their magnificent third studio album, “Caught By The Machine” (2019), produced by John Mitchell.
This is the album that The Room cut loose in a full rush for musical glory. With the three original founders being joined by the excellent additions of Eric Boullette on violin and guitar, a keyboard wizard in the shape of Mark Dixon and the pounding drums of Chris York, The Room’s sound is now complete.
If you like Peter Gabriel era Genesis, or even Marillion, then this will suit you down to the ground. The Room really give it plenty of bottom end and rock out but there is more than a little light and dark merged within, and this really gives the album depth. It is still melodic rock at its best, but played with a power and passion that gives it its own originality.
In fact one wonders (with their commercial sense) if songs like “Broken” or “It’s Not My Home” could not be hit singles, if there still is such a thing anymore. Martin Wilson is a unique vocalist/story-teller whose stylish delivery has long been admired in rock circles. Each song here is like a miniature narrative, using the album’s title as its theme and the unfortunate fact that we all get caught up in the machine of everyday life, relationships and work. This suits Wilson’s style perfectly but still leaves room for a wonderful guest appearance by Touchstone’s Kim Seviour, who disturbingly portrays to perfection the role of a deranged cat lady on the epic “Drowning in Sound”. Steve Anderson is a hugely underrated guitarist and on this album is allowed plenty of room to wig out in style; “Just Walk Away” and “Run” being fine examples of his trade while the opening to “Drowning in Sound” brings high drama. Eric Boullette’s violin is rather under used on this album, but I hear this particu-
The Room are pictured in this promotional photo.
lar absence is more than made up for in the ‘live’ arena. Boullette does however get to play a lot of guitar alongside Anderson on this recording, beefing up the sound and melody. Martin Dixon’s keyboards are used to good effect here, keeping each song moving along and when given the chance to solo, both hands are on the wheel. The rhythm section packs a mighty thump but it is as a
Monty Python celebrate ‘Life of Brian,’ honor ailing Jones Hilary Fox London (AP) — Celebrations for the 40th anniversary of the Monty Python comedy classic “Life of Brian” are being somewhat overshadowed this month by the health news of member Terry Jones. Jones is “very robust” although “on the downhill slope” due to dementia, according to his friend and colleague Michael Palin. Jones was diagnosed in 2015 with a form of dementia that impairs the ability to speak. “I go and see him and the great satisfaction is just to get a reaction; sadly, he doesn’t speak much. But I read him some stuff that we’d written together a long, long
Terry Jones is shown in this April 24, 2015 file photo. (AP Photo/Andy Kropa/Invision)
time ago and Terry actually started to laugh at it, and he laughed only at the bits that he’d written,” Palin recalled in a recent interview. “Life of Brian,” which
Jones directed, is among the group’s revered 45 TV comedy episodes, five films and a blockbuster Broadway musical. When the film came out four decades ago, it was
a huge hit, but also stirred controversy because of its plotline: It was about a man named Brian Cohen who was born in the stables next to Jesus and mistaken for the Messiah. Palin played Pontius Pilate with a speech impediment. Palin recalls the film was actually banned from a town called Aberystwyth in Wales until 2008. “Then Aberystwyth elected a new mayor, and the mayor they elected was Sue JonesDavies, who played Brian’s girlfriend, romping around in the nude. She was mayor of Aberystwyth and the first thing she said was, ‘We’re going to release this film in Aberystwyth,’” he recalled. “It was only shown for one night.”
whole that the band really dazzle, switching tempos and the colors of the music at will and keeping every note interesting. “Vanished” is a fine example of The Room at their best, a song of mighty power and clocking in at a weighty eight minutes. The Room have already toured with Inglorious (who they must have blown off the stage) as well as the more appropriate Lifesigns and Soft Machine. Last summer was spent concentrating on the European festival circuit, which gained the band much needed exposure. In 2016 they were nominated by the Classic Rock Society for the ‘Best New Band Of The Year’award. This year they have the ‘Album of 2019’ title, nominated and bestowed by Mott The Dog. We now have the new album to savor plus an upcoming tour of Great Britain. I’m sure by the end of this year they will be very well
established so pop into The Room now and get yourself to the front of the pack. Track List: Bodies In The Road Run Broken The Golden Ones just Walk Away Drowning In Sound Clover Vanished It’s Not My Home Bloodstream The Room: Steve Anderson – lead guitar, keyboards and vocals Eric Bouillette - guitar and violin Mark Dixon – keyboards and vocals Andy Rowe - bass guitar and vocals Martin Wilson - lead vocals Chris York - drums and vocals Note: Written by Mott The Dog, who can be found kenneled at Fletchers’ Folly on the Dark Side, Siam Country Club Road, Pattaya.
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Nongprue blesses seniors, monks for Songkran
VOL. XXVII No. 17
Chumsai holds traditional Songkran celebration Jetsada Homklin
Nongprue Mayor Mai Chaiyanit led Nongprue residents in traditional water blessings for Songkran.
Warapun Jaikusol Nongprue Mayor Mai Chaiyanit led Nongprue residents in blessing the subdistrict’s elderly for Songkran.
Residents and disciples of Luang Pho Chang poured holy water on a Buddha statue and monks at Nongprue TempleApril 19 in front of the mayor and Banglamung
Dean of Monks Pipitkitjarak. It was then time for senior citizens to receive water across their hands as a sign of respect and wishes for long life.
The Chumsai Community hosted a merit-making ceremony where residents could bathe Buddha statues for Songkran. Neighborhood President Jirawat Plukjai opened the April 17 event that saw nine monks from Nong Or Temple chant holy stanzas. Top city officials and community leaders were on hand as residents took turns pouring water on the hands of the monks to bless them for the Thai New Year. The monks then returned the favor before everyone enjoyed a morning meal.
The Chumsai Community hosted a merit-making ceremony where residents could bathe Buddha statues for Songkran.
After the meal, the community’s senior citizens were honored with gentle
water-pouring in the Thai tradition, followed by singing and dancing.
Pong parades for Songkran
Naklua’s ‘wan lai’ brings traffic to standstill
About 500 Pong residents joined the sub-district’s Songkran parade. Tens of thousands of people flooded Naklua with bodies and water as the community celebrated the end of Songkran.
Teerarak Suthathiwong Tens of thousands of people flooded Naklua with bodies and water as the community celebrated the end of Songkran. Traffic gridlocked April 18
for Naklua’s “wan lai” day, the finale of the Thai New Year’s celebration, with traffic stopped for 10 kilometers around Sawangfa Pruktaram Temple. With temperatures soaring,
everyone was happy to get soaked with water, which flew all day. Street vendors did their best to cash in, selling food, drinks, water guns and supposedly banned powder to revelers.
Sattahip goes pirate for Songkran
Sattahip brought a pirate theme to this year’s Songkran celebration, showcasing its fabled history as a den of black-flag bandits.
Patcharapol Panrak Sattahip brought a pirate theme to this year’s Songkran celebration, showcasing its fabled history as a den of black-flag bandits. District Chief Anucha Intasorn and Sattahip Mayor Narong Boonbanjerdsri
led the April 17 parade of navy sailors, police schools, and clubs. The parade featured Buddhist relics and statues, cars full of Songkran beauty pageant contestants, photos of HM the King, the navy’s ships, a lighthouse and, finally, 7 treasure chests
as symbols of Sattahip’s proclaimed pirate history. Anucha said there have been legends and tall tales about pirates and the navy’s home base region for years, so this year’s Songkran parade brought some symbols of that legacy to the public.
Warapun Jaikusol About 500 Pong residents joined the subdistrict’s
Songkran parade. The procession included floats and flowers traveling from the subdistrict office to
Pong Temple. Along the parade route local residents engaged in water fights.
Tail wagging the dog Editor; Your correspondent (April 19) suggests city hall rounds up all unregistered dogs and escorts them to the pound. He does not indicate their likely future there, but the crematoria will be mighty busy. The titanic costs of such an ongoing local authority campaign would shatter any feasible budget. Of course, the physical and health threats from dogs are severe. But so are the injuries and deaths caused by motorbikes. Thailand pours multi-million baht into regular police crackdowns, yet the death toll of human corpses is an annual horror story. Write to the Editor:
E-mail: mailbag@pattayamail.com
The expense of all that human misery makes canine horror stories minor by comparison. True, if you are bitten by a dog you may well have to pay the medical bills yourself. But that’s true of any hospital charges here unless you are specifically insured. I was attacked by a flying bat last year - some said about time too - but nobody rushed forward with a cheque book. It is always alluring to promote simplistic solutions to dire problems, quoting sanctions and the law. All prostitution in Thailand is illegal under an act of 1960, yet I see traces of it even in holy Pattaya. By all means punish with fines all those who feed
stray animals and then divert the cash from dog sterilization to the kids of the future, as your correspondent naively suggests. But don’t be too shocked if the money somehow gets lost in the system. The purpose of the law is to keep the lid on problems rather than absolutely to solve them. Three quarters of all Thai prisoners are there for drugs offenses, but you can still buy the stuff on some street corners. The law is rarely the simplistic winner-take-all answer to complex social problems. But I do confess to battering the bat to death. Barry Kenyon
Note: Letters printed herein in no way reflect the opinions of the editors or writers for Pattaya Mail, but are unsolicited letters from our readers, expressing their own opinions. No anonymous letters or those without genuine addresses are printed, and, whilst we do not object to the use of a nom de plume, preference will be given to those signed.
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All-you-can-eat durian fest held at Central World Lovers of fruit, especially durian, didn’t want to miss the all-you-can-eat durian offer at Thailand’s Original Amazing Durian and Fruit Fest 2019 ending today at Central World shopping center in downtown Bangkok. The event was held in two zones, namely the fruit buffet zone serving durian and mangosteen, rambutan, longan, Japanese melon, watermelon, and coconut, as well as dessert dishes such as mango with sticky rice, durian with sticky rice, mango with sweet fish sauce, and coconut milk icecream, all on unlimited offer. The buffet was open in five rounds daily, at 11 a.m., 1 p.m., 3 p.m., 5 p.m., and 7 p.m. Customers were given 60
All the durian you could eat in 60 minutes.
The all-you-can-eat durian offer at Thailand’s Original Amazing Durian and Fruit Fest 2019 ended 25 April at Central World shopping center in downtown Bangkok.
minutes to enjoy as much fruit as they like. A buffet ticket cost
479 baht per person per round. The event also featured a
Farmer’s Market zone selling quality seasonal Thai fruit from farmers and community enterprises, providing a channel for fruit sales from local communities from across the country. The event this year was the 4th consecutive annual
event organized by Central Food Retail, Tops Supermarket, the Department of Internal Trade, and the Tourism Authority of Thailand. All tickets were sold out, with 60% of customers being international tourists. It is estimated the event this
year attracted 130,000150,000 customers, requiring 1,500 tons of durian to be served. The Department of Internal Trade Director General Wichai Pochanakit said the department will continue to work with Central and Tops to also hold this event in the northern region, eastern region, and southern region, until the end of fruit season to help promote product sales to more customers. The fruit festival at Central World ended 25 April 2019 at Square B and C plaza. Special offers were available for buffet customers who could pay for the cost of four persons when they came in a group of five. (NNT)
How many cherries in frozen pie? FDA may soon drop rules Candice Choi New York (AP) — President Donald Trump may soon be able to claim a sweet victory for his deregulation push, with USA officials preparing to get rid of the decades-old rules for frozen cherry pies. Emails show the US Food and Drug Administration planned to start the process for revoking the standard for frozen cherry pies this week, followed by a similar revocation of the standard for French dressing. Plans to get rid of the obscure rules had been tucked into the Trump administration’s deregulation agenda. Standards for an array of foods including cottage cheese and canned peas were put in place decades ago partly to ensure a level of quality. They spell out how products with specific names can be made, including ingredients that
are required or not allowed. The rules for frozen cherry pies say they must be 25% cherries by weight with no more than 15% of the cherries being blemished. It’s not always clear why some food terms have standards and others don’t. The rules are seen as arcane by many and are a sore spot in the food industry, with companies saying they prevent innovation or prompt lawsuits. The FDA under Trump has said it plans to update the standards. Lee Sanders of the American Bakers Association said she’s hopeful the cherry pie standard will finally be revoked, but that it would not make a big difference for the industry. “I feel confident our members are producing cherry pies with more than enough cherries,” she said. The FDA also plans to take another look at milk, which federal regulations
spread for violating the mayonnaise standard, notes other dressings are not subject to such standards. Former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, who stepped down this month, said in an October tweet that it was among the FDA’s priorities to “de-regulate frozen cherry pie.” He apparently wasn’t entirely joking. In a June email, the FDA noted planned to post a This Monday, Feb. 2, 2009 file photo shows a frozen cherry pie in a store’s freezer in Palo Alto, Calif. In 2019, the Food and Drug Administration is preparing to propose getting rid of a federal standard for frozen cherry pie, which say the products must be at least 25% cherries by weight. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)
define as coming from a cow. The dairy industry has called for a crackdown on soy, rice and almond drinks makers that use the term. While any changes to the milk rule are likely to be contested, getting rid of the standard for frozen cherry pie is
unlikely to be controversial. The frozen cherry pie standard is an outlier because other fruit pies don’t have similar rules. The same is true for French dressing: The Association for Dressings and Sauces, which once went after a vegan
proposal to revoke the frozen cherry pie standard on April 18. It said the proposal to revoke the French dressing standard would be posted May 3. In a statement this week, the FDA said the dates were for “long range internal planning purposes” and that the timing could shift. Updates to the standards will be publicly noted, the agency said.
18 FRIDAYAPRIL 26, 2019
The Pattaya City Expat Club Sunday morning proceedings on April 14 were blessed with two speakers: One to help us hear and another to help us relax. Both were competent and helpful. After finally deciding who was emceeing, Judith Edmunds introduced the first of two Sunday morning “diviners of message” — Marko Koropeckyi, an American hearing specialist. Using the interview method to convey his thoughts, Marko asked how he selected the hearing business as his life’s work. Kicking around until almost thirty, he became convinced that his life’s work was to help people. With that purpose in mind he took a job with the firm ‘Miracle Ear’ but after 6 years decided he could do more effective work on his own. He has by now been helping people to hear better for 26 years. His business is called ‘Affordable Clarity’ and the website (still under construction) is where one can contact Marko and purchase his hearing products.
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VOL. XXVII No. 17
A 2fer at PCEC for Songkran — To Hear or not To Hear Over the years, hearing aids have become increasingly more effective at helping people overcome their individual hearing problems. The original hearing aid was nothing more than an amplifier in a small box attached to outside clothing, with a small speaker attachment going to the ear. Then these products got smaller, easier to wear and more efficient due to years of research. These days, hearing aids are all digital and they can be customdesigned to each person’s specific needs. The price of standard models can range from 450 to thousands of dollars, depending on the specific qualities of the device required, or desired. Starting at around age 55, it is normal for individuals to lose 2 or 3 percent of their hearing efficiency each year. Other causes for hearing problems are: high noise-intensity work environments, listening to loud music, and sometimes a specific traumatic event. Hearing loss begins with the high frequencies because these are
processed by those nerves in the ear that are closest to the incoming sounds. Since the sounds of most consonants involve these high frequencies, they are the first sounds to get muffled and lost from normal conversation or audio media. Marko was unable to give hearing tests as promised due to equipment problems; but said he would reschedule in a couple of weeks. One member complained that he had selective hearing loss, especially when his wife was talking to him! — a common problem?
Simon says, practice makes perfect.
The long and the short of stress relief.
Now, listen carefully!
The second speaker was not new to the club as she has given previous talks on the pluses of yoga. Diana Mountanos of ‘Pure Yoga Pattaya’ talked to us about how to relax during the crazy and potentially stressful time of Songkran. Although she had twelve specific practical things to do to calm yourself down, she surprised many members by proclaiming that ‘cell/mobile phone addiction’ is the most dangerous and fastest growing problem in the world. Turn them (and the TV) off for five days!
Then you will see and hear many things you have been missing, says Diane. Her list of calming exercises included: laughing out loud and heartily, physical things such as thumb-pushing, palm-pushing, eye rotation, hugging yourself, striking the superman pose, and just ‘shaking all over’ — like a dog after a bath. Additional things to try are: a bubble bath, smelling lavender, a 24 hour water cleansing, watching fish swim (they should be alive) and pushing against the wall. Many different breathing exercises were mentioned and demoed including: happy breath, sighing deeply,
purposeful breathing, quiet breathing and breath control. Several simple yoga warm-up exercises were also suggested to reduce stress and anxiety. One of Diane’s suggestions was to listen to music. During the Q and A session after the talk, one member said he might not be here next week because he was going to take away his wife’s phone! You may join Diane for her yoga classes at Tony’s Gym on Third Road: Monday, Wednesday and Friday from about 6 to 8. She says all are welcome. Thanks to Marko and Diane for such helpful talks!
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As611/01-52/ Pattaya Mail Cartoonist Michael Baird (M.J.B.) has 3 brand new cartoon E-Books out. These and his other 10 cartoon EBooks can be bought from www.amazon.co.uk. You will now be able to see all of Mike’s cartoons in FULL COLOUR. His 3 new Kindle E-Books are “Pattaya Cartoon Memories”, “Ladyboy Book 3” and “Pattaya Unforgettable Memories”. These cartoons are for grown-ups and would be unique gifts. You never know - You might see yourself in them!
Businesses for Sale or Rent
Articles/Services Wanted Aw01/01-52/ Missionary in Rayong sponsoring Little Duck Nursery needs help.
Bop04/14-52/ Big Thai restaurant on busy Soi in Pratumnak; 52 seats, guest toilets, 1 bathroom, 2 bedrooms, WiFi; 700,000 THB (298) GO PROPERTY THAILAND; 093- 161 5995; www. gopropertythailand.com Bop03/14-52/ Commercial shop located inVIEWTALAY condominium Jomtien Beach, ground floor; business space 47sqm; 1 bathroom, terrace; WiFi; security 7/24h; parking for clients, 2,495,000 THB (246) GO PROPERTY THAILAND; 093- 161 5995; www.gopropertythailand.com Bop02/14-52/ Warehouse on Huay Yai Road, 4 big halls on 1.5 Rai (2,400sqm), 8 toilets,
air-condition; perfect for all kind of business. 20,000,000 THB (331) GO PROPERTY THAILAND; 093- 161 5995; www.gopropertythailand.com
Notices No02/11-20/ Pattaya Panthers Rugby Club is looking to recruit new players. All ages and abilities welcome to come to training nights every Thursday at Horseshoe Point in east Pattaya from 7pm – 8.30pm. For more information, go to Pattaya Panthers page on Facebook. No01/11-20/Lookingforagame of snooker with a retired ex-professional UK snooker player? Tel. Mike on 089 152 3202
Pets Pets03/01-52/ Homeless puppies available for adoption to warm and caring homes! All puppies are healthy, vaccinated and acclimated to
FRIDAY APRIL 26, 2019 19
people. If you are looking for a friend for life, just call 088 402 6772 or e-mail to karin@carefordogs.org. Pets02/01-52/ **Free Cats and Kittens** We are still trying to find loving homes for over 40 cats and kittens. Please check the pictures on our website or ring Sandra. Call 085 287 5004 http:/ cats4youinpattaya.webs.com
Property for Rent Houses, Villas Prb03/16-20/ House/condo in Bang-sare. Tel. 0890475604 Prb02/14-18/ Bungalow for Rent, one Bedroom, 2 Baths, living dinning pantry area unfurnished, in Soi Nernplubwan, Mabyailia 17 off Sukhumvit 53. 10 minutes from Pattaya Beach. Rent: 6,500 baht/month. More detail: 081-653-1950, E- mail: juanitareed@hotmail.com or Line ID: 081-653-1950
Pattaya Emergency Numbers Pattaya Call Center ................................ 1337 Police Station .......................................... 191 - Pattaya ................................................... 038 424 186 - Banglamung ......................................... 038 221 800-1 Highway Police ....................................... 038 392 001 Fire Brigade ............................................. 199 Pat. Int. Hopsital ..................................... 038 428 374-5 Bkk-Pat Hospital ..................................... 038 259 911 TAT Central Office: Region 3 Pattaya . 038 428 750 Tourist Police ......................................... 038 429 371, 1155 . .................................................................. 038 410 044 (FAX)
20 FRIDAYAPRIL 26, 2019
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VOL. XXVII No. 17
VOL. XXVII No. 17
Prb01/09-22/ TOWNHOUSE, Off Soi Khaotalo, Like new, quiet, safe, two bedroom, one bathroom, patio, carport, Thai kitchen, air-conditioned, FULLY FURNUSHED, Guarded Subdivision, Communal Pool, One Year Lease Minimum, B9,500. Monthly, B19,000. Security Deposit. English, 087-805-5276
Condos, Apartments Prc218/10-19/ Royal Park Luxury Service Apartments and penthouse suite, Jomtien: starting at 15,000 baht/month. 56-70sqm, one bedroom, large living area with balcony and European kitchen, Free internet. Enjoy our rooftop swimming pool. Short walk to the beach. Monthly and daily rentals, Contact 086 111 7414 or check on our website www.royalparkjomtien.com to see why we are number 1 in Jomtien
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Property for Sale Houses, Villas Psb04/16-20/ House/condo in Bang-sare. Tel. 089 047 5604 Psb03/14-52/ New reformed City Villa in the heart of Pattaya; close to 3rd Road/ LK Hotel; walking distance to Soi Bokhao; 120sqm living space; land approx. 150sqm; 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, living room, kitchen; fully furnished; 2 new Flat TVs; 3 aircons; big storeroom; garden, carport & parking; NO THROUGH ROAD- very quite; 3,950,000 THB (284) GO PROPERTY THAILAND; 093- 161 5995; www.gopropertythailand.com Psb02/14-52/ Luxury Pool Villa in Soi Siam Country Club, close to Mabprachan Reservoir, well maintained, fully furnished, 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, 1 living room +
dining area, air-condition, living space 320 sqm, land size 500 sqm, European kitchen, Thai kitchen, washing machine, salt water pool, Jacuzzi, electric gate, parking for 2 cars, community pool, 24h security; 5,900,000 THB, Rent 38,000 per month (348) GO PROPERTY THAILAND; 093- 161 5995; www. gopropertythailand.com Psb01/14-52/ House located on Thappraya Road, PattayaJomtien; land size 372sqm, living space 250sqm; fully furnished; 1 living room; 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, European kitchen; garden; security 7/24h; community pool; parking; close 10 Baht Taxi Route, restaurants, bars, supermarket, laundry, 8,300,000 THB (281) GO PROPERTY THAILAND; 093- 161 5995; www. gopropertythailand.com
Condominiums Psc101/15-24/ Trust Residence Central Pattaya
Condo: fully furnished wifi & swimming pool for sale: 1,250,000 (tax free) Tel. 086633-2948, 083-282-3984 Psc100/13-17/ Porchland Condo in Jomtien, Owner Sale: One bedroom, 48m2, 8th Floor, high quality. All included. 2.1 Million Baht. Info: 087 138 3523 Psc98/14-52/ Studio, close to TUCOM, City location; 46sqm; 2nd floor; fully furnished; living-bedroom; bathroom, kitchen; large balcony; 24/7 security; reception; community pool; car park; 1,050,000 THB; (286) GO PROPERTY THAILAND; 093- 161 5995; www. gopropertythailand.com Psc97/14-52/ Studio located close to Jomtien Beach Soi 7 and ‘Rhompo Night Market’,3rd floor; living space 47sqm; fully furnished; 1 living-bedroom; 1 bathroom, kitchenette; terrace; WiFi; security 7/24hrs; fitness gym; community pool; garage; restaurants, bars, supermarket, laundry; 1,600,000 THB;(248) GO PROPERTY THAILAND; 093- 161 5995; www.gopropertythailand.com Psc96/14-52/ Studio in Jomtien with sea views, 47sqm, Thappraya Road, 1 living-bedroom, 1 bathroom, kitchen; well maintained, 24h security; car parking, laundry, air-condition, fully furnished, big balcony, fitness gym, community pool, close to 10-Baht Taxi Route, supermarket, bus station, massage shops, restaurants; 2,600,000 THB; (375) GO PROPERTY THAILAND; 093- 161 5995; www.gopropertythailand.com
Land for Sale P/16-20/ Beach/ mountain/ sea views: plots in Bangsare. Tel. 0890475604 P05/14-18/ If you are looking for the perfect building plot to build your dream home then this is it! It is a fraction under half a Rai, fully walled with more blocks used than will be used to build your home and in an exclusive private estate. Access is through an electronic gate to a private a road with drainage already installed. 3phase electricity is also installed and ready to be connected. There is nothing more to be spent except to build your dream home. Price is 3 million Baht. This is cheap as you will find that the normal price in this area is 6 million per Rai for just open land. Tel. 086 101 1341 - Thai and English spoken.
FRIDAY APRIL 26, 2019 21
P03/14-52/ 4 Rai land located 45m along Sukhumvit Road, close NONG NOOCH BOTANIC GARDEN; total land size 4 Rai, 134sq-wah; 1 Rai solo: 35,000,000 THB, 4 Rai in total: 120,000,000 THB (321) GO PROPERTY THAILAND; 093- 161 5995; www. gopropertythailand.com P02/14-52/ 3,25 Rai land close Huay Yai Road with 600sqm big house 19,950,000 THB; GO PROPERTY THAILAND; 093- 161 5995; www. gopropertythailand.com P01/14-52/ 1,150sqm land for sale in the town of Bang Saray, (288sqw), few minutes’ drive to the beach, can build up to 7 floors. 27,000,000 THB (329) GO PROPERTY THAILAND; 093- 161 5995; www. gopropertythailand.com
Services Provided Sp05/17/ PLANS DRAWN: Residential – Commercial Industrial. Tel. 085-083-4221
Vehicles for Sale/Rent Vc01/14-18/ For Sale: BMW 320d GT Sport (Automatic) sedan: 2.0 million baht (o.n.o.). Year 2014, mileage not over 49,500km, excellent condition, well maintained & Serviced at BMW, Mag Rims & Kumho tyres, include spares 4 sets original BMW Mag Rims & Run-Flat tyres. Call Christine on 081996-0708 (English)
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VOL. XXVII No. 17
Brooke Henderson wins in Hawaii to tie Canadian victory mark Kapolei, Hawaii (AP) — Brooke Henderson successfully defended her title in the Lotte Championship on Saturday to tie Sandra Post’s record for LPGA Tour victories by a Canadian with eight. The 21-year-old Henderson closed with a 2-under 70 at windy Ko Olina Golf Club for a four-stroke victory over Eun-Hee Ji. “When I was younger it was just a goal to be on the LPGA Tour, to win my first event,” Henderson said. “And when that happened and I won my first major the year after, things kind of just started to fall into place. I knew the record was eight. Just kept creeping toward it the last three years, which was really exciting.
“And then I think starting last year I sort of saw that it was within my reach if I had two good seasons. Last year put me into great position, and coming back this year it’s been on the back of my mind every week that I tee it up. I’m just really happy that I have finally done it. Looking forward to overtaking it now.” George Knudson and Mike Weir share the Canadian mark on the PGA Tour, also each winning eight times. “It’s really amazing to even be mentioned in the same sentence as Mike Weir, George, and Sandra,” Henderson said. “This week was really special. I always love coming to Hawaii. Last year was such an incredible week for me, to be able to
Brooke M. Henderson, of Canada, kisses the Lotte Championship trophy after winning the LPGA Tour golf tournament at Ko Olina Golf Club in Kapolei, Hawaii Saturday, April 20, 2019. (Jamm Aquino/ Honolulu Star-Advertiser via AP)
hoist that trophy for the first time. Coming back I knew I knew the golf course really well and I have so many great memories pretty much on every hole, which is a great feeling.” Nelly Korda, tied with Henderson for the thirdround lead, finished with a quadruple-bogey 8 for a 77 that left her seven strokes back at 9 under. She hit into the water twice on 18, then threw her ball in after finishing. The 20-year-old American also had a double bogey on the par-4 seventh. Henderson rebounded from a bogey on the par-5 first with birdies on the par4 third and par-5 fifth, also birdied the par-4 11th and closed with seven straight pars to finish at 16-under 272.
“To come in today tied with the lead with so many amazing players tied with or just back of me, was ... I knew it was going to be a tough task with the wind blowing as strong as it was,” Henderson said. “It definitely was really difficult.” Ji opened with rounds of 64 and 65 to take the secondround lead, then shot 74-73. “I play really good first two rounds and I didn’t play well last two rounds,” the Southern Korean player said. “First two rounds doesn’t have a lot of windy, but last two rounds was really windy out there. Playing a lot differently than first two rounds, so that makes it little hard.” Ariya Jutanugarn (73) and 2016 winner Minjee Lee (74) tied for third at 11 under.
C.T. Pan rallies to win RBC Heritage for 1st PGA Tour title Pete Iacobelli Hilton Head Island, S.C. (AP) — C.T. Pan watched the Masters 2 weeks ago with his wife, and sometimes caddie, Yingchun Lin, thrilled by Tiger Woods’ stirring victory at Augusta National. His wife, Pan, told him point blank, “Hey, I’m not patient, so you better get me (to Augusta) as soon as possible.” Pan complied quickly, taking advantage of top-ranked Dustin Johnson’s back-nine meltdown last Sunday to win the RBC Heritage for his first PGA Tour victory. Along with US$1.242 million, the win opens a world of opportunities for the 27year-old Taiwanese player: He’s exempt on tour through 2020-21, in line to make the President’s Cup International team this year and will have an opportunity he’s dreamed about since taking up the game in the mid-1990s by playing at Augusta National. “It’s a good problem to have,” Pan said. Pan shot a 4-under 67 to finish at 12-under 272, a stroke ahead of Matt Kuchar and two in front of Patrick Cantlay, Scott Piercy and Shane Lowry. Kuchar had a 67, Cantlay and Piercy had 69s and Lowry a 70. The top-ranked Johnson, the third-round leader in his
home-state event, had a 77 to tie for 28th at 4 under. He played a five-hole stretch in 7 over, making bogeys on Nos. 11-13 and double bogeys on Nos. 14-15. Pan took the lead for good with a 9-foot birdie putt on the par-4 16th. Pan headed to the practice range after the round to keep ready in case of a playoff, then raised his arms in triumph when told he’d won. “It’s still really hard for me to believe,” he said straight afterwards. “I’m processing. My phone has been vibrating the last 10 minutes. I’m so happy I finally got it done.” Pan won twice on the PGA Tour Canada in 2015 when he turned professional. He’s finished second twice in PGA Tour events, once at the Farmers Insurance Open in 2017 and last year at the Wyndham Championship. Johnson, the 20-time PGA Tour champ, carried a oneshot lead into the final round and the South Carolina native seemed a strong bet to add the Palmetto State’s only tour stop to his trophy case. But Johnson never found a rhythm early and lost all hope with his uncharacteristic drop off. He had a birdie on the fifth to keep on top. Johnson’s collapse started mildly with
C.T. Pan blasts out of a bunker on the 17th hole during the final round of the RBC Heritage golf tournament at Harbour Town Golf Links on Hilton Head Island, S.C., Sunday, April 21, 2019. (AP Photo/Mic Smith)
a bogey on the par-3 seventh hole. It took full flight on the back nine. Johnson’s frustrations were in full display on the par-4 13th when his approach went into the bunker, a foot or so from the wooden-board facing. He barely got it out, shook his head and tossed his wedge down against his bag. He flew his tee shot into the water on the par-3 14th to drop two more shots. Johnson added a second
double bogey on the par-5 15th, a hole he had birdied the first three rounds. Johnson waved to the stands on the 18th when he closed with a birdie. Lowry, who had three bogeys over his final six holes Saturday to lose a lead he held much of the week, appeared to regain his earlier form with birdies on the second, fifth and sixth holes to take a two-shot lead. But a bogey on the straightfor-
ward, par-4 ninth — Lowry had birdied it two of the first three rounds — dropped him back. He stubbed a pair of chips on the 12th hole and took double bogey. Lowry scratched back within a shot of Pan with a birdie on the 14th, but could come no closer. He said he’ll take positives from the week. “Look, after coming so close, it’s hard to describe what it’s like,” Lowry said “But I’m sure I’ll
get over it and move on to next week.” Kuchar, the 2014 winner at Harbour Town, put together a charge of five birdies to tie Pan for the top. But a bogey on the par-3 17th following a tee shot into the bunker ruined his chances of a second tartan jacket. “It was so much fun,” Kuchar said. “Getting in the mix on the back nine here on Sunday. That back nine, I was really, really enjoying myself.” Cantlay looked like a second strong weekend — he went 64-68 his final two rounds at the Masters to tie for ninth — might bring him victory as he tied for the top with consecutive birdies on the 14th and 15th holes. He had a chip from just off the green on the 18th for a tying birdie, but did not come close. “I hit a lot of solid shots and (it) just wasn’t enough,” he said. Pan’s wife was key to his playing here this week. He had planned to attend a junior event in Houston he helped organize. But Yingchun Lin told him to get back to work and let her handle things down there. “Just listen to your wife,” Pan said. “And you will have a good life. She’s right, always.”
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Cliff finds winning touch in Khao Yai The Jomtien Golf Society
Jomtien Golf’s annual escape from the Songkran festival saw the golfers a trip to Khao Yai for the week, playing three courses with an individual stableford competition for two divisions each day and an overall winner over the course of the week.
Monday, April 15, Khao Yai G.C. Stableford There were 25 golfers out today in two divisions, which included awards for nearest the pins and a 2s competition. This is a popular course and in good condition with some stunning scenery on offer throughout the round. Locally based lad Tim Hake came in with the best score of the day, winning division 1 with 42 points. Don Head was second on 39 points, Dennis Scougall took third with 38 and in fourth place with a 18/16 back nine countback was Paul Hubbard, just edging out Alan Hanlon after they both scored 35s. In division 2 there were four scores of 37 points in a countback order of 22/21/18/ 16, Colin James was adjudged to be the winner, Glyn Evans placed second,
Kari Aarnio was third and Steve Cliff fourth. Near pins went to (Div 1) Tim Hake, Alan Hanlon and Dennis Scougall (2), and (Div 2) Kari Aarnio (2), Glyn Evans and Hal Hart. In the 2s competitions, Tim Hake birdied the 11th in the top flight and in division 2 Kari Aarnio the 4th. As always, Tim and Uan hosted a quality BBQ back at their house for the 25 golfers and nine partners.
Wednesday, April 17, Rancho Charnvee Stableford We were playing off the white tees today at 6559 yards and Steve Cliff (H/cap 23) recorded his best ever score in Thailand, winning division 2 with 44 points. Hal Hart was second behind Steve on 37 and the Aussie chef Mark Armstrong took third with 34. A 10/9 back-six countback saw Glyn Evans take the final podium spot, beating Markku Tynell after they both scored 33 points. Paul Young topped division 1 with 39 points while Monday’s winner Tim Hake came in second today on 36. Paul Hubbard was third with
Paul Young (from left) with Tim Hake, Kari Aarnio. Steve Cliff and Glyn Evans.
34 points and Dennis Scougall claimed fourth after beating Bill Kana on a 14/ 13 back-nine countback, both with 32 overall. Near pins were claimed by (Div 1) Russell Gilroy, Paul Hubbard, Bill Kana and Paul Young, and (Div 2) Steve Cliff, Glyn Evans, Hal Hart and Colin James. Paul Hubbard birdied the 17th to claim the only 2 of the day.
North posts best of the week PSC Golf from the Billabong Bar Monday, April 15, Phoenix Gold Stableford A nice day at Phoenix and with nobody waiting around we set off early on the Mountain and Lake nines. As usual the Mountain layout won and it must be one of the hardest nine holes in this area - a real challenge for any golfer. The rough is real rough here and the greens were just a little slower than normal, just to make things a bit more of a challenge. We had four groups playing and Greig Ritchie and Chris Dodd had a battle for third spot, with Chris taking it on countback with a superior back-nine. Second place went to Stan Rees on 36 points, he also losing a countback to Glyn Davies who was the day’s winner. There were no 2s on the day.
Wednesday, April 17, Pleasant Valley Stableford A change today as four groups played Pleasant Valley and two more went to Green Valley. It was a beautiful day with a very nice breeze blowing and the PV course was in excellent condition. The 800 baht saving was welcome and the consensus
Thiery, Gerard, Nipper and Sandy.
of opinion was we will return sooner rather than later. The scoring was very good with the lower handicap players performing best. Peter Rook took third place with 38 points off his 10handicap, being beaten by Brad Jordison also off a 10handicap but with a slightly better back nine. Top spot went to Jeff North playing off a 9-handicap and scoring 39 points. There were five 2s, coming from Brad Jordison, Alan Cassin, Thiery Petrement and Peter Rook got 2. It must be said that the par-three holes at Pleasant Valley are almost all uniquely different, with two of them being
island greens and the other two just as challenging.
Friday, April 19, Burapha - Stableford Burapha was in great condition and we played A and B loops in very hot weather but still with a little breeze to try to keep the sweat away. The scoring wasn’t too bad with a countback for the minor places between Graham Gibson and Alan Cassin, both on 36 points. Alan managed to take second with the slightly better back-nine and Gibbo had to settle for third. Top spot went to Brad Jordison with 38 points and he also recorded the only 2 of the day.
Friday, April 19, Panorama G.C. Stableford Quite a few players regarded this as the best course of the week, and with some tough holes out there we decided to play off the blue tees at 6197 yards.
The top score of the day was a meager 32 points, with Glyn Evans beating Kari Aarnio on a 19/18 back-nine countback for first place in
the second division. After a three shot handicap reduction, Steve Cliff came in third on 31 and Chris Ross was fourth with 30 points. Bob Comartin produced his best round of the week (albeit only 31 points) to wins division 1 ahead of Darryl Burkett in second on 30. Tim Hake finished third after beating Paul Young on a 16/11 countback, both with 29 points on their cards in total. Near pins went to (Div 1) Darryl Burkett (2), Tim Hake and Bill Kana, and (Div 2) Steve Cliff (2), Gil Phillips and Markku Tynell. There was only one 2 today, and it came from Bill Kana in division 1 on the 2nd. Steve Cliff with 112 points overall won the three-day competition, Tim Hake took second on 107, Glyn Evans was third with 102 and Kari Aarnio and Paul Young came 4th and 5th with 101 points each.
Surviving Songkran Traveller’s Rest Golf Group Sincere apologies to all the regular readers who missed out on last week’s report. I know many off you look forward to reading the weekly TRGG report but I was one of the more sensible ones who fled the Songkran madness in Pattaya and sought sanctuary in “The Village”. Many others, including Cooper, high tailed it to Hua Hin for the King of the Mountain competition and congratulations to Graham Brown for winning it with a fantastic final round at Black Mountain. Graham was sitting on 27 points going into the final day and probably thought he wasn’t in contention as the tournament leaders were both on 35 points, however he shot a brilliant 41 points, the leaders “choked” and Graham was once again crowned the King of the Mountain. Back in Pattaya and it was the “Johns” who were taking out the number one spot. On Monday at Pattana it was John Walker who finished first with a very impressive 36 points while on Tuesday at Emerald it was John Baxter’s turn and his 39 points blitzed his nearest rival by a massive nine shots. John Walker once again took line honours on Wednesday at St
John Walker.
Shigeki Toyoshima.
Andrews with a great score of 38 points and on Thursday at Phoenix John Kinraid picked up a first place position with only 33 points. Shigeki Toyoshima spoilt the “John” party on Friday at Burapha and romped home with a brilliant 41 points and in the final round of the week at Greenwood, Gab-Ryowng Cho claimed victory with 35 points.
Wednesday, April 17, St. Andrews – Stableford
Monday, April 15, Pattana – Stableford 1st John Walker (6) 36pts 2nd John Kieraid (14) 35pts 3rd Gab-Ryowng Cho (10) 35pts
Tuesday, April 16, Emerald G.C. Stableford 1st John Baxter (17) 39pts 2nd Ted Senior (16) 30pts 3rd Roger Wilkinson (16) 30pts
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1st John Walker (6) 38pts 2nd Gab-RyowngCho(10)31pts 3rd Ron Hulen (16) 31pts
Thursday, April 18, Phoenix Gold – Stableford 1st John Kieraid (14) 33pts 2nd John Walker (5) 32pts 3rd Gary Bingham (19) 30pts
Friday, April 19, Burapha Stableford 1st ShigekiToyoshima(19)41pts 2nd Derek Thorogood (16) 39pts 3rd Paul West (12) 38pts
Saturday, April 20, Greenwood Stableford 1st Gab-Ryowng Cho (10) 35pts 2nd Shigeki Toyoshima (17) 33pts 3rd Richard Talbot (16) 27pts
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VOL. XXVII No. 17
Fearby scores on debut road trip PSC Golf from the Bunker Boys Tuesday, April 16, Forest Hills G.C. – Stableford 1st Richard Fearby (2) 36pts 2nd Les Cobban (7) 34pts 3rd Barry Wellings (4) 33pts One of the great joys of golf is away trips and the opportunity to play different courses and on the first day of our SongkranTrip to Khao Yai, we hit a beauty. Forest Hills, also known as Sir James, was a terrific layout with a different challenge on every hole. For the most part, the course was in fine condition but the greens which had recently been cored but not sanded were a real challenge. The bunkers were also in need of attention but despite that the course presented an enjoyable experience for everybody. The one to handle the challenge best was a newbie to the Bunker Boys Richard Fearby who took the honors with thirty-six points. Second went to Les Cobban who always seems to be in the frame and another newbie Barry
straight and was on just about every green in regulation or less, but was once again was let down by some indifferent putting.
Wellings took third with thirty-three points. Near pins also went to the newbies with Ross Schiffte and Michael Brett taking the other two.
Friday, April 19, Bonanza G.C. – Stableford
Wednesday, April 17, Khao Yai C.C. – Stableford 1 Gerry Cooney (19) 40pts 2nd Jimmy Carr (18) 38pts 3rd Geoff Parker (15) 38pts Today this course was on another level, with fairways well grassed and lush and greens with even roll and good speed. Everywhere you looked around the course the scenery was breathtaking. With a green and caddie fee of six hundred and fifty baht, it was remarkable value for a course of this quality. Our ranks were swelled with the late arrival of Gerry Cooney and Stuart Brown so the competition for places was keener than ever and this was reflected in the scoring. Michael Brett on thirtyseven and Stuart Brown with thirty-eight didn’t even st
Davies delivers at Pleasant Valley PSC Golf from Siam Country Resort Pattaya
Richard Fearby.
make it into the winner’s circle. After a couple of warmup games with indifferent scores, Gerry Cooner stormed back to his best taking first place with a fine round of forty points. Jimmy Carr and Geoff Parker had to be separated on countback finishing second and third respectively on thirty-eight points. Near pins went to Barry Wellings and Geoff Parker with Michael Brett taking a pair. Richard Fearby off a two handicap looked like taking the course apart with twenty-two points on the front nine only
Barry Wellings.
to unravel on the back with a couple of visits to the water.
Thursday, April 18, Kirimaya G.C. – Stableford 1st Barry Wellings (4) 38pts 2nd Jimmy Carr (18) 36pts 3rd Les Cobban (7) 32pts Following the relatively wide open fairways of Khao Yai Country Club, today we had to contend with one of the most intimidating courses on our trip so far. There were a number of challenging carries, and anywhere off the fairway was big trouble, correct club
selection was required at all times as well as being straight. Despite the difficulty of the course, some relished the challenge and none more than our winner Barry Wellings with a great score of thirtyeight points. Barry also nailed three near pins, all of which he converted into birdies. Jimmy Carr took second place with thirty-six points with Les Cobban in third on thirty-two. Ross Schiffte took the fourth near pin. Richard Fearby gave an exhibition of magnificent driving, extremely long and
1st Les Cobban (7) 40pts 2nd Stuart Brown (10) 37pts 3rd Barry Wellings (4) 36pts Bonanza was in fine condition except for the greens which were surprisingly slow even though they didn’t look that way. We had the course to ourselves so there was no pressure despite our lead group being particularly slow. Les Cobban, who had a good week, finished it in fine style taking first place with forty points and also generously rang the bell back at the hotel, it’s not true what they say about Scotsmen, at least some of them. Stuart Brown in only his second game of the trip took second place with a solid thirtyseven points and Barry Wellings who also had a good week finished third with thirty-six. Near pins went to Ross Schiffte, Barry Wellings, Richard Fearby, and Les Cobban.
Brown goes green PSC Golf from the Pattaya Links Golf Society Monday, April 15, Eastern Star – Stableford
Dave Smith & Stan Rees.
Tuesday, April 16, Pleasant Valley – Stableford Many of our group left the city for Songkran or went back to their home country but the diehards stayed and played golf. On Tuesday we went to Pleasant Valley with 2 groups and found the course in reasonable condition, with as always too many wet spots in the fairways. It was warm sunny day and we enjoyed the game. Paul Davies produced 39 stableford points to take the win ahead of Dave Smith in second on 37. The near pins went to Paddy Devereux, Mike James and Dave Smith.
Thursday, April 18, Treasure Hill - Stableford Treasure Hill was our venue on Thursday and the course was in very good condition with nice fairways and perfect tee-boxes. This is always a challenging layout with all the trees on the fairways and the severity of the test was evident in the scores. We started with warm sunny weather but in the afternoon it changed as dark clouds came up and we finished just in time before a heavy shower. Dave Smith was the most consistent and player today and won with 33 points. In second was Stan Rees with 32 points, beating Ty Anderson on countback. Only 1 near pin was claimed today, by Stan Rees.
1st Mike Tottenham (19) 37pts 2nd Paul Chesney (21) 35pts 3rd Kae Dayton (22) 35pts 4th Pete Seil (4) 32pts A couple of no shows left us with twenty golfers to take on Eastern Star and it turned out to be a different course to the one that has been receiving great wraps recently. Nothing very bad, but fairways here don’t seem to have had the amount of rain received by courses further north. It was rumored beforehand that the greens had been cored, so it was no surprise to find them slower than last time and a bit “bumpy”, however, overall a course still in very good condition. The one flight produced some tight scoring at the top with the best of them being Mike Tottenham with the best score of the day of 37 points. This was Mike’s second Green Jacket in just over three weeks. Winning form is good form. The next two places went to a countback with both players scoring 35 points, but Paul Chesney just beat Kae Dayton, in her first game
William Brown (left) with Maurice Roberts.
at Links, for the second spot, while Peter Park had 32 points to take the final place on today’s podium. Consolation best nines were posted by Mickey Tighe (17pts) and Walter Baechli (17pts) while near pin awards were picked up by Maurice Roberts, Andre Van Dyk, Andrew Purdie and Paul Weatherley.
Wednesday, April 17, Pattaya C.C. Stableford 1st William Brown (16) 36pts 2nd Masa Sugaya (22) 36pts 3rd Paul MacGowan (26) 35pts
4th Peter Park (4) 35pts Of course it was hot and humid as the twenty golfers boarded two mini buses and some cars to take the short trip to Pattaya Country Club. This venue was put into the schedule to make an easier trip back to town on these water crazy days. This course comes with plenty of commentary about the quality or otherwise. This time we found a very well presented layout. The fairways are still well grassed, but with some dry spots appearing, and some tee boxes have been allowed
to go brown, but a good drop of rain will fix all. However, the important part is the greens and, apart from sanding on the first three of them, we found the best presented greens we have seen in a long time. They had speed but not excessive and you needed wits about you on the downhill putts. They are looking every bit as good as some of the higher priced courses, very impressed. Scores were very respectable with a close race for first spot with two players on 36 points, to be separated on countback. Will Brown had the better back-nine to hold out a much improved effort from Masa Sugaya and therefore he donned the Green Jacket. Third and fourth places also went to countback and here newcomer Paul MacGowan took the honours over Peter Park with both scoring 35 points. Near pin prizes (somebody forgot to number them) went to: Andrew Purdie, Mitchell Carlon, Will Brown and Peter Park, while the consolation ‘best nines’ for non-winners came from Brian Talbot and Iain Craigen with 18 and 20 points respectively.
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FRIDAY APRIL 26, 2019 25
PATTAYA MAIL
Tiger a major champion again, and race to Nicklaus back on Doug Ferguson (AP golf writer) No comeback by Tiger Woods was ever going to be complete without a major. Now the question becomes how many more he can win. Woods celebrated his 15th major at this month’s Masters tournament like never before — fist pumps without a club in his hand, because he couldn’t help himself walking off the 18th green. “Overwhelming,” he said with a voice still hoarse from all that screaming. He went 28 majors over 11 years without winning, and no sooner did he stretch his arms into that familiar green jacket — “Ah, it fits,” he said in Butler Cabin — was he asked about the 18 majors Jack Nicklaus won to set the gold standard in golf. “I don’t know if he’s worried or not,” Woods said. “I’m sure he’s home just chilling and watching.” Whether the record is in play, Nicklaus can expect plenty of questions. For years, he could rarely get
DATE:
PSC
Tiger Woods reacts after holing a putt on the 18th green to wins the Masters golf tournament Sunday, April 14, 2019, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
through any conversation without someone asking him whether he thought Woods could top his mark. “I thought for a long time that he was going to win again,” Nicklaus said. “The next two majors are at Bethpage, where he has won, and at Pebble Beach, where he has won. So, he has got me shaking in my boots, guys.” The PGA Championship is a month away at Bethpage Black, where Woods was
FRI 26
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dominant as ever in going wire-to-wire in the 2002 U.S. Open, and was right there with a chance in the 2009 U.S. Open except for a putter that refused to cooperate. And then it’s the U.S. Open in June at Pebble Beach. If the Masters is the most memorable of his 15 majors, Pebble Beach remains his greatest performance. Woods won there in 2000 by a record 15 shots, even with a triple bogey in the third round.
SUN 28
Treasure Hill
Bunker Boys
King Naga
Treasure Hill
WED 01
THU 02
Eastern Star
TBA Plutaluang
Green Valley
Growling Swan Le Katai
TUE 30
wish him well, I always wish the guys well and I want them to play their best.” That’s what Nicklaus saw at Augusta National. And that’s probably what everyone will expect from Woods the rest of the year.
FRI 03
Eastern Star
Cafe Kronborg
Billabong Golf
MON 29
“I don’t ever pull against anybody,” Nicklaus said. “Nobody wants their record to be broken. But I certainly wouldn’t want Tiger to be hurt and not to be able to do it. Of course, he is now pretty healthy and playing well. I
The next PSC monthly tournament is a 2-person scramble on May 16 at Phoenix Golf Golf Club
Apple’s Irish
Colin’s Golf
Ten years later, he tied for fourth at the U.S. Open at Pebble, three shots behind. The courses are familiar. Woods is familiar with winning majors. But it’s not that simple. Woods was 24 when he won the U.S. Open at Pebble, and 26 when we won at Bethpage Black. Now he’s 43. As dynamic as this Masters was for Woods, it was hard work and he needed help — from Molinari on the 12th and 15th holes, from a couple of good bounces out of the trees. That’s not unusual. Every major champion needs a break or two. Getting to 18 is only easier because Woods is one major closer, a conversation caddie Joe LaCava said they have shared. “We’re on 14 and I said, ‘Let’s get to 15.’ You can’t be on 14 and thinking about 18,” LaCava said. “But now we can start talking about 16. So we’re getting closer.” Nicklaus can only watch and admire, which he has done all along. And part of him is cheering.
TBA TBA
Greenwood
Eastern Star
Pattana
Green Valley
Burapha
Greenwood
Khao Kheow
Greenwood Burapha
Phoenix
Pleasant Valley
Greenwood
Eastern Star
Bangpakong
Khao Kheow
Greenwood
Bangpra
Lewinski’s The Links I Rovers Retox Game On Siam Country Sugar Shack
Eastern Star
Plutaluang
Pattaya C.C. Treasure Hill
Bangpakong
Pattaya C.C.
Green Valley
Pleasant Valley
Pattana
King Naga TBA
TBA
Harry’s Golf The Golf Club The Players Lounge
Treasure Hill
TBA
TBA
Green Valley
Tropical Golf
Treasure Hill
Valley View Hackers
Green Valley
Royal Lakeside Green Valley
Green Valley
Green Valley
The Bunker Boys meet at Woody’s Bar on Soi Skaw Beach for golf outings every Monday, Wednesday and Friday (www.bunkersociety.com) or call 094368 3580, 081 788 2338 or 087 693 7803. Transportation leaves from Cafe Kronborg on Soi Diana Inn at 8:15 a.m. on Mondays and Thursdays, (contact Dave on tel. 038 602 2117). Colin’s Bar plays golf Sun/Mon/Wed & Fri (www.colinsbar.com). The Growling Swan plays golf on Monday & Thursday (www.thegrowlingswan.com). Lewinski’s in Soi Pattayaland 1 (Soi 13/3), play Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Transport is available, call Marcus on 089 503 9179 for further information and booking. The Pattaya Links Hotel Golf Society departs from Soi Buakhao on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Call Phil on 0625 933 380 or visit www.thelinkshotelpattaya.com. The Golf Club is located on Soij LK Metro. Call Phil on 090 769 3778. Tropical Golf meets at BJ’s Holiday Lodge at 8am on Tuesday’ & Friday. Call Derek on 089 034 0629. Retox Golf – Tel. (Paul) 0923744276, Email retoxgolf@gmail.com
26 FRIDAY APRIL 26, 2019
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VOL. XXVII No. 17
Crawford wins by TKO when Khan doesn’t go on after low blow Brian Mahoney New York (AP) — Terence Crawford knocked Amir Khan down just a few punches into their fight. The punch that finally ended it was below the belt. Crawford retained his welterweight title by technical knockout last Saturday when Khan wasn’t able to continue after being hit with a low blow in the sixth round. Crawford threw a left hand that hit Khan on his right hip and Khan retreated toward his corner in pain. After taking a couple minutes trying to shake off the pain, his
corner told the referee that Khan couldn’t continue. “I could tell I was breaking him down. It was just a matter of time,” Crawford said. It was a strange, unsatisfying ending to Top Rank’s first ESPN pay-per-view card, drawing loud boos from the crowd of 14,091 at Madison Square Garden. The finish left Crawford and promoter Bob Arum with plenty of time to lobby for the fight they want next. “The fight I want next is Errol Spence,” Crawford said. “Whenever he is ready, he can come and get it.” Crawford (35-0, 26 KOs)
had knocked Khan down in the first round, but the final couple rounds had been competitive, with both fighters throwing hard shots from close range. Referee David Fields didn’t appear to see the final one that hit Khan (33-5) low. Khan could have taken five minutes trying to recover, but his trainer, Virgil Hunter, made the decision before then that Khan was finished. “I didn’t want to send him back out there when he didn’t have his legs,” Hunter said. Crawford was ahead 49-45 on two judges’ cards and 5044 on the other.
Joshua looking for new opponent for debut fight in US London (AP) — World heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua’s debut fight in the United States won’t now be against Jarrell Miller, according to Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn, after a second alleged doping violation by the American boxer. Joshua, who holds the WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO belts, had been scheduled to fight Miller on June 1 at Madison Square Garden. Miller’s participation was initially jeopardized when the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (VADA) informed both camps of an “adverse finding” in a drugtesting sample, leading to Miller being denied a license for the fight. Miller retained the right to request a further sample and to reapply for that license to challenge Joshua. But last week, Hearn wrote on social media: “We have now received news from
Boxer Jarrell Miller (right) and World heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua face off during a press conference in New York, Feb. 19, 2019. (Photo/ Matchroom Boxing)
VADA that Jarrell Miller has now failed a second separate test for a further substance. Responding to the initial adverse finding, Miller had written on Instagram: “I have never knowingly taken any banned substance and when I found out the news I was totally shocked.” During the promotional
tour for the fight, Miller said both fighters had agreed to between 10 and 12 weeks of drug testing in the buildup to the bout.
Terence Crawford (right) reacts after knocking down England’s Amir Khan during the first round of a WBO world welterweight championship boxing match Sunday, April 21, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
“I was disappointed the corner stopped the fight in that manner, but Virgil is a great coach, and he was looking out for his fighter,” Crawford said. “I know he didn’t want to go out like that.” Crawford started fast in the second defense of his WBO version of the 147-pound belt, throwing a short right hand to the head followed by a left that sent Khan to the canvas. He hurt Khan again late in the round and had no trouble controlling the early part of the fight. They both threw hard shots in the fourth and Khan landed some of them in his best moments of the fight. But Crawford hit him with a pair of good lefts in the fifth and was scoring again in the sixth when his final punch accidentally drifted low.
Arum said he thought Khan could have continued. “He had five minutes to recover,” Arum said. “It was an accidental low blow. He could have recovered from it. They have a cup, right? But he was looking for a place to fall.” Khan, the 2004 Olympic silver medalist from Britain, was looking for what could have been the biggest victory of his pro career. The former 140-pound champion could have looked to fight fellow British star Kell Brook in perhaps a more lucrative and winnable match, but instead took the opportunity at Crawford, the Omaha, Nebraska, product widely considered one of the best fighters in boxing. Hunter thought Khan had been steadying himself,
even though he wasn’t winning the rounds. “I now know why Terence is one of the best pound-forpound fighters in the world,” Khan said. The biggest fight for Crawford would be a match with Spence, the IBF champion who is also unbeaten. But Spence fights under Premier Boxing Champions, run by Al Haymon, and Arum said Haymon won’t let his fighters risk losing to fighters from other organizations. Arum criticized Haymon in the ring and then again afterward for refusing to allow a fight he said that the fighters and fans want to see. “We want to fight Errol Spence,” Arum said. “Everyone wants the fight. There is one guy stopping it, and that is Al Haymon.”
Fognini realizes boyhood dream to win Monte Carlo Masters Jerome Pugmire Monaco (AP) — On the clay courts where he once practiced as a youth with big dreams, Fabio Fognini won the biggest title of his erratic career by beating Dusan Lajovic 6-3, 6-4 last Sunday in the Monte Carlo Masters final. The local lad from nearby San Remo, a 40-minute drive away along the Mediterranean coast and over the Italian border, made a breakthrough at the highest level so far at the age of 31. Lajovic lost the first final of his career at age 28. Although it was Fognini’s ninth career title, it was his first at Masters level and will help him push closer to the top 10 when he climbs six places up to 12th in the rankings. “I was born in San Remo, and I was practicing here when I was young. I know really well this tennis club,” Fognini said. “My friends and family are
Italy’s Fabio Fognini kisses the trophy after defeating Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic in the men’s singles final match of the Monte Carlo Tennis Masters tournament in Monaco, Sunday, April, 21, 2019. (AP Photo/Claude Paris)
happy now, because I have my name on this tournament that it’s something that when I was really young I was dreaming about.” The 13th-seeded Italian’s first title of the year came the
day after he stunned defending champion Rafael Nadal in straight sets, becoming the first player to beat Nadal at the Monte Carlo Country Club since Novak Djokovic in the 2015 semifinals.
“It has been an incredible week, I will keep working,” Fognini said. “I started the season badly so this is unbelievable.” After going out in the third round of the Australian Open, Fognini had won only one match and lost six times before this tournament. Somehow, he’s turned it all around — and it feels exhausting. “Mentally I’m so tired but really, really happy because I won a big tournament that was always my goal in my career,” he said. “We are talking about Masters Series and the next one is a Grand Slam. So it is second in the line.” Fognini is only the fourth man to win the clay-court event since Nadal’s first of a record 11 wins in 2005. Djokovic, twice, and Stan Wawrinka also won. The last Italian before Fognini was Nicola Pietrangeli in 1968.
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Pattaya gears up for 2019 Rugby Festival next weekend The hot season has well and truly arrived and this can mean only one thing. As well as the temperature, tensions are also rising and expectations are building in the run-up to the nineteenth edition of the Chris Kays Memorial Rugby Tournament, taking place at Horseshoe Point in Pattaya from May 4-5. Unfortunately a number of outside influences have worked against the organizers and for many reasons most of the usual combatants will not be contesting this year’s tournament. In response, Pattaya Panthers Chairman Jim Howard and Captain Chris Mander, ably assisted by tournament director David “ Animal “ Slater, have beaten the bushes and swept the bars of the Orient and have managed to assemble a smaller but competitive field. The quality is high however and all are convinced that there will still be lots of great rugby on display.
In a revised format all the participating teams will get to play a lot more rugby and this year’s event will see a return to the tournament’s ancestral home, the beautiful Horseshoe Point Resort which offers easier access to visitors and spectators alike. The rugby kicks off at 10:00 am on Saturday 4th May and wraps up on Sunday 5th May with the traditional presentation of trophies in the swimming pool. The tournament is a variation of the usual long form of the game as the teams will comprise only 10 players per side and each game will be played over two halves of just seven (7) minutes, so there will be plenty of fast action. The players will be attending a welcome reception at The Legends Pool and Sports Bar on Friday evening prior to the tournament and many old friendships will be revived before battle commences early on Saturday.
Enjoy some great rugby action at the nineteenth edition of the Chris Kays Memorial Rugby Tournament, taking place at Horseshoe Point in Pattaya from May 4-5.
Overseas teams include the Malaysian Blues from Kuala Lumpur and the Komodo Dragons from Indonesia. In addition the entire expat rugby community and all the usual local suspects from Thailand will be there. There will be a total of 24 games in the initial round robin stages of the main tournament
on Saturday, followed by rest and recreation, maybe a stroll along Beach Road and then early to bed with hot cocoa and biscuits on Saturday night. The knockout stages will commence at approximately 10:00 am on
Sunday morning and will conclude with the Cup Final at around 17:00. Please come and support your local heroes and have some fun and great craic at the same time. Entrance is free for all spectators and there will be lots of diversions to keep the little ones happy while mom and dad enjoy some great rugby, good food and cold beer. The tournament could not happen without the support of the sponsors: Regents International School, Societe Generale de Surveillance, WHA Hemaraj Land and Development Co., Ltd., Manpower Thailand, Phoenix Pacific Inc., MAS Ausgroup, Pandora Resort Koh Samet, Lucy Electric (Thailand) Ltd., Garden International School, The London Pie, K.K.P. International Travel Services, The Sportsman Group, Baron
Edward Devereux and Legends Pool and Sports Bar. The welfare of all participants and spectators will again be looked after by the staff of the Sawang Bangboriboon Foundation and the tents and cooling shade will be provided by CR Asia (Thailand) Ltd. We do hope to see many of you there for 2 days of great rugby. The weather is forecast to be very hot but the beer and cider served by the Sportsman’s girls will be very cold. Steve Mines the “Pie Man” from the London Pie Shop will also be on hand to satisfy your hunger with hot pies cooked on the spot alongside the usual Thai delicacies from the kitchen of The Sportsman and Horseshoe Point. With the venue being in perfect condition we have no doubt that this will be another spectacular tournament.
Top of the Gulf Regatta Ticket sales: The least understood celebrates 15 years of side of the Olympics supporting Thai sailing talent
Stephen Wade Tokyo (AP) —Kosuke Kitajima, a four-time Olympic swimming gold medalist from Japan helped Tokyo Olympic organizers launch their ticket website last week, where only Japan residents can buy tickets when they go on sale in the host country on May 9. But the useful site can also be accessed in English by people outside Japan, where basic prices are listed along with the full competition schedule. But you can only start to buy if you’re a Japan resident. To purchase tickets, everyone else in the world has to contact what are known as “authorized ticket resellers,” which operate in most major countries. They can’t start selling tickets until June 15 and they are also listed on the website. Buying in the host nation — this time Japan — is straightforward with prices clearly set. But buyers outside Japan need to be careful. They will pay more; sometimes a lot more. Under Olympic rules, ticket resellers are appointed by the local national Olympic committee. The reseller for the United States is CoSport, which also handles sales in Australia, Jordan and several European countries. Resellers can mark up the ticket price by 20 percent, which is termed a “handling charge.” However, many sought-after tickets are packaged by resellers with top hotels and other perks, and the markups
Kosuke Kitajima, a four-time Olympic swimming gold medalist attends a press conference in Tokyo Thursday, April 18, 2019. (Yuta Omori/Kyodo News via AP)
can be much more than 20 percent. These are aimed at the wealthy, hospitality packages and corporate buyers, for whom price is not always a concern. The resellers also run the risk of getting stuck with tickets they can’t sell. Hidenori Suzuki, the senior director of tickets for the Tokyo Olympics, said local organizers try to scrutinize the authorized ticket resellers. “In case the resellers set inappropriate ticket prices, there will be some procedures we are getting into,” Suzuki said. “The most rigorous case is the ticket reseller might have their license revoked.” If buyers outside Japan are patient and don’t rush to buy they may get some deals. It happened in Brazil in 2016. And it happened at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics. Tokyo organizers will open sales globally in the spring of 2020, meaning any remaining, unsold tickets can be purchased at the prices
offered in Japan. Tokyo estimates it will have 7.8 million tickets to sell, with 20-30% dedicated to sales outside Japan. Organizers hope to generate about $800 million in ticket sales, a large source of revenue for the $5.6 billion privately funded operating budget. Overall, Japan will spend about $20 billion to prepare for the games, and about 70 percent is public money. The opening ceremony on July 24 will feature the most expensive ticket — 300,000 yen (US$2,680). The most expensive ticket for the closing ceremony is 220,000 yen ($1,965). The most expensive ticket for the men’s 100-meter final is 130,000 ($1,160), while the men’s basketball final goes for 108,000 yen ($970). Tokyo organizers say 50 percent of the tickets will sell for 8,000 yen ($70) or less. The cheapest ticket is 2,500 yen ($22).
Organizers of the 2019 Top of the Gulf Regatta attend an April 4 press conference in Bangkok to announce this year’s event.
From page 32 This will be the first fleet of its kind in the world and interest is high with Para Sailors from France, Australia, South Africa, Japan, Indonesia, Estonia, Philippines and Thailand expressing their intent to compete. “We have long supported grassroots sailing in Thailand, providing an opportunity for youngsters to develop their sailing skills and grow into capable sailors and in some cases, World Champions,” commented Kirati Assakul, Director of Ocean Property Co., Ltd and CoChairman of the Top of the Gulf Regatta Organising Committee. “With our investment in
eight S\V14s we wish to make sailing even more accessible. Our initial aim is to offer people with disabilities a chance to get out on the water safely. We are currently working with the Thai Paralympic Committee to introduce more people to the sport and long-term we wish to support the establishment of a Thai national Para Sailing team and see Thai Para Sailors competing on the world stage.” Following an expansion last year, which underscores Ocean Marina Yacht Club as the largest marina in South East Asia, the marina and its expansive in-water and onshore facilities are ready to host this awardwinning event.
“Ocean Marina Yacht Club has been host of the regatta since day one. Our team have 15 years of experience organising this event and many years of experience organising other large scale events at the marina. We are ready to deliver a competitive and fun event to the highest standards, and everyone at Ocean Marina Yacht Club are looking forward to a successful 15th year,” noted Scott Finsten, Harbour Master of Ocean Marina Yacht Club. The 15th Top of the Gulf Regatta presented by Ocean Marina will take place 30th April to 5th May, 2019 at Ocean Marina Yacht Club. For more information visit website: www.topofthegulfregatta.com.
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VOL. XXVII No. 17
China’s auto show highlights electric ambitions Joe McDonald
Azerbaijan GP this weekend Don’t worry if you haven’t heard of Azerbaijan, nobody else has. The capital of Azerbaijan is Baku with narrow streets not conducive for passing, and a straight so long you could use it as a runway for a Boeing Max, if it wasn’t grounded. The Baku City Circuit is the motor racing circuit in Baku, Azerbaijan constructed near Baku Boulevard. A lap of the circuit is 6.003km, making it the second-longest circuit on the Formula One calendar. The inaugural Formula One race at the circuit was the 2016 European Grand Prix. A year later, in 2017, the circuit held the inaugural Azerbaijan Grand Prix. In December 2013, Formula One President and CEO Bernie Ecclestone suggested that the race would be run, but later said that because the Korean Grand Prix organisers were in breach of contract, it would be moved. However, in July 2014 it was announced that the race’s debut would be delayed until 2016. The six kilometer, anti-clockwise layout of the circuit was designed by circuit architect Hermann Tilke. The circuit was planned to start
Azerbaijan.
adjacent to Azadliq Square, then loop around Government House before heading west along a 1 km straight to the Palace of the Shirvanshahs and Maiden Tower. Here, the track was planned to have a narrow 7.6m uphill traversal and then circle the Old City before opening up onto a 2.2km stretch along Neftchilar Avenue back to the start line. The circuit was projected to be the fastest street circuit in the world, with a top speed close to 360 km/h and the second longest circuit on the current F1 calendar behind the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium which currently is the longest circuit on calendar.
Shamus lives? Many years ago (about 47 if I have added it up correctly) I had just finished a spell as a contracted race driver with British Leyland, but with BL shutting down its Australian operations my MG racing contract was finished. I asked BL if they had a car in the press pool I could purchase cheaply, and that was when I met Shamus. The PR department had produced a very special Mini Clubman GT 1275 which was sent to the Wheels magazine for a one year extended road test. Wheels had christened it Shamus and I asked BL if I could have it. Shamus had every known extra from a seat lowering kit, twin carbs, “copylite” wheels, intermittent wipers (it was Lucas that invented the intermittent headlights), a sunshine roof, a blue-printed engine and lowered steering column.
Shamus.
Shamus became mine for a ridiculously write down price in the BL accounts department. The car had all the extras, but the seats were dreadful. I contacted my friend in the BL office in Sydney and a clandestine deal was arranged. BL would make me better seats, in leather, but to get the seats out of the factory required me to drive in past the guard with no seats and drive out “normally” with seats, and him not to get suspicious. This we did by purloining a milk crate from somewhere, which I sat on, driving through the Sydney (NSW) traffic. The first time I applied the
brakes was an exciting affair. With the milk crate just sitting there, application of the brakes saw me sliding backwards on the crate, and rapid deployment of the handbrake was needed to avoid rearending the car in front. However, we arrived unscathed and round the back of one of the buildings we installed the black leather seats, and then drove out past the security, giving him a salute as we turned into the traffic. We left the milk crate. To my surprise I was contacted from Australia this week wanting details of the car. Was it still running? I’m afraid my memory does not go back to 47 years ago. Some days I can’t remember specifics from yesterday. I did keep the Clubman 1275 GT for about a year and traded it in on a new Citroen 1220 GS Club. But that’s another story.
GT2 RS.
Very embarrassed, she looks around nervously to see if anyone has noticed her little accident and prays that a sales person doesn’t pop up right now. As she turns around, her worst nightmare materializes in the form of a salesman standing right behind her. Cool as a cucumber and displaying complete professionalism, the salesman greets the lady with, “Good day, Madame. How may we help you today?” Very uncomfortably, but hoping that the salesman
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Tired of tyres? The tyres for F1 have reached the height of stupidity. Pirelli supply three compounds, which come in linear degrees of softness. The softer they are, the better the
BYD China.
earlier and reacted faster,” said Gong. The ruling Communist Party has spent billions of dollars on research grants and incentives to buyers. State-owned power companies have blanketed China with 730,000 charging stations, a vastly larger network than any other country. Meanwhile, automakers are struggling to revive sales of traditional SUVS, minivans and sedans that fell last year for the first time in three decades. Despite that, people in the industry say Chinese sales could top 30 million vehicles a year by 2025. Ford relaunched its China operation this year after 2018 sales plunged 37 percent. The company blamed an aging product lineup. Ford has an electric venture with Zotye Auto. GM and its Chinese partners plan 10 electric models by next year. Mercedes Benz launched the Denza brand with BYD. VW’s electric joint venture, SOL, started selling an SUV last year. An electric’s sticker price in China still is higher than a gasoline model. But charging and maintenance cost less. Industry analysts say owners who drive at least 16,000 kilometers (10,000 miles) a year save money in the long run. China’s biggest SUV brand, Great Wall Motors, has responded to the sale quotas by launching an electric brand, Ola. Its R1 compact, while looks like a toy beside Great Wall’s hulking SUVs, went on sale in December priced as low as 59,800 yuan ($8,950) after the subsidy. In a move to spur competition, Beijing lifted ownership restrictions on electric automakers last year. Tesla Ltd. responded by announcing plans to build its first factory outside the United States in Shanghai. Official ambitions clash with the Chinese public’s love of bulky SUVs, seen as the safest option on crowded, bumpy streets. But sentiments are shifting. A UBS survey found 71 percent of Chinese buyers are willing to try an electric, up from 58 percent a year ago. The rate for the United States and Europe was below 20 percent.
grip, but the quicker they wear out. Years ago we called them ‘gumballs’ and they would only last about four laps. These were then used for qualifying and the normal tyres for the race.
Does the spectator really care which tyre compound is being used? Not in the slightest, let me assure the FIA. Let’s get on with RACING and forget about tyre strategies. Let everyone run on the same tyres.
derivative. What company made the car? For the Automania dehydrated beer this week (just add hops and water and
store in a dark cupboard), be the first correct answer to email automania@pattayamail .com or viacars@gmail.com. Good luck!
Autotrivia Quiz
Wonderful old joke but brought up to date. A lady walks into a Porsche dealership. She browses around, spots the Top-ofthe-line GT2 RS and walks over to inspect it. As she bends over to feel the fine leather upholstery, she inadvertently breaks wind.
Beijing (AP) — This year’s Shanghai auto show highlights the global industry’s race to make electric cars Chinese drivers want to buy as Beijing winds down subsidies that promoted sales. Communist leaders are shifting the burden to automakers by imposing mandatory sales targets for electrics, adding to financial pressure on them amid a painful sales slump. Chinese purchases of pure-electric and hybrid sedans and SUVs soared 60 percent last year to 1.3 million — half the global total — but overall auto sales shrank 4.1 percent to 23.7 million. Buyers of electrics were lured with subsidies of up to 50,000 yuan ($7,400) per car, but that support was cut by half in January and ends next year. “Competition is getting more fierce,” said industry analyst Paul Gong of UBS. Communist leaders have been promoting electrics for 15 years in hopes of cleaning smog-choked Chinese cities and gaining an early lead in a promising industry. General Motors, Volkswagen, Nissan and other global majors are developing models to suit Chinese tastes. They have money and technology, but local rivals have experience: brands including BYD Auto and BAIC Group have been selling low-priced electrics for a decade. Automakers plan to display dozens of electrics, from luxury SUVs to micro-compacts priced under $10,000. They aim to compete with gasoline-powered models on performance, cost and looks. By the end of next year, “it will be very difficult for a customer to decide against an electric car,” said the CEO of Volkswagen AG, Herbert Diess. “The cars will offer roominess, space, fast charging,” Diess said during a January visit to Beijing. “They will look exciting.” This week, General Motors Co. is unveiling the first all-electric model in Buick’s Chinaonly Velite range, which includes a hybrid based on the Chevrolet Volt. VW will display a concept SUV as part of plans to launch 50 electric models by 2025. Nissan Motor Co. and its Chinese partner will display the Sylphy Zero Emission, an allelectric model designed for China that went on sale in August. BYD Auto will display an all-electric sedan with an advertised range of 400 kilometers on one charge. Latecomers to gasoline-powered vehicles, Chinese brands account for just 10 percent of global sales, mostly in low price tiers, Gong said. But they account for 50 percent of electric sales worldwide. “In the EV world, Chinese companies started
may just not have been there at the time of her accident, she asks, “Sir, what is the price of this lovely vehicle?” He answered, “Madam, if you farted just touching it, you are going to sh*t yourself when I tell you the price”.
Last week I asked why did Rolls-Royce change the color of the two R’s? It was nothing to do with the death of Henry Royce, but was a management decision to make the cars look more refined. So to this week. A diamond was used as a model
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VOL. XXVII No. 17
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E-mail: comhaps@pattayamail.com
Fax: 038-427596
Events The next meeting of Pattaya City Expats Club (PCEC) will be held on Sunday, April 28. The PCEC program varies, but usually involves a guest speaker on a topic of interest to Expats. The program starts at 10:30 am with a buffet breakfast available from 9:00 to 11:00 am on the 4th floor of the Holiday Inn’s Executive Tower located behind the Holiday Inn’s Bay Tower on Beach Road. A Joint Chambers Eastern Seaboard networking evening will be held at the Pullman Pattaya Hotel G on Friday, April 26 from 6.30 p.m. – 9 p.m. (last drinks at 8.30 p.m.). Entrance cost is THB 500 on the door for members and THB 1,000 for non-members. Admission includes free-flow drinks and finger food. The 15th Top of the Gulf Regatta will take place from 30th April to 5th May in the waters off Ocean Marina Yacht Club in Pattaya. More than 700 competitors and 200 boats representing 30 countries are expected to compete in a variety of sailing classes. For more information visit website: www. topofthegulfregatta.com. This year’s annual Chris Kays Pattaya Rugby Festival will return to Horseshoe Point in East Pattaya and be held from May 4-5. Overseas teams will compete against the best that Thai amateur rugby has to offer at 10’s style rugby in a round-robin format. There will be lots of diversions to keep the little ones happy while the adults can enjoy some great rugby, good food and cold beer. The tournament kicks off at 10am on Saturday May 4. Spectators are welcome and admission is free of charge. For more information and directions to the venue, check website: www. pattayapanthers.com.
The popular annual Pattaya International Firework Festival will be held along Beach Road, opposite Central Festival Pattaya Beach shopping mall on May 24-25. The event features parades, live music concerts, traditional dance shows, food fair and more. The Eastern Seaboard Businessmen’s Dinner is a monthly event taking place at the Mantra Restaurant at the Amari Pattaya Resort on the last Thursday of the month. It brings together business leaders from various backgrounds including Automotive, Aerospace, Real Estate, Architecture, FMCG, Electronics, White Goods, Logistics, Recruitment, Legal, Consulting, and others in a relaxed atmosphere. If you are interested in attending please contact Anuttra.Sukruen@tinfish.co.th. A Farmers’ Market takes place every 2nd Saturday of the month at the Holiday Inn hotel on Pattaya Beach Road from 10.30 am - 3.30 p.m. Products range from wellness items, jewelry, freshly prepared food, organic vegetables and fruits. The next market will be held May 11. A stamp market is held every Sunday from 10.00 a.m. till 3.00 p.m.at Rahnpintang Moe Kata Restaurant, Panji Place, on Soi Ponphraphanimit 7 (200m from the Bangkok Highway underpass). Here can you exchange stamps from the whole world. Call 089 091 3418 for more information and directions.
Dining Oasis, the all-day dining restaurant in Centara Grand Mirage Beach Resort Pattaya, has a menu of ocean-fresh seafood every Sunday evening to Friday
evening. The Oasis chefs present Thai, Japanese and Asian recipes, with the freshest sushi, sashimi, oysters, crab, mussels, lobster, and fish steamed, grilled, fried and barbecued available from the food stalls and the buffet table. The price is only THB 999 per person, and half price for children under the age of 12 years. Buffet served from 18:00 to 22:30 hrs. For more information or reservations, contact 038 714 981. Saturday Night Buffet is back at AVANI Pattaya Resort & Spa. Experience regional favourites galore, street dishes and artisan desserts, as you relax with classical Thai dance and live music. Every Saturday night at Sala Rim Nam Restaurant from 6:00 pm - 10:00 pm. Priced at THB 599++ per person. Kids under 5 eat free. You can also savour an elegant environmental dining experience under the stars with Mother Nature every Monday from 7:00 pm – 10:00 pm at Sala Rim Nam with all diners receiving ecofriendly flashlight. For more information and reservations, call 038 412 120 Throughout April, Horizon Rooftop Restaurant & Bar at Hilton Pattaya invites you to experience the succulent taste of ‘Giant Lobster’ while enjoy a stunning view of Pattaya Bay at one of the best rooftop restaurant & bars in Pattaya city. Try Lobster Thermidor served with 3 flavors of dipping sauces including BBQ sauce, Thai seafood dipping sauce and mango salsa, with a choice of your favorite side dish selections include Spaghetti Aglio e Olio with Truffle, Sauté Heirloom Potato with Chimichurri Sauce, Grilled Pear with Fennel Salad, Saffron and Lemon Rice or Baked Macaroni and Cheese. A set of Giant Lobster Thermidor is priced at THB 3,250 net per set. Horizon is located on level 34 at Hilton Pattaya. Open daily for dinner at 6pm – 11pm. For more information call 038253-000 or Email to: bkkhp. pattaya.horizon@hilton.com.
Persimmon restaurant at Pattana Golf Club & Resort offers 3 weekly theme nights for customers to enjoy exciting dining concepts. Pizza/ Pasta Night, 299 Baht net per person, every Tuesday invites you to personalize your favorite Italian dishes. Wednesday is Seafood Night, 399 Baht net per person, with unlimited amounts of the freshest seafood from the local market. On Fridays, enjoy a variety of barbecued meats during the Carnivore Night at 499 Baht net per person. Book your seat prior and enjoy your dinner at Tel. 038 318 999 ext. 11230 or email to: restaurant@pattana.co.th. L’Olivier Restaurant invites you to enjoy a daily cold buffet and 4-course menu comprising soup, salad bar, main course and dessert for only 395 baht. The buffet menu is changed every two days. The restaurant specializes in French Provencal cuisine, traditional Thai food and rare Vietnamese dishes. Dine in air conditioned comfort or on the terrace. Located on Jomtien Walking Street between View Talay 2 and Jomtien Complex on the main taxi thoroughfare. For reservations, call Ms. Wan on Tel. 061 854 4848 (French, English & Thai spoken). The Bay Grill & Buffet at Dusit Thani Pattaya: Dine with a sea view and enjoy seafood and meat barbecue accompanied by Thai and international items from soup, appetizers and main courses to dessert for only THB 1200++ per person. Free flowing beverage for additional THB 599++ per person. The Bay is open daily from 18:30 - 22:00. Call 038 425 611-7 ext. 2149 0r 2150 for more information and reservations. Big Fish restaurant at Siam@Siam Design Hotel Pattaya enhances its seafood buffet with more premium catches and live music entertainment. The restaurant offers a nightly Seafood BBQ Buffet at only THB 777 net or THB 1,099 net with
free-flow wine. Enjoy highquality, premium seafood cuisine as you listen to acoustic guitar and piano music from prominent local artists. Seafood BBQ Buffet at Big Fish is available every night from 6:00 p.m. to 10 p.m. For reservations call 038 930 600 or email fbsec@siamatpattaya.com. After 14 years as the Landlord of an Irish Pub, the name Kim Fletcher has not disappeared. Kim may have gone from Jamesons, but his wife Goy has ensured that the name Fletcher has not died by opening Fletchers’ Folly, a boutique pub on the Dark Side. Kim is trying to get used to being retired, but the new ‘pensioner’ loves regaling the drinkers with stories from his lifetime in pubs, punctuated with his characteristic laugh. Fletchers’ Folly is on Siam Country Club Road, opposite Maxxis tyres and 300 meters before the “Chicken Crossroads”. Food and drinks at very reasonable prices. Pizza and Pasta All You Can Eat at Mövenpick Siam Hotel Na Jomtien: Twist Restaurant features Italian classics like creamy Carbonara or meaty Bolognese with a choice of pasta, or the delicious Prosciutto Pizza with your choice of regular or whole wheat dough. The menu also includes original Thai-fusion pizzas and pasta such as the Tom Yam pizza with chili paste, prawn, squid and Thai herbs or the tasty Green Curry Pasta. Available all day from Sunday – Thursday at only THB 500 per person, with a glass of soft drink. For more information or reservation, call 033 078 888. The Thai Garden Terrace Restaurant offers nightly dining presentations with different themed “all you can eat” buffets at the resort poolside: Monday – Italian buffet; Tuesday – BBQ buffet; Wednesday – multi-cuisine buffet; Thursday – German buffet with roasted pig; Friday –
Thai buffet; Saturday – international buffet; Sunday – steak & skewers buffet. The buffet starts from 6 p.m., runs until 9 p.m. All this for just 399 baht net per adult. What you see is what you pay, no additional service charges or VAT. For reservations call 038 370 614 or make your booking at www.thaigarden.com under “buffet reservation”. Thai Garden Resort is located on North Pattaya Road, 200 meters from the Dolphin roundabout and 200 meters before Tesco Lotus. Yupin’s Restaurant in Jomtien Complex offers some fabulous culinary options including Fines De Claires Oysters arriving fresh ‘Par Avion’ from Normandy in France. Served on ice with lemon and on request a spicy Thai sauce for dipping. An amazing experience. Only 595 baht per six oysters. Yupin’s fantastic French onion soup is now available again! For more information or reservations, call 038 250394 or visit website: www.yupins.com. Linda’s Restaurant is large with seating for 200 people, with a covered al fresco verandah outside for those who wish to smoke. Inside, in air-conditioned comfort, there are comfortable chairs and decent sized tables, with white starched napery. Linda’s Restaurant is located on Thappraya Road opposite the Jomtien Complex. Open seven days a week from 7.30 a.m. until late. For reservations, Tel: 038 252 726, visit www. lindasrestaurant.com, or Email linda@lindasrestaurant.com. Yamato Restaurant located on Soi Yamato has been around for more than 39 years and the soi was named after its oldest tenant. This is a restaurant to take a few people with you. The prices are certainly not over the top, and the quality is superb. Yamato Japanese restaurant, 219/51 Soi Yamato (13/1), close to Beach Road end, telephone 038 429 685 or 038 421 618. Open 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. for lunch and 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. for dinner. Continued on page 31
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VOL. XXVII No. 17
Songkran comes to frantic end in Pattaya Jetsada Homklin
A revered monk blesses Songkran revelers with holy water on Beach Road.
Songkran came to its end in Pattaya with packed streets and a nod to tradition. Deputy Mayor Ronakit Ekasingh got things started at 7:30 a.m. April 19 at Chaimongkol Temple where a morning meal was offered to monks and certificates presented to honored senior citizens. The public bathed Buddha statues with holy water and sprinkled water on the elderly’s hands to bless them for the coming Thai New Year. There were also cultural performances, dancing and games including tug of war and oilypost climbing. Then came the main event – “wan lai” – with extreme (Left) Streets were crowded as the parade passed through in the morning.
It can be a lot of fun carrying on Thai culture with Thai traditional dance.
Beauty queens look lovely even under the most trying of conditions.
water fights across the city. All main roads into and through Pattaya were clogged with people tossing buckets of water, shooting water guns and throwing
powder, despite the prohibitions on it by city hall. Vendors sold drinks and ice cream as temperatures soared. At Pattaya Beach, tens of
thousands took a break to pour holy water on a Buddha statue for prosperity and watch as the city’s Songkran parade crawled through.
Songkran is a lot of fun for the younger generation and kids of all ages. Military officers joined in on the fun.
Even though city hall advised against it, there were plenty of people smashing white power/clay into people’s faces. (Above) A refreshing spray of cold water on an oppressively hot day.
Pattaya Beach Road filled with tens of thousands of water throwing Songkran frolicking tourists and residents.
Local police were armed with the right kind of weapons to suit the day.
Even the ocean breezes couldn’t cool down the festival in this heat.
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E-mail: comhaps@pattayamail.com
From page 29 The legendary Somsakdi Restaurant has been in operation in Pattaya for more than 40 years. Proprietor and Chef Somsakdi is still cooking and running his amazing restaurant at 78 years of age. The menu is probably the largest in Pattaya, with 374 individual items. Each dish is in Thai with an English explanation underneath. Rather than be swamped by choices, let Somsakdi guide you. After all, who knows his dishes better than he? Somsakdi Restaurant, Pattaya Soi 1, tel. 038 428 987, 038 423 284, 038 429 869, limited parking plus on-street parking in the soi. Hours 11 a.m. until 11 p.m., seven days.
Entertainment Hard Rock Pattaya’s 6th annual Guitar Battle will see 20 finalists perform live in front of fans and judges at the Hard Rock Cafe Pattaya
Fax: 038-427596
on Saturday, May 11, from 5:00pm until 9:30pm. Entrance is free for spectators. For more information, call 038 428 755 or 038 426 635. Sunday night is Latin night at Havana Bar & Terrazzo Restaurant on April 28. Live DJs spin a variety of Latin music throughout the night and enjoy complimentary Salsa Lesson from 8pm8:30pm with Roby representing rumPUREE World Dance Studio Bangkok. Social dancing starts from 8.30pm onward. For more info call: 038 725 555 or E-mail: Fb. holidayinnpattaya@ihg.com. Despacito Fridays at Siam@Siam Design Hotel Pattaya –Start off the weekend with a sensual step Latin night at the Roof Sky Bar, every Friday from 4pm – 10pm with DJ Ro-Bi-El Gordo and DJ Rocky, plus zumba classes. Free admission, ladies enjoy a free drink until 5pm. For more information, call 038 930 600.
Japanese Satay Chicken The secret with Japanese grilled chicken is to BBQ the chicken several times, with steeping in a marinade in between. The sugar and ginger in the marinade gives the chicken a very different taste, caramelizing the outer surface. This is a traditional Japanese dish, but all the ingredients are available locally.
Ingredients Chicken breast fillets Sake Dark soya sauce Sugar Powdered ginger Cucumber Salt to taste Skewers
serves 2-3 6 ½ cup 1/3rd cup 60 gm 2 tspns 1 small 6
Cooking method Soak the skewers in water for 10 minutes. Wash chicken breasts, and cut into bite sized pieces and then thread on to skewers. Place over a charcoal BBQ or under the grill until partially cooked. Mix sake, soya sauce and sugar and pour into a wide flat bowl. Lay skewered chicken in the marinade for five minutes, then turn over and leave for another five minutes. Now return to the BBQ and grill for another two minutes each side. After this, return to the marinade and repeat the marinade process. Now complete the final BBQ grilling while brushing the remaining marinade over the skewered chicken, to produce a dark shiny glaze. Sprinkle with the powdered ginger. Shred the cucumber and sprinkle with salt and serve the chicken skewers on small plates and garnish each with a mound of cucumber.
Enjoy great music from Thomas Reimer, one of the most famous European Jazz guitarists, playing live every evening (except Tuesday) from 6.00 p.m. - 10 p.m. at the Sugar Hut restaurant on Thappraya Road, call 038 364 186 for details.
Community Services The North Star Library on Sukhumvit Road, north Pattaya holds regular Thai language classes Mon - Fri from 10.30 a.m. till 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. till 2.30 p.m. Cost of admission is 100 baht per session for library members and 200 baht for non-members. Private lessons are also available for 200 baht per hour. In addition, the library also holds Yoga training every Tuesday from 1 - 2 p.m. at the Father Ray Foundation. Cost is 1200 baht for 6 sessions (first session free). For more information, call 081 575 4854 or email wan_nujan@yahoo.com Alcoholics Anonymous: The Pattaya Group meets Monday, Tuesday and Friday at 5 p.m., Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday at 7:30 p.m. All meetings are closed (alcoholics only) and are held at Soi Skaw Beach (off Pattaya 2nd Rd). Contact Carl 08-456-31671. The Good Morning Pattaya Group meets 9 a.m. every morning. All meetings are ‘open’: contact 084 564 8479. The Jomtien Group
meets every day at noon at Jomtien Long Stay Hotel: Contact, Andrew 086 107 6631. The Scandinavian Group meets on Tuesdays and Fridays 6 p.m. at the Norwegian Seaman’s Church, Thappraya Road Soi 7: contact Hans 085 135 7755 or Rune (Rayong) 089 754 9515. 10.30 a.m. meetings every day at Satree Pattana Centre on Soi Skaw Beach off Second Road. Call 084 564 8479. The Samaritans of Thailand English Help Line operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to provide support to the expatriate community. English-speaking staff, trained in crisis intervention will provide active, non-judgmental and empathetic listening services on the phone. All calls will be handled on an anonymous basis and are free of charge. (02) 713-6791. Overeaters Anonymous The ‘Up to You’ group meets Wednesdays 9:30-10:30 a.m. in the housing area just behind Pan Pan Restaurant in Jomtien on Thappraya Road. Call Steve at 038-364-207(h) or 089-250-1359 (cell) for directions or more information. Narcotics Anonymous Hotline: 082 811 2686. 3 English speaking meetings in Pattaya near Central Festival and 2 in Jomtien each week. Also regular Thai speaking meetings at 12 noon every Sunday, and Persian Farsi speaking meetings at 5.30 pm on Thursdays. Please call the Hotline for details.
Groups & Associations Rotary Club of JomtienPattaya (English) meets every 2nd and 4th Wednesday of the month at Royal Cliff Grand Hotel, Pattaya City. Fellowship begins at 18.30 hrs and Dinner meeting at 19.00 hrs. President Vutikorn Kamolchote Email: <vutikornk@hotmail.com> Rotary Club Eastern Seaboard (English) meets at the Siam Bayshore Hotel, 17.30 hrs for 18.00 hrs on the 1st and 3rd Thursday of every month, followed by dinner (Fellowship) President Brian Songhurst Email: <bjs2904 @yahoo.com> Rotary Club Phönix Pattaya (German) meets every Tuesday at the Holiday Inn Pattaya at 19.00 hrs. President Peter Schlegel Email: info@rotary-phoenixpattaya.org. Le Rotary Pattaya Marina, seul Rotary Francophone d’Asie, vous accueille les premier et troisième vendredis de chaque mois, début des réunions 19h, à l’hôtel Pullman G Pattaya Wongamat - 445/3 Moo 5 – Soi 16 – Pattaya Naklua Road. Venez agir avec le Rotary pour changer des vies. Pierre Yves Eraud Président 2018-2019 Email: < info@ rotarypattayamarina.org.
Rotary Club of Pattaya (Thai-English) meets at the First Pacific Hotel, Central Road on the 1st and 3rd Mondays of the month. Meetings begin at 19.00 hrs. President Stephen Devereux Email: < stevecarlow@gmail.com> Post 12146 of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States of America (Ban Chang – U-Tapao, Thailand) meets the second Saturday of each month at 13:00 at Sinthavee Park Condo, 2/ 1 Moo 5, in Ban Chang. If you are interested, please contact Membership Chairman Dan Morgan at <banc hangvfw12146membership@ gmail.com> or visit website: www.banchangvfwpost12146.org. The Royal British Legion Thailand meets on the last weekend of every month at various locations around the city. Please join and like the Face Book page and you will see the all the social events listed. You do not have to have served in the Armed Forces to become a member and can join in the many social events arranged throughout the year. The Legion’s primary aim is the care and welfare of those who have served and/or their dependents. For general enquiries send an email to - chonburi. secretary@rbl.community.
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Top of the Gulf Regatta celebrates 15 years of supporting Thai sailing talent Organisers of this coming week’s Top of the Gulf Regatta presented by Ocean Marina are gearing up for the event’s 15th sailing with more than 700 competitors representing 30 countries around the world expected to compete. Organised and hosted by Ocean Marina Yacht Club in Pattaya, the regatta is an important sports tourism event on Thailand’s East Coast, contributing
more than 20 million baht to the local economy and providing international competition for Thai sailors of all abilities and ages. More than 200 boats are expected to compete in up to 16 classes ranging from Optimists (racing in the Thailand Optimist Open Championship) to dinghies, one-design Platus, keelboats and multihulls, as well as RS:One windsurfs and an
IOM Radio Controlled class. “The Gulf of Thailand is an excellent place for sailing – we have good winds all year round and the warm weather makes it popular with sailors from all over the world. Top of the Gulf Regatta operates to international standards providing Thai sailors with an opportunity to race in an international event against international competition. We expect Thai national
Double podiums for Stuvik & Thong in Sepang The first round of the Thailand Super Series took place on April 19-21 at the famous Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia. Thai racer Sandy Kraokaew Stuvik has teamed up this season with Hong Kong driver Shaun Thong in the Audi R8 GT3 Ultra by B-Quik Racing and the duo quickly got up to speed and challenged for the top spots on the timesheets in the Friday practices. Qualifying took place on Saturday, which saw the Thai driver take pole position for Race 1 which would take place later that day. Stuvik’s teammate Thong drove in the following qualifying session where he secured 2nd place, just behind former F1 driver Tomas Enge. On Saturday afternoon the red lights went out to signal the start of Race 1 and Stuvik had a brilliant start, maintaining his lead position into the first corner. The Thai driver then proceeded to pull away from the field at a rapid rate, however a slow puncture on his rear right tire forced him to limp back to the pits where he could change tires and hand the R8 Ultra over to his teammate. From there, Thong drove an excellent stint, but the gap to the leading Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo was too large to make up. The pair finished in 2nd place, with the other
More than 200 boats are expected to compete at this year’s Top of the Gulf Regatta from 30th April to 5th May. (Photo/Guy Nowell)
team sailors in the Optimist and dinghy classes, as well as the RS:One windsurfs, and they will likely be competing against national team sailors from neighbouring
Thai racer Sandy Kraokaew Stuvik (right) and teammate Shaun Thong from Hong Kong celebrate their success at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia, Sunday, April 21.
B-Quik Racing Audi R8 GT3 Evo finishing just behind in 3rd place. In Race 2 on Sunday, Thong took the start and after some first lap jostling settled into 2nd position, trying to chase down the leading Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo. A safety car stint closed the gap to the leading Lamborghini further but the mandatory pit-stop worked against the B-Quik team. Both Stuvik and Thong are FIA Silver ranked drivers and their mandated pitstop time is longer than their competitors. When Stuvik took over behind the wheel of the Audi R8 GT3 Ultra, the Thai driver got up to speed quickly and began to close the gap on the leaders. He kept hacking away but the pit-stop time
Boxing: Crawford beats Khan by TKO after low blow Turn to page 26.
(with Saturday’s added success penalty of 10 seconds) made the gap too large to close. Stuvik finished under a second behind the 2nd placed Lamborghini and a few seconds adrift of the race winning B-Quik Audi R8 GT3 Evo driven by Henk Kiks and Daniel Bilski. “It’s been a great weekend for the B-Quik team and our beautiful Audis. We have accumulated good points and more knowledge of the car as we now look towards the next round in Buriram. The cars have been fantastically prepared by the B-Quik engineers and mechanics, along with the technical support of Absolute Racing. I’m more excited than ever to get the next race underway, it can’t come soon enough! Thank you to all my sponsors for this opportunity,” Stuvik said after the race. The next race (round 2) will take place at Chang International Circuit, Buriram from 7-9 June 2019.
countries,” said William Gasson, Co-Chairman of the Top of the Gulf Regatta Organising Committee. New to the regatta this year is a Para Sailing class – four
Para sailors will take part in their own dedicated class at the TOG Regatta for the first time this year.
days of racing will follow a three-day pre-regatta clinic led by a training officer from World Sailing. Ocean Marina Yacht Club have supported Disabled Sailing Thailand’s initiative to make sailing more accessible since its beginning, and have provided a home for the development of the S\V14 two-person dinghy – a boat designed specifically for Para Sailors. At the beginning of this year they went one step further and bought eight S\V14s and are providing them free of charge for use by Para Sailors at the regatta. Continued on page 27
Pattaya gears up for 2019 Rugby Festival next weekend
The nineteenth edition of the annual Chris Kays Memorial Rugby Tournament will be held at Horseshoe Point in Pattaya from May 3-4. Turn to page 27 for a full preview of the event.
PATTAYA MAIL is edited by Nopniwat Krailerg for Pattaya Mail Publishing Co., Ltd. Printer, publisher and owner Offices: 62/284-286 Moo 12, Thepprasit Road, Pattaya City 20150. Advertising and Administration Office: Tel: 038 411 240-1, 413 240-1, Fax: 038 427 596, E-mail: ptymail@pattayamail.com www.pattayamail.com