Thaivisa News

Bangkok: – Thong Lo police have arrested a pimp suspect in a sting operation at S 22 massage parlour located on Sukhumvit 22 Road.

SukritKittipadung, 32, faces multiple vice charges, including sexual solicitation, procuring minors under the age of 18 but older than 15 and human trafficking related to child prostitution.

Thong Lo superintendent Colonel KachornpongChitpakpoom said police received a tip-off that S 22 was a brothel under the front of providing massage service.

He then authorised the sting led by Master Sergeant PraphunWisutseriphun.

Acting undercover, Praphun made a call from telephone no. 084-535-3332 to Sukrit’s 081-931-5222, requesting to have sex with two young girls.

Sukrit agreed to arrange for the sexual service, charging 3,000 baht per hour per girl.

At the appointed time, Praphun showed up and paid 6,000 baht in cash at the parlour. Sukrit took him to Room 6-7 on the second floor.

After the two girls were brought into the room and the completion of sexual solicitation, Praphun identified himself as the policeman working undercover and made the arrest.

The 6,000 baht cash, condoms, massage oil, a timer clock to keep tab of service hours were seized as evidence.

In his statement given to police, Sukrit admitted that he was in charge of running the massage parlour for about a year.

He said he used the Internet to lure young girls willing to work as prostitutes.

The girls would get paid 1,000 baht per customer. The massage parlour would take 500 baht fee. And he would earn about 500 baht to 1,000 baht.

There were nine girls aged below 18 under his charge. About eight to nine customers paid for the sexual services per day.

Songkhla:– Provincial police are investigating the gun attack against NetiratNoppawong, 40, aka SakPakro, in Sadao district.

Sadao police superintendent Colonel KittichaiSangkhathaworn said Netirat was shot twice in his backby unidentified gunman or gunmen.

The incident happened in front of the victim’s home. His wife took him to the district hospital. But he was pronounced dead on arrival.

Kittichai said pending the autopsy report, the bullets might have hit vital internal organs like kidney since the victim had massive loss of blood.

Police could not locate dispensed bullet cases at the scene and would await forensic checks before determining the gun used by identifying bullets lodged in the victim’s body.

Police would also check security cameras installed near the alley entrance leading to the victim’s home.

Based on time of shooting and the victim’s daily routine, it has been speculated that the gunman should know the victim or did the casing before the attack.

The victim was known to have stayed inside the house most of the time since his release from prison three years ago.

In 1997, the victim was convicted for robbery and brutal killing of the five-member family.

He broke into the home of PrapasBoonthawi, a health worker in Ranod district, stole one million baht and shot dead Prapas and his entire family.

The initial sentencing was death by execution before the judicial leniency to commute the punishment to life imprisonment. The actual jail time was 15 years due to good behaviour.

Pattaya, Chon Buri:- Two lady boys, who are also Cabaret dancers, were arrested Sunday for having allegedly stolen gold necklaces from at least two foreign tourists.

Chayarat Muttiko, 24, from Prae, and Itthipol Srijumpol, 21 from Udon Thani, were arrested under an arrest warrant issued by the Pattaya Court just on Saturday.

Police obtained the arrest warrant against the two after an Indian tourist, Pramod Jaiswal, 56, and a Russian tourist, Egor Tsymbalov, 25, filed complaints with the Pattaya police station late Thursday that two lady boys somehow stole their gold necklace they were wearing.

The two incidents happened just less than half an hour apart in the same area so police believed that the two were preyed on by the same gang.

Pattaya police chief Pol Col Sukthat Pumphanmuang told a press conference at 5 pm that the two tourists were approached by two lady boys while they were on the walking street in South Pattaya.

The two tourists told police that the two lady boys hugged them for a moment and left. They just realized after the two lady boys left that their gold necklace had gone.

Sukthat said police conducted an investigation and found that the one of the two suspects was Chayarat so police showed his picture to the two tourists who confirmed that he was the suspect.

After obtaining the arrest warrant, police staked out outside an entertainment place on Phra Tamnak Road where lady boys often hang out, and they were arrested upon arrival.

The two suspects denied the charge but police believed they had used the same tactic to steal a gold necklace from a foreign tourist early this month and fled to Udon Thani before returning to Pattaya again.

Pattaya, Chon Buri:- A 60-year-old Danish tourist drowned at the Pattaya beach late Saturday night, police said.

The man was identified by his passport in his bag left on the beach as Nielsen Carsten.

Rescuers of the Sawang Boribun Thammasatan Foundation was alerted at half an hour after midnight or at 0:30 am Sunday that a foreign tourist drowned at the beach. The rescuers rushed to the beach and tried but failed to resuscitate him.

Police said Carsten was spotted floating on the sea near Soi 4 of the beach road in Tambon Nong Plua of Bang Lamung district and the people at the spot rushed out to pull him back and gave him resuscitation but failed to bring him back.

Witnesses told police that they saw him swimming out but they did not notice something wrong until hours later when his body was spotted floating.

The owner of the Ocean Guesthouse told police that Carsten and two friends have been renting his rooms since February 3 and they were scheduled to check out on March 3.

The guesthouse owner said Carsten told him that it was the first time that he visited Thailand. According to the guesthouse owner, Carsten drank a lot. Police suspected that he got a cramp while swimming.

Carsten’s body was sent to the Bang Lamung Hospital pending contact from his relatives.

Several foreign tourists have drowned in Pattaya mostly because they swam after drunk. On January 27, a western man drowned at the Jomthien beach. On November 11, a Russian tourist fell down a pier on Pattaya beach and drowned.

Ayutthaya: Tuktuk drivers have been preying on farang tourists who visit the ancient capital by collaborating with passenger van drivers to force them to use tuktuk rides, Nation TV reported.

The TV station has conducted an investigative report and found that the tuktuk drivers had collaborated with passenger van drivers to force farang tourist to get out of the vans one stop before they reach the destination in Ayutthaya downtown.

The stop is on Rojana Raod near the entrance to Chao Mae Taptim Shrine and near the Pridi Bridge. The tuktuk drivers have their stand there waiting for foreign tourists.

A Nation TV reporter observed the tuktuk drivers Sunday morning and found that when a passenger van arrived, they rushed to the van and ushered farang passengers to leave it.

A tuktuk driver was then seen handing out something to the van driver. A source from the tuktuk driver stand told Nation TV that the tuktuk drivers paid the van driver Bt20 for each farang who left the van at the stop.

The farang tourists were then swarmed by tuktuk drivers who offered to drive them to their hotels or the Ayuthtaya tourist information center of the Tourism Authority of Thailand. No matter which choice, the tourists had to pay Bt200 for the tuktuk ride.

According to the TV station, many foreign tourists had filed complaint at the center that they took the van from the Victory Monument in Bangkok to Ayutthaya but they were left at the spot to force them to use the tuktuk services. Many tourists said they felt intimidated by the tuktuk drivers.

Deputy Ayutthaya traffic police chief Pol Lt Col Chanin Winin said he would consult other government agencies concerned how to deal with the issue.

Bangkok:- Thailand is no longer a paradise for foreigners who want to rent a womb thanks to a new law that was passed by the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) last Thursday.

“We don’t allow a foreign couple to get surrogacy services here anymore. Otherwise, Thai women’s wombs will become the wombs of the world,” NLA member Wallop Tangkhananurak says. He believes many problems will arise if Thailand serves as the world’s surrogacy hub.

The NLA had pushed hard for the Act to Protect Babies Born Through Assisted Reproductive Technologies in the wake of several scandals related to Thailand’s surrogacy services last year.

It broke out last July that an Australian couple left one of their twin babies, who was born through a Thai surrogate mother, behind because the surrogate son Gammy had Down Syndrome.

Soon later, authorities also found out that a Japanese man suspiciously hired more than 10 Thai women as surrogate mothers. His motive has raised concerns that surrogacy can be vulnerable human trafficking and various other unethical practice such as the use of the surrogate babies for stem-cell treatments.

This is in addition to the fact many fertility clinics were found to have violated the Medical Council’s rules that ban commercial surrogacy.

The recently-passed law on surrogacy has now allowed only a Thai couple or a Thai-foreign couple to get surrogacy services if the couple has had a fertility problem. In events of a Thai-foreign couple, the two must be married for at least three years before they start getting surrogacy services too.

Surrogate mothers, according to this law, must be at least 25 years and have given birth to baby/babies before.

Udon Thani:- The production of plara or Thai northeastern-traditional fermented fish is now in serious crisis, a major maker in Udon Thani’s Sangcom district said.

According to Thairath Online, a couple, who have been making plara for sale for 50 years, complained that their production this year dropped from 30 tons a year to about just seven or eight tons because of inadequate fish.

Sunantha Khamsang, 63, and his wife, Sinuan Khamsang, 61, are well-known for making delicious plara among local residents and people in the northeastern province and nearby provinces.

Sunanata complained that this year local people could catch much less fish mainly because of drought.

Without enough fish to make plara, the couple could not hire local villagers to help them make plara like in previous years, prompting them to look for jobs in other provinces.

Sunantha said if there is not enough fish to sustain his family industry, his future would be in limbo because he and his wife have no other ways to make their living.

He said the Sangcom is the last district where the canal from Huay Luang Dam runs through before it joins the Mekong River. The drought prompts the canal to almost run dry. Other water reservoirs in the province also have little water left, he said.

Sunantha added that during the past few years, fishes from Mekong could not enter the canal to lay eggs because the water gate was closed during the breeding season.

Plara is a must for northeastern-tradition dishes, especially somtam or papaya salad. Sangcom is very popular as the district that makes the best plara in Thailand and tourists always drop by to buy plara as souvenir from Udon Thani.

KhonKaen: – A Chilean man, identified as Juan Francisco, has died in a road accident on Mittraphap Road before completing a world record for 250,000-kilometer bicycle ride to five continents in five years.

Police said the accident happened on Saturday at the inbound traffic between KhonKaen’sPhon district and NakhonRatchasima’sBua Lai district.

Before the tragic accident heading towardKaning Way Intersection in NakhonRatchasima, the cyclist had just made a morning’s rest stop at Phon’s traffic police’s checkpoint.

Traffic policemen welcomed and provided refreshment for him, his Singaporean wife and their two-year-old son. They talked about their journey which started in 2010.

The cyclist said he would travel on to Australia before setting Guinness World Record in November.

He and his family travelled around the world as he rode the bicycle pulling a four-wheeled carriage carrying his two family members and their belongings.

At the side of the carriage, there was a yellow banner displaying the message about the unsponsored trip asking for help, shelter hosting, friendship and support.

Shortly after leaving the checkpoint, a pickup truck, driven byTiwaratRatchaipidet, 64,veered off and hit the bicycle.

The truck overturned. Tiwarat emerged unscratched. The victim’s wife and son sustained minor injuries. Only the victim died at the scene. His body fell off the bicycle before hitting roadside some distance away.

Police and rescue workers rushed three accident survivors for medical treatments. The victim’s body was sent to BuaYai Hospital for autopsy.

UdonThani :– Police and social workers have taken custody of a 12-year-old girl after a school’s tip off that she faces high risk for drug abuse and sexual molestation by her family members.

A team of policemen from the Anti-Human Trafficking Division and UdonThani social workers intervened to place the girl on the state’s shelter.

The team took the girl from a lean-to shelter located behind the temporary compound of sugar cane-cutting workers at Wang Sam Mo district.

The lean-to had plastic sheet as roof and two old beddings, one shared by the girl’s parents and another she shared with her step brother, 22.

There was an outhouse constructed from corrugated sheets. There was no electricity and water supplies.

The authorities found equipment for illegal drug use littered on both beddings.

The brother, Anocha, was present when the authorities arrived.

He said the land for the lean-to used to belong to his grandmother who raised him and the girl.

His mother and step father made occasional visit. The grandmother subsequently put up the house as collateral for 50, 000 baht loan.

After the grandmother’s death, the parents sold the house and moved into the lean-to.

The parents have been absent for the past few days without telling their children.

The girl is a Grade 5 student at a Wang Sam Mo school where she receives free education, free uniforms and textbooks and free lunch.

The parents have no permanent job. And the brother is unemployed after quitting work at a rice mill. The three have the police records for drug abuse.

Pattaya, Chon Buri:- Police arrested two French men Saturday for allegedly selling fake sports jerseys, trousers, and shorts online.

Pol Lt Col Chitdecha Songhong, deputy commander of Na Jomthien police station, identified the two suspects 

Chitdecha said police had received tips-off that a foreigner had been using Pattaya as a base to sell goods that violated property rights.

Police later learned from an investigation that a French man was selling fake sport clothes from a house in Tambon Nong Plua in Bang Lamung district.

Police raided the house at 8 am and found one man and found that he was about to mail 11 parcels to his customers in France. Police opened the parcels to find 16 pieces of sportswear that imitated popular brands, including Adidas and Nike.

Police also found a list of his customers, who mostly live in France, and found many other fake sport clothes in the room.

Later, police learned from the suspect this his friend, was also doing the same business.

The second suspect was arrested at his room at the Royal Condominium on Phra Tamnak Raod. Police also found many fake sports clothes in his room.

The two admitted that they have been selling the fake sports clothes on their websites to their customers in France. They bought the fake goods from Thais and resold them by order. They have been doing the business for some time.

The two were charged with working in the kingdom without permit and with selling goods that violated property rights.

Phuket:- A 58-year-old Briton, who was a long-time resident of Phuket, was found death at his villa in Phuket’s Thalang district Saturday morning.

Pol Lt Jirasak Sangwisut, an interrogator of Tambon Choengthalay police station in Thalang, said a worker found Stephen Paine hung with a black water hose tied to a beam of a pavilion in his villa’s compound.

Jirasak said police was alerted of the death at 10:20 am. When police arrived at the villa, his body was already taken off the hose by workers to lie on the ground.

Jirasak said a worker found the body late in the morning and alerted other workers to help bring him down but he was already dead.

Police did not find any trace of fighting at the scene.

His wife told police that Paine came out to have a walk alone after dinner with her Friday evening.

Jirasak said Paine used to own the Surin High Villa project and he had sold all the units, keeping only the one he was staying with this wife.

Paine was also developing another village project near Mai Khao Beach in Tambon Mai Khao of Thalang but his project had run into certain difficulties, Jirasak said.

Police was also informed that Paine earlier receive a phone call from his family in England, telling him that his brother had a road accident and his legs needed to be amputated.

Jirasak said when police arrived at the scene, Paine had died by between six to eight hours. His body was sent to the Thalang Hospital for an autopsy.

JIrasak said police believe Paine committed suicide but police would consider other possibilities.

Krathu, Phuket:- Several Chinese tourists were injured when their bus crashed into two motorcycles and houses at the notorious death curve downhill of Patong mountain in Krathu district Friday evening, police said.

Pol Lt Sineenart Cherdchutrakulthong, an interrogator on duty of Krathu police station, said the accident happened at 7:30 pm at the notorious curve at the back of the Suwan Khiriwong Temple in Tambon Patong.

The bus was taking 13 Chinese tourists to a visit Patong Beach when the accident occurred. The bus driver, Somkid Matchakarn, told police that the brake system of his bus malfunctioned when the bus was going downhill from the Patong Mountain.

Unable to stop the bus, Somkid said he could not avoid hitting a passing-by motorcycle before the bus hit a parked motorcycle and houses of Ban Mon Community on the roadside. The rider of the motorcycle was severely injured.

Somkid and several Chinese tourists suffered slight injuries. They received first aid treatments at the scene and were sent to the Patong Hospital.

The bus was chartered by Jentai Co Ltd to take the 13 tourists from Krabi to tour Phuket. The tourists have been touring in Phuket for four days and they were scheduled to return to Krabi Friday night. The tourists wanted to visit Patong Beach before leaving Phuket.

The steep Patong mountain with curved road was notorious for deadly road accidents, especially at the curve behind the temple.

It has been reported that some 3,000 road accidents happed each year on the Patong mountainous road, prompting the Phuket Provincial Administration to consider an ambition project of digging a tunnel through the mountain to the beach.

Bangkok: A video clip posted by a 29-year-old farang resident in Bangkok has become a talk of the town after he described three habits of Thais he found charming.

Jack Brown, who called himself Dek Farang (farang kid) in Thai, posted the clip on his Jack Brown Facebook wall on Thursday. The clip has been viewed more than 16,600 times by Saturday morning and liked by more 1,500 Facebook users. It has been shared by more than 140 users.

Brown, who has been staying in Bangkok for more than four months and has visited Thailand several times earlier, has 67,921 Facebook followers.

He recorded the clip in Thai.

The first habit he found charming is the use of water for cleaning after Thais answer the call of nature in toilet rooms.

Brown said although he has been trying to adapt himself to Thai culture, he still doesn’t know how to use water in a container in toilet rooms. He always has to ask for cleaning paper. Sometimes, the rooms have no water dippers so he was confused what to do with the water.

The second habit he found charming and amazing was that Thais rarely peel off plastic wrappers from their car seats, TVs and sofas after they bought and used them. He advised his clip viewers to buy a bigger TVs than what they initially planned because their plastic wrappers and stickers would block their view.

Brown said he is now getting used to doing the third habit himself. Thai men like to partially lift up their t-shirt under hot weather to expose their tummy.

He was startled to see his friend doing it for the first time and his friend explained that his tummy became hot. “At that time, I wondered why only the tummy. The whole body was hot here in Thailand,” Brown said.

Most Facebook users did not find the clip offending but they found the way Brown was telling it was really cute.

Bangkok:- The Transport Ministry has unveiled new application software, DLT Check In, designed to address grievances for taxi services.

The app is developed by Department of Land Transportation (DLT).

Deputy Transport Minister ArkomTempitayapaisit said taxi customers can download the app to their mobile devices starting in March.

Once the app is activated after the start of a taxi trip, the device will be connected online to the DLT database.

The DLT can monitor the taxi movement via global positioning system (GPS).

The monitor will be able to verify the pick-up, drop-off points and the route used in real time.

The data collected by the app would enable to the ministry to make an informed decision on whether to approve the second-phase taxi fare adjustment.

If there is no noticeable improvement in service, the ministry may revise the fare hike plan, initially scheduled for the second half of 2015.

Arkom voiced optimism that the app would act as a deterrent for taxi cheats like the refusal to use meter fare, denying passengers to certain locations and reckless driving.

He also said the monitor of taxi services via the app will lead to the rating of service quality.

The DLT has plans to introduce the service rating in order to encourage taxi operators to compete in improving on their performances.

This will in turn help customers to choose among the taxi companies identified by differing vehicle colours.

Presently, taxi fares can air their grievances via the 1584 hotline. About 1,000 complaints on refusal to pick up customers have been lodged per month.

Chiang Rai: – Some 1,800 Chinese tourists have driven 400 vehicles per day via Laos to spend Chinese New Year holiday in the northern province, police said.

The immigration checkpoint at Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge in Chiang Khong district has seen a surge of Chinese arrivals by land.

In the first half of February, some 8,000 Chinese tourists and 3,000 Chinese-registered vehiclespassed through the checkpoint.

This signals a rising trend in comparison to last year’s arrivals of 52,013 Chinese at the checkpoint.

Land transport has become popular for Chinese from Southern China to drive their vehicles to Northern Thailand via Ban Houayxay in Laos.

The provincial authorities have launched awareness campaign for Chinese motorists to familiarise themselves with Thai traffic rules.

The traffic violations involving vehicles registered in Southern China have risen. Most Chinese motorists speak only their language and China has right-hand traffic in contrast to Thailand’s right-hand one.

ChalermchaiKositpipat, artist and operator of WatRongKhun, have been complaining about Chinese refusing to observe toilet etiquette at his popular tourist attraction.

Since the start of Chinese New Year, toilet facilities at WatRongKhun is closed two hours early because of overwhelming work to clean up after the Chinese, Chalermchai said.

Despite repeated pleas, Chinese tourists often fail to flush the toilet after each use and they relieve themselves everywhere inside the bathroom. Workers have to clean off faeces in urinals and wash basins.

KResearch has estimated Chinese arrivals would generate about 54 billion baht in revenues for travel-related businesses in 2015.

Samut Prakan:- Two Japanese men were arrested at the Suvarnabhumi International Airport Friday morning for allegedly trying to smuggle protected species, including turtles and snakes, out of the country.

The two were identified as Toshikazu Kawai, 39, and Naoki Hiraguchi, 39.

The arrest was announced by Kanit Issadul, the director of the customs control section at the airport.

Kanit said airport officials detected two bags with suspicious look so they alerted the customs officials. The customs officials then summoned the owners of the bags to open them and found that there were smuggled animals inside.

Kawai, who was carrying a Japanese passport No MU 2717494, was scheduled to fly a Thai Airways International’s Flight TG676 to Nagoya and Hiraguchi, who was carrying a Japanese passport No TH5153649, would leave on a THAI’s Flight 646 to Tokyo.

Customs officials found four rodents in Kawai’s bag. The animals were in a net cage covered with a white cloth bag.

The officials found 110 pig-nosed turtles, over 20 snakes, and 8 geckos in a brown box inside Hiraguchi’s bag.

The two said they bought the animals from the Chatucak Weekend Market for reselling in Japan. The animals had a total value of Bt500,000

The two were charged with violating the Customs Act and the Animal Disease Control Act by trying to smuggle the protected species out o the Kingdom of Thailand.

They were handed over to the Suvarnabhumi police station for legal actions and the animals were handed over to the National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department for rehabilitation so that they could be released to the wild.

Pattaya, Chon Buri: A 42-year-old Dutch man wanted by Interpol for allegedly trafficking 100 kilograms of marijuana in Europe in 2010 was arrested in Pattaya early Friday.

Pol Maj Gen Thamrong Saengwattanakul, commander of Immigration Police Division 3, said Ronell Cornelis Winx (spelling from Thai sounds provided by police) was arrested two years after he had sneaked into Thailand. Thai police spent about four months tracking him after alerted by Interpol.

Thamrong said Winx was arrested at 1:20 am at the Planet Earth Beach Club on Soj Jomthien 15 in Tambon Nong Plua of Chon Buri’s Bang Lamung district. The arrest was made with cooperation from the Immigration Police and Thai Interpol.

Thai Interpol officers and immigration officers have been tracking Winx after Thai police were alerted by German and Interpol police four months ago that Winx had entered Thailand on March 25 2012. Thai police later learned that he was hiding in Pattaya.

Winx was wanted by the Interpol under an arrest warrant issued in Germany for having allegedly smuggled 100 kilograms of marijuana into Germany, Italy and other European nations in 2010. He then disappeared before the German police learned that he fled to Thailand. The drug was worth 180,000 euros or about Bt10 million.

Thamrong said Winx entered Thailand as a tourist.

Police found that he had overstayed visa so he would also face charge of being an alien living in the kingdom without permission. After he has been taken legal action for overstaying visa, he would be extradited to Germany, Thamrong said.

Pattaya, Chon Buri:- Pattaya police came to the rescue of 33 Chinese tourists late Thursday night after they were abandoned by a female Chinese tour guide.

The terrified tourists filed a complaint at the police booth on Jomthien beach at 11:30 pm that they had been abandoned by their guide and a tour agent, prompting Pattaya police chief Pol Col Sukthat Pumphanmuang and tourist police to rush to help them.

The 33 tourists included two children. They became worried that they would not be able to return home.

Their representative, a 48-year-old woman, told police through an interpreter that they were abandoned by a guide known as Ya Wing Ping, after she was dissatisfied that she failed to charge them more for tour guide service.

The woman said her group bought a tour package from China at the rate of 2,399 yuans each or about Bt12,000. The group arrived in Thailand on February 16 and checked into a hotel at the Jomthien beach on Wednesday.

She said the guide demanded each of the tourists to pay 1,380 yuans more to her but she refused as she thought it was not fair. However, she later learned that 20 members of her group had paid the guide so she tried to demand the money back however the guide later disappeared with the 27,600 yuans from the 20 tourists.

After they filed the complaint, a 20-year-old woman from Chiang Mai, Ahfang Sae-lu, contacted police on behalf of the New Gen Co Ltd, which is the tour agent in Thailand for the group.

Ahfang said the company would return the money to group on behalf of the guide, who disappeared. The company would take care of the group until the tourists return to their country, she added.

Rayong:- A 54-year-old Swedish tourist was found dead in his room of a Rayong hotel Thursday afternoon, police said.

Pol Lt Thawat Norsiha, an officer on duty of Muang Rayong police station, said the tourist was identified as Mac Johan who stayed at the Star Plaza Hotel in Tambon Thapradu for seven days.

Thawat was alerted of the death by a hotel staff at 3 pm Thursday. He dispatched police and officials of Sawang Porn Kusol Foundation and Doctor Wiphaporn Laopakdee of the Rayong Provincial Hospital to inspect the scene.

Johan was staying alone at the room No 448 on the fourth floor of the hotel.

Thawat said police did not find any foul play sign in the room. The body was found on the floor with his chin resting on the bed. He was wearing shorts and no shirt. Police found seven empty whisky bottles and many empty beer cans in the room.

The doctor said the man had apparently died 24 hours earlier.

Withoon Boonprasert, 50, a hotel staff, found the body.

Withoon told police that Johan had been staying at the hotel for seven days but he had never gone downstairs for meals and he had not paid his room yet.

On the seventh day of Johan’s stay, Withoon was sent to knock the room’s door but no one answered his knock. So, he used a spare key to open the room to find the body.

Rayong Police chief Pol Maj Gen Chumpol Chanthajamrassilp said police found that the room was also locked with a door chain inside that was apparently done by the tourist himself.

Chumpol said there was no trace of fighting so he might accidentally fall and kill himself.

The tourist’s body was sent for an autopsy at the Police Hospital’s Forensic Medicine Institute in Bangkok.

Phetchaburi: – NongYaPlong police have re-enacted three brutal killings which the husband shot dead his wife for devoting time to chat via LINE app before opening fire on mother-in-law and son to cover up his crime.

Murder suspect KosolSuwanwong, 50, said he came home on February 13 to find his wife Orn-uma ignoring him and chatting online.

After complaining about her preoccupation with LINE chat voicing suspicion about having an affair, his wife told him she did not care and challenged him for a divorce.

He then went into rage and lost control. He immediately walked into the bedroom to take his gun and shot his wife.

After the shooting, he panicked and walked around the house. He found his mother-in-law and shot her. After hearing gunshots, his son stepped out of his room to investigate and he shot him too.

Later he walked another round and shot each victim one more time to make sure they were dead, he said during re-enactment.

He also wanted to kill his daughter and daughter in law but changed his mind after the two cried and begged for him to spare them.

He took, however, his daughter’s gold necklace to finance his escape.

Following the killings, he fled to stay with his friend in UbonRatchathani until police arrested him four days later.

Some 200 neighbours and onlookers witnessed the re-enactment. They tried to lynch the suspect, prompting the mobilisation of 50 policemen to keep peace.

Police said the suspect had a long list of criminal records including theft, fraud and embezzlement.

Phetchabun: – Chondan district police have taken custody of a rape suspect, identified as Suthep, 56, charging him for statutory rape of a 15-year-old high school student.

The student’s parent (name withheld under the Child Protection Act) filed a police complaint stating that the sexual offence happened within the school grounds during a night’s camp-out for girl scouts.

In his statement to police, Suthep admitted to raping and molesting the student victim.

He said since last year, he had sexually violated the victim for more than 10 times.

He said he was drunk and not in control of his faculties when committing each offence.

The victim is an exemplary student and a class president, the parent told police.

Before the incident, the school had sought and received the parental consent for girl scouts activities requiring overnight stay on the school grounds from February 11 to 13.

On the final night of the camp-out, a teacher found Suthep suspiciously stepped out of the victim’s tent before midnight.

The suspect said he was on duty to fix the lighting around the camping area. He said he had sexual needs after drinking so he got into the victim’s tent.

The victim was asleep alone, he said, recounting that he used one of his hands to cover her mouth to prevent her from shouting for help before raping her.

In the previous sexual violations, he threatened to hurt her if she told anyone about the rape.

Police detained the suspect pending the remand hearing.

Krabi:- Some 2,000 Chinese tourists have been arriving at Krabi in 12 direct flights from China each day since Tuesday and they are expected to generate some Bt340 million of revenue for the southern seaside province during the Chinese New Year, an official said Thursday.

On Thursday, hundreds of Chinese tourists were seen arriving at the Nopparat Thara Beach in Tambon Ao Nang of Krabi’s Muang district since in the morning to rent various types of boat to visit small islands in the National Nopparat Thara-Phi Phi Islands National Park. Their popular destinations included the Thale Waek connected beaches of three islands and Koh Podah.

Wiyada Sriwarangkul, the director of Krabi Office of the Tourism Authority of Thailand, said Chinese tourists have been arriving in large number since Tuesday.

Wiyada said the tourists have been arriving in direct flights from China to the Krabi International Airport since Tuesday to celebrate the Chinese New Year. She said they arrived in 11 chartered flight and a normal flight each day so about 1,500 to 2,000 Chinese tourists arrived in the province each day.

The huge number of Chinese tourists made tourism businesses in the seaside province bustling, she added.

She said the occupancy rate in the province during this period was higher than 95 per cent. She said the Chinese tourists like to visit popular beaches like the famous connected beaches, Pohda Island, May Bay and the Phi Phi Islands.

Wiyada said Krabi has been fully prepared to accommodate tourists during the Chinese New Year holidays and it is expected that visiting tourists would spend more than Bt340 million in the province during the period.

Bangkok:- Two Italian chefs have launched their mobile pizza shop, which has become the first in Thailand.

The mobile pizza shop is a large truck modified as a pizza kitchen with a wood-powered stove and a kitchen desk. One of the chefs prepares the dough while the other bakes it. They also piles up woods beside the stove, adding classic look to the kitchen.

Luca Apino (from Bottega di Luca) and Frederic Meyer (from Issaya Siamese Club, Namsaah) launched their mobile pizza kitchen at the MK Gold car park on Soi Saladaeng in Silom area on Tuesday. It is located under the shade of 100-year-old tree and they put up dining tables on the ground in front of their kitchen so their patrons can also enjoy the cool shade.

The two said they received an inspiration from the world’s first mobile pizza shop that was launched in Marseille, France, by Jean Meritan.

The two chefs called their shop as Pizza Massilia. They plan to move around their kitchen to several provinces and stay at each location for one month.

For example, they plan to sell their pizzas at Khao Yai area in Nakhon Ratchasima’s Pak Chong district. They also plan to sell in Chiang Mai and Phuket as well as Hua Hin in Prachuap Khiri Khan.

The two chefs said their pizzas are special because they use premium ingredients from Italy and France, including Mozzarella cheese and organic dough. Their stove was specially designed to use wood burning to bake the pizzas.

Their special dishes are Culatello Pizza, Truffle Mortadella Pizza, and Provencal Ratatouille Pizza. They will also make seasonal pizzas with fresh ingredients from Europe.

Pattaya, Chon Buri:- A 49-year-old British tourist living at a Pattaya condominium with his Thai girlfriend jumped from his room on the 36th floor to his death in front of security officers late Wednesday night, police said.

Pol Lt Chorphaka Prueksachart, an interrogator on duty at Pattaya police station, said police concluded that John David Knotts committed suicide because the incident was witnessed by security officers of the condominium who tried but failed to save him.

Chorphaka said Knotts has been staying at a luxurious condominium on Soi Wong Amart in Tambon Naklua of Chon Buri’s Bang Lamung district with his Thai girlfriend, Kalaya James Napier, 47, for a month. Chorphaka said the name of the condominium was withheld.

The incident happened at 11 pm Wednesday.

Police did not find any trace of foul play inside the condominium room on the 36th floor. Weeping Kalaya told police that she had been in contact with Knotts for over two years and he had just travelled to stay with her a month ago.

Kalaya said her boyfriend came under pressure after his family called him, telling him to return home in England.

He received the phone call from his family again Wednesday night, telling him to return to England or else the family would severe the tie with him and would inform the Thai authorities that he had overstayed visa.

Kalaya said after Knotts hang up the phone, he tried to force her to return to England with him but she rejected the offer and the two had an argument.

She later decided to go downstairs to seek help from security officers but when she returned to the room with security officers, Knotts ran out to the balcony. Security officers tried to pull him back but he broke free and jumped down, Kalaya told police.