Thailand & Pattaya LATEST NEWS from Fabulous 103fm (27 February 2023)

Thailand & Pattaya LATEST NEWS from Fabulous 103fm (27 February 2023)

British expat under investigation for disappearance of Thai wife
A former Chiang Mai teacher, British man David Armitage is risking his all here after refusing to meet with British police and their Thai counterparts to discuss the disappearance of his Thai wife, in the UKs Lake district back in 2004.  The mother of his 2 children was discovered  in rural land without any ID and with no one claiming her, was buried at the cost of locals who made donations at the time.  Citing health and personal issues, her former husband, who having moved back to the UK with her, then moved back to Thailand,  failed to meet as agreed and now faces the reasonable possibility that his visa may not be renewed, meaning that he WOULD have to return to the UK and finally face questing.  At the time, he told his children and family that his wife had left him for another man.  In 1990 he married the local village girl after a 2 month relationship and when police interviewed HER parents this year, they spoke of her unhappiness in the marriage following the birth of their son and daughter who, we are told, both live with her as Thai nationals.  Armitage, who now resides in the Kanchanaburi  region  and local media reports that he is a language teacher in a local place of education, living with a new partner in a secure and gated home. 4 yrs ago, when the media first reported on DNA results in what was a cold case, he denied anything to do with her death.   Investigations were delayed then, due to the covid era.

Booze ban in Pai for ‘tubers’ 
A newly popular venue in Mae Hong Son has seen a local ban on booze for tourists who travel there to saunter down the river on truck inner tubes.  The budget version of white water rafting more resembles a bumper car ride as hundreds float off at a time, but with waters only waist deep, it’s a lot safer than white water rafting.  Sounds fun, and it is, but  as local officials quickly noted, adding booze to the wet cruise could only cause unwanted accidents.  That, though, hasn’t seen any drop in number of tourists wanting to float the warm waters

Thai bank loses farmers’ 100 million baht
A national bank appears to be agreeing to cover the mysterious loss of some 100 Mill baht that is alleged to have disappeared from the cooperative friendly society of some 200 Chiang Mai farmers.  Police complaints were registered claiming that despite three meetings with the bank, no one could explain where their deposited funds had gone, and it certainly HASN’T gone into the farmers pockets.   With only 4K left of the 100 Million in the account which represents some 10,000 members , the latest reports indicate that the unnamed bank has agreed to take responsibility for the missing money BUT, as yet, hasn’t given a defined date by when they will do that.

Explosions hit Burmese/Thai border
Following fresh outbreaks of fighting in Burma, adjacent to the Thai border, security has been heightened in the Kanchanaburi region on the Thai side.   Gunfire and rising thick smoke poured from what are said to be government and police buildings and crossing points were temporarily closed for safety reasons as many from both sides travel to trade daily.

Standing on back of baht buses now banned 
Baht bus riders in Thailand will no longer be able to cling to the back rails and stand during rides, following a law published in the Royal Gazette last Friday. With speed limits set to 60 KPH for the popular rides, this will mean that the common overloading of pickups converted to buses will be illegal and passenger numbers will be limited to the number of seats PLUS, perhaps one or two standing toward the front.

Thai dealer evades police with new ‘Korean’ face 
Even his mother wouldn’t have recognized a 25 year old Thai suspected drug dealer as he invested much of his ill gotten gains in plastic surgery to change his appearance to that of a Korean. The cut, chisel and fill did the trick so well that locals believed him to be a Korean businessman.  He managed to continue in his trade for another 3 months at least. Police have arrested a suspected drug dealer.

Pattaya voted best city for travel in Thailand 
Meanwhile at home and Pattaya has gleaned the accolade, in an Agoda travel survey, of being the top choice for DOMESTIC Thai travelers nationwide.  Followed by Hua Hin and Phuket, bookings online for the region have remained at an all time high.

Police chief  moved to inactive post amid illegal gambling site investigations 
Only three weeks ago, Bowin, the factory city to the East of Pattaya heralded the arrival of a new police chief NW, he has been speedily removed to an inactive post as investigations into allegations that he was financially involved in an online gambling operations are addressed.  The police colonel was removed under order of Chonburis Major General after investigations into another high profile cop, who is said to have RUN the gambling op, found references to payments to bovin’s new, now ex top cop.   The investigation is likely to be long drawn out as it involves bribery to officials,  and payments to high end investors.

American wins LPGA title
A surprise rise by an American based female golfer, saw neither of Thailand’s dynamic golfing duo take top place at the Honda LPGA at Siam country club this weekend.  Saturday saw the 20 yr olds, Natthakritta “and Atthaya “,  finish first and second ahead of the final day with much speculations to which of the best friend newcomers will take the prize.  In the end , battling high winds, American Lilia Vu, predicted to just make it into the top 5, finished 8 under par in the final round to win.  5 consecutive birdies helped as did the fact that the local duo were, to say the least, nervous.  Instead it’s the Californian Miss Vu who pocketed the 225K US dollar prize..

Parking ban on both sides of Pattaya Beach Road 
Pattaya City has posted notices along beach road announcing that all forms of parking, long and short term, are banned as of this Wednesday.   From the signage that applies to BOTH sides of the road and not just the newly approved breach side parking.  With little in the way of car parks in the area, it will be an interesting few weeks as police attempt to implement the law, but buses for sure will be moved on to Bali hai and for those touting speed boat rides, the customer base will diminish quickly there too.

Pattaya Kite Festival begins
High winds saw the Pattaya kite festival at the weekend made it more fun for competitors.  The 2 day event was sponsored by a local shopping mall, the city and the tourist authority, seeing the sky afloat with colorfully decorated lizards, dragons, sharks, spaceships and pretty much any fun design.

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