Holding a bag containing a piece of tongue, the 17-year-old girl, hooded, points to Kriangkrai Khoniewklang, left, saying she bit it off when he tried to rape her. Sitting in the middle is the girl's mother.
A 19-year-old youth who lost an inch of his tongue to the sharp teeth of a girl he allegedly tried to rape has been arrested.
Kriangkrai Khoniewklang, a scrap vendor from Suphan Buri's Doem Bang Nang Buat district, was detained by police yesterday at a construction workers' camp in tambon Prachathipat, in Pathum Thani's Thanyaburi district.
Speaking with difficulty with his injured tongue, Mr Kriangkrai said he had fallen in love with the girl, a 17-year-old Mathayom 5 student, but she had shown no interest in him.
On Tuesday night, he offered the girl a ride back home on his motorcycle along Soi Sirikasem 1 off Phetkasem road in Bang Khae district.
On the way, he said he stopped and dragged the girl into bushes by the roadside, intending to rape her. On trying to kiss her, she bit off the end of his tongue.]]>
Abundant prostitutes, dirty beach and seawater, garbage problems and rampant overcharging by tuk-tuk and taxi drivers are spoiling the charm of Patong beach, according to a survey by eight local hoteliers.
Many tourists found the quality of seawater at Patong beach was poor and the beach was dirty. Sex workers also put some people off, said Apichart Arsa, manager of the Phuket Grand Tropicana hotel.
The survey, conducted among 1,000 hotel guests between November last year to February this year, was financed by eight leading hotels including Phuket Grand Tropicana, Novotel Coralia, Horizon Beach, Patong Merlin Resort, Merlin Beach Resort, Holiday Inn Resort, Burasari Resort and Impiana Cabana. Tourists were asked what they liked or disliked about Patong. Many tourists said they were impressed with the hospitality of local residents. They liked to go to the beach as it was good for shopping and they could find many entertainment venues.
However, the beach was getting dirtier and so was the seawater, they said. The walkways were dangerous. They also complained about fare overcharging by tuk-tuk and taxi drivers.
Mr Apichart said the feedback from tourists would be sent to local authorities. Patong beach is under the jurisdiction of Patong municipality. An executive of the municipality said he could not make any commitment about development plans for the beach as the Election Commission had yet to endorse the voting results of a recent municipality election.
Source: Achathaya Chuenniran (c) BangkokPost]]>
Symptoms to look out for, especially in children
Public health officials have issued a warning of an outbreak of dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF).
Dengue hemorrhagic fever is a severe, often fatal, complication of dengue fever, a flu-like viral disease spread by mosquitoes.
The Chiang Mai Public Health Office has so far recorded one death from DHF: a resident of San Patong district who was reported to have died last month. San Patong district has 10 patients suffering from DHF, Chiang Dao has nine and Mae Rim seven patients. Another 61 patients in Muang district have been diagnosed. Public Health Office statistics for the period from February 3 to June 16 show that sixty percent live in municipal areas.
"Dengue hemorrhagic fever is very dangerous and in children can be fatal," the Health Office warns. "Between five and eight days after being infected by the common house mosquito, they develop high temperatures for between two days to a week. They also display symptoms of severe headaches, muscle and joint pains, pain behind the eyes, stomach cramps and vomiting."
With DHF, some children might have nosebleeds and develop rashes on their bodies. DHF patients usually have red faces and similar symptoms of fever without coughing and running noses. Some patients who are at an advanced stage of the infection may also go into shock.
While their temperature may be speedily reduced, they will be depressed, tired, and some may even have internal bleeding.
Patients with severe symptoms should be taken to hospital for urgent treatment, without which they could die within 12-24 hours. Children who have a fever above 38.5 degrees Celsius and suspected of being infected should also be rushed to hospital. In case of high temperature, parents should use wet towels to wipe their children’s bodies and get them to drink large volumes of water.
During this time, people are advised to empty out any containers of standing water, as these are the breeding grounds for the mosquito. A good quality repellant containing DEET is also advisable, as are long trousers and long sleeved shirts.
Nopniwat Krailerg, (c) Chiang Mai Mail]]>
Jacques Warnez (center) walks away from his aircraft shortly after crash landing it in a cassava field just outside of Pattaya.
The pilot of a four-seater aircraft and his passenger escaped serious injury after making an emergency landing in a cassava field in Nongtaroon, Pong sub district located east of Pattaya on Sunday afternoon.
Apparently the engine stalled in mid air and the pilot, Jacques Warnez, was forced to make an emergency landing. The cassava field soil was too soft after the recent rains, and the front wheel was planted firmly in the dirt bringing the plane to a sudden stop.
The aircraft had taken off from the Bangpra airfield earlier that day. Suchada Intanar, the only passenger, broke her left arm and sprained her legs; Warnez received minor cuts and bruises. Suchada was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment and was reported to be in satisfactory condition.
Warnez has a pilot’s license and membership card to the civil aviation club. Police recorded the details of the accident pending queries as to the cause.
(c) Boonlua Chatree, source: Pattaya Mail]]>
" Personal I look forward to see this new comedy "]]>
If you think that a gay wedding is something different, take a look at this. I hope this Buffalo couple will not sue the government for TAX cuts.
"A village elder, right, takes part in a rehearsal yesterday for the ‘wedding’ of two buffaloes scheduled for Saturday in Chiang Mai’s Hang Dong distric."]]>
The agenda was to promote Thailand to other countries. The promotion can be broadcasting thru radio stations, televisions and internet. Some advertising can be prints as posters. The idea is to giving direction to foreigners and tourists want to do businesses in Thailand. It would create a new relationship between Thailand and the other countries in the world of business.
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It is also not a bad idea that Mr. Suchart Suchartwechpuum and his office made the rules for foreign ownership more clear. From personal experience I know that if you ask 20 people about the rules you get 20 different answers.]]>
Nearly 500 piranhas have been seized during raids in the past year.
Officials are warning the South American species could pose a public danger if released into Bangkok's waterways.
It is a long way from the Amazon to the mighty Chao Phraya River that courses around Bangkok.
Locals were on the lookout after reports the world's most notorious species of fish, the South American piranha, was making itself at home in the city's waterways.
Alas, it turned out to be another proverbial fishing story, big on exaggeration, light on for substance.
The story began when authorities expressed the real fear that collectors of exotic fish may well release piranha stock in a crackdown in the trade on illegal species. Nearly 500 have been netted this part year.
Thailand's fisheries boss, Jaranthada Karnasuta, says most collectors are a sadistic bunch.
"I think there are certain people, they like the violent habits of this fish," he said.
Most of the trafficking is done at the capital's weekend market, which is a notorious centre for trade in all kind of illegal species.
The piranha is not on show, but a shopkeeper promised he could supply the fish in bulk for more than $200 each.
When I told him I thought that was expensive he replied: "That's not expensive, I bought one for 25,000 bhat."
That is close to $1,000 for a fish. Other shopkeepers were just as happy to oblige.
Back on the water, local children having an afternoon swim were dismissive of official concern about piranhas, claiming the Chao Phraya is simply too polluted for the fish to survive. In fact, the truth is quite the reverse.
"These fish can breed all year around in Thailand. Also we believe if we let it in our national water it will spread quite well and rapidly," Mr Jaranthada said.
So those who bathe and swim in Bangkok's waterways can only hope piranha collectors keep their nerve.]]>
Chiang Mai, Nopniwat Krailerg
Chalermsak Suranant, director of TAT, Northern Office, Region 1, admitted that the TAT is concerned after the National Geographic Traveler magazine March 2004 issue ranked the world’s 115 tourist sites into three categories: The Good, Not So Bad and Getting Ugly, and placed Chiang Mai and Phuket in the latter category (Getting Ugly).
Chiang Mai was ranked 29 out of 37 and the negatives included the environment, the negative change of the Chiang Mai socio-cultural structure and poor tourism management.
Read full story Chiangmai-Mail]]>
The Fisheries Department has registered a recently discovered species of unionid mussels and named it according to the location of discovery.
The name ``Solenaia Khwaenoiensis'' has been suggested by the department's chief, Sitthi Boonyarattahapalin.
The mussels were found in late April in the Khwae Noi riverbed by re-searchers of the Khwae Noi dam project studying aquatic life for the project's environmental impact assessment study.
The biology department of Chulalongkorn University's faculty of science has confirmed its uniqueness.
The discovery will be published in the university's Natural History Journal.]]>