(29 April) Baan Waan Monkey Garden, of Srisaket province, once housed thousands of monkeys and was a natural tourist destination of the province. Currently, there are only 100 monkeys left.

Tourists who come to visit the monkeys often feed them candy and they flock to humans for food. This is due to the shortage of food and water, causing the monkeys to migrate to
the Muang Kan forest.

To assist the remaining monkeys, a youth volunteer group led by Mr.Poosit Jitmun, 25, and Mr. Suwan Pirarat, 25, have built a 2×2 metre well 30 cm. from the ground with the support of Mr.Chawaek Sriboon, the owner of Wung Oon, a retailer of construction materials.

The well is connected to the pipeline of Baan Waan School and will provide water for the monkeys during the drought.

Mr.Poosit states that the monkeys will be greatly affected by this year’s drought due to lack of food. The Subdistrict Administrative Organization feeds the monkeys rice every other day and the monkeys are starving. Currently, the monkeys are being fed by monks with bananas and whatever food is leftover from the food offerings every day at 10-11 AM.

Mr.Poosit adds that another important problem for these monkeys is the “exotic cuisine gang” that captures them and sells them to exotic restaurants to make dishes such as monkey brains.

The gang members lure the monkeys with food traps and are able to capture 10-20 monkeys at a time, he said, loading them on to pick-up trucks and heading to the central region.

Recently, our correspondent learns, locals have been able to apprehend the culprits along with their cage traps, but they were let go by the police, citing lack of evidence. The Don Poo Taa area is an open space whose border cannot be controlled. Currently, there are only100 monkeys left and they are close to extinction.

Mr.Poosit begs the officials to help protect these monkeys.

(29 April) The “Bicentennial Bridge” or the Ratanakosin Bridge in Ayutthaya province collapsed yesterday (28 April) and fell to the Pasak River below, resulting in 4 deaths, including a 10 year old child, and injuring many more.

Police major general Kornake Petchaiwes opened an impromptu aid center at the scene of the accident for reports of missing persons and questioning witnesses.

Mr.Sompong Boonlert, 50, shares his account of the events, saying that before the bridge collapsed, he and his wife were crossing on a motorcycle. There were about 5 motorcycles going both ways and he noticed that the bridge was lopsided even though he did not
accelerate his speed.

Then, Mr. Sompong said, he heard a thundering sound and he didn’t dare look back. He went straight home and when he had collected himself, he came back to the scene of the accident. The bridge was already gone and there were many people crying in pain and trying to get out of the water.

The bridge was 2.2 metres wide and 110 metres in length, according to the Office of Public Works and Town Planning of Ayutthaya. The budget of construction and repair was 8.29 million baht. Currently, the search for missing persons have ceased due to the threat of the stanchion of the bridge breaking. The search will continue tomorrow, with the help of the military.

Officials said the province will take money from the disaster relief fund to pay reparations to victims for funeral expenses of 25,000 baht per victim. The province will also pay for any medical bills.

Reports said 2 sets of committees would be established to investigate the facts for civil and criminal liability and to assist victims in terms of litigation and healthcare. It is still unclear whether the bridge will be restored or a new bridge will be built in a different location.

Locals expressed that the bridge has begun to sink and tilt about a week ago and they have notified the authorities, but no one showed up.

Mr.Cheta Patumrungsee, chairman of the Tharua District council expresses his apologies to the locals and vows to aid the victims as fast as possible, stating that the bridge should be able to carry up to 4 tons of weight. Its collapse will warrant a thorough investigation on the state of the bridge and a new budget is to be approved for a new bridge.

Mr.Thanet Weerasiri, Secretary of the Engineering Institute of Thailand, with a crew of engineers thoroughly investigated the collapsed bridge. Mr.Thanet states that the collapse did not derive from the structure of the bridge, but from the breakage of the cables.

However, Mr Thanet said the precise cause of the breakage could not yet be determined. For now, the remaining cable is to be cut since it may cause further damage.

(26 April) Widely
criticized in the current online social networks is this video clip of world class skateboarders,
Fallen Team, who have traveled to Thailand to participate in the Extreme Sports Show, being told
who’s boss by Thai security guard, claiming he is “Dang Bireley”, a famous gangster of the 1950’s.

The skate crew had plans to film stunts at Garden Home Housing Development, but is evicted
by the building’s security staff due to risk of damage.

This incident has sparked debates in
the online community on whether the security guard’s response was justified. Some agree, stating that
the skating may damage the iron railings, while others see the crew’s video clips as damaging
Thailand′s image as a polite and friendly nation.

Below is the self-promotional video made by
Fallen Team:

(26 April) The felling of trees in front of Ratchanadda Temple in Bangkok′s Old City was met with furor as some citizens criticized the Bangkok authorities? decision to cut down trees while promoting a greener, more environmentally friendly city.

Khaosod had been receiving complaints on the disappearance of 5 pink trumpet trees surrounding Wat Ratchanadda. The trees were torn down following what Bangkok officials claim were orders from the temple.

However, speaking to a Khaosod reporter, the abbot denies any knowledge on the subject since the trees are outside if the temple walls, pointing out that the tree was first cut in half, then stripped of all its stems until it died, prompting the tearing down of the whole tree bark.

Phra Nakorn area office said its officials were not responsible.

Meanwhile, Mr. Manus Yoonam, parks and cleanliness department official, insisted that the temple had requested the stems of the trees be removed due to its growth damaging the structure of the temple and the leaves were falling into the temple vicinity since 2009.

During that time, he said, the department took action in accordance with the temple’s request. Since then, the trees have died and the department has to dig out the stubs of the trees to improve the scenery in the area. Frangipani trees will be planted in the area instead since it has a slow growth rate and does not become so tall that it will burden the temple, he said.