By Lisnaree Vichitsorasatra
Staff Reporter

BANGKOK — Friends and family laid to rest this past weekend Songsumon Poshyanonda, a popular and beloved figure in Bangkok’s tight-knit music community, who died recently of heart failure. She was 33.

Songsumon, best known as DJ Pom Pom, was a well-known DJ for event organizer Dudesweet and performed in her electro-pop band The Diet Pills. She was known for her passion for electronic, indie rock music. Her career as a DJ spanned 10 years.

"Pom was a lively person, loved her friends, loved parties and always optimistic,” said friend and collaborator, Dudesweet founder Pongsuang “Note” Kunprasop. “Which is what made DJ Pom a talented person who always created a fun and friendly atmosphere – all the qualities of a great DJ.”

Songsumon died Oct. 6 in her sleep.

Her friends expressed disbelief that she passed away so young. Those who knew said she never complained about much about anything, whether it was her personal life or illness.

“She was always a happy, fun person who loved music and loved to dress up," said Tul Waitoonkiat, frontman of Apartment Khunpa. A close friend of Tul, Songsumon was a regular fixture and DJ at his events. He said she never confided in him any health problems.

“She always had a positive vibe,” said Chakree Yutdharaks Punyaratabandhu, music director at lounge bar Eleventh Twelfth and a resident at Bad Motel. “She never gossiped about anyone, like most girls do.”

Songsumon came from a musical family. Her brother, Atichai Poshyanonda, drummed for the band Siam Secret Service, which went on to become Apartment Khunpa.

Praewa Chirapravati Na Ayudhya, drummer of indie band Yellow Fang, said the two often partied together. She said Songsumon was “very generous and always bought things for her.”

Songsumon had recently spoken of plans to open a restaurant and sell music records.

“If I weren’t able to be a DJ, I’d like to open a restaurant because I like eating and selling records, but the restaurant would be the priority,” she said in an interview with Tempo Magazine.

It was the second recent loss for members of Bangkok’s music scene. Many of those mourning Songsumon recently gathered to celebrate the life of Sqweez Animal guitarist Prachathip “Singha” Musikapon, who committed suicide in July. Thousands turned out for an Aug. 29 street party and many heartfelt tributes at a concert held Sept. 26 in his honor.

Additional reporting Chayanit Itthipongmaetee.

By Siraphob Thanthong-Knight
DPA

BANGKOK — Dozens of crocodiles escaped from a farm in central Thailand this month, highlighting lax oversight of the world's largest crocodile-farming industry and frightening some of the locals.

Southeast of Bangkok in Samut Prakan, two yellow eyes emerge from the green water along with rows of sharp teeth, with the rest of the two-meter crocodile soon appearing into a rare sunny afternoon at the end of the monsoon season.

He finds a space among the other crocodiles to rest after feasting on fish, his dark skin contrasting with the pale concrete floor of the pit, one of many at the Samutprakarn Crocodile Farm and Zoo, the world's largest farming facility for the reptiles.

The young male lives among 60,000 other crocodiles behind double concrete walls, metal fences and steel grates. But not every farm has such escape-proof measures.

Catch a Missing Croc, Earn 1,000 Baht

"There are no detailed rules on how the pits should be," said Chanin Sangrungrueng of the fisheries department in the central province of Ratchaburi, 100 kilometers west of Bangkok. "The rule only states that the pits should be 'sturdy and strong.'"

In October, 28 crocodiles escaped in the province, but were all captured or killed within a few days.

At least seven crocodiles escaped their farm in August, and at least five escaped in 2014 from four different locations. In 2011, severe flooding in central Thailand set loose more than 100 crocodiles.

Some escaped with the help of flood waters, but many of them got out on their own.

"Because the rule is not specific enough, pits are built without any standards," Chanin said. "We need new rules to prevent the escapes," such as walls at least 1.2 meters high.

Metal grates are also needed over pit corners, the fisheries expert explained. When crocodiles are alarmed, for example by thunder or other loud noises, they tend to gather in a pile in the corner, allowing the ones on top to climb out.

Uthen Youngprapakorn, the owner of the Samut Prakan farm, argues that new rules alone may not be enough.

"Many incidents happen due to human error," Uthen said. "The most recent escape happened because the farm operator forgot to close a drainage hole."

Crocodile farms in Thailand range from large facilities that welcome tourists with crocodile shows like Uthen's to smaller pits with home-made concrete pits raising crocodiles alongside livestock such as pigs or fish or crops.

Crocodiles are native to the region, but the wild population is small and the majority of them exist in farms.

Nearly 1,000 farms across Thailand, raising more than 700,000 crocodiles, supply leather and meat to international and domestic markets, as well as the animals' blood, valued in traditional medicine. The industry contributes more than 3.5 billion baht (USD$100 million) to the economy each year.

"Many farmers got into the business without proper knowledge," Uthen said. "Licensing should only be granted to those who know how to take care of the crocodiles and those with suitable locations not at risk of flooding."

Crocodiles are a protected species in Thailand, and farm operators need to obtain a license from their local fisheries department, which checks that facilities are secure.

"We are now surveying all 31 farms in Ratchaburi for their safety measures and their licences could be revoked if we find their farms unsafe," Chanin said.

He said he had pushed for the new minimum standards, already laid out by the guidelines of the National Bureau of Agricultural Commodity and Food Standards to be adopted by the fisheries department.

Yooey Ketpetch, of the national fisheries department, said her department has recently recommended the standards be applied, but the department has not made them compulsory for crocodile farms.

Safety concerns persist among local residents.

"Authorities and crocodile farms should make sure that there are no future escapes," said Supanida Rangsriseneepitak, a native of Ratchaburi province, home to a floating market popular with locals and tourists.

"I want to have peace of mind when I go near the water without having to worry that some crocodile may attack me," she said.

There are no official records of crocodile attacks in Thailand. Last year one man was chased by an escaped crocodile, and a nun was bitten on the leg near a swamp in the grounds of a temple, local news reports said.

"I'm afraid of crocodiles," Supanida said. "Just the thought of them swimming freely in water scares me."

BANGKOK — A member of the Human Rights Commission today urged Bangkok Gov. Sukhumbhand Paribatra to grant one year for Saphan Lek vendors to relocate and called upon the Minister of Interior to intervene before demolition of the historic market begins Tuesday.

Officials and nearly 100 vendors joined a public discussion at the National Human Rights Commision office, where commissioner Niran Pitakwatchara asked city hall to give the vendors one year to clear the historic market, and an advisor to the governor refuted accusations a developer influenced the city’s sudden bid to shut it down.

“Bangkok has said that due to inefficient law enforcement, the demolition has been postponed for more than 10 years since a 1997 cabinet resolution ordered them to move,” Niran said. “Then there should not be any further damage to give them one more year to prepare.

Otherwise, he said, the city may be accused of acting on behalf of a vested interest.

City Hall Denies Colluding With Developer to Demolish Saphan Lek

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration announced its campaign to reclaim public space from the famed Saphan Lek market on Sept. 28, stating the market was built over a canal where it has obstructed its flow and encroached on public land. But the vendors, some of whom also live there, complained the process was unjust.

They asked why, after 30 years, the city suddenly gave them 15 days to leave the Chinatown electronics market. They also alleged possible collusion between a land developer and top BMA officials.

Today’s panel was arranged after the Saphan Lek community filed a complaint Oct. 9 with the commission, saying city hall was infringing on their rights. The tenants also appealed Tuesday for help from the Ministry of Interior, asking it to shield them from the city’s order while a 60-day appeal process was under way.

Despite the 60-day appeal process, the BMA said its 15-day ultimatum was legal under a martial law issued in 1959. The demolition is set to begin Tuesday.

“If protection is granted after the demolition is already finished, nothing can be restored,” she said.

Maj. Gen. Wichai Sangprapai, an advisor to the governor, said the vendors had known this was coming for a long time.

“We have urged them to move out all year long – several times,” he said. “In 2004, we used to place the warnings at the market; we even publicized the plan on television.”

But the vendors said they were informed only three weeks ago. Chanya Surawutthinak said the sudden order came as a surprise with no concrete relocation plan.

A representative from the Ministry of Interior said a decision to intervene would be announced by Tuesday.

Commissioner Niran urged the ministry to hasten its consideration to avoid confrontation.

In papers given to the press today, Saphan Lek vendors pleaded with the media to examine alleged links between Gov. Sukhumbhand and developer TCC Land, whose TCC Woeng Nakhon Kasem project saw it buy the land and buildings next to their stalls from his family.

Advisor Wichai again rejected there was any commercial pressure at work, saying the BMA truly intended to revive the canal for water management, transportation and recreation needs.

“Since the governor began his second term, there have been a lot of complaints about street stalls submitted by the people,” Wichai said. “Law enforcement has been weak for so long, but should we let it go on like this?”

Saphan Lek vendors today insisted they are willing to move so long as they are granted a year to prepare and receive help finding a new location.

From the age of Legos to Generation Gamer, Saphan Lek remains a popular destination for boys’ toys.

Related stories:

City Hall Denies Colluding With Developer to Demolish Saphan Lek

Vendors Revolt as BMA Moves to Demolish ‘Saphan Lek’

To reach us about this article or another matter, please contact us by e-mail at: [email protected].

BANGKOK — A member of the Human Rights Commission today urged Bangkok Gov. Sukhumbhand Paribatra to grant one year for Saphan Lek vendors to relocate and called upon the Minister of Interior to intervene before demolition of the historic market begins Tuesday.

Officials and nearly 100 vendors joined a public discussion at the National Human Rights Commision office, where commissioner Niran Pitakwatchara asked city hall to give the vendors one year to clear the historic market, and an advisor to the governor refuted accusations a developer influenced the city’s sudden bid to shut it down.

“Bangkok has said that due to inefficient law enforcement, the demolition has been postponed for more than 10 years since a 1997 cabinet resolution ordered them to move,” Niran said. “Then there should not be any further damage to give them one more year to prepare.

Otherwise, he said, the city may be accused of acting on behalf of a vested interest.

City Hall Denies Colluding With Developer to Demolish Saphan Lek

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration announced its campaign to reclaim public space from the famed Saphan Lek market on Sept. 28, stating the market was built over a canal where it has obstructed its flow and encroached on public land. But the vendors, some of whom also live there, complained the process was unjust.

They asked why, after 30 years, the city suddenly gave them 15 days to leave the Chinatown electronics market. They also alleged possible collusion between a land developer and top BMA officials.

Today’s panel was arranged after the Saphan Lek community filed a complaint Oct. 9 with the commission, saying city hall was infringing on their rights. The tenants also appealed Tuesday for help from the Ministry of Interior, asking it to shield them from the city’s order while a 60-day appeal process was under way.

Despite the 60-day appeal process, the BMA said its 15-day ultimatum was legal under a martial law issued in 1959. The demolition is set to begin Tuesday.

“If protection is granted after the demolition is already finished, nothing can be restored,” she said.

Maj. Gen. Wichai Sangprapai, an advisor to the governor, said the vendors had known this was coming for a long time.

“We have urged them to move out all year long – several times,” he said. “In 2004, we used to place the warnings at the market; we even publicized the plan on television.”

But the vendors said they were informed only three weeks ago. Chanya Surawutthinak said the sudden order came as a surprise with no concrete relocation plan.

A representative from the Ministry of Interior said a decision to intervene would be announced by Tuesday.

Commissioner Niran urged the ministry to hasten its consideration to avoid confrontation.

In papers given to the press today, Saphan Lek vendors pleaded with the media to examine alleged links between Gov. Sukhumbhand and developer TCC Land, whose TCC Woeng Nakhon Kasem project saw it buy the land and buildings next to their stalls from his family.

Advisor Wichai again rejected there was any commercial pressure at work, saying the BMA truly intended to revive the canal for water management, transportation and recreation needs.

“Since the governor began his second term, there have been a lot of complaints about street stalls submitted by the people,” Wichai said. “Law enforcement has been weak for so long, but should we let it go on like this?”

Saphan Lek vendors today insisted they are willing to move so long as they are granted a year to prepare and receive help finding a new location.

From the age of Legos to Generation Gamer, Saphan Lek remains a popular destination for boys’ toys.

Related stories:

City Hall Denies Colluding With Developer to Demolish Saphan Lek

Vendors Revolt as BMA Moves to Demolish ‘Saphan Lek’

BANGKOK — Despite their proliferation in recent years, there is little oversight and no regulation of zipline attractions in Chiang Mai province, officials admit, and nearly all of such operations are suspected of encroaching on public land.

After a second tourist in three months died Sunday on one of the increasingly popular attractions, Khaosod English found local authorities there lack clear measures regulating the zipline industry, and not one operator contacted could confirm possessing relevant licenses.

Among officials who admit to these flaws is Chiang Mai Gov. Pawin Chamniprasart, who announced Wednesday he had called a meeting of zipline operators and related authorities to come up with safety standards for the business.

There are currently no specific safety requirements for zipline operations, Pawin said.

“Right now, we don’t have a central standard in terms of structural engineering,” he said in regards to their construction. “Therefore, operators must rely on basic engineering standards for the time being.”

The statement was echoed by Montri Piyakul, head of Chiang Mai’s tourism and sports department. “There is no central standard for ziplines,” he told reporters Wednesday.

Zipline and other jungle-themed adventure activities have grown in popularity, especially among foreign tourists, in recent years. There are now at least 14 zipline stations in Chiang Mai, according to local officials.

However, the boom in ziplines is also stalked by occasional reports of death and injury, which authorities have determined were caused by negligence or shoddy safety standards. 

On June 29, a Chinese tourist fell to her death at Skyline Adventure Zipline company. Police said  her safety lock malfunctioned, citing witnesses’ testimony, though the company disputed the account.

Two weeks later – on July 14 – a Chinese woman and American woman collided head-on while ziplining at what police described as a popular outfit in Mae Kam Phong, an area in Chiang Mai’s Huai Kaew district. The name of the company was not released by authorities. 

The latest fatal incident took place Sunday in the Mae Rim district at Flying Squirrels company, where staff reportedly placed two tourists on a single zipline ride, departing from the customary practice of one tourist per ride. 

A reporter films one of the ziplines Tuesday at the Flying Squirrels attraction in Chiang Mai's Mae Rim district.

Police said the weight load caused the device to accelerate to a speed so fast that one of the tourists, 32-year-old Wang Qi of China, broke her neck and died. The two staff responsible for the zipline ride have been charged with negligence resulting in death. The company’s owners have not been charged, but have said they will pay compensation to the family.

Zigging and Zagging

Between Thursday and today, Khaosod English reached out to nine of the 14 operators for which contact information could be found.

One of the biggest and first companies to operate a zipline service, Flight of the Gibbons, said it would only reply to questions by email and then did not respond. Flying Squirrels, where Wang Qi died of a broken neck Sunday, said they possessed unspecified licenses and would call back with details, but did not. Someone who answered the phone at Skyline Adventure and identified herself as Kitsinee said they were in the process of obtaining licenses for the business. 

Someone at Eagle Track initially said the company possessed all relevant licenses. Asked to respond to Gov. Pawin’s claim that no standards or regulations existed, he said that he was not sure and referred a reporter to director Nawapol Kantawanich, who did not return calls.

In addition to Flight of the Gibbons, calls were not returned from Zipline Chiang Mai, Dragon Flight and Jungle Flight. No one answered the phone at Sky Track.

One outfit, part of the state-owned Chiang Mai Zoo, said it possessed a license for “adventure activities” but would not provide details.

“We have two types of licenses. The first type is as a tourism business, the other is for adventure activities,” said a man answering the phone this afternoon at Tarzan Extreme, who would only identify himself as Kai. “We got these licenses from the [sub-district administrative organization.]”

He declined to state whether his company is seeking licenses under the new regulations.

“We are working to implement central safety measures, and there may be changes to licenses and registration,” he said. “What [licenses] we have may be changed; we may have to register with a new agency. It’s still unclear.”

As for safety checks, Kai said local officials and tourist police conduct site visits, and his company conducts its own safety audits.

It is unclear how many, if any, are specially trained in zipline ride safety.

Unregulated Thrills

Other than a lack of safety measures for zipline operations, Thailand also lacked specific laws regulating amusement parks and theme rides until April, when the Cabinet finally acted on 15-year-old legislation to pass the Ministerial Regulation on Amusement Equipment of 2015.

The regulation granted a one-year grace period for all establishments to comply with its array of requirements. Gov. Pawin said all zipline operators in Chiang Mai are required to refurbish their safety devices in accordance with the new rules by April 24, 2016.

A provincial engineering official with direct knowledge of the inspections conducted of zipline stations said there were virtually no safety regulations for such companies in Chiang Mai prior to April 2015.

“In the past, there was none. In the past, the state couldn’t do anything,” said the official, who is entrusted to enforce the newly enacted law but not authorized to speak to the media. “They have been playing [ziplines] for some years now, but there was no safety regulation.”

The official also confirmed there are no existing regulations pertaining to zipline safety, but said authorities have been instructed by Pawin to draft such measures “as soon as possible.” 

Unclear boundaries

As zipline operations have sprung up throughout the forested northern mountains, there are also concerns they are encroaching on public land.

Since these zipline stations are located deep in the forest, Gov. Pawin instructed operators to register their GPS coordinates to local authorities, so that they can inspect whether any of them encroach into national park land or conserved forest areas. 

Chanon Kamthong, head of Chiang Mai’s Office of Natural Resources and Environment, said his agency did a “rough check” and found 13 of the 14 zipline operations are suspected of such encroachment: 11 into protected forest and two into parks. He declined to identify which companies.

“I just learned about this issue yesterday. I have just moved to this post,” Chanon said on Thursday. “After the criminal case came up, we instructed the officials to inspect this matter. We did a cursory check.”

Asked how the agency plans to determine whether the companies are squatting on public land illegally, Chanon said they would not know unless the companies came to register their GPS locations with officials.

“If they don’t come to seek permission, we won’t be able to know, because we can’t go and inspect on our own,” Chanon said, citing agency policy.

Thai law bans building structures in or utilizing plots of national park and protected forests without a permit.

But Chanon said his agency has yet to come up with clear guidelines and regulations as to which type of ziplines should be allowed in which type of forest.

During a visit yesterday to the site at Flying Squirrels where the Chinese tourist died on Sunday, Chinese Consul General Chao Xiaoliang said the incident has caused concern for some prospective tourists from the People’s Republic.

“The news was shared widely and quickly among Chinese tourists, especially on social media,” Chao said. “It has caused some Chinese tourists who like and want to travel to Chiang Mai to be worried.” 

Chinese Consul General Chao Xiaoliang (left) at Oct. 15 news conference in Chiang Mai. 

Chiang Mai is particularly popular among Chinese visitors since the locale was featured in a blockbuster Chinese movie, 2012’s “Lost in Thailand.”

According to Chao, 12 Chinese tourists have died during the past year in Chiang Mai alone. He also urged Thai authorities to tighten safety measures to protect the lives of Chinese tourists who visit the province and nation.

“I want to see measures that would prevent further losses,” the consul said at yesterday’s news conference.

To reach us about this article or another matter, please contact us by e-mail at: [email protected].