(16 October) A combination of heavy rains, flooding, and accidents – which included a leaked underground water pipe – has resulted in a particularly chaotic day for Bangkok commuters.

Bangkok Governor Office had been receiving numerous complaints after heavy rains hit the nation’s capital city since last night. A broken water pipe in the heart of the city also paralysed traffic in main commercial area and left many houses without water supply.

Meanwhile,  floods are said to have occurred in many areas across the capital city, including Sukhumvit, Nharmwongwan, Bang-kapi, Meenburi, Lad Krabang, and Lad Praow.

This morning, the busy Plern-Chit Road was blocked after a tree fell on the road, causing much chaos in the vicinity during the rush hour. Officials later arrived at the scene and lifted the tree off the road, permitting the clogged traffic to resume.

In Bang-Kho-Laem district, a caved-in Rama III Road had caused severe traffic jams. The incident is believed to have been caused by the construction of underground utilities lines by the Metropolitan Electricity Authority (MEA) in the area.

Another accident also occurred on an MEA-contracted development site at the intersection between Ratchaprarop and Sri Ayudhya roads, as a 3-metre wide water pipe had been punctured, flooding the nearby roads with its torrents of water.

Mr. Weerapong Srinualkul, Managing director of Datum Thai Construction Co.,Ltdm, who is responsible for the construction, attributed the incident to human error. He claimed that that the workers misunderstood the map of underground pipelines, and dig right into the water pipe instead of an empty space.

The director said his company is willing to take all responsibility for the damage.

The incident took place during rush hour, causing disastrous traffic jams on many roads including Ratchaprarop, Ratchadamri, Petchaburi, Wiphawadee – Rangsit, Din Daeng and Rama IX. Many officials were ordered to help families living nearby move their items on the top floor after the water flooded into their houses.

A number of officials were also appointed to stand by at the water drainage pipe to make sure no one fell into the large hole.

Metropolitan Waterworks Authority (MWA) later closed the valve of the broken pipe. Houses in nearby area will have to live without water supplies until the pipe is fixed. The repair is expected to finish by the end of the day.

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(16 October) The government′s decision for 5-days off during New Year season has alerted officials to prepare for large numbers of tourists during the long vacation.

The Cabinet announced the decision to make 30 December an official holiday, topping days off during New Year festival to 5 days in total, said Sunisa Lertphakawat, deputy spokeswoman of the Office of the Prime Minister.

It is believed that the long holiday should stimulate the country’s economy, particularly in tourism and transport sector.

Apart from native tourists, officials also plan to welcome more foreign tourists, especially from China, after a recent report revealed the growing numbers of tourists the world’s fastest growing economy.

However, the recent change in Chinese tourism law which curbs on travel agencies forcing tourists to buy extra services during their stays in Thailand might decrease the number of arriving Chinese in the next 3 months, according to the Ministry of Tourism.

However, in transport sectors, both coach and rail services providers, the Transport Co.Ltd, and State Railway of Thailand (SRT), expressed confience that the demand for transport during New Year’s is under their control.

Deputy Minister of Transport, Mr. Phong Cheewanant, said that the Transport Co.Ltd., a state enterprise, had prepared enough coaches for its passengers? demand during the season. The Deputy Minister also said that the maintenance team was ordered to make every coach ready, and drivers were ordered to take enough sleep.

“Having insufficient coaches is less problematic than providing unsafe service” said the deputy Minister, “we are working closely with other related authorities; Police, Department of Land Transport, to clear up loopholes in our plan for New Year”.

“Our officers will also be informing every passenger to fasten their seatbelts” said Mr. Pong, referring to the announcement of Ministry of Transport and the Transport Co.Ltd. to restrict every interprovincial Transport Co.Ltd. coach to be equipped  with seatbelts from 15 October onward. 

He added, “Safety is non-negotiable”.

Meanwhile, Mr. Wutthichat Kanlayanamitr, Managing Director of the Transport Company, said that the demand for coach travel in this year should remain as much as last year 1 million passengers. However, the company had provided 700 coaches for the substitution.

“We believed that no passengers would be left to wait at the terminal” Mr. Wutthichart assured.

State Railway of Thailand (SRT) deputy director, Mr. Thanongsak Phongprasert, said that the SRT’s marketing team is analysing last year demands, and calculating the this year’s supply figure.

“SRT had prepared extra carriage to be used during New Year’s festival, and ordered maintenance team to fix more carriages” said Mr. Thanongsak, “last year we added extra carriages to 10 main routes, particularly on the north and northeastern routes.”

“In total we ran 34 trains a day, and we planned to add a lot more to this year schedules and believed there will not be insufficient transport problem.” Mr. Thanonsak said.

The cabinet also wishes to launch another 7 tourism courts by New Year’s Day. The government has reportedly allocated an estimated budget of THB 17 million for the Ministry of Justice, to establish and develop the tourism court in 7 districts, including Chiang Mai district court, Phuket provincial court, Sa Mui provincial court, Krabi provincial court and Bangkok’s Dusit and Pathumwan district Courts.

“We should establish a fast and just legal service for the tourists to create confident in our tourism sector, particularly as we are becoming ASEAN Economic Community in 2015” added Sunisa, the deputy spokeswoman of the Office of the Prime Minister. 

Related Story: Finally, Mandatory Seatbelts For Inter-provincial Buses 
 

(16 October) A pair of unidentified assailants have shot three people dead at a roadside bar in Prachinburi province, including the owner of the establishment.

The incident took place at an unnamed bar on Prachinburi – Kabinburi Road in the early hours of 15 October. At the scene, the police rescue workers found two injured victims, Mr. Somrak Rattanamora, 32, and Mr. Sunthorn Sornsalab, 34, who was the owner of the bar.

Both were in serious condition, and later died as they were brought to hospital.

Around 100 metres away from the bar, the police uncovered the dead body of Mr. Tawatchai Uttabutr, 32.According to Ms. Rattana Prommalee, the wife of Mr. Sunthorn, earlier in the night Mr. Tawatchai and three other friends, including Mr. Somrak, were drinking at the bar. Around midnight, she said, two individuals wearing medical facemask arrived at the bar in a white Honda car with no license plate.

The assailants got off the car and walked to Mr. Tawatchai′s table, Ms. Rattana said, before discharging their firearms at Mr. Tawatchai and his friends. The bullet struck Mr. Somrak and Mr. Sunthorn, who happened to be standing nearby, but Mr. Tawatchai reportedly ran for his life into an alley near the bar.

However, Ms. Rattana said, the two assailants chased after Mr. Tawatchai, firing their weapons as they went, until the victim fell down, and the suspects proceeded to shoot Mr. Tawatchai multiple times – the police found 11 bullets on his body – before fleeing the scene on their car.

Police officers said Mr. Tawatchai has recently finished his jail sentence for drug trafficking offences, only to resume his business once he got out of prison. Police believe he was the main target of the assassination, as he was known to be involved in disputes with a number of drug dealers.

Mr. Somrak and Mr. Sunthorn were killed by accident, the officers said. The police are still searching for the suspects.

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(15 October) A minivan driver is being sought by the police on the suspicion that he had raped and threatened to murder a 15 year old girl.

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(15 October) The Thai Supreme Court has affirmed the death sentence for a former narcotics trafficker who had been eluding arrests for almost a decade before he was apprehended in China.

Mr. Jirasak Chattawornniti, 32, is accused under the charges of possessing enormous amounts of methamphetamines and heroins with the intention to sell, and conspiracy in drug trafficking with more than two individuals.

Better known as Ar Sun among the police and the drug traffickers? circles, Mr. Jirasak is originally from a tribal ethnics called Mien, who populated northern Laos and southern China.

Mr. Jirasak was not present at the court today as the judges read out his death sentence, affirming the previous rulings of the lower courts. Officials said the defendant has been already informed of the verdict in Khao Bin Prison, Ratchaburi province.

The Thai police issued an arrest warrant against Mr. Jirasak in 1999 on the charge of trafficking narcotics from foreign procurers to distribute them in Thailand. However, the suspect managed to slip away to Laos, where he reportedly started a furniture business to cover up his drug trade.

During his tenure in Laos, Mr. Jirasak is said to have purchased huge amounts of illegal drugs from Myanmar (which was called Burma at the time) and Laos, and smuggled them to his various agents in Khlong Toei district of Bangkok.

Mr. Jirasak reportedly left Laos in early 2005 for China. But joint efforts between Thai and Chinese police forces eventually led to his arrest in the Chinese city of Kunming in the same year.

The suspect initially contested the Chinese effort to extradite him to Thailand, claiming the rights to fight his case in Laos due to his Mien background, but the Thai authorities insisted that Mr. Jirasak was still holding his Thai nationality. The Chinese police flew him to Thailand in February that year.

Death penalties are routinely handed out by the Thai courts in high-profile drug trafficking cases, despite repeated pleas from rights group Amnesty International that the Thai government should abolish execution.

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