A five year old boy from Finland is in a serious condition in hospital after being savaged by a pack of stray dogs on Thailand’s Ao Nang beach in Krabi. 

The animals went for the little boy’s throat and he was covered in blood as his distraught father carried him to an ambulance.

He had ten wounds. He had just gone into the sea to get sand off before going home with his dad and brother.

Doctors said there is a very real fear the boy may have contracted rabies. It is the latest of many attacks – especially on young children.

Picture: Daily News

The chief of the local administration has said he has tried everything. Now the dogs are set to be cleared off the beach entirely.

Ao Nang in Krabi in the south is one of Thailand’s most well known beaches and a mecca for tourists especially those from Scandinavia.  Thaivisa notes that it is only a matter of time before news of attacks like this seriously affect tourism in the area.

Daily News reported that father Appo Nikula, aged about 30, carried his boy to the ambulance after being helped by locals and tourists alike.

A pack of 4 or 5 dogs were still snapping at him as he carried his stricken and bloodied son to safety. The boy had two gashes to his throat, lacerations on his back and bottom and a five centimeter wound on his leg. There were ten injuries after the mauling on Wednesday.

Appo had been with his two children. The five year old had gone back in the sea to get sand off before going back to the hotel. This is when the dogs struck surrounding the screaming five year old.  Doctors at Krabi Nakharin Hospital said they were most worried about two things. The cuts to the central throat area and the possibility the boy has contracted rabies.

He has been given shots and has been admitted and is under close observation.  Local authority chief Phankham Kittithornkun was exasperated with the situation saying that spaying, round-ups and vaccinations had all been tried.

But still people kept leaving their dogs at the beach. He had ordered more decisive action. A meeting and survey is planned for today that could see all the animals rounded up and homes found for them elsewhere. He is asking national park authorities for assistance.

He intimated that he is constrained by what he can do due to Thailand’s strict animal cruelty laws.  Meanwhile one operator on the beach who was not named told Daily News that many Europeans and Chinese tourists had been attacked on the beach.

And the victims were often children aged between 4 and 8.

It was a long standing problem.

Krabi is known to be an area where rabies is rampant.

 

Sources: Daily News | Daily News

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A “dark skinned” farang thought it would be jolly good fun to urinate on the road from a moving song thaew (known in Pattaya as a baht bus). 

So he undid his zipper and got out what Sanook called his “anaconda” and started relieving himself all along Sukhumvit Road.

The man – said to have dark skin by Sanook – was having the time of his life as his mates egged him on laughing and joking.

This highly inappropriate behavior was witnessed by a candidate for Region 7 in the upcoming election who was out canvassing. Pramet Ngamphichet got one of his staff to tell the driver what he had seen when the song thaew stopped at the red light at the Huay Yai intersection.

Driver Thaweesak said he would take them to Pattaya police station to file a report.

Thaweesak later told Sanook that he had picked up six on seven tourists and was in the process of taking them along Sukhumvit Road to Central Beach, Pattaya.

He had been unaware of what had transpired but having been informed by the candidate’s rep he resolved to go to Pattaya police station.

However, as he turned into the police station the group of tourists got wise to the impending trouble and fled in several directions.

 

Source: Sanook

Traffic police fined the drivers of a city bus and a pickup truck that spewed black exhaust smoke on Bangkok’s Phitsanulok Road on Friday.

The two vehicles were also banned from roads for 30 days and ordered to get repaired during that time, said city police deputy chief for traffic Pol Maj-General Jirasan Kaewsaeng-ek.

Jirasan led officers to detect exhaust-spewing vehicles in the area near the Education Ministry head office, to tackle traffic pollution.

The Route No 23 (Thewet-Samrong) spewed 71 per cent black smoke while the pick-up spewed 100 per cent black smoke, well beyond the legal limit of 45 per cent.

The unnamed pick-up driver was fined Bt1,000 and threatened with a  Bt5,000 fine if the driver repeated the offence, while the bus driver faced a smaller fine reportedly based on the percentage of exhaust fumes.

Source: The Nation

KOH SAMUI — A British businessman on Koh Samui ran foul of the law Wednesday for innovating in the kitchen by adding cannabis to his tom yum goong.

Gary Coughlan, 58, was arrested and charged with drug offenses this morning after policemen noticed he was acting erratically, police told reporters. They said he tested positive for drug use.

Police said Coughlan, a real estate developer who has been living on Koh Samui for 22 years, confessed to eating the spicy shrimp curry infused with marijuana prior to his arrest, citing its benefits for good sleep. He said a Thai friend provided the substance.

Although the interim parliament recently passed a law legalizing medical marijuana, unsanctioned use of the plant remains illegal. Violators face jail time of up to a year.

Gary Coughlan, center, stands between two police officers Wednesday on Koh Samui.

Source: khaosodenglish.com