Boat Sinks Off 'The Beach'

Heavy rains and high waves on Tuesday sank a boat taking 59 Israeli and Canadian tourists to Thailand's Phi Phi Le Island, where the Hollywood movie The Beach was filmed, drowning one passenger and leaving another severely injured, police said. "One tourist drowned and another was injured by the boat's propeller," said Marine Police Lieutenant Kamornsak Bonpadoon, in a telephone interview with Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

The diving boat sank just after noon Tuesday while taking tourists from Phi Phi Don to Maya Bay on Phi Phi Le island, about 660 kilometres south of Bangkok. Kamornsak identified the dead man as Israeli national Nissin Lugasi, 26, and the injured man as Israeli Adam Vejakee, 33. Thai news reports said Vejakee's legs had been severed by the boat's propeller.

Police blamed the accident on unusually rough waves caused by heavy rains. All other passengers and six Thai crew were rescued. Phi Phi Don is favourite beach destination in Thailand, especially for divers and young adults. It was hard hit by the December 26, 2004, tsunami that washed over the island twice, killing hundreds. Phi Phi Le, is about 1 kilometre away from Phi Phi Don, a national park. [via Earthtimes]

Sierra Tangos

• Kuwaiti national dragged from motor cycle in South Pattaya, beaten and robbed [via Pattaya City News]

• A Smile for your Father concert has been arranged for 5th December at Bali Hai Pier in honour of His Majesty King Bhumibol’s 80^th birthday. [via Pattaya People]

• Fire on 4th September at Ben Mansion located in Soi VC, South Pattaya caused by electrical fault. [via Pattaya People]

• Map of the expansion to Bangkok's mass transit network

• In the market for a Notebook - check out PC World's Most Notable Notebooks Of 2007

• Keep your PC clean with Remove Empty Directories - If you're like most PC users, you add and remove programs regularly, rearrange your music folders periodically, and generally leave your file system looking messier than your bedroom floor. You probably have dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of folders on your PC containing absolutely no files. Remove Empty Directories is a free application that does exactly what you'd expect it to. It removes empty directories. [via Downloadsquad]

• Takaka Kitahara - Japanese AV Star

• The following was posted on Thai Visa today. Thought the message was worth repeating here.

Quote: Sorry haven't been in touch, had many things on my mind. Hotmail is best now. I can collect it on my new PDA. Had the other stolen along with my laptop and 20000 baht. Was sitting on steps of Panthip when lady sat near me and started chatting with me. Then her friend come over, both well dressed. After a while they asked me if I wanted to eat at the rest & bakery on r/hand side facing.I say no because I will meet Ying soon. It was near 5.40pm. They said a coffee and they would buy. When coffee nearly finished, one lady ordered a large Singha beer & 2 glasses,1 for me. She appeared to drink some of hers and then topped mine up from hers, about half glass. Didn't think too much about it because I've seen ladies in bars do same thing. Soon after more food came. I was bit surprised because I don't remember them ordering it. Then I remember trying to walk and feeling like I was very drunk. I commented on it and she said "Singha very strong". I thought rubbish, not strong. That was last my memory till 6.30am when I woke up in a hotel room about 10klm north of Don Muang, minus laptop and PDA. Somewhere along the way I withdrew 20000 baht from my account with my debit card. That was also missing. I spent the day at police station. They said I was lucky they didn't kill me!! :Unquote

• Smart Arsed Response Awards:

• Answer 6 - It was mealtime during a flight on a British Airways plane: "Would you like dinner?" the flight attendant asked the man seated in the front row. "What are my choices?" the man asked. "Yes or no," she replied.
• Answer 5 - A flight attendant was stationed at the departure gate to check tickets. As a man approached, she extended her hand for the ticket and he opened his trench coat and flashed her. Without blinking an eyelid she said, "Sir, I need to see your ticket not your stub."
• Answer 4 - A lady was picking through the frozen turkeys at a branch of Sainsbury's store but she couldn't find one big enough for her family. She asked a passing assistant, "Do these turkeys get any bigger?" The assistant replied, "I'm afraid not, they're dead."
  
• Answer 3 - The policeman got out of his car and the boy racer he stopped for speeding, rolled down his window. "I've been waiting for you all day," the bobby said. The kid replied, "Yes, well I got here as fast as I could." When the policeman finally stopped laughing, he sent the kid on his way without a ticket.
• Answer 2 - A lorry driver was driving along on a country road. A sign came up that read "Low Bridge Ahead." Before he realised it, the bridge was directly ahead and he got stuck under it... Cars are backed up for miles... Finally, a police car comes up... The policeman got out of his car and walked to the lorry's cab and said to the driver, "Got stuck, eh?" The lorry driver said, "No, I was delivering this bridge and ran out of petrol!"
  
• Answer Of The Year 2007 - A teacher at a polytechnic college reminded her pupils of tomorrow's final exam."Now listen to me, I won't tolerate any excuses for you not being here tomorrow. I might consider a nuclear attack or a serious personal injury, illness, or a death in your immediate family, but that's it, no other excuses whatsoever!" A smart-arsed chappie at the back of the room raised his hand and asked, "What would you happen if I came in tomorrow suffering from complete and utter sexual exhaustion?" The entire class was reduced to laughter and sniggering. When silence was restored, the teacher smiled knowingly at the student, shook her head and sweetly said, "Well, I suppose you'd have to write the exam with your other hand!"

Try AuctionAds

Tags: pattaya, pattaya-rag, pattaya-nightlife, Atlantic-Bar, u-too-bar, a-go-go