Xpress-qTODAY PAGE-1011.XPRESS.30Apr09 - Xpress - The Nation

2 TODAY Thursday, April 30, 2009 DAILY XPRESS
THE CITY
700 tonnes
OF PLASTIC BAGS are used each
year across the country
Celebrations
for Visakha
Bucha Day
underway
DAILY XPRESS
More than 1,200 leading
Buddhists from
80 countries are jetting in
for a three-day conference
from Monday to mark
Visakha Bucha Day.
Delegates will discuss a
worldwide project to print
the Buddhist teachings of
all the three major sects –
Hinayana, Mahayana and
Vajrayana – in one book to
be made available in hotels
around the world, said Phra
Thamma Khosajarn, chief
organiser of the event.
The three Buddhist
canons will also be translated
into more languages,
the monk said, adding that
all 1,200 participants had
confirmed their participation.
Int’l conference opens
His Holiness the
Supreme Patriarch made a
speech blessing all Thais
and praising Buddhism in
a televised sermon to mark
the festival last week.
It was his first public
statement for several
years.
The main conference
and accompanying festivities
will be held at
Buddhamonthon complex
in Nakhon Pathom from
Monday to Wednesday
and broadcast live on UBC
and at www.MCU.ac.th.
From Saturday to May
8, activities include exhibitions
of holy relics at
Sanam Luang along with
displays of ancient
Buddha figures at major
temples.
DAILY
XPRESS
Romancing the rose
A romance service offered by
Chiang Mai students is taking the
heartache out of first dates
DAILY XPRESS
Feeling too shy to reveal your
love? Don’t know where to start
to approach your dream girl? Help
is at hand from a group of university
students who are offering to
handle the challenging task for you.
Valentine’s Day has come and
gone but the Phoenix 29 group
from Chiang Mai University is still
making money – delivering roses
and singing and dancing on behalf
of their clients, who can add a message
to be delivered to their sweetheart
too.
A rose, a song, a dance
In a video on YouTube with
over 620,000 hits, a male student
approaches a female student and
offers her a rose. He then breaks
into a song and a dance, drawing
giggles from surrounding students.
“We’ve been offering our services
for two years now, with the aim
of making some extra cash to pay
off tuition fees,” says Thanapol
“Jack” Machai, a master’s student
and member of the 13-strong
group. “We started by selling roses
for Valentine’s Day from a table in
the university’s canteen.”
Full-scale delivery
Business was quiet, though, so
the group’s members came up with
the idea of setting up a stall to offer
a full-scale delivery service.
Initially, they charged Bt80 to
deliver a rose, which attracted 50
clients on February 13 and 14 this
year, earning the group about
Bt13,000.
The group’s fame is spreading
fast after it posted the services it
offers on popular websites like M
Thai, YouTube and Panthip.
Romantic cyber-surfers can
also call up the group’s very own
hi5 page. As a result, Phoenix 29
attracts clients from well beyond
Chiang Mai. Thais in Australia and
Japan are now using the romance
service to announce their love to
sweethearts in Chiang Mai.
“We also get requests from
Bangkok, where we’ve just done 10
jobs,” says Jack.
Lately the students have been
helping out love-struck groupies.
“We’ve had assignments to surprise
stars like Toon Bodyslam, Cholada
Mekratri, as well as a film director.”
The fee varies according to the
difficulty and distance travelled for
each job. Not feeling so shy?
Expect to pay anything from Bt10
to five digits.
briefly
Flood warning
Seasonal heavy rains are likely
to cause heavy floods in
Thailand next month, a senior
government weatherman
warned yesterday.
Daily rains are expected to
arrive around mid-May –
becoming heavier until June –
as a result of the La Nina phenomenon
which brings higher
sea-water temperatures in the
Pacific, said Somchai
Baimuang, a Meteorological
Department division chief.
Additionally, tropical
storms will be more frequent
in the South China Sea and off
the Vietnamese coast, resulting
in heavy rains in Thailand
in the Central and Northeast
between August and
November, and later in the
South between October and
November, he said.
Serial child abuse
Police have arrested a tailor
and charged him with sexually
molesting homeless boys.
Suthas Phoopha, 48, has
reportedly confessed to the
crimes, saying he bought the
boys food and clothes in return
for sex. Suthas, who has been
charged with statutory rape
and molestation of minors,
said he began using boys for
sex when he was 30 years old.
With the help of child
activist and former senator
Montree Singthawichai, four
boys aged 12 to 15 lodged complaints
with Grand Palace
police on Tuesday, accusing
Suthas of violating them and
other homeless children living
in various places including the
Phahurad area and under the
Memorial Bridge.
Editor: Tulsathit Taptim / Managing Editor: Thanong Khanthong / Deputy Managing Editors: Kumar Krishnan, Jintana Panyaarvudh / Design Editor: Leroy A Sylk
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