Daring Panadda to the rescue in the Middle East

ACTRESS AND FORMER Miss Thailand Panadda “Boom” Wongphudee – already in the limelight over her outspokenness about the need for better law enforcement on Thai trains following last month’s vicious rape and murder – has emerged as a genuine heroine after helping rescue a woman from a Bahrain brothel.
The 25-year-old Thai woman, who’d fallen victim to traffickers and ended up trapped in the basement of a Bahrain hotel and used as a sex slave, managed to reach out to Boom via the actress’ Instagram account.
Nation TV reported that a local man the young woman met there had had bought her an SIM card so she could phone her family and post a message to Boom. Boom then rushed to verify the story, calling the woman’s family and determining that she had indeed gone abroad. She then called the woman directly, only for one of the brothel keepers to discover they were conversing. Thinking quickly, Boom spoke to the man in broken English, telling them she was interested in working for him.
Afterward she contacted a businessman friend in Bahrain and got him to call the local police. The victim was promptly rescued, and returned to Thailand on Tuesday. She’s now under the protection of the Office of Anti-trafficking in Persons Committee.
So Boom finds herself once again busy giving interviews to the news media and the praise is deservedly pouring in. She’s likely to be spoken of in the future in the same manner as Paveena Hongsakul, the country’s best-known champion of downtrodden women. For now, she says, she’s just glad to have been some help.

Pipop’s wailing walls
Can’t resist a flutter on the lottery? You might want to have a look at the walls of Pipop Panyaem’s home if you want to quit wasting money. The deputy chief of Khlong Luang district has decided that squandering Bt4 million on lottery tickets was more than enough. He invests in the whims of fate no longer.
Matichon Online reports that Pipop recently wallpapered his house with all the lottery tickets he bought since 1999. It’s an impressive “installation” of papier-mache art, even if he had no intention of pleasing the eyes. In fact it’s a form of self-flagellation – Pipop decorated the walls as a reminder to never waste his money on luck again.
He spent more than Bt10,000 twice a month for five years and, after totting up the occasional winnings, he reckons the prize money amounted to a mere 10 per cent of his investment: a Bt4-million outlay for a Bt400,000 return.
“I really wanted to be rich, so I kept buying them, he tells Matichon. “But I figured it was about time I stopped buying them!” And there he sat, on a mountain of worthless paper. And those walls needed some sprucing up anyway. Now they’re walls that really do talk – but it’s a sad little tale they share!