Men face sentence for Thai murder

The body of Miss Horton,21 from Cardiff, was found in the see of the island in Samui. Miss Horton had travelled to Thailand with a university friend for a two weeks holiday.

She had been to the beach with a group of friends on 1 January, close to the bungalows they had rented,when she is said to have wandered away to speak to her mother on her mobile phone and her body found in 12 hours later by a water biker in the sea off Lamai beach in Samui. A post-mortem examination suggested she was raped and beaten before being left in the water to drown. Thai police have alleged the trial of fishermen Bualoi Posit ,23 and Wichai Somkhaoyai,24. The one-day trial on Friday was told that the men had been watching pornographic films on their boat on the evening of 1 January. They then swam ashore using plastic petrol cans as buoyancy and attacked Miss Horton on the beach as she talked to her mother on her mobile phone.

The men hit her about the head and shoulders with a parasol pole and took turns to rape her while the other held her down, the trial heard.
After that they dragged her out to sea to a boat and used that to tow her further out, where the Reading University student drowned.

The court heard that a British tourist, Christopher Burrows, who later found Miss Horton's mobile phone on the beach, heard a faint voice calling out in English: "I'm sinking, I'm sinking."
The suspects appeared in court at Surat Thani on Friday
The discovery of the mobile phone on the beach led police to investigate fishing boats moored offshore, the trial was told.

Thai officers boarded the boats posing as fish traders, before telling those on board DNA tests would be carried out.
The court was told it was at this point the two men on trial admitted they carried out the murder.

The attack took place at 21.00 local time on New Year's Day, close to where Miss Horton was staying on Lamai Beach, on the island of Koh Samui.
Her body was washed up the next morning on a remote beach a few kilometres away where it was found by a water biker.

The trial on Friday heard from eight witnesses, including police officers, forensic doctors and fishermen. The fishermen did not address the court directly, but confirmed their earlier statements admitting guilt.

Thailand's prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra has declared that the men should face the maximum penalty because of damage done to the country's image.
The provisional court of Surat Thani is around 330 miles (520 kilometres) south west of the capital Bangkok.

A Buddhist memorial blessing in Miss Horton's memory was held on Thursday on Lamai beach by the people of Koh Samui.

Health Expo 09 : Aussie Helpers

Last week we had Health Expo 09 and we interviewed Sue Martin who works as an Aussie Helper volunteer and it’s really interesting when she explained to us about their job.

Aussie Helpers is a group of volunteers who help collect food and money and they help farmers in the bush when they are very poor and have had few crops for many years. They need help because of the bad weather, floods, drought and even bushfires.

Lots of people need help but they just can help some of them because they can't get everywhere. There are 30-40 volunteers in all, because nobody gets paid and some people come and go, so they can't help everyone. The Aussie Helpers go to help people who have had problems but they don't ask for help (they are too proud) but people tell somebody and somebody tells somebody else. Sometimes they hear about people in need through the bush telegraph.

With the money they collect they are able to buy animal foods, fuel for runnig the farm vehicles or to help people in the bush or where they need help.

Health Expo 2009

Health Expo

Yesterday we had the Health Expo at TAFE. We cooked food and brought it to TAFE to sell. I cooked Thai Fish Cakes that were delicious, if I may say so myself! We talked with Aussie Helpers who get money to help farmers and people who have problems in bush fires. I felt very happy because I could help people in need. I bought $5 raffle tickets to help them too. At 11 a.m. we stared to sell our food and all our dishes were sold by midday. It was a great success because we got almost $163from the sale of our food.

After that we went to find out about health information from all the stalls. I went to find out about pregnancy because it's good for me to know how I can prepare myself if I would like to get pregnant. Then I went to talk with a lady who gave me information about how to save water. There were lots of ways to save water.

In the afternoon we went back to our class. We had just started and about 30 minutes later our teacher Andrew came to our class and told me to go with him because I had won the first prize in the raffle. Wow! I was excited because I won $50 in petrol vouchers! I went back to my class, but soon after they called me again. I had won another $25 dollar voucher for petrol too! Wasn't I lucky? I won not one but two of the Health Expo prizes!
I felt very happy to help with the Health Expo and I had a good day too.

Our Excusion at the Aquarium and the Chinese Garden

Our excursion at Sydney Aquarium and Chinese garden.

Last Tuesday we went on an excursion to the Aquarium and the Chinese Garden. We met at Kogarah Station at 8.50 a.m. When everyone arrived we caught the train to Town Hall. Some of our classmates were already waiting for us there because they had caught the train from another station. Diana brought her son to join us. His name's Maher.

The Chinese Garden was the first place we visited. There were lots of trees and flowers. Everybody was enjoying taking photos and Maher who was the only boy in this trip looked very happy and he loved to be in the photos too. My favourite place was in front of the water fall. I took some photos there. After that we walked to the coffee shop and we stopped there for 30 minutes. Some of the group got something to eat. I bought some Dim Sims to eat.

At midday we went to visit the Aquarium. There were lots of fish and they were so beautiful. I stopped at the crocodile and I took photos of it. I like to see it in the Aquarium but I would not like to see it in the outside. Then we went to see the dugongs. They were lovely and looked very friendly. After that we went through a glass tunnel under the water and we could see a lovely dugong very clearly. Then we moved out to see the sharks. I was afraid of the sharks because their teeth are very sharp. Then we went to see the other fish. I sat down and looked in through the glass. They were beautiful and I wish I had a big Aquarium in my bedroom so I can lie down on the bed and look at them at the same time.

Everyone started to tire from walking around the Aquarium so some of us sat down on the long benches in front of the big tank and at the same time Rosa took photos of our class. When we finished taking photos we went to the souvenir shop. There were lots of things for sale. At 1.30 pm. we had lunch at the Harbourside food hall. After we finished lunch we caught the train back home. We all enjoyed our excursion very much.

Counsellor's podcast

My opinion about Counsellor's podcast that very helpful to help us. Some of us might never know what do you want to study or what do you need? You just go to see Counsellor at building A or you can make an appointment with them then you will get the idea what you would like to study. When you finish study diploma or advand diploma and you want to go to University then they can link you to University and you might not have to do all the subject and you can save your time.

A grand uni grad at 83

Main picture: John Veage

My opinion about Bert Gardner having just graduated from University at 83 is that I agree with him when he said " I did it to keep my mind active ". It is never late to study, even though you 're getting old but your mind and your brain hasn't got old like your body. If you 're always thinking and learning about new things, then your mind keeps young. I'm very sure that your mind and your brain will be active all the time.

Harmoney day

Harmony day is celebrated on 21th of March each year. Australia people have many different cultural background and there is a multicultural mix. ST.George TAFE celebrated and we all shared our experience in Australia on 19th of March. We sang a song "we are one" together. Some students sang traditional song from their culture.

My class

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My first day in Australia

On my first day in Australia I was very tired and I was anxious about my English language. When the plane touched down at Sydney airport I felt very excited.
When I arrived home my husband gave me a bunch of beautiful flowers. That was very nice! I took a shower then I went to sleep because I was very tired after the long fight. I got up at lunch time then my husband and I drove to the city. We met my husband's friends at a restaurant. So we had lunch there. I tried to speak more English with them,although I could understand only a little.
After we finished lunch we went shopping. I bought a lot of clothes because the weather was very cold. At 4 o'clock we drove home. I felt very tired but I had a great time. I could not sleep at all because I was curious to know what would happen with me when I got up the next day.

My recount

Last Sunday night my husband and I went to the Sheraton hotel in the city. We drove the car there. We arrived there at 6.3o and then we met my husband's friends in a restaurant then we had dinner with a seafood buffet. There was a lot of seafood. The dinner was beautiful.
After dinner we stayed there for a drink. At 11 pm we drove home. We had a great time at the Sheraton hotel.

Holiday in Kanjanaburi

Kanjanaburi is a town in Thailand

This is Phuket

Phuket

Last year my husband and I went to Thailand on a holiday.We travelled there by plane and we stayed in a hotel in Bangkok for 1 week.While we were there ,we visited beautiful temples.One of the temples is Grand Palac & Wat Pha Kaew. The Grand Palace used to house the entire Royal family. I enjoyed. Another day I went shopping at Pratunam and Siam Square. There were a lot of things you could buy for a cheap price. So I bought a lot of things that I wanted.

The next morning we flew to Udon Thani to visit my parents. I was very happy because I had not seen them for 1 year. So we had a party at night. We were talking and eating until late when we left. I was happy to meet my relatives. Some of them I had not seen for a long time.

The week after we went to Phuket and we stayed there for 1 week. When we arrived there. The weather was not good. It was raining and the next day was very wet, so we could not go anywhere. It was a terrible day. When it stopped raining we rent a motorbike to drive around the Island. We stopped at a small village then we had lunch there. The village was very quiet and I didn't see many people. I was talking with someone who had lived there since he was young. Since 2004 when the Tsunami happened, a lot of people died. After that no one wanted to live there anymore,said he. It made me sad when I heard that story. When we finished from lunce we walked onto the beach. The beach was very beautiful and looked clean so I took some photos of the beach.

We spent time in the swimming pool almost every day because the weather was very hot. We went to have dinner in a restaurant. We had a great time,even though there were a lot of people and there were very loud.

We had a great time in Phuket,but we had to come back to Australia and we will go to Thailand in May,then we will go to Phuket again.

Thailand

Hello there! My name's Patcharin. I come from Thailand.I'm 29,I come from Thailand.I don't have any children. I have a small family in Thailand.When I lived in Thailand I worked as administration clerk at a Toyota Company.I love my job.

I have been in Australia almost 8 months.Sometimes I'm home sick.I live with my husband in a house in Ramsgate.I was very nervous when I arrived because I could speak English only alittle .

I like Australia but the sun is very strong and hot.Australia is a very interesting country.There are alot of people who come from many different countries and people are very friendly.So I prefer to live in Australia because there is less pollution than in Thailand.In Thailand the traffic was bad.

Now I'm studying at TAFE in level 3.I would like to improve my English because I can't speak English very well and when my English is good enough I will find a good job. Anyway,I have alot of friends in Sydney.I can go anywhere in Sydney by myself and I'm very happy with my life. Now I'm pretty busy. I'm studying at TAFE and I'm learning driving.