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.