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Re: What can I do
to help the dogs?
Editor;
Last week there was a letter from Hylfie in France asking, “What can I do to
help the dogs?” In reply: Check out the www.mabprachananimalshelter ,
Derek Doyle [email protected]
and his charming Thai wife Mali do a fantastic job with limited funds and
are always grateful for any donations. They have become personal friends and
I have great admiration for the care they give to dogs in distress. They are
very special people!
There are also Paul Finnelly@cats4U:
[email protected]
and Pic-APet4home:
[email protected],
who do fantastic work saving animals in distress.
All of these animal lovers work on a very tight budget and any donations are
welcome.
I have also found a very caring vet, Kwanchai at the Pattaya Animal Hospital
at the top end of South Pattaya Road. He does a lot of charity work caring
for stray dogs.
Best wishes,
Rick in Jomtien
Build a San Francisco style tram
Editor;
Re: Why destroy the environment? (PM Friday, 26 April 2013) - I was shocked
to walk recently on Beach Road and see all the trees cut down. I think the
best solution might be a San Francisco style tram along Beach Road and up
Walking Street, and to impose a fee on all vehicles entering Walking Street.
Yes, some baht buses might lose their job; but the baht bus cooperative
could run the tram system. It would also be less polluting, and would not
disturb those that make a living along the Beach Road.
Matthew
Defending Green
Pattaya clean up
Editor;
I’d like to answer “John in Pattaya” about the Green Pattaya Clean Up in
Pattaya: First of all, John, thank you for your kind words about the Green
Pattaya clean up. I would like to comment on some of the things in your
mail. All the people that day were volunteers, except the people from City
Hall, and it was not on that occasion their intention to empty or clean up
City Hall rubbish bins. We had a kind sponsor donating 500 trash bags and at
the end of the day all of them were full and collected; but having said that
we could have filled 500 more but since volunteers help of their own free
will nobody can “monitor” their work.
I am a bit surprised that you stood there and looked at my helpers not
cleaning and did not dig in to help us out? We always welcome more
volunteers as team leaders, clearers and sponsors to help keep Pattaya a
cleaner place; you clearly have an interest and as we have an event every
month. You are most welcome to all of them to lend a hand or give
encouragement.
Regarding City Hall, as you know they have many departments with emptying
bins and disposing of rubbish being only one of them. In brief, the physical
location of rubbish is a problem as the department is mandated to clear
rubbish from public land which, all too often, means only their designated
sites; they cannot go onto private land to retrieve dumped rubbish or to
empty bins. On the other hand the public in Pattaya City have no problem
with dumping trash on private land and failing to move full bins onto the
public highway. Most of the land in Pratamnak does not belong to City Hall.
Clean ups by Green Pattaya volunteers have inspired many others to come out
and effectively adopt some public land around their homes, businesses and
favorite locales. One couple has decided to keep clean a small patch of the
beach they like to visit and we hope, from the example of public spirited
people like these, a grassroots community will grow.
Neo Lothong Kum
Founder Green Pattaya
https://www.facebook.com/GreenPattaya
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Another interesting tactic
Editor;
Re: Beach chair vendors admit to nearly doubling prices for rentals (PM
Friday, 03 May 2013) - I have lived opposite the beach for many years and
another interesting tactic I have seen them do is to yell and scream abuse
at children and their parents if they play at the water’s edge in front of
their section. They claim they control the whole area right to the water
because they pay for it. It is quite sad to see tourists treated like this.
There is far too much sand occupied by these vendors and far too little for
tourists who prefer to sit on the sand rather than the beach. Tourists are
the life blood of Pattaya and should not be bullied. Finally, the shocking
reputation of the jet ski hustlers is well known all over the world. It is
not hard to guess why the authorities allow it to continue.
John Gecko Martin
At least we have
a working sewage system
Editor;
Re: Beach Road traffic woes (PM Friday, 03 May 2013) - It did happen. As
usual no one has a good word to say about City Hall. How would Pattaya stack
up against a beautiful modern city like Dubai? A city with towering 5 star
hotels and sky scrapers. A city of 1.1 million people. Everything shining
and new. Well, Pattaya has one thing that Dubai hasn’t. It may not be the
best in the world, but we have a working sewerage system. Dubai has no
sewerage system. All sewerage is pumped into massive tankers and driven into
the desert where the tankers line the highway for mile after mile and may
take days to unload your load. Next time some brown muck is seen in the bay
after flooding give a thought to City Hall who realise this city grew up
faster then we planned but we didn’t leave you in the excrement.
Bryan Patricks
Re: another Jet Ski scam
Editor;
I was saddened to read yet again about another Jet Ski scam. The writer was
threatened with a 65,000 baht bill for being responsible for water entering
the Jet Ski engine.
I can only think of one suitable English reply ‘What a load of bollocks!’
The police were not interested, no surprise there, and only 4 hours later
after the staff from the Hilton Hotel intervened on the tourist’s behalf the
bandits went away.
Their letter ended with, “I have been in many countries but have never met
such a rude nation. The Thais seem to have no etiquettes and are money
greedy to the extreme.” You hit the nail on the head buddy boy.
The Jet Ski scandal has been going on for so long now it seems there is only
one logical explanation for the powers that be, the local police and Pattaya
City Hall for not having taken any positive action against these bandits
that give Thailand such a bad image. And it doesn’t take a rocket scientist
to figure it out. The … Tourism Authority of Thailand could perhaps do
something about it, but don’t … (inflammatory remarks removed - Ed)
It would be wonderful if the Thais could actually get their heads from out
of the sand and realize that thinking they are the greatest doesn’t
necessarily make them the greatest. Like alcoholics, unless you actually
comprehend you are one and want to do something about it there is not much
hope of you reforming.
I love Thailand and having lived here for over 12 years. I would not want to
live anywhere else in the world. The average Thais are wonderful people;
it’s a shame some rotten apples let the side down but doesn’t every country
have its fair share of rotten apples? It’s sad there are so many at the top
of the barrel here!
RW
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Who is the original source?
Editor:
Re: Genghis Khan and your children (PM Friday, 23 December 2011) - I’m half
Sicilian from the southwestern side and half Marchesan Italian. I and all my
siblings were born with the blue spot, but mine looked like someone punched
me. The doctor told my mom that she was Sicilian as soon as he saw my back.
Why do so many Sicilian babies have this spot? I have read that Sicilians
are 10% sub-Saharan black and that both Muslims and Jews who emigrated
eventually converted to Christianity. Those who came to the island in large
measure probably never left, so their DNA was mixed in with the local gene
pool.
I would like to know if there are any DNA studies which have matched this
Sicilian Mongolian spot with another likely source, in the absence of a
direct invasion by Khan’s forces. I read that there were Mongol invasions
from eastern Europe and the northern Middle East, but I am not clear as to
whether Sicily was occupied. As an island, there must have been a lot of
trade and docking of ships which could have left a lot of DNA in the local
population. Also, why do so many blacks have the spot and does that include
blacks from anywhere in Africa, or only Eastern Africans? How did so many
Africans get this spot from the Kahns or hordes, or are the Africans the
original source?
Elizabeth Garlington
Ed replies: Dr Iain Corness tells me: “Genghis Khan and the Mongol hordes
certainly dropped seed far and wide, remembering that they conquered more
than half the world as it was known in those days. Once the gene is in the
gene pool, it can be carried anywhere, so to find Mongolian Blue Spot in
Sicily does not surprise me.”
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