Pattaya Mail — Letters
It is noticed that the letters herein in no way reflect the
opinions of the editor or writers for Pattaya Mail, but
are unsolicited letters from our readers, expressing their own
opinions. No anonymous letters or those without genuine addresses
are printed, and, whilst we do not object to the use of a nom de
plume, preference will be given to those signed.
Letters published in the Mailbag of Pattaya Mail will also be on our website
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Editor,
This letter have I hesitated to write quite a long time. Could it really be possible that the Thai Navy has bought a hang... sorry, a rescue ship of 60,000 tons? But the papers say so and long reports, with pictures, have been printed. So it must be true?
How 8 Harrier fighting planes are meant to participate in any rescue operations goes far from my understanding. For you who may not know the Harrier I can enlighten you with some facts: it is probably one of the world’s most sophisticated fighting planes in its field - and with a price tag to match! The ship also has 4 (four) helicopters. But not a word is mentioned about what kind of helicopters they are - and if they are equipped for rescue operations?
My conclusion must be that the ship is hopeless for the task the navy claims it shall fulfill - namely as a rescue ship to be used in times of national catastrophes!
For the billions of Baht completely wasted the navy could have built a complete fleet of cost guard ships - equipped with rescue helicopters. One of the most used in this field is the Seaking which operates in areas such as the North Sea and the Barentz Sea, just to mention two of the most stormy sea areas.
I suppose that we all know that the Thai Navy has more admirals than ships? I would like to ask the readers of Pattaya Mail - how many new admirals are needed after the navy’s new acquisition as my small grey are unable to come up with an answer.
I would like to end this letter with some words from a statesman. You can fool some of the people some of the time, but you can’t fool all the people all the time.
Allan
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Dear Sir,
As a newcomer to Thailand, I can’t help being struck by the amount of Thai-bashing that goes on in the foreign-language press. Both editorial and correspondence are riddled with all manner of complaints and finger-wagging covering the spectrum from plain political correctness to downright cultural imperialism. At first, I thought I might be seeing a manifestation in newsprint of that peculiar way the British have of striking up conversation with one another by looking for something in common that they can complain to each other about. But the niggling occurs in the French and German expat newspapers, too.
Part of the charm of Thailand for me is the graciousness with which Thais tolerate farang behavior, much of which must appear quite strange to them. Yet, it seems that we are not inclined to repay their courtesy in kind. I like Thailand the way it is. If it has to change, let the Thais be the ones to decide how and when.
If you want clean streets, go and live in Luxembourg. If you want safe streets, go and live in Japan. If you are offended by the idea that adults like to have sex with one another, go live in Ireland. And if you don’t like the idea that some adults like to have sex with children then you’re out of luck because they do that to in your country, too. That doesn’t make it right. It just says that that’s the way the world is. If you want to change the world, start in your own back yard.
So, I say to the Thais, "Good on yer!" and to the gray people and the whiners, "Hands off Thailand!"
Sincerely,
George Morris
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Sir:
"Like they have in more developed countries," is a catchphrase that politicians and others in authority frequently use when promising improvements in the infrastructure or public services. Well, in the major cities - and that includes Bangkok - of more developed countries, if you wish to go from point A to point B, you have the option of a public bus, or a metered taxi. Unfortunately, in Pattaya, city hall has denied us either of those options. The only choice you have in Pattaya is to deal with the "Baht Bus Bandits," who operate what are loosely called, "Taxis." Actually, they are nothing more than a pickup truck with two minimally padded benches inside. Whenever I have to travel outside the confines of the main city area, I am filled with apprehension about the experience that lies ahead.
Recently, I had an appointment with my doctor, of seven years, at Bangkok-Pattaya Hospital on Sukhumvit Road at ten in the morning. At nine thirty, I stood on the corner of Soi Thirteen and Pattaya Second Road, awaiting my fate. My apprehensions were well founded. I presented a card showing the location of the hospital to the first four drivers who came along, and they all said, "Too far." The fifth gave me that line that I despise, "How much you pay?" What that really means is, "How much can I gouge you for?" When I told him twenty Baht, the correct fare, he laughed, and threw my card out the window on the driver’s side. "Here your card, farang," he shouted at me as he sped off.
The next three wanted fifty Baht, seventy Baht and sixty Baht in turn. Finally, running out of time for my appointment, I acquiesced at forty Baht; double the correct fare.
If we can’t get rid of these menaces, why can’t we at least have some metered taxis as an alternative? How long do we have to suffer this abysmal service? Perhaps the city fathers could adopt the slogan, "Like they have in more developed countries," as their motto for "Amazing Thailand" year. If they did, then that would truly be amazing.
Kevin F. Cleary, Pattaya.
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Editor,
What happened to the colorful articles you used to post on the Pattaya Mail WWW page? I miss the stories about drunken bar brawls, katoey thieves, and screwed up tourists. Without these humorous pieces, the Mail is quite boring.Sincerely,
Jason Kasarda (USA)
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Sir,
Just for fun I took a peek at the Pattaya Mail web site. It is really great. I sent my son in Austin, Texas the address for this web site and I think he will really enjoy reading about all the local flavor. Do you think the Dolf Riks column will ever be in the pages? I know his article are long but the stories are fantastic and the cooking and spices he tosses about make for colorful reading... especially to Americans in Austin, Texas and San Martin, California.Once again, congratulations on a job well done!
Catherine Bond
Editor’s reply: Thank you for the kudos on our web site. Dolf Riks column does go on the web site every week, except for one week when he was feeling under the weather and wasn’t able to write for that week. This must have been the week you "took a peek" at our site. Keep peeking, Dolf is back.
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Dear Sir,
Many of the customers at Jit’s Place (Naklua Road) are avid readers of Pattaya Mail. However, Jit herself has found one small drawback with your publication.Recently she received an order for a considerable number of take-away fish & chips with a request that they be wrapped in newspaper in traditional English fashion. She intended to use her back numbers of Pattaya Mail for this purpose, but had reckoned without the always generous portions, and, unfortunately, was forced to resort to the broadsheet format of the Bangkok
Post to achieve adequate coverage!Apart from this minor disadvantage though, we find your newspaper entertaining and informative.
Nevill
Jit’s Place
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