Keep Songkrans seperate

Dear Sir,

Whilst having a ‘one day’ Songkran in Pattaya (as I believe it used to be) has favour, I do not see the advantage in having it the same as Bangkok (in which according to my calendar it took place on 13, 14 and 15) as suggested by Mr. Lars Ellerman. Having a different time does allow one to escape to Bangkok from 16 to 20 when I understood it was at its worst here.

Another (of many) who fled the scene

Fortune tellers

Sir,

Amazing Thailand indeed. I guess I’m not the only reader intrigued by the arrest of the bogus fortune teller. Is there a genuine article? If so how do they qualify?

I know of one down and out sitting in the lobby of a 5 star hotel here, purporting to pick winning lottery numbers, apart from the fact that every number has an equal chance in a fair draw (with minute changes as the draw progresses), the "numerologist" is clearly in a state of penury and unable to pick a winner for himself.

John

Tired of long lines

Dear Sir,

The other night at the Lotus, Pattaya branch, we once again saw hundreds of frustrated customers who got to stand for a long time in front of the payment counter to pay their purchased goods. What is the purpose of the 46 payment counters if all the time only 6 or 7 are in use? Please, management, do something about it before opening your next branch!

F. Corneillie

Climbing Mt. Naklua Post Office

Dear Sir,

It was only when the Naklua Post Office was completed last year did I realize that the responsible architect was a devout disciple of mountaineering or rock climbing.

If anyone is elderly or in any way infirm the thought of climbing their stairs to buy a stamp or post a parcel must be mind bending. The stairway is obviously too steep and is not suitable for its purpose. Do you think the Postal Service will rectify matters?

I have also read that escalators will not be provided at the Overhead Rail system in Bangkok. Once again you have to wonder what master planner thought of operating such a system without them!

In any event I would like to be considered for the first expedition to climb the stairway.

After all I regularly achieve the Naklua stairway without pitons, ropes and oxygen but then I come from Wales where you always are walking up a slope.

Yours sincerely,
John Hopkins

Rockets’ Red Glare...

Editor:

When in 1815 the Brits launched a (primitive) aerial bombardment against a fortress of a former Brit colony, to punish it for unprovoked aggression against its northern neighbor [not to mention genocide against its minority native population,] the bombardees did not turn on their own government and pitch it out. Rather, they wove the "rockets’ red glare and bombs bursting in air" into a feisty fighting song, and went right on with their ethnic cleansing [then called "Indian Removal"] and other unspeakable practices. It must be admitted that this former colony never attacked Canada again: is this limited success what tempts the Brits to try it again in 1999, against the Serbs?

Richard Lee Montgomery
GA, USA

Poor treatment at Bangkok airport

Sir,

I spent 4 weeks in Phuket and Bangkok as well as Pattaya before I went on to New Zealand. Now I have returned home to Switzerland.

I want to tell you what happened to me at the Don Muang Airport. Now, 2 months after, I have cooled down, but not so much that I can simply shrug it off with a mai pen rai.

I was able to buy an exact replica of a Honda Steed Motorcycle with a tiny clock as a speedometer and a very tiny cigarette lighter hidden under the seat. The whole thing was hand made exactly, with every screw, bolt and nut like the original. To exact scale. Really beautiful! I paid 4800 baht for it (all brass).

It seems that the man working the X-ray at the airport saw it on the screen (when I checked my suitcase). He got curious and I had to open my case. This man and a female friend looked at it a long time, then he said something to the girl in Thai and the girl told me that this motorcycle replica had to stay with her. When I protested she showed me a paper that said a cigarette lighter can not be taken in a suitcase. I told her and the man at the X-ray that there was no lighter fluid in the lighter whatsoever. But they told me bluntly that if I wanted to make problems, I would miss my flight for sure. I asked for a receipt but was told it would be better for me to go. I shut my suitcase and went to the check-in counter, furious and helpless at the same time.

Last year I spent two months in India. A very poor country but not half as miserable and shameful as Thailand.

I have no fear to give my name, because I will never return to this "amazing Thailand".

A. Benoit Lausanne

No more discrimination

Dear Sir,

A big thank you to Mrs. Klucker (Discriminated Against). The gay community appreciates your support. Indeed, being discriminated against does leave a bitter taste. Mrs. Klucker refers to the said incident taking place in Boyztown but does not mention the bar in which it happened. I would like to inform your readers that this kind of discrimination does not happen in this area. Boyztown is situated in Pattayaland Soi 3 and begins and ends where the Boyztown signs are positioned. Pattayaland Soi 1 and Soi 2 are not part of Boyztown. All the establishments in Boyztown welcome anyone regardless of their sexual orientation. As a minority we understand how its feels to be discriminated against and would never do to others what has been done against us for many years.

The same people that discriminate against us have no hesitation in visiting our establishments to eat. And also come to our clubs with friends to see our shows and have a few laughs at our expense. But we never react to this and certainly never ask them to leave because they are not gay.

I would also like to say that as an avid reader of the Pattaya Mail I do find at times some of your reporting very patronising towards the gay community. A very large number of gays here in Thailand and on your world wide website read your newspaper every week and a number of them and other gay business owners have voiced the same feeling to me. It seems that we are all viewed with amusement and a times are ridiculed. It should be remembered that the resident Thai and Farang gay community and gay businesses inject a substantial amount of cash into the coffers of many non-gay businesses in Pattaya.

I would invite anyone to visit our clubs and restaurants in Boyztown where you can see that there are no vulgar sex shows and all our employees and male dancers are over eighteen years old. It is a fact that we have one of the most well kept and attractive Soi’s in Pattaya. Surely its time that discrimination of any kind ends and everyone should try and live happily together.

On behalf of the gay community we will keep hoping.

James Lumsden
Ambiance Hotel/Boyztown

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Created by Andy Gombaz, assisted by Chinnaporn Sangwanlek.