Editor;

The Thai propensity for the ambiguous is surely never more evident than the current stickers adorning the rear windows of many baht buses that indicate the fare should be, ‘not more than 10 baht’. Technically, that means anywhere from one baht to 10 baht could legitimately be tendered to the driver.

The accepted fare around town has been five baht, although on lengthy journeys, say from South Pattaya Road to Naklua I’ve always felt 10 baht was not an unreasonable amount to tender.

The problem is that since the ‘new’ fare structure was introduced a couple of months ago, more and more of the baht bus operators are demanding that punters (read, foreigners) cough up 10 baht. Most foreigners who have resided here for some time are well aware of the fact that the Thais are still paying five baht and therefore refuse, on the grounds of equality, to pay the arbitrarily-added impost. Most tourists, of course, simply hand over the silver.

Unfortunately, there are a few, and I stress only a few, baht bus drivers who become either verbally or, even worse, physically abusive when a passenger refuses to be stood over and compelled to shell out 10 baht.

How do I know? It happened to me just recently. For the first time in my seven years of coming to Pattaya, I had a baht bus driver literally stop his vehicle (number 127 in case you’re interested), get out, come around the back of his vehicle, grab my arm and try to drag me back so I could look at the sticker indicating a 10 baht fee.

Now, I know what the sticker says, but my knowledge of the Thai language is woefully inadequate to try and explain the subtle nuances of the English language to a man whose only interest was in trying to extract 10 baht from me.

When I pushed his arm away from mine he let go with a punch to the head. Now, fortunately for me, I spent a number of years in the square ring while better boxers than I used my face as a punching bag. So, the punch didn’t hurt, but I was completely shocked by the actions of this Thai version of Cro-Magnon Man. He then reached into his pocket and produced a knuckle-duster, and, as the tourist police told me later, he might have also been carrying a knife.

Discretion being the better part of valour, I high-tailed it to the tourist police station, located just 200 metres down the road, and reported the incident.

Although there was absolutely no excuse for this idiot’s violent response to the question of a five or 10 baht fare, in some ways the blame can be laid at the door of those pen pushers who designed, wrote and implemented the new pricing policy.

I happen to know a Thai lady who gets off at the same spot I did and travels a similar distance and pays five baht...and hasn’t yet been verbally or physically abused.

Imagine a tourist on his first or second visit to Fun Town being subjected to this kind of physical abuse. Sure, an incident of this nature can and does happen in places like Sydney, Los Angeles, London, anywhere you care to name, but we don’t need nor want it here in Pattaya.

Since this incident occurred I have had occasion to speak to a number of other people who have also had run-ins, most verbal but some physical, with baht bus drivers. Probably the same moron who attacked me.

According to one baht bus driver I spoke to, there are around 720 vehicles on the road in Pattaya and for a 12-hour shift he paid 300 baht to rent his vehicle and claimed to put about 250 baht of fuel in the bus. So, he needs around 10 five-baht passengers per hour just to barely cover his costs. Now, if all 720 buses are on the road at the same time and for the same period, they need to pick up over 86,000 five-baht trips in a 12-hour time frame, just to break square.

Most operators have families to feed and clothe and houses to rent or buy, so they probably need to make that again. So, we now have something like 172,000 small trips a day just to make working as a baht bus driver a viable proposition.

The reality is that most of the baht bus operators are diligent, unobtrusive and reasonable characters who are engaged in the onerous task of eking out a precarious living. Unfortunately, the few louts and thugs who believe they can verbally or physically assault people with impunity sully the reputation of the majority.

Of course, as anyone who wanders around this town knows, we probably have - conservatively - about 200 baht buses too many and culling their numbers might not be such a bad idea.

After all, if there is enough money to go around for those that are left, then the desire to rip people off is reduced, as are the chances of verbal and physical assault.

Sign me,

Hello!

My name is Kevin Promchat. I was born in Sisaket and I am 12 years old. Every Friday my father and me read the Pattaya Mail. We left Pattaya last year for Sweden. Now I am going in school in Sweden and I also speak Swedish really good.

Best regards from

Dear Editor,

Khai Khem’s article (PM30/3) aside, I’ve actually yet to read even a remotely balanced contribution from those advocating a public parade to round off the gay events taking place at various venues and which appear not to have been criticised by anyone.

Devoting his whole column to the issue and usual humorous content being absent, Winebibber suggests critics of a public display of sexuality are in fact doing service to the fund-raising events. What’s the problem then? Surely all well and good so far as anyone is concerned! Why should there be objection to the “against” side of the argument being aired? The fact is, Winebibber can’t disguise his bias and has taken an extremist over-the-top attitude. Any criticism is branded ‘homophobic’ or ‘alarmist’.

Pointing to the lewd names of some hetero bars he suggests that vulgarity is par for the course in Pattaya, and a public sex-show should be no cause for objection. Given that fund-raising events are apart from the parade itself, this in fact appears to be the only valid point that the pro gay-parade brigade can muster and charity is being used as a red herring.

Pattaya’s reputation being in the gutter we might as well all roll about there, eh? So much for those who wish for the city’s image to be improved!

Winebibber must have missed the letter a few weeks back wherein a writer vilified not only the crude bar-name practice but also people who use such bars. Not needing to make it a sexual orientation issue the writer must have been ‘straight’. Does this mean heteros have a broader view than homos and can comment on behavioural direction on its own merit (or lack of it) rather than needing to sexually classify it first?

Referring to dictionary use, ‘Axel’ egotistically suggests that homosexuals’ adoption of the term ‘gay’ is because it represents their overall personality. He goes so far as to absurdly suggest heteros lead boring lives.

In the parade matter the organizers have sought to set gays apart and even elite. Taking this line merely fans the fires of homophobic as is becoming very clear. Gays might be happy that such a word is used to describe them but far less delicate adjectives not usually heard in Pattaya are coming to the fore.

Axel should take another look in the dictionary anyway. Reference to my Oxford English edition reveals that besides ‘light-hearted,’ mirthful and ‘showy’, gay also means’ dissolute’. Many would argue that this in turn means ‘corrupt’, ‘depraved’, ‘immoral’, and is why ‘gay’ is applied to homosexuality.

Is it not so, after all, that the desired attention-seeking parade is merely to pander to public exhibitionism and debauched voyeurism?

In any event what should be well noted by all is that just as with heteros not all gays think alike, as some would have it believed. Many are quite content and merely wish to get on with their lives, not only without being vilified for their sexuality but without drawing attention to it.

Editor;

“Phobia” is one of those heavily nuanced words that can have many shades of meaning. In the United States, where the word “homophobia” was coined, the word was based on the DSM, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association.

Phobia is defined as to fear, to be afraid, to be overly concerned, to have an exaggerated reaction to something. It is the latter two shades of meaning that go beyond the usual dictionary definition and confuse many people.

Salem, Oregon