Ladies & Gentlemen,

As you may know, the condition of some of the greens at Eastern Star has not been up to our usual high standards lately, and I wanted to give you an update on what was happening and what action we are taking.

The main culprit was an infestation of zoyzia, which is a local grass. Attempts to treat it with traditional coring and top-dressing were not successful, and the removal by hand only seemed to make matters worse. However, working with Cholburi Agricultural College, we now have the situation under control, and the greens should be back to our usual high standard in 30 to 45 days.

The worse areas will be removed and replaced with new Tiff-Dwarf sod, which is now being laid down on the putting green, to bring that back up to standard. We thank you for your concern, and assure you that steps are being taken to correct this temporary problem.

While the work is in progress, the Committee will allow you to apply Rule 24 - 2, b., iii, to improve your line on the affected greens.

The rest of our extraordinary Robert Trent Jones, Jr. course remains in excellent playing condition. However, while the greens issue is being resolved, and as a thank you for your support, we will be providing all paid golfers with a certificate worth 100 baht, that can be used either for food and beverage purchases in the clubhouse or for 2 bags of balls at the Driving Range.

We look forward to seeing you here.

Thanks and best regards,

Tom Cole,

Project Director at Eastern Star

Sir,

I do believe that as well as being the low-season in our fair city it must also be the silly-season. A couple of weeks back we had ‘fed-up-with-moaners’ extolling the virtues of everything that it is generally accepted is amiss with Pattaya. The fact that this person enjoys Songkran here provides a clue to his perspective on life.

Then we had Phil Pybus berating those who would wish to change Pattaya. Perfect as it is he advised. He then proceeded to suggest how the baht-bus situation might be improved.

One has to conclude that some people tolerate community living only because alone they are lost. Many appear not to comprehend that whether it be a community, a city or just a relationship, all have one thing in common. To develop successfully they require a degree of consideration to others. Noise pollution is bound to cause offence and to Mick I would say it is not ‘petty’ to complain about being forced to endure it. It is grossly arrogant to expect others to tolerate thoughtless and mindless disturbance. Perhaps Mick or the owner of the bowling green can enlighten us as to where there exists a community wherein it might be acceptable for a person to motor-mow their lawns at 5 in the morning and to the chagrin of neighbours. The fact is that for someone to open an establishment requiring such a deed at such a time adjacent to a residential estate and knowing that such disturbance will occur is blatantly taking the Michael. If it was an oversight it is one that needs to be accommodated by the business, not the neighbours.

Until City Hall enforces existing regulations Pattaya will I’m afraid, fail to fulfil its potential and farang-wise remain the desired destination principally of those whose mentality is incapable of rising above hip-level and who expect others to be limited to the same base, if not non-existent, quality-of-life aspiration.

Editor;

I would like to reply to the letter from Jan Abbink in your 15 June issue about dual pricing. I have comments on certain specific issues.

Tourism: Mr. Abbink suggests (as have others before him) that the tourism income in Thailand would somehow be improved if tourists were charged a lower price. That would make sense only if tourists were staying away from Thailand because the prices are too high. There is no evidence of that. In fact, the comparatively low prices are one of the attractions. Mr. Abbink says that tourists have to pay “ridiculous prices” to see Thai national parks (he also calls them “outrageous”). How could anyone say that a charge to enter a park of around 6 US dollars is “ridiculous” or “outrageous”? I’ve yet to meet the tourist who said, “Boy, I’d love to go to Thailand. I’m happy to pay $1,000 for airfare, $50 a night for a hotel and can eat like a horse for $25 a day. But I’ll be damned if I’ll pay $6 to enter a park.”

Price differentiation: Mr. Abbink is quite correct when he says, “There is a significant difference between price differentiation (which is justified by economic reasons) and price discrimination”. However he then goes on to try to identify dual pricing as the latter rather than the former. He misses the point of the dual pricing. The price that foreigners pay is fair and reasonable. However, at that price 99% of all Thais couldn’t afford to get in. So Thai citizens and foreign residents are given a discount. That is completely “justified by economic reasons”. It not only increases ticket sales (a good business result) but also allows entry to a lot of people who couldn’t normally afford it (a good social result).

Racism: Mr. Abbink repeats the common refrain of labeling the practice “racist”. Racism means that you consider members of one race to be inherently superior (or inherently inferior) to members of another race; based solely on their race. That has nothing to do with dual pricing. The practice doesn’t exist because Thais consider themselves to be better than foreigners. It exists because of a dramatic difference in ability to pay. Is the practice discriminatory? Yes, of course. But so is the practice of student discounts. Is it racist? Clearly not.

Resentment: Mr. Abbink claims that tourism is being damaged by this practice because foreigners resent it. May I remind him that tourism is continuing to climb in Thailand? In fact, during the “Asian flu”, Thailand was the only SE Asian country to see increases in tourism. The typical tourist is not turned off by the practice for 2 reasons. First, they are unaware of the practice. The signs, when they exist, are in Thai and the typical tourist can’t read Thai. Second, when they are aware they don’t care. The amount involved is trivial, not “ridiculous” or “outrageous”.

I’d like to ask a big favor of Mr. Abbink and the handful other farangs living in Thailand who perpetually whine about this. The continual whining of this small group about such a minor matter and such a small amount of money is embarrassing to the vast majority of farangs. You contribute to a stereotype of farangs as selfish, immature whiners who complain about every trivial annoyance. For the sake of the 99% of farangs for whom this stereotype is grossly unfair, please stop.

Mr. Abbink: You say that you would like to be proud of Thailand instead of ashamed of it. So be proud. Dual pricing, a common and economically justifiable practice around the world, is nothing to be ashamed of. Be proud that the operators of the parks and tourist venues have sufficient business sense to offer deep discounts to a group of people who make 1/20 of what a typical tourist earns and thereby allow the majority of the people in this country access to something they couldn’t otherwise afford. I’m much more offended by that handful of upscale hotels that do their best to ban the poorer Thai from their premises.

Editor;

I have been reading the Pattaya Mail for many years after having lived in Pattaya and other parts of Thailand.

I would like to thank the people who are responsible for the quality of the online service.

Your paper is an excellent read, and I am sure it will continue, but what ever it is don’t change it.

I will continue to receive your paper and recommend it to any one who is interested in reading about Thailand and Pattaya.

Yours faithfully,

Dear Sirs,

Thanks to the Pattaya Mail I now know the answer to why a ship appeared to be at anchor in Pattaya Bay last week.

As I was preparing to return home to Scotland (God’s own country!) I was puzzled by the appearance of the freighter, never having seen anything of that size in that passage before.

Now I want to know the answer to this question. Among its many claims to fame, is Pattaya about to lay claim to having the world’s biggest rice pudding? With the combination of the salt water and heat of the sun it should soon be splitting the sides of the “Cape Breton”, not to mention the sides of onlookers!

Thanks Pattaya for all the amusement I get every time I visit.

Scotland