HEADLINES [click on headline to view story]:

My dream

Lemurs on parade

You were not robbed

Van has people scared

Sick of it

My dream

Dear Sirs,

Wouldn’t it be nice if we had these conveyances running from the roundabout down Beach Road to South Road and returning back up Second Road back to the roundabout for a complete circuit?

We will never have a respectable city until we clean up Beach Road, move the rental motorcycles and cars to another location, replace the baht buss with real busses with designated routes and remove the vendors from the sidewalks.

Frank Mack

Been around since 1967

Lemurs on parade

Editor,

I attach a few pictures of people that I saw on Saturday night plying their dirty trade in the bars of Soi 8. I hope you publish the pictures and shame the authorities who continue to let this illegal activity persist.

The pictures show baby lemurs from Madagascar that have been illegally smuggled into the country. They are brazenly paraded by their keepers to make money out of tourists who have their picture taken with them. Most vendors are a nuisance but this goes beyond the inconvenience caused by some persistent kid tapping you on the shoulder to sell you cigarettes.

The thing that really infuriates me is the cruelty that the animals suffer. Lemurs are now threatened with 90% of Madagascar’s forest already cleared and 17 of the 50 species on the endangered list. This animal has nothing to do with Thailand’s fauna and the only connection to Thailand is that this is a place where sick individuals can conduct their exploitation of animals and get away with it, in direct contravention of CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) of which Thailand is a signatory. It is also a place where tourists are either too ignorant or uncaring to figure out that the money they give perpetuates this business which if left unchecked will continue to degrade, cause suffering and ultimately threaten species of animals.

Having lived in Thailand for 12 years, I am fully aware of the fact that this is nothing new and that there may or may not be another ‘crackdown’ and some illegal aliens sent back home to Cambodia for a few more weeks. However, it is indicative of any society the way it treats animals. It would appear that this one is totally indifferent to the suffering of individual animals and the extinction of species.

I don’t for one minute think this letter will clear the scum off the streets. But if everybody out there voiced their opinion every time they witness such exploitation and refrained from encouraging such behaviour by providing the animals keepers with money, it would at least be a start and educate the locals on why this needs to be stopped.

Finally, if tourists want to give their money to a worthy cause, there are plenty of charities that are out there working hard to protect the same animals that these individuals seek to exploit. Just do a search on the web and choose your favourite!

Yours

Paul Pearmain

You were not robbed

Editor,

To letter writer “9 magic beans or 9 one-baht coins” I want to say, you were not robbed!

If you were willingly to hand over the cash for your girlfriend to lavish herself in gold to parade around in, you must be very naive to think at some stage in your relationship the money would not somehow disappear, and magic beans and nine one-baht coins is as good a way as any.

I’m sure if you took a ride up-country you might see the evidence reappearing in a new motorbike owned by a family member who miraculously got lucky on the lotto the very same week. That’s if the cash ever left your Soi at all. It might have been used to pay your girlfriend’s escalating gambling debts.

But one thing is for sure; you will be footing the bill for the new gold. Why not put the money in your girlfriend’s bank account. It might diminish a little slower.

Friendly advice

Van has people scared

Dear Editor,

With all the comments from the local government about Pattaya not becoming a second Bali, and that vehicles being left on public streets unattended, etc., Their 1st concern should be about the un-licensed Tan Van parked in front of The Pizza Company. This Van was only moved once and that was for the widening of Beach Road. Not only is it an ‘eye-sore’ but it is very close to Royal Garden and it is unattended except for the hours of darkness.

I hope the mayor reads this and makes sure it is moved off Beach Road.

Regards,

Jim Johnson

Sick of it

To whom it may concern;

I don’t know why I’m writing this letter, it will never see the light of day. I guess I’m writing it because I want to voice my opinion, and enough is enough. I’ve been coming to Thailand for 5 years now, and stay anywhere from 3 to 6 months at a time. I have many friends here, most have lived here for a number of years. Each time I come back, I notice a change in things, mostly for the bad. Okay, things change I can deal with that, but these crackdowns and raids are too much. Like most people, we all know what Thailand is and why most people come here, that’s what made it, what it is today. You take that away and the country will crumble. The Thais are setting off a chain reaction, and whether they realize it or not, they will hurt everybody in the end, accept the high officials. The lies in the paper, they control the media. The raid on Tony’s and Marine 2 back on Oct. 5, they said that they were open past curfew, but what they didn’t mention the fact that they knew these places were open after curfew for the past 6 months, and the Bangkok police would be around here and there and they knew. They’re trying to save face in front of the world or whoever, and somebody has got to be the bad guy, so the Thais turn to us, and bad mouth the farang, when all we do is spend our hard earned money. That’s what we get, hassles and bad mouthed, that’s no way to treat us. A lot of us come here to have a good time and we like to stay out late, no harm done there. All they are doing is killing business and are driving people out.

The other problem at hand is the yaba, these border officials are letting this junk come into Thailand and frying the minds of the Thai men, and women. They don’t care, they just want to make money, they don’t care about there own people. They tell everybody we want to get rid of it and so what do they do, they raid Marine 2, Tony’s and Top Secret, and scare everybody and waste time, when they should be stopping it at the border.

I tell you this, if this keeps up, there will be know more farang in Thailand, they will move to other countries, we are sick of it all. Put a stop to this madness.

Bkk Bob

Obituary Sir, It is with deep regret that I announce the recent death of a long time visitor to Pattaya, Gerry Fitzharris. Ex seaman Gerry, 82, from Crosby, Liverpool, UK, passed away on Monday 28th October after a short illness. He was well known amongst the ex pats in Pattaya having visited every year since the early 70's. I am sure his many friends in Pattaya will join me in passing on their sincere sympathy to all of Gerry's family. Duncan Campbell (Liverpool, UK).

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