HEADLINES [click on headline to view story]:

Internet cafe security

Reply to your review of war movie

Walk for Life and thanks to mayor

Jomtien needs more public toilets

Agrees with Khai Khem

Third time not lucky

More foot patrol officers needed

Ready, Fire, Aim

Internet cafe security

Editor;

I left the hotel the other morning and stopped at the local internet shop because I needed to check some transactions on my bank account back in the States. I did my business, and about 10 minutes later paid my bill and headed up the street to the 7-11. Returning to my hotel I again passed the same internet shop and looking through the big glass window saw a Thai man sitting at the same terminal where I had just been attempting to access the same online banking page. As you can imagine, I was terrified. Was there some program to retrieve login information? I’m not a computer expert, I had logged-into and logged-off a supposedly secure site? Had he been watching me as I entered my information? Crazy falang that I am, I stepped in the shop and asked him what the heck he was doing? Visibly frightened, he quickly closed the window, gave me a sheepish grin and disappeared into the back room. Be careful here folks, very careful, I’m still worrying.

Nervous banker

Reply to your review of war movie

Dear Sir,

I would like to reply to your review of the movie “We Were Soldiers...” BTW I’ve been to Thailand and love it!

I grew up expecting to go to Vietnam and fight but the war ended before I could go. I thought we were there to keep the communists from taking over South Vietnam. I believed President Johnson.

I don’t believe we fought Vietnam correctly. Perhaps we shouldn’t have been there at all. But if we hadn’t been there I think the communists would have put a lot more pressure on your country than they did.

I loved the movie. I don’t think it was morbid for the ladies to deliver the messages to the ladies of the dead husbands because it was better for them to hear the news from a friend than a stranger. My grandma heard of my uncle’s death in WW2 the old way. (Also of another uncle missing in action but he came home after the war.)

I pray for your King. Have a good Day!

Ralph Reagan

Walk for Life and thanks to mayor

Editor;

Thank you mayor and deputy mayor. As one of the back walkers on last Sunday’s “Walk for Life” World Aids Day Celebration I would like to thank you all for staying to see us all walk past. The torrential rain made everyone dash for cover as we set off but you stuck it out to see the hundreds of walkers pass you. It was also great to see the many youngsters from city schools take up the messages of “Safe Sex” and “No to Drugs” as shown in their imaginative designs and displays. If this is anything to go by the children of this city are being well prepared to live in a world with AIDS/HIV.

The Pattaya Gay Festival marchers also gave a great dash of colour and spirit to the parade taking their place in the city also as responsible adults and main contributors to the Heartt 2000 Aids Charity with over 3 million raised this year.

Just a couple of things for next year. Please let there be more advance publicity to this major parade in Pattaya, could I say the biggest parade in the city at little cost? Could all traffic be stopped on Beach Road and Second Road for the duration of the parade? Traffic and walkers do not mix. What happened to the police escort after the rain? Only a few officers and volunteers stuck with the parade and on Second Road it was a miracle there were no accidents as the traffic shot passed us at the usual Second Road high speed. A great event and so important in this “Extreme City”. (Love the new slogan by the way!)

BBW

Jomtien needs more public toilets

Dear Editor,

Maybe not to the liking of all people, but a lot of action is going on under your guidance in Pattaya and Jomtien. A lot has been said and written about changes on the beaches, so I do not intend to touch those subjects.

What I would like to bring to your notice is the lack of adequate the public conveniences on Jomtien Beach.

For approximately 2,000 beach visitors on busy days on the stretch between the police-box, the Rabbit (not including Thai workers) only 2 urinals are available and they are placed so close to each other that it is embarrassing to use the two at the same time.

It is disgraceful and not worthy of the busiest beach in Thailand. Now it is the low season but cleaning is only undertaken once a day on collecting money. During the past busy holidays it was filthy and very smelly.

On behalf of the many visitors, I would kindly request you to have the situation investigated and to make proper improvements to cater for the tourists that do not like to use fences opposite this unsightly creation of a not very concerned builder.

Yours Sincerely,

Thailand Fan

Hugh Sudlon

Agrees with Khai Khem

Dear Editor;

Once again I find Social Commentary by Khai Khem, 22nd Nov, a thoughtfully constructed article which highlights concerns of both the Thai citizens and us foreign nationals who live here as their guests.

Pattaya desperately needs up-dating regarding tourists’ amenities and social behavior. A start has been made by our mayor on what is an almost impossible job and I feel a few words of appreciation should be passed his way rather than the continued criticism one so often hears. Its should be kept in mind that much of the criticism is due to national policy not local, so criticize at that level and locally lets get on with the job of dragging Pattaya from a fifth-rate resort into something better.

There is a lot to do if Pattaya is to maintain and hopefully increase not just tourists, but tourists with high disposable incomes. Let’s forget about the 2.00 a.m. closing and instead plan to compete against the beaches of Boricay, the shopping of Hong Kong and the cleanliness of Singapore. This is what needs to be done to ensure a future for Pattaya and its people.

We have a lot here to build on, the people, the countryside, good well-sited hotels, wonderful restaurants, various tourist attractions, a myriad of golf courses and many other features. The down side, possibly appropriately listed by a friend who following his second pavement accident has decided not to come here again irrespective of the golf courses.

Here are his comments: “The beaches are unusable, the roads un-crossable, cars un-parkable, pavements un-walkable, the noise untenable and the airport immigration delays unbearable.”

A good start has been made and some of these items are now being addressed. So let’s support our mayor and his staff on the work they are doing and encourage an ongoing program to be pursued as quickly as funds allow.

Roy Harris

Third time not lucky

Dear Sir

I am afraid that my third and previous letter on the subject of garbage strewing and removal was not “third time lucky” as the problem is very much still with us. Sometimes one wonders whether the authorities ever take action on serious matters such as this aired in your columns.

When, oh when, oh when, oh when are our esteemed authorities in Pattaya going to tackle the appalling scandal of household rubbish strewn all over the sides of roads, and being left to rot, or even worse to be burnt releasing toxic fumes into neighbouring areas.

You want examples? Jomtien Beach Road Soi 5 and the lane continuing straight on from Jomtien Market towards Jomtien Hills Resort. Yesterday a great pile of rubbish was burnt and the smell wafting into neighbouring areas was appalling and the fumes highly toxic.

Surely the authorities have enough time, energy, and money to carry out a campaign to stop people who discard rubbish in this way from being so irresponsible. I am told and have noticed that villagers in up country places take much more care over cleanliness than do some people in Pattaya. Very often it seems that the culprits are poorer people or construction sites which are not effectively covered by Pattaya’s garbage collection system.

Why doesn’t the Pattaya Mail photograph these piles of rubbish and publish it in their Baywatch column? A good service will be done if they do so.

Yours faithfully

Observer

More foot patrol officers needed

Editor;

I have not seen anything previously on this in your newspaper, but in the last couple of weeks or so there have been at least 3 cases on Jomtien Beach Road where a team of motorcycle thieves have snatched the handbags of female tourists who were out for an evening walk and enjoying the pleasures of Thailand.

Two incidents happened in the Soi 9 area on Jomtien Beach Road. The snatchers worked as a team with one driving up close to the sidewalk from one direction, making a grab for the woman’s purse, and then the other cyclist came up from the opposite direction thus completing the snatch. And this is happening in broad daylight!

Our business is located right on the road so we have a very good view of some of these incidents. However, they happen so fast that we are unable to intervene.

The last incident was only days ago. A female tourist from Norway was sitting in an open air restaurant early in the afternoon and a Thai male motorcyclist snatched her handbag from the table she was sitting at. She reacted quickly and fought for her bag. The cyclist tipped over and her wallet fell out. But he raced away before she could recover her handbag. Although she was very lucky and did not lose her passport and money, she was badly shaken and scared.

I realize this is common place and gangs of these hoodlums are working the streets of Pattaya and Jomtien targeting unsuspecting visitors. However, if more uniformed police and plain-clothes patrols were added to this area these incidents could be reduced.

There has been a lot of recent publicity from our city officials and politicians ensuring they will step up safety for tourists who visit our city. Great! I’m all for it. But how long do we have to wait?

KGB Howie

Ready, Fire, Aim

Editor;

I have deliberated carefully as whether to write this letter, as the balances of diplomacy and simply ‘the right thing to do’ weigh quite heavily herein. I first met Sean Parlaman earlier this year at a social function and my first impressions of him were that he was a little na๏ve but certainly a very committed and very religious person. Some months latter when we launched the Jesters Pledge for Kids charity fundraising program, Sean was one of the very early sponsors with his hand up and enthusiastically joined the program as a Personal Gold Pledge with B1,000 per month. He also offered his own personal time and assistance in any way, should we need it in our efforts of making a positive difference in the lives of less fortunate kids. This, he told me, was also his life long mission statement.

I must admit I didn’t know Sean very well outside of a dozen conversations or so, but when I heard that he had been accused of pedophilia, I thought no. Sure he’s a bit different, perhaps somewhat of a Don Quixote if you will, but surely not a pedophile. Regardless of my opinion though, what happened to Sean must go down as a huge travesty of justice. The evidence against him would seem flimsy at best, and the manner in which it was orchestrated laughable. If he was indeed the monster he was being accused of, why is it that none of the hardened, drug addicted kids in the jails that knew him well, gave him up when offered freedom in return for their damnation?

Perhaps no one will ever know the real truth but in typical manner just before his death, Sean wished that none of these terrible circumstances impair or harm the programs or the good work he dedicated himself so fervently towards.

David W. Smith

Pledge for Kids

Letters published in the Mailbag of Pattaya Mail
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