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Not all baht bus drivers are bad
Editor;
There have been a number of adverse comments about baht
bus drivers in your columns recently. Without wishing to minimize Mr
Bottomley’s experience (Pattaya Mail 21 Feb 2003), which must have
been horrendous and quite uncalled for, let me redress the balance a little
bit.
I have been living in View Talay Condo for the past 9
months and as I don’t have transport, I have been using the baht buses (songtaew)
to and from Pattaya on a very regular basis. I regularly catch the bus from
the rank at the corner of Pratamnak Road and Pattaya Tai, and I must say I
am always impressed with the politeness, friendliness and care of the
drivers who operate from there. They are always dressed in the regulation
blue shirt (with their names on), they drive carefully and considerately for
their passengers and other road users, and I have never had a problem
changing a 20, 50 or even a 100 baht note for my 10 baht fare. Oh, and the
fare is the same whether you are Thai or falang.
So lets not tar all the baht bus drivers with the same
brush. I agree there are some rogues out there, but the good group of
drivers deserves all the praise they can get. A great example for other baht
bus drivers to follow.
Ian Barclay
View Talay
Jomtien
Reply for Dr Iain Corness
Editor;
As a native Iraqi I feel that have to express my utmost
despair at reading the sentiments expressed by Dr Iain Corness regarding the
possibility of US led action in Iraq. I trust that he has greater ability as
a doctor than he has as a political commentator. It is unfortunate that he
was given the column inches to exhibit his lack of knowledge of the issues.
I suggest that for the Pattaya Mail to remain an impartial medium, it
should provide its readers with informed narrative from experts in the
sphere of modern world politics to present their cases for and against US
action in Iraq.
Yours, truly
Yusuf Kinthick
Wish to add support to Father Ray
Dear Editor,
I also wish to add my support to Father Ray. I have
visited the orphanage on a few occasions and have been impressed both by Fr.
Ray and the children. I am sure his many supporters both in Thailand and
elsewhere would support and welcome action against the People, they do have
a habit of losing.
Could anyone put me in touch with someone involved with
the care4Kids or Jesters? I help with a similar scheme in Cambodia and would
like to start a funding campaign in the UK.
Please e-mail John at [email protected]
Bets regards,
John Bidwell
Christians against Landmines
Sheffield/Thailand/Cambodia
Who is right and who is wrong re smoking?
Editor;
I have often wondered who is the one in the right and who
is the one in the wrong when it comes to smoking to public places.
As a non-smoker all my life, I have seen my wife of 30
years die from smoking. However, she was never selfish and like many people,
always went outside the house to have a smoke. She never smoked at dinner
and certainly, never in bed.
It seems that whatever bar or restaurant I go into these
days, it is full of people smoking. When I get home, my clothes literally
stink of foul cigarette smoke. My eyes sting so that I cannot see and I feel
extremely uncomfortable.
By not putting up with this, I am accused by impetuous
smokers that “I” am selfish.
It is good to see the changes in airlines where 100%
non-smoking is enforced and any restaurants that can afford to do the same
are welcome. However, in this case, the economy rules and restaurants will
still contain many non-smokers as well as smokers.
I sympathise with smokers, I really do, the same as I
sympathise with other habits not entirely under the control of the
inflicted.
But as I do not complain directly to smokers about their
selfishness, I also expect that they in turn do not complain to us
(non-smokers) about ours. My dead wife would agree with me on this.
Jeff Hambleton
Bangkok
Inadvertently making the case for peace
Dear Editor
Because Al Ferron’s letter (Feb 14-21) was silly I
wasn’t sure if I should even answer it. But I would like to respond to two
of his points. He writes that if we listened to Dr. Corness, Hitler would
have conquered the world. While I don’t know Corness’ s view on World
War II, most peace activists know that war is sometimes necessary (such as
in the case of WW II) and sometimes is not (such as in the case of American
involvement in Vietnam). Since even the director of the American CIA said
that Saddam is not much of a threat to America, Iraq is clearly a place
where war is not necessary.
Still, I’m grateful to Ferron for writing that he sees
nothing wrong with going to war and killing thousands of people for the sake
of oil. He is publicly stating what George Bush is privately thinking and
has thus made the case for the peace movement.
Eric Bahrt
Twins Palms Resort
Central Pattaya
Give credit where credit is due
Dear Editor;
A month or so ago I sent in a report to Pattaya Mail
on thefts and muggings on Jomtien Beach Road, especially in the Soi 9
vicinity.
Strangely, the very next morning after the article had
appeared in the Mail, not one, not two, but three dead bodies were
found dumped along the wooded and secluded Soi 9 gravel road.
All was then relatively quiet for several weeks after
that, at least in that particular area. But Tuesday February 25 there were
two additional thefts of woman’s handbags. (One took place again in the
Soi 9 area and the other up on Beach Road near Soi 5).
The woman who lost her bag near Soi 9 reacted quickly and
gave chase. Then she reported the incident to police at Jomtien Road’s
police box. They quickly responded and apprehended one of six gang members
who had gathered to split the loot.
The others were able to flee the scene but it is assumed
that the police would, at least by morning, have the names of all members of
the gang. (After all, the cost of one big block of ice is not all that high;
and after sitting on that block of ice for a few hours, I am sure that the
captured young man gladly gave up the names of all of his friends; and even
perhaps his mother’s name if she were even in the area).
After the capture the police returned to the scene of the
mugging and local folk identified the “suspect” who was sitting with
hands cuffed behind him on the back of a police driven motorcycle, forlornly
looking into space and, I am sure, thinking of a thousand other places that
he would rather have been at that moment in time.
The next morning, a call on the incident was made to a
reporter of the Pattaya Mail about the mugging and word came back
that the reporter would pay a call on the Jomtien police to get an official
account of what had happened on the preceding night.
Evidently he did just that for on Wednesday afternoon a
pickup-load of tourist police, the first ever to be seen that far on the
south end of Jomtien Beach Road, came into the area asking questions from
shop owners and beachcombers. And again, last evening, there were numerous
sightings of local gendarmes in pickups and on motorbikes patrolling Jomtien
Beach Road. Of course, these patrols won’t last long but they will slow
down the thefts for at least a few days.
However, I do think that the two local policemen, who so
quickly apprehended that one suspect, should be commended highly (with full
press coverage) for their quick action that evening. This type of coverage
is what will help law enforcement officers gain some respect from the
locals.
Vigilante
Please put out that cigarette
Editor,
On behalf of non-smokers, I feel I must respond to the
letter by Eric Minerich on the topic of smoking in bars and restaurants.
Eric’s recommendation not to go to a go-go bar if you don’t like loud
music or go-go dancers misses the point. The main business purpose of those
establishments is to offer loud music, go-go dancers and alcohol and for
non-smokers it is irrelevant to those activities whether smoking is
permitted or not.
It is not that non smokers are dictating to smokers that
they cannot smoke. It is because the smoke generated by smokers is
interfering with the pleasure and heath of non-smoking customers and
employees. Thus it is the negative impact of smoke that non-smokers object
to.
There are 2 main negative issues caused by smokers on
non-smokers. Firstly, the smell of cigarette smoke interferes with the
pleasure of eating and drinking by non-smokers and secondly it is the health
risk of contracting lung cancer by any non smoking customer or employee in
the particular establishment. Of course it is also a health risk to the
smoker himself, but this is not my concern.
Ask yourself these questions: why is cigarette smoking
banned where flammable substances are present? Why is silence mandatory in a
library? Why is spitting prohibited in many countries in public? Why is
leaded petrol being phased out? The reasons for restrictions of this kind
are for social, safety and health reasons.
Many bars and restaurants are desperate for customers so
they cannot currently ban smoking without potential loss of business, unless
new laws are passed by government. Probably this requires a certain critical
mass of non-smokers allied with political leadership. Non-smokers don’t
want to deprive you of your enjoyment of smoking, only for themselves to
more fully enjoy a night out.
Put it like this, if you could wear a hermetically sealed
suit of some kind (like a space suit) which filtered smoke inside the suit
so that you could smoke inside the suit but not generate smoke pollution
outside the suit, then non-smokers would not object to such an arrangement.
This is obviously a silly suggestion but just makes the point that it is not
the smoking or the smoker that is objected to but it is the effects of the
smoke generated.
Eric, please enjoy the current situation where most bars
and restaurants allow you to smoke, I’m sure that at some time in the not
too distant future more and more cities and countries will impose more and
more restrictions on smoking in public. E.g. I believe public officials in
New York, Chicago and Boston in the U.S. are all planning this year or next
year to impose such bans on non-smoking in public.
Mr Chips
Occasional resident in Pattaya
Dr Iain Vs George, Tony, Saddam
Editor;
I refer to the succinct piece written by my colleague Dr.
Iain Corness (Pattaya Mail 07 February 2003) concerning, could I say,
Iain’s somewhat lack of confidence in the motives for confrontation of
Messrs Bush and Blair with Saddam Hussein.
It was right to the point. But, what could be lacking in
Iain’s piece, perhaps - apart from the ‘need’ of war to safeguard the
flow of “oil for y’all” - is a reference to the US’ own arsenal of
‘weapons of mass destruction’, flaunted hour after hour, day
after day, on the ‘weapons of mass distraction’ - like CNN.
Jim Krane’s editorial analysis, reprinted in the
“Bangkok Post” of 19 February 2003, “Pentagon could debut new weapons
in conflict”, rather places any impending conflict into a different
perspective. A whole range of new weaponry to be tested on ‘real
targets’ is poised, ready to be unleashed: a flurry of “the US Air Force
munitions that spew tank-hunting bomblets, to shadowy electromagnetic-burst
weapons that can roast the innards of computers and radios,” Jim points
out.
Of course, the great chiefs in Washington revert to their
tired old clich้s: these sophisticated weapons will cause little or no
“collateral damage” which I take to mean that no one will be really
hurt or killed - only the weapons of war will be destroyed.
Let us not forget, either, some other clich้s, like
the US pilot who accidentally bombed a bus, killing some one hundred
peasants in Kosovo, under the mantle of NATO. “He bombed in good faith,”
the pathetic NATO spokesman told us.
I listened to Colin Powell’s very erudite one-and-a
half-hour presentation to the United Nations: a great show, with no
substance. Then comes Condollizza Rice, also parroting the words of the
master - another round of Bush-it.
And the man himself admits that he is oblivious to the
millions who took to the streets in the world’s capitals, to protest war,
destruction and the violence endemic in the US psyche.
I end with a joke going around the internet, which goes:
“How do you know that Saddam Hussein has weapons of mass destruction?” a
journalist asked the commander of the US strike force. “Because we have
the receipts,” was the reply.
Peter Cummins
Pattaya
Missing person
Dear Pattaya Mail,
I’ve lost touch with my father for 18 years now. My
father has been living in Thailand since 1974 (Pattaya 1986), and I’m sure
he’s still in Thailand. Please help me find information about him. His
name and details are: Frederic (Francis) Pechard, nationality French, Age 70
years (04/17/1933).
My information is Helene Pechard (Belgium), email
[email protected]
Best regard,
Helene Pechard
Three topics caught my eye
Dear Sir
Three topics in a recent edition caught my eye. The first
was the suggestion by police that in order to stop prostitutes plying their
trade on Beach Road, it was expected that the beach chair owners should
clear all their chairs away at the end of each day. The reason given was
that these chairs were used by the prostitutes as a base for their
activities (don’t ask!). Perhaps if the police patrolled more often and
removed undesirables from the beach, then they wouldn’t be asking the
chair owners to do the almost impossible task of removing hundreds of chairs
each evening.
Secondly was the old chestnut of baht bus pricing. I
thought that the correspondent who related that he always pays 5 baht and
has done for several years was really painting himself as very mean. Surely
a 10 baht coin is not a big deal for a ride along the street.
Thirdly, and briefly, I must agree that beach vendors are
welcome on the whole, especially at areas of the beach well away from other
outlets. I have always found that vendors will move away after receiving a
polite no thank you or even a shake of the head.
Regards,
Mike Lester
Peace loving tourists should be left in peace
Editor;
I wonder which part of Jomtien Beach your “Jomtien
Beach Lovers” frequents, as it cannot be the same as I do.
On the Jomtien Beach I know, vendors are constantly
harassing tourists who come here for peace and quiet.
Every 30 seconds someone tries to sell you things you
definitely do not need, from big carved Indian heads to suitcases and
stuffed squirrels. Not exactly what one would call “non-intrusive”, but
a constant pain in the butt.
The uniformed gentlemen from city hall several times a
day do a semi-halfhearted try to scare them away, and they all scatter
across the road, just to be back 2 minutes later.
Instead of this nonsense, designated areas should be set
up along the beach for them to ply their trade legally. “Jomtien Beach
Lovers” could then take a short walk to this area and buy their (un)necessary
stuff, while peace loving tourists could be left in peace.
Signed:
Peace loving tourist
If you want to copy California rules, go and live there
Dear Editor:
Congratulations to Eric Minerick for his letter on
smoking. “And please don’t try to make Thailand into California as you
will lose all visitors to this great country, for being tolerant of many
cultures is what is unique about this country,” he writes. Nothing could
be put better.
I left California and have lived thirteen happy years in
this country. One of the reasons I left was to get away from Big Brother,
who tells me where I can smoke (almost nowhere now in California) and that I
must sit at least six feet away from the dancers in a Go-Go bar. I can’t
give the dancers a tip as that would involve touching hands. The tips are to
be placed in a glass bowl, which must also be six feet away from the
dancers. Not that I’m into Go-Go bars because I have been married to a
beautiful Thai lady for thirteen years, but the policy incenses me.
Now Big Brother has followed me to Thailand and I can’t
enjoy a cigarette with my dinner and drinks. Let those in charge stop this
invasion of our way of life, and stop trying to copy the United States. If
they really want to copy California, have them go to the Department of Motor
Vehicles in Los Angeles or any California city and observe the process of
being able to earn the privilege of getting a drivers license. May all those
who would have us copy California rules, go and live there!
K. Cleary
Pattaya
Long may the witch-hunt continue
Dear Editor,
I feel I must reply to Mr. Lyman. He spoke of a
witch-hunt in the UK over alleged pedophiles.
The people arrested have all paid money to access a child
pornography site on the Internet. They gave their credit card details to
enable themselves to view photographs of children of all ages engaged in
horrendous sexual acts.
The very fact that they did this for whatever reason
means that they are guilty and deserve to be arrested. If they are well
known they deserve for it to happen publicly.
There were so many people who paid for access to the site
that it is taking a very long time for the police to arrest all of them.
They have to take away and check all the electronic computer related items
from each individual’s home. This take a long time and unfortunately the
police do not have the resources available to do this any quicker.
Messers Townsend and Kelly are among those people who
paid to access the child pornography site. Mr Townsend went voluntarily to
the police and has stated that he did it to do research for a book he is
going to write. I do not know what excuse Mr Kelly came up with. Along with
these two individuals more than fifty police officers have also been
arrested and other public officials.
If this is a witch-hunt long may it continue so that
children everywhere can be a little safer.
Angela Beardsley
Willing to help clean up the environment
Dear Sir,
I have been reading another letter of ‘Thanks to Rob
Astbury’ in Pattaya Mail Vol. XI, No. 7, about Jomtien Beach sois and how
someone has been praising what has already been done at Soi 5. He also
mentions about another Soi of Thepprasit Road Soi 17, which he says is a
disgrace and needs cleaning up. He also mentions about someone organizing a
group with the help of the council. I am willing to undertake this task with
backing form the council. Please contact me, Krissara Chianchareon at P.O.
Box 186, Pattaya City, Chonburi 20260 or E-mail: [email protected] or
telephone me at 038-251606 ext. 226.
Cheers
Krissara
PBCO
Congratulations on reaching the 500th edition
Editor;
Congratulations to you and your staff for reaching the
500th edition milestone, and for the fine work done by you and your staff to
come so far in such a short time. I am a faithful reader of this wonderful
“on line” newspaper. Even though I am VERY far away, it keeps me
up-to-date on the developments in your city. One day I will be back to
Pattaya and I will not feel like a stranger as I will be kept informed as to
the state of the city by you and yours.
So, keep up the good work.
Al in Lotus Land
(West Coast, Canada)
Comment on the letter
from Michael Henshaw
Editor,
I would like to comment on the letter from Michael
Henshaw, headlined “Why all the fuss?” (PM 14 Feb 2003). Mr Henshaw
seems in all essence to say that expats ought to put up with all the events
and circumstances that they may not expect in a western country and don’t
write to the local paper and complain. He thinks that people want to voice
their dissatisfaction in this forum mainly because they don’t have enough
friends to share their frustrations with. They should moreover not complain
over the 5 baht more on the public transportation than the locals, etc.
I would say that this letter displays the usual
confusion, ignorance and “better-wiser-mentality” that is totally alien
to some realities. First of all, I don’t think complacency or the
endurance and adaptation to realities that Mr Henshaw proposes is a virtue
at all. Secondly, farangs visiting or living here experience about the same
problems and frustrations as visitors or immigrants in any other country.
They don’t know the language, the laws, the rules, the customs and other
peculiarities but they have acquired an understanding of what is right or
wrong, fair and unfair and act upon that. Sadly, I understand that Mr
Henshaw has never done that or understood that as well. If the expats
complain about paying 10 or 20 baht instead of the regular, fixed and fair 5
baht could be because they live here and don’t like the idea that corrupt
politicians let out the permit to run the public transport system to a
corrupt private transport company that rents out the vehicle’s too (at
least some) criminal scoundrels who take down the signs of the regular route
fares to cheat foreigners who don’t know this and moreover exercise
threat, violence and defamations against those (foreigners) who refuse to be
cheated and used. Some of the farangs complaining about this would just like
to have a safe, foreseeable, reliable and functioning public transport
system exactly like in Bangkok, Chiang Mai or Phitsanulok, for instance.
Could Mr Henshaw accept that all information about the
fares of the public transport in his hometown were taken away to cheat
foreigners or tourists visiting there to pay 2-5 times the fare? Probably he
could!
Swedish resident
Missing the snakes in Suksabai Villa
Editor;
I have had the great pleasure of living in Suksabai Villa
for almost four years and it has been a wonderful time. The odd snake in the
house has been a little disturbing, but nothing to write home about. In
fact, it has been more educational than anything else. My mother (of a
certain age that is pensionable) has been here for a holiday for each of
those years and enjoyed every moment and has made a point of saying that it
was partly because of the remarkable number of birds, frogs, lizards,
snakes, etc., that have visited my house while she was here.
I am willing to accept the fact that “progress” is a
thing that we all have to put up with, but isn’t it a shame that we have
to lose maybe the last piece of swamp land in central Pattaya?
I have seen and heard birds that I cannot find in any
books. I have had had snakes shedding their skin in my house. I have chased
the same snakes from my house, but I cannot do that anymore because there is
now nowhere for them to go. This is because the swamp is now being “filled
in”, and, soon, there will be no swamp for the birds, snakes, toads, frogs
etc., to go to.
I am trying to create an environment for them in my 8x4
back yard, but wouldn’t it have been nice if someone had said, “Enough
is enough”? These animals have much more right to be here than we do and
yet, “We” are destroying the very habitat that they need to live in
poorly built houses that will ultimately sink into the swamp that they once
called home.
I believe that a great asset to Pattaya is being
destroyed. How many visitors to this great city have never seen an Egret?
Have never had a toad the size of your favourite Sunday dinner jump onto
your Pattaya Mail while they were relaxing on a “day off”? Have had a
three toed tree frog drop into their lap while enjoying a cuppa on the
patio? The answer is ... everyone who has been to stay at my house and,
without exception, it has been a positive experience.
When the swamp is filled in, this will never happen
again. Why could the developers not take these things into consideration
when they first thought of this project? Why do they think that it’s so
good to lose it all? Why didn’t they see that the very reason that we (us
farangs) love the place is because it is so different from the boring lives
that we have created for ourselves “back home”. Pattaya is an exotic
location. Why make it the same as everywhere else?
Please leave what is left of Pattaya alone. If you must
develop it, please think about what makes it special and work with that. I
for one, loved the snakes, the floods, the toads and birds and now, as far
as I can see, that is over.
Sad
No need for water shortage
Editor;
There is no need for water shortages if the Thai
government built plants to de salt sea water. Many governments around the
world already do this so why not Thailand?
John Rowlands
United Kingdom
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