HEADLINES [click on headline to view story]:

Thailand welcomes all

Thai banks are at it again

2004 Pattaya Marathon is a great success again

Enjoys reading Pattaya Mail in the USA

Thailand welcomes all

Editor Pattaya Mail,
I have been reading the Pattaya Mail for many years and always find it interesting. I am a Thai national but have worked overseas for some years as a teacher. Thailand is a free country and we are always happy to welcome tourists and foreigners from all over the world, no matter where they from or religion or culture.

I have to support the words and sentiments of the gentleman who spoke out about the horrible things written about the Japanese Asian people.

His Majesty the King, and our belief in Buddha, allow us to forgive and look forward to good times. I think the person who says these things should do it in their own country and not upset are visitors and Thai people.

We may have many things to learn and are considered by some people that we are not as advanced as other countries, but we care about feelings and this type of thing hurts. Please, if you are so angry, go back to your own country wherever that might be.
Thank you for your help,
Kh. Sommkit Suwan

Thai banks are at it again

Editor;
This week I went to Krung Thai Bank to get my account passbook updated and when I asked, where it shows the accrued interest for the first half year I was told, “Farangs don’t get interest on savings accounts”. Sounds familiar? When was it the last time that they tried that on foreigners? 4 years or 5 years ago?

I had then requested and was given the internal memo of the bank’s head office (I presume) that states these different rates. With that in hand I checked with other banks and the result of that was, that - excluding the Bank of Asia - all other queried banks have the same ‘policy’. According to one banker it was a ‘mutual agreement’ (‘ruam mueh’) among them to stop paying foreigners any interest, in the case of the KTB since October 17th of last year.

One wonders if that amounts to fraudulent banking, if they quietly and unilaterally change the conditions without telling the customer.

It seems to be of no concern if a foreigner is only on visit in Thailand or permanent and/or working here, as in my case, the account was opened by my employer, a well known Thai company. It would only be different - I was told - if the foreigner has a house registration, which is basically impossible.

Now we can wait for another white lie, that this has been implemented on orders of the Bank of Thailand, which isn’t true and which would not even be legally possible. What the B-o-T decreed, however, is that the current interest rates have to be prominently displayed in every branch. Given that the banks have different ‘groups’ of customers, they normally should be forced to show interest rates for all the different groups of customers.

So everybody better check with his bank, if they behave like Krung Thai, Bangkok, Kasikorn and Siam Commercial bank (the ones I had checked).

The last time they tried this scam, these Thai banks lost a lot of foreigners, lost face and even many Thais, who went with their money from these banks to the B-o-A, which by the way has a better service (some branches open on Sat/Sun). And beside that, who said that anybody has to keep vast amounts of money in Thailand, where even the regular interest rates are ridiculous?
Sam Munich

2004 Pattaya Marathon is a great success again

Dear Sirs,
2004 Pattaya Marathon was another great organized event put on by the city council and all the sports and medical people involved. The police were also the very best at their jobs this year. It appeared they may have had some outside/farang assistance. I only mention this because this year they looked so tall, as compared with the normal size of our Thai police. The biggest factor concerning the police, there were so many. Hats off to the police. Great job controlling the traffic for the runners.

Beach Road was especially decorated a few days before with Thai stalls and stands selling many wonderful products. The aroma from the food stalls was intense and a lot of farangs were experiencing some delightful flavors. The most pleasing to the eye was all of the colorful flowers and the very complex and delicate way each arrangement was put in order. This year’s Beach Road was indeed a photo opportunity.

This year was also special for me as I brought my little friend Khun Jai. She had never ran before and it was a thrill. She could have ran the entire 1/4 marathon but she chose to wait for me as I walked, limped and ran way back in the pack. We finished and received our medals. Just to see the smile on her face was worth it. We also saw many of our Hash House Harrier friends but there seemed to be more ladies this year than men. I guess the guys had a rough night out.

I’m another year older and a little slower this year. I probably shouldn’t have been there because of an ‘Achilles tendon’ injury but I love this event so much I couldn’t resist. Suddenly I look up and see my young friend Jack Shook and his tee lock Khun Ann making their way up Sukhumvit Road. I can spot him a mile away, he’s has that John Wayne walk about him. I think Jack may have turned 75 this year and he just came back from the States racing motorcycles in the California Desert. He also appears to have jet lag as we chit chat I limp by him to complete my 3rd marathon.

Pattaya’s best event of the year, as far as I’m concerned. Best organized and most joy in the streets. It was a family affair. Also thanks to all the Thai children and schools that assisted. To all those involved, thanks again and keep up the good work.
Sincerely,
Jess Salazar

Enjoys reading Pattaya Mail in the USA

Hello from Columbus, Ohio USA,
I have been visiting your website for Pattaya Mail for some time now and wanted to let you know how much I enjoy reading it. I was stationed at U-Tapao with US Air Forces back in the early 70’s and visited Pattaya on several occasions during my 13 month tour in Thailand. My wife and I lived in Ban Chang near the base and visited many other places in Thailand. We have some Thai friends who now live here in Columbus, Ohio and our 30-year-old daughter was adopted by us while in Thailand.

Thanks for making your beautiful part of the world available to us via the web.
Dennis A. Beaudry
Columbus, Ohio USA

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