HEADLINES [click on headline to view story]:

Underground wiring on Beach Road, etc.

Closing times and pollution

Boarding at schools is not dangerous?

Westerners can squat!

Let’s Get Married

Language skills and globalization

Underground wiring on Beach Road, etc.

Dear Sir/Madam:

I have just recently returned from another vacation spent in the Pattaya City area for the past 6 weeks. I cannot let my thoughts of the project of the underground wires go unspoken.

I remember when the Beach Road promenade was built and it was so nice and people could actually walk along and take in all the beach sites. Gradually over the years this has been ruined by the continual abuse of venders. They have crowded tourists off the sidewalk with their large groups of staff as they eat and chat and drink and spit and yes, urinate in the shrubs. It was a perfect spot for the many booths during special events and it provided a pleasant stroll and viewing and shopping during such. Now, with Loy Krathong happening it is my understanding that this will not happen, because of the poor condition of the promenade and the slow construction of the underground wiring project.

The promenade has been ruined from North Pattaya Rd. to well beyond Pattaya Center Rd. There are large portions of the promenade taken up and large excavations that seem to have been dug and then just left for weeks at a time with no effort to secure the area around them. Now, even cars are parking on the promenade and I fear that it will never be the same. It has been ruined and we all know that the persons responsible will not be held so.

For the sake of the wires that were on the east side of Beach Road that only needed to be sorted out and tidied-up, I feel that Pattaya City is wasting a lot of baht and it could have been better spent on improving the speed boat pier in South Pattaya so that all tours could concentrate their tours in the same general area instead of dangerously off loading passengers on Beach Road. Do we wait until some tourist is killed by a motorist or by an excavation before something is done about the safety of Pattaya Beach?

License and control the number of poor beach venders who are only trying to make a living and quit chasing them up and down the beach. Do you realize how ridiculous a man in uniform looks while running down some poor old or young person who is trying to put food in their stomach the best way he or she knows how? You would be better off enforcing the parking regulations on Beach Road and patrolling the sidewalks and tidying up the scene of the promenade of all the boat tours staff and clutter that is left behind each day with these same personnel and let the others get on with their lives.

I love Pattaya and all the diversity it has and offers and will always return, but each year my heart is a little heavier with all the destruction I see of such a beautiful place. You can guarantee that the promenade will not be finished and returned to normal before high season which is starting now. I do believe the contractors are not all that sure of just what they are doing.

This has been written totally without prejudice and in the hopes that someone may take notice of the situations on Beach Road and try to improve them without further destruction.
Regards:
R. Bodkin, Canada

Closing times and pollution

Sir;

If the governor and mayor of Pattaya are so concerned about the livelihood of entertainment venues in this city, why don’t they do the same as in Phuket? Just issue an order from the governor to say 2 a.m. closing. Patong and Phuket Town have enjoyed 2 a.m. for some time now and with NO hassle from police. Appealing to the minister is a waste of time; he has already said he will not review the order for some time to come, after he made the order without any democratic consultations of the real people it affects.

Also, I have two questions that I and many other beach lovers would like to know the answers to. Is the sewage treatment plant at Jomtien back in service after three months of non service, repairs and 53 million baht budget? Why do we still get raw or semi treated sewage pumped out to sea at Naklua and other places in Pattaya on a fairly regular basis? The picture I attach is of the latest pump out on Tuesday 23 Nov. 2 p.m.
BBW

Boarding at schools is not dangerous?

Dear Sir,

If it was the intention of ‘Boarding Near Pattaya’ under the heading ‘Boarding at schools is not dangerous’ (Mailbag, 26th November) to convince parents that the school at which he is a member of staff is a safe place for them to send their children, it fell sadly short of the mark.

I was alarmed to read that the boarding block is securely locked at night and “if worst comes to worst (sic), the balconies aren’t even very high”.

No mention is made of any staff member resident in the block of flats to deal with a child who is taken ill during the night or to comfort one who has woken up frightened as the result of a bad dream, let alone a more pressing emergency. Neither is there any mention of instructions for evacuation in the case of fire or a suitable fire escape. Rather one is left to assume that in an emergency the children are expected to leave the building via the balcony and without adult supervision.

It may be superficially comforting to read that there is a hospital within a ten minute drive, but not if that hospital has no accident and emergency department or the school staff have no training in first aid.

I regret that the name of the school was not published so that I and other concerned parents can avoid enrolling our children there.

Yours faithfully,
Robert Patnicroft

Westerners can squat!

Dear Editor:

After reading how John Langan was “Humbled by Dr Iain” in Issue 47, I went back to #40 to read the good doctor’s response to his “feet and ankle” problem. The doctor’s right, especially about visits to the wat and the pole palaces, but a simple trick that allowed a Hawaiian sumo wrestler to squat works for westerners, too.

Raise the heels about half an inch, or lower the balls of the feet a like distance. Wedge heels up with anything thick enough, flip-flops for instance, or lop the balls of the feet over the edges of the little platforms along the sides of a squat toilet basin. That little distance makes a big difference. Flip-flops are also handy for kneeling, should that occasion arrive.

I live in the Northeast, in Esarn, so have a pakemah, a plaid strip of cloth about a meter wide and near two meters long. That helps on trips to the wat, as long as I remember there it’s rude to have it knotted about my waist. I must remember to drape over a shoulder unless being used. I may spread it down when bowing to a monk or image. I also use it to pad my lower thigh when cranked into respectful posture, with a bit trailing back to aid my ankle-bone pressed into the marble floor. It’s not exactly comfortable, but does reduce the agony - and gets me points for trying!

Paw Yai Lee
Muang Yote Nakorn
aka Yasothon

Let’s Get Married

Why must we wait a month or two
Or even one more day?
I love you with my heart and soul
What more is there to say?

I want to take you in my arms
And marry you right now
I want to hear your lips and mine
Repeat each sacred vow

You know that I belong to you
And you belong to me
So let us be together, love
Until eternity

There is no problem in your heart
I cannot solve with you
Our lives will be as one, my sweet
In everything we do

I cherish every smile you give
And every word you say
Oh, darling, let nothing now
Delay our wedding day.

B. Philip Webb

Language skills and globalization

There would surely be only a few people who would argue that Thailand is self sufficient and totally self supporting. Today there are many groups made up from differing countries, but ones who realize that in order to advance, strategic alliances must be made, despite those differences.

The names have become common-place, such as APEC, ASEAN, and the GMS, and there are many more. Those names (and their acronyms) are understood throughout the modern world, and those names and acronyms are in English.

In Thailand, the government is pressing ahead with its plans to make this country a leader in the SE Asian region, with one of those initiatives being the One Tambon One Product promotion, more usually known by its acronym OTOP. Again, an English acronym.

However, when you look at Thailand, it is one of the few countries in the region not to use the English alphabet in writing down its own language. Should Thailand then change, to be like India, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines or even Vietnam?

Consider this, each of those five countries have their own national languages, but because students are exposed early to the English alphabet used in their national language, they can read place names (or even acronyms) from the other countries. They can read, even if not fully understanding, but reading is a significant step towards a bilingual fluency.

Now consider the Thai situation. The Thai script does not transliterate easily, resulting in multiple spellings in English of place names, becoming the butt of jokes and reflecting badly (and unfairly, I must point out) on Thai literacy. However, from the outsiders viewpoint, if Thais cannot spell their own place names (in English), how advanced is the Thai society?

Take the Thai students’ situation too. If the Thai national language were written using the English alphabet such as is done in many other SE Asian countries, Thais would grow up being able to at least pronounce words from foreign languages. English language skills would increase exponentially, and Thailand would become more significant in the global ‘family’ we all must join.

I am also sure that historians and academics will now throw their hands in the air in horror. The national language is sacred, it is unique, it is “Thai” and must be preserved as part of the national heritage. How dare any farang try and foist the English alphabet upon us!

But I would ask those same people who would decry my words as heresy to consider that the national air carrier is known throughout the world as THAI, a type of acronym for Thai Airways International. It is not known as ไทย.

The global age is here, and Thailand must begin to think globally. In my opinion, adoption of the English alphabet would be a good start.

Someone who cares

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