HEADLINES [click on headline to view story]:

A closer look

Domestic violence not a gender equality issue

Thank you immigration ladies

Re Baht buses

Failing to triumph

Baht bus debate continues

A closer look

Editor;

A few months ago I wrote about the state of the park that was built close to the Royal Cliff Condo/Hotel. At that time there were some apparent shortcomings with the construction quality and maintenance but I could not have imagined nor believed how bad things could get.

Taking a stroll along the boardwalk that was built from Bali Hai Pier to the lighthouse, one can only see the complete disintegration of the pavement as the soil underneath the bricks has washed out to sea. The trash bins lay open with trash strewn all around them. The stone trash receptacles lay open without any back to them and no bags to collect the refuse.

Broken bottles and plastic bags fill the area around the trees that were planted to beautify the place. Rats are everywhere in the evening hours as they come out to devour the edible trash. It would be nice if they could eat the plastic and glass.

This park was built to attract tourists and locals alike to enjoy a stroll by the water, especially in the evening as the sun sets over Koh Larn, but it is rife with danger as one could easily fall in one of the many holes in the pavement.

A park that should be the pride of Pattaya has already become an eyesore for those brave enough to walk through it. The picture that I include here is only a small sample of the damage. A short walk up the hill reveals the cut electrical wires, the falling pavement, and the open trash bins overturned.

I for one if I did not live here and visited this place as a tourist would not come back. I think the city leaders (somebody) should step out of the shadows and actually see what they paid for and how something that had good intention is now only a large scale disappointment.

Would the city leaders allow their house to be built with the same standards? Who is looking after this place?
A caring foreigner

Domestic violence not a gender equality issue

Dear editors,

I’m writing regarding Michael Catalanello’s column on domestic violence in the December 9 issue of the Pattaya Mail.

Dr. Catalanello rightly pointed out that, like just about everywhere else in this world, domestic violence is rampant in Thailand. Unfortunately he perpetuates the canard that women are always victims, never perpetrators, of domestic violence.

In reality, in at least half of all cases, the perpetrators are women. Domestic violence is no more a “male problem” than it is a “blond problem” or a “gay problem” or a “left-handed problem.” Women batter their men with the same frequency, the same severity, and with broadly the same causes. Domestic violence rates do not significantly differ between heterosexual couples, lesbian couples and gay male couples. In short, it is not a gender equality issue.

The academic evidence for this is overwhelming and startlingly consistent, starting right from the landmark studies by Strauss, Gelles and Steinmetz to the National Family Violence Survey and National Violence Against Women Survey (!) in the United States, the Dunedin longitudinal study in New Zealand, and the annual statistics compiled by Statistics Canada. There is no room in this letter to list the hundreds of studies I could cite, but the scientific data are voluminous and publicly available, and they all point in one direction: Women are violent to their partners, on average, just as frequently and severely as men, if not more.

The study Dr. Catalanello cited simply assumed that only women were the victims, and did not bother to survey men about their suffering. This approach is typical.

A real solution to the problem of domestic violence will not be found until we start looking for the real causes of domestic violence, instead of twisting the facts into a stick to bludgeon men with.

Informed Reader
Jomtien

Thank you immigration ladies

Dear Editor;

I would like to express my thanks to 3 lady employees: 2 in uniform and one in civilian clothes (possibly a trainee).

This morning I went to the immigration office in Soi 8 only to find it dark and only a few people around. I asked what was happening and they told me the office had moved to Soi 5 Jomtien.

They asked how I would get there – I said I had come by bicycle but I’d better go by songtaew – baht bus.

They spoke among themselves and said, “Look we are going there now – jump in the car you can come with us.”

Delightful people.
Regards,
J.P. Tobia

Re Baht buses

Editor;

Re: “Another year and the baht bus thieves continue their crimes” (Mailbag, Dec. 16): I wouldn’t ever agree with double pricing for national parks or shows or whatnot, but in my mind, Howard Bloom’s logic is slightly flawed.

First, yes there are many Thai people much richer than most farangs here, but you would never find them in a baht bus. Also, considering that most farangs are at least twice the size of Thais, perhaps the extra charge is by weight, not nationality?

For the record, I’ve always happily paid the extra five baht, totaling 10 baht per fare, and I’ve never had a problem (knock wood). To me baht buses are a convenience well worth more than 10 baht, so I look at it as a cheap way to get from point A to point B, and I don’t worry about what the other people are paying. I just wish there weren’t so many of them on the road. Take half of the baht buses away and it would still be easy to get a ride, and would be perhaps easier to get around because the traffic would be reduced by so much.

Secondly, about the chef who charges the same for everyone, it is a matter of common sense. I’m sure the portions are all the same, too, plenty enough for a Thai girlfriend, but perhaps not enough for a fat falang. If a falang wants more to eat, it doesn’t come free; he will need to pay for a second helping, thus, perhaps unwittingly, perpetuating the double pricing scheme.

Frank Lee

Failing to triumph

Editor;

Last weekend well-known brand name ladies underwear shop held a sale of several kinds of underwear on the ground floor of Royal Garden Plaza. Passing by with my daughter, we decided to buy two brassieres and a swimsuit.

There was no place to try on them on, so we purchased them and took them home to try only to find that the bras did not fit well. The following day, I decided to return with my daughter to see if we could exchange the size. I thought if we were lucky we would get to wear the items of the right size, if not, then just give them away.

I understand that in Thailand it is not customary for the establishment to allow refunds or exchanges on sale items, but I have also encountered many good hearted and service minded staff of some brands that have allowed customers to exchange for the correct sizes.

We went up to the assistant standing at the stall where the goods were purchased the evening before and I tried to politely tell her our request. However, she did not let me finish my sentences (I tried to finish three times). Her abrupt answer each time was. “No, cannot!” with a very stern look on her face.

My daughter and I looked at each other and just gave up, unhappy, not because of not being able to make the exchange, but of her rude behavior.

We walked over to the a small restaurant, which was located just apposite the stall to have coffee and noticed the assistant in question talking on the phone, smiling and laughing, leaning over the underwear box and running her hand through her long hair over it.

We decided that this girl not only was rude but also was very inconsiderate in how to handle hygienic products such as underwear garments, especially when many people buy and try them on immediately when they get home before washing them.

We asked the cashier to speak to someone in charge to find out the girl in question’s name, but the cashier just ignored us. Another girl came over and upon hearing our request, also ignored us.

By this time my daughter started to become angry but politely asked them for their manager or to give us the company’s phone number. We were turned down and finally were told to go to their store located nearby.

The two girls in the store listened to our complaints, but they also turned us down regarding requests to see a manager, to have their names, or the company’s phone number. The woman simply said they were not at liberty to give out the company’s phone number, and that she would go over and warn the staff herself. I asked if she was a supervisor, she said no, there was no manager, nor supervisor there.

It seemed to us that their behavior indicated lack of professionalism in handling customers, and pose a suspicion of the company’s legality, since no names, or phone number were allowed to be provided in case of a problem.

It’s only two cheap underwear garments for us to throw away, but if the management allows this kind of “service” to go on, you can forget triumph in your business, and look forward to failure.

Worn Out

Baht bus debate continues

Editors;

When I read Howard Bloom’s letter “Another year and the baht bus thieves continue their crimes”, Mailbag, Pattaya Mail, Dec. 16, 2005, I felt an urge to contribute to that larger picture.

As far as I understand the baht bus drivers collectively refuses to expose the legal fares inside their vehicles (which is 5 baht inside Pattaya and possibly 10 to Jomtien or Naklua).

It looks like there are no authorities willing or able to make them follow the rules, laws and regulations and one can just wonder how all the profit is shared?

Anyway it is a fact that what they are doing is partly illegal, unethical and appalling since the example erodes morals in many ways. But Howard Bloom and everybody else who did not know ought to know that the reality is that the majority of farangs living here staunchly and right-mindedly refuse to pay more than Thais and neither the drivers nor anybody else can do anything about it legally.

It’s important to know that the drivers generally just “put up a scene” to pursue their greed according to their “collective code of ethics”. On the other hand it must be said that far from all drivers take part in this - I mean some of them accept that farangs “who know” are better to be accepted.

Lastly if anyone has troubles there is always a possibility to report threats, violence and rudeness to the tourist police. In fact if more farangs really did that, things could maybe be better.

JH & The Experienced

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