HEADLINES [click on headline to view story]:

Three chaiyos to the Immigration Department

Shaking head with disgust

More security needed closer to home?

Embarrassed

Blue baht bus poem

Lost mailbox in Jomtien

Too risky?

Three chaiyos to the Immigration Department

Dear Sirs,
This is in response to widespread whining from expats who visit the Pattaya (Jomtien) Immigration Department.
First, three chaiyos to the Immigration Department for the very courteous and professional treatment of me on my 4 August visit. Simply great.
Now, for the whiners, here are some tips based on my own experience of 15 years in Thailand and some observations of other Farangs’ behavior.
1. Visit the Immigration Department a few days in advance to pick up the right forms and to verify exactly what is required. Fill the forms out at home in advance.
2. When visiting the Immigration Department, wear a suit: if you don’t have one go get one. Don’t show up in shorts, a ragged tee-shirt, and retread flip-flops.
3. Shower and shave before you arrive. Don’t drink before arriving. Use breath mints. Bring originals of all documents and countersign copies in blue ink. Use a briefcase, not a plastic bag, for your documents.
4. Upon arrival at the Immigration Department, wai everyone in uniform. Speak softly and politely. Remember the magic of “Please” and “Thank you”.
5. When tendering your documents or fee payment, use the traditional Thai polite way of preferring documents by offerings the documents in the right hand while the left hand supports the right forearm.
6. If a problem arises, don’t make demands for a supervisor or a favor. Much better to say something like, “Oh well, I might have made a mistake. Can you please tell me what we can do about this?”
I hope the above will be helpful. Keep in mind “Khaam dii pai, Khaam dii maa.” What goes around comes around. Truer words never spoken.
Sincerely,
Arthur Lee Gordon
Pattaya

Shaking head with disgust

Editor;
I look forward to the letters sent to the Pattaya Mail but sadly most of them make me shake my head with disgust. I’m a new motorbike rider here in Pattaya and every time I get to my destination I wipe the sweat off my brow and breathe a sigh of relief. I somehow managed to arrive alive.
A writer commented this week about motorbike riders not wearing their helmets or turning on their lights. So what? While life may be precious, no life is more precious than my own and my wife’s. If some idiot, Thai or Farang wants to ride without a helmet, let them. I see the idiots wearing those thin plastic helmets with the chin straps dangling. They will no doubt be drooling in a cup someday but at least if they secured the chin strap they might save their scalp so they will still be handsome droolers.
I’m more concerned with the police making sure the dangerous people are fined severely for their misdeeds. I’ve been up country and no one drives a car or motorbike as they do here in Pattaya. Most of the riders I see must be suicidal. There can be no other reason for their “style” of driving. Forget the helmets, just get the reckless people off the road.
A quick note to Mr. Alfred Serato who declined to prosecute the scumbag who entered his house: Had I been in America, he would have been lucky not to get a few rounds of shotgun shells pumped into him. You didn’t do a good thing by declining to prosecute. Send him jail where he belongs. You set him free with the thought that he can rob another Farang because we are so stupid, we won’t follow through with a criminal prosecution. Everyone is sorry and contrite when they are caught, so what? At what point do you prosecute? When he rapes your wife?
Howard Bloom
North Pattaya

More security needed closer to home?

Sir,
In light of the recent Heathrow terrorist bomb plot I feel obliged to highlight a potential serious flaw in security at Chiangmai Airport. Several days ago my wife and i flew with Thai-airways from Chiang Mai to Bangkok. On showing our boarding passes and passports to enter the departure lounge our hand luggage was - as is usual - passed through the luggage scanner and we both subsequently stepped through the people scanner - and both set of the ‘bleeper’. We were consequently summoned to one side and scanned by one of the security staff with a manual (wand type) scanner. We both again bleeped - probably belts, buckles, keys, etc. However, to my surprise, we were then waved on to pick up our bags with no further investigation!
As a frequent flier I know that in many other airports we would have been put back through the people scanner as many times as was necessary until the source of the bleeping was found. Therefore I can only assume that the security staff at Chiang Mai Airport have some new class of detectors that can distinguish belt buckles, keys, etc., from a potential dangerous or threatening item - or they are dangerously inefficient.
If they do have a new class of detectors isn’t it time all airports had them?
Regards
James Bannister
PS - Has anyone else noticed that when entering the Royal Garden car park security guards run a mirror under their car – however, they often don’t look at the mirror!

Embarrassed

Dear Sir,
Well, I’m a frequent visitor to the beautiful country of Thailand from England but the recent letter from Nigel Oakes did make me feel very embarrassed.
Is it really acceptable to take 20 baht donations from bar girls for an English professional football team? I think the latter are not exactly short of money, they are a private profit making company, not a registered charity. If Nigel is feeling sentimental about the “one way traffic” of money, why didn’t he donate it to a charity such as the children’s charity NSPCC in the UK? Better still, some Thai orphanage or AIDS charity.
To seek 20 baht donations from bar girls for a private company in England Nigel is really not on. Thailand has enough problems, all visible on the street in Pattaya. Invest the money locally mate, ‘the land of smiles’ despite the poverty, limited life expectancy and restricted opportunity.
Andrew Owen
Bristol, England

Blue baht bus poem

Dear Editor,
Having read many letters on the baht bus situation and the issue of double pricing I decided to write a little poem about it. Hope you like it.
The Blue Baht Bus
Why, why is there so much fuss
About the blue baht bus
Whether its rainy or sunny
Everybody thinks farang has big money
But this is not always the case
Try working as a teacher in this place
So we dine out on noodles and rices
But still have to pay exorbitant prices
I don’t blame the baht bus driver
He is just another survivor
There is double pricing everywhere
When we complain no one seems to care
Take as much as you can they say
White man has the money to pay
Please, please treat us farangs as equals
Or I will have to write many sequels
Kind Regards,
Kevin Pritchard

Lost mailbox in Jomtien

Editor;
With all the major problems I’ve encountered with the Thai Postal System in my over 30 years here, I was very happy to get a PO Box at the Jomtien Post Office when they built that branch about 10 years ago. Since it was so small and the mail was supposed to bypass the normal incoming mail route that goes through Chonburi, Naklua and Banglamung before arriving (sometimes) in Pattaya, I figured it just may be a more secure address to have.
Other than about 6 minor problems, that has proven to be the case for the past 10 years. Until yesterday. When I went to check my mail, I found out the lock had been changed on my PO Box. I went inside and found out that my PO Box that I had been paying for the last 10 years, was sold to another farang.
When asked why, and why I wasn’t notified, I got the normal flim flam and the ubiquitous Thai smiles and the shrug of shoulders. The older man who I assume is the current postmaster, quickly exited the back door for an “early lunch”.
So, I am now scrambling to contact all my contacts who send important mail to that address, letting them know of my address change. I wonder just how much they were able to pocket from this re-sale of my PO Box? I am sure it was much more than the 150 baht a year normal fee! Oh, sorry, I forgot. They don’t do that - Do They? There was, of course, no refund of my annual rental payment.
Just a heads up for your readers to be sure to keep a close eye on their PO Boxes. It looks like there is a premium on them, at least in Jomtien.
Cheers and hang in there.
Glenn “Jeep” Holthaus
Formerly of PO Box 29, Jomtien Beach

Too risky?

Dear Editor,
I am writing to you with reference to a headline item in the January edition of your newspaper. The report concerned the murder of a Pattaya City Hall senior official, with responsibility for agreeing, or refusing, building permits. It was known that the victim had a reputation for honestly and diligence in his work and had been known to refuse planning permission if there were doubts about land ownership or legal technicalities. An important aspect of his work was the zoning of property districts.
After the murder, police sources said that it was too early to draw any conclusions or motives about the killing. It was suggested that, because of the victim’s integrity, there might be “dark forces” that were responsible for the murder.
Considering the heinous nature of the crime, and the lack of any further information since January, might it be considered to be too risky and dangerous to follow up on this report or has there been no progress in the police investigation since then?
Yours faithfully,
J. R. Winship
South Pattaya
Editor replies: Apparently the case is “still under investigation.”

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