HEADLINES [click on headline to view story]:

More pollution?

Noisy inconvenience

Fireworks should be announced

Unintended consequences

To all of Don’s friends,thank you

More pollution?

Editor;
It seems that more pollution is headed for Wongamart Beach from Naklua area. This picture was taken 1.30 pm Monday 4 Dec 2006. Calls to marine police, city police and tourist police all had no English speakers available. TAT agreed to tell City Hall and Marine Police. Oil slick first showed about 12 pm and was clearly visible until well into the afternoon from my third floor condo.
Brian Wigley
Ed’s Note: We sent our intrepid reporter out to the scene to investigate, and as it turns out this was not another oil spill, but a flow of sea weed coming down the coast.
Deputy mayor Ronakit Ekasingh reassured us that this was a natural phenomenon occurring during the months of November and December when the weeds flow in with the tides into Pattaya bay.
He dispatched a team to the beach and the mass of weeds was cleaned up in no time. He said that although it looked ominous, it is in fact harmless.

Noisy inconvenience

Editor;
For two weeks I have been renting a room in Soi Chayapoon in a beautiful hotel. Unfortunately I paid for the room in advance, 35 days. First night I heard hard beats from three discos and karaoke bars from 22.30 to 03.00 every night. The first morning I was brutally wakened by construction works, and that continued for two weeks.
I say that this is an inconvenience, but the owner says that he can not reduce the rent, because he must pay the workers. But, if I had not come in, what then?
I wonder: is disco music necessary and allowed until three in the morning - every night - and is inconvenience worth perhaps more than a suggested 100 baht?
Rolf Ideberg

Fireworks should be announced

Editor;
I love fireworks. I am proud to admit it. And I am thrilled to be able to enjoy the evenings when they are set off here in the skies above Pattaya.
However, I must also admit that I am baffled by the fact that no one announces in advance when these wonderful colorful works of art will explode in our skies. Is it possible for the local newspapers here in Pattaya to publish the fireworks in advance so people can enjoy these more fully?
I think that the public would appreciate knowing in advance about these so we can plan to enjoy them. It could be a big advantage for the hotels or groups who put on these events. They could be mentioned in the newspaper articles and get some welcomed recognition for their generosity and sponsorship of these beautiful events. I don’t know how many of the business leaders who actually put on the fireworks even read this section of this paper, nor do I know that they even read their news in English. But I am appealing to the senior staff of the Pattaya Mail to contact Pattaya City Hall and make the following recommendation:
1) Require a permit for fireworks at no fee.
2) Permit must be requested 10-14 days in advance of any scheduled fireworks event.
3) Publish the details of the fireworks exhibition in the local newspapers a week or so in advance (or as soon as possible).
4) Give credit to the businesses that are sponsoring or conducting the fireworks show.
I hope you share my passion for these explosive works of art and will work to help others to enjoy them also.
Sign me,
Sky Art Lover

Unintended consequences

Editor;
While all well intentioned, I have recently become aware of a very unexpected consequence of the recent crackdown on Beach Road of all undesirables. While I support the police removal of the Thai men who appear to be gang members and trouble makers, I am not sure that the working girls are the cause of the problems of the serious crimes (assaults, robbery, etc.).
When will the local government learn to better prioritize their efforts and leave the working girls alone while concentrating on crimes of property and violence? I fear they will not learn in time to save this year’s high season. It is my personal belief that their efforts simply result in training farang tourists to go to other destinations and avoid Thailand and Pattaya. How shortsighted and sad for the needy family members of the girls who live in the Northeast and rely on money from their daughters working here.
Eric

To all of Don’s friends,thank you

Dear Sir,
Re. the fitting tribute to our brother Don from the PSC in last week’s Mail, I would like to take this opportunity on behalf of Don’s family to thank the author for his kind words and also the PSC in general for all the help and support they gave Don over the years.
As we heard from young Alex at his father’s funeral, Don was not suited to the harsh discipline of life in the services; Don preferred a more relaxed regime, one where he could get things done by using his undoubted charm and charisma. Don, as many of all his friends will know, grew up in Prestonpans, a small mining village ten miles east of Edinburgh. Don enjoyed a happy childhood along with his sister Liz and myself, happy, but not contented. Don had no intention of hanging about too long in a small village. He needed to explore the world and was off his mark by the age of seventeen.
Forever on the search for Utopia, Don’s travels took him far and wide. Following his brief stint in the navy, he lived and loved in many places: England, Canada, USA, Mexico & Thailand to name just a few. He finally settled down in Thailand around 15 years ago, “the best place in the world” he told me on a regular basis.
Several times over the past couple of years Liz and myself tried in vain to persuade Don to come back to the UK to receive treatment for his illness but he rejected all suggestions of this nature, in fact, during a visit last April, I suggested again that he should return with me to Aberdeen. He thought for a minute then asked me to look in a mirror, then to compare my image against that of his partner Thai, then, he said, I would understand his reluctance to accept my less than attractive offer.
After witnessing the amazing turnout at his funeral and to see so many people who had travelled considerable distances to pay their last respects was heart-warming for us but also proved that Don was right all along to remain in Ban Chang. To deprive him of the best “send off” I have ever witnessed would have been the wrong decision.
During the funeral ceremony and the following wake at McAllister’s, his son Alex and daughter Karen, his nephew Greig, Liz and myself tried to meet as many of Don’s friends as we could. It was impossible to get round everyone who attended as the estimated number at the temple was 300+. To all those we didn’t speak to, please accept our sincere thanks. It was good to hear some of the stories from Don’s friends. Ronnie from the Camel Bar had enough tales to write a book, but the strong theme that kept being repeated was how charitable and helpful Don had been to the local community and also to expats coming to Ban Chang for the first time. Many said that Don was the first “farang” they came across and he had helped them in more ways than one to settle into their new surroundings.
I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all of Don’s staff who turned up at the temple on the morning of the funeral and worked tirelessly for most of the day. They also attended to the monks at breakfast, serving them in a respectful and professional manner; so, a deserved “well done” to Annie and her helpers.
A special thanks from the family has to go to four people in particular, Stuart & Moira Ledingham who only met Don a few years ago but became very good friends of his and helped him cope through the hardest of times, as well as keeping the family updated on Don’s condition, something that he didn’t do himself too often; his partner Thai, who took great care of him and did all she could to keep him as healthy as possible with special diets and not a little TLC; finally to his good friend and business partner John Kirkwood for all the help he gave Don over the years. John was unstinting in his support of Don and personally made sure that he got the best treatment possible and that anything needed to make his life easier was immediately made available.
Many photographs were taken during the week and I intend, within the next few weeks to have an album sent to pbase.com. This is a photo sharing website, use the search function to find “The Don”. Should anyone wish to have any of their pics included in the album, please send them to myself at [email protected] within a week of this publication.
Yours Sincerely,
John McAllister

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