HEADLINES [click on headline to view story]:

What impact will currency restrictions in Thailand have on Pattaya condominium purchases?

The next major extinction?

Why the water shortage in Jomtien?

Obstacle Course on South Pattaya Road

Are cash cards as dangerous as credit cards?

Integration

A disgrace to Pattaya

What impact will currency restrictions in Thailand have on Pattaya condominium purchases?

Hi,
I am writing about the recent and punishing currency restrictions in Thailand which are wreaking havoc on the stock market and potentially the property market too. I have been investing in Thailand for 6 years already, and yesterday I got angry.
I have recently contracted to purchase a condominium in Jomtien Beach area, my second one, and I had planned to complete the payment in January. If those currency restrictions remain in place, I will basically lose my 10% deposit (substantial to me) and will not be able to purchase my condominium as I can’t afford to pay 30% more on top of the purchase price. I love Pattaya and come every year, and am outraged at the recent restrictions on investments in Thailand.
My condominium purchase will create local jobs in building, renovation, lawyers fees, estate agent fees, etc. I would urge Thai central bank to consider the plight of the Pattaya condominium industry, and all the thousands of jobs involved in it, not to mention all the tourism jobs too and all the recurring business they get when farang owners like myself return year after year.
I am getting emails about property in Brazil, Malaysia, Bali, Bulgaria and will be looking for a new permanent holiday destination if my condominium purchase is blocked by the Central Bank.
An unhappy investor

The next major extinction?

Editor;
We vote in political parties to look after our country, but all they seem to do is waste tax money on arms. All our energy and finance should be put into improving the environment, reducing pollution, before it’s too late.
This is our one and only home, would you dump your rubbish in the corner of your living room? Would you pour waste into to your fresh water tank?
We were sailing off Jomtien last week when we sailed through a large mass of debris: many plastic bags, polystyrene boxes, MacDonald’s / Burger King cups, cans, bottles, and assorted other rubbish. We altered our course to find out where it ended, but got a shock as did not seem to end, coming from the general direction of Pattaya.
With time and tide it comes back to land. Research has found many of the world’s beaches are made up of small plastic particles. Plastic has some toxins in it, resulting in wildlife dying from it, and some of these we eat.
The good news is the world will survive - not so sure about us, and we certainly do not deserve too.
Matt Anderson
Jomtien

Why the water shortage in Jomtien?

Hi,
I have lived In Jomtien for a few years. I understand that we never are going to get the same treatment of living in the west and to a certain degree that is one of the reasons for living here in Thailand.
Recently though there has been a problem with the water supply here in Jomtien. It started a month ago when we only received water every second day, which although not convenient is workable. But the situation seems to be getting worse by the day. The amount of time the water is now switched off is more than the water is on. For four days we have not had any water in Jomtien. We cannot find when the water will be back on, or why the water is off.
Maybe you can look into this and print a small report in your next edition. This water shortage must be effecting everyone living in this fine city.
Kind Regards,
Richard O’Brien

Obstacle Course on South Pattaya Road

Dear Sirs,
I would like to congratulate the civic loonies who authorised the recent laying of fresh water pipes along South Pattaya Road. They have successfully turned the street into an amazing obstacle course, complete with dust storms in the dry and quagmires of mud after it rains. Pedestrians have a fine old time threading their way through this carnage.
And just to add some spice to the chaos, they have made sure that this construction work takes place just as High Season is upon us; with increased traffic trying to get through the appalling mess.
The right hand side of South Road approaching No 3 Road has been turned into a sand trap, squeezing traffic into the left as they swerve to avoid oncoming vehicles and large construction vehicles tearing up the concrete.
Congratulations guys! Once again you have come through, proving that whenever there is a will, there is surely a way to create traffic and pedestrian chaos when construction work needs to be done in Fun City.
Sincerely,
David Cocksedge,
South Pattaya

Are cash cards as dangerous as credit cards?

Dear Sir;
‘Bitched buggered and bewildered’ doesn’t begin to describe it… For years I’ve been called a fuddy-duddy because I ‘refused to use a credit card. There were so many horror stories about money being stolen when you used them to make a purchase that cash seemed a lot safer.
Being a fuddy-duddy I assumed this could only happen when you made a purchase with a credit card. A cash card I thought was just that - a transaction between me and the bank and that no one else could intervene. Obviously assumption is the mother of screw-up.
Someone has milked my bank account. The only dates the bank will give me are two weeks between 25 Oct and 13 Nov and during that time 93,000 baht was stolen - my last 93,000 baht. So god knows what went before. I can actually prove I was in Malaysia during that time, with my card. I have witnesses to that fact.
Despite this the bank seems to consider that it is not viable.
Good god if it is so unsafe surely they have a responsibility to, at least, issue a warning along with the card.
If someone had told me that by using a cash card I was in danger of having money stolen then I wouldn’t have considered using one. Would any one? Am I a lone voice crying in the wilderness? Does everyone else know this and accept the risk?
I really need to know if this is a widespread problem in Pattaya or if it’s just me. Does it happen to other banks or just Bangkok? I’ve no idea if this is a letter for publication or a plea for an investigation.
Everyone, from the local police to my sister in Bangkok says that my only hope of redress is via the Pattaya Mail. So please any thing you can do.
Penelope J. Milner

Integration

Dear Sir,
I have always been an avid reader of the Pattaya Mail newspaper and enjoy catching up with all the latest events in the town I love so much.
One thing that really saddens me is how stories are reported using the word foreigners or farang. The latest report on the airship going down and two foreigners escaping is just one example.
I know the word “Farang” has been around for a long time but many people including myself find it insulting. People are people. As my Thai wife now knows living in the UK. Nobody points the finger at her and calls her “Thai”.
If Thailand can ever drag itself into the present age and understand what’s acceptable, then it’s going to take publications such as yourself to educate and drop the foreigner farang tags.
Regards,
Richard Giles

A disgrace to Pattaya

Editor;
The new road running south along the beach from Bali Hai Pier towards Pratamnak Hill should be a source of pride to Pattaya. In fact, it is a disgrace. Underneath the new ‘Hollywood-style’ sign on Pratamnak Hill - telling the world that this is Pattaya - things are happening that city hall should be thoroughly ashamed of.
A great deal of public money has been spent installing this road and making landscaping and other improvements around the hill. This is clearly intended to be a prestigious part of the City of Pattaya and all important visitors will have to be taken along the new road, past the ‘Lighthouse’ and up to the city’s new helicopter pad. The original concept was brilliant but execution has left a lot to be desired.
Almost as soon as the new road was built and facilities installed there was general destruction and the road was blocked and made difficult to use. Boat owners are responsible for much of this. Official parking space has been provided for boats but this is quite inadequate to cope with the large number of motorized vessels being parked in the area. City hall is trying to organize boat lanes to Koh Larn - in the face of a vicious dispute; but it has done nothing to control boats on land.
Boats are moved around and launched by unroadworthy and dangerous tractors driven by aggressive young men at all hours. The road is covered in oil and mud and frequently blocked. It is unpleasant and dangerous to walk along the beach at any time and quite impossible between 7am and 10am when these farting and roaring monsters are being put into the water. There is also a good deal of unpleasant noise pollution coming from boats and tractors and people now avoid walking through the area. This is a serious loss of amenity for Pattaya.
Illegal parking by boats has resulted in the destruction of the landscaped areas to the side of the new road. Shrubs, trees, grass and paving, provided at public expense, have been destroyed wholesale. Large areas of mud and bog have been created and mud and oil on the road, especially after rain, is a real hazard. City hall allowed building to commence on the land side of the road, but then stopped it on the grounds that title to the land was not clear. As a result, this area is likely to remain blighted for some time. However, this is no excuse for allowing boat-owners to vandalise the area.
No doubt, the boat lobby has some influence in city hall, but proper control is in everyone’s interest and this area should be part of Pattaya’s general amenity - not a slum getting progressively more unpleasant by the day. Boats are important to the local tourist industry but they have to be controlled properly, on land and at sea.
Every day the road is reduced to, at best, one lane. There is no evidence that the authorities have made any attempt to assert control. On the contrary, boats have been allowed to park as they please and are causing serious dangers. At night, trailer bars extend into the road and are a serious hazard. Boats are parked on the road and tractors are driven at high speeds without lights. In the mornings as boats are launched the situation is even worse.
Individuals have been allowed to set up food stalls, workshops and other facilities at the side of the road and, as a result, it is blocked every day. Parking against a red and white curb is not controlled and the road is becoming worthless as a result.
The project of having a beach road running through South Pattaya is a very worthy one and an important new public amenity for Pattaya. Unfortunately, the signs at the moment are that the project is going to be strangled at birth.
Local Resident
South Pattaya

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