HEADLINES [click on headline to view story]:

Overcharging in Brunei

I need your help

The Golden Monkey which ain’t the Golden Monkey

Noise pollution

Lost mail

Overcharging in Brunei

Hello,
The cheapest tickets to Australia and other destinations at the moment are from Royal Brunei Airlines. There is a reason for this ... the service and the airport at Bandar Seri Begawan airport are not the best around!
We recently flew to Perth via Brunei and were subjected to a six hour “operational delay” and our flight was “re-timed”. We needed to contact friends in Perth to inform them of our delay and so I bought a phone card from the “bookshop” (large clock over the door, you can’t miss it) and I was charged 300 baht for a 5 Brunei dollar VOIP card. The card worked fine and I informed our friends that instead of 1840 we would now arrive at around midnight (you need good friends to come out to the airport in the middle of the night, right?).
I then bought some things at another shop also using baht and was amazed to find that the rate was 27 baht to one Brunei dollar instead of the 60 baht that I had been charged at the “book” shop! I went back to the shop and informed the man (different one) that his colleague must have made a mistake but he said no the rate was fixed. I asked him to explain what “fixed” meant (I had a shrewd idea that it was “fixed” for tourists) and he informed me that it was the way the cards were fixed and that it was not his doing. I said that 5 Brunei dollars was exactly that and if you paid in forex the correct rate should be used. He shrugged his shoulders and said that if I had not used the card he would refund me and I said that I needed the card but at the correct rate... I was, of course, wasting my time and my money.
All travellers should try to avoid this airport like the plague but if you have no alternative try to buy some Brunei dollars at a bureau de change or bank prior to travelling. Check out the comments at airlinequality.com under the airports section.
Regards,
AB from Banglamung

I need your help

Aloha Pattaya Mail,
Mahalo for your help in the past. I now need your help again. My name is Gerry Rasmus, aka, KOTO, Keeper of the ocean. Some of you know about my plight in life. I started Pollution-Solution 30+ years ago. For the soul purpose of giving back to Mother Nature, what she has given me and to set examples to the people that don’t know better or that don’t care. I have been cleaning the beach in Jomtien for the past 5+ years and putting up posters on Beach Road in Jomtien and Pattaya. They have a picture of a fish + a toxic cigarette filter = a dead fish. I did this for the children and others that can’t read Thai or English. It also says in Thai and English to respect H.M. the King and no garbage as it goes to the ocean.
I started doing this at the request of most, if not all of the beach venders. I also was given permission to put up these posters from not only the police, but also Mr. Apichart Puetpan, deputy director general of Pattaya City and received a nod from Mr. Ronakit Ekasingh the deputy mayor of Pattaya City. It has made a big difference, as many locals and tourists have read them and think twice about discarding their waste in an improper manner.
There is a person out there that has been offended either in the things that I put in the paper, or what the posters say. All of the posters on Beach Road in Pattaya have been slashed; approx 60. I took them all down and removed all of the staples. I put up new, after the request of the beach venders and then they were spray painted black. I am so sorry for the skirt that I fluffed.
I, like many expats, live on a low fixed income. Every thing that I do is out of my pocket. The Waster-Sizing that I do costs very little, buying plastic bags then bending at the waist to pick up the waste and getting rid of both. Which is great exercises and is helping our earth. On the other hand each laminated poster with color cost around 30 baht and that is taking its toll when someone out there is destroying them. It is OK not to like me but please respect the children, wildlife and our earth. Again I’m sorry if I offended you and don’t let me or the police catch you.
To the rest of you wonderful people. I’m sorry I had to vent. I just didn’t know what else to do. As I’m running out of funds due to this sick person. My only intention is to help Mother Nature. I also want to thank the scientists in Australia. As they now have proved that the three oceans are connected by a Supergyre called the Tasman Outflow. This means to me that if we allow this ocean to die from the toxic waste that is daily being dumped into the ocean here, sooner or latter it will reach all of our shores. When this happens, if we don’t start imposing fines, installing more dust bins (dumpsters) (garbage cans), educating the people, we can kiss our back side good-by. Remember the “AINA” - The life of the people is in the land.
Waster-Size: bend at the waist to pick up the waste and get rid of both. Buddha, God, children, wildlife and Mother Nature will thank you. May health and happy be with you all.
KOTO - Keeper of the ocean

The Golden Monkey which ain’t the Golden Monkey

Hi there,
It filled my heart with joy when I saw the signs being removed from around the so-called Hanuman Statue in Jomtien, sometimes called ‘The Golden Monkey’ which it certainly ain’t! It’s the ‘konk a numan statue’, 1/2 seamonster and 1/2 human, not a hanuman!
But back to the point, I see the Jomtien Longstay sign is back again, twice. I see no advertising signs around the Dolphin roundabout, and wonder why they are allowed around the ‘Golden Monkey’ in Jomtien, which, with the other signs removed allows one to see how dirty and dismal the pond around it looks.
Perhaps with the ‘road widening’ project it will be moved in a few years’ time, perhaps the department in city hall in charge of signs might wake up, but this being Thailand perhaps it’s another hope too much.
Best not to try to change those things one might like to change and accept that almost 100% cannot be changed.
I would not like to live anywhere else in the world, Thailand is the most amazing country, and Jomtien has the best of all cultural mixes. As an expat I have never been so happy in my life.
Thank You Thailand!
Richard

Noise pollution

The Editor,
Please, through the good offices of the Pattaya Mail, we ask for your assistance in bringing to the notice of those responsible for noise pollution in Pattaya. Our efforts to date have been in vain.
To be fair, previously, when we had an open air concert, a Likay, and a spruiker for lotto, all going on at once and the racket went on for hours, often until the early hours of the morning, our petition to city hall was acted upon, and hundreds of us were grateful, and conveyed our thanks.
But as soon as one polluter goes we get yet another, and now this clangour every night, sometimes all night, is just unbearable. The area in front of the estate, which could fairly be described as the centre of Pattaya, along Soi Buakhao, constantly has noise beyond fair and reasonable, so that to sleep is nigh well impossible.
We have asked politely, of the young man if he could please lower the volume of the sound equipment in his pickup, only to be treated with contempt, or abuse, or the volume being turned up even more.
The always wise King of the Realm has spoken out about the necessity to reduce the pollution, as too has your regular correspondent Dr Ian Corness.
The tenants/owners here have gone to extraordinary lengths in an attempt to block out the noise, closing all windows and doors, installing double glazing, double drapes, and even ear plugs, all to no avail. The deep and resonant reverberations prohibit sleep, to the extent that people have and are moving out. One lady has a beautiful apartment that she cannot sleep in and has to resort to nightly moving to a studio apartment. This is seriously affecting the health of many. Health experts are unanimous in stressing the importance of regular uninterrupted sleep, check with Dr Corness.
Why should the inconsideration and selfishness of one person be allowed to disrupt so adversely the lives of so many.
We have called the number given to report such incidences many times all again to no avail. You are our last resort.
Our belief and trust in Pattaya is demonstrated by purchasing apartments, outfitting them, and all our cash flow aids the Pattaya economy. I think we deserve at least consideration.
I have been in local government, and the rule of thumb is first the law, the bottom line, “fair and reasonable” behaviour, if a community is to function optimally.
The cacophony goes on for hours on end, sometimes until dawn, in conjunction with a yardom drinking place out in the open, drinks served from tea pots and drunk from tea cups. How can this be allowed? All others about, bars/karaokes/entertainment places are bound by the laws of noise and hours, why is it that this one abomination can so openly flout the law with impunity and drive so many to distraction?
This estate houses people from all four corners of the world; the message they take back is not one of praise for Pattaya. To add insult to injury, there are no toilet facilities nearby, and people can be seen relieving themselves in the open, particularly when they have had a yardom or two too many. What an awful advertisement for Pattaya and Thailand. Many of us have lived happily here for many years, but this disgrace makes us question our judgement.
If there is anyone out there who can give us any constructive advice, please do so. The criteria for assessment is, if anyone in authority had this to endure night after night it would quickly be curtailed. Thank you in advance for any assistance you can provide.
Please sign me,
Hades

Lost mail

Editor;
I have recently sent two birthday cards to friends in Bangkok and Pattaya from UK and neither of these were received by the birthday people. I use printed address labels so that I don’t make mistakes with the difficult Thai addresses and also include my own address on the label. I suspect that the cards are stolen in the mistaken belief that they contain money. Do I have to use DHL for such items in the future? Do the Thai authorities do anything to sort out such problems?
Nigel
London UK

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