HEADLINES [click on headline to view story]:

Higher Power

Where is the press?

Linking diet to cancer

The rebirth of Burmese democracy?

More baht bus overcharging

Cheap Charlie motorcyclist

Higher Power

Editor;
“A doctor is next to God; a nurse-practitioner IS god,” says my sister, the nurse-practitioner. Either way, hospitalization can be humbling. We have a new motorcycle, only 20 years old, so a lot younger and feistier than our sedate minicycle.
Our mechanic modified both so Lek can sit up front, but she refuses to do so on the new one, as speeds above 36 kph scare her silly. So do leans into a turn. When leaning into what I thought was a sedate-enough turn onto a highway last week, Lek exclaimed, “Watch Out!” Sure I’d missed something horrific hurtling towards us, I over-sped the powerful, 100cc engine, and the bucking machine dumped us both on our masses, its exhaust pipe giving me a first-degree burn to boot.
Some boys just out of school helped us right it on the otherwise deserted highway, and we sped off at 40 kph to an ER, for dressing (I got a dressing-down on the way).
For nine days, I bicycled daily to the government clinic in Tadthong for the clinic misses to change the dressing on the uninfected wound. Day 10 I missed them for they were at a meeting, so the clinic master changed the dressing. Day 11 the miss said an infection was raging, so sent me to hospital that kept me overnight for antibiotic infusions, after first insuring I signed away the American rite to sue them.
I’m lucky my wife does not insist on a private room, as do other wives who have caught a farang husband. Ensconced in a bed on the outer breezeway of the 5th floor Wounded Men’s Unit, I had the company, not only of my fellow wounded, but also so of their ever-present family members that remain bedside of those in hospital. Two beds down was a monk, who had only to sit up in lotus position to turn his bed into a holy space surrounded by the worshipful. Two beds down from the monk was a sad-faced young man who had misplaced both his feet, watched over by a young woman who would have been beautiful had she not been so sad-faced, too.
The doctor released me next morning and my bill came to a whopping 3,699 baht (US$109 at the current exchange rate), but that does include a 10-day supply of follow-on antibiotics. I’m now supposed to go twice daily, morning and evening, to the clinic to have the dressing changed. As it is open 8:30 am to 8:30 pm daily, that’ll be no problem, but I hope I don’t miss the misses anymore! And, when I settle the bill at the end of the course of treatment, it could come to another 1,000 baht!
R. Lee Montgomery
Yasothon

Where is the press?

Editor;
The “stop vt7 blogsite” this week (which has, perhaps, encountered a technical problem as of 2 days ago) quoted the argument sent by their lawyers to Rayong court Aug. 31, 2007. Today is Sept. 23, 2007, and still no further word on a Rayong response, decision or even new date for a hearing. Still no mention in any news media since Aug. 2, 2007 (apart from Pattaya Mail Mailbag letter last week). Even the results - or lack of same - of the August 8, 2007 hearing was not reported in the media.
Cannot understand the continued pin-drop silence and apparent lack of movement on a landmark case which would determine the fate of so many seaside resort projects, and the fate of Thai coastlines everywhere. This is news. It is also a vital matter for the Kingdom and its people, as well as tourist revenue. And yet, not only the media but the internet as well offers no news, insight or follow-up. One would expect, at the very least, to find questions being asked. Yet nothing.
There’s almost certainly one helluva story here for anyone willing to look into the matter. Obviously there are mega-baht involved here. Where there are mega-baht, can influence peddling, etc., be far away? Or perhaps the legal system is coping with complications in the case? Meanwhile, View Talay 7 is getting close to the 14 meter limit and shows no sign of stopping. Does anyone else wonder what’s going on?
Beachcomber

Linking diet to cancer

Dear Editor:
Dr Corness cites a study in Australia claiming there is little evidence to link diet to cancer (Modern Medicine, Sept 21). The problem with such studies in Australia and America is that they generally compare people who are on diets that are rich in animal based foods to people who are on diets that are very rich in animal based foods. That is like comparing the health of people who smoke two packs of cigarettes a day to people who smoke three packs a day.
This is why I frequently refer to the China Study, which the New York Times called the “most comprehensive large study” ever done on the relationship between diet and health. It compares people on diets that are rich in plant based foods to people on diets that are very rich in plant based foods. In the study people who live in counties that had the highest rates of cancer had rates of some cancers over 100 times greater than people who lived in counties that had the lowest rates of cancer. They consistently found that these higher rates of cancer were among the Chinese who had the higher cholesterol numbers while the lowest rates were among those who had the lowest cholesterol numbers.
Perhaps the best evidence of the link between diet and cancer is that when people move from countries where people generally consume small amounts of meat to countries where people consume large amounts of meat their rates of cancer go up significantly. Colon cancer for example is generally rare in countries that have low meat intake and generally common in countries which have high meat intake. Yet when people migrate from countries where people eat little meat to countries where eating meat is common, all of a sudden colon cancer becomes a major problem for them.
And finally, even the study that Corness cites admits that obesity is a major cause of cancer. But what causes obesity? Poor diet! So even the study that is supposed to be refuting the claim that diet is related to cancer actually confirms it!
Eric Bahrt

The rebirth of Burmese democracy?

Dear Mailbag,
One can only assume that David Jones of Kidlington does not have email and uses more traditional means of communication. Further to his comments in last week’s paper I feel he is a little bit behind the times as far as Burma is concerned. A holiday in the “500 Phuket-like islands” Burma has to offer would not really be a good idea, unless your idea of relaxation is a fortnight’s Saga Holiday in Baghdad or a more lively Club 18-30 in Kabul! 15 dead already (this will no doubt increase before publication), including innocent Buddhist monks, foreign journalists and civilians. A curfew each night enforced by the military junta, even Bangkok’s more puritanical nightlife is better than that!
Besides the current unrest in Burma, what about infrastructure? Hotels, restaurants and nightlife would be in a class of their own and I wouldn’t fancy my chances too much. Give the Burmese 20-30 years and we may see some improvements but until a democratically elected government comes into power, forget it and stick to Thailand! At least there is light at the end of the long dark tunnel for Thailand and hopefully we’ll have a new prime minister before the end of the year and return to some form of normality.
In another article I noted that 2000 UK citizens are leaving Britain each week and after listening to Gordon Brown’s speech at the recent Labour Party conference I reckon that number will soon double! 51,000 UK citizens live here now, Spain and the rest of Europe have become too expensive, so watch that figure increase dramatically!
JS

More baht bus overcharging

To: [email protected]
I took a baht bus on Second Road from Mikes Shopping Mall to Tops, a trip of about 2 minutes. I got off the bus and paid the fare, i.e., 5 baht, then walked away. The baht bus driver beeped his horn so I went back to see what the problem was. He shouted angrily “10 baht farang.” I told him it was 5 baht, same as for a Thai, but he then jumped out of his bus and shook his fist at me and shouted next time you will pay.
My point is I am fed up with being discriminated against here in Pattaya by baht bus drivers. If I get a bus to Bangkok the fare is the same for Thai and farang; if I get the boat to Koh Larn its 20 baht both for Thai and farang; also when I give a baht bus driver 20 baht he drives off laughing with my change. Why do they not display the fare in English on the bus? And why has city hall not stopped this dual pricing once and for all? It is time that your newspaper took a stand on this issue as it is giving Pattaya a bad name. Is the fare 5 baht or 10 baht? If it is 10 baht, let them display the fare so all farangs can see the blatant discrimination by these baht bus drivers. This is not about 5 baht, it is about equality, and don’t tell me this is Thailand, this is 2007.
Yours sincerely,
Paul Ward

Cheap Charlie motorcyclist

Editor;
In the Sept 21 issue of the Mail, “A friend of Amazing Thailand” saw to write an article about a bad incident of which he and his wife were “ripped” off money by a “Chunky Thai Lady”, by faking an accident with the farang couple. People are always writing to complain of incidents happening to them at the hands of evil Thai people. My story: My Thai G/F’s friend had been crossing the street and was hit by a motorbike operated by a farang. She went to the hospital, and the farang showed up a little later.
The insurance on the motorbike paid for medical care, and fortunately the lady was hurt, but not serious. The cheapskate gave her 1000 baht for the injuries she sustained and went his way. The injured Thai lady will not be able to work for a good 2 weeks, as per the doctor. The medications cost her, which I paid for, 1345 baht. My G/F thought the farang should have given her more money, ha ha, not a cheap Charlie.
My G/F also thought the farang did not have any more money to give the injured Thai girl. Ha ha. As it turns out he was vacationing in Thailand and was on his way to Japan to vacation some more, while the injured Thai girl tries to figure out how to eat or pay the rent while she is not working. I mention that person involved was a farang since so many like to point out that Thai Nationals have done them bad.
Robert OKane
Pattaya

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