HEADLINES [click on headline to view story]:

Foreign ownership

Thank you Khun Kwan

Airports should have been protected

Re: Thailand what do we need?

Re: 1337 works against noise pollution

Complaining about people complaining about people who complain

Orchids and onions

Foreign ownership

Editor;
Well, Mr Clark and Mr Nahkit, I must have hit a nerve, ouch! On the subject of foreign ownership of land in Thailand, sorry lads, your argument falls down at the first hurdle. Listen to yourselves trying to justify your bullying ways. The Thais have got it right, and long live the right not to be bullied in your own country by a bunch of foreigners.
My Thai wife and I bought a house in Bangkok. It’s in her name - the land belongs to a Thai. We have been married for some years, and we have a place to live if we choose to live in Thailand. If something happens to my wife, I will make sure the house goes to her family. I love my wife and her family who treat me as one of their own.
Foreigners wanting to own land outright in their names can only be for selfish reasons. What rights a Thai may have in another country are irrelevant, and if Clarky does not know of anyone trying to make a killing out of it, it just shows how little he knows. The reason that most people can afford to buy a house, albeit in your wife’s name, is because foreigners are barred from owning land.
By the way, the Thais are not priced out of housing in Bangkok, and given that your average Bangkokian is a lot more educated that the farm type people in Pattaya, etc., you would find that they can afford a little higher price for property, although internal market forces will dictate price. Don’t choke on your shandy.
Mickyfin Burnley

Thank you Khun Kwan

Editor;
I, like many other tourists was stranded well past my planned vacation time but am now back home once again.
If it were not for Khun Kwan and the great staff at the Bella Vista Hotel, my unplanned stay could have been a very unpleasant experience. I declined an offer to work as kitchen help but appreciate the offer.
Once again the kindness of the Thai people was on display for all to see. I am sure I was not the only falang who had this experience.
Thank you all at the Bella Vista, I will be back as soon as time will permit.
Kindest regards,
Alan Porter
Minneapolis, MN
USA

Airports should have been protected

Editor;
Regarding all the recent turmoil, people should be reminded that it was not PAD who closed the airports, but the AOT. The point here is, the airports should not have been allowed to close at all. If we had a capable person in charge, good guy or bad guy, the airports should have been protected against all forces, good or bad and that very carefully said ‘at all costs’.
This act will set a precedent for the future. It won’t matter which party is governing this country, there will always be an anti-government group of people who will try to use these methods of intimidation again.
Politics can be practiced freely and lawfully, but must stay within limitations. I think PAD should form a political party and send their learned members out into the countryside giving information and knowledge about democracy in simple terms to the rural people. They received millions of baht in donations to support their cause. It could have been better spent to give the children an education... and start learning English. That’s promoting democracy.
Unlike the bad guys, the good guys should give a portion of the profits of their businesses for the benefit of the underprivileged. Unlike the bad guy, the good guys can sell mobile phones, satellite links and all the other things the other guy did and give the profits to the people. I’m sure there are many shrewd and upright businesspeople in this country who can do the same if not better than the bad guy.
Singapore became a great economic power by doing just that. And they don’t even have natural resources, not to mention enough land to grow, so they reclaimed the sea and built a new airport on it. The system could be understood as being socialistic but in effect it’s very capitalistic. It’s just like a company that makes a profit and shares it with their employees.
But sadly in our country, the bad people use the country’s resources to invest in business ventures and pocket most of the profits - read: kickbacks themselves. Most Thai politicians fight to get ‘elected’ to become ‘servants’ of the people, but unfortunately their motives are not to serve the people, but how to fill their pockets with ill gotten gains.
With an abundance of resources, natural, agricultural, industrial and tourism, Thailand could become a very rich country, provided the people live under the sufficiency economy principle as advised by HM the King. We would all live happily ever after.
Pedro

Re: Thailand what do we need?

Editor;
What we need is a three month free visa on arrival like in Malaysia! No hassle, no extra costs, show the tourists that they are welcome in the kingdom. Many of my friends have postponed their trip to Thailand because they enter through KLIA. They want to enter over land, but with the new visa rule they have changed their plans and are going to Saba Sarawak instead. And they are not alone.
Take care,
Jiel

Re: 1337 works against noise pollution

Editor;
Last week’s Mailbag contained a letter titled “1337 works against noise pollution” from ‘Uplana at Center Condo’. For the last few months I’ve been sonically invaded by a moto auction, which occurs on Fridays across from my 11th floor Keha Condo on Thepprasit Rd. The sound level inside my condo was so intrusive, even with the windows closed, I’d resorted to wearing the earplugs I use when riding my motorcycle! Other tenants were similarly outraged by the extremely intrusive auction proceedings, and we have all felt helpless.
Thanks to ‘Uplana’ and to the Pattaya Mail for publishing the letter. At 5:30 tonight [12/12] I called 1337, and with much difficulty trying to communicate with the operator, due to blaring sounds emitting from the auction, I was able to lodge a complaint. Surprisingly, a half-hour later the auction sound level was significantly lowered and I later received a call back from the 1337 operator to verify the problem had remedied.
The government at Pattaya City Hall deserves a BIG thumbs-up from me for taking constructive action against a problem that has long been a bane to many citizens!
Jay P

Complaining about people complaining about people who complain

Dear Sir,
From time to time I see letters like Bill’s (Re: problems in Pattaya Friday 05/12/08) complaining about people who complain and letting us know that we will all live longer if we are happy and don’t complain and we should go home if we don’t like it here in the Kingdom. So Bill, how many months or years do you think your letter of complaint has taken off your life? Not happy with other people who live here Bill? Why don’t you go somewhere else where nobody compares one country to another, one set of ideas with another, one country’s traffic problems with another, etc. The closest place where this does not happen is Venus ... bon voyage!
Sign me,
Richard Turpin

Orchids and onions

Editor;
Orchids to Pattaya Tourist Police and there’d Cross Society, onions to the Tourist Authority of Thailand. Too often I see derogatory remarks about the Pattaya Tourist Police; this sends a heartfelt thank you for their assistance at Utapao Military airport.
On the morning of Dec 1st I traveled to the facility and was told by TAT, that YES my airline had a flight last night and would have a flight again tonight. I should return to the airport in the evening and wait. I rushed home, packed my bags, etc., then returned to the airport at 16:00 hrs.
I’ve read in many places that the traffic in and out of Utapao was very heavy and to expect delays when arriving or departing. Well I’ll tell you the police were doing a remarkable job, not any slower than Sukhumvit in the late afternoon on a standard day and much faster than traveling from Sukhumvit to Second Road down Pattaya Tai at any time after 10:00 in the morning.
I again asked TAT if the personnel from my particular airline had arrived, they looked at me as if I was in a dream world, stated they had no contact with the airline personnel, not last night or today. Note that these were the SAME people who I talked to in the morning. They instructed me to wait until midnight if my ticket said departure time was 02:00 hrs, as they had no idea if the airline was expected and no contact numbers for them. The phone number I had was either busy, or played a message that stated their office hours, and I had been trying to contact them for 5 days.
My wife and I found a seat near the Red Cross facility which was giving out water and chicken, and doing a fine job. I spotted a member of the Pattaya Tourist Police who could not be missed in his neon green jacket and approached him. When questioned if he knew whether my particular airline had any flights, he replied he wasn’t sure but that he had not seen any of their personnel, and I should enter the terminal and check the departure board. One glance at the flock of humanity gathered at terminal entrance discouraged me and I asked if I could borrow his bright green jacket, and of course was refused. I then asked if he would check the flights for me, he gave it about 2 seconds thought, and replied in his Australian accent “not a problem mate, I can do that”. When he returned and told me that my airline had not and was not expected at Utapao I wasn’t really surprised. I’ve been here 8 years and have come accustomed to those little mistakes, same as “yes the check is in the mail”.
Needless to say I was just a tad angry at TAT for giving me a line of buffalo kaka but was grateful for not having to wait another 8 hrs to find out my flight wasn’t coming.
Two days later I hired a taxi and drove to Phnom Pen, Cambodia, 3 hrs of easy travel on Thai highways, and 9 hrs of shear terror on Cambodian roads, which I shall never do again. If you think driving in Thailand, India or China is hazardous, then I would call driving in Cambodia suicidal.
Thanks again to P.T.P. from Stefan.
Regards,
Stefan Hoge

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