A Fountain of Life

Story and photos by Suzanne Dooley

A Unique CARE FOR KIDS CHARITY DRIVE is on in Pattaya on Saturday, September 19th from 7:00 p.m. at Delaney’s Irish Pub in Second Road.

The Jesters Motorcycle Club in conjunction with Delaney’s are holding a charity evening to support the Children’s Center at Fountain of Life. The aim is to raise money to help some of the poorest and most neglected children in our community.

The Fountain of Life is conducted by the Catholic Good Shepherd Sisters. It is currently under the leadership of Sister Michelle Lopez who has worked in Pattaya for ten years. It has a Children’s Center and a Women’s Center on different sites in Pattaya.

Photo: Sister Michelle gives a late breakfast. Some children require a little to eat before lessons begin.

Sister Michelle says, “Each day we collect about ninety seriously at risk children from the slums of Pattaya. These are children who do not attend school. We educate them a little and give them lunch.”

Working beside Sister Michelle are fifteen staff, five of whom are Thai sisters. The Good Shepherd Catholic Religious Order was founded in 1835 in France. Michelle says, “Our Foundress, Mary Euphrasia Pelletier wanted to work for the empowerment of marginalized people, especially women and children. She wanted to help those most in need, irrespective of race and religion. She helped women caught in the sex industry and children whose rights were violated.”

The Good Shepherd Sisters came to Thailand in 1965. The Thai sisters who work at Fountain of Life are inspired by Sister Euphrasia and Jesus the Good Shepherd, who left the ninety-nine sheep to assist the lost one.

Work at the Fountain of Life follows a daily pattern. The Buddhist, Muslim and Catholic staff meet at 8:00 a.m. every weekday for fifteen minutes of shared prayer. This is prepared by one of the group.

Sister Michelle explains. “This is the heart of the whole ministry. Our prayer inspires our work and our work inspires our prayer. No one religion has the monopoly on God’s compassion and love.”

The staff meet for forty-five minutes immediately after prayer for ongoing education, planning and discussion. The focus may be psychology, advocacy, children’s rights, women’s issues, pedophilia, or counseling skills. The session is lead by a different staff member each day.

At nine o’clock, Sister Michelle drives a pickup to collect children from slum areas in Pattaya who are from three to thirteen years old. The Center gives them four hours of education a day. The goal is to channel them into regular schools or prepare them for non-formal education.

Sister Michelle explains, “These are children whose mothers move around a lot. They live without structure in their lives. Sometimes we wake the children in the mornings. Many have no consistent care provider and lack nutritious food.”

The pickup arrives at a garbage dump where people are sorting the garbage to sell. A three year old jumps with glee, smiling broadly, delighted to see Sister Michelle. Older children join him, climbing into the back of the pickup. The adults glare.

“The mother is angry because the children are going to school and not working,” Michelle explains. “Even the parents do not support their education.”

At the next stop, outside a dwelling comprised of garbage off-cuts, a little boy is alone. He begins a dance of delight as the car approaches. “He never misses school if he can make it,” Michelle observes.

Pot-holed roads along the railway line reveal a mother with a young boy firmly in hand. She was told yesterday he would have to stay home if he continued to hit other children. She wants to talk to Michelle.

“Don’t you let him beat up his friends. If he beats the other children, you whack him hard.”

It takes more than two hours for the two pickups to collect 90 children. The distances are not great, but the roads are pot-holed and unmade. Each pickup does two trips. Some children spend nearly four hours on the road every day.

This is where the Charity Drive is poised to help. The aim is to buy an additional vehicle so lessons can begin before 11:00 a.m. each day. The Jesters also hope to provide scholarships, school supplies, food and money for general maintenance at the Center for Children.

For these are children with no uniforms, no schoolbags, no lunch money, no books, no homework and no playground. Yet they are eager to learn and rush delightedly to meet their five teachers in Fountain of Life’s single classroom.

Fountain of Life relies on donations. Of the CARE FOR KIDS CHARITY DRIVE Sister Michelle says, “The staff are grateful that the people of Pattaya are concerned about the plight of the less fortunate in our midst.”

A great night is assured at Delaney’s with a 250 baht full Irish buffet offering all you can eat all night long. One hundred and fifty baht from each meal goes directly to Fountain of Life. There is live music, event T-shirts, raffles and auctions to raise money. Fifteen percent of all drink sales go to the kids.

During the weekend, there is a sponsored bicycle race. For further details contact Woody at the Tahitian Queen, any of the Jesters, or Kim Fletcher at Delaney’s on 710641, fax 710644. Donations before the event are most welcome.

The staff at the Fountain of Life rely on the providence of God. God has no other hand but yours. Come along and support children in need. Make a positive impact in your community.

Swedish Enviro Dollars for Pattaya?

The Swedish environmental group S.I.D.A. (Swedish International Development Agency) has the finance necessary to develop projects to solve Pattaya’s growing waste management problems. This was the claim made in Pattaya this week by Matthias Nordin, the GM of the Swedish Environmental Engineering Group, Trimar.

However, he said before this could happen, it would be necessary for Pattaya to present a detailed proposal to the Swedish people, and also show that it was prepared to invest some capital funding itself.

The Trimar Group has been involved in similar projects in Vietnam for some years, and sees a decided parallel between our environmental problems and those experienced in other Asian countries. In some ways, our problems here are even greater, with the huge influx of tourists every year, but only a limited number of taxpayers to fund the city’s waste management programme.

A city like ours produces 100 tonnes of garbage every day, and whilst that may make most people shudder, an environmental engineer sees it very differently. “Garbage is a never-ending ‘natural’ energy source,” said Mr. Nordin. “Incineration of garbage can be used to generate electricity, which is then returned to the city as a cheap electricity power source.”

The alternative, of continuing to compact garbage into the land-fill areas will eventually spell disaster, according to Mr. Nordin. He believes the landfill is already below the water table level, so we will be polluting the natural water reserves. He claims that this practice has caused hundreds of deaths in India, where the water table is now so polluted with toxic industrial chemicals like mercury, for example.

Photo: Matthias Nordin.

Mr. Nordin believes that Pattaya City Management has some skilled environmental specialists already, but outside agencies are reluctant to finance projects where the people involved have no prior experience to show that they can get projects like these up and running. He believes that Trimar, with its experience in this field, in conjunction with the city’s experts, could set up an Environmental Consultancy group for Pattaya. This could be done with a minimum capital outlay, and could even be partly funded by the Industrial Community on the Eastern Seaboard to show its willingness to help our environment.

In turn, that consultancy group would then prepare the substantial documentation required for the proposal to the Swedish authorities. This is done through the Swedish Embassy.

Mr. Nordin believes that sums of up to 100 million baht are available from S.I.D.A. to help alleviate our environmental problems. The problem is, we have to do the preliminary funding ourselves. It’s the chicken and the egg all over again!

Koh Si Chang - a very healthy alternative

Tourists (and locals) in Pattaya are exposed to a very cosmopolitan and international “resort” atmosphere. Whilst this may be what many of today’s international tourists are looking for, all but the very naïve would admit that Pattaya is not representative of much of Thailand’s culture and spirit. For those looking to scratch a little more than just the surface looking for the “real” Thailand, the island of Koh SiChang may be the answer. For those who wish to understand more of Thai Buddhist philosophy, it is the answer.

GM Tour and Travel have commenced a new one and a half day Koh SiChang experience, which allows a brief, but very detailed insight into life in a relatively unspoiled Thai fishing village. This fully escorted tour takes the traveler into the everyday happenings of the local residents in Koh SiChang, both at work and play, and provides the opportunity for exploration and exercising, both physically and spiritually.

Koh SiChang is a small volcanic rock island off the coast from Sri Racha, easily reached by a 45 minute ferry ride from the mainland. Previously, this island was a strategic retreat for the Thai Royal Family during the reign of Rama V, and items of interest from those days are still evident. The Teak wood Vimanmek Palace in Bangkok was actually taken from Koh SiChang and rebuilt in the capital. The grounds of the original palace can be explored including two natural wonders, the Bell Stone and the Tham Saowapha.

The Bell stone is reached after a short climb and rings with the clarity of a bell when struck with another piece of rock. It is close to the Asdangnimitr Temple, a small consecrated meditation chamber, used by King Chulalongkorn in the 1890s.

The Tham Saowapha is an interesting cave, to which you can be taken by GM’s guides. This is a natural fault in the volcanic rock and reputedly stretches right through the island.

Also on the agenda is a visit to the Kow Yai Temple. This is at the top end of town, and has several levels. For those of stout heart, they will be rewarded with magnificent views of the island harbour, after a steep 500 step climb. Those even luckier may meet the monk who lives at the top. Now in his 13th year of meditation from this lofty perch, he will provide much needed water to quench your thirst, and Buddhist amulets if you are even more fortunate!

There is another beautiful temple being built on the island, on the opposing hill from Kow Yai. There, the ancient methods of decoration of the nagas are being practiced, and the tourists on the GM Tour are invited to assist the monks and nuns decorate these structures. A very informative, English speaking nun completes this part of the tour and everyone leaves with a greater understanding of Thailand’s national religion.

Accommodation on the island is in a very clean and pleasant modern hotel, and the transportation is by the unique samlors. (These are exceptionally comfortable, car engined giant “rickshaw” contraptions. In my opinion, it was worth the trip just to ride in these alone!)

The tour is also fully catered, with the guides helping the tourists to experience some of the local food and restaurants, culminating in a riotous evening in the town’s only “cabaret”.

It is a very packed day and a half tour, but one which will be remembered by any overseas guest or tourist. Koh SiChang does not try to be a “mini Pattaya” and it was refreshing to be able to immerse ones self in yet another side of Thailand. Full details are available from G.M. Tour and Travel, (038) 231 602.

Keeping control amongst the chaos

Story & photos by Justin Brierty

From the two week tourist to the long term expatriate, many of you will notice uniformed men and women standing there ready to welcome or salute you as you head off to work or to explore amazing Pattaya.

For the many security officers who serve the numerous hotels, motels and condominiums of not only Pattaya, but also the whole of Thailand, the job of keeping the peace is a far cry from the more labor-intensive work of planting rice or sweeping the streets. What may appear to be boring work for some, is in fact a reliable income for others, which pays a far lot better than the 100 baht per day farm work.

Take for example 32 year old Kong (Sittikorn) and his fellow Security Officer, 45 year old Cheui, who work at the Casa Espana Condo. Inspired by his younger sister to “come on down” to the more prosperous Pattaya, and fed up with working on his fathers farm, Kong decided to pull up stumps, leave 100 baht per day work and seek that little bit more of what life had to offer in Pattaya.

Saying goodbye to the Sukhothai farm was hard at first, but with his co-worker and eventual wife Kanjana at his side, Kong had managed to obtain a job at the Nava Security Company. With luck on their side, Kanjana was also fortunate enough to pick up maid work at Casa as well.

After a few months of temporary accommodation, both were able to secure the maids quarters at the condominium and do not exactly have to travel too far to work each day. “I think it was good to come to Pattaya, as now I have a better life than before,” Kong says with a slight grin.

With their eight year old Goong attending the local primary school, Kong and Kanjana are content with what they’ve got, and although the twelve hour days, seven day weeks are long for them, both are still able to save that little bit more for when young Goong gets older.

“It can be a little bit boring when I do the night shifts, but the Farangs are always keeping me busy when they come home from the bars and restaurants.” Busy by means of observing the different girls they’ve brought home, that is.

For the slightly older security guard, Chuei, working the twelve hour shifts are also very long, but rewarding when he sees his bank balance every month. When asked why he, too, moved to Pattaya, he replies, “Nitnoi (a little) money from working farm at Isan (Northern Thailand). Mai chob (I don’t like) Bangkok or Chonburi, money here is a lot better.”

With security cameras on every floor, and tenants being able to view the security desk, Chuei has woken up to tricks that the nasty farangs do for a laugh. One such trick for the farang tenants was to wait for him to leave the security post to go to the toilet, then phone the security desk. With no-one else to answer the phones, Chuei was forced to try and finish his business in the toilet as quickly as possible to answer the call, only to miss it at the last moment. Frustrated at missing the call, he would suddenly hear bursts of laughter from the second floor Farangs who would see poor old Chuei on their TV monitor with half his shirt hanging out of his trousers as he did not have time to tuck himself in.

Although married with a wife of twenty years and three children to support, Chuei is quite content at night as he also gets to view some of the girlfriends of the farangs. Sometimes his skills have been vigorously tested at night, not so much by robbers, but by the occasional lady who has caught her “butterfly” boyfriend with a new lady in his room. True to his gentle approach and swift manouvering, Chuei has been able to calm down the hot tempered ladies and escort them to an awaiting taxi.

With the newspaper, radio and ever biting mosquitoes (not to mention the Farangs) to keep them occupied, security, like any other job, has its ups and downs, and although the hours are long, both Chuei and Kong are content with keeping control amongst the chaos of everyday life.

Time for Tea

by Richard Tresillian
Explore Sri Lanka

A cup of tea has become synonymous with something we approve of. Just think of the expression: “That’s my cup of tea.” British Prime Minister Gladstone is said to have liked tea so much, he used to fill his hot water bottle with tea so he could take a nip in the night.

One of the world’s best teas is pure Ceylon tea, grown in Sri Lanka. Tea is also grown in many other countries of the Indian Ocean. India produces more tea than any other country in the world, but most of it is for domestic consumption. Kenya is a rival to Sri Lanka for the title of largest exporter of tea to the world, a position it has lost due to strikes in the Kenya tea industry.

Sri Lanka’s tea production last year reached 276.8 million kilograms, an improvement of seven percent on the previous year’s production. It’s a far cry from the first experimental growing of 20 acres of tea for commercial production by Scotsman James Taylor at<i> Loolecondera<i>, near Kandy, in 1867.

What is tea? The tea bush is actually a tree that could grow 30 feet in height if it were not pruned regularly. The best tea is made from the two top leaves and a bud. Hand picking, or plucking, is the traditional way to gather the leaves since mechanical harvesting collects too much stalk.

The tea plucker throws the leaf as she plucks it into a basket carried on her back, suspended from her head by a strap. As the green leaf is plucked, it is weighed in the field to see how much each plucker has gathered. About 19 to 22 kilos per plucker is the expected amount for a day. The leaf is then taken by basket to the factory.

The factory is a four or five storey building with the upper floors, known as lofts, being where the tea is naturally withered, usually overnight so it loses its crispness in the night breeze. It is then sent down by chutes to the machinery on the floor below. There it is rolled by machine to release the juices in the leaf. That is the method used to manufacture orthodox tea, the kind of black tea sold in packets.

Over 16.8 million kilograms of tea produced in Sri Lanka last year was manufactured by what is known as the CTC method, or Cut, Tear and Curl. This is a process which brings out the flavor while cutting the leaf up into small even-sized particles. CTC tea is used in tea bags, since it liquors quicker and, as less tea is used, makes a more economical cup. From one kilogram of orthodox tea, you could brew 350 cups, while the same amount of CTC tea would yield 500 cups.

In both orthodox and CTC manufacture, the leaf goes through a period of oxidization, known as fermentation, changing the pulverized green leaf into a bright coppery shade through the absorption of oxygen. It is then fired in a hot air chamber to halt the oxidization, kill off any bacteria, and preserve it. The leaf is left to cool before being sifted by machine to sort it into sizes known as grades.

A grade has nothing to do with quality but refers to the particle size. The largest size of made tea is OP, Orange Pekoe, while the smallest is Dust. Dust is an unfortunate name as it does not mean the sweeping from the factory but leaf of such small size it is useful for making a very strong cup of tea or for tea bags.

One hundred kilograms of green leaf is reduced by manufacturing process to 24 kilograms of made (that is Black) tea. From the time the leaf is plucked until it emerges as made tea takes 24 hours.

What tea you actually drink at home depends on your own taste. Most tea sold in packets consists of a blend, skillfully created by a tea taster’s expertise so that a blend such as English Breakfast Tea always tastes the same. However, the quality of water could affect the taste of the tea so it pays to experiment to find a tea that suits the water of the area in which you live. The blender takes that into account when creating a tea for sale in, say, Yorkshire, as opposed to one to be sold in London.

The champagne of teas is said to be tea that is High Grown, that is from fields located at over 4,000 feet above sea level. If you like tea without milk, go for an Orange Pekoe (OP). It is wiry, black and long, a connoisseur’s tea.

Most packeted blended tea is Broken Leaf Grade, so called because it is broken into smaller pieces. Broken Orange Pekoe (BOP) forms about 40 percent of orthodox teas and produces a slightly stronger beverage than OP. The other popular tea is Broken Orange Pekoe Fannings (BOPF). That forms about 20 percent of orthodox teas and makes a much stronger beverage, perfect to have with milk and sugar.

Flavored teas like Earl Grey have had an essence added. A wonderful plus when drinking tea is its health value; tea really is good for you. It aids the digestion, reduces cholesterol and has very little caffeine. And it can be drunk at any time.

In Sri Lanka, visitors are fortunate in being able to buy tea in the island where it is grown. However, not all teas are of the superlative quality you might expect. The guarantee of finding tea that will give a good cuppa is to buy tea from a specialist.

A pioneer in packeting tea for connoisseurs is the company known as Mlesna. Concerned that tea was being exported to be packed overseas instead of in Sri Lanka, Anslem Perera, the company’s founder, decided to packet tea and export that. He opted not just for ordinary packets but for packaging that complemented the fine teas he was blending. The Mlesna range is extensive, enabling visitors to try teas from all parts of Sri Lanka.

The recently opened “THE SHOPPE” owned and managed by Standard Trading Co. (Pvt) Limited (STC) offers local customers and tourists an opportunity of tasting a wide selection of pure Ceylon teas under the brand names ‘BATIK’, ‘SANI’ and ‘TRINITEA’. A variety of teas in different flavors, gift teas in STC’s ceramic collection, terracotta pottery, in the form of Sri Lanka souvenirs and reed boxes are available to customers visiting the “THE SHOPPE” at Crescat Boulevard.

Try a cuppa of tea and discover that good tea grown in Sri Lanka can indeed cast a spell, just like the one that so enchanted Jonathan Swift.

Successfully Yours: Greg Sulis

by Mirin MacCARTHY

It is not surprising that Greg Sulis chose to call his business "Greg’s Kitchen". Greg has been in and out of kitchens all his adult life.

Greg Sulis.

Starting out as a 16 year old waiter in London he made the decision early to stay in the catering industry. Grabbing at the opportunity to train as a chef at Claridge’s Restaurant he slaved away in their kitchen for 5 years. Only just 21 when he graduated (now at least with the key of the door!), he began working in hotels, clubs and restaurants in the famous West End part of London. For Greg, that was all he knew, and all he has wanted to know.

In his vacations he did what most young Brits did - he went to the Continent, looking for better weather and holidaying in Greece and Spain. But he tired of the olive oil, pasta and the "Costa Plenty" and decided to try Thailand for his vacation in 1986. Like so many people, that short stay in Thailand was to change his life forever.

Although he freely admits that working in Pattaya is very different from vacationing here, when he eventually felt that it was time to leave the UK, there was only one place to go. Thailand! "The weather is nice, and you can live much more cheaply here than in London, and it’s safer too," he said.

So in 1993 he arrived to stay, with his chef’s apron at the ready. After all, catering was his forte; the thing he did best and had been doing for all those years.

He accepted the position as the chef at an English Restaurant and worked there for four and a half years. However, Greg could sense that "catering" for him was more than just "cooking". He enjoyed meeting and greeting the customers as well. He could also see that it was time he did this in his own restaurant.

So in 1997 he found the premises on 2nd Road, and with his Thai wife set up "Greg’s Kitchen". Being what he describes as a "workaholic" has certainly helped him. Greg spends a minimum of fourteen hours a day at work, putting his whole heart and soul into his fledgling business. This can be very stressful for him, and he often refers to feeling like he needs tranquilizers! "The Thais have a very laid back attitude, which can be difficult to work with. At times they have moved me to tears of frustration, but you have to keep going."

Despite all of this, Greg feels that Thailand is now his home, and his personal ambition is to make it right to the top. He would like to open another restaurant, installing his wife as the manager. However, this may have to wait a while, with Greg very shortly about to become a father!

Success for Greg Sulis is wrapped up in the business and greeting his regular customers. "You have to look after your customers. They are Number 1, but I still like cooking, and I can’t stop working. I work hard and I want to do well and I want a comfortable life with my wife and family." Being just in his 40s, he has time on his side, to realize these ambitions, though I must admit I personally cannot see Greg Sulis settled back in the "comfortable life". There’s too much of the compulsive worker simmering away inside of him.

His advice to those who wish to emulate his success is, as you would expect, "Be committed and put hard work into it!" Greg’s recipe of large portions of Hard Work, mixed with an equal amount of Long Hours, and blended with lots of Commitment, tenderly baked for several years will produce a Prize Pie for anyone prepared to "cook" it!

AutoMania: Formula 1

by Dr. Iain Corness

Although the Americans might like to disagree, on principle if nothing else, the epitome of auto racing is the European Formula 1. Even in Pattaya and Jomtien, there are numerous bars that will turn off the disco music to listen to Murray Walker describing the F1 racing action. (You’ll find me in front of the big screen at Fairplay Mini-Golf!)

Of course, controversial characters, like Mrs Schumacher’s big bad boy Michael, all help to attract hundreds of thousands of spectators to the circuits and millions of viewers to the TV screens all over the world.

We are fortunate in Thailand that CET (Central European Time) is only five hours behind us so we can view the racing at a civilized hour. Pity the poor Aussies who have to wait up till 10 p.m. for the start and go to bed bleary eyed after midnight. At least our bleary eyes were just caused by just "One more Beeyah?" partaken after the telecast finished!

A couple of the regular readers chided me the other night about not reporting on the F1 races in the column. Unfortunately, being a weekly newspaper, any results I could give you would be "history" rather than "news". However, I do have some interesting information for you that will keep you right up to date - but you do have to be "connected".

For those of you "on the net" there is a very good F1 motor racing site run by GALEFORCE F1 which you can access at www.monaco.mc/f1/index.html. This mob do a great job for all the F1 fans by offering an email results service of all the Grand Prix meetings. This includes Practice, Qualifying and the race itself.

Every Friday before the meeting, you get an email with all the lead-up information, fastest lap times etc., with another on Saturday and the final on Sunday night or at worst, Monday morning. What’s more, this service is free!

So, if you can’t get in front of a TV, you can still become part of the action via the net. GALEFORCE also covers the race "live" so you’re not all that far behind the TV viewers.

Autotrivia Quiz

Glad to see there are some movie buffs out there. What was the movie with the little chap who was into funerals and had his own hearse? It was, of course, "Harold and Maude". The actors were Ruth Gordon (Maude) and Bud Cort (Harold). The music was by Cat Stevens and the customized hearse was an XKE Jaguar. And didn’t it look good!

If you’ve never seen this movie, then get someone to get it for you. It really is a timeless classic. For those of you who have seen and remember it, some more trivia - the Cadillac hearse still lives, while the Jag really did go over the cliff and get destroyed! What a waste!

And so to this week’s question - and an easy one, too. Let’s stick with movies and actors and cars. What car was James Dean driving when he was killed? I want the model, as well as the make. OK?

Safety Hints

Having mentioned road safety a couple of weeks ago, I thought that maybe I should just jot down a few words on "staying out of trouble in Pattaya". Some of my mates would immediately say "Stay out of Knockers a Go-Go!" - but I’m not talking about that sort of "trouble" chaps.

As soon as we invented self propelled vehicles we started having accidents in them. Look at poor old Cugnot’s Steam Tractor for example. The first self propelled road going vehicle in history. Completed in 1771 with the blistering top speed of two and half miles per hour and had its first accident on its trial run and demolished a wall! Wonder what that insurance claim form looked like? Mind you, that was in Paris and we all know that the Parisians are almost just as chaotic as the drivers as we see here!

An unfortunately common accident is the "rear ender". That’s where you are sitting minding your own business stopped at a traffic light and some oaf runs fair up your exhaust pipe. (And I’m not talking about outside certain establishments in Pattayaland 2 either!)

Would you believe that a lot of these accidents are avoidable? I realize that you can justifiably state your protestations of innocence. You were stopped. The light was red. The traffic wasn’t moving. Look, I know you didn’t CAUSE the accident, but it’s still possible to escape it, or at least minimize the damage.

When stopped in traffic, put the handbrake on and keep your foot on the brake pedal. Couple of good reasons for this. First it lessens the chance of your being pushed into the car in front of you if your brakes are on so you save yourself some frontal damage, and secondly, the brighter red rear "stop" lights may just alert the following driver that you are actually stationary.

The other good plan, while sitting waiting to be clobbered, is to very frequently check your rear vision mirror. This way you may get some prior warning that you have an idiot approaching at a great rate of knots. If this is the case, start jumping up and down on your brake pedal - the "flashing" nature might just wake him up, and turn your hazard lights on too if you have the time.

If all this looks to be of no avail, then your next move is to try and get into the next lane, turn left, or even drive up over the footpath. This gets you out of the "firing line" and leaves the car that was in front of you to cop the speeding bullet. Not nice for him, I realize, but much better for you. Be particularly aware of this when the roads are wet, because Blind Freddie in the approaching vehicle probably has no idea of stopping distances in the rain. Hence the reason that panel shop operators are always smiling in bad weather!

Try it next time. The bumper bar you save could be your own, to say nothing about "whiplash" injuries!

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Copyright 1998 Pattaya Mail Publishing Co.Ltd.
370/7-8 Pattaya Second Road, Pattaya City, Chonburi 20260, Thailand 
Created by Andy Gombaz, assisted by Chinnaporn Sungwanlek.