HEADLINES [click on headline to view story]:

Bad traffic in Pattaya

Been there done that

Having a poke at knockers of whingers

Sleepless in Pattaya

Pattaya pigeon club

Necessity trumps integrity

Regarding the tower crane accident at the Cove construction site

Bad traffic in Pattaya

Editor;
Open Letter to T.A.T. and Pattaya Police: I have travelled to 45 countries, and over 200 cities, and the traffic in Pattaya is the worst I have ever seen. Many tourists I spoke to said they would not return because of traffic problems.
Why is the traffic very bad in Pattaya? The new road to Jomtien will not make it better. E.G., now it takes only 5 minutes to go from Jomtien to Hiso Hotel in South Pattaya, but it takes 30 minutes to go from Hiso Hotel to North Pattaya. This long delay is because there is no traffic control in Pattaya.
Why don’t police control the traffic flow at Hiso Hotel, South Pattaya, V.C. Hotel, Mikes Shopping Mall, etc.? This would help to make the traffic move quickly.
Also, there are too many private cars driving in Pattaya Second Road and Beach Road. Most cars do not stop for shopping, as they are passing through only, or just looking. They should use the bypass which is Sukhumvit Road, and Pattaya Third Road. A toll charge of 50 or 100 baht could be charged for private cars that want to pass on Second Road and Beach Road. This money could be used to improve roads, etc., in Pattaya.
Signed,
Peter Wilson

Been there done that

Editor;
I find myself addressing the misguided individuals that need to justify in their own minds their relationships with their Thai wives. I will not expand on my relationship (only to say it is great), but to say that any relationship is based on what you develop and communicate with each other. To suggest that “ex bar girls” are better than “ex go-go” girls or that Thai girls from “so-called” respectful employment are better only proves the total lack of real understanding of Thai culture and relationships.
Thai girls all have the same thing in common; the need for a loyal husband, understanding of family importance, support and mutual respect.
All of these will not ensure a successful outcome but will enhance your chances. After owning a number of businesses in Thailand and still do, I know that it does not matter what the girl’s background is but rather what her situation is and her ability to manage it. I have employed bar girls and professional girls and let me ensure anyone who is thinking I have got this wrong both groups have demonstrated the same faults and benefits. I also know many girls from the go-go clubs, and once again the same issues.
Before anyone put pen to paper these problems occur in any culture but once again I believe if you manage the situation from start your chances of success are good.
My experience, for what it is worth, after consoling many a customer from broken relationships is that the common mistakes were:
1. Promising what they could not deliver.
2. Failing to understand her personal commitments.
3. Did not spend the 20,000 baht for a quick background check.
4. Did not agree to what the financial arrangements with her would be from day one.
5. Did not consider her Thai needs when migrating to their country.
6. Encouraging her to mix with the “Thai crowd” in their home country.
7. No pre nuptial agreement.
This list might sound very businesslike but you are investing in someone who if it goes wrong is likely to cost you a large amount of your investment funds. If you clear all of this beforehand the path is clear for fun and enjoyment as the uncertainly has been reduced.
Signed,
Been there done that

Having a poke at knockers of whingers

Dear Editor,
Wasn’t Don Ward’s snipe at things that are allowed to go on in this country more an excuse to have a poke at knockers of whingers about Thailand than anything? He wasn’t about to miss opportunity to blow his own trumpet, either. Aren’t we lucky to have his contribution to our society? Did he donate out of the goodness of his heart, or because he gets from our society what he can’t get from his own?
He is right that some things warrant complaint, but squeaky wheels do not always get oiled. Some foreigners here keep a store of squeaks in their head, so if one gets oiled they will have another to replace it. It is a trait that seems integral to some cultures.
Thailand does not invade other countries and destabilise whole regions. Who was shuffling papers instead of helping New Orleans residents after hurricane Katrina? Thai greed did not cause the current worldwide financial crisis that affects us all.
Here’s a little ditty for Thailand knockers. Instead of creaking if things aren’t just fine, remember that our kisses are sweeter than your whine.
Pattaya Patty

Sleepless in Pattaya

Editor;
I give up! Instead of turning to sleep I will join the crowd down in the market area on South Pattaya Road and listen to the DVD man as he plays one outrageous tune after another. Who knows, I might get to like his brand of music and I will join the carnival-like crowd every night. The only drawback is if I retire at 8 a.m. I am awakened by the teacher at the Buddhist school who is on her mega speaker for the morning assembly. After that will come more wat activities when huge megawatt speakers are moved into positions.
There must be a law to put a quietus on all this. Surely they are not trying to get rid of tourists. If they are all they need do is say so and I and others will move on. It is very convenient for us to live on So. Pattaya Rd. if we have no car and we don’t add to the transportation mess.
Calls to 1337 don’t help. They promise to get in touch with the police, the police evidently don’t know what the law is in regard to noise pollution so they make no attempt to keep this reasonably quiet. Sorta make one wonder who is in charge of noise abatement; the police or city hall.
Ray Standiford

Pattaya pigeon club

Editor,
May I advise your readers about the newly-formed Pattaya Pigeon Club, which now serves Pattaya, Jomtien, Naklua and Banglamung? Anyone, whether an experienced fancier or just interested in taking up a different sort of bird fancying as a new hobby, is welcome to join our club. Information is available on local and national races, birds, feed, lofts, etc.
E-mail: pattayapigeonclub@ymail.com
Dave Staley

Necessity trumps integrity

Editor;
I often concur with John Arnone, but to put the integrity of bargirls above that of go-go girls (27th Nov) is like saying shoplifters are more honest than burglars. All the girls are predators, as we all are, doing what we do to get the best we can. The difference between most of us is the options we have. Aging single men have few, like aging Thai women (who age much sooner) or those from a poor background. There interests meet. I believe it is wrong to judge a sex worker’s motives, not that a man raised on old retarded Anglo sexual values, which encompasses most of us in Thailand, can ever get it right. Women everywhere have always needed to serve through sex and marriage, and as society forced them to be dependent.
The basic wage of a go-go dancer can be more than of a university graduate, which provides options. A bar or service girl’s wage is subsistence level and needs to be supplemented. Necessity trumps integrity anywhere. Whether a girl is stripping or more, it says not that she has low morals but that she can rise above the self-righteous opinion of others. It is fallacy that not showing flesh is Thai culture, the aversion a hob-knob import from the 1930s prudish West. Look at any old Thai-art community scenes, and you will see that everyone was topless. Men with Isaan wives tend to think that Bangkok and Pattaya are not ‘Thailand’, but they are in fact more representative than up-country, where people are subject to small-town peer pressure. Once away, their true self emerges. That again applies anywhere.
Only in recent times did marriage stop being the most common livelihood for Western women and they became choosey - to survive they did not need to attach to any man that would take them. That situation remains in Thailand, where men do not have to marry to get sex. That means a woman has to be a bit special to attract a Thai man of substance. The class structure means that up-country girls with no education have few options. That is why many are eager to hook a foreign man, largely seen as desperate and with deep pockets. The former is our cultural legacy, but that’s another issue.
As for John Riggs’ love at first sight experience, some would say it’s a self-deluding fantasy. Such people don’t know what they are talking about, as they say the same when I tell about the fairies at the bottom of my garden.
TC

Regarding the tower crane accident at the Cove construction site

Editor;
With regards to the accident which occurred at the Cove Condominium construction site on November 17, 2009 as reported by various news media, Petch Property Development Company Limited as owner and developer of the project would like to inform all concerned about the incident to the tower crane used in the construction of the building.
Powerline Engineering (Public) Company Limited, the main contractor responsible for the construction of the building has completed all structural work of the condominium and is presently working on the architectural and interior finishing. Initially there were two tower cranes used during the building process, of which one has already been dismantled several months ago. The second tower crane was in the process of being dismantled by the responsible crew when the counterweights dislodged causing the crane to buckle and collapse. Reports from inspecting engineers by Powerline Engineering (Public) Company Limited indicate that the crane operators, SP Crane Operator Service was in the process of lowering the mast of the crane and has shifted the counterweights to compensate the balance of the crane when the accident occurred. The counterweights dislodged and fell away causing an imbalance to the crane, and thus causing the boom of the crane to buckle and twist, coming to rest on the construction elevator’s main tracks located at the side of the building.
Petch Property Development Co., Ltd has notified Powerline Engineering (Public) Company Limited to ensure that the necessary safety and precautionary measures are taken and that no further incidences occur.
Petch Property Development Co., Ltd would like to apologize for the incident and would like to take this opportunity to extend its condolences to the families of the victims involved.
Sincerely Yours,
Itthi Chavalittamrong
CEO, Petch Property Development Co., Ltd

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