Family helps clean beaches

Editor;

This past Sunday, June 17th, the Pollution Solution Group was removing broken parts and pieces of plastic and flotation foam from the swim buoys that are supposed to protect the swimmers but are now more dangerous then protective to swimmers, sea life, ocean craft, and ocean.

While we were working, a lovely family also began to help us; it was the Mr and Mrs How family from Sriracha, and their two sons, 20 year old Sukrit and his younger brother, visiting Jomtien Beach.

They shared their concerns on what a mess the beach and ocean was.

Surkit goes to the Faculty of Fisheries, Kasetsart University in Sriracha. Realizing his studies and our mission were so closely related, we asked Sukrit if he would like to take the PBS Thai documentary video about beach & ocean pollution and our posters (to school).

We asked Surkit to ask teachers to please share the informative PBS Thai and English documentary and to please, make enough copies of the posters to give to each student to take home and share with their families.

We put the ball in this smart young mans court, now only time will tell.

Thank you,

Gerry Rasmus

Big danger for the palm trees forests

Editor;

11 years ago, when I first came to Ban Chang in the province of Rayong, the scenery was amazing. There were numerous numbers of coconut trees everywhere. However, this beautiful palm trees forest is slowly disappearing. 50 percent of the forest is gone.

After reading an article about palm tree pest, I discovered that the Rhynchophorus ferrugineus, also known as the Asian palm weevil was the major pest for palm trees in Thailand. These pests usually weed on a tree of 12 years or younger. The adult first damages the trees by feeding and then it burrows the larva into the damaged section. An adult female usually lays up to 200 eggs. The eggs then hatch into white legless larvae which feed inside the trunk of the infested tree.

To save our palm forest we could use insecticides which are applied with a funnel 5 cm above infested area. However a more eco-friendly way is to use a fungus called Metarhizium anisopliae. This fungus attracts the Asian palm weevil to a point source and kills them. However, if the tree is already infected, it must be killed. It’s the only solution to prevent to spreading of the pest because these bugs are able to fly one kilometer each day.

I’m writing this in hope that someone will take action and save the nice palm trees of Thailand. I would have done something if I had the right materials and knowledge to do so.

Anand Frank Caules

Garden International School

Ban Chang, Rayong

Pets in condominium, happy ending

Dear Editor,

Remember my story? On the last monthly service bill of my apartment, I had a 1000b penalty for having a poodle, after a vote prohibiting dogs by the condominium committee.

My girlfriend, in fact the poodle belongs to her, finally decided to contact the Jomtien police station after the management threatened to cut our water supply. She filed a complaint at the public prosecutor’s office in Na Jomtien. My girlfriend and an executive of the condominium were summoned 2 weeks later to a meeting with prosecutors, who would decide after hearing both parties.

The result: The dog shall not be seen in common properties, so we have to put him inside a bag to cross the compound. What happens inside the apartment, as long as the dog does not make noise, is strictly the business of the apartment owner, even if condo regulations exist about pets. No fine anymore. The presence of a dog in a condo is not a sufficient reason to cut the water (another dog owner had the police within 15mns in the manager office to explain that to the condo staff). The procedure was free of charge.

Because law courts are out of reach for the budget of most of the population, inexpensive channels seem to have been designed in Thailand to solve most of the simple problems that people encounter in everyday’s life. It saves a lot of time and money for everybody.

Expatriates in Pattaya tend to compare Thailand and their lands of origin, and most of the time are critical of the Thai side. Well, decent institutions staffed with decent people do exist here. If something here does not seem to function right, it’s maybe because we do not look at the right place. In France and probably all the western countries, you would have to sue your condo through a law court, where any legal action takes years and hundreds if not thousands of euros to get processed. I clearly prefer the Thai way to deal with this kind of problem.

Francois

Family helps clean beaches

Big danger for the palm trees forests

Pets in condominium, happy ending