Incredulous about A rating

Dear Sir,
So, Pattaya gets an ‘A’ rating for safety with a score of 82% by the National Department of Safety Standards, eh? (Report page 2 Issue 42). I would be fascinated to hear under what criteria these points were awarded. Do you think they included any of the following?
Safety from breaking an ankle as you fall into one of the potholes on the pavement?
Safety from falling off your motorbike as you use the same on the road?
Safety from twisting your neck as you try to walk down the pavement ducking under the four foot high trees planted right in the middle? (South Pattaya road-try it)
Safety from being run down as you have to walk in the road to avoid vendors blocking the pavement?
Safety from being run down as you look right trying to cross the road, only to find some fool driving on the wrong side?
Safety from having scaffolding come crashing through your roof as someone carelessly builds a multi-storey building right next to your house? (Adjacent report, same issue.)
Safety from having your house burst into flames because some unlicensed idiot with a roll of insulating tape thought he was an electrician?
Safety from being ‘taken for a ride’ (pun intended) by some of the more unscrupulous Baht bus drivers?
Safety from being mown down by a ten-wheeler or a bus at traffic lights because the driver knows that red lights do not apply to anything with more than two wheels?
Safety from being crushed in the stampede for the door (note the use of the singular) in Big C when the fire breaks out?
Safety from being set upon by bar girls when you complain that your bill has been ‘padded in the wrong bars?
Safety from............ etc., et al.
If Pattaya came second, it would be interesting to hear which places came last in this competition, in order that all sensible people who would rather not have their life insurance claimed posthumously could cross such obvious death traps off their travel plans.
Meanwhile - doesn’t time just fly in Fun City? I see that they are resurfacing the beach road in South Pattaya again. It seems like only a couple of weeks since they did it last!! Reminds of the old adage - There’s never enough time or money to do something right in the first place, but there’s always enough of both to do it again.
Best Regards,
Peter Eades

Irate over Tapken

Dear Sirs,
Please do us readers a favour and finally stop this imbecility about Tapken. Nobody is actually interested in this guy, who has behaved like a leech, taking advantage of other people and businesses for his own eccentric ego. We are sick and tired of him, and find it most absurd if an established newspaper like the Pattaya Mail is filling up empty space with those meaningless obituaries. There are plenty of topics of public interest and concern (such as the ruined 2nd part of Pattaya Beach Road), which should be publicly discussed and complained about, and even a flimsy statement from City hall in this regard would be more interesting.
So, please, let him rest in peace!
Hampton Jones

THE LAST RESORT

by Jay Patterson

Pattaya is a resort. According to the dictionary, resort has several meanings. One is ‘A place where people go frequently for rest or pleasure.’ In Pattaya, this could refer to the beaches, the sea or the hills in the area.
The other meaning ‘is a person or thing to which one applies for aid.’
In Pattaya, one can find both manifestations of these definitions. The first can be seen every day. People sitting on the beaches, taking walks in the sun and enjoying various sports such as fishing, para-sailing, and sunbathing. These are more pleasant aspects of Pattaya’s many delights.
The other definition, ‘a person or thing to which one applies for aid’ is a rather sad but true situation in the Pattaya scene. It is usually called the ‘night life’.
There are activities that are better enjoyed at night. The night possesses a magic which has always fascinated humans. Candlelight dinners, walks on the beach in the moonlight and attending theatrical performances are enhanced by the night’s enchantment. It has a romance, intimacy and a ‘mystic’ atmosphere.
There is also another side to ‘night life’. As was said in the article Bargirls, the Inside Story’, in an earlier edition of Pattaya Mail, this reporter, feeling knowledge deficient, wanted to take a look at another side of Pattaya’s night life.
Knowing that male and female go-go bars exist for a certain purpose, I wanted to find out about ‘Beer Bars’ and try to get the feel of why they exist.
As stated in the earlier articles, most Farangs who have lived in Thailand since childhood seldom go to these tourist venues, mainly due to lack of interest.
A short time ago, the chance came. I went to one of Pattaya’s many beer bars. From the street, they all appear to be rather similar in format. An acquaintance affirmed this.
What interested this reporter was not the staff but the customers.
I did talk to the staff for a while though, as who could be a better source of information about customers? The staff gave me the following ‘statistics’: The shortest length of time customers stayed averaged 2 hours, but the majority stayed much longer. Most of their customers are ‘regulars’ and can be expected at about the same time every night. They also said that most were heavy drinkers.
After entering and sitting down, I became fascinated, observing the people. There was a melange of nationalities and ‘types’ and all were men. The one thing they seemed to have in common was that they really had nothing in common. Except alcohol.
The average age was approximately 40. The style of dress ranged from beach-casual to blue jeans and Polo shirts. There were some sitting alone, but most were in groups of 3 or four. All had obviously had quite a few drinks and there was an atmosphere of hearty camaraderie. Lots of talking and laughing.
But, after eavesdropping for a while, (sorry, but it’s a reporter’s job) the main subject of conversation seemed to be about the faults of women, Thailand, and the whole world. The other noticeable thing was that these ‘conversations’ were not conversations. There was no listening or exchange of ideas. Each person would state their problem while the others in the group supposedly listened, and then, without responding to their companion’s speech, would launch into their own problems.
It was very sad that not one happy conversation was heard, and the laughter mainly came from deriding the foibles of others and talking of past or future conquests of women.
The thought also occurred that if these men were in the Western world, they probably would not even like each other. But who do you talk to if you don’t get along with the locals and there are few people of your own cultural orientation around you?
After about an hour I felt that these men must be some of the loneliest people I’d ever seen. The atmosphere began to make me feel depressed and I wanted to be home in my warm bed with my books, my cat and a good friend.
The saddest thing was that I think this is what all these men wanted too.
But why didn’t they do this?
My answer came when another customer, whom we did not know, approached our table. He was quite drunk and asked us where we came from. When I responded that I came from Thailand, he slapped me belligerently on the side of the head and called me a liar. I didn’t respond, but this clarified the situation. If a person could do this to a total stranger, could he ever have a close relationship with anyone?
Also, counting the number of drinks that people had downed in a single hour I realised that quenching loneliness this way is expensive.
Asking an attractive, intelligent friend about his past relationships, he responded, ‘The only kind I’ve had lately are the 500 hundred baht, thank you very much, kind.’
Deciding I’d rather be on the outside looking in than the inside looking out, I excused myself and escaped.
Approaching the motorcycle queue I heard a driver, “Here’s another one from the zoo!’
When I spoke to the drivers in Thai, they were a bit embarrassed. ‘Just visiting, I said.
‘What do they talk about in there?’ One driver asked.
‘Absolutely nothing,’ I answered.
Oh, like politicians,’ he rejoined. (This reporter guarantees the veracity of this retort. Foreigners often don’t give Thai people the credit they deserve for repartee.) And he didn’t hit me on the head.!

Thai parents might not always be right, but they’re never wrong

by Sarawut Kraesaekarn

Sometimes what we feel is not always considered ‘correct.’ But it may be correct for the person feeling it. Other people may see what we feel as being evil or selfish. Just as people are different, so are their feelings.
What I have written are only the feelings of one person towards the people who gave birth to him. Maybe very few people have had these feelings. He only wants the people who gave him birth to know. Did he receive what he deserved?
Time changes things. But it did not change his feelings. Even though much time has passed he still lives with these feelings, alone.
Fight on, my friend. Every path is not beautiful.
In Thailand, we are taught that our mother and father love us as much as their own lives. This is probably true. But who could know that this is not always true?
In this real world it is assumed as a law of nature. But some parents only give us birth and don’t give us life.
Do you ever think about the quality of the future life you are giving birth to? Or is this life only a result of the act of mating? Is this result, a human being, a wanted thing or only a bothersome by-product of sexual desire? Do you look and think about our future when you conceive us? Do you worry about us not having a future, even though we may have good jobs?
Those around us are constantly reminding us of our weak points. This can cause life to be a material success but a spiritual wasteland. Some of us wonder why our parents aren’t like those of others. Why didn’t they counsel us when we made mistakes? Why didn’t they encourage us when we were depressed? And then, why did they blame us for not being the way they wanted?
I don’t blame anyone but myself for being born. You lady’s and gentlemen’s nightly exertions brought us into the world. Now we can learn the value of life. I have learned how valuable it is to have to work and fight with people to maintain existence for myself. Not existence to share with a mother or father but for myself, alone. It is wonderfully selfish not having to worry about anyone except myself.
Sometimes I wonder what I have done wrong to be emotionally thrown away like old underwear.
Didn’t the 9 months of carrying me around in your body mean anything? Or was I a tumour that you were waiting to have removed when the time came?
I have a dog. She had puppies. I saw her defend them with her life. You are human beings. Aren’t you ashamed in the eyes of the dog?
If all of us took a little more responsibility for the life we create, there would be no delinquents. No beggars. No children going through garbage to find food. No child prostitution.
All of us should realise for every one of the children mentioned above there were two irresponsible adults. Our future is in their hands of these adults.
Because what is good is good. It needs no help. There are good people who are good parents in the world.
Without the good ones there would be no bad ones.

Incredulous about A rating

Irate over Tapken

THE LAST RESORT

Thai parents might not always be right, but they’re never wrong