Pattaya Mail — Letters

It is noticed that the letters herein in no way reflect the opinions of the editor or writers for Pattaya Mail, but are unsolicited letters from our readers, expressing their own opinions. No anonymous letters or those without genuine addresses are printed, and, whilst we do not object to the use of a nom de plume, preference will be given to those signed.

Give us your opinion on any subject.

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Letters published in the Mailbag of Pattaya Mail will also be on our website .

Save criticism for different audience

Dear Sir,
Michael Catalanello’s suggestion ("Don’t lump together littering and pedophilia," December 12) that my letter of November 28 was a veiled defense of pedophilia is an egregious example of a technique of misinformation known as ‘demonization.’ It is much beloved of the moral majority and was wielded with great effect in the United States during the 1950s ‘reds under the bed’ debacle. By tarring me as a pedophile and assuming that his own position is unassailable ("If I were Thai, I would be offended..."), he effectively deflects attention from the point I was trying to make in the same way that branding dissident filmmakers as communists, for example, diluted their political message.

I will counter the technique by avoiding the deflection and returning to the point that I originally made and that Mr. Catalanello has chosen to miss. Freedom of speech is a privilege granted by law to citizens of democratic countries for the purpose of expanding the public dialogue. The public dialogue, in turn, prepares these citizens to adequately express their primary democratic right—choosing at the ballot box. That the US Democratic party was recently obliged to return massive presidential election contributions to Chinese donors illustrates that this privilege is not normally extended to foreigners.

Thailand is a functioning democracy. I assume that the majority of readers of and contributors to the Pattaya Mail are not enfranchised in this democracy. As such, any debate of pedophilia in these pages is, in the words of Pat Burbridge (Our Bi-monthly Portrait, December 12) the ‘mumbling of wanna-be doers.’ If Mr. Catalanello is serious about contributing to an anti-pedophilia debate, he should at least direct his letters to a Thai audience. If he wishes to escape my criticism of cultural imperialism, he should save them for an audience in the country in which he is politically enfranchised.

Sincerely,
George Morris

Revamp the traffic system

Dear Editor:
Tourists are of course fed-up with the rednecks and prostitutes, the filthy bay and beaches, the 2 tier pricing system, the mangy dogs. I’m certain they are also fed up with the traffic situation. The streets are a dangerous, stinking, jam packed mess. It’s impossible to cross the streets, and impossible to walk on the sidewalks. The city went to great pains to put the no nookie - no mugging light system along the beach front, but the most dangerous situation is trying to cross the streets and dodging motorbikes, baht taxis, and tour buses. There have been more people killed and injured, I’m sure, on the streets than on the beach front, and no attempt has been made to string up traffic lights. Law enforcement would of course help, but Pattaya’s finest act like they could care less. What is needed is a drastic over-haul of the whole traffic mess, and certainly a new traffic manager.

Pattaya Mail of Dec. 12 had the headline: "The time is now to revamp the baht bus system." I agree. Everybody knows the baht taxis are a damn nuisance. It’s been said over and over again for years. It’s insane to have 900 strong-arm, rip-off artists roaming the streets. However, they are just part of the problem. Do away with them and you still have a traffic mess. In my opinion all vehicles, if they have no legitimate purpose there, should be excluded from the city center. (Along with the hundreds of rental motorbikes.) Only vehicles with a special permit should be allowed. A decent public transportation system with buses or streetcars could be set up. It wouldn’t cost much and the beach resort would once again be quiet, pleasant, colorful, and civilized.

Sign me,
A Weary Pedestrian
PS. I invite you to come take a look at the situation around the market area on S. Pattaya Road.

Chaos on Koh Larn

Dear Sir,
Spending a weekend in Pattaya, we decided to spend a day on Koh Larn, about a 45-minute boat ride away.

We settled under a mass system of umbrellas overlapping to accommodate the masses arriving by small boats from Pattaya. I was shocked to find boats backing into the swimming area and tourists and children jumping out of the way of spinning propellers and dodging the fast moving jet skis. One small child just missed getting her legs cut off by two large outboard motors tilted back skimming the water while trying to maneuver backward to disembark passengers.

In the early afternoon there was a mass exodus of Asian tourists in long overloaded open boats with the occupants jammed together without lifejackets aboard. As soon as the large crowd dispersed, motorcycles appeared racing at high speed back and forth down the sand, causing tourists to run across trying to get back toward their lounge chairs. Obviously there are no rules or regulations being enforced on the Island. It is just a matter of time before a serious accident occurs. Will the authorities responsible please look into this chaotic situation?

Gary Hacker
Visiting from San Francisco

For local cable news

Editor;
I am a long term fan of your "amazing" and "superb" local cable news. I especially enjoy the way you shoot & produce such classics as "The Pedophile’s Last Pickup Truck Ride", "Last Nights Road-Kill", "Drugs-R-Us", "Bar Girls Meet The Pattaya Police", "The Baht Bus From Hell", "Assorted Dead Bodies" and so forth. Where do you get such subject material in such a wonderful, pollution free, secure tourist destination?

Your true skill at video documentation of half used tubes of ana-lube, body fluids on the road, narcotics, prostitutes, psycho baht bus drivers and bloated bodies is only surpassed by the background music "Chonburi" and the other music played in accompaniment to the visual presentation.

You are truly one short step from greatness! Take out "Chonburi", the marching songs and other music and replace them with "Another One Bites The Dust" and "Welcome To The Jungle" and you will have a real world-class "amazing" product.

The Phu Moo Phantom