| ||
|
[email protected] Letters published in the Mailbag of Pattaya Mail will also
be on our website . |
Dear sir,
I read with interest the letter from Mark Longstreath about British nationality. I found his argument that to give his unborn grandchildren British nationality, he would have to return to the UK and go on the dole very strange indeed. He could, like the majority of people in the UK, get a job. Great Britain has one of the lowest unemployment figures in the world and therefore it would seem to me that if you really want to work then you can do so. Too many people, however, believe that the country owes them a living. Although I now live in Thailand, I still pay income tax in the UK and would prefer it to be used for education, health etc., than for the work-shy.
Nationality by descent for one generation is the norm in most developed countries. There is no need or reason to change our laws in great Britain. British nationality is a privilege and should not be given just to enable people who have contributed nothing to receive benefits that the majority of people living there work and pay taxes to provide for the elderly who have already made there contribution and for the young who will do so in the future. Strict laws need to be enforced to prevent a British passport becoming a passport of convenience.
Michael Cox
South Pattaya
| Back to Letters Headline Index |
Sirs,
Pattaya Mail Vol. VI No.11 dated Friday 13 March - 19 March 1998, in your Grapevine column reference: Retirement Visas. I had a completely different Experience with the Pattaya Immigration Department when I applied for a Genuine Retirement Visa. I applied for the retirement visa was told that as I had received my previous retirement visas in Bangkok that I had to start from the beginning on all paper work with the exception of getting a new non-immigrant visa. After finishing all the paper work I was given a 30-day extension on my one-year visa on 23 January 1998 and was told to return on 22 February. February the 22nd was on a Sunday so I returned on 20 February and was again given another 30-day extension. On 18 March I returned to the immigration department and was given my one-year visa. The whole crunch of this letter is that perhaps the person who wrote the article did not know about re-entry visas. You can apply for and receive re-entry visas although you only have a 30-day extension pending your one-year visa approval/disapproval. So far I haven’t had any problems. The nice part is the Pattaya Immigration Department will process the re-entry visa while you wait. I applied for and received three re-entry visas in Pattaya and haven’t had to wait for more than one hour each time. In Bangkok you apply for the re-entry visa and then return the next day for the visa.
I think that the Pattaya Immigration Department was given a black eye that perhaps they don’t deserve. Possibly the person who wrote the previous article didn’t realize he could receive a re-entry visa on a 30-day extension pending approval/disapproval of a one-year visa. Maybe he applied for and was refused a re-entry visa for some reason known only to him and the immigration department. If that was the case I am sorry that he had the unhappy experience. As for myself I must say that I have always had good service from the Pattaya Immigration Department.
Little Johnnie
| Back to Letters Headline Index |
Internet bookings not always bad
Editor:
While sympathising with Neil Nutbrown’s experience of a hotel loosing his booking, I fail to see why the Internet should be blamed.
Just for the record, I booked via the Internet on my latest visit to Pattaya. By visiting the web-site of the Penthouse Hotel (http://www.penthousehotel.com) I was able to view photos of the rooms, and check details of facilities and prices. I booked a room by email, and also asked the Penthouse to arrange transportation from the airport.
As I came out of customs at the airport I saw a large Penthouse sign with my name on it being held up by the taxi-driver, and had a quick transfer to the hotel. Everything went smoothly.
I would recommend the web as an excellent way to compare hotels, check availability and book accommodation.
And - of course - we can keep up with the news in the Pattaya Mail online.
Regards,
Peter May
| Back to Letters Headline Index |
Dear Sir,
About 1 1/2 years ago I read in the newspapers that letters and postcards with “special stamps” for collection, e.g., the 9 Baht Royal Barges, etc., were not forwarded to their destination, and that the stamps were taken off from the cards and letters by staff working at Pattaya’s post office.
I can’t remember what happened to the P.O. staff, but obviously these things still happen.
In November 1997 I mailed a few cards with regular stamps and some with “special stamps” from the Pattaya post office. All cards with regular stamps reached the addressee, but all other cards never got to their destinations.
I did the same again on February 28, when I posted 10 cards in the mailbox outside the post office on Soi Post Office to friends in Germany, England, and U.S.A.
All but one postcard were affixed with different colourful “special stamps” for collection. Only the postcard with the regular stamp arrived at my friend’s.
So it is obvious that people at the Pattaya P.O. are still taking them off the cards and maybe selling them again. I would like you to advise your readers not to use special stamps.
Sincerely,
Eckhard von der Heide
| Back to Letters Headline Index |