A response from the Philippines

Editor;

First, to Mr. Richard Celino, re: Bad Baht Taxi 7. During my travels, I still did not come across a place where everything was perfect and everywhere you go, you sometimes have frustrating situations. I’ve also had a few hard times with some taxi drivers here, but that does not stop me from coming to Thailand or from recommending it to my friends. What I find of major importance here is that generally the people of Thailand make us tourists, business people and other Farangs feel really welcome and at home. Thank you Thai people, it is highly appreciated.

...So please, as a sportsman, reconsider. Keep recommending Thailand to your friends and keep enjoying the pleasures of Pattaya...

Secondly, re: Sad Stories from Mr. Boomsiri and Mr. Ray Foster.

Personally, I (still) live in the Philippines, where sexual and other child abuse is even worse than in Thailand. About 5 years ago there were even organized trips for that reason from Benelux, Germany and Scandinavian countries. Fortunately the governments of these countries took measures. Also, when people commit child abuse crimes here, the police only have to contact the embassy of the culprit and lock him up for a short time till the embassy has the confirmation from their Ministry of Justice. After that, “the abuser’ will be put on a direct plane home to his own country. (In many places) the police there are waiting for his arrival and will lock him up for several years. This is the situation in Europe and Australia (it occurred in Philippines a few times with Swedish, Norwegian & Australian sex tourists).

Unfortunately I do not know what the situation is in the USA. This country is highly advanced in different ways but very backwards in others (environment, still the world’s biggest polluters), and I wonder how it is with these crimes and crime prevention. Maybe our well appreciated Pattaya Mail can make enquiries at the American Embassy? In the Philippines, however, even though legal punishment for such a crime is the death penalty, the majority of these kinds of crimes are committed by locals and very often direct family members of the victims.

Now I also wonder, has anybody ever investigated this in Thailand?

Jan Beuken
Philippines

A brief history of the Kra Canal

Dear Sir,

Re last weeks news item about the ‘largest man-made waterway on earth’, in other words, the Kra Canal. It may interest your readers to know that this canal could have been built in the heyday of ship canal building in the nineteenth century when the Suez, Kiel and most other ship canals were cut. The reason it wasn’t was due to a clause in the Anglo-Thai Treaty by which the Thai government of the day agreed not to allow such a canal to be built without the agreement of the British government; a treaty that only expired in the late nineteen-sixties.

One supposes that such a canal will have sufficient depth of water to allow the passage of the largest ships afloat, such as VLCC Tankers, whose drafts are in excess of 75' and thus cannot make the transit of the Malacca Straits and on a voyage from the Gulf to Japan proceed via the Lombok and Macasser Strait’s, which puts about another thousand nautical miles (n.m.) on the voyage. Passing through the Isthmus of Kra would shorten their trip by about 1350 n.m.

Historically speaking, one can postulate that in the main, Singapore owes its position in the world today due to the absence of a Kra Canal, for had it been cut Singapore would have just been another port in South East Asia and not the crossroads of the shipping routes from eastern Asia to western Asia, Africa and Europe.

Regards,
Sinbad

On the snooze

Dear Sir,

You may think that you are a newspaper, but I prefer to think of you as a snooze paper! I never cease to be amazed at how much news you either miss or simply fail to report. I was prompted to write this letter when I discovered that a fairly major event that happened in Pattaya a month ago has (until now) not been mentioned in your organ.

I refer to the closure of the Thai International Airways Office at the Royal Cliff Hotel and its relocation to the Dusit Resort Hotel in North Pattaya. Not only are you, as a newspaper, at fault but Thai International must share some of the blame for not placing advertisements about the change of the location (and presumably phone numbers) of their office in Pattaya.

Whilst we are on the subject of non-reporting, does anyone in the Pattaya Mail know what that large ferry boat located in the bay is doing here? It looks like a Penang or Hong Kong car ferry that has lost its way. It is surely worth a mention, however brief, in the Mail.

Yours in Despair,
Oliver Minto

Editor replies; Thank you Mr. Minto for so eloquently providing such constructive criticism.

Someone is to blame

Editor;

In reference to numerous articles concerning the polluted waters allegedly caused by the many industrial sites in Laem Chabang and other articles referring to dead aquatic life washing up along area shores, it certainly appears that someone in the Laem Chabang area is to blame. Local waters being

contaminated is one concern for sure, but if the contamination is entering the gulf waters it becomes an international concern.

The articles in the Pattaya Mail do not seem to put the blame on any particular party being responsible; however, the problem persists even after the waters in the areas have been examined for contamination with the results indicating normal levels of contamination. The examinations appear to be conducted only one time soon after community residents point out the abnormally high number of dead fish in the surrounding waters to responsible officials.

When a person with high blood pressure is first identified the doctor doesn’t rely on the first reading. He will have the patient’s blood pressure recorded daily at different times during the day and take all readings into consideration. The area waters entering the gulf are similar to one’s arteries giving different readings at different times of day.

The industrial sites located in Laem Chabang along with any foreign countries with investments in the companies should be concerned and providing support to ascertain why the aquatic life is dying off in Laem Chabang waters would be seen as a noble action before foreign investors are accused of contaminating the oceans, which surely is not what any country in this day and age wants to be accused of.

J. Jones
Retired

Pattaya showing improvement

Dear Sir,

I recently spent an enjoyable holiday in Pattaya. I had not visited the resort for over 2 years and I was pleasantly surprised at the improvements that have occurred. One evening I strolled down Soi Yamato and in my opinion this is now a ‘happening Soi’ with various new bars, restaurants and internet cafes. Being a life long Aston Villa soccer fan I was overjoyed to bump into Kenny Austin, a prominent local businessman as well as a fanatical Aston Villa fan. We spent many pleasant evenings discussing ‘The Villa’. I certainly won’t leave it another two years before I visit Pattaya again!

Yours faithfully
Bernard Mather,

Salford, England

Temple troubles

Editor;

May I be so presumptuous as to suggest that there must be something in Buddhist doctrine that takes into consideration the effect of noise and pollution on the nerves and health of others?

I have watched the crematory of Wat Chaimongkol on South Pattaya grow from a small building to a large enterprise that employs loud speakers to broadcast day and night a funeral dirge to the whole neighborhood. If that isn’t enough, loud rockets soar into the air and burst, and smoke from the crematory chimneys float over the entire area.

I intend no disrespect and I do not want to interfere in any existing religious ceremony that is standard and fair to all concerned. All I suggest is that a good hard look be taken at present procedures. The music can certainly be confined to an air-conditioned room, the boom boxes can be trashed, and the rockets curtailed. The smoke from the crematory chimney can be filtered so that ashes don’t flavor food in our kitchens.

To make matters worse, the temple sits in the middle of a dust bowl, motorbikes race through the temple grounds, and some poor people are sitting on a huge garbage dump in the rear of the temple grounds.

If all of this is standard, please forgive me. I don’t want our Lord Buddha rolling over in his grave if it isn’t really necessary.

Sign me,
RS

Recommending Pattaya Mail

Dear Sir,

I live in England and I am lucky enough to have a copy of the Pattaya Mail sent to me every week.

May I recommend to you ex pats living in Pattaya that you make similar arrangements for your family “back home”. It will make them feel much more in touch with you if they can regularly read about all the happenings in Pattaya. It will have the added benefit of making them feel they are not forgotten on the odd occasions when a week has just flown by and you haven’t managed to find the time to lift the phone.

I am sure they will enjoy the Mail as much as I do.

Edna Harrisson

Copyright 1998 Pattaya Mail Publishing Co.Ltd.
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Updated by Chinnaporn Sangwanlek.