Astonished by farang pedophiles’ arrests

Editor;

The farang pedophile arrests you publish each week are a joke to anyone in the know, and display a hypocrisy that is astonishing in its depth. Amongst regular travelers to Thailand it is well known that Thai men frequent non-farang brothels and freely make love to “underage” (well under 18) girls. I spoke with a 60 yr. old Thai man last time in Thailand, he bragged of the 12 yr. old brothel girl he’d just slept with.

However, to appease the Western feminazis, the police (and media) have taken to highly publicized arrests of foreigners for having sex with “underage” partners. While Thai men do so with impunity.

C’mon, guys, who do you think you’re fooling?

And, before you label me a pedophile, I am not condoning or condemning such activities. Nor do I select partners under 18. However, I do get very disgusted with the selective morals and enforcement of the police. Are you afraid to mention this hypocrisy in your newspaper? Would you receive a beating from the police?

Travis Pitt

Editor replies:

Hypocrisy? Just because the locals do it, does that make it right? No, publishing pedophile arrests serves a purpose - to send a message that pedophilia is a crime that will not be tolerated here. If you want to molest little children in your own country, then you take the chance of being caught and punished under the laws of your own country. If you want to do it here, you are subject to the laws that govern this country. If it takes publishing arrested pedophiles’ pictures, both Thai and farang, to make a difference, then so be it. If you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime.

Also, it appears as though you are practicing “selective memory”, for if you really were “in the know”, you’d know that Thai men do not practice pedophilia with impunity. On the same page as the English pedophile story run in Pattaya Mail last week, we published the “Ban Lao Restaurant” raid that freed 5 underage girls from forced prostitution. The Thai owners were arrested and face the same punishment as the farang, perhaps worse.

Armed with the understanding that child molestation has long-term adverse psychological effects on its victims, Pattaya Mail will continue its stance against pedophilia.

What has happened to the Walking Street?

Dear Sir,

What fools we were to imagine that the ‘Walking Street’, which has been so much welcomed by press and public alike, would be allowed to remain as a refuge, where for a few blessed hours each evening, we could escape the fumes, noise, and danger of motor vehicles of all kinds. It has been possible to see the rot setting in: first motorcycle taxis, who are, of course, immune from the need to obey any traffic laws, then motorised food vendors, and finally the outgrown kids who must have the biggest and noisiest machines they can hire. Then we saw the gates being opened quite some time before the appointed hour of midnight, to the danger of pedestrians who thought they were still ‘safe’ for a few more minutes, before they would be pushed aside by a baht bus.

Last night (24th September) the whole system disintegrated (until the rain started), pedestrians were all forced to remain in the narrow sidewalks, so crowded that those who wished to reach a destination could not do so... and for what? Motorcycle racing - no less! Forty or more motorcycles were drawn up just past the barrier, all revving up their engines, while one of their number did a lone trip down to the far end to see that all the unwanted public were well stowed out of the way, and then - off they went. Not even a race, they were so close together that those who started first would finish first. I have heard of similar activities in some Sois in Bangkok; I never thought we would have to suffer it here in Pattaya.

Adverts have asked for ‘entertainers’ to work in the ‘Walking Street’, with little success; is this the alternative? Does City Hall know what is going on, and do the geniuses who work there care? Do the police care - some of them who sit smoking in their little hut next to the Siren Bar cannot fail to have seen the motorcycles being brought in and to have heard the din. Does even ‘Pattaya Mail’ know? - better get a reporter down there soon! Has anyone authorised this abandonment, not only of the ‘Walking Street’ itself, but the breaking of every traffic law in the book: not a helmet to be seen, many with no lights, excessive noise, breaking speed limits in a built-up area, riding in the wrong direction on a one-way street, and no doubt a few more.

Of course, the police were very noticeable by their united absence.

What will be done about this, I wonder? I can only guess... Nothing!

Yours faithfully,
John D. Blyth

I’m Alright Jack!

Dear Editor,

I’m alright Jack! We were introduced to Mr. Jack Levy, an insurance broker, financial adviser, business consultant, and Pattaya guru some months ago. Last week, I was hospitalised for the first time in my life, with a bacterial chest infection, which was pretty scary. I had broken bits of my body before but had never been “ill”. The superb team of physicians at Bangkok Pattaya Hospital (where the modern equipment and ultra professional nursing staff leave many of the UK’s hospitals far behind in a third world category) immediately got to work and stabilised my condition, quickly, expertly and comfortably.

As the initial concerns regarding my physical condition faded, my thoughts turned to the cost of this misadventure. Following my wife, my first visitor was none other than Jack Levy. “Relax and get better - that’s your job,” he said. “I’ll take care of the paperwork” (A common euphemism for “The Bill”).

This quiet spoken virtual stranger then proceeded to the Hospital Accounts Department and returned shortly thereafter, confirming, “All taken care of, just sign the bill - the medical insurance which we arranged a while back will take care of everything, you just pay for phone calls and the minibar.”

The point is not the merits of insurance, those are self evident. You know, “You’re either glad you have it - or you wish you had.” Rather, that in his busy routine, with business, family and social obligations, Jack Levy found time to visit a stranger in hospital and “took care”.

Thanks Jack, from me and my family! I’m alright Jack and so are you!

Chris Hill

Better barriers needed

Dear Sir,

Congratulations on the new path at Jomtien Beach. But how can we stop people using it as a speedway and toilet?

Last weekend one man even managed to ram his car up on to the new path while he picnicked on the beach with his family. Locals put bricks and logs across as a barrier to motorcycles, but mostly they rode over them.

As for the men urinating on it, they continue to do so, leaving puddles and embarrassing families walking past.

Can’t the police enforce some order? There are toilets all along the beach but these men seem to prefer to exhibit themselves in full view. What would happen in a woman squatted on the path instead of using the toilets I wonder?

Yours faithfully,
John Hargreaves

Wetting the walkway 

Dear Sir,

The new path along Jomtien Beach is most welcome and attractive. But what is going to be done about the men who urinate on it in full view of beach goers, leaving smelly puddles? They were doing it last weekend even as the workmen were still laying the new footpath. Tourists have put up crude signs with graphic diagrams to stop this, but they ignore them.

I think it’s up to the city or police to do something. They would be arrested in their own countries for indecent exposure. So why do it in Thailand? It’s insulting this country.

Yours truly,
Anne Taylor

What to do with the dogs?

Dear Sir,

Recently you have published letters about the condition of dogs in Pattaya, especially on the beaches.

It’s no good talking about pounds and after 3 days, dogs being put down mercifully - it just doesn’t happen. Nor does a collar and rabies free medal mean anything when the police come down to the beach at night and shoot any dogs on sight. They don’t stop to check if it has a collar. This was the experience we had a few years ago when the city decided that tourists didn’t like dogs. People arrived at the beach to find beloved pets and dogs that were left in charge of beach equipment overnight, dead where they had been shot.

These dogs are not fierce but do give a warning if strangers come down to the beach at night to pilfer what they can.

So ideas such as microchips, pounds, etc., are not appropriate here. Free sterilization and rabies shots are, and they are carried out every year by the city. A suggestion would be to carry out this service in a more convenient place for locals, i.e., where the dogs are.

If, as a visitor, you would like to help, offer to pay and take the animals to the local vets - there are many. I know many tourists who make this contribution every time they visit.

Yours sincerely,
Martin James

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