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Two cents-worth
Dear Sir,
May I throw in my two cents-worth on a couple of
popular topics oft discussed in these columns and around town?
Songthaew (baht-bus) drivers come in for a lot of stick
for their driving and pricing tactics. I can’t speak as a passenger, but
as a driver I find them to be, mostly, amongst the very few considerate
drivers. When you are trying to nose out across a busy, uncontrolled
intersection, if anyone stops to let you through, it is most likely to be
a baht-bus driver. Don’t ever expect a Mercedes or BMW driver to be
considerate - and very rarely another farang.
If I had to drive all day in chaotic traffic, trying to
make a living in competition with far too many baht-buses for the
available customers, I too would be inclined to get passengers in and out
as quickly as possible.
As to rip-offs, if visitors cannot be bothered to find
out the right price and route information, they stand out as suckers. Any
guidebook or hotel reception can save them from becoming tempting targets
for drivers who actually earn very little after paying rent and fuel
costs. That is not to excuse the few surly or violent drivers but taxi
rip-offs and aggressive drivers can be found anywhere in the world.
The drivers that really do worry me are bus and
mini-bus (10-15 seater) drivers. They really are maniacs. Again, this is
the same in many countries, but, as they are responsible for so many
lives, they should be cracked-down on. It is especially horrifying that
these people are often school bus drivers and the kids have no choice but
to put their innocent little lives in the hands of these selfish, arrogant
and aggressive drivers. One school bus driver operating between Sri Racha
and Pattaya had three accidents in two weeks, forcing one of my staff to
make alternative, more expensive arrangements for her daughter.
The other, sometimes associated topic is the police.
Like any other product or service, you will only ever get what you pay
for. Most Thai policemen have to pay for their own uniforms, two-way
radio, cellphone, gun, handcuffs, transport, stationary and everything
else. The consequences are obvious.
Regards,
Bernie
Myanmar Embassy
responds
The Editor
Pattaya Mail
Pattaya
Dear Sir,
We wish to refer to the article entitled “The
adjacent doorway into Bagan” by Gary Hacker (Vol. VIII No.8 Pages 18
& 19 ). Although it was interesting to read about the writer and his
daughter’s account of their visit to Myanmar in late November last year,
we would like to point out, for the benefit of your readers, some
inaccuracies mentioned in the article.
Quote.... Citizens are not allowed to use computers and
they have no movies, bars or places for gathering and entertainment. The
Government had closed all of the Universities. Permits are necessary for
(Myanmar) to travel outside of their districts. Foreign travel for them is
almost impossible. Basic medical care is only obtainable by the wealthy
and Military; people are dying unable to obtain the proper medicine....
Unquote.
It is a well-established fact that computers are widely
used not only in work places but also in schools throughout the country.
There are even two Computer Science Institutes in Myanmar. As for movies,
bars or places for gathering and entertainment, one cannot imagine how
they failed to see them in all the places they visited. It is true that
some universities have not fully reopened, but many universities and
institutes of the higher education have already resumed normal classes.
Regarding travel permits and foreign travel, there are no restrictions,
whatsoever, that one is aware of. The Government attaches great importance
to the public health-care of its people and basic medical care is free and
accessible to every citizen for the country. The Maternity and Child
Welfare Association in Myanmar, too, is very active and its activities
reach even the remote and far-flung areas of the country.
Embassy of Myanmar
Bangkok
Awakening with the
animals
Dear Sir,
The chicken people have just added a new feather to
their cap with the introduction of an exciting new project in Pattaya:
Chicken alarm clocks for tired guests at (a local hotel).
Now guests can be woken sometime between 4 and 4:15
every morning to the deep throated roars of cockerels thoughtfully housed
beside their rooms.
What a great chance to get up and see the sun rise over
the chicken coops placed around the swimming pool. I wonder what is next?
Carp in the swimming pool with the chicken coops placed on top so that
their droppings feed the carp? What a great ecological and money saving
idea! Chicken and carp cooked 50 different ways on the menu.
Now that we have chickens breeding around the swimming
pool, guests can play a new game of Russian roulette - Thai style. Go
swimming and accidentally drink a little water. Will they get salmonella,
or perhaps a case of Hong Kong chicken virus?
The management is so excited by this new innovation
that they are prepared to keep the chickens and throw out the guests. When
I asked the manager to move the rooster roosting next to my room, I was
told that I should move to another hotel instead. I did. But to add insult
to injury, they refused to give me a full refund on my one month prepaid
deposit. Instead, they charged me 100 baht extra for every night I had
already stayed. This, in addition to the flea bites I got since they
introduced chickens to the hotel.
Can guests at other Pattaya hotels look forward to
being housed with animals as well?
May I suggest that the Health Department go and inspect
conditions at this hotel? We wouldn’t want the chickens getting diseases
from all those unhealthy and unsightly humans, would we?
Meanwhile, the hotel could set up a flea circus to
entertain the few human guests who don’t mind sharing their room and
swimming pool with our feathered friends.
Baldur Hannesson,
Tourist from Iceland
Unhygienic massage?
Editor,
Over the years I’ve enjoyed the company of many
friends as we chat on the beach at Jomtien. Of the many services on offer,
one I have chosen to avoid is that of a beachside massage from one of the
many quite respectable and well qualified young men who add to the colour
and vitality of a days visit. Quite simply, it’s a matter of hygiene.
A customer requests a massage and knowing this is going
to keep him occupied for, perhaps, the next hour, our masseur slips across
the dirt track to relieve himself up against the wood fence and then
it’s back to work. Tap water is in short supply on Jomtien Beach.
Then a few months back we all thought help was at hand.
A public toilet, no less, was under construction, and then the work
stopped, but not before the building was sufficiently advanced to offer
some small degree of privacy to those desperate poor souls who find
themselves ‘’caught short’’ as I believe the saying goes.
The stench is quite dreadful. So come on City Hall,
please finish off what you started, we tourists deserve nothing less!
Nick Viney
Thai Hospitality
Editor;
I don’t feel sorry for the Swiss family Fourrier at
all. They seem to have more than enough money to travel round the world,
as their letter informs us. Paying a little over the odds is not a reason
to deny the hospitality, politics and fairness of the whole Thai nation.
Mr Fourrier should put the event down to experience. Something he seems to
have very little of, in spite of his travels. He should stay at home and
look at the scenery.
Peter Ash,
York, England, Europe (just)
One way sois
Sir,
There are dozens of very small sois in the Central
Pattaya area and between Beach Road and Sai 2, where it is almost
impossible for 2 small cars to pass, requiring constant backing up of
vehicles, and which due to the lack of footpaths poses a very serious
danger to all the pedestrians of Pattaya.
Rather than the City Council wasting the residents
money on unnecessary commemoration and grandiose opening ceremonies for
trivial events, the newly elected councilors should ensure that this money
is spent for the good of the people who elected them by making these small
sois one way, which would improve living conditions for everyone.
Nick Fisher
At their
convenience
Sir,
After about 6 months, one of the two toilets on the beach at
Jomtien appears complete, but the second one is far from finished, with no work
presently being carried on. The adjoining footpath has become an open sewer with
associated health hazards.
When finally finished, inspected and tested, we can
presumably expect a grand opening ceremony, attended by the Pattaya Mayor and
his hangers on, the Pattaya Police Chief, local bigwigs, the Governor of
Chonburi and since this is an enormous tourist attraction, possibly also the
Minister of Tourism. When, nobody knows. Presumably at their convenience! I
wonder who will have the honour of using it first!
Isn’t it amazing that these two small structures, so
urgently needed, take so long to build, yet, on the Third Road, at the junction
with Soi 17, almost overnight, a new 7-11 store has been built and opened,
complete with staff toilets.
Nick Fisher
Whinging Ex-pats
Sir,
I find it rather strange, the ex-pats’ who live here who
voice their opinions that others may not be constructive in voicing theirs, did
not take up the issue of the alleged ill-treatment and brutality of the Afghan
pilots in the recent problem they encountered at the hands of the British
authorities. One wonders why. Is it perhaps a case of “my visa is safe for
another year if I openly defend corruption?”
Yours sincerely,
Another observer
Disrespectful Mr.
“Frequent”
Dear editor,
I have read your excellent newspaper for years.
As soon as Thailand encounters more difficulties due to the
(economic) crisis, I can feel in the letters (to the mailbag) that the Thai
population is getting step by step more angry about occidental people.
Each time a visitor or a farang living in Thailand explains
some bad experience he’s had with Thais, he is considered as a whining person,
with no reason to complain.
The gist is that it is normal to be robbed, normal to be
insulted, because we are Farang, we are supposed to firstly: not understand
locals, and secondly to be wealthy enough to be fooled.
Smiling place or not, this country’s image is becoming
darker as time goes on.
It took a huge and confusing letter from Mr. “frequent
farang” [in reality probably Mr. frequent Thai], to demonstrate that when you
have a problem with your laptop, it is normal to be overcharged.
Then another laborious paragraph to explain that when you run
a business you should have at least two PC, or you do not have a real business.
[real business definition please...]
And Mr. “Frequent farang Thai” finished with a very rude
pun at the end of his letter, for those who understand the Thai language.
I feel this kind of letter is dishonest and disrespectful for
your readers as well as for the whole Farang community.
B. Flex
Copyright 2000 Pattaya Mail Publishing Co.Ltd.
370/7-8 Pattaya Second Road, Pattaya City, Chonburi 20260, Thailand
Tel.66-38 411 240-1, 413 240-1, Fax:66-38 427 596; e-mail: [email protected]
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