HEADLINES [click on headline to view story]:

Love it or leave it

New name old problem in Sunee

Jomtien Beach needs better policing

Farangs learning Thai

Enjoyed articles by John D Blyth

Drink price “scam” in Soi Diamond

Love it or leave it

Dear Editor,

I am becoming increasingly concerned and annoyed at the criticism being leveled at Thailand and Pattaya in particular by resident and visiting farangs. I see the latest pearl of wisdom that comes to Mailbag is the suggestion of radar speed traps. If the writer of that gem does not have the driving skills and ability necessary to negotiate the traffic as it is, the answer is simple: do not drive in Thailand.

Personally, I enjoy driving here, either car or motorcycle. I do not have a problem. The majority of the silent farang population of Pattaya are happy with the way things are here, having been driven out of our homelands by high prices, ridiculous taxation, congestion, the weather and petty legislation to make us all into robots. The last thing we need here is more of the same.

I agree that the way some things are done here strike me as being somewhat strange, but it is not my place to interfere as I am a guest here. I am also certain that the powers that be realize they have made a mistake in enforcing a 2 a.m. closure of entertainment, but that will not be reversed for some time due to the loss of face involved. Thailand must be allowed to make its own decisions and mistakes and learn without outside interference.

Farangs who come to live here have made a bold choice to leave their own country; however, they seem to lose any vestige of common sense once here. You only have to read Hillary’s page to confirm that. Having traveled a lot of the world so far, I know where I want to reside, so I say to you critics that you only have two choices, keep quiet or pack your bags and clear off to leave Thailand to Thai people and those of us farangs who love it as it is. “Still in Thailand” concludes that the law should be for all, noble sentiment indeed, but I do not think he knows too much about Asia.

Stephen D. Pegg

New name old problem in Sunee

Editor;

I have not been to Sunee Plaza for a few years, so I went last week to see what the controversy of the Sports Bar was all about. Indeed, the bar is now hard to find if one does not already know it, because the bar has changed its name to the “Dang Bar.” But it takes only a few minutes of careful observation, by seeing where the young boys are coming and going, to find its location.

Even with a new name, the bar and its owner have returned to their old ways. While watching from a nearby cafe in the early afternoon, it was easy to observe several young street children in and around the bar. And, with the owner present in the bar, I watched as an elderly foreign man accompanied by a Thai boy (with bleached-blond hair) about 12 years old enter the bar, speak with the owner and cashiers, then the man and boy went upstairs. About 30 minutes later they returned downstairs, both man and boy paying the cashiers some money for the use of the room, and then they went their separate ways.

And to further illustrate the “This-is-Pattaya, This-is-Thailand” mentality that guarantees that nothing will be done to protect these abused children, I would like to point out that the entire time all of the above was going on, a uniformed member of the Banglamung Law Enforcement Volunteers team was present in the bar, playing snooker with the young children working there.

Perhaps the Pattaya Mail itself could send a reporter and photographer to Sunee Plaza to document occurrences like this one, which would do the entire community of Pattaya a great service. I would recommend not printing only the accounts of such crimes given to your newspaper by local police departments, as they themselves seem to be a big part of this problem.

Thank you,

Tomas K.

Switzerland

Jomtien Beach needs better policing

Editor,

I love Thailand, its people, culture and beliefs. Perhaps that should be enough to understand, accept and let be, but some things here irritate me. I have lived in Thailand for two and a half years; I am prepared to “let sleeping dogs lie”; though packs of dogs lying in the footpaths and roaming the streets annoy me, especially since I have been bitten on the hand and foot.

I even persevere with the uneven, crumpled, sometimes non-existent footpaths and the difficulty of maneuvering through the South Pattaya markets. Despite the annoyance of traffic coming down the wrong way against oncoming traffic, I tolerate it begrudgingly. Perhaps what I do enjoy about Thailand is the relaxed laws and regulations, things that are so rigidly enforced in the Western world. So why am I complaining? I certainly have not had enough that I am going to pack up and go home.

But over the past weeks at Jomtien Beach I see accidents waiting to happen that could so simply be avoided. And I see the officials looking the other way as well as officials seemingly employed in less important areas. Firstly I have seen officials surveying the beach deck chairs, then officers with tape measures measuring the width of these areas. I have seen police patrol the beach for food vendors and the like. From what I understand is the illegal vendors are fined B500 (or their produce is confiscated) for not having a license. However, I am told there is no license to be had. Why harass them?

Yet the footpath behind the beach near the car park should be closed off (or sign-posted) and restricted to foot traffic. Thais and farangs mock the rules and when the gates are closed they enter the walkway on their motorbikes via the car park. More often than not the gates are not closed and motor vehicles drive along the pathway far too fast. If the police man the gate (as there are often three men) they appear not to see the offenders riding through the car park and reenter the footpath.

Finally my real grievance is when jet skiers and catamarans are hired, are these people advised that they must stay outside of the yellow buoys, away from the swimming beach? Last Thursday I saw, repeatedly, five jet skiers and two older men on catamarans reentering the swimming area going at a dangerously high speed. Yes! I did see a Thai man try to indicate that they must leave the area, but all five returned. It was an accident waiting to happen. Responsibility should be on those that hire the jet skis and catamarans, but also, where are the police?

S. Burton

Farangs learning Thai

Editor;

I read with great amusement Mr Mervyn Matthews letter on forcing foreign residents to learn Thai as a pre-condition to them being able to stay here. I assume that Mr Matthews is one of those gifted individuals who can pick up a language with ease.

First of all there has been a truly remarkable improvement in the Thai people’s grasp of English over the 22 years I have been coming here. When I lived in Bangkok in 1981/2, I found I was forced to, at least, learn the numbers just to get a decent deal on the taxis. Then I picked up on the food I liked, well ... because after being a picky eater during my youth I suddenly developed into a full blown lover of anything new and different.

I now find that most taxi drivers speak enough English, even though the meter has destroyed the time cherished tradition of bargaining. In most restaurants there are English and Thai menus, and most of the staff have enough English to get by. Even many policemen I meet (that much vilified and underpaid servant of the government) have enough English to explain exactly why he wants 200 baht from me.

Mr Matthews, we are already subsidising the economy by being overcharged (and I am not talking about the blatant 2-tier stuff here) when fully 85% of the population doesn’t feel it necessary to pay taxes. Where will this end? Racism (or maybe I should say xenophobia) in Thailand is already well in excess of what it should be for a land that bills itself as “the land of smiles” (feel free to refute this, I will be happy to argue the case).

If this proposal were introduced in England or any member of the EU, or the USA, you would be mown down by the rush of lawyers fighting to attack this totally unjust and racist proposal. You and many others who write in make a great deal of the fact that we are “guests” in this wonderful land. Yes sir we are, but many countries and creeds have certain rules for the treatment of guests as regards hospitality, etc.

I have and still do travel to countries in all the major continents in my work and I have invariably found that the simple attempt to learn a few polite phrases is almost always considered more than enough whether you be tourist/transit or resident. For most people (and I include myself) a very basic understanding that comes from curiosity and not necessity is more than sufficient and is generally looked on as an honest attempt to “blend in”. However, the complexity and convolutions of Thai law and business practices to the average non-Thai basically mean that in any area where complex language skills are needed, then a professional (lawyer, banker, artisan whatever) is needed and then it is better to hire that expertise.

Regards,

Freddie Clark

Enjoyed articles by John D Blyth

Dear Sir,

I was recently in Pattaya and met John D Blyth, author of “Down the Iron Road” articles, on several occasions. I told him of the pleasure his railway column gave to me and many of my friends (Anoraks) all over the world. When I enquired about his next series, he told me he had been ill and required hospital treatment and had not received any encouragement from the Pattaya Mail to continue his column.

His articles are not only enjoyable but are historical accounts which are priceless and unless published his information will be lost for all times. Please express by the publication of this letter, the enjoyment he gives to many and encourage him to continue with his invaluable historical documents.

Best Regards,

At All Times,

Russ Evans

Drink price “scam” in Soi Diamond

Dear Sirs:

If possible, I would like to warn your readers of a scam in Soi Diamond. At a go-go bar there, I was charged 100 baht for a glass of whiskey. I accepted this somewhat inflated cost because it was clearly shown in the price list, placed on every table. However, what enraged me was the total price of 185 baht for a whiskey and coke - yes, that’s right, I was charged 85 baht for a couple of splashes of Coca-Cola to go with my whiskey! As a bottle of coke costs the bar perhaps 6 or 8 baht, I consider the mark up to be just short of armed robbery. Significantly, I noticed that soft drinks were not included in the price list, leaving the management to charge whatever they feel they can get away with in this area.

Clearly this bar does not care about repeat customers, or building up a regular clientele. No, this is the Patpong mentality right here in Fun City: gouge the customers the first time they walk in, and don’t expect them back; because they won’t be.

I expect the management of this particular dive call it ‘maximising the profit margin’. I call it simply ripping off the customers.

Sincerely,

David Cocksedge

South Pattaya

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