HEADLINES [click on headline to view story]:

Soi Siam Country Club River

Racism comes in many forms

Rent the underground

Why the beach closure?

Soi Siam Country Club River

Sir,

Your recent edition of the Pattaya Mail showing water everywhere frankly gives everyone a taste of what the poor residents of Soi Siam Country Club have endured for several years now. Despite the heavy rains the water level remains seriously low in Mabprachan Reservoir, probably as a result of millions of litres of water constantly flowing along the Soi. Readers may recall that efforts earlier in the year to hide, oops sorry, repair the leak simply resulted in the water reappearing shortly after further up the Soi. Recent road repairs have been halted, or so it appears, as workers learn ‘white water’ techniques to tackle the ongoing works. Meanwhile millions of litres of valuable water disappear daily.

Are there any experts out there who can advise City Hall how to deal with this? If nothing is done soon the entire soi might wash away and it is only staying there now thanks to the thoughtful electric power poles spaced every 5 metres on either side holding the soi together.

Concerned Resident

Racism comes in many forms

Editor;

In a recent letter “Mr. Chips” stated “I don’t think people should look on double pricing as racist, it’s more to do with people’s attitudes because of the differences in living standards between developing countries and developed countries. I’ve heard that visiting Japanese or Chinese tourists get charged the same higher prices that Westerners do.”

Perhaps “Mr. Chips” should go back to school or at least look up the word racist in a modern dictionary, you have just confirmed that Thailand does actually employ racist techniques, thanks “Mr Chips” for confirming what we all know.

Also Mr E Traarbach stated, “To compare their little discomfort with anything like racism is beyond any standard and decency.” Mr Traarbach, racism comes in many forms and under many disguises, there is no difference between racial pricing and racial hate, or racial harm. They are just degrees of the same injustice. When you claim that equating the suffering of black slaves is totally different from the suffering of “rich” foreign tourists, you miss the whole point of the argument. Many foreigners save up for several years for their “holiday of a lifetime”, then arrive in the “Land of Smiles” to find that they are overcharged, taken to shops which rip them off and generally abused. When they go home, do they remember the Thais who treated them graciously? No, they tell everyone about the Thais who ripped them off. You claim that all foreigners are rich and all Thai’s are poor and they are just out to even the score - open your eyes and look around, there are a lot more Thais driving fancy imported cars than foreigners.

I have lived here for 23 years, and still love this country despite all its flaws, but you seem to think that these flaws are virtues. They are not sir; they are the mistakes of a country trying to improve itself. Then you come out with the greatest lie, I quote, “Is this unfairness not one of the core problems that make it difficult for Thai justice to act appropriately against Western paedophiles?” You seem to think that this problem is only brought on by foreigners ... have you ever been for a nice meal with your 4 year old daughter ... only to have an 8/9/10 year old child male or female come up and say “anything you want for 500 baht”? These children are not doing it by themselves they are being pimped by Thais (yes, those lovely people you think are not racist).

Oh and your mention of taxes? Do me a favour, many Thais don’t pay them, and for your information a Thai would pay the same tax in Holland, Britain or any other country that a resident pays, so I really don’t understand why you said, “They only mention fixed priced things in their home countries and ‘forget’ about the things for which there are no fixed prices like rent of rooms, and - of course - income tax.” When this is the one verifiable argument that destroys your whole case.

Regards,

Freddie Clark

Rent the underground

Dear Sir,

Following my somewhat cynical letter of 27/06/3003, I would like to make some serious comments about putting cables underground.

The method used in many countries is to install a duct, then any service provider can rent space in that duct for their cables. Future expansion is ensured with minimal disruption to the public. However, there are some disadvantages to this method.

To avoid existing subterranean services such as water and drainage, the duct has to be quite deep, and hence expensive to install. Where ducts are used in the UK, despite attempts at sealing, they do flood occasionally resulting in loss of service. This problem could be worse here unless special measures are taken.

I’m sure the city engineers know all this and will make the best decision; we will see.

Oh, and I believe the post for Minister of Forward Planning has yet to be filled.

Mr. Gwyn Parfitt

Why the beach closure?

Editor;

Upon arriving in Pattaya on Wednesday 25th June we headed early morning for the beach, only to find that there were no deck chairs or sun loungers available all day.

So we jumped on a baht bus and headed to Jomtien Beach only to find the same situation.

Now I can respect closure of public entertainment places on days such as the King’s birthday and other significant events, but why “close” the beach to tourists every last Wednesday in the month? Beat’s me how Pattaya can be called Fun City when this happens.

Beach Lover

News | Business News | Features | Columns | Letters | Sports | Auto Mania
Kid's Corner | Who’s Who | Travel | Our Community | Dining Out & Entertainment
Social Scene | Classifieds | Community Happenings | Books Music Movies
Clubs in Pattaya | Sports Round-Up

E-mail: [email protected]
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

Copyright © 2002 Pattaya Mail. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Letters published in the Mailbag of Pattaya Mail
are also on our website.