HEADLINES [click on headline to view story]:

Failure in Pattaya

People, not dogs, are to be blamed

Who’s to blame for this incident?

The double pricing controversy

Congratulations on your 10th Anniversary

Congratulations for a job well done

Congrats for 10 years

Happy Birthday!

Another thousand years

Happy Birthday!

Congratulations

Failure in Pattaya

Editor;

Firstly - congratulations on ten years of providing news and so much more to the residents and sometime residents of Party City.

Secondly, I have an apartment in Yensabai Condo, although I am currently working in the Emirates. My wife tells me that a friend of ours, living on the eleventh floor, killed himself during the week, through the usual farang thing of running out of money. She is very upset ...

Maybe (PM should run) an article from time-to-time pointing out that - like the rest of the world - it is necessary to make proper financial arrangements for one’s life. Just because there are a lot of people making money from various businesses does not mean that everyone can. If you can make money in Pattaya, then you can make money anywhere. If you have already failed elsewhere, you will probably fail quicker in Pattaya!

Keep up the good work

John Shepherd

People, not dogs, are to be blamed

Dear Editor:

The other day I was walking down 2nd Road when a little one eyed stray dog ran up to me and licked my leg. The poor dog was begging for love and affection. It was heartbreaking.

I then became enraged as I thought about the cowards and morons who write newspaper letters and articles demanding that the strays be shot, starved or poisoned. If those dogs should be so horribly punished then what should be done to the people who breed, sell and buy dogs, don’t get them spayed or neutered and then turn them loose in the street?

People, not dogs, are to be blamed for this mess. And it is those people who our anger should be directed against.

Eric Bahrt

Who’s to blame for this incident?

Dear Editor,

Did you hear that Judy was attacked by a dog on the beach yesterday? She was bit on the leg while running near Garden Beach Hotel. There were 3 dogs. After the first bit her, two other dogs started running toward her to join in. A man walking on the beach threw rocks and wood at the dogs when Judy started yelling. He might have been the owner. Two Thai ladies helped her back to the hotel. She then rode a motorbike taxi and a baht bus to the hospital.

It looked bad. The bite is in her right thigh about 4" above her knee. She had a hole about 3" high, 2" wide, and 1/2" deep... nasty. They had to sew her up. The doctor said that they don’t like to use sutures in dog bite cases, but this one needed it. She now has to get rabies shots and cannot run for a while. Thailand needs to do something about these dogs.

Bruce Hoppe

The double pricing controversy

Editor:

A Thai friend, who had lived in the US some years ago, asked me why westerners were so hung up on Pattaya double pricing. She was quick to point out that there were multiple pricing schemes everywhere in the United States. I acknowledged that she was correct, but it’s the race based pricing we object to, not promotional pricing.

In the States, you can get large discounts for airline tickets; if you buy in advance, not because you’re American. You can get discounts at public parks if you’re a resident of the area, but it’s usually only 10 or 20% and has restrictions to certain days of the week. If a Thai were attending school in such an area, he would be entitled to the discount or may even get a student discount that wouldn’t be available to many area residents who pay taxes to support the park. Admission fees are the same regardless of race or nationality. National (federally funded) parks, museums, etc. generally do not have any discounts, one price for all. In recent years there has been a move to give discounts to the elderly, but it’s usually only 10%.

In Bangkok the taxis are metered, most everyone pays the same. Large stores have price tags. They allow some discounting, but she conceded that they didn’t give Thais much of a break and foreigners generally got similar discounts. I also pointed out that when traveling upcountry, most traditional Thais don’t practice double pricing, everyone is treated the same - she agreed.

Pattaya double pricing is directly tied to race or national origin. It’s “in your face”; you pay double or triple because you’re not Thai. Considering the history of “strongly nationalistic countries” during the last century, Europeans and Americans take pause when they see this type of behavior. For us, this has nothing to do with race, but attitude. During the last century, countries like Germany, and Japan went through strongly nationalistic periods that got out of control. The West views excessive nationalism with some concern because in recent history it has led to serious problems. We even condemn the excessive nationalism associated with football (soccer) as it often leads to civil disorder.

It’s not the money, but the nationalistic nature, of the double pricing that rubs westerners the wrong way. If the discounts where given to Pattaya residents, including expats, there would be no question of Thai motives. But, when a “vendor” demands that Thai children of an expat pay extra because they are not “Thai enough”, or a foreigner who refuses to pay is subsequently assaulted, that is out of line.

Beyond double pricing, there are additional laws and actions that convey the attitude of not being welcomed in Thailand to westerners; double pricing is just plainly visible to everyone. Consider how a Thai businessman in America would feel if he were barred from owning controlling interest in his business in the US? What if Thais living in America were not allowed to own a home or land? What if Americans and Europeans demanded that all Thai goods be charged import fees above that mandated by law or trade agreements. Thais would cry foul, and rightly so. Thais would not like being treated this way in a foreign country and neither do foreigners who visit and do business here.

Pattaya Bum

Congratulations on your 10th Anniversary

Dear Pattaya Mail,

Please accept our sincere congratulations and best wishes to you and your very professional staff on the 10th anniversary of the publication of the Pattaya Mail.

The Pattaya Mail is not just part of the institution of Pattaya and the Eastern Seaboard, it is an institution in itself. It’s colourful, unbiased and accurate reporting, it’s articles that contribute so much to the local community, both expatriate and Thai alike, it’s support and charitable contributions towards the less privileged, have contributed to make it the leading publication that it has become. The Pattaya Mail is read worldwide by those who have lived in the area and moved on, as well as visitors, all of whom who want to keep in touch, on an ongoing basis, with the news and events that occur here, which the publication covers.

Peter your personal involvement in local community affairs and in particular your charitable contributions, are a great example to others and something that we should all be inspired to emulate.

We look forward to Fridays when our copy of the Pattaya Mail is delivered. Pattaya and the Eastern Seaboard would not be the same without it.

Congratulations and very best wishes on this 10th anniversary of publication.

Graeme & Samantha Moore

Congratulations for a job well done

Editor;

I had barely been living here for a year when the first issue of your Pattaya Mail hit the newsstand ten years ago, providing this community with its first newspaper in English. Narrow-chested at that time, it nevertheless gave us expatriates an overview of what was happening. The stories were juicy quite daringly so, may I say, considering that you had to tread carefully in staking out your territory without stepping on too many toes.

Over the years, the Pattaya Mail might have become somewhat less rebellious, more middle-of-the-road, but with this growing maturity also came an increase in respect and authority and girth as the ultimate expression of your success!

As to your subsequent imitators, and to paraphrase Winston Churchill: they are modest with indeed much to be modest about. Your greatest claim to fame for me is that in this environment still essentially given to short-term enjoyment and shortcuts without responsibility wherever possible you have withstood all downward temptations and continued with passion and determination, to build up a quality product that will withstand the trails of time and prosper for a long time to come.

So it is easy and completely risk-free to wish you and the Pattaya Mail many happy returns. Congratulations for a job well done.

Yours sincerely,

H.P Wehrli

Congrats for 10 years

Hi there,

Many congrats for your ten years of success. I discovered your publication about 4 years ago on the newsstand and have avidly followed it on the Internet ever since. I find that your stories are always accurate, interesting and without prejudice. Your classified section is excellent and advertising links are quite useful. Keep up the good work for another 10 years and beyond.

Regards,

Bluey Romer (Aussie)

Happy Birthday!

Dear Peter and Team!

Who would have thought 10 years ago that the idea of an English language newspaper would become such a success? It is an achievement many people would have not thought possible, and it proves yet again that people with a vision are the people who will succeed in the long run.

We wish you and your whole team even more success in the next 10 years to come, and always try to maintain that vision of yours.

Thanks for being a friend!

Marion Vogt

Chiangmai Mail

Another thousand years

Pattaya Mail,

Congratulations on your 10th anniversary. You’re doing a great job, keep doing it for another thousand years.

Yours,

Udi

Happy Birthday!

Dear Peter & Team,

I am very proud to be a part of the Pattaya Mail press gang. A great bunch of people - all of them (us?) “because of MD Peter” - or, should that read “in spite of MD Peter!”

I know that the Mail will continue for decades to come, though I am not too sure when I shall finally reach my last ‘dead’ line. Meantime, I continue with great gusto, clich้s, puns and the odd “got” or three!

Congratulations

Peter Cummins

Congratulations

Congrats on 10 years. Keep up the good work. I enjoy reading on line in America. Have visited Thailand 3 times and enjoy being able to keep up on your community. A little far to send Hillary chocs and cham. Enjoy her very much.

Bill Morgan

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