HEADLINES [click on headline to view story]:

Expects to pay the same set rate

Happy Birthday and Engagement

Watch it! Another unmarked hazard

Pattaya police miss prime suspect

Siam Country Club Road construction project is a disgrace

“Quality Foreigners?”

Interested in submarine attempts at glass windows

“They know not what they do”

Similar bus journey in the UK would cost about 140 baht

Thanks for the poem

Expects to pay the same set rate

Dear Editor;

In reply to Tom Pinder in last week’s Pattaya Mail, I do not want to harp on about how much we have to pay on baht buses, but would point out that it is purely a matter of principle.

If I get on a bus in either my city in the UK or in his country, I expect to pay the same set rate, set by the local council for all passengers.

If it is 2 Australian dollars to get from A to B, set by the council in his town, I am sure he does not take into account the financial standing of the driver of the bus, yet he seems to indicate that all baht bus drivers live in complete poverty.

I visit Thailand 3 times a year, and have done for over ten years. I can afford to pay the driver 100 baht per journey, and do not live on a shoestring budget, but I ask Mr Pinder - Why should I when the council tells me I should pay the same as everyone else?
Yours,
Duncan (Liverpool UK)

Happy Birthday and Engagement

Hellu Pattaya Mail;

Greetings from Tipperary Ireland. I have been a frequent visitor to Pattaya over the past few years and indeed I really love the country and its people. I decided to drop you a line to congratulate you and your team on your publication. I look forward to reading your articles on the internet and keeping up with events as I intend to retire in Thailand eventually.

Another reason I decided to contact you is that I became engaged to my girlfriend Pan on Sat 13th Sept., which is also her birthday and I would be so grateful if you could mention this in your paper. There are another five or six of my friends travelling with me and we are staying in the Beach View Hotel. My girlfriend’s full name is Pan (Thongphet) Detjamlern.

I hope you can help me with my request and again keep up the good work.

Good luck from Tipperary,
Denis Kelly
It’s not such a long way

Watch it! Another unmarked hazard

Dear Editor:

This picture is of a right angle corner on Soi AR near the new Nova Park Condos. Soi AR is heavily traveled, especially with all the recent work on Central Rd, reinstitution of one-way traffic on Pattaya 2 Rd mid August and now paving on Pattaya 3 Rd., Soi 9 for the past 3 weeks.

The two foot deep hole was dug by crews to mitigate flooding in the area six weeks ago and the hazard has remained, unmarked except for occasional cones that quickly disappear, since then. The corner has always been a one-vehicle-at-a-time corner. Nowadays the penalty for cutting too close is MUCH greater.

Sign me,
A Pattaya Chalet resident

Pattaya police miss prime suspect

Editor;

I am surprised that the usually efficient Pattaya police let the prime suspect elude them following the ride-by theft of a tourist’s gold necklace. The facts as presented in PM last week: A foreign tourist bought an expensive gold necklace which he intended to give to his mother upon his return to the UK; his Thai female “companion” convinced him to let her wear it while walking along Pattaya Second Road; his companion prepared him for what happened next by explaining that ride-by thefts are a common occurrence in Pattaya; on the same day as his purchase, two Thai men rode by on a motorcycle and stole the necklace from the companion’s throat.

My dear Watson, you observe, but you do not see. The prime suspect was in the police station filing the report. If the police question the “companion” again and check her mobile phone records, I suspect they will find out the names of her accomplices on the motorcycle.
Sherlock

Siam Country Club Road construction project is a disgrace

Dear Editor,

The entrance to Siam Country Club Road has been impassable for weeks - maybe more, since I’ve lost count. What possible excuse can there be for this kind of incompetence? If Pattaya City cannot tender contracts to competent contractors from this area, they should solicit companies who can do a proper job, on time, on budget and without throwing an entire section of the city into chaos. There are good construction contractors in Thailand. Plenty of them! Why do Pattaya officials always scrape the bottom of the barrel?
C. S.

“Quality Foreigners?”

Dear Editor,

It is common knowledge that the minimum financial requirements for any foreigner wishing to apply for a one-year Non-Immigrant Visa, or extension, to stay on the basis of being married to a Thai, will double from July 10 next year. Currently, a foreigner married to a Thai woman may obtain a one-year permit if he can show that he has at least 200,000 baht in a Thai savings account, or a monthly income of at least 20,000 baht. From July 10 next year, these figures will be 400,000 baht and 40,000 baht respectively. This will apply to all applicants, including those who already have one-year extensions.

The Immigration Bureau has raised this financial threshold because (quote) “We want to have quality foreigners staying in Thailand. We have taken into account the value of the baht, which is weaker than other currencies.” The Immigration Bureau is also concerned about the possibility of foreigners marrying Thai women purely to get one-year visas.

So, it appears to the Immigration Bureau (and to Thailand as a whole) that, to be considered a “quality” foreigner, one must be wealthy rather than have morally admirable motives for wishing to stay here. If one has only the right motives, experience, education, personality, has family bonds and abides by the laws of Thailand, then these “qualities” are not quite enough.

I’m sure that Hambali satisfied all of the financial criteria imposed by the Immigration Bureau. A “quality foreigner” or not?
Yours faithfully,
Artisan

“They know not what they do”

Editor;

Do I detect xenophobia in this land of smiles - or a latent form of ethnic cleansing as some might say? I have been fortunate enough to have visited this fair (?) land for some twenty years, both as a tourist and prospective business / investor (I soon learnt that the latter was almost impossible) and have seen a sea change in the way this country is governed, “By some of the lucky few people, but not for the people” and am blamed by the prevalent naive / bigoted attitudes that are presently being expounded - whoever said that ‘a little knowledge is a dangerous thing! It would certainly not be accused of an over statement.

I recently spent some time in Bangkok and Pattaya - mere shadows of their former vibrant selves - reminded me more of Cha Am where the sea closes at 6 p.m. and most of the buildings are either repossessed or derelict. The adjectives that come to mind were - ‘dreary’, ‘lack-luster’ and ‘boring’ - what a shame!

Reminders of Manila (Philippines) when in 1988 a similar social order campaign was undertaken with devastating social / economic results (just be one of the handful only of visitors to this destination to see first hand the results of misguided government policy).

Never forget that the greatest number of tourists (despite the visitor surveys often quoted but completed in jest by the respondents!) are drawn to this destination because of the freedom it affords (afforded) and foreign investment and business therefore would follow as a direct result.

Adult entertainment for adults - the freedom of choice for holidaymakers.

The tourist dollar is an elusive animal (as many will tell to their own cost) - once lost, it’s very difficult to regain. With the rising stars of China and India, manufacturing industries here face a somewhat uncertain future, and not a future to pin too many hopes on.

Build on what you have had and make this country the world holiday destination of choice.
Prof. J. Mead
Cambridge

Similar bus journey in the UK would cost about 140 baht

Editor;

Well done to Tom Pinder for his letter regarding the two tier pricing of the baht bus drivers. The people who write about this are mainly those people who have chosen to live in Thailand. I live in the UK and visit Thailand as a tourist and its is of no importance whether I am charged 10 baht or 5 baht (14 pence or 7 pence). I am absolutely amazed that those people who have chosen to live in Thailand and enjoy the fantastic lifestyle it offers can be so petty. I would suggest these people enter the real world and if they don’t like what is happening then they can always come back the UK where a similar bus journey would cost about 140 baht.
Dave Barnish
United Kingdom

Thanks for the poem

Dear Sirs,

I have always enjoyed your publication and your story and beautiful poem was much appreciated about our friend Father Brennan. The poem in essence touch our hearts. Thanks again.

Yours truly,
Mr. and Mrs. Cole
Rochester, Pa. U.S.A.

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