HEADLINES [click on headline to view story]:

Just a quick thank you from England

Round-eyed horror

When is a red light a red light?

Presenters need pronunciation lessons

Looking for Miss Siam contestants

Save the old tree

Enjoyed “The Brain Drain” by Khai Khem

Proud to be British

Taking offence to full taxis

Baht bus drivers on a tear again

No Rank Or Wealth

Just a quick thank you from England

Editor;
As a frequent visitor to Thailand, I wonder if it would be possible for you to thank the people of Pattaya Hospital on my behalf (seeing the story in Pattaya Mail dated w/e 19/06/04).

Some 9 weeks ago I had to attend the hospital while on holiday. I had a motorbike accident in Pattaya and if it was not for their magnificent quick work on my fractured shoulder I would not be in the position to return to work as I have.

The service there was so good and so efficient that I was out of the hospital within two hours. When arriving home to England it took me 1 and 1/2 days just to get to see my own doctor.

I am 46 yrs old and one day want to retire in Thailand (around Pattaya) and I know that if anything was to happen to me while there I could be in no safer hands than the medical people there in Pattaya Hospital, they are superb.

I am an avid reader of the Pattaya Mail over the internet and whilst reading it I feel so much at home, and miss the people very much. Thank you for this and I hope that you are able to forward my thanks to the hospital, and to yourselves for such a good paper.

Yours Sincerely,
Mr C A Parker

Round-eyed horror

Editor;
This letter is not directed at Mr. & Mrs. Ball [Pattaya Mail - Vol. XII No. 22 - Friday May 28- June 3, 2004 Letters] who have more grief than they can handle. It is, however, directed to those still here who stare in round-eyed horror at some Thai ways.

The Thai would just about rather die than be bearers of bad news. Sometimes they must, as when someone has died, but they will try by all means to shift the burden to someone not directly involved. That’s just the way it is, not only in Thailand, but in much of Asia. The Thai in particular are strongly cultured to make people happy (in the present tense, ignoring the future tension). This extends to saying what a Thai thinks a person wants to hear. I’ve heard that here a lot, and no longer react with round-eyed amaze.

An ex-pat in Spain recently asked: Do you like the culture that you live in? I find the question irrelevant: I’m here.
R. Lee

When is a red light a red light?

Dear Editor
Can you please inform me when is a red light a red light in Thai traffic laws? I know on most traffic lights you can turn left if you drive with care. Then there are the traffic lights on North Pattaya Road and Sukhumvit Road. Why is it that when you turn right on to Sukhumvit Road with the lights at green for go, you get the shock of your life when the traffic on Sukhumvit Road comes speeding at you with the red light at stop? If a car, pickup, bus, truck, or motorbike was to hit you on this traffic light who would be in the wrong?

The traffic in Bangkok all has to stop on the white line at traffic lights and stay in their lanes, or they face a fine. In Pattaya it’s a free for all with 3 or 4 or 5 lanes of traffic trying to turn right into only 2 lanes.

The Pattaya traffic police do nothing to enforce the traffic laws in Pattaya, because the local Pattaya government will not enforce the traffic police.

The city of Pattaya is growing every year and if the new local government does not change their thinking, the roads in Pattaya will claim more lives. The people of Pattaya deserve the same safe roads as Bangkok, so please have a change of thinking as prevention is the best way to save lives.

So when you are out driving on the roads of Pattaya, please watch out for the red light for GO on Sukhumvit Road; you will live longer.
Alan

Presenters need pronunciation lessons

Editor;
As a frequent visitor to the Land of Smiles I like to watch travel programs in the UK about Thailand. What I don’t like is the mis-pronunciation of Thai words by the presenters. Why don’t they get some dialogue coaches to teach them the correct way of pronouncing "Chiang Mai" instead of "Chang My" and another I heard last night was "Groong Tep" instead of the more usual "Khrung Thep"? Of course different countries pronounce the Roman alphabet in different ways but the way they pronounce the words falls harshly on the ears of people who have visited Thailand many times. Also, first time visitors, having watched these programs might find it difficult to be understood if they repeat the bad pronunciation to a Thai person.
Robert Creasey (UK)

Looking for Miss Siam contestants

Editor;
Is there any way you could send me a copy of the photo you are using on this week’s home page? It’s the one for the main article "Miss Siam contestants visit Pattaya for second round judging", with the beautiful Thai ladies jumping in the air! I love it! It would make a great wallpaper for my desktop! :)
Doug Robinson

Save the old tree

Editor;
An old and interesting tree is now threatened. It stands in Soi 16 Naklua on a plot of woodland opposite the Siam Penthouse Condominium. It is well worth preserving as is the plot of trees, the only remaining in this soi now.

Perhaps the new team of mayor and administrators will make an effort to preserve such plots and trees for use by the neighborhood. Presently, in many areas where new speculative building plots are being opened up, trees are cut regardless of their beauty or use for nature conservation.

It is very questionable with the current oversupply of land and houses on offer that any of these plots will be sold and used for construction in the next 10 years. Pattaya and its surroundings welcome a new boom in building while real estate agents have thousands of unsold houses on offer. Thousands of other properties have been repossessed and are now being auctioned off by the Legal Execution Department of the Ministry of Justice.
Evan Tanner

Enjoyed “The Brain Drain” by Khai Khem

Dear Editor,
What a great article this week on the Thailand brain drain. I live in the US (62 years now) and am planning with my Thai wife on moving eventually to the land of smiles.

I have been reading all of the rules and regulations on we farangs of what we cannot do when we come to Thailand as far as even volunteer work. I for one have 45+ years in the information technology industry (read computers/internet). I for one would like the chance to bring something to my adopted country when I come to stay.

However, if I read the legal rules and everything, I am not even allowed to freely give someone in Thailand the benefit of all I have learned unless I have a work permit and then only if the work permit is specifically for that.

The article written by Khun Khai Khem hits the nail directly on the head so to speak. Here’s hoping that by the time I and my wife come to Thailand that the ruling party will decide to abandon these counter productive laws and allow the freedoms most every other country gives to talented and experienced people to share their knowledge.

Sincerely Yours,
Jerry Miller
Los Angeles, California

Proud to be British

Editor;
Well I am proud to be British and as I wrote that comment no one took offence except for you, were you a magistrate in England, get rid of your colonial ideas and get with the program 1000 of allied POWS [death railway] they have not forgotten 1000’s of Asian labourers murdered, the Japs aren’t taught about WW2 in school and as for racism check out the 2 tier pricing system falangs and them in Thailand you should try and sit in one of those bar stools you would be surprised who you would meet.
Chis Henderson
v.c. o.b.e. "The Dogs Bollocks Soi Yamoto"

Taking offence to full taxis

Editor;
It would be better if Mr. Graham Smith worried about his matters. If he wants to live in Thailand, he must accept the way of life of Thai people, otherwise he may go back to where he has come. Therefore, he would avoid being a moralist, and worrying about too full taxis.
Mick Fleccer

Baht bus drivers on a tear again

Editor;
Arriving back from Bangkok at approximately 7 p.m. on Tuesday, June 8, I boarded a mini-bus at the bus terminal with two others who wanted to go to Pattaya Tai. The driver didn’t stop at Pattaya Tai but proceeded on out to Jomtien where he let out a falang who had been riding with him in the cab.

He then boarded the back end and demanded 60 baht. We refused to give him any money and told him to take us back to South Pattaya. When he insisted on being paid I jumped out of the bus and went to 7-eleven store and asked the clerk to call the police. For some reason she didn’t want to do this even though I offered to pay for the call. (Those riding a mini bus should always have a cell phone handy.)

The driver of the bus then decided to drive off and leave us. The other two passengers then joined me and we hailed another bus to take us back to South Pattaya. I told the other two passengers to get in touch with the police and gave them the bus number.

I reported this incident to the Pattaya police that night and they directed me to the Tourist Police. The Tourist Police told me to report what happened to the mini-bus association office in Naklua. They also gave me the phone number. Instead of going all the way to Naklua I called the association office and reported what happened. They told me they would call in the driver and question him. Is this the end of the affair? After again winning a fight with city hall are the drivers on a tear again? And are they acting with impunity?

What do you do on a rainy night in Pattaya? You put up with the shenanigans of a mini-bus driver. There are approximately 800 of these. In my time I’ve come in contact with my share of them. And I have just about had my fill.
Extremely Annoyed

No Rank Or Wealth

Yesterday, I heard about
David, my friend who passed away
I lived in loneliness throughout
The hours of the day
Because I add each one to all
The others who have gone
And provided so much joy
To help me carry on
And then I realize more and more
How brief the time we live
And how important are the smile
And solace we can give
I see the sheer futility
Of prejudice and wrath
And why they reach a shallow goal
Who take the selfish path
There is no worldly rank high
Or any wealth so great
That it can find a way to turn
The key to Heaven’s gate
B. Phillip Webb Jr.

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