HEADLINES [click on headline to view story]:

A Very Big Thank You - Thailand really is amazing

Thanks Pattaya Mail

American Citizen Services to visit Pattaya August 19

Farangs have done a lot of good here

Remembering Col Vogeleer

To Share Is To Love

A Very Big Thank You - Thailand really is amazing

Dear Sir or Madam;

My friends Helen Main, Moira Mitchell and myself have just returned from a very enjoyable holiday in Bangkok and Pattaya last month. During our stay in Pattaya, an incident occurred that could have had quite serious consequences for us, had it not been for all the help we received.

After a shopping expedition to the new Carrefour supermarket, we hired one of their baht buses to take us back to our hotel, the Dusit Resort. After almost an hour, I realised my bag was missing and that day I had just been to the bank to change some money, so the bag contained more than 22,000 baht, the key to my room safe and most importantly, my passport. I was quite distraught when I realised that it must have been left it in the baht bus.

When I told the hotel receptionist what had happened, she immediately called the guest relations manager who telephoned the tourist police, even as I was recounting the incident. I was advised to get back to Carrefour as quickly as possible and while I went back to my room to collect my friend, the guest relations manager arranged with the Avis representative on site to drive us back to Carrefour and give us any assistance we might need.

On arriving at the supermarket, I explained what had happened to a Carrefour baht bus driver, who summoned all his colleagues to try to identify which baht bus we had been in. While I was doing this, the Avis representative had stopped a police officer who radioed his colleagues who, at that very moment, had found our baht bus and were recovering the missing bag. This bag, with all its contents completely intact, was returned to me less than 30 minutes after I realised it was missing. One of the tourist police officers, Pol. Capt. Wattana Thusneeyanont, gave me his card with all his contact numbers and told us to contact him should we ever need any help in the future, and then offered to drive us back to our hotel in a patrol car.

I was extremely impressed by the efficiency, courtesy and kindness shown to us by all the people I have mentioned that were involved in recovering the missing bag - I am indebted to them all.

Thailand is our favourite holiday destination and during more than twenty trips, Helen Main & I have visited many different parts of your beautiful country. The majority of these trips have included stays in Pattaya at the Dusit Resort - my friends and I believe that this exceptional hotel in such a super resort have so much to offer people of all ages and interests, we have had many excellent times here and made quite a few friends over the years.

The purpose of this email is two-fold - to again thank everyone who helped in retrieving my lost bag and to try to redress what I consider to be unfair publicity that Pattaya receives when only negative incidents are reported in the press giving an unbalanced and inaccurate impression to potential visitors to Thailand. To this end, you have my full permission to use the contents of this email, in any way you may wish, to promote Pattaya as an excellent choice for a holiday destination.

As I said above, a very big thank you - Thailand really is amazing!

Yours faithfully
Ms. Marie Robertson

Thanks Pattaya Mail

Dear Editor,

Happy 11th Anniversary and many thanks to you and your staff and columnists for making one day of the week warm and often amusing. I don’t get to Pattaya or Thailand as often as I used to because for the last 11 years I’ve had my small bit of Thailand here with me and travelling as a family is more expensive than a guy on his own. So thank you all for keeping me up to date with the happenings between our too infrequent trips. The letters and Hillary’s column especially lighten up my Mondays.

This week’s edition really had me going when I saw in the news that some young Thai lady tried to drown herself because of a broken heart, just off the end of Soi 13. Makes a change from some old falang trying to do the same! The disappointment was though, that her broken heart was caused by a Thai man, not by a falang, never mind, perhaps one day.

Soi 13 was always like home, years ago when I used to stay at Chris Guest House (now The Haven). On our last trip we stayed at the AA because of our happy memories of the Soi. No broken hearts for us, never mind that 13 is supposed to be unlucky, I and my little bit of Thailand are still happy.

Best wishes to you all, please keep up the good work in keeping us wannabe’s aware of what we are missing.

Regards,
David Bottrill
Australia

American Citizen Services to visit Pattaya August 19

Dear Pattaya Area American Citizens,

The Consular Section of the American Embassy in Bangkok is pleased to inform you of an upcoming Embassy consular visit in Pattaya. Consular staff will be available to provide consular services on Thursday, August 19, from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at the Hard Rock Hotel Pattaya (429 Pattaya Beach Road, Central Pattaya). Consular services will be held in the “Albert Room”, first floor, spa building (next to the hotel’s swimming pool.)

The following consular services will be available:

* Passport renewal applications (US $55 or baht 2,200 for adult passports)

* Additional passport pages (no charge)

* Notarial services (US $30 or baht 1,200 for the first notarial; US $20 or baht 800 for each additional)

* Embassy registration and/or address change

* Absentee ballot application and voting abroad information

* Social security, VA or other federal benefits questions

** We ask that you bring correct change

If you have any questions, please e-mail [email protected] or call the American Citizen Services Unit at 02-205-4049.

We look forward to seeing you on August 19th.

Sincerely,
American Citizen Services
U.S. Embassy Bangkok

Farangs have done a lot of good here

Editor;
Re: Sut Sut’s letter (Mailbag, Vol. III, No. 31): It saddens me to read such shortsighted racist drivel. We live in a global village. We need to exchange ideas, technology, medicine, insights, culture.

To say let Thailand evolved on its own is little island mentality. We live in a high powered world that sometimes is full of shadows but other times full of light. Surely Thailand is not the only place to shine.

Yes we should learn from other countries mistakes or perhaps we just need to keep spanking, aka social order bill.

Time for Thai’s to choose and I hope they choose ‘life’ and not another George Bush.

And what have farangs done for Thais? This man has the blinkers on - have we not just had a HIV conference here? And what about all the charity work? Get some new eyes Sut Sut! Before you go blind.
Fat Bald Farang

Remembering Col Vogeleer

Dear Sirs,

Five years ago, on 19 August 1999, Col. Jimmy Vogeleer, commander of the 1st Detachment (Airborne) Thailand (Project “Freedom Fighters Forces”) passed away.

Col. Jimmy, a life member of US Special Operations Association, arrived in Thailand from Laos in 1975 and from that year performed different duties for the Kingdom of Thailand.

Operating for the Royal Thai Armed Forces he was assigned to different commands like ISOC, Royal Thai Special Forces, Border Rangers and others.

In many situations, sometimes with the support of NATO officers and NCO deployed on temporary assignment to special projects in Thailand, defended the security and the freedom of this country.

He conducted a wide variety of civic actions in border areas and was also a close friend of top Thai general officers.

By those of us who shared his campaigns, his ideals and his love of liberty, he will be sorely missed.

Officers, NCO and members of the following units and organizations participate: Royal Thai Special Forces, Royal Thai Armed Forces Veterans, Military Assistance Det. A317 (Abn), Project “Freedom Fighters Forces” Associations (Belgium, France, Italy).
Ltc. Jim Duvall (ret).

To Share Is To Love

Whenever we meet, O God
I want to be prepared
To tell You that my worldly goods
Were those that I willingly Shared
To have a record that will show
A life of sacrifice
Without a selfish motive or
The naming of a price
I pray the world will say that I
Endeavored to be kind
Especially to all the unfortunate souls
And all the lame and blind
For what is there to gain from
greed
Or property amassed
And what will glory profit me
When I have breathed my last?
I only want to serve You, God
With all my heart and soul
And through Your mercy and
Your love
To reach the highest goal

B. Phillip Webb Jr.

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