HEADLINES [click on headline to view story]:

Booming noise and stinky smoke

No left turn on 2nd Road

Asian brains are different?

Boarding at schools is not dangerous

How Old Are You?

Booming noise and stinky smoke

Open letter to Mayor Niran:
Pattaya is becoming more and more crowded with new arrivals and a few regulations have to be made and enforced to maintain our community.

Sound trucks with blasting speakers that could wake the dead circulate around town with no rules to govern them. As early as 7 a.m., windows shake and a Thai voice booms across the neighborhood. Both volume and hours of operation need to be addressed.

Although the government has passed a no smoking ordinance in air conditioned eating establishments, in Pattaya some restaurants allow and encourage smoking with little regard to the law. This is done to the detriment of those restaurants that post signs and obey the law. Make some effort toward enforcing the law please.
Gary Hacker,
Pattaya

No left turn on 2nd Road

Dear Editor,
I was given a driving violation the other day. It is not obvious that a left turn onto Central Pattaya Road from 2nd Road during a red light is illegal. Under similar road conditions, in my country, it is perfectly legal and safe.

Further, the officer pointed out a sign to me that said “Stop”: exactly what I had done before making the left. After paying my fine at a police station, I returned to get my bike and as the officer was handing me the key, another farang made the exact same mistake I had just made. The same officer yelled at the farang to pull over. I happen to be staying near this corner and see a lot of farang pulled over for what I now believe is the same mistake as I made.

As opposed to just complaining, I would like to try and help stop other farang from making left turns when the light is red. I would like to find out a way to put up the correct sign that reads “No Turn On Red” as opposed to the existing, hand written, “Stop” sign. Who would I contact to start this process?

Thank you for your time,
Eric Hosick

Asian brains are different?

Dear Sir,
I found John Langan’s letter (19th Nov) most amusing but am still unable to fathom out if it was meant to be serious...

My knowledge of neuro-anatomy is thirty years out-of-date and never was much to write home about, but I must say I have never seen or heard of a study showing structural differences between the brains of Asians and Caucasians. Conventional wisdom has it that there is a functional difference in the way males and females use their brains, and this may also apply to people of different races. However, we don’t know the extent of cultural, educational and other environmental influences in this regard.

As to the tendon nonsense: almost any “western” child can be taught to squat and even to sit in the lotus posture. Although I was never taught anything in this respect until well over thirty years of age, I am quite at home in the squatting position. This enables me, like thousands of other westerners, to use Asian toilets which are so mush more healthy than the western variety.

Yours sincerely,
M.J. Nightingale

Boarding at schools is not dangerous

Dear Pattaya Mail,

I know this is a little late, but I would like to send it in nonetheless, as I believe it is still relevant. I read George Benedict’s article on Boarding (Friday 24th September) with some interest, and I have a couple of points to make. I am a much respected languages teacher at an international school near Pattaya, and incidentally, I am also the head of boarding of this particular school. My family and I are very happy here.

I don’t see how the particular article in question is about “Learning to live to Learn” or the well being of children at school all. I think that there are few or no schools that suffer the drawbacks Mr Benedict talks about. As a patron, I think I am something of an authority on this.

Firstly, our particular boarding school, located near a golf course on a rather idyllic plot of land, is full of very happy children, some as young as 8, most of whom like me. There is a hospital only a 10 minute drive away, so it goes without saying that there is never any real danger for the children in the block.

Secondly, regarding security, at night we securely lock the boarding block. In the event of a catastrophe, the children are all safely locked up in the block of flats, and if worst comes to worst, the balconies aren’t even very high.

Thirdly, under my supervision, homework always gets top priority. My Thai wife is always happy to help the students with their homework during prep, and it is always very encouraging to see her practice her English at the same time!

Plus, everybody loves the food in the boarding block. It is delicious, and I seldom find myself satisfied with only one helping, so that speaks for itself.

There really is a wonderful family feeling in our boarding block. Children in boarding blocks are almost always in the hands of able professionals of experience.

Regards,
Boarding Near Pattaya

How Old Are You?

How old are you according to
The record of your birth?
And then again how old are you
According to your worth?

Sometimes your age is measured by
Your actual birthday date
If only by the government
To keep the record straight

But in the more important sense
Your years are young or old
As you give up to easily
Or you are brave and bold

And if the problems you have faced
And trials you’ve endured
Have shaped the true integrity
Which proves you have matured

The only age that really counts
Is that of being wise
With prudence and humility
To help you grow in size.

B. Philip Webb

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