- HEADLINES [click on headline to view story]:
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Is the education system failing us!
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Water shortages?
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What should he do?
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Copy vs Real
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Ooen will be grieved by many
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Re “Thank you trespasser”
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No water for PATA convention?
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Busy doing nothing
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Brian the Pieman
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Is the education system failing us!
Editor;
Much has been written about the Thai education system,
teachers’ qualifications, etc.
I have 2 children in senior secondary in a so-called
prestigious international school in the Pattaya area.
This recent holiday we went on a long car trip. To pass
time while driving, we sometimes played guessing games involving naming
different movies, movie stars, models, songs, singers, etc. I don’t know
much about models and movie stars, but was quite impressed with the
children’s knowledge of these subjects.
Once I suggested we played a math game. I would give them
a very simple fraction, which they should convert it into percentage. Some
simple, single digit multiplications and some just very simple arithmetic. I
soon, sadly realized, that 1/5 was impossible to convert into percentage, 8
multiplied by 7 took a lot of guessing, and the answer to 15% of 320 was to
be found on the moon. It took 20 minutes, 2 calculators and several sheets
of papers for both of them to give me the same, wrong answer, as to how many
percent interest they would have to pay for buying a mobile phone on
installments instead of cash.
My eldest child, who “graduated” with honors from the
same “prestigious” school some years ago, and now home on holiday from
university overseas, showed great enthusiasm participating in the above math
game, but sadly also drew only blanks.
My wife, who graduated from a temple school in Nakorn
Nowhere, managed to get it all right. However, she became dizzy when trying
to calculate how much money we have paid in school fees over the years.
Probably enough to buy a fancy red Italian car was her best guess.
My children were adamant that they are on par with the
rest of their class, which in my book puts their class and most probably the
whole school and maybe many of the international schools well below par.
Disappointed Parent
Water shortages?
Editor;
Am I missing the point? On page three of this week’s Mail,
a petition is being organised against the water shortages, and there have
been many articles and letters over the past weeks on the same subject, and
yet on the front page is an article about cleaning out South Pattaya klong,
and I quote, “ Once cleaned, water will flow easily to the Bali Hai water
treatment facility before being released to the sea.”
Why? If it has been cleaned surely it can be used, if
only for street watering, etc.
Thanks for a great paper; I am a regular reader, pity we
cannot get it on Fridays here.
With best wishes,
Jim MacDonald
Rayong
What should he do?
Dear Editor,
In reply to Gary T. Bruton, Aug 26th Vol X111 No 34: He
asks, ‘’What can I do?” Well my advice would be get out of there. We
did! I lived in Nong Prue with my Thai wife for over 5 years. We had the
same experience as him, not once but twice, one week apart, same local guy,
not a lot taken but left behind fear.
If the police had even tried to help ... but although we
had his name, address and a witness that saw him, they as usual did nothing.
As the editor said himself, ‘’Be thankful you
weren’t hurt’’. My feelings are that if you had have jumped up, things
would have been different, and nobody would do anything.
If your life is worth to you more than it is to them, get
out. We sold our house cheap and quick and returned to England, and both my
wife and I know we are better respected here. If Mr Bruton has been there
all those years, he should be well aware you can die for the price of a
tablet (ya ba).
Now we can both sleep at nights, again! Unlike Mr Bruton.
Tony Ball
England
Copy vs Real
Editor,
Local media reports of the arrest of fake-goods vendors
have recently been accompanied by condescending comments about purchasers
ponderings the wisdom of buying such items. I wonder, however, how many of
Pattaya’s visitors are daft enough to spend good money on hyped ‘real’
brand names.
Multi-national companies used not to be concerned about
‘cheap copies’ and the phrase trotted out was: ‘Copying is the
sincerest form of flattery’. These days, however, vast sums of money are
spent in attempts to stem the supply of those cheap copies. Authentication
methods, which often lend nothing to the actual appearance of a garment,
have become an industry in itself. Why? Fakes are often of such good quality
and style that they expose the over-pricing of many branded goods.
Fact is, copying has served the general public by forcing
down the retail price of such items as CDs, DVDs and football shirts. The
pretentious ‘must have genuine’ crew were dealt a blow when a
world-famous footballer caused much consternation when seen on TV wearing a
pair of copy jeans he bought in Bangkok. UK retail price of these jeans was
around $160 (11,000 baht approx). Bangkok/Pattaya price for excellent copies
- 500 baht.
How was it known the footballer’s jeans were fake? They
were of a style that was not made by the particular label. I often wonder if
this firm copied the copy. A phrase that now often applies to fashion goods
is: The real thing is for fake people.
Tony Crossley
Ooen will be grieved by many
Editor;
Sir, your reporting of the death of Miss Narisa Noochuay
at the hands of a Boys Town bar worker, along with her being employed in a
South Pattaya bar would tend to leave readers with the impression that she
moved in that grey employment area of “girl for hire”. Nothing could be
further from the truth. She had worked for many years in a well respected
restaurant along Soi Diana, known more for being the centre of the PSC golf
fraternity, and certainly no girlie bar. “Ooen”, as her family and
friends knew her, was a hard working, respectable young lady, very sweet and
charming and will be grieved by many.
Respectfully,
Geoffrey Couch.
Re “Thank you trespasser”
Editor;
I am writing about the letter in (last week’s) paper,
titled “Thank you trespasser” asking advice from readers.
I had a similar problem about ten years ago, while living
in a house on the seaside, near the Milford Hotel in Ban Chang. Two nights
before I was suppose to go work offshore for a month, the power went off in
our home. Worrying that when the power returned it would be low voltage, as
it usually was, damaging our water pump and refrigerator, I went downstairs
to turn them off. The downstairs cellar room had a door that opened onto the
beach. Someone had broken through the burglar door and was about to enter
when I came downstairs. (Luckily) he fled.
I repaired the door the next day, but my wife was scared
to be left alone. Not having enough time to install a proper alarm system, I
bought the largest external alarm bell I could find and mounted it high
above our outside bedroom window. I connected an electrical cord to it and
ran it into the bedroom to the electrical outlet next to the bed. The bell
worked great, loud enough to wake the dead. I instructed my wife to sleep
with the bedroom door locked and if she heard any noises in the house to
plug in the alarm bell. She never had to use it but gave her great piece of
mind. She knew that the alarm would wake all the neighbors, could be heard
throughout the house, and would frighten off any kamoy.
If your letter writer does not have the finances to
invest in an elaborate security system, for less than 500 baht he can buy a
very loud alarm bell that will scare away most any intruder.
I wish him the best of luck.
Art Savacool
Malaysia
No water for PATA convention?
Editor;
I have been reading about the upcoming tourist
organization events in Oct. and the award of the PATA convention, and what a
lucky thing it is to have it here, and all I can think of is: what are all
these representatives going to think and write about when they spend a week
or two without any basic reliable water service?
Samuiride
Busy doing nothing
Dear Editor;
I must admit I failed miserably in my efforts to get
anyone to show any interest in addressing the problem of, or at least hiding
it from the tourists (whom I thought provided a large slice of Pattaya
City’s finances) the not so “Quaint rural workmen’s village” as
Peter Lloyd described it, at the entrance to Dongtan Beach.
However, my Thai friend came up with an acceptable
solution: “You don’t have to look.” So there you go, a bit like the
driving code here in Pattaya - “Don’t look, what you don’t see ain’t
there” till it actually is, by then its too late, a bit like the already
with us water crisis here on the Eastern Seaboard.
Now I know the headmaster in Bangkok said, “Water
crisis, what water crisis?”, but the poor soul has been misinformed. The
deputy headmaster seems to have a better grip on reality because he said if
we don’t have rain equal in quantity to that which floated the Ark, by the
end of September, the Eastern Seaboard will have to add “Desert” to the
end of that title!
I know it’s a wild flight of imagination, but would it
be possible for the headmaster or his deputy to obtain retribution for the
crisis that anyone with a grain of intelligence could see looming years ago,
by staking out the local water authority chiefs, red Indian style, on the
banks of any empty reservoir to perish slowly in the burning sun? What a
lovely thought!
A little ditty has been floating around in my mind of
late which would seem to apply to many officials in Thailand:
“We’re busy doing nothing, working the whole day
through, trying to find lots of things not to do;
“We’re busy going nowhere, isn’t it such a crime,
we’d like to be unhappy but we never do have the time!”
I thought it was from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,
but apparently not, they sung “Hey Ho, He Ho it’s off to work we go”,
diligent little fellas they were, not like the “Busy doing nothing”
brigade we have here!
The tired old “Shower with a friend” will have to be
replaced by “Shower with as many friends as you can, when you can.”
So perhaps some fun at least could come out of this!
Best wishes as ever,
Richard Walton
Brian the Pieman
It is with great sadness that we have recently been informed
of the death of Brian “The Pieman” in the UK. He was a familiar Pattaya
character for many years, well-liked and respected by his many friends. He
will be sadly missed. Heartfelt condolences from all at Jack Tar Bar.
The management, staff & friends at the Jack Tar Bar
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Letters published in the Mailbag of Pattaya Mail are also on our website.
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It is noticed that the letters herein in no way reflect the opinions of the editor or writers for Pattaya Mail, but are unsolicited letters from our readers, expressing their own opinions. No anonymous letters or those without genuine addresses are printed, and, whilst we do not object to the use of a nom de plume, preference will be
given to those signed.
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