HEADLINES [click on headline to view story]:

Problem on the Cambodia side of Poipet border crossing

Pleeze, I aint no alien

Feeding the shark means being eaten last?

Re: Bus service against the wall

Heart is in the right place

Bus service doomed?

It wasn’t me…

Well done Gerry Rasmus

Ban parking on Soi Diana

Problem on the Cambodia side of Poipet border crossing

Editor;
Yesterday I was forced to go on yet another costly and time-consuming border run to Cambodia. I encountered a problem on the Cambodian side of the border. After crossing into Cambodia from Thailand, I went to the visa payment area and paid the requested 1000 baht fee for a tourist visa. I then went to the border check point and gave the officer my passport and immigration forms. He looked up at me and said, “You must pay me 800 baht to enter Cambodia.” I told him that I had already paid. He then said, in a forceful tone, “800 baht!” I told him again that I had already paid a Cambodian police officer 1000 baht. He mumbled something to a colleague sitting next to him, stamped my passport and handed it back to me.
I then crossed the street to the area where you exit Cambodia. I handed the officer my passport. He looked up at me and said, “That will be 100 baht.” I told him that I had already paid all of the required fees and asked him if this was some type of new policy. He seemed surprised at my response and decided to stamp my passport and let me go.
Given that this is no doubt not an isolated event, I suspect that several corrupt Cambodian immigration officers are aggressively trying to extort money from virtually every foreigner that is trying to enter and exit Cambodia via Poipet. Border runs are frustrating enough. Border runs that result in extortion attempts are way beyond frustrating. Accordingly, if there anything that the Thai government can do to help put a stop to this illegal behavior, please do so. One simple solution would be to allow foreigners to pay the required visa fees at any Thai immigration office without having to exit Thailand.
Jopal Merob
Bangkok

Pleeze, I aint no alien

Dear Editor;
I have looked up Alien in my dictionary and it says: ‘A person owing allegiance to a country other than that in which he lives’ along with ‘From another planet’. As I am neither I am at a bit of a loss as to where I fit in here in Thailand. I certainly do not owe allegiance to any other country; if I were permitted to have a Thai passport I would have applied for one years ago, and although others might regard me as from ‘another planet’ that is not strictly true and I think they cannot possess the necessary passports!
I read with great disquiet that some petty bureaucrat is thumping the drum about ‘Aliens’ owning land in Thailand, or rather not owning land in Thailand, and the property market being in a state of turmoil. Some agents having stopped selling land to ‘Aliens’ through companies till the state of play is sorted. The estate agents can survive, they are a breed unto themselves and mutate to adapt to different circumstances. It’s the Thai economy I am fearful for, and those innocents who have property in company names thinking everything was kosher!
It seems just when the economy is sagging to its knees and other more enlightened countries are easing restrictions on ‘Aliens’ owning land, Thailand is hell bent on traveling in the opposite direction, coupled with the political situation etc., the outlook is pretty gloomy.
I am afraid the hackneyed ‘If you are not happy get out’ response is no longer applicable in this day and age. I have no desire to live anywhere else in the world other than in Thailand. I have seen the rest and settled for the best as far as I am concerned, warts and all, but it would be nice to see at least some of the lunatics returned to the asylum rather than being in positions of authority.
One can only pray the Thais will wake up as they seem to be slowly doing, and oust these nutters, but I will not hold my breath, and in the meantime I will continue to enjoy my retirement in the most wonderful place on earth as far as I am concerned.
Best wishes to your publication and the wonderful Thais.
Richard Walton

Feeding the shark means being eaten last?

Dear Editor,
It is inconceivable that with all that is happening in this incredibly evil world there are people so misguided to believe that “The concept of the military is to kill people”. Their misguided anger is directed against the great world protector - the USA. The USA, as the only world superpower, has accepted the responsibility to protect the world. It is clearly a thankless job for which there is little appreciation, if any at all. I often wonder how Ronald Urbina interprets the events in Bali, Egypt, Madrid, Israel, London, USA, S. Thailand and Canada the last week. Does he believe that by leaving the militants alone they wont come after you? Or maybe he believes that by feeding the shark he will be eaten last?
A. J. Haupt
(Non-USA citizen)

Re: Bus service against the wall

Dear Editor,
I have been traveling to Pattaya a few times a year for the past ten years and I have never taken a bus. The baht buses are part of the charm of Pattaya just as the tuk-tuks are to Bangkok. Sure there is a chance you might be overcharged if you’re not careful but that goes without saying for Thailand and wherever else you might choose to travel. Give up on trying to make Pattaya the same as your home town or country. If it was so great and you liked it so much than maybe you would just stay there and leave Pattaya for those of us who like it just the way it is.
Sincerely,
Patrick Lane

Heart is in the right place

Dear Editor
Without wishing to appear to be an apologist for the U.S. military I must challenge a couple of points made by Ronald Urbina in last week’s Mailbag.
He states that ‘the whole concept of any military is to kill people.’ It could be argued that the ‘concept’ is in fact to protect people and the military is the means of achieving this end. Despite echoes of Vietnam (destroy in order to save) it is not difficult to understand that, at times, it is necessary to kill in order to protect.
Secondly, Ronald’s response to those who say ‘There will always be war’ is to point to those who used to say ‘There will always be wife beating’ is not logical. To my knowledge wife beating has not been eradicated. There will always be war and there will always be wife beating. This is not to say that we should not strive to condemn and restrict such horrors.
Keep up the good work Ronald.
I’m sure your heart is in the right place.
Nigel Oakes

Bus service doomed?

Dear Sir,
Now that the bus service is cutting back, there will be even fewer passengers and it will eventually be stopped entirely. I was looking forward to using the service when it started, but found the service poor, and continuing information for potential riders from the English-language media such an the PM virtually non-existent. I think I saw a route map once in the PM around the time the service started with limited routes, and not much after that.
Has the government ever considered allowing a fixed number of roaming metered taxicabs to work in Pattaya?
AJ Ferron

It wasn’t me…

To: [email protected]
I have just read the current Pattaya Mail while working abroad. My name has been used in one letter (“Not pleased with the British Embassy’s new Visa Section”) expressing sentiments that I have not put to paper, anywhere. Now there may be another ‘John Shepherd’ kicking around Thailand, but as I am about to attempt to obtain visas for my (Thai) wife and daughter to visit UK I am not happy to be associated with this whingeing Pom and his comments. If he wants to take his friend to Blighty, accept the probable difficulties – get him a business visa or similar.
John Shepherd
Senior Project Engineer

Well done Gerry Rasmus

Editor;
I’ve just seen the latest offering from “Beyond the Beach” on Pattaya Mail TV and thought I’d share my thoughts: well done Gerry Rasmus with his pollution solution. How refreshing to see someone who genuinely cares about our environment actually do something about it and get on with it. No great fanfare and back-slapping production from city hall, just a very nice (yep, I do actually know Gerry) regular guy doing his bit to help and hoping others will follow suit. Well done Gerry and thank you.
Martin
Ace Cafe, Jomtien

Ban parking on Soi Diana

Hello dear expats,
Who agrees with me? No more side parking or double parking in Soi Dianna Inn. If you live there and have to go to work it’s really difficult for everybody. Hello city hall. Department of Transport, come have a look please! Here is a pic to show you!
FF

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