HEADLINES [click on headline to view story]:

Dual pricing not a statute of law

Use your voice - or lose it

As a Matter of “Fact”

Petty thieves - or a threat to your well being?

Conspiracy Theory

A local issue?

Anti social behaviour

Dual pricing not a statute of law

Dear Sir,
The statement by Chamlong Sukprom, president of the Pattaya Transport Co-operative (Page 2. Pattaya Mail, Friday, June 23) “that foreign tourist fares (on baht buses) are higher than normal fares because the value of the Thai baht and foreign currencies are different” beggars belief! Perhaps he would be kind enough to quote the relevant section of the Department of Land Transport regulations which sanctions this discriminatory practice? Nor is the claim that “most tourist cities have the same pricing strategies” a justification.
Come clean, Khun Chamlong: this is nothing more than an attempt to justify the behaviour of a significant number of your members who do not adhere to the tariff that by law should be displayed in the songtaew they are driving.
Perhaps, Khun Chamlong, you are unaware that the double pricing on baht buses is one of the most contentious issues for foreign visitors and residents alike and has been well documented in the local media. If you are sincere in your wish to preserve the good image of Pattaya tourism, may I suggest that you forthwith instruct your members to adhere to the official tariff without exception.
Yours faithfully,
Robert Patnicroft

Use your voice - or lose it

Dear Pattaya Mail
Condo owners would like to know why some developers act like they are a law unto themselves. They seem to have no desire whatsoever to open up and communicate with owners. Secrecy seems to be the name of the game. It has been that way for years. These actions by developer are highly improper and probably illegal, especially when nothing gets done. Common areas are a mess and questions about financial reports have been avoided and audit accounts have never been produced.
In some cases there have been no general meetings of owners for years. If there were, I’m sure they would like to complain about some of the following: New corridor floors are needed, walls need to be painted, elevators need to be repaired or else replaced, the lobby looks like a construction zone, some aspects of security are highly unsatisfactory, the parking lots have too many cars and motorbikes. (With innumerable private businesses it is understandable the this would be the case.) There are many luxury condos but they exist in the midst of squalor. There has been no moratorium. Drilling and renovation takes place year round.
Some owners are willing to take matters to court, but they know they would be up against developers with influence, power, and enough money to head off any inquiry. Owners living under intimidation have not been willing, under the circumstances, to shell out money for legal services or to wait for years for a court session. I would think that many fearful attorneys have been approached.
Agencies need to take a good hard look at the buildings and scrutinize condo records. Condo laws and regulations also need to be revised and simplified and available. If an agency of the government makes an inspection and finds the actions of the developer legal and not responsible for existing conditions then more owners should voice their opposition. If they don’t, they might as well pack their bags and leave.
Voicing my Opposition, Pattaya

As a Matter of “Fact”

Editor
Many things could be said about the letter from T. Crossley (Mailbag 30 June: “A matter of opinion”) but I will gladly contain myself to a few aspects of it.
He wants “facts”. He writes deridingly about others’ letters as appearing to “know it all when they need to realize that they know nothing.” Isn’t this letter a big, mean show of hypocrisy?
He proceeds to supply us with “facts” and wrote for instance that “According to notices issued by the Department of Land Transport the fare for a minibus /baht bus/is not more than 10 baht per person.” And from there T. Crossley went on to lecture us in an extremely naive way. Was this “facts”? Shall we take this seriously? I know I don’t.
If T. Crossley could read more carefully he would have noticed that the sign he refers to is NOT issued by the Department of Land Transport but is written by the “Baht Bus Cooperative” themselves - Factually! It is considered by some of those who “know it all” as a corrupt way to tell that the legal fare is 5 baht inside Pattaya and 10 baht going to Jomtien or Naklua - and that is - believe it or not - independent of race, origin, skin-colour or national status etc!
Certainly, an intervention by the Department of Land Transport would be most welcome. Once, around 1998 that authority forced baht-buses to carry the signs of the legal fares but the drivers eliminated them within a weak. Some time ago, T. Crossley and others interested in facts could have read in Bangkok Post (21 Apr. 2005) that “The Land Transport Department plans to tighten its enforcement of price controls on bus fares, especially at tourist resorts and attractions” ... “Bus operators found guilty of illegally jacking up prices will face prosecution” ... “Bus operators are required by law to post signs clearly listing fares and the drivers personal data onboard their buses in both Thai and English.”
As far as I know that has not happened since a short try in 1998. Having read the above, has T. Crossley got any further comments about his way of presenting “facts”?
N. Anakha-Lindt

Petty thieves - or a threat to your well being?

After the very well publicized murder and robbery of an English resident in the Mabprachan area and the subsequent report that the police had successfully apprehended the alleged culprits, the residents around Mabprachan should now be relaxed.
However, they now live under the constant threat of burglaries!! Recently about 6 houses within Mabprachan Gardens and 7 to 8 houses in Nattikarn Estate have been broken into. These thefts have taken place at various times of the day and night without any apparent fear of the residents being in their houses or not. Items stolen in general range from mobile phones, jewellery, money etc... which are easy to carry, but please be warned. These robbers are getting more and more daring, culminating in them taking a pick-up from one house in Nattikarn on Saturday night! Their blatant daring robberies suggest they are quite fearless, which is extremely dangerous for anyone confronting them.
So please warn all readers to be careful and put away all valuables and definitely avoid tackling these people. One needless death is already one too many.
Concerned Resident

Conspiracy Theory

Dear Sir,
It is not anger that makes me anti military, more like the energy of a mother seeing her kid running into the street - “Stop!”
With a few days study in a good library or the Internet, anyone can find out that there are secret groups of people who make money off all wars and enjoy seeing people suffer and who have been in power in this world for thousands of years.
There are hints of it in The Matrix and Da Vinci Code films: powerful, secret, gargoyle worshipping, blood lusting, semi-humans.
They tell the “history”, control the “news” and give us a vision of the world that has evil around every corner.
They create wars; Pearl Harbor was staged to get the U.S. into WWII; “Gulf of Tonkin incident “concocted” for the Vietnam war.
Do you remember last Sept in Basra, Iraq? Two British spies were caught dressed in Iraqi clothes, shooting at Iraq police! (Later freed from prison by British tanks)
World Trade Center-events everyday, bombs planted in buildings, American Air Force told to stand down by Dick Cheney, Bali, London et al. Governments concerned full of lies.
“Have you stopped beating your wife/husband” is just a phrase to open a discussion.
Ronald Urbina

A local issue?

Dear Sir,
Ian’s latest letter (Disloyalty to your readers) is a letter too far.
His point seems to be that stupid farangs getting into trouble, harassed, ripped off or assaulted isn’t really important enough to take up the letters page of Pattaya Mail.
Like Ian I live in London. My local paper is the Hampstead and Highgate Express a well established and respected paper. The area it serves is noted for its champagne socialists, psychoanalysts, writers, artists, media personalities, ageing rock stars and footballers. With the exception of the last couple of groups listed the paper caters for one of the most educated and articulate readerships in the country.
So what matters monopolise the letters page? The decline of English theatre? The inadequacies of Freud’s methodology? The demise of socialism? Well no I’m afraid not. What concerns locals are local issues however trivial they appear to outsiders.
Those concerns include: parking, dogs on the Heath, cyclists on the Heath, the closure of swimming pools, crime and parking (again). I almost look forward to the day when a resident is assaulted by a lady boy on the Heath.
So come on Ian, enough is enough. Local issues matter to local people. They may seem trivial, even ludicrous (often they are) but they affect the quality of life in Pattaya and as such are important enough to feature in Mailbag.
Nigel, London

Anti social behaviour

Dear Sir
There used to be a sign at Phuket Airport that stated that persons of a hippy appearance would be denied entry into the kingdom. Surely this should now be amended to persons of hooligan appearance, as some of the louts now roaming around Pattaya would be refused admission to most places outside of prison.
I have been coming here for fifteen years but unless something is done and quickly, I and many others will not be back. The police should take a zero tolerance approach to anti social behaviour as these people will take a mile if given an inch.
A start could be made by taking down all those ridiculous English flags that make Soi Buakhoa look like a Nuremburg rally. We are in Thailand for God’s sake. Being British myself I can see the way things will end up here and believe me Pattaya ... you do not want to see it
John Flintman

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