HEADLINES [click on headline to view story]:

No more aerobics at Big C

Bad smell at Soi Wat Boon

Graffiti continues

Any police around?

Deplorable road conditions

Dual pricing

Hello from Florida

Pattaya City water shortage

No more aerobics at Big C

Editor;
For over the past couple years, 25 to 30 (sometimes more) Thai ladies gather daily at the Big C South Mall for the 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. aerobics classes.
 This is done with the permission of Big C who provides the area, some equipment and aerobic instructors for these classes. These Thai ladies are from this area and look forward to this hour of fun and good exercise in their day.
 As a husband of one of these Thai ladies I have witnessed many of these sessions and enjoyed watching their fun and exercising with their gangs (as they call their class friends). They also enjoy their after class yak, yak sessions and sometimes a dish of delicious Thai noodles served near by.
However, that all came to an end the week of 01 April 2007 when the Big C spokesperson informed the ladies and their instructors that aerobics classes have been cancelled.
 The reason the spokesperson gave was due to constant complaints from one old German man who lives nearby. They also said that this same man had been complaining about this one hour of noise for a very long time.
The call from the ladies when they received this notice was, “No more shopping at Big C.” It is nice that we have Tesco Lotus and Carrefour nearby that can meet all of our shopping needs.
 The management of Big C South should have considered that many of these ladies have foreigners for husbands and boyfriends and what impact this could have on their business.
From a former family shopper of all BIG Cs

Bad smell at Soi Wat Boon

Aloha Editor;
I have smelled some pretty bad smells in my day, but the aroma that is floating around the Soi Wat Boon area is so foul that the gecko’s, dogs and rats are moving to a different field. I’m stuck here, as I can not move my barn. Is the water treatment plant shut down or overloaded? Is there not something that they can put in the storm drains to kill the toxins and the smell?
I may have fallen off a pineapple truck, but I know things can be done to correct major problems, such as a stench and a pollution that is beyond the call. This is all toilet water and the smell is sickening. Your own put, put is bad enough, but to have everyone else’s to smell is over the top, out of the box and in your face. We need to get a handle on these storm drains, “yesterday”. As much as they are building, our problems have only just begun. Someone needs to stink or get off the pot (an old expression).
Have a wonderful now. The life of the people is in the land.
KOTO (the Keeper of The Ocean)

Graffiti continues

Editor;
I emailed you a couple of weeks ago about some evil graffiti appearing on Jomtien Beach Road. I noticed yesterday that this person has extended his campaign further along the beach road; are the police investigating these acts of vandalism?
In the UK now, local authorities have teams of ‘graffiti’ cleaners who are sent out to remove this offensive daubing as soon as it’s reported. Are the authorities here too apathetic?
Also on Jomtien Beach Road there are some newly painted zebra crossings, but the traffic doesn’t stop to let you cross. You start to feel rather foolish after you’ve stood there for a minute or two. Also there’s a bar opposite my temporary residence on Soi Welcome that pumps out loud bass music till after 1 a.m., whether there’s anyone in it or not, as well as the whoops from the bar girls; you’ve no chance of sleeping till after 1.30 a.m. If this was the UK you could report this level of noise pollution to Environmental Health and if it didn’t stop they’d confiscate their equipment.
Don’t get me wrong, I’d hate to see Thailand become as strangulated as the UK by ‘political correctness’ (Big Brother in 1984 by any other name), but I do think the local authorities could be more effective in enforcing existing laws.
Anon

Any police around?

Editor;
After living here for quite some time now, I must make my voice heard (read). The police box at Tops and 2nd Road states that it is manned 24 hours. Ha ha at that one. It is empty a lot of the time, and when it is manned, there are two or three guys just sitting around waiting for something to happen, when the police should be actively moving about on the sois and main roads. When police are visible, there is less likely to be crimes going on.
Also, why do they give out tickets for not wearing helmets, when they themselves do not wear them many times? It also seems that this ticketing is purely arbitrary; some get them and others are let go?
Finally, get some of those guys to work the Thepprasit and Thappraya Road intersection on a 24 hour basis, to stop these morons, both Thai and farang alike, from blatantly going through red lights. This is what will kill people, not the failing to wear a helmet. People who are stupid enough not to wear a helmet should be left alone to kill themselves; who cares?
Hyde Parke

Deplorable road conditions

Editor;
I have just returned from 3 weeks vacation in Pattaya, where I visit several times each year. This visit I was appalled by the state of the road towards Jomtien caused by pipe laying operations. No one bothers to fill the potholes left by the contractors with the result that a journey on a baht bus is a total nightmare. I suffer from back problems and every trip I made, several times a day, resulted in suffering agonies of pain. Why don’t the city authorities control these contractors? Why should the tourists, who bring millions of baht to Thailand every week, have to suffer this appalling situation?
Neil
London UK

Dual pricing

Dear Sir/Madam,
Mr Ian Ashenden (Letters 06/04/07) seems to think that the English pricing system that helps old age pensioners and students get tickets at a discount compares to Thailand’s rapacious system! How can one compare a system that allows Thais, rich or poor, to enter shows, zoos, parks, etc., at a fraction of the cost to foreigners (regardless of their economic status) with a fair system designed to help less well off people? The mind boggles!
Regards,
“Fair play” of Pattaya
PS Thanks for a great mag!

Hello from Florida

Hello from Bonita Beach Florida, U.S.A.
I read the Pattaya Mail faithfully every Friday and love it. Hillary is the best... Vernon Dosier wrote an interesting response in this week’s mailbag that I would also like to comment on. My husband and I have been coming to Pattaya for the past 3 years and have wondered why we love this country so very much. Mr. Dosier answered one of the reasons. Like Singapore we live in an over-regulated, endless rules, ordinances, etc. Something gets lost when a place gets hermetically sealed perfect.
 So with its awful sewer smells, hectic baht bus travels, etc., Pattaya is a lovely place. Thai people are the most gracious, friendly and wonderful people.
When our country was younger during the old Wild West area, the cowboy towns were mostly all brothels. San Francisco was the biggest. New Orleans, etc. We still have them, but call them chicken ranches on the out skirts of towns. It’s disturbing to see the “open sex industry” but, just as in our country, women will become more educated so they will have more choices on lifestyles.
Thailand is a shining star and how fortunate that we get to be guests in the Land of Smiles.
Barbara Sarff

Pattaya City water shortage

Dear Sir,
Pattaya City water shortage? Now, I realise that there is “no water shortage in Pattaya” ... because, we have been assured “that there would be no water shortage in Pattaya this year” by people that know. So, why are the folks in Pattayaland Soi 2 having to buy water from the water trucks on a regular basis? Can anyone throw some light on what is really going on?
Yours Sincerely,
Kritsana Rungklang
Chonburi

Letters published in the Mailbag of Pattaya Mail
are also published here.