HEADLINES [click on headline to view story]:

Traffic frustration

Sorry, Alan

And still another way to look at things local

Visa application refused

Build bridges, not landmarks

Not katoeys

Mom Tri’s Boathouse Second Short Fiction Contest 2008

Traffic frustration

Editor;
Criminal Neglect - The junctions along the new railway roads will become black spots very soon, without traffic control. There are six two way traffic roads entering the junctions with a train running through the centre and no signs or traffic lights. Are the responsible city departments waiting for a serious accident, with possible deaths of women and children to occur, before they do their job? Too late!
I suggest the seaside road be one-way traffic South to North and other side one-way traffic North to South to relieve some pressure on the junctions. Then install traffic signs & lights, ASAP. To allow this dangerous situation to persist, is nothing less than criminal negligence.
Resident Siam Country Club Road Traffic Light Frustration - Drivers traveling South on Sukhumvit wishing to turn right into Centre Pattaya Road, face a bewildering set of traffic lights, which change from red to green straight ahead, then sometimes a green to turn right. More other than not, they change back to red and drivers do not know what to do. Please synchronize the lights correctly before serious accidents occur.
Frustrated Driver

Sorry, Alan

Editor;
We were sorry to see the letter from Alan (last week’s mailbag). A friend of ours lost 20,000 baht in what seems like an identical scam in January while we were in Pattaya. No surprise that Alan was still able to drink his fill in Cheers bar on “tick” (as we Geordies call it). Colin and Stan would show him every sympathy. Colin was probably thinking of how many bounties and curly wurlys could have been bought with the 1500 baht!
Cheer up Alan, King Kev might not be able to stop you getting pick-pocketed but hopefully he will sort out the last part of your letter (no more 6-0 defeats). Best wishes to Colin, Stan, the staff and all the good people we have met in Cheers.
PATnGLEN, England

And still another way to look at things local

Editor;
My response to the letter: Thinking of coming to Thailand?, Bill Turner, Los Angeles, USA: I always pay in LA twice the taxi fare they ask me for. They are poor people. At any fast food restaurant in LA I always pay at least twice the price and so on. And people not doing this should never come to LA.
Is this you want to tell us? Nobody is talking about the 5 baht, everybody is talking about the different pricing. Hard to understand for you? The education level of tourist here in Pattaya gets worse and worse... The quality tourist should have a bit of education - or stay at home. The lack of education of tourists causes many problems here... other tourists have to suffer because of those billionaires.
I studied, had a big company and retired with 40 - and pay only what the locals pay. It is not the money... It is about using the brain.
My response to letter: Stray dogs, Robert P Splaine: Dear Robert, I am very grateful that you want to take the responsibility for stray dogs. In my time here in Asia I got bitten several times by them. Afterwards I had high expenses for the rabies treatment. In any case it was always very scary to meet those animals without any social behavior.
Please let me know your email address. I hope so much that you try to help me too and not only those creatures. All those hospital bills were not cheap. I do not ask for a compensation for all the fear and pain I suffered - just for the hospital bills. Have to admit - I am not a dog. Don’t let me down because of this!
John

Visa application refused

Editor;
Some time ago, there were many complaints about obtaining visas from the British Embassy, but not recently. Does this mean everyone is now satisfied with the system? Or has apathy set in and they cannot be bothered to complain?
I recently applied for a Swiss visa for my wife’s 16 year old niece. She has been living with us for 3 years, and I thought it would be a good idea for her to go to live for the allotted 90 days with my son and his young family in Zurich, with a view to mental stimulation, and developing a somewhat shy personality. I think it would be an inestimable advantage to have some English and German.
In spite of there being no financial problems, an ultra safe haven in that she would be living with her putative step brother and family, a confirmed and paid for return ticket, with a ticket also for my wife to accompany her on both legs of the journey, the application was refused because “her exit from Switzerland, on expiry of the visa, was not guaranteed”. Of course (I believe) this is not the real reason, but merely an excuse to avoid stating what the real reason would be.
So what might the real reason be? If you go to http/bern.usembassy.gov/trafficking in persons.html, you will see that Switzerland gets something of a slamming for not doing enough to prevent such trafficking, and it may be that the Swiss have overreacted by a sort of built in racial discrimination clause, i.e. she’s Thai, female, therefore she is going to a whorehouse.
If not this, one wonders why they have not the moral courage to say what the real reason is, so that one can discuss it. Rather they prefer to treat an applicant as a moron. Of course the whole system is flawed. Advisers who understand the question, and what lies behind it are barred from the interview. The interviewer, in all embassies, are trained so they know what questions to ask, to trap the uneducated. I am sure that if they asked young ladies from Issan if they liked potassium cyanide, the girls would nod in assent, rather than admit they did not know what it was.
Of course, one has no cards to play. It is even probable that like the public hangman, the visa departments will maintain they are only obeying orders. Probably so. One has the right of appeal, of course, a time consuming process, which even if successful, would not erase the nasty taste of unjustified rejection.
Derek Doyle,
Banglamung

Build bridges, not landmarks

Editor;
I just read in your newspaper the article about Pattaya allocating 3 million baht for building two new “landmarks” for our city. I refer to the two proposed clock towers. I accept that I will never understand the Thai way of thinking. But why all this effort to create unneeded “landmarks”. And by the way, why is a clock tower a landmark anyway? If Pattaya wants to improve the image of this city as a good place for tourists to visit, how about building a few overhead footbridges so that tourists can cross Beach Road safely without endangering their lives? Tourists want safety, not the illusion of it. People want value, not price increases without improved services. Come on city leaders, when will you ever think like (me) in order to attract more? Sad, Sad, Sad!
Sign me,
A Helping Hand

Not katoeys

Editor;
In viewing your TV news special report today on “Tiffany’s” I observed several common mistakes by your reporter. He referred to the show’s ladyboys as transvestites. By definition ladyboys are not transvestites. Transvestites are men who live their lives as men and who also dress up as women but still look like men. Ladyboys are transsexuals. Transsexuals identify as females, live their lives as females, and look and act like females. Most transsexuals undergo hormone therapy or sexual reassignment in the form of breast implants or surgery.
Your reporter also referred to the Tiffany show’s dancers as “katoeys.” Katoey is the Thai name for ladyboys and is a derogatory term. It is considered an insult to refer to ladyboys as katoeys. In Thailand where most transsexuals become ladyboys as small children and where their presence is culturally accepted, it is unprofessional and politically incorrect to call them katoeys or transvestites.
It is recommended that your reporters do their homework and become informed prior to conducting interviews and special news reports.
Sincerely,
John Harmon
Dr Iain replies: I have no desire to become involved in deep semantics over a light-hearted TV (television, not transvestite) feature. Tiffany’s Show refers to itself in its website as (quote) “the first ever truly transvestite cabaret show in South East Asia.” If it is good enough for them, then it is good enough for me. The term “katoey” is not derogative. Compared to Western countries where transgenders and transsexuals are just beginning to become visible, katoeys are much more visible and are widely accepted in Thai culture. Several popular Thai models, movie stars and singers are katoeys. Finally, there is much more involved psychologically in being a transsexual than just having gender reassignment surgery.

Mom Tri’s Boathouse Second Short Fiction Contest 2008

Part 1: Open to All
Part 2: Open to Age Group 15 – 18 years
The Boathouse announces the second Mom Tri’s Boathouse Short Fiction Contest and invites aspiring writers to pen up to 1,500 words of original prose.
Last year saw the first annual Boathouse writing competition which was judged by Jake Needham, Asia’s most stylish and atmospheric writer of such bestsellers as ‘The Big Mango’, ‘Laundry Man’ and ‘Killing Plato’ –a Jack Shepherd crime fiction story set in Phuket and starting in the Boathouse’s own Galley Bar.
The competition generated a large and enthusiastic response from which Chris Bonds was judged the winner. Chris went on to expand his short fiction piece into a full-length novel which was accepted by a New York Publishing House and will appear shortly. The Greater Phuket Magazine sponsored the competition and placed no less than three pieces of the best writing in its pages during 2007.
The second competition will be in two parts.
Firstly the adult competition open to all, requiring stories of 1,000 up to 1,500 words, containing the three key words: the Boathouse, Phuket and (the big) Mango. Deadline for Part 1 entries will be 29 February and winners will be announced 12 March 2008. Details and conditions can be found on www.boathousephuket.com
Secondly a competition open to young school age writers 15 to 18 years. To get the students going, the beginning of a short Jack Shepherd story is posted on www.boathouse.net/short_fiction_contest.htm. Students are asked to finish the story using between 800 and 1,200 words.
To help stimulate the creative imaginations of the students, Jake will conduct a workshop at Phuket’s International Schools on 11 - 12 March (details to be announced) and excerpts from Jack Shepherd books are available on www. JakeNeedham.com at the Podbooks section as audio files to listen to. Part 2 of the contest closes 10 April 2008. Three outstanding entries will be chosen and announced by the end of April.
Winners will be able to experience the famous Mom Tri experience first-hand; they will receive a voucher for a complimentary stay, with a dinner for two and a bottle of wine, at Mom Tri’s Boathouse and a spa treatment for two at Mom Tri’s Villa Royale.
Winners will also receive an autographed Jake Needham novel and the winning entries of Part 1 and Part 2 will be published in the Greater Phuket Magazine and posted on Mom Tri’s Boathouse website www.boathousephuket.com
For more information and contest rules, contact: Contact: Lisa Sol - PR Manager - Mom Tri’s Boathouse, Kata Beach Phuket Tel: 66-76-330015 Fax: 66-76-330561, [email protected] www.boathousephuket.com

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