HEADLINES [click on headline to view story]:

Fines begin for drivers using cell phones

Law changes

Game over for Pattaya?

Beach restrictions & other problems

A vegetarian future?

Songkran - get over it

Ron was an icon

Appeal to help Burmese typhoon victims

Fines begin for drivers using cell phones

Dear Editor,
I was interested to read the article in the Friday May 9 - May 15, 2008 edition of the Pattaya Mail. You mentioned the new traffic regulation towards mobile cell phones & drivers, or using a cell phone whilst driving. Does this also mean riders, bike riders?
During my frequent trips to Pattaya through out the year, I wonder how it is possible for anyone to have a conversation on a cell phone, whilst riding a fully laden motorcycle; and occasionally with a full faced helmet lifted above the eyes, most often without a helmet at all; and with a couple of passengers, laundry baskets, full supermarket shopping bags, and a dog in the front basket.
These people are not only putting their lives at risk, but also others.
Are the police going to be catching and fining these people as well, or will they just be targeting car drivers?
Regards,
A car driver
Ed’s reply: The law applies to all drivers - cars, motorcycles, buses, tuk-tuks, et al.

Law changes

Dear Editor,
(I’ve been) reading in the local news that there are some law changes on the way concerning foreigners not supporting their Thai children. According to the news this is a big problem for Thai females and I am quite sure that every responsible father can agree to that. Every child needs both parents and every child needs the economical support from their parents, so why is this issue addressed as a problem with foreign fathers only?
If I am not wrongly informed the real big child support problem in Thailand is that Thai males leave the girls without any support at all, forcing many poor girls into prostitution to survive and to support their new born babies. Everybody knows that prostitution is a risky business; that is probably why it is illegal in the first place. On top of that to have sex with a couple of new guys every single day does not make any additional father issue any easier to solve. Who is the father to that poor unsupported child, does the mother really know?
I think that the solution is to give basic child support to the mother of the child until the child reaches 18 years of age and pass that bill to the father, regardless if he is Thai or foreigner. There will off course be a lot of unpaid bills but it is easy to set up a government run agency to take care of that problem. Thai officials are good at running this kind of thing. This will also take care of the prostitution problem; mothers can live home in their villages taking care of their babies instead of being forced out in the misery of being a prostitute. And the best of all, the girls will not see any foreigners, so that will take care of the main problem.
To finance this child support reform why not implement a fine for everyone that violates the red light law, lets say 2000 baht per offense? Only on the Sukhumvit Road and the four main traffic lights, this law is violated at least 2 times for each session, giving 240 offenders for every hour, adding up to 172000 fines a month with the enormous sum of 344 million baht a month. If every single mother is given 3000 baht per month, it will help of more than 100000 unsupported children. For some reason this amount nearly matches the estimated sum of prostitutes in Pattaya, so that will also make Pattaya a better place to live, a real family paradise as the tourist authority should put it. Who knows, maybe the money should be enough to even fix some of the pot holes, if all traffic lights in the area should have the same strict regulations.
Mr. Christian

Game over for Pattaya?

Editor;
Have the prophets of doom finally been vindicated? Are we ready to believe that the last Songkran holiday had an 8% increase in tourist numbers over the previous year? It’s a little like believing that there will not be a water shortage.
In 30 years of visiting Pattaya I have never seen it so empty and yes, the crime rate is rising, the local economy is plummeting and the expats are leaving. Thank God, I never bought either a house or a business here! And no one can say they were not given due warning.
Best Regards,
Michael Baines
Sydney, Australia

Beach restrictions & other problems

Editor;
Where is the governor of Chonburi coming from? I visit Pattaya two or three times a year and spend a lot of my time on Dongtan Beach. There is a large area of public beach with no umbrellas but only a handful of people use it, both Thai and farang. Pattaya relies on tourism and the majority of people want to sit in the shade most of the time and enjoy the service of food and drinks provided by the beach chair operators.
I think the governor would do better to stop the rip-offs of tourists by unscrupulous Thais. Friends of mine from China recently visited Koh Larn and went out on a jet ski. When they got back the operator told them they had damaged the jet ski and would have to pay 8,000 baht or they would not be allowed to leave the island. The operator showed them a damaged jet ski, but it was not the one they had been using. My friends phoned the Tourist Police but the call was cut off after a few minutes. Eventually my friends managed to scrape together 3,000 baht and pay off the crooked operator. Some Arab tourists gave them a lift back to the mainland in their hired speedboat and advised my friends that they had been ripped off in the same way and had to pay 10,000 baht. Evidently, this is a common scam in the area. Wake up to the real problems Mr Governor!
Neil - London UK

A vegetarian future?

Dear Sir,
Breeding animals for human consumption is a major cause of food shortages and global warming as well as being a major contributor to rising costs, water shortages and cruelty to animals. Despite all this it is seldom mentioned; though in a rare moment of truthfulness the British government did let the cat out of the bag a few month’s ago! Realizing its political error, it quickly issued a statement saying that it did not expect people to become vegetarians. Rather strange, don’t you think, from a government that expected its citizens to support an illegal, immoral and counterproductive war based on a pack of lies.
Of course people are not going to become vegetarians overnight: nor should they. However, is it unreasonable to expect that those who are concerned about hunger, poverty, disease, cruelty to animals, rising costs and increasing cardiovascular diseases, might help the situation by consuming less meat?
There is, however, another side to the issue. As long as restaurants and cooks, whether professional or not, are unable to cook vegetables properly, most people are going to continue to eat meat based meals. What is needed is a completely new approach to vegetarianism with encouragement from governments and the WHO together with a reduction in the media’s general denigration and lampooning of vegetarianism. Are they the same people who tell you, for example, that the delightful durian smells like a public toilet; yet pass over the stink of rotting fish and decaying crab found all over the country?
That many restaurants can produce delicious vegetarian food is evidenced by the fact that in Thailand during the Vegetarian Festival they supply excellent vegetarian food. In the UK nearly all restaurants have at least 20% of the menu vegetarian and vegetarian dishes are marked as such.
In practical terms merely replacing one or two meat meals a week would go a long way towards the ultimate goal which has to be, as Arthur C Clarke predicted, a vegetarian future. The Vegetarian Society of the UK is always ready to help people with information and its address is Parkdale, Dunham Road, Altrincham, Cheshire, WA14 4QG or [email protected].
Yours faithfully,
Michael Nightingale

Songkran - get over it

Editor;
Why does the Pattaya Mail even publish stupid articles from Songkran and winy Brits not liking water? They complain of glasses, water, etc. Tell them to stay home, stay in house or go home. Wine and cry like babies, they know it’s a water party. Get over it! Make a statement. It’s been a tradition for xx years. They know how to get on a plane and go home if they don’t like it. Personally I love it! No matter what glasses, cameras, movie cameras get watered down.
Ed Hansen
USA

Ron was an icon

Dear Pattaya Mail,
I met Ron Amero at the Cafe Kronborg a few years ago and was very sad to read of his passing. I would like to commend the author of Ron’s eulogy. Ron truly was an icon and will be missed and remembered for many years to come.
Regards,
Jim Davidson
Moses Lake, WA.

Appeal to help Burmese typhoon victims

Dear Friends,
As you will be aware on 2nd May, Cyclone Nargis hit the coast of Burma, with similar effects as the December 2004 tsunami.
The people of Burma (Myanmar) are desperate for help. As of today, their government is giving minimal assistance and is still refusing visas for most aid organisations to enter the country.
We have contacts for bringing funds and supplies into Burma for urgent emergency cases in the Rangoon area.
We have the opportunity to give immediate assistance, but we need your help now. Cash is needed without delay to buy medical supplies and water purifier tablets to take into Burma, and for the purchase of food and fuel within the country.
All funds donated will be accounted for. Where possible, feedback of how the funds are spent will be sent back to you, if you provide your details.
Contact Rosanne Diamente for donations details
We ask you to be generous!
“Women with a Mission” (previously Helping Hands Pattaya) is also working with the Burmese migrants and refugees living in Thailand in the Mae Sot region. Mae Sot is the main border town in Thailand to the cyclone stricken Irrawaddy Delta area and Rangoon.
Two schools were destroyed in the same cyclone. Donations to assist the rebuild of these schools would also be greatly appreciated, along with donations of used clothing and teaching materials, including books, etc., for the schools.
Thank you for your much needed support for our neighbours in Burma.
Yours Sincerely
Rosanne Diamente
[email protected]

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