HEADLINES [click on headline to view story]:

Poor way to conduct business

What is city hall doing about Thappraya Road?

The disgrace that is Thappraya Road

We stand corrected…

Koto is a happy camper

Songkran and pedophiles

Someone is making plenty of dosh

Get even one dog spayed

Features article on Naz was fantastic

Poor way to conduct business

Editor;
I have subscribed to TOT’s so called Internet service since its inception. The service has always been poor, with the connection interrupted frequently and the speed deplorable.
But over the past two months I did not have any service for six weeks. TOT stated that my SMC modem-router was at fault and suggested that I purchase the one offered by their company. To placate them I did so and paid 2,000 baht with no change and still no connection to the Internet. They finally determined that it was their line on Wong Amat Road and after six weeks I had a poky resumption of service.
Three days ago, the connection was again halted. Getting through to TOT’s repair service is next to impossible with their lines always busy. So again I have no Internet.
I broached the possibility of a credit on my bill for the long six weeks I suffered with no connection. “Credit,” they echoed? A snicker went up around the TOT office and everyone scoffed in amazement. This is indeed Thailand (but I love it).
Gary Hacker
Naklua

What is city hall doing about Thappraya Road?

Dear Sir:
Maybe you could do a story on the repair of Thappraya Road? It’s been “under construction” for almost three years and is extremely dangerous! What are the people at city hall doing about it? Is there any intention of actually finishing the road or don’t they really care? I’ve been all through this fine Kingdom and the streets here in Pattaya are worse than anywhere.
You might want to take some pictures of accidents and publish them in the paper. All you have to do is park on almost any stretch of the road and you’ll see. That road is a disgrace! And the city councilmen/women have demonstrated that they have no value for human life by not doing anything about Thappraya Road. What would the Buddha say?
Regards,
Timothy
Ed’s note: First, anyone who has traveled that direction agrees with you whole-heartedly. However, the city has been without a government for over a month, which is about to change with the approval of our new mayor and city council. No guarantees, but one could hope that as soon as the city has a government again, contractors might begin to get paid again and work will resume. Any bets out there as to when this will happen?

The disgrace that is Thappraya Road

Editor;
The stretch of Thappraya Road that runs for a couple of kilometres from the Third Road overpass to the beach on Jomtien has seen a road widening scheme that has been going on seemingly forever and now appears to be abandoned. We have seen the traffic lights at Thepprasit junction immobilised for months by design and only recently re-introduced. During this period we have witnessed countless accidents and several fatalities at the Thepprasit junction area alone.
How is it that any trip up north or down south will take you through countless new and repaired highways already completed with many other on-going projects being vigorously undertaken but back in the biggest and most vital tourist capital we have this devastating ongoing disaster?
Almost every tourist visiting Pattaya will take a trip along this road at some point to visit Jomtien Beach and of course tourists on Jomtien Beach will do the reverse. What kind of impression will they get as they bounce around in the back of a baht bus that is trying its best to avoid potholes and roadwork obstacles only to arrive at an endless traffic build up at Thepprasit? I would say it could be the, “I’m not coming back”, impression.
The project appeared to start OK and then overnight was abandoned. One would assume that somewhere there is a contract with a responsible firm of substance to finish this simple two kilometre vital stretch of road. Abandonment usually means that the contractor has run out of cash. Running out of cash indicates there was not enough cash in the budget in the first place which then begs questions. Whatever the reason the citizens of Pattaya and the tourists of the world deserve to have some answers and also have a fast conclusion to this disastrous situation before we go into yet another season.
Richy

We stand corrected…

Hello,
I was in the Queen Vic on the night of Stephen Hendry’s visit. It was one of the best evenings I’ve had here in Pattaya. I would like to mention, though, that your report in the Pattaya Mail was slightly inaccurate. The amount raised by the auction for one shirt was an amazing 15,000 baht, not 1,500 baht. Even for Amazing Thailand this was exceptional.
Bernard Walker
Ed replies: Thanks for correcting us. We certainly have an insufficient number of fingers and toes in the office and appreciate the help. 15,000 baht surely is an exceptional amount, and for such a good cause.

Koto is a happy camper

Aloha,
Better late then never. This was a group of wonderful people, the Tazala Sub-district Administration Organization, that were on a two day holiday from Chiang Mai. They saw me doing my tam boon and both days they all did tam boon with me by helping to clean the beach. I know this is a while back, but it is never too late to honor wonderful people that take their holiday time to do tam boon. I hope this finds a place to be shared. It doesn’t matter where you came from, it doesn’t matter where you’re at, what matters is where you’re coming from. May health and happiness be with us all. “The life of the people is in the heart and land.”
Koto, Keeper of the Ocean

Songkran and pedophiles

Editor,
In response to Mr Hobson’s letter about Songkran, yes he is right about the true meaning of Songkran. But he is wrong about the hijack of Songkran by farang holidaymakers and residents, as most of the people celebrating the wilder side of Songkran are by far and away the Thai people. This is repeated at any Thai town or city regardless of whether there are foreigners present. I’m sure that Mr Hobson’s wife knows that, as do the rest of the whingers. My message is: stay away if you don’t like it; if you do, enjoy the fun.
Meanwhile, it is good to see the police really cracking down on the pedophiles that prey on the children of Pattaya. It’s long overdue, as these people, few as they are, give Pattaya a very bad name. I just hope that the crackdown is sustained and the criminals brought before the courts and a very strong message sent out. Lengthy jail terms for convicted pedophiles and the message that they will not be tolerated in Thailand.
Mickyfin
Burnley UK

Someone is making plenty of dosh

Dear Editor;
I am by no means an expert on how this wonderful world of ours works in terms of economics, but one thing I am sure of is that there some big hitters out there making plenty of dosh while we underlings suffer in terms of the oil crisis.
I read a while ago about an Arab Sheik who had his Mercedes wheels studded with diamonds together with claims that there is plenty of oil to go round, so somebody’s is not telling things as they really are, are they?
Britain and the US went into Iraq, and are endlessly trying to take control of a country that (so I believe) is sitting on the world’s 2nd largest oil reserve. Now the Brits, the US and the coalition have control ... what is happening to all this oil, where has it gone!? We don’t need permission from Saddam anymore to sell his oil to us, so why have we got a world shortage, especially as we Brits help invaded Iraq with I’m sure (like the US) a promise of some great oil deals to come our way. But no, we just put up with a so called world oil shortage and pay, pay, pay. Maybe someone out there with a degree in how to pull the wool over the eyes of us all has an answer, because I can’t figure it all out?
Regards
Moaning Brit

Get even one dog spayed

Dear Editor;
As a follow-up to some letters I’ve written to various newspapers about stray dogs, I’d like to share with the readers the following statistics:
“Helping to get even one dog spayed can prevent 67,000 puppies from being born in six years, and spaying just one female cat can prevent 420,000 kittens from being born in seven years” (Animal Times, Spring, 2008).
It would be an understatement to say that breeders are a plague on society and they are the root cause of this terrible problem.
Eric Bahrt,
Pattaya

Features article on Naz was fantastic

Dear Editor;
It was absolutely fantastic to read your ‘Features’ article on Naz last week. Both my wife Stella and I taught Naz for two years and agree she is a star with huge potential. She is an extremely hard working kid with bags of charm and personality and a tremendously supportive father. Our congratulations and best wishes are extended to Naz from us both.
David and Stella McCracken
Li Po Chun United World College of Hong Kong

Letters published in the Mailbag of Pattaya Mail
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