HEADLINES [click on headline to view story]:

What is going on?

Jazz Concert 2008

Rising crime rate

Loves and hates

House burglary

Bemused and confused

Concerned about the dark side

What is going on?

Editor;
I first came to Pattaya in 1987 with 4 friends and have continued to visit Thailand every 6 months or so since then. My question is what is going on in Pattaya? Are the authorities trying to get rid of the tourist dollar/pound? Well that’s exactly what they have done.
For my last 5 trips I have been to Phuket, and why? Because I (and my friends) just don’t feel safe in Pattaya any more, and if you think we are the only ones you would be sadly mistaken. I know many people who used to visit Pattaya regularly like us but now are afraid to go. I read the Pattaya Mail every week on line and the crime seems to be out of control. It’s not good here in England either but when I go on holiday I want to relax, not be worried about muggings and robberies.
Whenever you have the fear of crime you will have a problem. The authorities really need to get their act together and encourage not just me and my friends, but many farangs who now boycott Pattaya. I really want to come back but until I think it is safe again, no way. I will spend my money elsewhere.
Glen from England

Jazz Concert 2008

Editor,
This letter concerns the recent Hua Hin Beach Jazz Festival and it has no reflection on the good hard working Thais that built all the stands and main stage.
I was very disappointed in this year’s Jazz Festival, mainly because there were so many negative changes. I’ve heard many others express these very same thoughts. So this is to all the sponsors, managers, organizers and or VIPs.
The following is a list of what I and others saw and felt; remember 2007 was perfect.
1. When we first approached the entrance before the beach there were no food stalls and or places to sit down and have some food and or a beer.
2. No Hua Hin Jazz Festival T-shirts and or souvenir stalls.
3. Not as many beer stalls where you could stand up and have a beer with a friend at a table.
4. Only a few stalls for people to sit down.
5. The stalls on the beach were too far apart and had a lot of space between them. Use up all your space.
6. The main stage was ‘too far’ from the regular soi entrance.
7. The small raised deck with a good view of the main stage was closed to all of us who enjoyed this view last year and was now for VIP’s only! Everybody who comes to this music event is a VIP, because we’re pouring a lot of our money into this city.
8. This year we only had half of the toilets and now you had to pay for a normal bodily function that we all do everyday. This is an insult to Hua Hin.
The organizers had better make a drastic improvement and get it right or you’ll lose this event.
Sincerely,
Jesse Salazar

Rising crime rate

Dear Sir;
I am a long time resident of Pattaya, 13 years, over the years we have noticed the rising crime rate in and around Pattaya. I no longer feel safe. I am currently relocating my family back home to the states. I also feel totally discriminated against by the people in Pattaya and the authorities. Just last week I had to hand over 400 hundred baht to a policeman who said I was speeding on the road to Sattahip.
He had no way of knowing what speed I was doing. Because I am a farang everyone wants to seem to rob me blind, from local vendors, to travel agencies to insurance agencies, car hire, house purchase, and government offices. I have had a good 13 years in Thailand and will be sad to leave.
Andy
Seattle

Loves and hates

Editor;
After a close 20 year association with Pattaya I thought I’d offer a few personal opinions on the place.
Six loves:
1. Great choice of hotels from the luxurious to the down right grotty. All fairly priced to suit the visitors needs.
2. Great food at even greater prices.
3. Great choice of activities available - just open your eyes beyond the bars to see what I mean.
4. Great shopping for those who are that way inclined.
5. Great nightlife - despite the complaints of early closing the place still has few, if any rivals in this area.
6. Relatively easy to get to. No more 4-5 hour taxi rides just to get to the airport for example.
Six Hates:
1. Crossing 2nd Road - scary stuff. 3rd Road and Beach Road are not much better.
2. Excessive noise from empty bars in residential areas / beside hotels.
3. Songkran - 1 day is fun, 2 is pushing the limits and a week is just ridiculous.
4. Baht bus drivers who overcharge - even when you talk to them in Thai.
5. Ethnic Indian tailors - please leave me alone. You don’t know me. I am not your friend. I am quite capable of deciding if I want a suit and entering a shop to buy one when I make that decision.
6. Whinging farangs - you don’t have to live here as I am sure you know. Perhaps it is the only place where you can afford all the “favourites” above.
Of the negatives I have listed it would be quite simple for “The powers that think they are” to solve the first 5. It would just take the will to improve things. The solutions are so obvious I won’t waste space pointing them out.
Sadly I think we are stuck with the last bunch - I’m sure they were the same where ever they came from. Some people are just negative and would complain even in a real paradise. Maybe it is in their genes.
George Seator

House burglary

Dear Editor,
I was sorry to hear of Mark Binks house burglary and loss of property. He was angry that the police had not shown up after 3 hours of being called. At least in Pattaya the police eventually show up. Here in Los Angeles you are pretty much on your own unless there is some sort of evidence, such as the criminal left his wallet (which has happened) or you have captured him yourself. Most nonviolent crimes such as this are recorded over the phone and the victim sends an itemized list of property and serial numbers to the police. It is rare for these people to be caught unless you have a good CCTV system. Good luck Mark, but crime like this is everywhere, even paradise.
Regards,
Bill Turner
California

Bemused and confused

Editor;
I am utterly bemused and confused about the letter “Tiny Minority of Farangs” written to the Mail Bag last week by “A Doctor from England”. I am not sure where the doctor is coming from. I have also visited Thailand for some 20 years and still come at least twice a year; now for the purpose of visiting my Thai partner, who is incidentally over 40 years my junior, but well over the age of consent.
My regular holidays brought me back to Pattaya time and time again but 10 years ago I stopped coming. On my regular daily visits to Dongtan Beach I frequently witnessed elderly farangs going off with young boys of around 11-14 years old; not to “look after the welfare” of the young boys, as the doctor puts it, but to have illegal sex with them. I decided I wanted no part of this scene and did not return to Pattaya for many years.
Three years ago I revisited Pattaya and at that time I met my now partner. I enjoy the freedom of Pattaya and the easygoing gay scene and decided to return and test the waters. I was pleasantly surprised that the very young boys were gone from the beach and apart from a few instances Sunee Plaza appeared to have made an effort to clean up its act.
There are still a few go-go bars (mostly farang owned) that flout the law and I am pleased that the police are seen to be taking action, but they still need to do a lot more. I am sure the majority of gay visitors want nothing to do with the actions of the paedophiles who seem to think that S E Asian culture makes it OK for them to abuse young children.
Going back to A Doctor’s letter, how he can blame the mafia for forcing children to have relationships with farangs, apparently dismissing the fact that it takes two to make a relationship? If the farangs don’t enter into unhealthy relationships with children then they have nothing to fear from the mafia. I have no problems with farangs having genuine caring relationships with boys and I don’t think the majority of Thai people would have problems with it either; but such relationships should be publicly seen to be healthy and without any sexual connotations.
A Doctor seems to want to pass the buck to the mafia, the NGOs and anyone else, rather than the paedophiles. I think Pattaya Mail should continue to expose these people until we reach the time when they no longer practice their evil deeds in Thailand, or anywhere else for that matter. I for one will continue to report anything that makes me feel uncomfortable and urge other caring gay visitors and residents to do the same.
Nigel Grant
London UK

Concerned about the dark side

Dear Sirs,
I am a working ex-pat who spends 6 months a year at my abode on the East side of town and when I get back home I have my favourite watering holes which are run by good friends. The bar takes care of my social requirements for both myself and my family as well as being a saving grace from having to go into town. However, I am due back this week and my ‘locals’ have been closed down for a month by the boys in brown for being open 20 minutes after midnight. No warnings for first time offenders? No friendly advice from the local BiB?
What is going on?
What are the laws in Thailand pertaining to licensing hours outside of ‘The Entertainment Zone’ and is ‘TEZ’ actually in force at this time? Can anyone out there advise of this? Can the bars still serve alcohol after the hours of midnight as long as music and the lights are off? Are residents of the East Side of Pattaya being forced to travel into town for an after midnight drink?
It strikes me as really strange that heavy handed officials would single out bars serving a ‘community’ that have been doing so for in excess of 4 years and didn’t advise them of their precarious opening hours or in the least issue warnings and fine them.
So, does now every bar outside the TEZ have to be closed (music off and lights out) at midnight? Can we expect to see more fines, more arrests of members of staff and imminent closures of thousands of bars and karaokes?
Is everywhere outside TEZ going to get the nickname ‘The Darkside’ (due to lack of bar lights etc)?
I am sure this 1 month closure has caused a massive problem for the bar owners, their staff, the patrons, local food sellers, alcohol wholesalers, even down to the hawkers. I know these closures have put at least 35 people out of work for the time being. Surely this is not right to ‘close’ a complete business down? What if they were a guesthouse, restaurant? Would the same ‘closure’ be put in place?
These bars are run by the people for the people and not some big cash giant that can afford these kind of heavy handed tactics.
Can anything be done to overturn these type of decisions as I am willing to help my friends and their ‘out of work’ staff financially?
Regards
A concerned and disappointed resident of the Darkside

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