HEADLINES [click on headline to view story]:

Charged for enforced stay

Decline in holiday makers

Christmas and New Year resounding successes

Correction

Looking forward to Thailand Year Zero

When will the authorities get their priorities right?

Fire - an unheard call

Charged for enforced stay

Dear Sir,
On 26 November, because of the sit in, I was turned back from the airport in Bangkok and advised to return to my hotel in South Pattaya, where I had stayed since 3 November. Friends took me to the Tourist Office where a phone call was made to the hotel, and it was agreed I should remain there until a flight to London became available, the hotel bill to be covered by the Thai government’s announced policy.
However, on 4 December, the hotel abruptly asked me to leave and I had to move to another hotel. I was not prepared in the circumstances to pay their bill. I got a flight to London on 6 December. I now discover that, in spite of the agreement reached with the Tourist Office, and without my agreement, my bank account has been debited with 162 English pounds to cover my enforced stay. The hotel had an impression of my credit card, and indeed in the past decade I have stayed there several times a year. I have been an excellent and loyal customer. Their action is in my view deplorable and I shall take further action when I return to Pattaya later this month. But I shall, of course, be staying at another hotel!
Charles Walker
Southampton, England

Decline in holiday makers

Editor;
I have read with interest the recent comments on the huge downturn in the tourist industry. Some people blame everything on western countries saying we should keep our noses out of other people’s affairs. Well, when western countries have thousands of their citizens held hostage, like those at Bangkok airport, they have a right to comment and be worried.
People pay very good and hard earned money for their vacations and do not need the hassle of being in effect held hostage. Pattaya and most of Thailand will now after this fiasco and the threat of more trouble to come combined with a world wide recession see the tourist industry hit like never before.
I know scores of people who have cancelled their planned trip, and others who were thinking of visiting Thailand for the first time have altered their plans. The world is a big place and people must spend their hard earned money wisely.
I fear for Thailand because that money is going to go to other beautiful countries and the poor Thai people will suffer as a consequence.
Paul from England

Christmas and New Year resounding successes

Ed,
I am pleased to say that the Christmas and New Year period have been a resounding success as far as Pattaya is concerned with hotels banged to the rafters and bars, pubs and clubs doing a roaring trade underpinning the fact that if you want to party then Pattaya is the place.
If proof were still needed that the Pattaya nightlife is what brings in the tourists and the cash then this Christmas / New Year season is it. Regardless of the illegal shutting of our airports, the baffling, unexplained and seemingly absurd 15 day ruling, political instability and the global financial crisis, the party goers have found their way to our wonderful city in droves.
There are singles both male and female and couples and the interesting factor is many of them are young and first timers. No longer can our city be labelled as a place simply for old farts. The young have obviously got the message that not only do we have great hotels and restaurants but also great discos and entertainment venues as well, together with good beaches and stunning available ladies making Pattaya an irresistible destination on par with anywhere in the world.
It is, however, interesting to note the lack of family tourism, and large tour groups appear thin on the ground. This aspect of Pattaya tourism so vigorously courted by our tourism offices was the first to stop coming, scared of by the scandalous airport occupation and political unrest and all taking full notice of their respective unfounded government travel warnings.
However, the grass routes of Pattaya tourism, the nightlifers simply took advantage of the cheap flights and great hotel offers and got on a plane just as they have done for years but this time it is really noticeable that there is now a strong youth interest in Pattaya. This should be pursued vigorously. The uptight countries that label Pattaya as simply a sex city should be ignored.
The US government that bans many military craft from stopping here as they have done for 30 years on the absurd grounds of “supporting human trafficking” should be re-educated.
Pattaya is possibly the best tourist city on the planet and is great for all sections of society, singles, families, and groups, whatever; there is something for everyone. Having said that though our governors should reappraise their endeavours to turn Pattaya overnight into a family/tour resort. This will take time and infrastructure. Meanwhile ignore the nightlife at their peril.
Richy

Correction

Editor,
Re “Guilty of Bullying Ways?” With regard to my letter of the previous week, the correct amount required for investment should have read 1 million US dollars and not 1 million baht. My apologies for the error.
Nahkit Chris Jones

Looking forward to Thailand Year Zero

Dear Sir,
I enjoyed reading John Arnone’s letter in Mail Bag about the world situation and the rights of others to criticise Thailand’s problems. Clearly intelligent, he makes a lot of sense as to who is to blame for the current world financial crisis and in exposing the weaknesses of Western policies. However, like all fantasists he can’t resist going too far in some of his diatribes.
For instance, he says that only Thaksin and the leader of PAD know what their motivations were or are, least of all someone from a country other than Thailand. What a strange thing to say; do you have to be Thai to see the corruption and love of money of one, the desire for power of both, or be able to analyse the public statements of PAD. Of course not.
Next we have ‘what is going on internally in Thailand is nobody’s business except the Thais’. Well that’s a stunningly stupid thing to say. Try telling that to the Jews in wartime Germany, the Palestinians in Gaza, or the population of Zimbabwe. Sometimes it is necessary to have a world view untainted by xenophobia in order to see what is right and wrong.
It gets worse ... ‘do Japanese, Chinese and Thai expats bombard the press with letters condemning their new countries leaders?” Well yes they can, do, and what is wrong with that? As for foreigners daring to speculate about this, it is called freedom of thought and freedom of the press. Once that goes then the country is on a slippery slope. How far is Thailand down that road at the moment?
Lastly, and finally to nail down the coffin that contains his wilder ideas, of course outsiders have the right to speculate, criticise, theorise and advise. It is they who will buy Thailand’s exports, enjoy its tourist facilities, help fund its charities, invest in its plans and look forward to all the partnerships that the future promises. Of course, John will be looking forward to Thailand Year Zero.
Regards,
Lester

When will the authorities get their priorities right?

Editor;
When will the authorities get their priorities right? – When another 3 score die? My partner and I run a small internet shop in Pattaya and have been raided several times by a large squad of police and copyright officials imposing unjustifiably severe penalties for minor infringements of the copyright laws. It’s about time the “powers that be” start to get their priorities right in regulating the thousands of dangerous venues like the Bangkok nightclub where over 60 people died on New Years Day. I suppose it’s because fire inspections don’t bring in easy revenue. I would be grateful if your paper would pass my comments to the mayor of Pattaya before we have a similar incident in this city.
Neil Cavendish

Fire - an unheard call

Editor;
In the late afternoon of December 11, a large fire erupted on a sizable lot next door to the apartment where I live. The lot - the size of a half city block - has really overgrown weeds, some 6 to 8 feet tall. There are many dead bushes too.
Although the fire did not threaten the apartment or other buildings, if wind had been present, the entire lot would have gone up in flames. Wooden structures serving as living quarters border the east side of this field. Also our apartment’s security guard’s tent and living quarters are located at the edge of this lot.
In the central area of the fire, flames shot ten to twenty feet into the air and could be seen easily from the nearby soi. People from the adjacent condotel complex, as well as from our apartment building, brought two ordinary water hoses and watered the fire as well as the overgrown weedy area next to the apartment’s security guard’s quarters.
Because I saw the flames from my upper story apartment balcony and realized the potential for a disaster, I called the fire brigade. After the first call, we waited for about twenty minutes for a fire department response.
I live near Carrefour, on Third Road, and the fire station is located on Third Road near Pattaya Tai Road. The fire station is no more than five minutes by driving to this location. My first phone call, with Thai language help, resulted in no response from the fire department.
By that time, I again went upstairs to my balcony and noticed that there were then what appeared to be three fires in different locations on the lot. Because of my concern that these three fires would join into one major fire, I called the fire department again, also with Thai help. Again, there was no response.
In Bangkok, where I formerly taught and lived, we always said, “This is Thailand.” Mai pen rai - don’t worry.
If wind had been present, a large fire would have resulted. Fortunately there was none, and the fire died out of its own accord.
What I have written is what I observed. This story is not an opinion. It is a fact.
In Thailand it appears that everyone is on his own. The lesson, in my opinion, is: Be forewarned and be prepared.
(Aside: In the United States I was an emergency services volunteer in a major hospital for several years, so I understand emergencies. Fires are serious business. As I told the young son of our landlady when this occurred, if you are in a building which catches fire, get out now. Do not bother with clothes or valuables, which can always be replaced. Your life cannot be replaced. Tell others in the building, but get out promptly.)
A concerned citizen

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