HEADLINES [click on headline to view story]:

McDees killing chickens in the most horrible manner

Buy and hold ain’t my thing

Madman on the loose

Illegal helmet

Hawkers and tourists

Thai Proverbs for Farangs

McDees killing chickens in the most horrible manner

Dear Editor:
While in a recent newspaper letter I attacked KFC for animal abuse, I also praised McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s and KFC in Canada for improving the conditions of the animals they use for food. But I’m afraid I must retract the praise I gave to McDonald’s. (The other restaurants remain on the “Honor List”.)
Here’s the story. To its credit McDonald’s did implement some animal welfare reform. For that reason PETA had stopped attacking them for eight years. But during that time there have been no further improvements and McDonald’s chickens continue to die in the most horrible manner imaginable.
In America both KFC and McDonald’s chickens have their legs thrust into metal shackles where they dangle upside-down, are moved by an overhead conveyor and go past a revolving blade which is suppose to cut their throats. Sometimes the blade misses its target and the fully conscious chicken is then dipped into a tank of scalding water to be de-feathered. This is why millions of chickens in America each year are boiled alive.
McDonald’s own investigation concluded that “controlled atmosphere killing” is the most humane method for killing chickens. Yet McDonald’s refuses to adopt that method which would prevent all this suffering.
What’s terribly depressing is that if McDonald’s continues to allow chickens to be killed in such a horrible way other restaurants will argue if McDonald’s doesn’t have to change why should we. That attitude could reverse most of the progress that has been made in farm animal reform over the years.
As for readers who eat at KFC and/or McDonald’s (don’t feel bad. Until recently I drank coffee at McDonald’s) please have the human decency not to tell me I’m imposing myself on you by asking you to now take your business elsewhere. After all we’re not the ones who are being boiled alive in scalding water.
On a related matter, Mickyfin asks (letters, May 29) how can anyone call KFC cruel when they do charity work. That’s like asking how can anyone call Hitler bad when he campaigned against smoking and pollution. Even the most horrible people in the world sometimes do good things. So what? That doesn’t diminish the evil that they do.
Eric Bahrt

Buy and hold ain’t my thing

Editor;
I got a professional response out of Graham MacDonald in the Mailbag just prior to this recent market rally, when he was preaching doom and gloom and how it was time to stay in cash or something to that effect. I appreciate the reply.
I should say that my outlook is that of a trader. Not a speculator/day trader, and certainly not that of a long term investor. Buy and hold ain’t my thing.
I watch charts. They tell me what’s happening in real time, over time. I’m a swing trader. I swing with the trend and sell short on down trends and buy on up trends. Can you say Jesse Livermore? He’s my hero except the part where he ended his own life.
For those of you who don’t know about Jesse Livermore, he is considered by many to be the greatest trader there ever was. He made around $100 million USD (about a billion USD in today’s terms) by getting short of the market just prior to the Great Depression crash of the NYSE back 90 or so years ago. Do a Wikipedia search for him.
Since March 6th, the S&P has rallied admirably, but it was doing so in a bearish upwards wedge ... meaning there were fewer and fewer buyers as it continued to rise. This means that those loads of buyers at the bottom were not buying in the droves they were buying in before - they are getting bearish.
Last week, the S&P 500 daily charts showed me what the “crowd” was doing with their wallets. They were selling. I looked at my weekly charts and drew a downward trend line on the S&P that started May 23rd 2008. Guess what? This last rally bounced of that downward trend line.
2 weeks ago the talking heads on TV were dancing around with lamp-shades on their heads and popping champagne: “The market recovery is here!” they toasted!
That, along with my charts, said “Look Out!”
I am currently short the market overall.
In Graham’s defense, and in the spirit of overall friendliness, I will be the first to admit that the market can be seen and viewed and traded from a million different angles.
Cheers,
Ken the Trader Stone
Graham replies:
Dear Ken,
You are right and you have to remember that the weekly column is not really a place where we can expound short term trading tactics.
Our portfolio management tends to be strategic with themes typically of 1-3 year duration - over that time scale we are very negative on the western equity markets although, in our portfolios, we played the rallies by buying the S&P at 700 and selling at 850 - the original target was 800 BUT there was so much momentum that we let it ride a little longer. Frankly though this looks, as you suggested, like a market ready to enter the next phase of capitulation. However, I am just not sure that we can put those themes into PM articles which have to be more strategic - what happens if we get a reversal between editions or someone doesn’t get their PM copy one week? It is a real problem with doing a weekly local newspaper personal finance column because there’s so much material that just wouldn’t work in that format.
I will fully understand if you do not find this to be an adequate answer. However, I am sure you will understand why I have replied in the way I have.
If you need any more information then please do not hesitate to contact me.
Kind regards,
Graham

Madman on the loose

Editor;
I cannot believe what I am reading: Anuwat Meteewiboonwut from the Land Department made the following comments during a recent stop in Phuket as part of a nationwide inspection tour of 30 provinces:
“The tour is aimed at improving public services by land officials in three areas: dress, conduct when dealing with the public and working harder to eliminate a backlog of work.” But this seems to have taken the back burner to other issues like:
“Phuket City: The director general of the Land Department has reiterated that foreigners using Thai nominees to buy land anywhere in the country will have their land title deeds revoked if caught - even if the nominee in question is a lawfully wedded spouse.”
Is the man mad? The Thai economy is in tatters already with foreign tourists staying away. Does he also want to alienate the foreign residents here?
Here it is again just in case you didn’t get the message the first time around: “Foreigners cannot use a Thai spouse as a nominee to buy property in Thailand. If the Thai spouse has enough money to buy the house that is fine, but if the Thai has no money and uses money given to him or her by a foreigner to acquire property, that is against the law. If we check and find out later that a Thai person has been using money from a foreigner to buy land anywhere in Thailand, we will revoke title deeds,” he said.
Someone in government needs to wake up and move him to an inactive post.
Richard

Illegal helmet

Editor;
After reading about the ‘illegal motorcycle’ in the last edition, I thought I would share my experience with you. As many of you will know, Soi 9 cop shop sometimes has a yard sale. You can buy belts, boots, jackets, helmets, etc. All ex-police attire. Well, I bought a police helmet that was sold to me by a policeman. After a few weeks of wearing it I get pulled over, fined and the badge taken off the front of the helmet. Anyway, about 1 month later, I am riding without a helmet, surprise, surprise I am pulled again and fined again. So, I go to Soi 9 and pay my fine. I walk into the police station, this time wearing my ex-police helmet, and the tourist policeman says, ‘Do you know it is an offence to wear that helmet?’ I replied, ‘Yes I do, I have been fined for wearing it, and I have been fined for not wearing it, and you were the people who sold it to me.’ He laughed and said you will never win.
Stan Gosling

Hawkers and tourists

Editor;
The attitude of hawkers on Beach Road, closer towards the Walking Street end leaves a lot to be desired. After a brief interaction, should you fail to buy the product on sale for whatever reason, you invite the vicious (and totally unpardonable) wrath of these people. They curse your race and country. This is totally unacceptable and should be dealt with harshly by the authorities.
I read somewhere that Pattaya is trying to upgrade itself as a tourist destination. One of the objectives should be to educate those who interact with tourists on the correct etiquettes. It’s a pity that a few rotten people can ruin one’s holiday, and one’s image of the city.
Ranjiv Ramchandani,
Mumbai, India

Thai Proverbs for Farangs

By Thai-lish
Are you one of those who are interested in Thai culture, mentality, and language but find it hard to understand and get to the hearts of the people?
Learn these Thai proverbs and you’ll have a deeper understanding of Thais and even impress a few.
Thai proverbs are centuries old, and are widely used among the Thai people in order to explain the situations and matters so that the others can have a clear picture about what they are saying.
Some of the proverbs have words that usually rhyme the end of the first clause with the beginning or the middle of the second clause.
It is an artistic and fun way and to communicate. Try it.
Adage 4

ดูช้างให้ดูหาง ดูนางให้ดูแม่ (doo-chaáng-hâi-doo-haãng … doo-naang-hâi-doo-maê)

Doo = look
Chaáng = elephant
hâi-doo = to look
haãng = tail
naang = woman
maê = mother
Meaning: “Judge an elephant by its tail, judge a woman by her mother”

Now don’t confuse elephant with her mother if you don’t want to die an early death. It simply means ‘like mother like daughter’, so if you want to know how your wife will turn out later, look at her elephant, I mean, her mother.
Until next week, Sawat dee.

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