HEADLINES [click on headline to view story]:

Developers ignore new condominium laws

Recent exchange illuminating

This is Pattaya

Conditions won’t improve soon

Why not rent?

Fast becoming a speedway

Thai Proverbs for Farangs

Developers ignore new condominium laws

Editor;
There have been numerous complaints sent to this paper regarding unscrupulous developers and builders of condos here in Jomtien and Pattaya who disregard the Condominium Law by not adhering to the new regulations.
They do not set up an owners’ management committee for each condominium building they build, accounts are not posted at all, there is no accountability, in short they are NOT run according to the Condominium Law of Thailand.
They not only abuse the owners of the condos but in some cases with hold the Chanotes, so that the purchaser has no legal title to their own condo, because the developer has not paid the bank the money they owe, they have re-mortgaged each block of condos in order to build the next. Their misleading advertising of the condo size as well as misusing the yearly maintenance money, increased yearly higher than the law allows, is another flagrant abuse of the law.
It’s about time that the elected officials that are charged with upholding the law investigate these matters and look after the people who put them in office and not themselves or the builders and developers.
When the law is enforced then investors, both Thai and Farang, might have confidence in the Law of Thailand and invest more money which would help get the country back on its feet.
Pattaya Resident

Recent exchange illuminating

Editor,
I found a recent exchange between two of your readers illuminating. Richard Franklin put the ball into play with comments about John Arnone and ‘Mickeyfin’. Analysis of both concurred with my own, a difference being that, the KFC issue aside (it put me off reading the letters page for weeks), I find Mr Arnone’s contributions reveal a grounded attitude and are informative. Offering up personal circumstances was courageous and I commend him for doing it. The ego of many men prevents them saying they met their partner in a bar, and a success story is one in the eye for the ‘lets get bargirls’ brigade.
However, in reply to Mr Franklin’s comment that for the price of a meal in London a man can have with a bargirl the best night he has ever experienced, I have to say he reveals an inexperience that is common in Pattaya. Personally, while I appreciate the opportunity to invoke with money what I can no longer otherwise do, a paid for encounter will never provide anywhere near “the best night” of my life. Perhaps I’ve been lucky. Mr Franklin was astute enough to put together a good opener, but I’m unsure what he intended with referral to waitresses, cashiers and university students. Did he mean actual or claimed, and does he mean a man should either avoid them all or lie about it.
Jack Tighe

This is Pattaya

Dear Editor;
I have been visiting Pattaya for the last 15 years, sometimes 3-4 times a year, lately only once a year and still think it is the greatest holiday destination bar none.
Of course it is not perfect, where is? But for me the positives far out way the negatives. You pay 70 baht for a beer and 150 baht for a delicious meal; you get ‘ripped off’ for 10 baht in baht bus; you have the choice of 20 top class golf courses at extremely reasonable rates; you may get stuck behind a 6 ball; you have a massive choice of night time entertainment; you might get the odd interruption from vendors and beggars.
This is Pattaya, accept it. As far as I am concerned Pattaya hasn’t really changed since I started coming here in the early 90s. It is what it is and makes no apologies for it.
Yes it can be frustrating if you let it, but as an occasional tourist I am in no position to change it even if I wanted to.
Western expectations should be left at the airport upon arrival and a more chilled attitude should be adopted. You’re on holiday, remember? Sensible decisions can also be made to maximize your enjoyment of Pattaya.
If you want a good night’s sleep book a hotel on the edge of town, not on Soi 8. There are many.
If you don’t want to put yourself in a position where you may be exploited, don’t pick up a girl/boy/both from Beach Road while drunk at 3a.m.
If you don’t want to end up in ER don’t rent a motorcycle if you have no bike experience.
Yes, I have experience of many trips to this city and am well aware of the dos and don’ts. I also try and retain my common sense while here and take the place at face value and as a result have always had very positive experiences here, despite its many apparent shortfalls.
Can’t wait for my next visit
Occasional tourist

Conditions won’t improve soon

Dear Editor,
Thanks for publishing my letter in (last week’s) Pattaya Mail. I’m due back for Xmas and the New Year (high season) so I dare say the conditions on Beach Road Jomtien will be as bad as Beach Road Pattaya.
I wonder if the local Thai authorities take any notice of whinging expats letters in your paper? Something else I’d love to see happen is the expansion of Pattaya International Airport if it meant that we wouldn’t have to be dumped off at Bangkok.
Phil Fletcher

Why not rent?

Dear Editor;
I have long enjoyed reading letters on your mailbag page from Richard Franklin, Mickyfin & John Arnone. They might disagree with each other but they all make some worthwhile comments. I hope they don’t mind my joining their happy trio on a one-off basis, but I wanted to comment on John Arnone’s latest letter.
Firstly John, you deserve a massive amount of credit for you honesty in reporting the circumstances leading to your marriage. I met my wife in a very similar fashion, she wasn’t working for a bar but ‘freelancing’ in a bar area, hoping to meet a farang, having just emerged from a seven year abusive marriage to a Thai man, with whom she stayed only because she was unable to financially support their baby daughter. But when the abuse began to effect the child’s well-being she called it quits. So like John, I realise that my wife’s desire for long term security is the rock on which our relationship is built. But I have to disagree with John on the property issue. Why does one have to buy a house or condo? My wife and I have always lived in a rented condo and are very happy doing so. Having her daughter living with us is no problem, we just rent another condo room in the same building.
My wife has never asked me to buy a house or condo and I have no plans to purchase any property in the future.
In the interest of being as honest as John, I have spent a minor sum improving her parent’s house in Issan and I invested in a small food outlet for my wife as she insisted on a large degree of financial independence, which she has certainly achieved, her hard earned profits recently enabling her to open a second food stall. I might be one of her many regular customers but I still don’t get any discount!
I am interested to ask John, while he is being so open and honest, that if he thought his wife was too young when they met, why did he have a child so early on in their relationship? Elderly men with young wives having babies seems to be a worrying trend in Pattaya. I am well aware like John, that my marriage could blow up tomorrow, even after ten happy years, so I have no intention of having any children, something my wife totally agrees with. Wishing like me to ensure the best future for the child she already has. Maybe I am wrong, but that is what I call being responsible.
Sincerely J. Roberts
Pattaya

Fast becoming a speedway

Dear Sirs,
There is a 2 1/2 kilometer path constructed of exposed aggregate concrete complete with decorative slate and pebble areas that runs the full length of Pattaya Beach from Soi 1 to Walking Street. I have always believed this to be a pedestrian path, as a bicycle track hardly requires exposed aggregate concrete and decorative gardens. If I am correct, can someone from the council explain to me why this path is fast becoming a speedway?
In the last couple of months, I have seen a group of elderly farangs smashed into by 2 pushbikes who were racing and I have had several near misses with motorbikes and a badly bruised elbow from contact with a rear vision mirror.
The absolute insanity of having motorbikes using a pedestrian path is hard to comprehend. There is absolutely nowhere in Pattaya that one can walk in safety and this beautiful walk beside the beach is the last bastion of normality left in Pattaya. It is also the only place that tourists in the coastal strip can walk as the footpaths are a minefield of holes, obstacles, potted plants, tables and chairs, motorbikes, hawkers, etc.
Could the council please, please put up appropriate signs and have a policeman patrol it daily? Let us keep one last haven where one can walk without fear of being crippled.
Andrew Batt

Thai Proverbs for Farangs

By Thai-lish
Are you 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 to explain situations and matters so to give a clearer picture about what they are conveying.
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 to communicate. Try it!
Adage 9

คลุมถุงชน (klum-tmng-chon)
Klum = Cover
Tmng = Bag
Chon = Strike

Meaning: “covered with bags, two persons are struck together”
Sanely put it’s a term for ‘arranged marriage’, or ‘blind marriage’. The adage explains how bags are used to cover two strangers’ heads, put them together, then take off the bags, and Walla! You have a partner.
It gives almost the same result used with a drunken couple, with or without bags.
Sawatdee

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