HEADLINES [click on headline to view story]:

More on UK pensions

Junk science of manmade global warming

Bus rage?

9 9 9 9 9 9 coming next month

More on UK pensions

Editor;
I read, with interest, last week’s letter from Des Gillet regarding UK pensioners living in Thailand. The anomaly of UK pensions abroad was highlighted by Annette Carson in 2002 [she moved to South Africa in 1989] taking the UK Government to court. After a succession of appeals... lawyers, representing 13 pensioners and the UK Government, will face each other again in Strasbourg at the European Court of Human Rights on 2 September 2009.
However, I understand the representation at Strasbourg is only dealing with pensioners living in South Africa, Australia and Canada, as those countries are part of the Commonwealth. This is to equalise arrangements of the Commonwealth with the EEC and other countries with reciprocal pension arrangements with The United Kingdom.
Whatever the outcome Thailand is outside of these countries and unless any agreement becomes worldwide, if the judgement is in favour of the pensioners, then those of us living here will be no further forward.
Mr Gillet mentions that we all paid NI contributions and all of us should receive pensions and pension increases wherever we choose to live. In addition I find it difficult to comprehend how my government can pay winter fuel allowances to people who live here for 11 or 12 months a year yet not give annual pension increases to people who contributed to a NI system which was compulsory and not supposed to be divisive.
The ‘overseas’ fuel allowance needs re-examining with any ‘saved’ money reallocated to help those overseas pensioners who are not receiving what they should. The savings would help our government offset some of the costs in correcting one anomaly and ceasing another which seems crazy when people are getting a winter allowance for living in 35C temperatures.
George Alberts
Jomtien

Junk science of manmade global warming

Editor:
The have been a few letters written recently to numerous Pattaya publications regarding the “Junk Science” of manmade global warming, with one writer even saying some islands in the Pacific have been completely flooded and the local natives have had to move to other islands.
A few years ago, an article was published that as a result of “Global Warming”, the ice at the polar caps would melt and Bangkok would be flooded. Last I looked, water levels are the same as they are the same in and around Pattaya. When it comes to sea levels, I will say again: individuals should feel free to use their own eyes. For those who live near enough to the ocean to visit, do so. Look around. Do you see homes being claimed by the waves? Do you see flooding? Anything unusual at all?
I have visited a lot of coastlines, many of them “precarious.” Chief among these is the Outer Banks of North Carolina. (Left by the last Ice Age, by the way.) Has everyone noticed how the Outer Banks, average elevation about 10 feet, have been completely evacuated and all construction stopped? But, wait a second, I thought hmmmm, nothing changed, no evacuation, no stopping of construction.
How about Venice, Italy? It has been completely submerged by the melting ice caps, right? No? Wait, how about all of the ports in all of the countries of the world? They have had to be re-engineered and rebuilt to deal with the rising water, right? No?
If you want to know what is happening with the world’s oceans, then ask some plain regular people, I say. I was with fisherman friends of mine from Rhode Island and they were all talking about the rising water, right? No, they were not. What about the world’s surfers (who typically know a great deal about meteorology and the oceans)? They can’t stop talking about the disappearance of their breaks to rising waters, right? No? What about the North Shore of Oahu where some of the largest surf on Earth regularly assaults the coast. It’s being eaten away at a steady clip by the rising water, right? No?
What about New York City, shown in Al Gore’s “documentary” to be at risk for sudden irremediable flooding? The waterfront shows a steady rise of water to dangerous levels, right? No? No discernible change?
What about all the low-lying islands on Earth? They’ve pretty much all been wiped out, right? No? Only one or two have been encroached upon, and those have had their groundwater over tapped and are subsiding. But I thought - Seriously - seriously! How can so many people be so skillfully manipulated? Maybe you can fool all of the people all of the time. Maybe. And maybe some of those fooled write letters to local newspapers in Pattaya.
Bob,
Pattaya

Bus rage?

Dear Sir,
Can I echo Matt’s views on the plight of the poor pedestrian in Thailand, expressed in last week’s Mail. There is a certain travel company based at the bus station in North Pattaya that rhymes with ‘Hell’. Yesterday one of the drivers nearly killed me because he was not watching out for pedestrians whilst he manouvered his bus (whilst also talking on the telephone).
Although still shaking from the ordeal, I calmly complained to the office about his lack of care but one of the staff members shouted at me and the driver himself refused to apologise.
Please be careful when using this bus station because the ‘Hell’ drivers seem to care little for the many tourists walking around. When using the bus terminal I suggest you move to and from your bus as swiftly as possible, have eyes in the back of your head and don’t expect any courtesies (‘mal-a-yart’) from anyone!
Luke Streetwalker

9 9 9 9 9 9 coming next month

Hi Pattaya Mail,
In issue No.32 Friday August 7th at the top of the page you had ‘Today is a special day’. I wonder if 9 minutes and 9 seconds past 9 on the 9th day of the 9th month 2009 will be another “Special Day”. I believe 9 is a lucky number in Thailand.
Regards,
Richard

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