HEADLINES [click on headline to view story]:

Noise, noise and more noise

How can that be?

He did fall into the mine-is-different trap

Good luck, Meow

Sanctimonious twaddle

Noise, noise and more noise

Dear Sir,
Please, through your good offices, and publication, may I bring to the notice of the relevant authority, the noise pollution in and around Pattaya. In particular Soi Buakhao.
Recently all media gave considerable coverage, including yourselves, to the clamp down by the authorities, on noisy and illegal entertainment venues.
Despite this, how is it possible that some still appear to thumb their noses at all regulation?
Along Soi Buakhao, and very near a large estate, and a hotel, accommodating hundreds of residents and visitors, the noise nightly is excessive and unacceptable. The decibel output negates any chance of a rest full night sleep, and it goes on all night, yes, all night!, frequently until 8 a.m. and in the open, with no containment whatsoever. Alcohol is readily available, boisterous behavior usual, sometimes catering for as few as 8, whilst 800 plus are kept sleepless. When most other venues are closing and abiding by the rules, these places are starting up.
It is neither fair nor reasonable.
Hopefully you can help, and thank you in advance.
Kittachai

How can that be?

Editor;
In regard to the recent old hotel ‘overhang’ collapse next to Central Festival, it was stated that, “owner unknown”. How can that be? Every business must have a license and be registered in this city. Does the job description of the city management just read, ‘show up to work’ and it all ends there? What do they do all day at work, shuffle papers from one pile to the next to look busy? Maddening, the things that are allowed to go on in this country. OK, I know that I may be labeled as a complainer, but after 10 years here and as a big contributor to Thai society, I feel I have a right to rant a bit and not to be told to go back home! And to you out there who never complain, take off your blinders and remember the ‘squeaky wheel’ does get oiled. Tum dii, dai dii!
Don Ward

He did fall into the mine-is-different trap

Editor,
The Fin guy having had his personal appeal doubted, one can understand his pique (7th Nov). But he did fall into the mine-is-different trap. If his other half is different, he would do better not to boast. A Burnley boyyo who appears to think that Thailandâ•™s best is Songkran in Pattaya, and who not just expounds on the class of Thai ladies but says he found a classy one who would have found him irresistible without the house he bought her, is always going to draw smirks. Then there is what he means by middle-class. For many Westerners, it merely means a girl did not work in a bar (to his knowledge). Unless a Westerner is actually working with Thais, he is unlikely to even meet middle-class Thai women. Ego means that few men are as willing to be as truthful as John Arnone was a few weeks ago.
Some time ago, I was fortunate to get a copy of a report by a Sarah Wilde PhD. The following is an extract from the Pattaya section of ╘Thailand: Cross-racial Relationships and Commercial Sociality╙:
╜The Thai resort of Pattaya is arguably the best place in the world to research the effect of commercial sociality on a community. The system tolerated there allows social and physical intercourse to proceed with a degree of dignity for both worker and clientele, latter comprising a mix of nationality and status (financial & social) of men that will always create demand, even need for a sex trade. Street-walkers and low-level dens exist, but one could describe the sociality in many bars as ╘normal╙. Most Western men experiencing the scene would say it is vastly better than sociality at home...
╜An anomaly with the Pattaya scene is that with little experience of the sex trade and often women generally, many Western men telegraph desperation and have created in many Thai women a mindset that the men are what are euphemistically called ╘walking ATMs or wallets╙... In a big percentage of Thai woman and Western man unions, the woman is more a rented ╘carer╙ than wife (perhaps not so different than it used to be in the UK but rent-free). A big difference is that few types of pairing, short or long term, can be so widely bereft of romance, and the absence extends beyond the bar scene. After being ╘bought╙ with a dowry, this often a house for the woman╙s family to feign high society status in a village, some of the women will be loyal unless the man errs... Snobbery is integral... even sex workers who are not from the Isaan region are quick to point out they are not. Many Westerners would say that for all the desire for ╘good face╙ that Thais have, it often appears they have no concept of shame or conscience, particularly where foreigners are concerned, and they regard practical and venal as the same...╕
The report is extremely informative but too lengthy to digest in one go. Many aspects of life here are covered and in an unbiased way that only an outsider could see. The conclusion, incidentally, is that a legitimate sex trade benefits a community.
Like it or not, a Thai woman / Western man union is always going to be treated with scepticism by most people. You don╙t have to go far out of Pattaya to find that many Thais regard a woman in such a relationship is a ╘mia faan╙ or ╘mia chao╙ (rented girlfriend/wife), but Thais tend not to point the finger as vehemently as Westerners do. I suggest the best thing for a man with a Thai partner to do is just get on with it and adopt the Thai attitude that is its better to rent than not have at all. On the other hand, some might say that the idea of paying a lady is so that she leaves.
TC

Good luck, Meow

Editor;
On October 25th the entire crew of Diana-Oasis, located in Diana-Estate, Soi Buakao, sponsored a lunch for all the children and staff at the Orphanage Deck Cai in Banglamung. This was initiated and organized by the manageress Michaela (Meow) for the occasion of the 2nd anniversary of the Diana-Oasis.
The project was supported by many regulars at the Oasis and we were happy to be part of Meow’s idea and see many happy children when they enjoyed a good meal and were handed out toys.
We, the regulars at the Oasis wish Meow and her staff a lot of happiness and success in the future.
W.T.

Sanctimonious twaddle

Dear Mailbag,
I’ve just read the letter from John Riggs. What a load of sanctimonious twaddle.
Are you suggesting that education has any bearing on whether a wife loves or is faithful to her husband? How can you possibly think that speaking Bangkok Thai rather than the many other dialects has any bearing on how successful a marriage is?
If you think that the British ambassador to Thailand has any input as to who gets a visa you are living on cloud cuckoo land. During the period you mentioned, my cousin Miss Jean Sharp held the post of British consul and even she had no power over the visa section. This is a separate entity.
My wife and I have been together for over 5 years. She never went to school in Thailand but she has tried really hard to learn English. She has passed ESOL exam and is now progressing further. She works full time in a hotel.
My wife has a small circle of friends, all the same as her, workers, in what seem to be happy marriages.
She occasionally meets new Thai ladies. Some become friends, others she rejects. When I ask why, she says “she bad lady. She want me go Casino,” or, “She say why you go work when you got farang?”
A successful marriage has nothing to do with race, education or age, it’s whether you love each other, trust and respect each other.
Bob Grimshaw

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