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Why stop selling vegetarian dishes?
Dear editor:
Every year during the Vegetarian Festival I ask myself,
why do most of those restaurants stop selling all these delicious vegetarian
dishes as soon as the festival is over? I noticed some of the restaurants do
tremendously better business during the festival than they do the rest of
the year. It doesn’t make sense for a restaurant to stop selling the very
food that is bringing in the customers.
A few years ago the National Restaurant Association in
America noted there was a growing demand for vegetarian food and urged
restaurants to have more vegetarian dishes.
I’m not saying these restaurants have to go vegetarian.
I’m just asking why they can’t continue to serve these dishes all year
around since so many people enjoy them.
Eric Bahrt
Uniforms and ribbons for everyone
Editor;
I am forever amazed, though not surprised, to see all
these people in government always wearing some form of uniform with many
ribbons at special occasions. Thailand has had no real war for many years,
yet these ribbons are meant to convey participation in such... it is for
intimidation and to boost their personal importance for sure, but to any
thinker it looks rather funny.
If said individuals did serve in the military, and are no
longer in the service, leave that uniform at home unless going to some
military reunion, please. It lowers the real meaning of having served and
relegates these outfits to something anyone could buy at a costume shop.
When President Eisenhower left the service, he no longer
wore the uniform in public nor was referred to as ‘General’... how about
adopting the same procedure here? It elevates the real meaning of a uniform
and of an official governmental office, which ARE separate.
Hyde Parke
“Speak Thai!”
(Linguistic lessons still required)
Editor;
Last weekend I decided to take the children to the movies
at Big C. The new Johnny English Reborn film was being screened and we went
up to the office to get the tickets.
I asked the rather surly looking young Thai male for
three tickets to Johnny English. “Speak Thai!” was his response to my
request (in English) for tickets. Restraining my anger, I replied “Ow sam
ticket.” I then picked our seat positions and asked, “What time does the
movie start?” Again he replied loudly, “Speak Thai!”
Getting more annoyed and a little tired of this young
man, I turned to my daughter and said, “You ask him what time it starts.”
Being bilingual she rattled off “Gee mong …?” and we were informed it was
2.20 p.m. giving us time for lunch before the movie.
During lunch I started mentally preparing the letter I
was going to write to the SF cinema people complaining about the staff
rudeness, and then it was time for the movie.
After the numerous trailers for forthcoming features,
finally the Johnny English Reborn movie began. It was then I found out that
Johnny English had been dubbed in Thai and there were no English subtitles.
Johnny English it might have been, but “English” it certainly was not! It
was only then that I twigged that what my young ticket seller was doing was
attempting to warn me of this fact.
However, Johnny English Reborn is enough of a visual
comedy that I still enjoyed the movie, whilst my bilingual children, who
understood everything, were screaming with laughter.
Of course, I could have saved myself the angst if I had
read the movie reviews on page 29 of the Pattaya Mail that week!
Ah well, nobody is too old to learn!
Dr. Iain Corness
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Ignorance, stupidity or connivance?
Dear Editor;
We want to thank you for allowing The Pollution Solution
Group to share what we feel is so very important.
“Storm drains” that cause more flooding along with
polluted waters, opposed to clean storm drains with much less flooding and
contaminated waters.
The enemy? Uninformed citizens who pollute our local
waters, and the lack of quality control inspectors to make sure all storm
drains are free from litter or pumped out. The cost would be far less then
the damage that we are now experiencing and will, in the future.
Our mission? Imposing fines, mark storm drains with signs
in Thai, English, and Russian with a picture, reminding “all” that whatever
goes into the storm drain goes into the ocean, lake, pond, gulf, river or
creek at the other end, contaminating, making ill and killing whatever feeds
off of our waterways.
If we don’t nip it in the butt, it will nip us in the
gut. Life and our health are too precious to allow the few that don’t know
better or don’t care, to poison us with their ignorance, stupidity or
connivance.
Fines and signs are the only way to teach. When one must
pay, the brain wakes up.
Again thank you and your great paper the Pattaya Mail.
The Pollution Solution Group
Gerry Rasmus aka KOTO
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Blocked drains
Editor;
I read a letter about storm drains being blocked with
garbage. Can I ask, do you have bins for litter? If you do, do you have
enough? Are you fining people for dropping litter? If you don’t have or do
any of these then the problem of blocked drains will continue, but wait for
the letters of complaint if you provide bins & start fining people for
dropping litter.
Wayne Hobson
ICT future is now
Editor;
Rapidly changing Information and Communication
Technologies (ICT) represent the future, and play an integral role in
implementing decentralized decision-making and curriculum reform. Redesigned
contemporary priorities feature a shift from routine classrooms being
teacher-centered to becoming learner-centered, while replacing traditional
passive tasks with authentic hands-on-inquiry activities. Collaboration is
an essential aspect of nurturing a flexible and dynamic environment which
encourages each and every learner to articulate, visualize, experiment,
discover and test curious notions.
Through cooperative interaction and practical
application, free-spirited Generation XL, weaned on gadgets and gimmicks,
can gain know-how to extend their short attention span myopic perspectives
and hone their outside the box conceptual and theoretical skills as well as
their critical analysis sensibilities. An over-reliance on standardized test
scores is an inadequate measurement tool to evaluate the breadth of digital
performance effectiveness. The role of the teacher should be
re-conceptualized as facilitator rather than lecturer, stated in the Mantra:
“Teachers should go from being the sage on the stage to being a guide on the
side.”
Re-trained well-equipped techno-wise instructors should
strive to vary hybrid pick-and-choose options to fit motivational,
socio-cultural and behavioral preferences based on fundamental basic skills
content and everyday survival skills objectives that motivated,
high-achievers are expected to master. Goals include trying to make sense of
a remote-controlled www inundated with 24/7 mass media messages, and
acquiring know-how to reshape our interlinked future purpose to function
capably and gain a competitive advantage.
ICT, when used efficiently, can help improve
learner-focused classroom instruction. When used excessively, however, it
can detract from the lesson and become a distraction. Both digital and
non-digital approaches benefit each other if balanced properly, customized
to meet each and every student’s unique needs and learning styles. A variety
of different instructional techniques to match mutually recognized how and
why priorities, based on content to be covered and availability of
technological resources, aim to maximize success. Supplements incorporating
“fun” imaginative activities and challenging self-discovery tasks are
important components to enhance learning about things that matter most to
fast-forward and slow-paced learners alike. Everybody is uniquely different
and therefore everyone acquires knowledge differently, but all need to be
treated with supportive compassion, kind tolerance and dignified respect.
Dr. Charles Frederickson
Bangkok
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Dog and Cat Rescue Samui needs support of travelers
Editor;
Travelers with return flights to Bangkok with KLM, Air
France, Delta, United Airlines, Swissair or SAS Air Berlin, are requested to
contact the “Dog and Cat Rescue Samui”, tel. 0066 (0) 77 413 490, mobile:
0066 (0) 81 893 94 43, email: info@ samuidog.org (Website:
www.samuidog.org).
These airlines have special rates for dogs in their cargo
compartment. Prices range between 150 and 200 euro. Normally the
transportation of a dog costs 1,500 baht per kilogram and can easily reach
up to 1,000 euro and more. Additionally there are charges for the cage, chip
and the anti-rabies inoculation testing.
Supporters don’t have to come to Koh Samui, for the dog
will be delivered to them in Bangkok at the check-in counter, two hours
before the flight. They will have nothing to do with the payments and only
have to attend and assure that the dog will be traveling with them. Once in
Germany, the new owner picks up his pet at the airport.
Please help these dogs to get to Germany at low costs.
Since we started the negotiations last year, 15 dogs from
our animal shelter could be transferred to their new homes in Germany.
In some different forums we offer selected and extremely
kind animal shelter dogs for the transfer to Germany. We give these dogs
away for 300 euro to their new owners, cage not included. Of course we try
to get these cages back and therefore ask animal lovers who travel to Koh
Samui to bring them back to us. Please contact us if you have some space in
your luggage left. A cage weighs 9.5 kg and measures 95 x 65 x 35 cm. The
cage will be send to you before your flight.
We are furthermore looking for animal lovers who come to
Samui to bring the anti-rabies certifications to us. If the institute in
Gie฿en sends us the tests via mail; it’s very uncertain if they ever reach
us. Every dog which travels to Europe has to pass the test before. The
certificate would also be delivered to you prior to your flight.
Brigitte Gomm
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