American wardens in Thailand

Editor;
Re: US Ambassador Visits Pattaya Mail Media Group (PM Thursday, 10 May 2012)

American wardens: As a warden here in Korat, I know that each warden has clear guidelines from the Embassy/State Department and further, that their roles are entirely voluntary for a variety of reasons, good and bad depending on the individual and whatever “situation” arises at any given time.

Anyone interested in what wardens are supposed to do and expectations can refer to the public online 12 page PDF warden system explanation at http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/86562.pdf
No warden can speak for or act on behalf of the Embassy, but is a volunteer who is given strict guidelines and must comply with them. Sometimes there are questions or complaints about wardens and for the most part these should be forwarded to the embassy with the expectation that a “State Department-type” reply will follow.

If anyone has any issues about a warden in his or her area, why not contact another one to sound him or her out? As expatriates here in Thailand we usually recognize the need to help someone, or at least give some friendly advice that can be taken in good stead or ignored. This is precisely what wardens often do, and any American listening to warden advice or comments should not expect magical problem solving solutions from these volunteers.

As readers can appreciate, there are many sensitive issues and situations in Thailand; we are here as guests, many as residents, some as new citizens, and we should not expect things to be like they are “back home.” That said, activism is also an accepted activity in Thailand, but it has significantly higher risks. Even slight altercations can get out of hand.

If anyone just wants a sounding board to hear from a fellow American who is supposed to be a bit more responsible in “relationships” here, official or otherwise, they should consider getting informal advice from someone trustworthy and willing to listen. These people are sometimes wardens, sometimes lawyers, sometimes just a spouse or girlfriend. The bottom line is you, the decider, who has to make the call.
Frank G Anderson,
Korat

Great trip to Sukhothai

Editor;
Re: TAT Awarded as Best Overseas Tourism Office in India (PM Wednesday, 29 August 2012)
About 5 years ago here in the USA I went to an Asian festival in Reston, Virginia. Lots of Thai representation and a TAT booth was there promoting Thailand. I had at that time been to Thailand several times. They had a brochure about Sukhothai. Well, it took me another year but I made time on one of my Thai holidays to take the bus from Bangkok up to there. Had a wonderful three days. Beautiful countryside. Easy bus ride with a stop for lunch. Historical park was excellent. Kudos to TAT.
GK

Beach Road complainers

Editor;
You grumpy old men, you have to prune trees. City Hall has improved Beach Rd: No more electric cables and big holes. It is safer to walk down at night and cleaner on the beach - but City Hall is planning to make a big mistake by making a 4 lane road instead of making it a no parking road.
Robin

A little piece of maritime history - and it’s here in Pattaya

Editor;
For those who might be interested in such things, there’s a little bit of maritime history lying at anchor off Laem Chabang port at the moment.

Currently named “Ocean Dream” and operated by Eastime Shipping Limited of Pattaya, this venerable vessel began life in an Italian shipyard in 1970 when she was to have been the “Seaward” - a sister ship to the “Southward” of the Norwegian Caribbean Line.

But the Italian shipyard ran into financial trouble and the Norwegians pulled out of the deal. The unfinished hull was acquired by the P&O Company of London. The ship was finally launched in 1972 and was named “Spirit of London”.
Two years later P&O acquired Princess Cruise Lines and the ship was transferred to the Princess fleet and renamed “Sun Princess”.

Remember the TV series ‘The Love Boat’? Well, “Sun Princess” was one of the ships that featured in that popular TV series.
In 1988 after 16 years of line voyaging and cruising from Alaska to the Caribbean, the America’s to Australasia, the ship was sold to Premier Cruises and renamed “Majestic” then “Starship Majestic” a year later. From the pristine white of P&O, the ship was now painted a striking red.

1994 saw the ship sold again to new owners - this time CTC and she was renamed “Southern Cross” (not to be confused with a Shaw Saville passenger liner of the same name). Four years later she changed hands, sold to Festival Cruises when she was renamed “Flamenco”.

Festival Cruises went belly up in 2004 and the ship was sold at a bankruptcy auction to a company called Cruise Elysia for US$12.25 million. Cruise Elysia renamed her “New Flamenco”.
Another change of ownership occurred in 2007 when a company called Club Cruise bought the ship and operated her as a floating hotel in New Caledonia. This was short lived and the company went bust a year later.

What happened to the ship after this is a bit of a mystery. The old lady was laid up in Singapore for a year after which, it is reported, she was sold for scrap. However, three years later there is a photograph dated September 11, 2011 (available on the Internet - Google Image “m.v. Ocean Dream towed”) of the ship, under tow and now renamed “Ocean Dream”, en route from Malaysia and headed for the breakers yard at Zhou Shan in China.

Where had she been and what was she doing for three years in between being sold for scrap in Singapore and being towed out of Port Klang in Malaysia? What happened after she reached China? It is said that she cruised out of Haikou early in 2012 but that may be a confusion with another ship named “Ocean Dream”.

Some ships just never die. Far from being reduced to razor blades, this grand old lady of the seas, aged 40 years old, a ship that has had at least nine different names, is now sitting, in plain sight, off Pattaya’s beaches where, after just one inaugural cruise for her Thai owners, things seem to have come to a halt.
I hope not. There is a motor ship called the “Doulos”, built in America in 1914 which is the oldest ship in the world still in regular service after 98 years.

Maybe “Ocean Dream” deserves the same chance of immortality?

(Julian Hustwitt served in the British registered ships of the Orient Line and later the P& O Company from 1960 to 1970.)
Julian Hustwitt

American wardens in Thailand

Great trip to Sukhothai

Beach Road complainers

A little piece of maritime history - and it’s here in Pattaya