HEADLINES [click on headline to view story]:

Jomtien dogs multiplying

Ricocheting Bob

You got me Mr. Roberts

An Illumination regarding “what is a hooker”

A question of English

Reviving tourism

Jomtien dogs multiplying

Editor;
Roaming the areas of Jomtien Soi 9 and Soi 8/5 is a pack of dogs that number on any given day between 10 and 15 depending on how many females happen to be in season at the same time. At present there are at least two young females carrying litters and one more is about to be carrying. Another one just had pups and is hiding her litter in the woods at the end of Soi 9 and that means that in the not too distant future she will come in season to increase the pack in numbers further.
In an beach area posted “Free Of Rabies” is there not a government body of sorts whose function it is to cut down/eliminate the nuisance that these howling packs cause to the tourists on the beach and the local business people? If so, please do something before someone is bitten for these dogs are completely wild and threaten as a group.
Thank you.
The Jomtien Observer

Ricocheting Bob

Dear Editor,
For months on end I have read the relentless codswallop (apologies Hiram) of “Faceless Bob”. His bouncing around from topic to topic with no apparent form, pattern, or even style makes one dizzy, forever having a go at other people’s opinions with absolutely no original thought of his own. Little does see that he is donning his own clown’s outfit.
Having read his latest “work” I am convinced he is not actually a person (after all he will not ID himself) I think he is a spoof planted by the PM just to arouse reaction from the Pattaya Plebs.
Did everyone note his parting shot in the Vol. XXVII No 26 Issue last week when he had another go at Eric Bahrt? “Faceless Bob” opened his letter with chickens, went on to flies, bounced to domestic terrorists, and finally ricocheting to “late term abortions”.
If that little bounce around, which did not really say anything does not pull a full mail bag my name is not Peter Williams.
Peter B. Williams

You got me Mr. Roberts

Editor;
Re: the letter from J. Roberts in the Jul 9 Pattaya Mail: You brought up an interesting subject Mr. Roberts. My wife and I were together about six months when she said she wanted to have a child. Initially I told her that I was too old and it would be irresponsible to have children. On a trip back to the U.S. I really thought it out and came to some conclusions. Certainly my wife was young and had every right to want children.
Considering that my financial status was pretty good, I considered what would happen should I die shortly after the child or children were born. In order to do this, one must consider the state of most of the girls that farangs meet. Most are from Isaan and if they don’t have a baby already, the odds of them having one with a Thai man at some point are pretty good. In most cases that I had come across, the Thai man had bolted and the babies were living with grandparents. The girl was working to keep everything going. Unfortunately, because it is difficult to make a living in Isaan, this situation occurs a lot. The odds of it happening to my wife were certainly not bad.
On the other hand, I had been to Yasothon and took note of the greater family support system that they have. My wife’s mother and father had three sisters and brothers living within a stones throw of them. Cousins abounded and everyone seemed to spend a lot of time together eating. In other words, I felt that should I die, my children would have no shortage of older males to aid in guiding them.
This is the way things were when I was a kid. My father was off fighting in Europe and I had a number of uncles to lean on.
Maybe this is a rationalization but considering that I could afford to guarantee my wife’s and children’s financial future, to me it seemed that they would be one up on most Isaan kids whether I lasted or not. I also considered whether or not the massive number of American kids living as “latch key” kids, thanks to the proliferation of divorce, were any better off than mine would be. Additionally, I had a lot of faith in my wife. Lastly, at the time I was 57 years old. Seventy seven certainly seemed possible.
In retrospect, I discovered that my thinking was flawed. When my wife had our second child she ended up in intensive care because of an error in the application of the spinal they gave her. She almost died and that is when I realized the flaw in my well conceived plan. One never considers the passing of someone so young and that is where most older farang men err when making a decision to have kids with a Thai woman. With my time possibly limited, where would my kids be?
I have to admit that I honestly believe it is not wise for a man in his retirement years to marry a Thai woman in her twenties. It makes a lot more sense to find one in her thirties or older who either has no desire for children or already has them.
Certainly I have been lucky so far, but that luck could run out and when it comes to kids, you should not depend on luck. Unfortunately all of this logic does not always work in matters of the heart, but maybe this letter will help to make more men think about long term decisions that they make.
In a nutshell, you got me Mr. Roberts.
John Arnone
Yasothon

An Illumination regarding “what is a hooker”

Dear Editor,
Firstly let me applaud the response to the above from John Arnone regarding the circumstances of how he met his wife. My letter “what is a hooker” was prompted by Mickeyfin’s letter which rather smugly suggested that anyone forging a relationship with a Thai bargirl was rather stupid and made a comparison to somebody doing the same with a north of England hooker.
John Arnone came clean but mistook the reason for my letter. I was not making further references to the property market (I will at a later date) but simply to Fin’s letter. Poignantly there has been no response to the challenge from Mickeyfin so far.
In reply to Jack Tighe I have to say (sorry about this PM) that my actual words in my letter were “the best sexual experience”. I consider Thai women to be the most sensual in the world and it’s possible to have a superb physical relationship with a girl who you have known for a relatively short time. I suppose then that this could be the reason so many guys make hasty decisions that end in tears.
My references to waitresses, cashiers and university students is for a simple reason. I have no wish to suggest any slur towards this fine and necessary group of women but it seems to me that if you ask any guy where he met his girlfriend or wife they all seem to come from these or associated groups. Rarely do I here TQ , Buffalo bar or similar.
Richard Franklin

A question of English

Editor;
In different Pattaya journals recently, different views should interest all English-language editors, writers and readers. The subject was the word ‘farang’. In the Green corner we had a long-time Pattaya writer for a giveaway magazine.
“The Thai word for ‘foreigner’ is farang,” said Green. “I have never heard a Thai pronounce the word as ‘farang’. Most Thais I speak with will pronounce the word ‘fa-lung’ and therefore so do I.” ‘Fa-lung’ unknown to me, I went out to check. Of shop girls, bargirls and motorbike-taxi drivers I listened to (it was great fun), most said a distinct ‘falang’, a few an indistinct and a few managed the ‘r’ and said ‘farang’. Not one to my hearing, or of men on barstools next to me, said ‘fa-lung’. Green also stated that well-educated Thais say ‘farung’. My teacher friend (English) who has worked in Bangkok for a number of years doubted this, but said he would check. Days later, he affirmatively gave ‘farung’ (and Green) a raspberry.
In the Pink corner was a new young lady writer. She informed that ‘farang’ as usually used refers to Caucasians. Non-Thai Asians, Arabs or Blacks are rarely if ever referred to as farang unless as foreigners collectively (‘aliens’ often used in official translations). This is also stated in Tony Crossley’s book ‘Pattaya: the Good, the Bad & the Other’, which quotes The Nation newspaper as saying of a politician’s referral to ‘farang’: “…using the term that is usually reserved for Caucasians”. Dr Iain’s ‘Farang’ book appears to mean Caucasians. In the glossary of Peter Jagg’s book ‘From Beggar to Butterfly’, farang means Caucasian. As it denotes ethnicity, Pink added, a capital first letter is correct.
Green told that he finds use of ‘farangs’ “irritating” and “doubly offensive”, as in Thai there are no plurals (his tone was a condescending “you should know that!”). He said that strictly speaking there is no such word as ‘Thais’. In English there is, of course. Pink had a different way.
“You may choose to use ‘Farangs’ to pluralize, but it is not a word that exists in Thai or English. Up to you,” she courteously advised. She also pointed out that when using a foreign word in English text, it is usual for it to be in italics unless it is a common word in English. She contended that this applies to farang - oops, sorry, Farang - when used by expats and regular visitors to Thailand.
Editor, Dr Iain, Hillary, other writers and readers, notwithstanding that native English speakers from 10 different cities pronounce most words in 10 different ways, to write correct English are we farang/s, farang/s, Farang/s or fa-lung/s?
Rory,
UK

Reviving tourism

Editor:
The answer is pretty simple: restore 24 hour openings for the folks on holidays. They will come and spend their money. Having to go home at 2 a.m. or find alternate entertainment, they can do at home. They are now going where they can set their own hours for entertainment. You might want to make it a bit easier to access visas as well. From Canada a double entry 60 day is the top I believe. Make it a double 90 with an option for a further 90. Just a suggestion or two.
Ron Haring

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