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5 ON A BIKE (18/09/2009 04:41:22)
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Author: A concerned Pattayan
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One wouldn’t think it but it seems you can get more than just the recommended two persons riding a motorcycle these days. Look at this shot taken recently where it seems the whole family and pet – probably the kitchen sink if available – were riding, all without helmets, along on this bike regardless of the dangers – these bikes are not made to take such weight or numbers riding them making the balance of the vehicle out of equilibrium. I hope they got home safely. A concerned Pattayan.
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A REFRESHING VISIT (04/09/2009 07:52:51)
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Author: .....................................
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I must say how delighted I was when I went to renew my one year visa at the Pattaya Immigration office the other day. There were the old favourites that said a welcome hello and headed by a very amiable Barry Kenyon, who was only too helpful in checking that one had filled in the appropriate forms correctly. After seeing the correct people and filling in the forms and paying the fee, I was asked to come back the next day. When I did so, I pulled a ticket and I noticed a free internet service for waiting foreigners to use, plus a full sized LCD TV. What a wonderful and pleasant immigration office to do business in! I duly collected my passport and with the multiple entry visa that I had also asked for and then left in a most happy mood. Somsak Martin long time expat in Pattaya by the sea.
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Suffering Patty (04/09/2009 07:52:25)
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Author: John Krzywoszyja
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Dear Editor, I€d like to thank Mr. Richard Ravensdale of PEC for his excellent response (Pattaya People, 22 August 2009) to ludicrous questions posed by Jack Tighe (a.k.a. Tony Crossley) regarding €Patty€s Pointers€ (a.k.a. Tony Crossley). I€d just add two comments: Firstly, my main objection to that column was not that Crossley was pretending to be someone he€s not, but for using his alias(es) to praise his own books. Secondly, the column is not even original - Iain Corness did a far better job writing €Heart to Heart with Hillary€ in Pattaya Mail. At least he didn€t pretend to be Thai or fraudulently promote his own book! How long are we going to have to suffer €Patty€s Pointers€ in your newspaper? John Krzywoszyja.
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NONE OUT OF TEN (04/09/2009 07:51:58)
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Author: .....................................
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Richard Ravensdale (RR) did not reply sensibly to a single one of the 10 questions I asked, instead rewriting most of them. To the 1st he said the police deal with €misconduct€. Wrong €“ police deal with crime. He didn€t improve, using 100+ words on average to reply to yes or no questions. If my 'literary hero' thought someone was a man when it was a woman, so what? Before I go on, may I say I am a colleague of the writer - subject of the matter! He is not as RR says, my literary hero, but as I am in the process of finishing my own book, my competitor. RR referred to his view that the €Patty€ writer€s name be added to the column, but omitted to say he made accusations (below). He also failed to mention the B50,000 Charity Challenge my colleague has issued. I wonder why? RR talks about manners, then admits he has little knowledge of anything but deigns to give unsolicited advice to an author of half-a-dozen books. Where is that good manners? Making nonsense of RR€s €I wish Westerners would try to adapt€, he was again extremely confrontational. RR alleges: 1. That the writer made personal attacks on other writers. Challenge 1: Which writers were attacked and how was it personal or unjustified? 2. The writer has claimed his books are superior. Challenge 2: Where was the claim made? 3. That a man named with the same name as the writer, who was also a writer and teacher, knocked on Mr R€s door and launched into an attack on another writer. Challenge 3: Say the man was or was not the Patty writer, and if not apologise for giving a false impression. 4. That PEC members have said they asked €Patty€ for advice and received inadequate and sarcastic advice. Challenge 4: Mr R must know who these members are and have no difficulty revealing the alleged replies. 5. That Patty€s Pointers column is a €gossip column€. Challenge 5: Point to what classifies it as a €gossip column€ (gossip defined as unsubstantiated assertions). 6. That the writer wrote an €unprintable€ letter to Mr. R (via the PP), and which was €full of low-life language€. Challenge 6: Allow PP to print the said letter. Any 'foul' words may be replaced with *** If RR can meet the challenges, the writer has said he will pay B50,000 to the charity of the PEC President€s choice. I will double it to B100,000. If RR cannot validate his attacks, he should donate that sum to a charity of the writer€s choice. PEC members should follow this, as Mr, R can either prove the writer to be unprincipled or himself. It is in his hands. RR attacked writing that he admitted he would have admired if the writer had been a Thai woman, which makes him look silly and/or points to the writer€s skill. The writer said €no€ to the PEC without making any criticism, so why are RR€s letters all about himself and the club? The impression he gives is €how dare someone say no to me!€ Knowing the writer as I do, I doubt he holds PP responsible for printing RR€s accusation€s, but PP must play its part to justify the pardon and I hope it does not undermine its reputation by succumbing to any pressure not to print this letter. Jack Tighe.
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Visa Problems (04/09/2009 07:51:34)
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Author: Bob, Pattaya.
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It seems that almost every week someone writes a letter about problems over Thai Visa's. I recently saw an interesting story in England involving the Blacklisting of certain people and keeping them from entering England. The one person in question is an American Talk Show host, Michael Savage. Home Secretary Jacqui Smith contended upon announcing the ban of Savage that the talk host was €someone who has fallen into the category of fomenting hatred, of such extreme views and expressing them in such a way that it is actually likely to cause inter-community tension or even violence if that person were allowed into the country.€ Savage then sued Jacqui Smith for libel for listing him, along with 15 others, as €least wanted€ visitors in the country, which list included Savage along with Islamic hate preachers and terrorists. Later, Smith admitted she was not up to being Home Secretary, saying she should have been given some training for the job before being named. The new UK Home Secretary Alan Johnson dropped the ban on Savage, who had never had any plans of visiting England. Johnson called the move a terrible blunder and told the London Daily Mail he would scrap the policy of maintaining such enemies lists. Johnson said Smith had no right to put Savage, the third highest rated radio talker in America, on the same list as a former Ku Klux Klan grand wizard, a skinhead gang leader and a Hezbollah militant. What does that say about the government of England? So I guess Thailand is not alone in the world when it comes to problems with Visas and who can enter a country or not. Bob, Pattaya.
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Facts and Humour (04/09/2009 07:50:58)
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Author: KOTO.
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Aloha Pattaya People; The Pollution Solution Group would like to share some facts and humour. One wonderful thing that has happened is that BIG C is starting to have a hand and shopping cart cleaner. Perfect timing! Due to all the bacteria problems we are having, shopping carts are one of the dirtiest things that we and children touch. Now if we can get Lotus and other places to follow, I'm sure we will cut down on passing colds and whatever else is passed from one to another. We take our hats off to BIG C! We have heard on the grapevine that Tony's dog shelter in Sattahip is going through hard times. There are hundreds of dogs and some cats there, no Vet to check them out! We also here that food has become a problem! If you were ever thinking about adopting a pet or helping the voiceless to get some food or medical attention, NOW is the time! On the more humorous side, we would like to poke some fun at Mr. Father Time of Pattaya. You know who we are talking about - Khun Somask-Martin! One would think of all people, he would be the last to flash gold. We realize he doesn't have a baht problem, but he should be aware of the poor, hungry, Good, Bad and Ugly that is out there, wanting to feed their children or a bad habit! If you need to flash your "Gold" and you€re on a motorcycle, be ready for some action, or keep it in your pocket till you get where you want to flash. Like they say a stitch in time saves nine! Realizing that we are all in this neighborhood together, we should clue in the holiday people and all others. If you can afford and want to give away your gold or large sums of money, just start flashing it around. Trust me, someone will lighten your load. What we learn from one might help us with another...Mahalo Nui Loa (Thank You Very Much) Khun Somask-Martin. We are thankful that you were only shaken up and received a priceless warning for you and all of us. We also wonder if this was staged as he is always joking with us all, ha, ha, ha! KOTO. Pollution Solution Group. One of the keepers of the ocean
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A Platform for Patty (17/08/2009 06:14:35)
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Author: PEC.
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Dear Editor, with thanks to John for his ‘Pitiful Patty’ letter in last edition of Pattaya People Weekly, highlighting the “deception a certain author is attempting to spin on your readers. Purporting to be a Thai female…to blatantly promote his own books.†The Pattaya Expats Club likes to host talks by well known authors (for example: Canadian expat Christopher G Moore, Thailand’s best selling novelist, has been seven times in as many years) and through contacts at Pattaya People Weekly, ‘Pattaya Patty’ had been invited to legitimately promote his books without the need to turn up in drag. But John has highlighted now that this author also uses the newspaper column to “make personal attacks against other writers…and pointing out that Tony Crossley’s book(s) are far superior.†Looking back on the content of Patty’s column that is true! Maybe a strange coincidence but about five years ago a man named Crossley knocked on my condo door, with a manuscript, said he was an English teacher, (as is Patty’s mentor), knew I was booking talks for PEC with several expat novelists and launched into criticising the work of novelist Christopher Moore right there on my doorstep. Perhaps it was the same Mr. Crossley who John names in his letter? I haven’t seen or heard of him since. We do have a rule with guest speakers in PEC, who are often salesmen, that they do not put down or criticise their competitors, in their lectures, just positively promote their own products. So, thanks for highlighting this tendency in the Pattaya Patty column, which plugs the cover art for Tony Crossley’s books while deriding other authors. Perhaps newspapers should apply similar rules as our advice forum! Our club member’s have said they have asked for advice from Patty – how disappointed they must feel if the Thai female point of view they are seeking comes from a male expat! - Richard Ravensdale, Programme Manager, PEC.
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Persona Non Grata (17/08/2009 06:13:41)
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Author: .....................................
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With reference to Ryan Anthony’s (UK) statement in Pattaya People issue 195. Unfortunately sir your statement is dead right. These dunce young men are very bad representatives for England. Now I believe that is too late because Pattaya is labeled as the official hang out for these sub humans and the local authority cannot and will not do anything about this situation because of the $$$$.
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Misguided Info (17/08/2009 06:13:16)
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Author: .....................................
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I am actually very angry as I write this letter. For the second time in a year I have been lied to, patronized and treated like a complete moron. It´s apparently the style, they have in the electronics part of BIG C, East Pattaya. I came there to buy a DVD player. I happen to know that I just needed a cheap one. Believe it or not, I am not a karaoke fan and do not need that feature. Neither needs my DVD player to be able to accept a million different memory cards from cameras or give crystal clear HD 10 trillion resolution. I simply need to play movies on my normal 28†TV. After I had been looking for a couple of minutes and many times politely made it clear to the pushy staff that I would be fine, without their guidance into the world of electronics. I decided which product to buy and wanted to take off the shelf and pay for it. A nice sales assistant came to help me take down the box with the desired DVD player. A no-name product with the specs I needed and for a price, just over 600 baht. THEN THINGS STARTED TO TAKE A STRANGE DIRECTION. The sales assistant would not let me buy the product. First he claimed that it was cheap and therefore could not play copy DVDs. I told him that my intentions were non-criminal and I would be ok with that. Well knowing, that especially copy DVDs can be watched on almost all DVD players. (Since the ones I buy in TUKCOM normally are without an area code.) Then the eager sales guy advocated that my selected DVD player would probably break very fast and I would regret it. When I told him that all electronic products sold in Thailand has at least 1 year’s warranty he got angry and left me. I bought the product, got the warranty stamp and left the store. When I came home I was happy, angry and sad. Happy that I had saved a fortune on the DVD; that, by the way works very well. But angry at myself because I still don’t manage the language well enough to solve a situation like that. And sad for the poor guy that needs the commission so badly and is undereducated for his work, that he has to resolve to lying. Help me – or leave me alone…. But don´t misguide me… PLEASE. DF.
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Porn Merchants (17/08/2009 06:12:21)
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Author: .....................................
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Dear Sirs, Last weekend you published an article about the vendors on the pier. I write to confirm the same situation at Dongtan Beach. To be more specific, about the group of vendors selling porn! Mostly youth porn with under aged boys. The vendors show the pictures below your nose even when you intend not to look. In Europe this is forbidden and many men are already convicted re this and other matters on youth prostitution. However, the police, always available at the police station in uniform, not often show their presence. It looks better if the government takes action to catch these vendors and their bosses who are producing and selling these DVDs. Please check yourself and ban this from our beautiful gay beach. A guest from Europe!
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