Dear Editor,

I feel I must make a protest about our Russian tourist visitors, particularly the women. Have they no shame? They ride around on the Baht Buses virtually unclothed, showing all they’ve got. I don’t mind so much when they are young and attractive, but the vast majority are quite the opposite. OK a little nipple show is acceptable, but to show the outline of other more intimate areas as well is going too far! And they are surprised when they get raped by motorcycle taxi drivers and the like, going round dressed like that at 4am. They are just asking for trouble, don’t you think?

Regards,

Pete Rank, Jomtien.

Dear Pete,

Whilst appreciating that this is Pattaya, where anything apparently goes, I’m inclined to agree with your opinion. A modicum of decency is necessary even in this town, where the bar-girls, for the most part, dress more modestly, with the odd exception. Thai females no doubt find the Russian women’s lack of decorum offensive as you can tell by some of the scathing looks they give these female Russians. The Thai men are probably turned on by it as they goggle in amazement that any female would have the sheer audacity to display their wares in such a manner. I’m no prude, but I wonder if they would do the same back home. It bears thinking about.

Dear Editor.

I read in the press that we’re about to get a fast rail link to Bangkok. It’s certainly about time. The Thai railway system currently is totally appalling: antiquated rolling stock, stinking, clogged toilets, open windows, crawling along at a snail’s pace and appearing to stop at every tin pot village halt and badly maintained track that frequently causes accidents. I once went from Bangkok to Nong Khai and it took 13 hours, as well as appearing to go backwards for some of the way! It might be a relatively cheap from of travel but it’s not acceptable. I live and dream of a better rail system

Disgruntled but hopeful,

Manfred Heidigger, Bang Saray

Dear Manfred,

It seems that your dreams of a better rail system are likely to come true. The government has modernization plans under way to introduce four high speed services to the four corners of the country at a cost of Bt800 billion. With Bangkok as the hub, one will pass through Pattaya en route to Rayong, another will go to Chiang Mai, another to Nong Khai and the final one to Padang Besar. Apparentl, 2,000 kms. of new track will be laid, starting next year and will hopefully be well maintained if it is to sustain high speed trains, reducing travel time up to Bangkok to under five hours for all four routes. The government will tender out contracts to be bid for by the high speed train experts, including France and Japan, and I believe China, but I’m not certain about the last. It seems as though at long last Thailand will get a rail network to be proud of.

Dear Editor,I heard tell of a recent UFO sighting on Pratumnak Hill one night recently. It was probably all hype as usual like many other things in this place. I thought the world governments had explained away all these supposed sightings as balloons, tricks of the light, aircraft at odd angles and drunkenness or halucinogenic drugs.Would you care to wax eloquent in your normal way about this subject as despite the government and military put downs I am a little intrigued?Yours faithfully,

Anonymous Al (real name withheld due to embarrassment)

Dear Anonymous Al,

Firstly, don’t believe all you hear, see or read about the UFO phenomenon, either pro or anti. Yes, granted some of the supposed sightings are just hype and are what the powers-that-be would have us believe, but many, I have it on categorical authority, are not, according to a friend of mine who is an air-traffic controller at Heathrow Airport, London. With all his instrumentation, he swears he has picked up and tracked anomalous objects, vectoring in and away at amazing speeds and angles that would crush or severely stress the airframes of conventional aircraft. He’s also tracked brightly lit objects of the traditional saucer shape travelling in tandem or sometimes V-shaped groups. He’s also verified sightings with pilots who corroborate his experiences. When you consider the vastness and age of the universe, it’s very arrogant of us Earthlings to assume we are the only intelligent life form. All cultures, particularly the very ancient ones, have recorded UFO-shaped objects and beings with what closely resemble space suits in words, pictographs, legends and symbols from the beginning of recorded history and beyond, indicating the space visitors have been with us for ever. There are many alternative websites featuring incontrovertible evidence from individuals who have actually been involved that maintain the major governments of the world have secret, ‘black-op’ space programmes featuring either back-engineered or donated alien technology that is 10,000 years in advance of anything conventional. In addition, these individuals, some of them ‘whistleblowers’, assert that many UFOs are piloted by humans, some in collaboration with aliens. For a really ‘mind blowing’ account read the evidence of one of these whistleblowers at http://projectcamelotproductions.com/interviews/anglo-saxon-mission/anglo-saxon-mission.html

Check out the video evidence on the Project Camelot website and also about stargates, time portals and Henry Deacon’s mission to Mars. Then try : http://www.karmapolis.be/intro/accueil.htm – using the Google translate service to understand the French or try http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/default.htm. All your questions will be answered.

 Dear Editor,

Will this Red Shirt protest never end? It’s really making all our lives a misery. Do they really think they can bring Thaksin back? It would really help Thailand’s international reputation having a criminal in charge, I don’t think. How about you, Mr Editor?Reg Drummond, Reigate and Pattaya

Dear Reg,

Your guess is as good as mine. I thought it would have ended long ago, but not so, apparently. I fear it might become more violent as the radical faction or whoever is responsible for the eight M79 grenade attacks ramp up the ante, inevitably resulting in military retaliation, despite the government’s assurances that they won’t use force. I also choose not to believe the assurances of the BoT and the TAT that this continuing protest won’t affect Thailand foreign investment-wise. And, compromise doesn’t seem to be the order of the day. It seems to be a never ending syndrome as even if there were an election and the UDD supporters won, the powers-that-be would oust them. Impasse all round. So, in short, God only knows what’s going to happen.