• 
• 

Published on January 28, 2008

It is not so hard to believe that with all that is going on in Thailand and the world that one of the "big stories" is TV Channel 5's "Songkram Nang Fa" or "The Air Hostess War'. I was lucky enough to spend all of my adult life living near Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) in California. Airline employees from all over the world converged on LAX every day. The airline staff, especially flight attendants, swarmed the beaches and nightlife venues daily, blowing off a little steam and making new friends for one night or a lifetime. In the 1980s things only got better when female pilots were added to the flight deck. I have only fond memories of these people who were my friends, acquaintances and neighbours. These airline people were outgoing by nature and loved to party.

Perhaps it is not the Thai way to have your profession sensationalised in a soap opera. However, the "old ginger" administration and flight attendants need to lighten up and thank their respective gods that it is not a "reality show". Airline staff are people and have the same goals, desires and, yes, some foibles common to the rest of us. Because of this controversy even tourists and expats are talking about the "The Air Hostess War". Thai Airways has single-handedly made this show "the one to watch" here in the Kingdom. Kudos to Channel 5!

David Barkdull

Bangkok

------------

Appropriate analogy, but poorly presented

 Re: "Real-life soap opera looks more ominous", Letters, January 26.

A tip of the hat to Catherine Chobley-Dickson for presenting us with such an appropriate analogy for the newly elected government. It is a soap opera indeed.

But I'm afraid that Ms Dickson provokes our incredulity when she describes it as an "incredulous soap opera." As a representative of old England, Ms Dickson, I would have thought that you might have supported your case a bit better than that!

Jonathan Peter

Pathum Thani

------------

US presidential race is even worse viewing

 Re: "Real-life soap opera looks more ominous", Letters, January 26.

Like Catherine Chobley-Dickson, I too have had enough of soap operas but it has nothing to do with anything that is on TV in Thailand. I'm talking about the grotesque presidential nomination elections taking place in the US. This tragic farce with constant squabbling, false smiles, crocodile tears, bleached teeth and facelifts is way too much for the sensitive stomach to endure - even if it has been hardened to garbage TV in distant Siam.

NW Castle

Bangkok

------------

Anti-abortion argument is self-contradictory

 Re: "Thirty-five years later, abortion is still wrong", Letters, January 27.

By Paul Kokoski's own explicitly stated criteria, a foetus cannot possibly be considered a human being. He wrote that it is a "human person with its own heartbeat, brain waves and DNA", so we can reasonably infer that he believes a human being must have both a heartbeat and brain waves.

Heartbeats require that there actually be a heart, and until some two months into a pregnancy, there is no heart that can beat, and it does not become functional until even later. The first detectable brain waves do not occur until about three months into the pregnancy - well after the great majority of abortions are performed. Therefore, by Kokoski's own criteria, it is not a human being that is being aborted in these instances.

Whenever human life might begin - and it is a genuine area of uncertainty - it is most certainly not at conception.

Peter Filicietti

Bangkok

------------

Wisdom of ancients is not always correct

 Re: "Thirty-five years later, abortion is still wrong", Letters, January 27.

Paul Kokoski wrote: "Let us not change what our most ancient ancestors knew with simplistic certainty - that abortion is evil".

Our ancient ancestors also "knew" that the Earth was flat.

Alf

Bangkok

------------

Amplified broadcasts odious imposition

 

 If you are coming for a holiday to Thailand, do not stay in any village or country town. Stay in Bangkok or in some expensive tourist area where your money will protect you from ordinary Thai life. And in no circumstances whatsoever bed down near a temple or mosque.

What rubbish, you are now saying. I am going to Thailand to discover the rich local culture of this amazing country. Well, if you stay in a village, you will quickly do that. You will discover it at 6.30 or 7am on the first morning of your visit and find out just how amazing the country is. For while you are happily lying in bed or drinking coffee at the breakfast table, the realities of everyday Thai life will come hurtling in through the windows and walls of your room - all 90 decibels of it.

The experience will at first leave you shocked and perplexed, but then later these emotions will turn to rage and you will go out to find out what is causing this obscene disturbance. There, down on the street, you will see attached to a pole, loudspeakers some five metres up in the air where they cannot be dismantled, destroyed or otherwise rendered harmless. And then you will think you were just unlucky to be in such a place. To get away from the noise you will walk down the road, only to find that some 300 metres away there are more loudspeakers and the same vile din. And you will see local people setting up stalls or trying to have a conversation - but instead of talking they will be shouting because when they talk they cannot be heard. But amazingly they don't seem furious or upset: they are just trying to ignore this absurd imposition.

And then you ask yourself: "Suppose this were England, France, Sweden, Italy or Spain, or any other civilised European country? What would happen if a government did this to its people?" And you would answer: "Well, the people would come out of their houses and gather round the poles and tear down the loudspeakers or insist the police get a technician to silence them. Within ten minutes peace and quiet would return and windows would open and everyone could enjoy the beauty of the morning. Because in civilised societies the concept of keeping or breaking the peace exists. But in Thailand there is no such concept and no peace. There is just a nationwide trash hell every day from 6.30 to 8.00am. And this despite the reigning monarch's express concern that his subjects are being deafened by exposure to amplified noise.

Chris E

Bangkok

------------

Concern over safety of  tourists in Pattaya

 Is Pattaya safe for tourists? Every week you see reports about tourists being beaten, cheated, denied medical treatment, dying in falls from hotels, and God knows what else that is not reported. What are the Pattaya police and the tourist organisations doing about it?

What is going on in Soi 8? Can't the mayor do something to protect the tourists and the tourism industry?

On second thoughts, I don't need to go to Pattaya to find out, and will recommend to others not to do so. Maybe tourism agencies in other countries will recommend the same.

Tom

Bangkok

------------

Representation needed for straight men too

 T his is to let you know that even though I do enjoy your "Wild Ideas" column by Cat and Nat immensely, it is still not right for The Nation to not include one other (major) gender to this otherwise very popular piece of journalism.

As a straight man, I do hereby demand that The Nation right this wrong immediately!

Vic Phanumphai

Bangkok

Send us your views in an instant

E-mail your opinion, with 'Letters to

the Editor' in the subject box, to:

letters@nationgroup.com

The Nation