Otter's Tails

The Pattaya Otter comments on recent happenings in and around Pattaya

 

 

It’s been a funny old time.

Oh dear, it seems a long time since my last Otter’s tail – it wasn’t meant to be this long but its been a funny old time this past couple of months.

Events that were supposed to take place, didn’t, others were curtailed or not performed in the way anticipated, crowds came and went, elections both regional and local got in the way of lots of things, not least getting around town, and the weather laid its heavy hot sultry hand on all events not protected by air conditioning.

I remember one day in particular when on picking up my daily Bangkok Post I turned to the weather forecast to read ‘Two possibilities – Hot… and Very Hot’ - take your pick.

One moment the town seems heaving with people, other times it seems like Low Season has well and truly arrived – it depends where and when you go.

The crowds certainly came for the Pattaya festival in the middle of March – unfortunately so did the rain on the opening night. There has been virtually no rain here in the past 6 months, but what little has fallen has coincided with special event days, e.g. Chinese New Year when it poured and now the Pattaya Music festival, both of which were staged at the new Bali High pier complex. Perhaps there is some bad Feng Shui there – maybe the pier is facing the wrong way.

The size of the festival crowds deterred most casual observers including your Pattaya Otter from trying to get close enough to any of the three stages to enjoy and also photograph any of the acts participating. It also made most of North Pattaya a no-go area for the 3 days and nights of the event.

As I mentioned, one of the events scheduled for March was to have been the annual Elephant day festival, but at the last minute, and it was the last minute – we sent Allan out scouring the town on the scheduled morning of the event for news of where and when it was to take place, and after checking several bodies, he eventually found out that it had been cancelled.

The reason given to him was because the regional elections were to take place the following day. Now we know there are stringent rules governing the conduct of elections here but to the best of my knowledge, not displaying your elephant in public is not one of them. Perhaps they wanted to ensure the elephants would be fit and ready to cast their votes the next morning.

Speaking of which….

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Elections and their results.

We had two sets of elections to endure in March, the regional elections in the middle of the month and the mayoral and city council elections about two weeks later.

I said ‘endure’ because for most of us it is a case of ‘endure’. Firstly in the run-up to the actual voting day, and in the case of the city council elections this run-up covered most of the previous month, we have to suffer the advertising campaigns of the various candidates.

Thai law prohibits the actual candidates for campaigning or even appearing in person but that does not extend to their supporters who firstly plaster every conceivable public space with their portraits, and not just public spaces, just about any stationary object they can reach – don’t stand still too long.

Then they tour the streets with these mobile advertising trucks again plastered with posters but this time accompanied by blaring loudspeakers, the volume turned so high that even if you understood Thai it would still be incomprehensible.

Actually the term ‘mobile’ is far from the correct epithet to apply to these vehicles for there is barely anything less mobile as they tour round the streets at speeds ranging from 1 up to all of 2 kph – quite often in a convoy of several, thus giving us all practice in negotiating mobile chicanes.

Although not being a Thai citizen, I don’t have a vote, if I did have one I would pledge it to any candidate who promised to eliminate this method of promoting himself.

And finally on election day itself, or to be more precise from 6 PM on the eve of the election to midnight on election day itself  the town goes dry – no alcohol permitted to be sold in bar, restaurant or even supermarket. And this is enforced unlike many other regulations here, as several bar owners who found themselves behind the wrong kind of bars can testify.

Why nobody is quite clear, either to ensure the voting population is in a fit state to make a valued judgement, or to ensure that candidates cannot buy peoples votes by offering them a drink – perhaps both.

And most baffling of all, why midnight when the polls close at 3 o’clock in the afternoon.

Anyway it’s all over now, barring any recounts. We have a provisional new mayor but the results have not yet been confirmed and may not be for some time until such time as the scrutinisers are satisfied that there has been no malpractice. If they decide that some untoward practices have taken place (and this has happened several times before) then the results are annulled and we have to go thorough it all again.

Please keep us in your prayers about this.

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Closing time – the last word – maybe.

It all seems a long time ago now but when I last covered this subject, we were just coming up to the enforcement date of March 1st for the new early closing regulations.

I predicted then that there might be some last minute alteration or reprieve and so it proved, not so much last minute as several hours and minutes actually past the starting date when on the morning of that very day, an announcement was made that the new rules had been cancelled – not postponed, cancelled.

The announcement went on to say that as a result of this cancellation bars could continue to stay open as at present until 1AM.

This confused all and sundry as at that time their existing closing hour was 2AM.

So now it appeared that even the government didn’t know what closing time was meant to be.

The reasons given for the cancellation were as usual vague but seemed to basically say that they had concluded that it was unfair for one bar to have to close at midnight but another next door could stay open one or two hours later – something that would have seemed to have been patently obvious from the outset.

Further confusion was added when our provincial authority issued on the same day a somewhat contradictory statement saying that the new rules had indeed come into operation, but they had decided not to enforce them yet as they felt they might be revoked.

So basically everyone carried on exactly as before.

Then we heard a rumour that a new rule imposing 1AM closing on everyone had been issued and would come into force on April 1st (seemed a very appropriate day).

This day came and went and still all the bars in Pattaya continued to operate till 2AM and they still do to this day.

But we hear that bars in Bangkok are being forced to close at 1AM, but again we don’t know if this is in all of Bangkok or just outside the so called entertainment zones that were proposed in the original legislation.

Meanwhile the minister responsible for it all, Mr Purachai (known locally as Mr Puritan) is rumoured to be ready to stand as a candidate in the forthcoming Bangkok governorship election.

Please add a prayer for Bangkok.

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The Baht Buses strike back.

Continuing the theme of everything changes but nothing changes, the new Pattaya Free Bus Service is no longer…. err, free, and may soon be no longer…. period.

The Baht bus drivers co-operative (co-operative when it suits them and distinctly un co-operative when it doesn’t) was not surprisingly somewhat upset when the new free bus service started a couple of months ago.

Even though it only operated on one circular route round the main town and only provided one bus every 20 minutes or so, and which could only be boarded at the official bus stops, they argued that this was a serious and unfair threat to their 700 odd vehicles that plied all the major routes of the town, usually with several buses every minute and picking up and depositing passengers as and where they liked.

And instead of telling them where to get off (just as they sometimes tell their passengers), the council meekly caved in and agreed to curtail the free bus service.

So as from April 1st it ceased to be free – it now costs 5 Baht per trip, the same fee that the Baht bus drivers are supposed to charge – try just paying one of them 5 Baht and hear the volume of abuse you will get, most of us pay 10 just for the sake of peace.

And whilst not exactly clear, it appears that as from May 1st the Baht buses are to be allowed to run the same route, i.e. using the ‘wrong way’ bus lane on 2nd road. Whether this is alongside the council buses (can’t call them free ones any more) or actually in place of them is not yet clear.

Nor is what the charge will be – one report said that for the month of May the Baht buses should operate this route free of charge (some hope) which if the case and if the council bus still runs would presumably mean it reverts to free as well.

Then for the month of June, the Baht buses are supposed to charge 5 Baht on this route (with or without the council buses doing the same) – again fat chance.

Oh, and the Baht buses are also supposed to adhere to the official stopping points only – yes and pigs will be seen flying above them.

Then at the end of June the whole project will be reviewed – and most probably binned and life will carry on as before.

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The Bangkok Subway system

Underground to you ‘Brits’.

Yes the Bangkok subway system is now running a trial service and is scheduled to commence official operations in… September, or August or July depending on which press release you read – July I think would depend on training the drivers that the train goes better if you take the brakes off – something they apparently forgot on the first run a couple of weeks ago – what’s that funny burning smell?

I look forward to trying it out on my next visit to the capital and I just have one wish, that they employ station announcers with a sense of humour. I was sad when the London Underground some years ago disciplined such an announcer for playing the song – ‘Hey ho! – It’s off to work we go’ when an early morning commuter train disgorged its passengers onto his platform.

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