Your Say

 |  August 31, 2009

Storage Space for Sale:
Bang Kwang Prison

C’mon Mr. Farrell Sir,

3×3 m of storage space for just 1,000 baht a month. Are things really that much cheaper in Chiang Mai _ you’re joking of course? (Citylife TIT July 2009)

Myself and other farang and Nigerians are currently paying 1,500 baht for 1×1 m of storage space to the GM of the Bangkok Hilton here in Nonthaburi. Will the Chiang Mai better business bureau help me ‘n’ Esther (Murray) lads arrange a transfer please?

Bang Kwang Bridget

This Country Doesn’t Need You

Oh we do have some sad people in Chiang Mai, why not go back to Europe? Mr Stickler is one of them together with all the other complainers whose letters I’ve read in Citylife over the past few years. Haven’t they realised that half the charm of living in the Far East or anywhere out of the English speaking world, is the misspellings, the mis-pronunciations – it’s hard enough for the Thai people to even attempt the English language, God bless them when they do. If you want perfect English go and reside in the nanny state that has become England _ I lived there for 60 years and it is so much more fun living here where the children can play outside, the people can fudge our language, we are not subject to CCTV everywhere, and there are no lace curtain flickers. Just have fun in a wonderful country, it’s not perfect I know but I’m so tired of reading complaints from expats who want everything as it was at home in Europe or the USA!

Johnny Brash

‘We Don’t Need No Education’ . . . Just Nice Buildings

I am writing in response to your interview with Professor Prathoomporn. Not only was this an excellent interview, but something of substance that was long overdue. The tertiary educational system is in a complete mess, not to mention the primary and secondary levels.

One of the points made by Professor Prathoomporn was that institutions prefer to spend money on ‘commemorative’ buildings rather than teaching staff. At CMU, (opposite the English department symbolically enough, as she made a point of the lack of English language acquirement in her article), there is a HUGE commemorative building being built for the present king. Construction has been underway for over a year. Needless to say the cost is astronomical.

If this wasn’t bad enough, a friend of mine told me that the English Department staff was recently told that their overtime pay for evening classes was to be desiccated by almost 75%! Only after negotiations was this policy scrapped.

Therefore the points made in the letter were more than salient, and we should all be aware of the situation in our own ‘prestigious’ university.

E. S. Oteric