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Impressions of a smoker
Editor;
I was returning from Hong Kong and as I had to check out of my hotel room at
noon and my flight was not till 6 p.m., I decided to spend time at the
airport.
I am a passionate smoker, so after I had a delicious
meal, I looked for the (smoking) room provided. In my imagination I saw
comfortable sofas and chairs, newspapers and magazines on display, maybe a
small bar, providing hot and cold drinks, and of course, what’s of great
importance, good ventilation, keeping fresh air flowing into the room. That
was my dream! The reality what I found was a tiny, little room with big full
ashtrays, a few chairs, packed with people standing next to each other like
sardines in a box, in a cloud of smoke and bad smell.
We all held on to our cigarettes in unity, demonstrating
our freedom. Still, we can do what we want at least in a 10 square meter
room. I felt the non-smokers wished to punish us, laughing about our
suffering.
Sure, I love the fresh air at the airport, I really enjoy
it and I have no desire to cloud it with my cigarette. Believe me, we
smokers like fresh air as much as non-smokers do. We are not
anti-environmentalists. Many of us fight for human, animal as well as
nature’s rights. We move mountains, change priorities, we rescue, care,
get involved, love (sigh) we really work hard. So why punish us?
I looked out for the smoker’s room in Bangkok airport.
I found the same tiny, little room, this time with glass windows all around,
giving view to all the passers by. Maybe at the new airport the management
will set an example of freedom and sensitivity, providing us a nice
environment, using MY imagination.
I am curious to see.
Doris Kraushaar
Chiang Mai
Immigration visa
procedures explained
Dear Editor;
I was interested to read Mr Harwood’s letter of 17 July 2004 on the
information (or lack of it) in regard to obtaining a visa/extension based on
having a Thai wife and how many photo copies he would need.
Many foreign guests to the Kingdom of Thailand
automatically assume that all information supplied should be perfectly
translated into their mother tongue. However, I put myself in the situation
of being a Thai looking for similar details in Thai on USA and UK government
web sites - to no avail. The fact Mr Harwood found the information on the
old www.imm3.police.go.th website in English is testimony to the fact that
an effort to assist was and is being made.
Mr Harwood is quite correct in his understanding that
‘a’ photocopy is singular. Only one copy is required if you are in
Bangkok - where no doubt the site was originally created - so it is
technically correct. However, I understand that two copies are needed if the
application is made elsewhere (1 set for central records in Bangkok and one
set for the local office that you apply from).
He has commented that the rules appear to keep changing,
but it seems from the information in the letter that his situation has
changed, not Immigration rules. In his earlier applications he stated that
he applied under a retirement visa; so therefore qualified for ‘one-stop
service’ needing only one set of copy documents as it is dealt with
locally. His latest application was based on having a Thai wife so different
rules apply and involves Bangkok. The “application under consideration”
is to allow officers to check that an application is bona fide, as it is not
uncommon that couples no longer live together or more seriously some
marriages are for convenience.
I was a little surprised that, having been here in
Thailand for some time, and renewed the Visa seven times that he hadn’t
taken the precaution of bringing a spare copy of all his documents anyway
and the several months used to collect details could have been obtained much
easier if he had visited the office.
I am glad Chiang Mai Immigration officers assisted him
and were polite, and that he was able to walk the 10 meters to the
photocopier and copy another set of documents without too much
inconvenience.
Regarding the website, I am pleased to announce that the
new national site www.imm .police.go.th (in Thai) is complete and a link to
the English version, presently at www.chiangmai-im mi gra tion.com will be
added shortly, and the information that Mr Harwood was looking for has been
there for 6 months. The translation from Thai to English is still ongoing
and any outside body who would like to assist us can contact me at connon @
kttr.org
It must also be said that if you want the latest
information, visit your Immigration office.
Alastair Connon
National Federation of Police Monitors Committee
Don’t get rid of songthaews
The Editor,
I must disagree with the suggestion that getting rid of red songthaews will
solve traffic congestion in Chiang Mai. Let’s do the math: a metered taxi
and a songthaew are roughly the same size but the metered taxi can only move
a maximum of four rich passengers at anyone time compared to a songthaew
which can haul about 15 plus. Hmmm, 15 or 4, which is the bigger number?
Songthaews usually carry around 50 passengers per day, so they are
tremendously efficient in easing parking problems as well because they help
cut down on private vehicle journeys.
This is not the first time metered taxis have been
present here. The reason that they were discontinued is because they were
uneconomic as people didn’t want them. They do have their place but they
are not the answer to mass transportation as they are too expensive for
locals to ride in. May I suggest again to this paper that a traffic
congestion charge would help tremendously in this respect? (I note with
interest that this is being considered in Bangkok.) The very root of the
traffic congestion problem is that too many people are driving over-sized
vehicles such as cars, trucks, S.U.V.s and the like. Why not ride a bicycle,
which I do my self? As for the pollution problem, why not enforce the law? I
can only wait with bated breath for this to happen.
Nick Hanlon
(Editorial reply- the news item comment suggested getting rid of 90 percent
of red buses and using taxi motorcycles instead. The red buses may be able
to hold 15,but the majority plying the streets have two or three only.)
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