Post Bag
Where George Sullivan (Postbag, Dec 15) gets his information from is earth shattering. He makes it sound like the USA charges only Thai people more than other foreigners. This is totally outrageous.
First, state universities charge students more who are not from that state. Foreign students pay the same tuition fees as non-state students, no matter whether they are from Thailand or Italy.
Second, all students from around the world pay the same admission fees to museums as American students do. In fact the largest museum in the world is in America and until very recently it was free, no matter where you came from.
Third, in private universities all students pay the same no matter where they come from. Fourth, a foreign student who shows exceptional talent in academics or sports could actually pay less than an American student. A few years ago Yale University had two female students from Thailand who received financial support to attend.
Fifth, if you travel from one state to another and use their parks, you pay more then their state residents pay. But if you are from a foreign country and use those parks, they are not charged more than the non-residents. There may be very few exceptions to this but it is basically the rule.
Fifth, the AAA gives discounts to Disneyland and Disneyworld no matter what state or country you come from. At Disney world in Florida, there are signs all over the place before you arrive, offering discounts.
George's letter of pure arrogance makes it seem like America discriminates against people from Thailand. He is so far ignorant that his letter is laughable.
THE BASE
USA
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Hoping for progress
Re: ''Nation under mob rule'' (Postbag, Dec 13). I was present on the morning of the 2007 election when small-scale vote buying appeared to take place. An announcement was made on the village PA system at dawn to say that 200 baht would be paid to any voter who made the trip to the polling station. It was understood that the money came from the PPP candidate. I did not see the money change hands but was told that it was happily accepted by most, if not all.
Naturally this was an affront to my Western sense of democratic fair play but I have since realised that in the grand scheme of Thai politics, vote buying is relatively unimportant. Apart from anything else, being paid to vote appears to have had little influence, since voters in Thailand as elsewhere are governed more by wider self-interest than an insulting and patronising handout.
To put the incident into perspective, I read up on Thai history and paid closer attention to local politics than I had before. The fact that I still cannot make sense of Thai politics is no disgrace _ the recent Economist article shows how easy it is for Westerners to miss the point through a mis understanding of the context.
Nevertheless, as one who genuinely cares about this country, I think it's acceptable to attempt an objective analysis of its political history and my conclusion is that, having defeated communism this country is still dealing with elements of fascism, old-school populism (including vote buying), and military politicking in a way that most Western states last saw over half a century ago.
One can only hope that after the recent election this nation will make better progress towards becoming something that more resembles a democracy and that the people will benefit from it and respect it.
SIMON LEE
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Not the youngest PM
Abhisit Vejjajiva, 44, is not the youngest prime minister Thailand has ever had. The youngest was the sixth prime minister, M R Seni Pramoj, at 40 plus a few months when he became PM. Mr Abhisit, nonetheless, is the youngest prime minister in the past 50 years.
SOMSAK POLA
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Trust your instincts, lad
Khun Abhisit, you are a few years older than my son, so I am comfortable giving you the following advice: Just be yourself, follow your instincts. You have nothing to fear, anything you do, as long as it is for the good of all the people, I am behind you 100%.
People who have criticised you for the last few days are just too impatient. My wife, a PAD supporter, told me you are too anxious to become PM. I don't see anything wrong in that. I want to be the PM, too, but am too old for that. As prime minister, this is what you should do:
Don't pay any attention to what Newin has to say, be your own man. Adhere to Dhamma and let what you think is right be a guiding light for your actions. If you do all of the above, you will win the next general election. You already have my one vote.
SUTHORN SKULPONE
Kalasin
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On rebutting criticism
If one had read Dr Surakiart's open reply to the Economist before having read the original articles, one would suppose that the Economist had used its columns to compare the Thai monarchy to the British one and, presumably, to draw some critical conclusions.
In fact, the Economist articles contain no references at all, zero _ to Britain or its monarchy; indeed the only references to other monarchies are to those of Bhutan and Nepal.
So, for Dr Surakiart to suggest at the end of his letter that the Economist was looking ''at the Thai monarchy from a Western point of view, especially a British point of view'', seems unwarranted.
Indeed, I would go further: Dr Surakiart's approach is symptomatic of a growing trend amongst some Thais to defend their country's shortcomings from external criticism simply by claiming that ''Thailand is different''.
CHARLES HORNER
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