PostBag
I know there are many different opinions and theories on what democracy means. But I don't think paying people 200-500 baht to go to the polling booth counts as a legitimate definition of democracy. I have to agree with correspondent Frank G Anderson that "Thailand's democracy is not unique... It just does not exist".
PAUL WALPOLE
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Lacking accountability
The lecture by the Finance Ministry on how to survive the rough times (BP, June 17) is bitter irony because it is the Finance Ministry itself that sits at the nexus of a banking system that is inherently metastable and ill-suited for surviving rough times.
The Bank of Thailand, the country's central bank and bank regulator, is not an independent body. Although it is held responsible for bank discipline, it in fact takes its orders directly from the Finance Ministry.
At the same time, most of the nation's banking assets are held by state-owned banks. The manager at each of these banks is held accountable for the bank's performance and yet they too take orders from the Finance Ministry. That makes the Finance Ministry at once the nation's bank regulator and its largest banker but without any accountability whatsoever.
The ministry outsources that responsibility to the Bank of Thailand and to the managers of state-owned banks. The ministry acknowledges that a "public service accounting system" needs to be applied - but it has not been applied and there are no plans to implement such a system, possibly because it implies that the responsibility for making policy-directed loans will shift from bank managers to the government.
CHA-AM JAMAL
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What compromise?
With all due respect, Dr Prawase Wasi, but I disagree with your call for compromise. I agree with Mr Anand's view that things have passed the point of compromise.
You ask Mr Thaksin to steer clear of politics. Do you really think people listen to Mr Thaksin, Mr Samak and Mr Chalerm anymore? I, for one, don't. Mr Thaksin said in 2006 that he would not dissolve parliament "until my next life". Dr Prawase, do you remember what happened?
Mr Samak said he would wipe out the PAD - or something to that effect. The next day he said, "I did not say that!" Mr Chalerm told the provincial governor to cut off the signal of ASTV broadcasts. The next day he said, "I did not say that."
So, Dr Prawase, dream on.
SOONTONG SWANWIT
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Rice scheme unfeasible
The government's latest scheme to buy rice at 14,000 baht a tonne has "populist policy" written all over it. How can they sustain offering 20% above market price on Thailand's biggest commodity, when prices are already at their highest in years and might not stay there, now that other countries have dropped their moratorium on export?
The Blue Flag scheme was a well-thought-out one, but was trashed in one afternoon by a hastily cobbled together alternative decided by Mr Samak, to keep farmers off the streets and save his cabinet's face.
FRIED RICE FRED
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Taxi fares
A taxi flagfall of 35 baht for the first 1km is impractical. The rate should be 40 baht for first 2km. This benefits both passengers and cabbies.
R H SUGA
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Enough already
I'm sick and tired of hearing some Americans talk about democracy as if it were a message from God that only they can hear and interpret. They have become an embarrassment to the civilised human beings of the world and I hope their economy, military and political systems completely fall apart and come crashing down on their heads.
SICK AND TIRED
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