PostBag
I am curious as to how your staff chooses what is newsworthy or not for publication in the Bangkok Post. Your newspaper lists obscure stories daily and yet you choose not to include wire-service stories of decisions by the US Supreme Court in your online articles.
The US Supreme Court handed down its decision on the Second Amendment of the US Constitution and it was nowhere to be found within your online website. The court ruled that the laws of Washington DC cannot prohibit citizens from owning and having in their homes a handgun with which to protect self and family. This decision impacts citizens of many other locations within the US and you chose not to cover it - for what reason?
Do you feel that the citizens of Thailand will be angered that they do not have the freedoms which are afforded citizens elsewhere? Are you worried that the so-called "free land" of Thailand does not have freedoms of speech and firearms ownership that others of the world are blessed with? What is your reason for not covering court decisions in the US that impact the whole country, yet you cover small-town news as if it were more important? Your editorial philosophy is confusing.
TOM HRITZ
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Passing registration
Re: "TMT on Alphard" (BP, Motoring Section, June 27). The Vice President of Toyota Motor Thailand, Vudhigorn Suriyachantananont was quoted as saying, "We won't import the 2.4 [as additionally sold by the grey market]. It doesn't quality for FTA and it doesn't pass Thai emission standards."
Would someone in the Department of Transport or other state department please clarify, then, why these 2.4 Alphard's sold by grey importers are eligible for vehicle registration? I am amused that this has been going on for so long. Who is responsible and who will take the heat for allowing these cars that don't pass emission standards to qualify for registration documents?
P L
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Judges are too generous
I couldn't agree more with your call to the judiciary to speed things up. I was once involved in a case where, with the help of the police, we caught a burglar in the act of burgling our house, but because of repeated postponements for the most trivial reasons, it took almost a year and a half for this professional burglar (two convictions for burglary already) to be imprisoned.My impression from that case and other cases that I have read about, is that judges are altogether too generous in allowing postponements, so that people less motivated to get justice than myself would probably give up.
I also had the feeling during this judicial process I was involved in, that I was seen as something of an unforgiving, too serious, unmerciful ogre by everyone involved, instead of as an upright citizen trying to get a repeat offender off the streets.
I pray that I am never so unlucky as to get involved in our judicial system again.
TAXPAYER
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Unethical upper class
News about three lawyers representing a former political big shot having been sentenced to a six-month jail term for attempted bribery within the Supreme Court vicinity was depressing indeed.
First, it shows how unethical and immoral people in the upper class of our society have become, even though they are supposed to take the leading role in our society.
Instead, the wealthier and more educated are leading our society to decadence out of their blind respect for moneyed politicians. There simply is no sense of responsibility left within the upper class.
Second, the three convicted lawyers, no matter how shameful a crime they have committed, are just hired hands. If pursued, the culprits behind this crime can be traced easily through police investigations: from which bank they drew the money and from whose account(s)? Who are connected to the account holder(s)? Etc.
Third, it tells us that we, as a society, must do some soul-searching and act accordingly before it's too late: how can we protect our children from moral decadence and unethical traits? How can we tell them the difference between good and bad ethics? How can we tell them not to take rich but bad people for their role model, but to spurn them instead?
Finally, those who don't feel anything or have never cared less about this depressing news are a cause to worry: they have become more or less decadent themselves.
CHAVALIT VAN
Chiang Mai
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Jailing the messenger
It is commendable that three lawyers who tried to bribe court officials have been quickly jailed. However, it is hard to believe that those lawyers produced two million baht from their own pockets. Logic and reason dictates that the clients wanted to bribe the court for a favourable verdict and those lawyers were used just as their messengers. If the case is not investigated further and is closed simply by jailing the lawyers, we harbour serious doubts for the law society of this country.
R H SUGA
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Stuck in a quagmire
First I would like to thank Chavalit Van for his response to my letter regarding Thai democracy. I agree with you in regards to having the wrong type of people in politics, but the problem is that the corruption and cronyism will continue to occur. Unfortunately, the youths that are coming into politics have grown up seeing current and past politicians setting a poor example and as long as the military has the ability to overthrow a government, the system can never work.
I have a company in Bangkok and spend a great deal of time in Thailand each year. I love the country and its people, I just get upset watching the same thing continue to happen over and over again. I cannot see a way that Thailand can avoid history repeating.
SHANNON CRANE
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Gold Coast, Australia
Are cars so important? "The future is electric," (Bangkok Post, June 25) advocates hybrid petro/electric cars as eco-friendly because they "generate their own electricity" - without adding, "by burning petrol." This is to allow a perpetual feel-good notion about a machine that, according to the Economist, Dec 2007, utilises less than one-third of 1% of its power to propel the driver.
Then, on top of the combustion engine propulsion system, a generator, electric motor and batteries are added to further befriend Earth. The carbon footprint examines only gas mileage while it is unknown what eco-disaster was involved in mining the iron for steel, producing the huge amounts of electricity required to make aluminium or drilling the oil to make the myriad plastic parts in one car.
I love cars. I read the Motoring section every Friday. But cars were the biggest killer of teenagers in the US last year. We have no more hope of reducing our footprint in a car culture than a dieter has of losing weight exercising and then eating a kilo of fudge every day. Are cars more important than life itself? No alternatives are being examined, so we'll soon find out.
VINCENT GILLES
Boulder, Colorado
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