EDITORIAL
Let Snake Year be poison-free
- Published: 1 Jan 2013 at 00.00
- Newspaper section: News
It is not difficult to let go of the old year and say "welcome" to 2013/2556. The past year has been, in large part, a holding year. The economy recovered from the 2011 flood disasters. Politics featured a go-slow programme which gave welcome peace, but only delayed inevitable conflict. Law enforcement and justice took steps that could put the 2008 and 2010 violence in the spotlight. Out in the big world, there were lots of arguments, but thankfully little mortal combat.
The Year of the Snake could end that boredom, even without surprises. And some of those seem inevitable. Experts and academics assured us just last week that extreme weather events are a certainty _ storms, heat waves, droughts and floods for starters. The nation was sorely tested in 2011 by the deadliest, costliest floods in Thai history. We can hope that the response to the next disaster will be better.
That is no certainty. In 2012, a glance at the South of Thailand proved that. The violent gangs increased their barbarity, stepped up their terrorism and pulled off atrocities against peaceful Thais that were often unprecedented.
This article is older than 60 days, which we reserve for our premium members only.You can subscribe to our premium member subscription, here.
