Bangkok Post : POST BAG Hun Sen's Double Standard

POST BAG

A story in Friday's Bangkok Post (''Sam Rainsy must serve time, then run'') reports that Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen said that the leader of his country's main opposition party would not be permitted to participate in the next general election unless he serves a pending jail sentence. Hun Sen is reported to have said: ''This time the court sentenced him to jail _ no pardon this time ... You must be jailed first, if you are brave enough to come and be jailed.''

Should not the whole of Thailand shout a loud chorus of ''double standards''? Hun Sen is giving succour to another fugitive from justice, who has been ''sentenced to jail''. Sorry I forget, silly me. Cambodian justice is of course far superior to that meted out in Thailand.

Professor L A Damani
Songkhla

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THAKSIN SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER

At last, Thaksin Shinawatra is sorry for his family for the fact that they are now 46 billion baht poorer. He also accused the Supreme Court of being unfair in handing down the verdicts that resulted in confiscation of part of his assets.

Upon entering politics a decade ago, Thaksin should have hired trustworthy managers to take care of his business and financial affairs, and concentrate only on administering the state as entrusted upon him by the overwhelming majority of Thai voters. Mixing business with politics, as he should have known, is an absolute no-no.

But he unforgivably failed the country, and ultimately his family. Now it is harder for the literate Thai public to call him a trustworthy bloke _ let alone a statesman.

Chavalit Van

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OBSCURING THE MONEY TRAIL

As the Thaksin assets seizure case edges towards its climactic conclusion, one point of discussion that has not been addressed is whether the kind of corporate behaviour Thaksin and associates engaged in is acceptable in modern society.

We have been on a daily basis exposed to the bewildering and utterly Byzantine web of companies that the Shinawatra clan created to conceal their wealth and confuse attempts to understand the true owners. Unquestionably this was nothing more than an attempt to obscure the money trail and should have been the first indicator of a lack of good intentions by the business owners.

Moreover, in a world wracked by poverty and disaster, the possession of such obscene wealth must be questioned. More public debate on the standing of those who amass needless levels of wealth with little or no intention of sharing it needs to be initiated.

Clearly conscience has gotten the better of Bill Gates and Warren Buffet, who are now ploughing their massive fortunes into good causes worldwide.

As I watched the coiffured and haute-coutured Shinawatra family members troop in and out of court to defend their obscene wealth as so many scratch out a meagre existence in the Kingdom, I felt truly sick.

Dr John Symons
Bangkok

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TRAFFICKING NOT ON AGENDA

I don't understand why the author of your Spectrum story last week, ''Lao girls lured into child-sex trade in Udon'', is shocked by the trafficking of children from Laos. As long as corruption prevails, this will continue in Thailand. Upon serious investigation of the situation you will almost surely find that law enforcement agencies are heavily involved, as in every other type of criminal activity.

As well, the children wouldn't be trafficked if there weren't many Thai clients who see no problem in having sex with those children. It is similar to the narcotics trade. Both the trafficking of children for sex and the trade in narcotics can only exist because there are powerful people controlling both.

My heart is with the children involved, but the trafficking will continue until our government gets serious about it, which in my opinion is not forthcoming as the politicians in charge have different agendas, such as enriching themselves.

Pakorn

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IT'S NOT THE SMILE

Your editorial last Monday, ''Criminals are not welcome'', states the following: ''They (criminals) see our country as a simple victim, a nation easy to exploit because of the relatively open borders, the 50-year policy to encourage tourism. Worse, they have come to believe that the traditional Thai smile and the cultural practice of welcoming visitors is a sign of weakness. So foreign criminals have landed in our country with the specific aim of sneering at the Thai welcome ...''

In fact, criminals come to Thailand because they think that the Thai police are corrupt to the core. This includes the Immigration police.

Eastern European and Russian human traffickers have been openly operating bars and brothels in Bangkok, Pattaya and to a lesser extent in other tourist destinations for many years, allegedly with the assistance of corrupt Thai police. This has nothing whatsoever to do with the Thai smile, Thai hospitality or a 50-year policy to encourage tourism.

Certainly everyone will approve if the Immigration Department chief manages to get rid of ''a few dozen or a few hundred'' foreign criminals. But what about the billions of baht per year the police allegedly extort from Thai truckers, as well as extortion by the Customs and Immigration departments? I suggest those responsible get real and stop trying to save face.

Michael Setter

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