Re: "Cruelty-free caviar" (Life, Sept 5).
I was interested to read Vanniya Sriangura's front-page Life article. Given that she completely ignored concerns previously raised in PostBag by myself and other readers over her continued consumption of foie gras, a widely recognised inhumane foodstuff banned in many countries, I wondered why she was suddenly concerned with animal welfare?
And then I realised she wasn't, because as sure as night follows day, in her restaurant review this week, as is the case most weeks, she again ordered foie gras, and in doing so continued to contribute to cruelty against ducks and geese. Clearly she is not concerned with ethical treatment of animals, so why give her front page exposure to pretend she is?
Sean Butler
Credit where due
Tourists and residents at Jomtien Beach Road are delighted over the new and ongoing crackdown on cars and pick-up trucks with huge loud speakers blasting techno music into the wee hours of the morning. I do not know if credit should go to our dear general or to Pattaya's new police chief, but please keep up the good work.
Credit should however not be given to Pattaya City Hall. Numerous phone calls complaining about the ever-increasing stray dog population chasing the few tourists in the sois of Jomtien Beach Road fall on deaf ears. The Tourism Authority of Thailand spends a fortune attracting tourists, just for these packs of dogs to chase them away.
Jomtien Beach Resident
Think big for the BTS
Instead of covering just a few kilometres of Bangkok, how about taxing petrol to fund an integrated BTS system to cover every major street?
For instance, if we charged 100 baht for a litre of petrol (a 60-baht increase on today's average of 40 baht), it could raise 600 million baht a day, assuming one million vehicles use the streets of Bangkok daily, at an average of 10 litres/vehicles. That's more than one trillion in five years (the estimated time to complete the project). An obvious side effect would be that it would discourage some car owners from driving. This should be a welcome change for those who really have to drive because they will spend less time and, ironically, less on petrol. Who knows, their gas bill may work out even lower than before.
Andy Colmes
Language short-change
Re: "Life is the best teacher" (PostBag, Sept 6).
Brian Stock's letter about teachers was telling. There is a good resource for Thai youngsters which the authorities are apparently unaware of. The untapped resource are native English speakers who are willing to teach, but who have no formal degrees. Who, with a straight face, can say certification makes a better teacher?
I've personally known teachers at Thai universities who are either non-native speakers from Europe or Thai nationals who frankly don't speak English well. Yet, proficiency in English is not a big deal for Thai academics in charge of hiring for such jobs. In their view, the most important requirement is proper credentials. Next in importance is the applicant's attire and attractiveness. Somewhat important, for Thais who hire, is whether the job applicant is farang. It doesn't matter to them whether the farang comes from a non-English speaking country, because Thais can't tell the difference.
Then there are Thais who teach English. Some, perhaps, are adept at English, but even those will likely speak Thai for the lion's share of the classroom time. A few times I've looked at written tests and homework handed out by Thai nationality English teachers. To say they're mistake-riddled and confusing would be an understatement. The bottom line is that Thai students trying to learn English are being short-changed. It should be not be surprising why Thailand is near bottom among Southeast Asian countries in English proficiency.
Ken Albertsen
Chiang Rai
No disguising this
Re: "Pen name cowardice" (PostBag Aug 23).
David Brown complains about letter writers who don't use their last names. Let me explain why I so strongly agree with him. Over the years a certain PostBag writer has been consistently ridiculing me for promoting vegetarianism. He's written about "several" women he knew who got breast cancer after they became vegetarians. But because he doesn't give us their names we can't confirm this. And because he doesn't use his last name we can't confront him with questions.
Conversely, when I write letters about women who recovered from advanced breast cancer after going on vegan diets I use their names and my name. For example, when I wrote how my friend Ruth Heidrch recovered from advanced breast cancer after going on this diet, a breast cancer survivor asked me if I could help her get in touch with Ruth. I was happy to oblige.
Agree with me or not, readers respect the fact that I will back up everything I write.
How much respect can we have for people who write any nonsense off the top of their heads because they know they don't have to answer to the public?
Eric Bahrt
Pattaya
The root of the problem
I have been living among farmers in Isan for around 15 years. I have noticed that when they weed, they simply hoe the ground, cutting off the weed from its root. It must have something to do with the rice fields being ploughed but it just doesn't work on vegetable gardens. If the roots stay, the weeds grow back.
Thailand has some weeds in its government. Namely a system of appointees that leads to cronyism and nepotism. If you don't have a system of cronies, you don't have corruption because a lone thief will, sooner or later, be uncovered.
If Thailand doesn't elect to change its electoral process and restructure the government, I am willing to bet anyone that when this next year is over, the government will be perfectly reorganised by what appears to be a very competent man. There will be no sign of weeds, but the roots will still be there and will, in time, sprout again.
John Arnone
Yasothon
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