Three chaiyos for Pol Col Khajohnpong Jitpakpoom’s ordering of his station’s cops to stop harassing foreigners. He’s the newly-appointed Thong Lor police superintendent, and foreigners under his station’s jurisdiction have long complained of arbitrary stops by police, on-the-spot urine tests and shakedowns by cops looking for bribes.
Stopping the singling out of foreigners is long overdue. Our top cops have been neglecting their duties — or playing Rip Van Winkle — while this kind of extortion made headlines as far away as Australia and Europe, driving away much-needed tourists and giving further evidence of why our police force regularly tops public surveys of the most corrupt public agencies.
Due process is a right to which all within our borders are entitled, not just those in Thong Lor. It’s not up to a cop whether or not to extend that right. Police in all precincts should be instructed to strictly follow due process and protect and serve all citizens following Pol Col Khajohnpong's example.
Burin Kantabutra
Ex-PM innocent so far
Re: "Exactly what is true?" (PostBag, Feb 16).
I am in full agreement with David Brown’s assertion that Yingluck Shinawatra doesn’t have to prove anything regarding the charges laid against her. It is the duty of the prosecution to prove her guilt.
Indeed, it is stated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty, according to law in a public trial.
JC Wilcox in the past has written many letters to the newspaper extolling the sanctity of the rule of law, and how democracy cannot survive without it. In that respect he is, of course, absolutely right.
However, now that Ms Yingluck is about to go on trial, Mr Wilcox’s reverence for the law seems to have suffered a setback, and he goes as far as he dares towards declaring her guilty as charged. Quite remarkable.
Robin Grant
Bangkok
'Twisted' click polls
Re: "Misguided clicks" (PostBag, Feb 14).
Luke Thomas asked whether surveys that find Thais happy with Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha are the result of misguided pollers ("clickers"), or if the integrity of the polls is to blame.
I place more trust in the opinions we get from polls that survey a representative selection of Thai people and are executed by people educated in the field, or polls done by independent institutions, such as universities.
The twisted view the “click-polls” reflect in this newspaper is most likely from native English speakers and seems normally to be aligned with the US official political position on Thailand.
This has been clearly demonstrated over recent weeks.
Scandinavian Mind
Yingluck lynch mob
The “facts” as outlined by Richard Bowler and JC Wilcox (PostBag, Feb 16) may well be true.
Yingluck Shinawatra may be tried by public denunciation and by the media, but until she has her day in court she is entitled to the presumption of innocence.
And there is nothing “pedantic" about that most precious concept of our common systems of jurisprudence, Mr Bowler.
With such a lynch-mob mentality, you might as well throw her into prison immediately and save the expense of a trial.
Regards
David Brown
Rich Thais, pay up!
Re: “Why are you here?” (PostBag, Feb 16).
So you want people with more money to pay more? If a Thai person drives into a national park or attraction in a Mercedes-Benz or Bentley worth more than I earn in 10 years and he is dripping with gold jewellery and expensive time pieces, he pays a mere 40 baht to enter and I am extorted for 400 baht.
Try charging the wealthy Thais my price and watch them scream. If you think all foreigners are wealthier than all Thais, you are mistaken.
The government gets away with this overpricing because they can.
This helps to instil the national spirit of disdain for visitors.
Albert Arakelian
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