Re: “Fight or flight”, The Big Issue, Feb 22.
Alan Dawson displayed a tricky writing style when he called Yingluck Shinawatra: “the first female ex-premier indicted for criminal malfeasance after being impeached”. At the same time he referred to Thaksin, who created Ms Yingluck as his “clone” and installed her in power in 2011, merely as: “Lord Voldemort”.
We all know it was Thaksin who caused this trouble for Ms Yingluck and for Thailand over the past decade. Ms Yingluck was just his stool pigeon in this game.
Without Thaksin, Ms Yingluck would not be in the limelight and thus in trouble; and Thailand would not be in the turmoil that it is in today.
Who knows, if Thaksin can still call the shots, Thailand’s next premier might turn out to be a junkie.
And you still call that democracy?
Vint Chavala
Head in the sand
It seems that the non-Muslim world is living with its head in the sand.
For decades we have been told that the percentage of Muslims committing acts of terrorism is miniscule, and yet throughout that time there has never been one moderate Muslim movement to discourage terrorism.
Now, just in the last few years, some outfit named Boko Haram has popped up in Africa raping, pillaging and terrorising people, and another outfit named the Islamic State has managed to raise several armies to fight in several countries at the same time.
And still, other than a few Muslim countries that have sworn revenge for atrocities committed to one or more of their citizens, the Muslim world is silent.
I think it is time non-Muslim countries acknowledge there is definitely a movement within Islam to annihilate non-Muslim people and that the rest of Islam is either sympathetic to the movement or at best, indifferent.
It would seem to be time to start taking steps to educate these people.
In my view, all immigration of Muslims to non-Muslim countries should be banned immediately.
The status of immigrants who arrived in the past five years should be reviewed and if they have no ties or serious holdings in whatever country it is, they should be repatriated to their own countries.
We should remove our troops from Muslim countries and let them solve their own problems.
Is this racist? No.
It is simply recognising that these people have a problem with the interpretation of their religion and it is a danger to us.
Let the imams who have preached hatred and murder stop and think about what they have done and the average Muslim, who has refused to protest against what has been happening, begin to understand that we are no longer going to behave as fools.
If we continue to behave as though we do not see what is happening around us, the point is going to come where it will not be safe for any non-Muslim to walk anywhere in the world — including in their own countries.
It is time to stop inviting the wolf into the chicken coop and to notify all Muslims that they had better police themselves because the welcome mat is no longer out.
John Arnone
Halt the burning first
It is interesting that medical authorities have cautioned people in the North and Northeast to stay indoors if the haze due to rice-field burning reaches a high and intense enough level to cause both eye and respiratory irritation.
But it would be easier to enforce the no-burning rule, as burning has been made illegal. However, this being Thailand, what are a few more deaths due to respiratory problems?
Those promulgating these laws sit in air-conditioned offices in the capital.
Respiratory Mango
Unfounded talk
It would be difficult to contest the assertion by Concerned foreign academic (“University graft runs deep”, PostBag, Feb 20) of corruption in institutes of higher learning.
However, his claim appears to be based on hearsay from Thai colleagues and does not name names nor institutions. It would not be a campus without rumours.
Exception must be taken to the mention of King Mongkut’s University of Technology.
As someone who professes to have worked in this sector for many years in Thailand, it would be reasonable to assume the writer should know the difference between King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang and KMUT (be it North Bangkok or Thonburi) enough to know that they should not be tarred with the same brush.
Terry Commins
KMUTT
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