The recent ruling of the Sangha Supreme Council (SSC) on Phra Dhammachayo, abbot of Wat Phra Dhammakaya, didn’t surprise me. I’d like to quote Khun Sulak Sivaraksa who said the council’s ruling may have been influenced by the: “Money and power of Wat Phra Dhammakaya monks that can buy almost all of the Sangha members”.
Is the SSC setting a precedent whereby you may be wrong for stealing, but not guilty if you return what you have stolen?
I’m writing therefore in support of the National Reform Council (NRC) committee on Buddhism protection to bring this scandal to light. For decades, our country has been plagued by those who use the monkhood to reap benefits from temples. No government has done anything about it.
It is incomprehensible therefore why a group of monks and SSC supporters called on the vice-rector of Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University, Phra Methithammajarn, to protect the SSC. They also wanted the prime minister and the NRC president to dissolve the committee on Buddhism protection chaired by Paibul Nititawan.
What are these people afraid of? Don’t they want the whole truth revealed, the wrongdoers punished, and justice to prevail?
Or do they have an axe to grind as well?
Dusit Thammaraks
Fudging road figures
Re: “Road safety push going nowhere fast”, (BP, Feb 24).
What exactly do these percentage figures mean? Often percentage and averages miss out on details, thus skewing conclusions by producing misleading facts.
The Maldives may well have only two deaths per 100,000. Does this take into account how many cars are on the road per kilometre? I doubt it. What does “per 100,000” mean exactly? Is this per population or is it based on the number of car/vehicle owners?
That said, I must say Thais and some others in Southeast Asia have dreadful driving habits, in particular for two-wheelers.
Road safety needs a long-term plan to educate riders and drivers, like driving courses and tests with far higher standards, similar to Northern Europe and the US. There needs to be unprecedented cooperation by the police (first major hurdle).
It may require draconian methods, for example:
Heavily fine vehicle/bike owners if they haven’t got a licence or insurance. Offenders’ vehicles should be towed away. They should be impounded with daily storage fees and held until the fine is paid. If the owner cannot pay it off, then auction it off to pay the fine. Finally, the fine should be based on a percentage of offenders’ income and assets, with a minimum amount to be paid. I appreciate wealthy people can pay even a heavy fine, but at least they will have the inconvenience of collecting their cars.
Bob Heywood
Religion is irrelevant
Re: “Ali fires as England triumph”, (Sports, 24 Feb).
It seems no Muslim professional is now free from being probed; this even applies to sports. A British born cricketer, Moeen Ali, who scored 128 runs to take England to victory over Scotland this week, is also not spared.
I do not understand why a sports report has to qualify that Moeen Ali is a practising Muslim? What about other members of the English team. Why not qualify their religious or non-religious beliefs?
To stretch this further, the game of cricket was brought by the British colonisers to Asia and Africa, so why was their religious faith not a matter of concern when British colonisers played cricket all over the colonies? I am stumped!
Imtiyaz Yusuf
Better a jab than death
Michael Setter’s Feb 25 letter “Jabs don’t always work,” is not right in its intention. I’m not a pharma lobbyist. But let me add some objective information.
Measles (and other viruses) are causative agents. There is no direct medication against this droplet disease. You only can fight the symptoms − fever and so on.
However, it is possible to protect people against measles by a vaccination. There is no 100% protection. After the first jab there is protection of 91%, after the second one between 92% and 99%. Without a measles vaccination the danger of being infected is 90%. Conclusion: The jab is the best protection against this disease, although it’s not 100% effective. It should therefore be of general interest to have an injection against the measles at the right time. Therefore, you should not mind if “multinational pharmaceutical companies insist the only solution is compulsory additional vaccination”, as Mr Setter has complained.
Because Germany has a high vaccination rate the death of the toddler recently was the first one since 1979. So I think we should not panic, “although jabs don’t always work”.
Eckhard Helbig
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