Re: “Education system needs to improve”, (BP, March 29).
We’ve listened to tirades and diatribes from all of society, ranging from educators, to readers, editorialists, parents, students and everyone else I’ve omitted. We’ve listened to this stuff for years. Nothing has been done, nothing is being done, nothing will be done.
Education reform costs money. It costs to educate teachers properly, to pay foreign teachers salaries worth their weight in gold and to revamp silly curriculums that teach nothing except how to memorise, copy and cheat. The media could use this space for something more worthwhile, say, comics.
AJARN MANGO
Cyclists not welcome
The much-vaunted new EmDistrict shopping mall across the road from the Emporium opened its doors on Friday. As a local resident, the latest addition to the Sukhumvit shopping scene piqued my interest (though did we really need another massive shopping centre?). To get around the city, I cycle from my condo to the supermarket, coffee shop and, if venturing further afield, to the BTS.
I was keen to see what cycle parking is available in the mall. The answer is none. On looking for the parking the first thing I found was an area with signs announcing ‘‘Supercar Parking’’. Apart from the sheer obscene elitism of this, who decides what is a "supercar’’? Do the parking attendants have a brand checklist?
Having searched all the parking areas, it is clear cyclists are not welcome. We are consigned to chaining our bikes to the movable metal barriers enclosing the motorcycle section.
This all seems out of step with Gen Prayut’s environmentally friendly campaign to promote bicycles in Bangkok, and the worldwide trend for healthier cities.
EmDistrict is a traffic disaster from the transportation vantage point.
The parking area can only be reached from narrow Soi 35 with an exit right into the middle of the junction of Sukhumvit Road and Soi 24.
This is dreadful city planning on a number of levels. Firstly, most cities around the world try to discourage car journeys into the centre of town.
This development has masses of parking on six floors and will undoubtedly attract additional traffic to an already congested area.
Secondly, allowing access points in a narrow soi and an exit on a busy junction is simply awful development control and should not have been permitted.
RICHARD MABBITT (URBAN PLANNER)
Avail monks to laws
I am a little bemused and certainly more than a little confused by the report on the government’s dilemmas concerning Buddhist reform (“ThaiPulse”, March 30).
My first reaction is to question what role a secular government has in religious reform, whether it be reform of Buddhism, Islam, Christianity or any other faith.
My second reaction is to see a very simple answer to the conundrums the government believes it is confronting. While I know little of Thai law, surely if monks were made subject to common law, if they are not already, any crime or malfeasance they commit could be prosecuted under civil law.
This would obviate the need for a whole new raft of laws to cover the conduct of monks and the affairs of the Buddhist hierarchy.
DAVID BROWN
Rule of 2 only logical
It is deeply troubling that many airlines outside the United States have ignored the recommendation of the International Civil Aviation Organisation that there should always be two people in the cockpit of an aircraft during flight. This makes perfect sense.
If the pilot or co-pilot is absent while attending the call of nature and the remaining pilot or co-pilot suffers from a fatal heart attack or seizure, who is left flying the plane?
It is shocking that Lufthansa, a prestigious airline with such a fine safety record, should have failed to act on this advice.
EDWARD B DUHIGG
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