OPINION

Global forces unite

It is difficult to keep up with the tales of corruption, misuse of funds, and the official investigations that exonerate all involved or disappear in the mists of time.

It seems that corruption and misuse of funds have been part of the fabric of society for generations and infect every institution from the military and police to the public sector and religion.

There is only one way to genuinely eliminate these scourges: Appoint an anti-corruption panel comprising overseas experts from the police, military, public service and judiciary. This panel would be immune to political, financial and family influence. I can hear the screams now that we can solve our own problems, etc. No, we can't. We should follow the examples of countries who co-opt overseas expertise without any sense of shame but rather a sense of pride in their genuine desire to solve a problem.

The word democracy is interpreted in many different ways all over the world.

All eyes are currently on the American version of democracy and worried about how it has come up with its presidential candidates -- which is not much of a choice in anyone's book.

Looking back a year or so to 2015, the UK came up with a vote of 1.8 million people electing 56 MPs (from Scottish constituencies) for the Scottish National Party and a vote of 4.3 million votes electing only one MP in England for the UK Independence Party.

In the Philippines, Mr Duterte seems to have a "minority" government, but the system allows him to govern.

So, is democracy always fair? I guess not; it just depends on how you see it.

Re: "Pricey plane feast", (PostBag, Oct 11).

Serving standard first-class meals with snacks in-between, and an unlimited supply of drink, for about 24 hours on a round-trip flight priced at about 15,000 baht per passenger, was quite reasonable pricing. The cost of in-flight meals on international flights is very expensive compared with the cost of restaurants meals.

This is because plane food must be produced according to strict international regulations. It must be stored for many hours in cool temperatures before it can be served on board. Therefore, every airline needs to invest heavily in its in-flight kitchens, a cost that's passed on to the consumer.

Re: "Drowning is 'top killer' of kids under 15", (BP, Oct 10).

About 70 years ago in the Netherlands my father was on the board of an organisation going by the name of 'Every Dutchman Must Be Able to Swim'.

At that time many kids under 15 in the Netherlands were drowning because they couldn't swim, like what is happening now in Thailand. For a long time it was normal in the Netherlands to learn how to swim at primary school. And it actually saved a lot of kids from drowning.

After a 45-minute wait in the slowest immigration queue at the shiny new Phuket Airport Terminal 2 last weekend, my fellow passengers and I were not amused when charged 100 baht for what we were told was a "fast-lane" service.

This so-called fast-lane queue led to just one immigration booth, while a second queue was distributed among half a dozen immigration booths and was dispatched promptly and efficiently with no charge.

The "fast lane" is not marked or distinguished in any way -- you don't find out until you arrive at the booth -- and no receipt is given for the 100 baht. Is this a scam or is it legitimate? The channel is question is number 17A -- incoming travellers be warned.

In his Oct 9 letter, "Time to wake up", Eric Bahrt says he would have been absolutely astonished if the junta hadn't deported Joshua Wong.

I, and I am sure many of my PostBag pals, are absolutely astonished that Eric hasn't been deported.

Or is he next?