OPINION

Children need more protection

Swedish ambassador Staffan Herrstrom's piece in Saturay's paper ("Never choose violence against children", Opinion) couldn't have come at a better time.

It is sad that such a piece even needs to be written, but it comes in a week where there have been shocking examples of cruelty towards children.

The first, in Phitsanulok, was caught on video and is gut-wrenching to watch.

A man belted his five-year-old stepson -- a boy with a cleft lip and learning disabilities -- to the back of the head.

Not content with striking him to the ground, he then stomped on the boy's back, leaving him with head injuries. The video is horrifying, as is the reaction of bystanders.

It was described in the Bangkok Post on Friday as if witnesses had stopped him, but in truth not one person stood between him and the child.

Someone did pat him on the shoulder in an attempt to calm him down, but it certainly wasn't the stepfather who needed sympathy in that situation.

And all we read is that police have issued a summons -- no doubt embarrassed into saying they are taking action from the fact the video hit social media -- but he should be locked up and removed from the child's life.

But, hey, it's not like we can depend on the boys in brown to be proactive about anything.

Worse, yesterday's front page carried the story of a three-year-old boy beaten to death by a stepfather and his body dumped by the side of the road.

The details again are horrific, and again a fit of anger took hold -- this time over a child who had cried and wet himself. The mother, too, has been charged.

There have been plenty of other examples of cruelty and violence perpetrated against children in this country, so many that it is easy to get used to such crimes and hard to maintain the outrage.

But children are among the most vulnerable in society and need someone else, responsible and active, needs to stand up for them.

When violence against children is normalised, both in the sense that such crimes are commonplace and as Mr Herrstrom pointed out in the form of corporal punishment at school (long overdue to be banned), then a society has truly lost its way.

Every society experiences violence and brutality. Alarm bells should ring however when it is state sanctioned. By this I mean that the systems of government encourage it, look the other way or deliver a token punishment.

We see this in the instances of teachers assaulting students, celebrities assaulting others who have neither money or connections.

And we see it in the armed forces. Being subjected to violence seems almost to be part of the induction process for recruits. Aside from the incidents reported in the media, today I hear that someone I know entering the armed forces has been assaulted so badly that he is hospitalised.

Violence here now seems to be institutionalised. Providing the violence is initiated by someone in a "superior" position towards someone 'inferior' the system will take care of the aggressor,

If this regime is genuine in wanting to reform the country than let it show that violence will not be tolerated within the military to start with.

The message needs to come from the top and by actions not words.

And the message should be reinforced by Buddhist leaders.

They seem to be missing from public view except as they choose to advance their own reputations, incomes, or are cited in some scandal.

Re: "SRT plans to hike ticket prices for long journeys", (BP, Nov 19).

I welcome those new carriages after more than 20 years of ignorance and hope this change may attract some airline passengers who are tired of the hustle and bustle of boarding a plane and would rather enjoy a slower and more peaceful overnight sleep. Therefore, any fare increases should be competitive.

Also, if the SRT wants to spend more of its budget on new carriages, it should look to maintain the cleanliness and conditions of its furnishings, and not on entertainment extras.

In separate matters, as for canal boat authorities being under pressure to improve safety, (BP, Nov 19), I don't deny the necessity of improving safety measures, but they should not be done so at the expense of operating costs and boat fares.

As I have commented before, existing hazards should be the responsibility of authorities, boat operators and passengers, and they should all realise the risks -- not blame other.

Violence against children (Opinion, Nov 19) starts from watching your Thai soaps on TV where you see yelling, screaming and psychological terror all the time. And then the picture gets blurred when people hug each other.

How much more deadly can driving in Thailand get? After reading the letter in Saturday's Postbag titled "Don't Text and Drive", I happened to see True Move's TV advertisement for their new 4G Car Wi-Fi plan: A nice looking couple sitting in a car plug in True Move's handy little Wi-Fi gadget and start merrily punching away on a smartphone and a tablet.

The car is not moving, but what kind of a message is this?

Watch a few shows on Thai television and you'll see cigarettes and weapons pixelated out and even obvious female cleavage clouded over. So why is there oversight of this blatant representation of driving as fun and games? Texting or looking at a phone while driving is certainly more dangerous than watching an actor smoke or seeing a scantily clad actress on TV.

The car Wi-Fi ad is totally irresponsible on True Move's part, and they should eliminate it from all media outlets.