OPINION

Time to ban plastic bags

It was very attentive to dedicate last Sunday's editorial to the problems created by the excessive use of plastic. But it is not only plastic -- raw garbage can be seen floating in the Gulf of Thailand from Pattaya to Sattahip every day.

Koh Lan's garbage is being dumped in the sea and that has been going on for months now. Restaurants alongside the sea seem to be rather negligent with their leftovers, taking the easy way in getting rid of it. Even fishermen, whose livelihood depends on the cleanliness of the water, often spoil their own source of income: the sea.

It is time for the authorities, municipalities, the Marine Department and even the navy, who can see the waste floating by daily, if not at their base certainly at the golf course, to step in and take proper measures to stop this pollution.

Also resorts and sailing clubs have a role to play in this as their activities are threatened by the deterioration of this pristine environment.

Koh Lan should forbid tourists to bring in plastic bags and shops to stop using them. There are alternatives. A campaign is presently held in Cambodia to limit the use of plastic bags. Why not start one in Thailand where so many plastic bags are being used compared to their neighbours?

I agree that giving out "magic vitamins" and pamphlets encouraging women of reproductive age to eat well and exercise does not sound like a very good way to boost the country's declining birth rate (BP, Feb 11).

But there are other more important issues that can be addressed to encourage women to have babies.

What is even more important than giving out the vitamins is the revision of the labour law to enable women to take maternity leave to raise babies and allow childcare at work.

Others include the introduction of tax measures to cut costs of childcare and welfare to help them be prepared to have babies. Those are not discussed and revealed in details of the campaign entitled "Thai chicks with glowing cheeks have babies for the nation with magic vitamins".

The Ministry of Public Health has campaigned like this several times in the past decade as if it is the only the prime mover of the country's population growth.

The government should seriously try to find out how to boost our country's population appropriately and what could be the right incentives for people to have babies.

Such a campaign must not be just a gimmick, but it must be a genuine policy furbished with substantial packages for women and men to have babies so that they can make their own decisions.

It always amuses me when, as in the case of the photograph accompanying the arrest of a Ukrainian over a fake card scam, the suspects just happen to be carrying and wearing surgical masks, outsize sunglasses and hats (BP, Feb 17).

While the law considers everyone innocent until found guilty by the courts, one assumes that suspects are photographed so that the general public may recognise them and, perhaps, be able to assist the authorities in their enquiries.

I'm surprised the police allow what can only be called disguises to be worn. But this is Thailand!

After being in office for only 24 days, Michael Flynn, the 25th National Security Adviser serving President Donald Trump, resigned last Monday amid a controversy over his contacts with Russian officials prior to taking office.

It was Mr Flynn who helped Donald Trump win the presidential election by criticising Democrat candidate Hillary Clinton for using her personal email account to conduct her official duty as secretary of state during her tenure in the Barack Obama administration.

Mr Flynn's resignation has sent a shock wave all over the world. However, it is widely considered that this is just the beginning of the bigger scandal, and more shocking news has yet to emerge.

Hence, it seems obvious to me that if the Trump government is viewed a ship, it has evidently been badly constructed and has big leaks after only three weeks at sea -- and the leaks are getting wider and wider.

Six months ago I received a registered letter offering me, as a Platinum subscriber, a free upgrade to the new True high-speed fibre internet service which, according to the letter, had already been wired into my neighbourhood.

To date, True has been unable to install this service at my location, which I can understand. But what I cannot understand is the runaround I have been given. I have made over eight phone calls and three store visits to be told that my building needed to be surveyed or I had to take a basic package to get the high-speed fibre (even though I already had the Platinum service).

Recently I was supposed to have a technician visit me, but no one ever showed up. I finally called True again and was as usual promised a return call. And it was finally explained to me that the juristic body that administers the residential building I live in would not allow True to wire the building for the high-speed fibre internet as the cable was larger than the original DSL cable. True then had the audacity to suggest I work out the problem with the juristic body.

I would think that with two buildings and 160 apartment units managed by this juristic body, True would wish to negotiate with it.

I was also told that as time went on my existing True DSL service would get progressively worse as the infrastructure would continue to deteriorate. This all comes on top of the Platinum channel fiasco of TrueVisions and the True You rewards that I still don't know anything about.

It's time to open up this monopoly to other players so we might have some small chances of getting a decent service.