OPINION

Snouts in the trough

Veera Prateepchaikul summed it up in his May 8 comment, "Raging red bull runs rings around lame ducks", for every man, woman and child in Thailand.

I do hope this column makes waves overseas as well. This story is being followed closely on an international level and has become somewhat of a bad, but laughable, joke concerning Thailand, the police, the immigration people, and the government in general.

The famous one-liner joke so familiar to everyone, "How many police does it take to capture a person in Thailand?", is all the rage, and get better every day. The answer is, "Usually, the more the better, who can fit into a news op for Thai television news". The whiff of gross negligence, ineptitude and corruption cannot be eliminated with air freshener. Remember the song in the movie Cabaret? That fabulous song, Money Makes The World Go Round.

Thais are concerned that the war of words between Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and student activist Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal could escalate to the point of no return.

There are two major points in the constitution of the United States worth paying attention to: The "Bill of Rights", and the provision for a prosperous future for American "posterity".

That being said, Thai elders should provide more freedom for the young to fully exercise their right to speak, since these people are the ones who will bear the torch for our country in the future.

Gen Prayut should also strive harder to return the country back to democracy as soon as possible.

On the other hand, Mr Netiwit should be reminded that since he is an elected president of the Student Council of Chulalongkorn University despite his young age and being a freshman on campus, he has a much greater responsibility than his predecessors.

It would be a big disappointment for all Thais to see Mr Netiwit become a rogue or a renegade while holding this position.

Lately, news about a certain group of politicians coming out to support Mr Netiwit in his war of words against Gen Prayut is worrying.

Hence, Mr Netiwit should be cautioned that his actions, associations and behaviour from now on will be closely monitored by Thai people.

Don't disappoint the country by bringing it more trouble!

Re: "Terror triumphs in France", (BP, May 8).

As the report said: France is a "deeply troubled" nation and this election means that millions more Muslims, terrorists and non-educated will continue to spill into France. The average birth rate in countries like Yemen and Afghanistan is as high as five per mother and soon France will contend with an explosion of poor, uneducated, hungry and sometimes violent Islamic immigrants. The results will be out of their control.

This is not to say that all Muslims are bad people. Most of them are very good people. But, all people suffer and Islam suffers from an ideology that is incompatible with the modern world. With this election, France has invited this suffering into their home. They will all too soon find that Islamic extremism is a spouse that is uninterested in changing ... and divorce is not available.

Re: "President-elect Macron gears up for challenges", (BP, May 9).

We know the world has really turned upside down when the sanest election results of the past year come out of France. Vive la France!

I want to congratulate Jeff Gepner for his May 8 letter, "Playing with numbers". As a Turk, I feel very sad at the situation Erdogan and his government have put Turkey in. The atmosphere is getting more and more oppressive every day.

I am also sad that the West is mostly very silent about Turkey's situation. They usually just "express concern" every now and then. That is not enough. Stop doing business with Erdogan and his government!