OPINION

A question of style

PM Prayut Chan-o-cha has asked the public four questions to help him decide where we should go. Since his questions were leading, answering them as posed could easily justify another delay of our elections.

"Turnabout is fair play" (says author Laurel Hamilton). So, if she'd drafted the questions, ex-PM Yingluck Shinawatra might have asked us:

1) Given none of our 20 coups d'etat has achieved its good governance goals for long, are you confident that the latest coup will be the exception?

2) Should we continue to support this coup d'etat if there is little sustained good governance forthcoming?

3) Are coups that fail to take the country's future, reforms and national strategy into account the right thing?

4) Should military and police officers who behave improperly, like overthrowing the legitimate government they have sworn to serve, get a chance to conduct another coup? Who will deal with them, and how, if problems should reoccur?

Asking leading questions will not get the unbiased results needed. A credible pollster, e.g., Suan Dusit, University of Thai Chamber of Commerce, or Nida, should do the job.

Re: "Two journos detained", (BP, May 31).

I read with great incredulity about the arrest of two foreign journalists who were detained while apparently leaving Suvarnabhumi airport for carrying ceramic plates used in body armour and gas masks as they were heading to cover fighting in Iraq.

The charge was carrying war weapons for which one could face up to five years in prison. I believe a weapon is commonly defined as something designed or to be used to inflict bodily harm. The only harm likely to be inflicted in this case is to Thailand's reputation which some might say is already low among the international community. Yet it continues to draw negative worldwide attention for such matters. Why, one may ask?

Re: "China heads for imperial overreach", (Opinion, May 29).

Beyond Brahma Chellaney's conclusion that China is exposing itself to excessive financial risk and overstretching in efforts to expand its influence under the "one belt, one road" (Obor) initiative, recipient countries should be very cautious of the risks in accepting investment under the Obor programme.

Various countries that have signed on to the Obor programme are already regretting having provided overly favourable concessions to China in the form of access to land bordering high-speed rail routes built under the Obor initiative.

Others are pushing back against Chinese attempts to use commercial port facilities constructed under the Obor programme for military purposes (e.g., warship and submarine port calls). Even the initial construction of infrastructure under the Obor programme is proving disappointing to most participating countries as they discover that many of the construction jobs they thought would come to their own countries are actually being filled by imported Chinese laborers instead of local workers.

Thailand should take note of these experiences and proceed with caution.

Re: "BMA takes baby steps to drain waters", (BP, May 31).

The BMA must change its attitude and make frequent inspections, clean up the water ways, clearing water vegetation such as water hyacinth. It should maximise the punishment against littering to stop people from throwing rubbish into water ways, especially broken furniture that causes drains to become clogged. Without these improvements, bigger facilities will be just a waste.

Now the rainy season has started in earnest I breakfast on my roadside patio watching motorbike riders try to cope with holding an umbrella and a smartphone at the same time as driving to school. A common fix for this problem is to leave the umbrella holding to the child rear passenger which too often results in the umbrella being lowered, obscuring all but the front wheel. Thai style!

Re: "Woods charged with DUI in Florida", (BP, May 31).

As we know Tiger Woods' mother was Thai. Would he be better off living in Thailand? A major advantage for the famous golfer is that he can drive drunk and wont have to take a breath/blood test. He also can say he has stress issues and walk away.

postbag@bangkokpost.co.th