OPINION

Up in the air

Re: "Asian players jockey for global airport hub banner", (BP, July 28).

It is little more than a cruel joke to include Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi among the list of airports purportedly vying for leading hub status. Sadly, after more than a decade in operation, Suvarnabhumi remains low on the list of leading airports.

Fundamental flaws in the original airport construction, which has left the toilets with ridiculously slippery floors and skybridges structurally too weak to be used, have never been remedied despite the cries of frustrated travellers.

Poor systems for processing immigration and security add further angst to passengers. Amenities found in other leading airports, such as free movies, meditation corners, soothing fountains and waterfalls, game rooms, and others, are nowhere to be found at Suvarnabhumi.

I'm not optimistic that spending another 117 billion baht for "upgrades" to Suvarnabhumi will do much to bring the airport up to competitive standards. Many of the things that could help improve Suvarnabhumi don't require a lot of expensive investments. They do, however, require common sense -- which seems sorely lacking among the airport's managers.

A single day-trip to Singapore's Changi airport should be enough to give thinking people a clear idea of what a world-class airport is all about. Until Suvarnabhumi's managers learn to put passenger comfort and ease above profits and cronyism, Bangkok's airport will be forever relegated to second- or third-class status.

The letter, "Equal under law" reminded me of what happened in Alabama when the federal government in the United States ended segregation. A black passenger got onto a bus, sat down in front, and the driver told him to move to the back. The passenger pointed out that under the new desegregation law, everyone was equal and had equal rights. "Yes", replied the driver, "everyone is now equal, but some are more equal than others."

So goes it for healthcare access for government employees and other Thai citizens.

Re: "Military pulls bail for Pai Dao Din", (BP, July 28).

So Thailand's international human rights award winner Jatupat Boonpattararaksa (Pai Dao Din) remains in prison "because he did not delete the shared article from his Facebook page, and posted photos that allegedly mocked the authority of the state".

The thousands of others who shared the article have probably not deleted it either.

As to the absurdly false claim that the rule of law can lead to the imprisonment of anyone who mocks "the authority of the state", Harvard University's renowned Steven Pinker perhaps puts it best in his article in The Boston Globe, that "satire and ridicule, even when puerile and tasteless, are terrifying to autocrats and protected by democracies".

The government appears to be prosecuting people posting pictures of themselves with alcoholic drinks. Will they be pixelating all images of people drinking on TV and film? Or will normal Thai double standards prevail.

Re: "Panama Papers led to probe into wealth", (BP, July 29).

The above article revealed that Pakistan and Iceland's prime ministers were the only two world leaders to be felled by the Panama Papers leak.

I think we should be happy that no one in Thailand was deemed to have corruptly hidden assets in Panama. Perish the thought!

Re "Officer, wife probed for dishing out abuse", (BP, July 28).

Oops! Someone got caught with their hands in the cookie jar. The couple in the story had a restaurant for years in Rayong province yet not a word came out about their alleged offences.