OPINION

Time to respect ecology

Re: "Tourism troubles", (PostBag, Aug 20).

Khun Brian claims nothing was the matter with the stability around the hot pool where Thai tourists trespassed. He claims he is a geologist. Unfortunately this trespass, like most others in Yellowstone (and other similar parks) is not related to geology, but to ecology. (There are notices in Khao Yai National Park warning people not to steal wild orchids, but this does not help. Nearly 100% of visitors are Thais).

One of the tourists in Yellowstone was videoed crouching down collecting small pebbles and tossing them into the pool. There are areas in heritage sites worldwide, like the famous caves in Puerto Rico, where one is not permitted off the flagstone path, and visitors are cautioned not to touch the walls, or dip their fingers into the small pools and puddles of water because human bacteria could harm the stability of the water.

The size of a sign is meant not to mar the environment or vista, and is not related to the intensity of the danger that can occur in a trespass. A "Beware of Dog" notice on a fence does not have to be the size of a billboard to caution people.

Despite pleas from the Sierra Leone government for the urgent need for heavy equipment and expertise to help their recovery organisations after the mudslides, the only aid proffered, according to the media reports I have heard, has come from the UK, Turkey, China and Qatar.

The African continent, from Egypt to South Africa, seems to be sitting on its hands. Perhaps the lack of concern and action is because the victims of the disaster don't belong to their tribe or clan.

On July 18, 2017, Wichit Chantanusornsiri wrote an article in the Bangkok Post, "GLO probes lottery win ticket saga". Nothing has appeared relating to this article since. Dealers supplied 30 pairs of tickets to a 75-year-old man who won a record 180 million baht. The whole episode has a fishy smell.

Just wondering,

Re: "Copy S Korean buses", (PostBag, August 19).

The writer explained how clean, convenient and efficient the bus system in South Korea is and Thailand should emulate it.

I think it is too futuristic for Thailand to achieve that. We can't even clear taxis, passenger vans, or food carts from bus stops, forcing commuters to get on or off buses in the middle of the street. Commuters don't even have the luxury of embarking or disembarking from completely stopped buses!

Nonetheless, there is infinitesimal hope that one day Thailand may achieve what South Korea has today; until then, Koreans may have already travelled by teleportation.

Thailand will achieve the same bus system South Korea has when pigs fly, or in Thai culture, when fish drown.

What a difference a year makes!

In less than that, Trump has achieved what science fiction writers have only dreamed of; he has taken the USA back in time, a whole generation.

Compare his rhetoric supporting white supremacists by equally blaming anti-Nazi demonstrators to Obama's quote of Mandela that "no one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin or his background or religion..."

One might say the contrast is black and white. Meanwhile the Republican and evangelical "leaders" have been shamefully mute. They should remember that "the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing".