OPINION

Water folly

Agriculture Minister Chatchai Sarikulya (as reported by local media) will propose a ban on farmers growing a second rice crop this year.

Maybe I missed something like a new constitution being endorsed, but would it not require Section 44 to implement such a ban?

What poor planning and poor judgement on the part of those responsible that it has come to prohibiting farmers from growing food!

Michael Setter

Re: “Chang beer headache”, Postbag, Sept 12.

As well as reducing the size of the bottle, the fine print on the Chang label also reveals the brewery has reduced the alcohol content from 6% to 5.5%. More of a headache for Nigel Pike? Or less?

Jon Anders

Re: “Officials told to repay student loans” (BP, Sept 13).

Every so often a story comes up in the Bangkok Post that repeats itself. Such a story is “Officials told to repay student loans”. I’ve counted the same story numerous times over the years, and treat it like everyone else, with a big ho-hum.

In the 1970s and 1980s in New York City, many of us took out tax-free student loans to finance our education. After a five-year grace period, those who neglected to repay were simply told, “Your names and degrees will be expunged from university records, rendering your degrees useless pieces of paper, and there will be no record of your having ever attended the university in question”.

You can bet this was quite effective. The federal government was repaid within the first year by 99% of its borrowers. The remaining 1% were deceased.

Jack Gilead

Dear Prime Minister and NCPO leader, Prayut Chan-o-cha. Please sir, quit acting like a general, and start acting like a prime minister.

The people of Thailand are striving for reconciliation and democracy, which in both cases includes freedom of speech. Attitude adjustment will not accomplish this goal.

It looks like it will be another one to two years before elections can be held, which means you, sir, will be the prime minister for this period. I hope you will succeed in accomplishing what the people want, so please be a prime minister, and not a general.

Farang Observer

In the Chinese English language paper, The People’s Daily, a story, “China will never accept Dalai Lama’s ‘middle way’,” says China refuses autonomy for Tibet because it would cause it to be a state within a state.

Given the way the Thai government is kow-towing and deferring to Beijing’s every “request”, one can only expect that one day Thailand will be in the same position as Tibet.

Imagine Mao portraits replacing those of Thailand’s beloved King, and the Thai language being a second language to the mandatory Chinese!

Think it could never happen? No one cared about Tibet’s incorporation into the Chinese empire, and fewer will even be concerned about Thailand. Don‘t believe me? Wait and watch. It’ll come in your kid’s or grandkids' lifetimes.

David James Wong

Re: “Police have no role directing crime drama” (BP, Sept 13).

The sub-headline on this story, “Public re-enactments may give officers a PR boost, but they also rob suspects of any presumption of innocence and hinder their chance of a fair trial”, is as plain as the nose on your face.

Jocelyn Gecker’s thoughtful article reflects the sentiments of many letters to PostBag over the years, including my own.

But the police will continue to stage these ridiculous pantomimes as long as they are aided and abetted by a willing media eager to serve up a daily dose of sensation for their readers.

No media coverage equals the end of re-enactments; it’s as simple as that. Could the Bangkok Post take a leadership role in the Thai media by declaring that it will no longer cover these events?

David BrownRayong