Re:''The problem with elephants'' (BP, April 15).
Many of the issues concerning elephants in Kaeng Krachan National Park that were in the April 15 editorial are true.
The Bangkok Post should be commended for printing these truths.
But despite these problems in Kaeng Krachan, the park chief continues to stay on in his job.
He should have been moved out a long time ago, much like another national park chief who built restaurants, a bridge and a tourist spa on one of the islands across from the park headquarters.
That chief had political connections, but his actions finally caught up to him.
The most hilarious thing was when some 80 .22 rifles were recently rounded up to check for ballistics.
What nonsense!
Who in their right mind would go after an elephant with a .22 rifle?
These giants cannot be brought down with such a small gun. It just boggles the mind what is going on in the park.
The government should put someone with wildlife experience in charge of protecting Kaeng Krachan, Thailand's largest national park which used to have tigers. Now the tigers are gone, according to recent surveys done by a foreign NGO and researchers.
NATURE LOVER
Make terminal accessible
Re: ''Ministry plans to relocate Mor Chit bus terminal'' (BP, April 9).
The ministry's plan to relocate the bus terminal ''near'' an electric train route isn't good enough.
Mor Chit is ''near'' a BTS station, but not close enough for BTS passengers to reach on foot. As a result, the road in front of Mor Chit terminal is usually clogged with taxis, especially during the holidays. The taxis fill all the lanes and block traffic as they try to turn left into the terminal. In addition, they park at the makeshift restaurants along the road, blocking the outside lane.
The Transport Ministry needs to consider the average bus traveller when deciding the location and design of the new terminal.
VERNEITA BOONLOM
Obama born in US
Re: ''Harshing on Obama'' (PostBag, April 13).
Ohpchoi averred that US President Barack Obama was born in Indonesia. This is untrue. The president released his long-form birth certificate last year, proving that he was born in the United States.
LAURA TRAIRATNOBHAS
Samut Prakan
Enough taxi thuggery
I'd like to bring attention to the upcoming war between the local Phuket taxi thugs and a proposed sensible bus service to help the tourists _ the ones who allow most of the island's residents to survive. What nobody in the outside world can understand is why the government lets this situation continue.
How many complaints do they need to get over a group of taxi drivers who are clearly harming Thailand's reputation and tourism industry before they get rid of them? They should be taken off the streets.
It is bad enough that Phuket business owners in general seem to think they have the right to inflate prices, but to also allow these criminals to physically attack, threaten, extort and constantly abuse people is absurd. The harassment begins the moment you leave the airport baggage terminal hall.
The prime minister is constantly on about getting more high-end tourists, but what does she offer them other than Siam Paragon, brief business stopovers and mafia operations? Greed, corruption and a lack of planning has turned this former international exotic hideaway into an overpriced polluted mess, run by a bunch of lunatics.
PERRY
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