The anti-lockdown people are really getting desperate in airing their concerns. It is not clear how, why, or if Covid-19 cases are higher in Democrat than Republican states.
Sweden is in the top 24 list of deaths per capita in the world and has many, many more than its neighbours, Finland and Norway. Taiwan undertook early and effective precautions, as did South Korea. Even so, South Korea is still dealing with a second wave. Both countries adopted masks (after the experience of Sars) right across the country, which appears to contradict many anti-lockdown people who say there is no evidence that masks make a difference.
I appreciate that it must be hell to live in a mask in a lockdown that you don't believe in, but the alternative is a risk most people do not want to take for the sake of at-risk, vulnerable populations, such as the elderly.
Watson
Ease restrictions
I would like to give some suggestions to our government about the situation at the Thai-Malaysian border and other border points in our country too.
After one year of closed border crossings from Narathiwat to Malaysia, people on both sides of the border have suffered tremendously and I do not know how much more they can endures. It would be helpful if the government could agree with Malaysia to create a way of selecting people who are Covid-19 free to travel to and from Thailand and Malaysia. They should be those who have undergone necessary health procedures.
We can start by issuing permits to selected people first which we could later expand if this is seen to be beneficial. There are businessmen, traders and people with have families on both sides of the border who are suffering.
It would be a real blessing to local economies when we start to see tourists start to come and hotels reopened.
Mahamas Kromas
SRT on wrong track
I read with interest that Hua Lamphong train station will be closed (BP, Jan 31). Commuters from the western suburbs and on the route to Makkasan would be affected. SRT management offers to ease the situation by introducing bus services (think traffic jams, think PM2.5). I thought cities across the world were trying to coax commuters off roads and onto rail. In Bangkok obviously the opposite is taking place. I am not a public transport expert but the SRT action seems counterintuitive.
Karl Reichstetter
What's in a name?
Re: "Plea for Hua Lamphong", (BP, Jan 31). My ancient eyes boggled as they lit on the reference to Bang Sue Grand Station. The State Railway of Thailand is undoubtedly unaware of the meaning that "Bang Sue" has in American English slang.
"Bang" is an American variant of the F-word. "Sue" is a common shortening for females named Susan. If you say, "I'm going to Bang Sue," it will evoke smiles on the faces of dirty-minded Americans (and there are many of us).
But there is a solution. In English, the nickname "Sue" is pronounced "soo" (rhymes with "zoo"). My command of the Thai language is woefully imperfect, but I'm under the impression that the Thai word is pronounced, roughly, "sir", and the sound is normally romanised as "seu".
If so, it would be easy to change the English spelling of the district and its forthcoming Grand Station from "Bang Sue" to the more phonetically accurate "Bang Seu".
Yours for greater precision in language.
Ye Olde Pedant
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