Re: ''Abbot's bid to claim school plot draws fire'' (BP, March 15). This is yet another example of one man's greed. In this case, it is the abbot of Wat Srieam in question.
There is no reason why the temple and the school cannot continue to co-exist as they have in the past. There is also no written law as far as I can discover, that a temple must have 6 rai of land, as the abbot claims.
There are many tiny, one-room temples scattered throughout the Kingdom that are run by a few monks on tiny plots of land, and both the monks and villagers are happy and all get along.
It is only when greed and power rears its ugly head that people become dissatisfied and become ugly themselves. The temples then become gaudy, glitzy show places for tourists, while the locals shun them, and the abbots become richer and richer.
GLITZY MANGO
Campus in crisis
Re: ''2000 rally against uni relocation plan'' (BP, March 16). While I applaud the students of Rajamangala University of Technology Tawan-ok for both publicly and peacefully airing their grievances with the Chulalongkorn University (CU) plan for redevelopment of the Uthenthawai campus, I am less than impressed with their logic and their conclusion that CU, which leased the land in 1935, is at fault when the contract expired in 2003.
Student leader Likit Jitprawat seems to think that just because their school is there, CU ceded ownership. Consult a lawyer, Khun Likit - unless CU sold it, they still own it.
Khun Likit and his fellow demonstrators need to look to the administrators of their own school who, it would seem, have not been considering the future since the lease ended in 2003.
BRIAN QUINBY
Losing faith
Re: ''Monkhood ripe for reform'' (BP, March 15). Over time our society has allowed monks and priests to become the brokers of spirituality and salvation.
The Holy See, the Holy City, the Holy Tree, the Holy Mountain, the Holy Cow and the Holy Ganges are nothing but false perceptions of spirituality spread by monks and priests for their own advantage.
There are five pillars to a religion: belief in a god; reverence for the founders of the religion; the scriptures or holy books; places of worship and pilgrimage; and use of prayers and rituals.
Due to the free rein, uncontrolled patronage and greed of monks and priests, all five components of a religion have turned into commodities. In this new century, it is the priests and monks who are responsible for corrupting religions.
And, due to their dominant role in society, it is taboo to talk about their crimes. In this context, Thailand can learn something from America where large numbers of Catholic priests have been prosecuted for their wrongdoings.
Buddhist faith is more than the temples, monks and fancy rituals. Thais should be educated to understand the true teachings of Buddha, that we can be a devout human being and our affairs can be best governed here on earth without intrusion or guidance from any monk.
Building faith is not like boiling eggs: it is hard work that requires both introspection and enlightened reasoning.
Just like any Thai citizen, if monks are found corrupt, they should be held accountable. They should be ousted from their wats, stripped of their robes and credentials and persecuted for their crimes.
KULDEEP NAGI
Neighbours from hell
Much has been written in PostBag about noise pollution - whistle-blowing security guards, pickups heralding politicians running for office or advertising products or events.
My problem with noise seems to be that I suffer from noisy neighbours in every apartment I have ever lived in here, and most of them are the landlords or managers.
I don't understand how two or more people can stand within one or two feet of each other and have to yell to carry on a conversation.
FARANG OBSERVER
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