Thitinan Pongsudhirak's April 29 article "The passing of Banharn put in perspective" is an interesting read.
It explains the status quo and the vicious extension of the dead-end values of Thai politics exemplified by the late Banharn Silpa-archa.
Ostensibly, there is no end to the dark tunnel in Thai politics. One would rather shrink into oblivion than wash dirty linen in public.
It is time however to re-look and re-understand democracy which Abraham Lincoln defined as of, for and by the people.
In Thailand while people have been hoaxed into the promise of better politics and new aspirations at each and every election, no political party or leader has actually cared for the quality of the minds of the electorate.
Minds are not formed by pandering to emotions, or hearts. Minds need to be educated.
Education needs to be spread to the entire expanse of Thailand. The electorate needs to be made discerning of the options before it to choose from.
More education, and fewer falsehoods are needed.
Ultimately the mind of Thailand can and will address the type of democracy it can work with: Of, for and by realistic voters.
So, while political leaders strut and fret their stuff in the halls of parliament, perhaps through more and better education, democracy can become of the real, for the real and by the real electorate.
Glen Chatelier
Time to end violence
Rocked by the attack on the elderly Owen family from Britain, and the release of the harrowing video, the tourist industry and those with a firm sense of law and order are wondering how this could happen in Thailand.
But imagine you are a white woman of 32, (Kathryn Steinle, for example) walking in broad daylight with your dad and you are gunned down in cold blood on San Francisco's Embarcadero by an illegal immigrant who had been deported five times?
And the last thing you hear from your daughter as she falls to the pavement, is "Please help me, Daddy". Violence is everywhere, and when we can prevent it we should. America needs to rid itself of Sanctuary Cities, and Thailand needs more police on the beat in Hua Hin. My prayers are with the Owen family.
Theodore Carl Soderberg
Video leaker is a hero
The person who released the Hua Hin beating video clip should be rewarded and applauded as a national hero, not prosecuted. Hiding violence against tourists, (and Thais), is loathsome and shows the government is more interested in cover-ups than telling the truth and trying to deal with violence.
This government lacks the backbone to enforce individual and collective social and moral responsibility.
The lack of it is evident from drunken driving, murder, to beating up people who have looked at you, bumped into you, or offended you.
Blame it all on the bottle and it is all OK, isn't it?
Jack Gilead
Thailand is broken
Gen Prayut could learn a lot from a children's nursery rhyme. So general, I dedicate this Mother Goose rhyme to you.
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall;
All the king's horses and all the king's men,
Couldn't put Humpty together again.
Now, General, substitute Thailand for Humpty Dumpty and you'll get the picture. You should be trying to improve Thailand's image, because it has already been destroyed.
There was the shoddy bit of police work resulting in the conviction of two boys in the Koh Tao murder.
Now, by describing the beating of three British tourists as "a drunken brawl", the police show they have a poor attitude.
If you want to improve Thailand's image, start by improving the image of the Royal Thai Police Force, the Keystone Cops, the laughing stock of Southeast Asia.
David James Wong
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