Emulate his example

My congratulations on your excellent coverage regarding the passing of His Majesty, the most beloved and revered King of Thailand on Oct 13. His Majesty was indeed the heart and soul of this beautiful nation and he will be greatly missed.

But reactions and condolences from all around the world also remind us how much he was held in high esteem everywhere on our planet. As an American, I also quietly cherish the fact that through pure serendipity, he happened to be born in the US.

We can all best remember him by trying to emulate his fine example.

Most sincerely, and with my own profound condolences to the entire Thai nation.

Liam J Humphreys
Day of great sadness

Oct 13 was indeed a day of great sadness. But while His Majesty has left us, he remains within us in spirit. For 70 years, HM lifted the hearts of all who enjoyed the privilege of living under HM's leadership. But King Bhumibol's legacy lives on to enrich Thailand and the world and for that we must be thankful.

There have been but few great leaders throughout history but His Majesty King Bhumibol of Thailand ranks among the highest few.

Thank you, Your Majesty.

J C Wilcox
HM as a guiding light

Let's hope His Majesty's legacy remains a guiding light for all of us Thais -- to make our country as peaceful and prosperous as it has been for the most part of its eight-century long history!

Vint Chavala
A King to be revered

As a Canadian who visited Thailand every year for 10 years it became my second home.

I loved the King with all his subjects and was filled with sorrow to read of his passing.

My deepest respects to the Royal Family and certainly to all the people of Thailand in this time of great sadness.

God save the King.

Tim Devlin
Love for a great land

Thailand is a second home for many like my wife and I, and we thought very highly of your King who did so much for the Thai people and Thailand. He, as well as Her Majesty, was a great example of the very good in the Land of Smiles.

Let's hope Thailand can still be the great land we all love and follow the King's fine foundations and the path he set.

A wonderful man and his life will be remembered.

StuartAustralia
Mourning his passing

I am so sorry to learn of your King's death. I had the great honour of seeing him several times when I was in Thailand. He was a great and giving leader who devoted his life to the betterment of the Thai people. He always conducted himself in a manner that represented the best of Thailand, Thailand's culture and Thailand's wonderful people.

Rest in peace, King Bhumibol. Yours was a life well lived. We all mourn your passing.

Phil PearceDallas
GOP needs to change

Re: "Can the US be winner in this election", (Opinion, Oct 13).

Thomas Friedman always brings a fresh perspective to American politics. It seems like in this election, Americans will be able to reset the House and the Senate and force GOP to reform. Although TV debates in America can help the commercial channels to remain relevant and profitable, in this election cycle the "showbiz politics" in America has degenerated to the lowest common denominator.

Thanks to Mr Trump and TV channels such as Fox News, American politics is losing its sheen. Many other right-wing ultra-nationalist fringe groups have taken over the GOP which may lead to violence.

Mr Friedman and people like him who represent the fourth estate are the ones who can best explain the US to rest of the world and demonstrate the power of the press in a democracy. No matter how smart or stupid US politicians may behave, they will have to face the issues, the media and the people. In other words, they will have to mobilise their supporters to go to the polls and get hired as the president of the United States.

I wish after the elections are over on Nov 8, the GOP will move away from partisan politics and undergo major reforms. The GOP can now see the writing on the wall and should realise that if they do not undergo drastic changes, they will become irrelevant.

KULDEEP NAGI
Migrant worker blues

Re: "Bid to cut migrant workforce", (BP, Oct 13).

This is a big and difficult problem for Thailand's industries. Migrant workers are a much sought-after source of labour because they are hard-working and receive lower wages, compared to Thais.

A drastic improvement in the working morale of Thais, a review of the wage system and labour laws could enable Thai labourers to better adjust themselves.

RH SUGA
Systems of democracy

Peter Fairless in his Oct 12 letter, "It's all Greek to me", noted that, "The word democracy is interpreted in many different ways all over the world," and concluded with, "So, is democracy always fair? I guess not; it just depends on how you see it."

It is factually correct that democracy is interpreted, but more importantly, practised in a multitude of ways around the world, which is why constant references to the return of democracy in our country are meaningless without explaining the form and design that it should take. Democracy is a practical problem. The examples that Peter gave of the US, the UK and the Philippines were really a comment on the outcomes of the system of democracy practised in each of those countries.

In each case, the current version of democracy has produced a deeply unhappy part of the population which feels government is disconnected from them and no longer represents them or deals with the real issues facing them.

Donald Trump, Brexit and President Duterte are the backlash consequences. That is not a failure of democracy as an idea but rather shows the need to update the design and practice of democracy and government to make it more representative of the people it is supposed to serve.

The question is not "is democracy fair" but is it properly representative of the needs of the country and its people? As Thailand continues its search for a design and practice of democracy that works for us we should look to other countries to see what works and why, but also what does not.

How can we avoid the undesirable result of deep dissatisfaction manifesting in the US, the UK and the Philippines? Judge our (and their) design on the effectiveness of the outcomes not some theoretical (Utopian) notion of democracy which in fact does not exist anywhere.

P JacksonChon Buri
Not-so-free reporting

Do you think the world's mass media are free, independent and fair? Look at the US where the power of females and their private parts now are used to take Donald Trump down and WikiLeaks tries to nail Hillary by leaking her emails. I watched CNN the last hour and saw some very biased coverage, Mr Trump seems to be done and Hillary's emails were swept away and her talk to Wall Street seen as good.

I then go to the internet and see big influential media keen on going after Donald Trump but not keen on the leaks of Hillary's emails. If one-sided attacks happened over and over again it could be biased and even campaigning.

On the other side, The Atlantic, Washington Times, Daily Mail and other lesser influential media outlets show more interest in Hillary's emails than the sexual issues. But the big question is, are both the apparent sexual assaults and the mishandled sensible emails issues of the same importance?

ABC News, the Washington Post and NPR are the only ones which cover both stories but were slow on one or both issues. During the day, all media outlets would have both stories and it then will be more difficult to extract anything without going deeper into the coverage. What would have been important to know, who are behind the most influential media players, what do they want, and what and whose interests do they serve?

A Johnsen
Media power players

A quick look at who controls the media in 2016 shows that 90% of all US media is controlled by six very large corporations, General Electric, News Corps, Disney, Viacom, Time Warner and CBS. In the UK, Rupert Murdoch, Richard Desmond, Lord Rothermere and the Barclay brothers dominate the newspapers.

The Murdoch empire is said to control over 800 media outlets in several continents and has made Mr Murdoch a party guest at most high society functions in both the UK and the US.

The very idea that these massive corporations are in some way contributing to a Marxist takeover and 21st century communism is so laughable its worthy of a Disney cartoon. Just where JC Wilcox in his Sept 30 letter, "Where the news goes," gets his information is worrisome but I'm quite sure that the above list does not vote socialist let alone communist and that while their ideals may be for a controlled world they are also for one controlled by huge corporations that pay very little tax, run on oil and gas and in which trade deals allow for the acquisition of even more wealth by the 0.1%.

Lungstib
Cringe-worthy letters

JC Wilcox in his Oct 8 letter, "Right on Syria," has claimed that mass murderers Vladimir Putin of Russia and Bashar al-Assad of Syria are really nice people who are only targeting Islamic State terrorists. That defies the reports of virtually every reputable news organisation and human rights group in the world.

He also slandered the brave 14 Thai student dissidents who were thrown in jail last year by claiming they were paid off by Thaksin Shinawatra. The fact was one of those students had previously marched with the PDRC.

Even more disgusting is his unabashed support for Donald Trump who no decent human being can any longer vote for. Even worse, while Mr Wilcox pretends to care about animal rights, if Mr Trump gets elected he will destroy everything we in the animal rights movement have achieved in the last 30 years.

Eric Bahrt
THAI can do better

I have been a regular traveller to Chiang Mai for more than 15 years, usually every six to eight weeks and always with THAI, until a few days ago when I decided to try out an Air Asia flight from Pattaya U-tapao airport to the northern city.

I was left very impressed. Not only is the airport easier to get to from Pattaya, but the cost of the flight was cheaper, but that's not the best thing about it.

In all the years I have flown from Bangkok to Chiang Mai with THAI only on one occasion did the flight leave and arrive on time. Imagine my surprise when the Air Asia flight left on time, but not only that, I was greeted with a smile at check-in, another smile on entering the plane and even more smiles when leaving the aircraft.

THAI, you could learn a lot from a budget airline as they will have my business from now on.

EBRIL
14 Oct 2016 14 Oct 2016
16 Oct 2016 16 Oct 2016

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