OPINION

Lessons to forget

Re: "Lessons from the United States", (Life, Nov 28).

I agree with Apipar Noorapoompipat's article 100%. I have been visiting Thailand since 1973, and in those 43 years I have seen many changes. The Thailand of the 1970s and 1980s was still Thailand. The Thailand of today is a mini Western-cultured Thailand.

Yes, Thailand, and all countries, should take lessons and learn from others in medical advances, technology, education and others things, but not hate, discrimination, or copy other's culture.

I am an American, and unfortunately my country has many citizens that judge people by the colour of their skin and other criteria. Please do not take that "lesson" from us.

Re: "YouTube star under fire after student prank", (BP, Nov 28).

I am not sure why Thais are making a big deal about students not being able to speak or understand English properly. It has been shown again and again that Thai students tend to be at the bottom when it comes to proficiency in the English language.

The majority of Thai educators working in the so-called international schools, colleges and universities also cannot write or speak in English properly. I have seen Thai professors sitting in PhD committees having difficulty articulating issues and having problems when it comes to expressing their thoughts in English. They reflect the void they have grown up with. Hence, in addition to having a Masters or PhD degree from a Thai university, all those involved in higher education should also be required to pass TOEFL or an equivalent test. How can students articulate their thoughts in English when professors themselves cannot speak English?

Instead of reacting, we need to accept the shortcomings of the Thai education system. Education reform in Thailand is an ongoing process being led by a "too big to fail monopoly" called the Ministry of Education. Language can only be learned when we are surrounded by its sights and sound at a very early stage. The only ways to improve English proficiency is by introducing it in kindergarten and primary schools and by increasing its wider use in popular media and society.

Re: "Something in the air", (PostBag, Nov 28).

Khun Nik is right when he complains about grass burning. The burning of the chaff in local rice fields is starting. In some areas, roads are dangerous and driving is next to impossible as thick, grey smoke swirls over the highways obscuring vision, with fires along the shoulders as well.

Yet this will continue, although it has been declared illegal. Years ago I sent a letter to the governor of Prachin Buri to mention that she was responsible under a government order to prevent burning. I never received a reply.

There is a wonderful proverb here: "If you do not acknowledge a problem, then it simply does not exist." So let the respiratory problems increase, let more people collide on the highways. Let Thailand continue its war of words blaming Malaysia for controlled burning that pollutes Thai air, and let the Malaysians complain to Thailand about the same thing. Nothing is ever accomplished, but it makes for flowery reading and fills newspaper columns. It's called, pass the buck.

There has been a lot of talk about fake news being disseminated on the internet, especially during the recent US election. It seems to me that one of the biggest purveyors of fake news is Donald Trump. For example, yesterday he tweeted that millions of Americans had voted illegally even though serious studies by political scientists and the Justice Department have shown that in previous elections voter fraud was negligible.

Unless sanity finally prevails, this man is soon to be the president of the US and God only knows what kind of nonsense he is going to tweet which we are going to have to take seriously because he is president of the United States. God help us all.