OPINION

Stupidity personified

Re: "Red Bull heir confronted, refuses to talk", (Online, April 6).

Why have the police or Immigration Bureau people let him leave Thailand again? This is the same Thaksin song and dance routine all over again.

People are detained here for lesser matters and jailed for trivia, such as those old folks arrested for poaching logs in a national park when they were out picking mushrooms.

There aren't enough eggs for one's face left in Thailand anymore. Unlike mushrooms, stupidity, like money, does not grow on trees. It appears to be individually inspired. Soon it might even be an export product.

Governments throughout the world are well advised to address inequalities and injustice and listen to the views of ordinary citizens. History is replete with revolutions and revolt when ruling authorities failed to adhere to this advice.

Breaking points inevitably occur when the rich and powerful chronically circumvent justice in light of obvious crimes; when the weak and powerless are inequitably prosecuted; and when the will of the people is ignored (for example, wasteful government expenditures that benefit only a tiny segment of society).

The Spanish philosopher, George Santayana, famously noted that, "Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it." Indeed, wise leadership learns from historical inequality and what most frequently results from it.

Re: "Back to the blackboard", (PostBag, April 5).

We learn from experiences, observation and people (friends, family, foes, acquaintances, strangers) other than trained teachers.

With respect to language learning, retirees offer opportunities for communication practice, something that our classrooms rarely offer due to class sizes, time constraints, exam fears and teaching methods. These opportunities would help students to reinforce what they have studied, develop communication strategies and build confidence.

It's interaction and communication. A degree/certificate/diploma isn't required.

Most retirees are not asking to take over schools and universities. They would like the opportunity to (within the law) help people improve in a country they care about.

Thailand would benefit from these resources who are offering assistance in increasing language proficiency.

Over the years I have learned to live with many of the issues that face a foreigner in any country.

Considering cultural, historical and language issues, I have learned not to let many small things annoy me as they did when I originally came here over a decade ago.

But the one thing that still bothers me is the Thai to English issue. There is nothing as frustrating as going to a website and clicking on English and finding that either none, or only parts, of the screen change to the selected language.

Spending time filling out a form, getting to a box marked "required", clicking on the arrow, and finding all choices are only in Thai seems to be a waste of time.

Of course, this then entails a phone call to the company involved where I must listen to a broad selection of Thai-language instructions before they finally say, "For English press XX!"

Why that isn't at the beginning is beyond me.

I love the kingdom and have learned enough Thai to get around but will never be proficient in daily conversation and would only suggest that a little more time taken to correct these minor issues would be beneficial to all parties involved.

postbag@bangkokpost.co.th