OPINION

Anzac Day success

I would like to express my gratitude to the various volunteer, government, veteran and corporate organisations that contributed to a hugely successful and well-run event to commemorate Anzac Day 2017 at Kanchanaburi War Cemetery.

On such an important occasion it was fantastic to see a big turnout of people attend the service at Kanchanaburi War Cemetery.

Special mention to the volunteers who ran the first aid and distributed the water to the guests -- great job guys and gals.

Also, a top effort from the servicemen and women who performed various ceremonial duties at both Hellfire Pass and Kanchanaburi War Cemetery. The lads from Butterworth, 7th Battalion Royal Australian Regiment, did their unit proud.

Thanks to the team from Fraser's Sports Pub (Pattaya) who put on the sausage sizzle for free -- a huge effort! Perfect food for the beers!

Congrats to the team that organised the refreshments, with proceeds going to several worthy veteran charities, including The Long Ride Home and Fallen Heroes.

Look forward to next year

If Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha would really like to see the "Singapore effect" take hold in Thailand perhaps he would do well to consider why they put up with a stifled press and behave like model citizens.

With a terrific education system, good employment opportunities, an average wage of S$5,000 a month, cheap public transport and a police/judicial system that provides real law and order it just could be that they don't have the need for a press to reveal the deficiencies of their government. He may also notice that they have never had a military coup overthrow their elected leaders.

As a frequently rejected taxi user, I would like to raise the issue of no filling stations in downtown Bangkok causing taxis to turn down users.

I would like to understand the reason for this scarcity of filling stations.

It seems easy enough to make these available in the PTT or Bangchak stations that have methanol fuel.

In a city where there are so many taxis needing passengers, this is, indeed, impractical.

As an expat I try to follow American sports as best I can which, believe me, isn't easy here. So, when I noticed that an NBA Conference semi-final game was on Sports Illustrated I turned to that channel only to find a rerun of a game played on April 19. Of course, it was sandwiched between a half dozen channels broadcasting the snooker world championships and assorted soccer and tennis reruns from days and weeks ago.

It was also just after reading, on the internet, about the amazing 53-point performance of Isaiah Thomas in game 2! Of the Eastern Conference Semi-finals. While this is par for the course around here it seems even more annoying as many of us have just received notice of a 7% increase in fees for the wonderful, spectacular, innovative, state-of-the-art 170 channel lineup that True works so hard to produce -- not!

Re: "Mushroom couple get five years", (BP, May 3).

This court sentence reminds me a case in the 60s about a blind man who was accused of a crime that he obviously could not have committed because he was blind. The judge asked him for a certificate but when it was delivered, the judge did not accept it because an official stamp was missing. The blind man was subsequently sentenced for the crime.

Sixty years later something similar has taken place. It appears those in the judicial system belong to this antiquated school where it matters more that the law is applied by the letter, than bringing real human justice to the courts.

One hears that Thailand's education does not teach people to think outside the box. It's worse than that. Thailand's education prevents students from thinking outside the box. As long as education in Thailand is confined to teaching by rote without critical evaluation, no significant progress can be achieved.

Re: "Ministry mulls Boss passport bid", (BP, May 3).

There is no room and time for consideration. Do it now. Have the Foreign Ministry officials been drinking free Red Bulls?

postbag@bangkokpost.co.th