OPINION

Trillions to Beijing

The Chinese-Thai rail project is wrong for several reasons.

To begin with, it's not really needed. Secondly, even its proponents admit it will probably be a money-loser. Third, it will cost more than the 170-billion-baht estimate, as all big-ticket municipal items in Thailand always cost more in the long run.

Thailand will be committed to paying Chinese banks mega-amounts of money for something akin to the giant concrete monuments leading out to Don Mueang airport. The self-appointed military men needed to take over government a few years ago, to lessen political demonstrations, but they should have started, on day one, to steer Thailand toward new elections. That could have taken six to 10 months. Instead, they've put themselves in power semi-permanently and are making big decisions for Thailand's future for the next 60 years. They're committing future Thai generations to sending a trillion baht to China to pay for military hardware and fancy infrastructure that's not really needed.

Thailand needs elected leaders to steer towards its future -- not self-appointed military men who primarily care about using taxpayer money to buy expensive military items (and speedy trains of questionable quality) from China.

RH Suga's June 26 letter on buildings meeting fire standards may have been well-intentioned, but his suggestion that fire departments must make sure interior furnishings have been done with non-flammable or slow-burning materials is, for obvious reasons, ludicrous.

Can you imagine local fire brigades checking on every house and every room in every building to ensure the chairs, curtains, bedding etc meets these requirements? If ever there was a plan for collecting "tea money" this would be a winner! The answer, of course, is to ensure that materials for interiors of homes that do not meet fire-resistant requirements are not sold in the first place.

Re: "Sugar fixed", (Life, June 26).

While I think it's great to use tax pressure to get companies to put less sugar in their beverages, it is crazy to imply that sugar is the real cause of all these dietary-related health problems.

Dr Dean Ornish who became famous for reversing heart disease in his patients by putting them on a low-fat, vegetarian diet has argued that the link between sugar and heart disease is "weak". (Which doesn't mean sugar can't be linked to other health problems.)

But before anyone says this is just another pro-vegetarian letter, let me emphasise that we also need to reduce our consumption of fried foods, vegetable oil and what is perhaps the greatest culprit of them all, trans-fats. But for Thai health officials to focus on just one food source while ignoring the overall human diet is irresponsible and counter-productive.

I nominate Norman Sr and his June 28 letter, "Be wary of Chinese", for the letter of the year award. Unfortunately for us all, there are more fools than wise men running the country, so Khun Norman's letter, while perhaps read, will not be heeded. People hear, but they unfortunately never learned to listen.

Re: "Police position-buying graft probe delayed", (BP, June 27).

Now, why am I not surprised? To paraphrase a great general, "Old issues never die, they just fade away".

Trafficking has become the most obvious example of an international issue spread by American hysteria. Every TIP report is a promotional piece for America's War on Prostitution. TIP reports routinely demand that other countries find victims and that they prosecute someone. Victims and traffickers are not being found in large numbers, as is expected, because America does not understand this issue except in the mirror of their own prudish sex culture.

Thailand is buying into this American hysteria. But Thailand could be a leader in decriminalising sex work. Prostitution is de facto decriminalised now. Like Holland, Germany, Las Vegas and other places, Thailand could be a place where tourism of all kinds flourishes even with known, legal sex work. If sex work is a big part of Thai GDP and sex worker reparations to rural areas are as important as they seem to be, any other path would be foolish for Thailand.

postbag@bangkokpost.co.th