OPINION

Steady Prayut hand

Re: "Royal transition explains military's grip", (Opinion, Oct 13).

Thitinan Pongsudhirak's account of the 2014 coup, produced by the then-looming royal transition and the utter selfishness of the Yingluck administration, is indeed first class. All of the armchair predictions about political and social chaos in the kingdom following the late King's death have proved groundless, largely thanks to the sure hand of Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha.

While military coups inevitably have their downside -- power, once tasted, is difficult to abandon and corruption exists universally -- the history books will likely be even-handed to the current prime minister. He has achieved what most commentators had thought impossible, namely to steer Thailand through its most difficult political era since the end of the absolute monarchy in 1932.

Upon learning the National Legislative Assembly is amending the Firearms Act to ban foreigners from owning and using guns (BP, Oct 13), I wonder if the new constitution will be amended to commensurately exempt foreigners from equal protection under the law.

Thai gun ownership is one of the world's highest. There are already endless assaults upon foreigners, some involving violence in varying degrees, many examples of institutionalised discrimination and an established climate of xenophobia in Thailand, why not amend the constitution to reflect the facts as they are?

Katoey are people of the third sex; let's simplify things and call foreigners people of the second class.

The planned arms control measure which targets foreigners will not help prevent gun crime in Thailand. A number of Thais possess various types of guns without a licence and so many of them are from illegal origin. The authorities should keep a close watch on local people, not foreigners.

Perhaps brevity explains the questionable logic that Khun Kalabutr Komenkul employed in his Oct 8 letter, "A taxing concern", in which he claimed that VAT is a proportional, or flat-rate tax. Whilst this is true regarding the incidence of the tax (ie on whom it is levied), its impact is highly regressive in nature, as those on lower incomes tend to spend all of their income and, therefore, the tax accounts for a much higher percentage of their total income -- the classic definition of a regressive tax! People on higher incomes save a significant percentage of their income and so can avoid the impact of the expenditure tax more easily.

Furthermore, to argue that the resultant fall in aggregate consumption, following the price increases caused by the rise in VAT rates, will be compensated for by increased pre-tax consumption is a little far-fetched, unless people have large amounts of income and can afford to buy considerable quantities of goods that they will eventually consume over the course of the higher tax period.

The poor are unlikely to have the means to be able to afford such expenditure in advance of the tax increase, thereby exacerbating the regressive impact of the VAT increase.

Re: "Myanmar army chief denies mass exodus of Rohingya", (Online, Oct 13).

Here is another one living in La La Land, and that's not Lost Angeles. Perhaps he thinks the UN and the other nations of the world are making it all up. Perhaps the refugee camps in neighbouring Bangladesh are really figments of imagination, the same as the Germany's early denial of the death camps. How can such an army chief be a military leader if he lives in such a myopic world of self-denial? It is truly amazing. Perhaps this self indulgent general should leave his lavish villa, servants, maids, and perhaps some slaves as well, and go to Rakhine state to see for himself.

After reading "Rohingya villagers 'burnt to death inside their houses'", I find no difference between the Myanmar military and those Nazis in Germany during World War II. The free world cared little at that time, and did nothing to stop it.

The world today ignores Myanmar atrocities the same way. History has a way of repeating itself with the so-called democracies and free nations being once again indifferent as long as they are not affected. I suppose Myanmar apologists are sitting at a computer at this moment, penning a justification.

Anti-coal advocates ignore close similarities between "free" education and "clean" energy: both are fictional. Both have costs. Both require financial offsets, supplemental funding, higher taxes, more regulations, etc. John and Jane Doe pay more. And keep paying more and more. Costs always climb because there is more demand than there is supply -- demand for money versus decreasing income set upon by the demand.

Environmentalists and liberal bureaucrats wisely ignore this and even conceal facts, figures and consequences from being known to the general public, or otherwise "massage" them to fit their globalisation/personal interests agenda.

Altruistic reality is not reality. It's fine to have principles and a game plan, but when they result in more overall negative impact than positive, they need to be rejected and fought.

Re: "Beach smokers face big fines, jail time", (BP, Oct 11).

Congratulations to the Thai authorities in recognising that cigarette smoking needs to be banned on the most popular beaches in the kingdom and the subsequent sand disposal of the butts. It is a step in the right direction as the more knowledgeable of our society know the huge ramifications of this scourge.

I praise the authorities on their tough stance on drone users (BP, Oct 12). This is the best enforcement and regulation of drone users I have seen.

Irresponsible users can potentially cause thousands of dollars damage to aircraft and even loss of life. Not to mention the invasion of privacy, noise, etc. The problem is getting worse each day, compromising aviation safety at all major airports.

Nowadays, many Western countries face the dilemma of supporting secession demands by separatist groups under the so-called democratic process or condemning it as an act of treason.

A few decades ago, separatists were branded as terrorists as they had to pick up weapons to fight. But these days separatists can call for a referendum under the umbrella of democracy and the banner of human rights to achieve their goal.

A Western friend told me that he would have supported the Spanish government had they not tried to break up the Catalonia referendum violently. I stopped short of asking him how the Spanish police should have acted instead to block people from voting?

If Catalonia is successful in gaining independence, it will trigger a lists of other separatist movements that are waiting on the sidelines. It could be Venice and Lombardy in Italy, or Flanders and Wallonia in Belgium. The UK, the foremost advocate of democracy and human rights, may have to eat her own fruit. The Union Jack in front of Westminster may one day be replaced by the cross of St George. However, the British may not find the fruit bitter, as everything is bright and beautiful under democracy.

If fantasy turns to reality, the Gauls may form a nation in Western Europe with Asterix as president.

It was a heart-lifting dream. But the man's face was not quite clear. It was likely John or perhaps Rex, but certainly not Mike! He walked with the gait of a person with a single purpose in mind. He exuded confidence and competence as he strode straight to the door of the oval office. He did not knock but walked right in. He pointed a finger at Donald Trump and said, "Enough is enough. You're fired."

But how disappointing to wake in the morning to the ongoing third-rate reality show and those daily pathetic tweets. Don't give up yet folks, dreams can come true!

I would like to air my concern about a change of regulations for a visit to the famous Ti Lo Su waterfalls which now prohibits private vehicles to access the site. The only way to get there now is on one of the local 4x4 songtaew which form a cartel-type monopoly among the local transporters.

This of course means that those with 4x4s and camping gear, I am one of them, cannot in all practicality go to the campsite as it would involve trans-loading all the gear to an inferior 4x4 vehicle and leaving the vehicle parked in town. Apparently, you can leave them at the police station or your hotel, but the cost is unclear.

The official reason I have been given for this change is policy is: "The Tak governor wants the people to have income." The cost of a vehicle to do the 23km to the campsite is 2,000 to 2,500 baht.

I visited the attraction around Christmas/New Year in 2014/15. I have a fully equipped 4x4 vehicle with camping equipment and camp kitchen.

Due to the new regulations, I cancelled my trip this year.

While the governor out of goodwill to local people put in place the regulations, it turns out that the ban has a negative effect on the local economy.

For example last year we cancelled the convoy. This year I've also cancelled my visit to the area. This would have involved my vehicle and about four other 4x4s -- each with 2 to 3 passengers -- resulting in the loss of about six room rentals for two days to the local resorts in Umphang and a loss of park fees, vehicle fees and camping fees to the local park.

It is certain that many will no longer visit. The hotels and resorts I've spoken to are very concerned by the reduction in trade brought about by this ban.

I keep reading about Thailand wishing to be a centre of excellence and a tourist hub for medical care. I am an expat of seven years and need some life saving surgery. I do not mind paying the farang premium. The only problem are the machine parts being held up by Thai customs. This is a very specialised bit of kit. I think it is time for Thailand to get its act together. This would benefit me and subsidise an ailing health system.

I would like to bring attention to a particularly barbaric atrocity being committed against dogs. The Hunter Holmes McGuire VA Medical Centre in America is giving heart attacks to dogs as young as six months. The intention is to cause the dogs maximum pain while denying them any pain relief.

While animal rights activists are often accused of exaggerating, let me assure the readers the cruelty of animal experimenters far exceed my imagination. Please Google: "Stop Horrific 'Maximum-Pain' Experiments on Puppies, Force Change" and then sign the petition.

In his Oct 9 letter, Peter Fairless made a very good point about the growing world population being a main cause of unemployment. Hoping to educate myself I made a quick search as to which countries were leading this explosion and found that Niger and Mali topped the list with several more African countries in close pursuit. There were five non-African countries in the top 40 and most were countries linked with the horrors of war, famine and disease.

Today, I read an article in an English newspaper that clarifies the woeful efforts being made in certain countries regarding the education of young women and found the exact same countries listed as the worst offenders. It would seem that the world's rising population is almost certainly related to the education and work opportunities of women. Interestingly, Thailand was in close company with Norway and Sweden in the population growth tables so it doesn't appear to be a main contributor to the world's rising numbers. Perhaps Thailand's education system, despite not being particularly good, is at least giving girls the same education as boys.