Blessed in junta land
I cringe every morning when I turn the pages of the Bangkok Post and run into the daily government bashing mostly by foreign readers in PostBag.
Darius Hober in his Oct 19 letter, "A flood of nonsense", started by belittling "a junta with dictatorial powers" in connection with the floods in Bangkok, then linking the "dictatorial" government to Bangkok governor Aswin Kwanmuang.
The governor may be a retired police general, but he belonged to the Democrat Party team of MR Sukhumbhand Paribatra, and was made deputy governor after the Democrat reelection victory in Bangkok -- democratically. Most Bangkokians were not fond of MR Sukhumbhand to start with but they were more wary of Thaksin Shinawatra's Pheu Thai Party candidate taking over, so they (I included) voted Democrat.
MR Sukhumbhand did not disappoint the detractors with his peculiar management manners and was finally fired from the job for ineptitude amid corruption allegations against his administration, and Pol Gen Aswin was promoted to acting governor until a new election could take place. MR Sukhumbhand's administration is now under investigation for corruption cases. A number of Bangkok permanent executives were also removed and charged with corruption -- deservedly so, as I had the chance to personally observe. Let me ask if this could happen under so-called democratic governance in Thailand?
While the mostly foreign readers were bashing the "military junta", the "dictatorship" ad nauseam, in PostBag, I find relief by turning to the Business pages to read about "car exports climb to 24-month high", "Japanese firms stay bullish on Thailand", "Standard Chartered sees 3.6% growth", "ICAO removes red flag, airlines set to spread wings" and "Thailand to host 2017 World Economic Forum". Then I look out the window and do not see buildings burning or mobs looting and running amok as during the days of full democracy and I sit back feeling blessed to have in charge of the country the big bad dictatorial military junta.
Kantanit Sukontasap
No flood of surprises
In a country dedicated to corruption and the conversion of government funds into private wealth, can anyone really say they are shocked by the repeat flooding in Bangkok? Angered and annoyed that promises mean nothing, probably, but not surprised.
Lungstib
Canals gone missing
News reports regarding Bangkok flooding and the need to fix the drainage system prompted me to write again about a very efficient irrigation canals system we had in the past. They were built at the command of Kings Rama IV and Rama V. Sixty years ago, I was a dek baan nok (country boy) in Chachoengsao and lived in the rice field area with a network of these canals. As a young boy, it was not easy to swim across them.
A few years ago, I went back to my home town and was so sad to find out that some of these canals are so shallow and narrow that I could nearly jump across. We have lost 80% or more of these efficient irrigation canals. If these irrigation canals system were kept and expanded, we would never suffer from floods and drought.
Prasan Stianrapapongs
Turn down volume
Re: "BTS noise annoys", (PostBag, Oct 19).
I sympathise with Daniel Chernov, but at least the noise on BTS trains is only for the duration of the journey.
I live on the Thon Buri side of the Chao Phraya River opposite Sathon Pier.
For 12 hours a day every few minutes the Chao Phraya Express Boat company blasts out details of boats arriving and departing.
The noise is at such a level that it is louder than my TV -- even if I have all doors and windows closed.
One of the lady announcers even shouts and screams at the commuters.
The boat company provides an important service to commuters but it would be nice if they were neighbourly and kept the volume down.
Victor Batchelor
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