OPINION

Not feeling blessed

Re: "Blessed by the junta", (PostBag, Oct 20).

Although I can appreciate Kantanit Sukontasap's irritation at letters from foreigners here in Thailand criticising the current government, such criticism is not just from foreigners, as frequent articles in the Bangkok Post can testify. It is also true that some recent economic news has been encouraging, and that rioters and demonstrators no longer run amok. However, that does not mean everything in the Thai garden is lovely.

Whilst Mr Kantanit may be happy with a military junta once more governing Thailand, I do feel that he, and indeed all Thais, should be asking themselves some very searching questions as to why, in the 21st century, their country should, yet again, be run by generals. Is he content to be told what he can and cannot say in public, that he should be denied information which might be of interest to him, that the generals, whilst decrying corruption, sweep it under the carpet when it suits them, and that people's basic human rights are denied them on a regular basis? It may be that he and others will feel that these are sacrifices worth making in the hope that the country has a more stable political future, and that of course is a matter for Thais to decide, not foreigners.

However, I am sure most foreigners who occasionally express dissatisfaction with certain aspects of current affairs in Thailand do so not out of disrespect for the country and its people, but out of frustration that, despite the enormous advances made in recent decades, including gradually improving standards of living for many, political stability and a fairer society are ideals which remain elusive. If the Thai people really aspire to such ideals, it's up to them to achieve them. They won't just appear out of nowhere, nor can they be bestowed by military men.

Re: "Missing the point", (PostBag, Oct 18).

The new welfare card scheme according to the Office of Agricultural Economics forecasts the government's welfare cards for the poor scheme will generate more than 100 billion baht in value to the country's economy. This would be 2.5 times higher than the government's investment cost.

The previous rice scheme cost the country hundreds of billions of baht with people doing serious jail time since it was riddled with corruption. Everybody with a working brain reckons it was a clever ploy to gain the rural votes for a political party. This is absent in the case of the welfare cards as there is no election time promise.

Re: "The boy who cried 'vote'", (BP, Oct 15).

I agree that another election is not going to put Thailand on the path to democracy. Cultivating some semblance of democracy will require a few drastic changes. First, Thailand must contain militarism, and second, it must discard nepotism and cronyism which has its roots in the top-down model of governance. It cannot become a democracy unless it cultivates spirited regulatory authorities giving speedy harsh penalties to defaulters, including politicians, bureaucrats and coup makers, and cultivates a high degree of public trust.

The current government's desire to hold an election is like cosmetic surgery to change the face of the military-led government to a fancy looking outfit to appease Western countries. Social reforms, economic development and the degree of corruption are directly related to the average (relative) ethical values of a country. The countries which have relatively higher ethical values do possess public administration and leaders with higher values resulting in more prosperous and healthy countries.

Unfortunately, right from the time of Old Siam, history shows a paucity of such values. Corruption is a symptom, not the root, an outcome based on a group of men's actions or deeds indulged with lower values. In Asean, holding on to power at any cost is more important than cultivating high public morals or a free society. Russian activist Emma Goldman put it succinctly: "If voting changed anything, they would make it illegal."

Re: "Facebook denies PM-Zuckerberg meeting", (Online, Oct 19).

It is all another misunderstanding put about by those with bad attitudes to the politicians so selflessly serving the Thai nation these last few years. According to the roadmap based on the reformed calendar for Thailand 4.0, Mr Mark is arriving as promised on Oct 37, a couple of days after the elections that will definitely take place no later than Nov 33 of 2018, according to the reformed Thai calendar 4.0. When so correctly understood, all reforms are coming along exactly as promised by the roadmap.

I am amazed that this government which is apparently in the process of trying to imprison an 85-year-old man for having the audacity to question what a king might or might not have done several hundred years ago would think that the head of a company whose young user they imprisoned for the "crime" of passing on a Facebook post, not to mention attempts to pester and threaten the company to take down an uncountable number of Facebook pages, would want to come and meet the head of that government. I think we all know that Donald Trump is desperate for friends and will meet with anyone, but from what little I know of him, Mark Zuckerberg has a lot more sense than that.

Re: "Stop lame city flood excuses", (BP, Oct 19).

The Bangkok Post's article, which included the statement that the previous and current Bangkok governors are using the same old excuse that drainage pipes are too small, really resonated with me. Even the smallest of rains means we, the residents of Soi Piphat, near Silom, have to wade through knee-deep water every time.

BMA officials occasionally visit after numerous complaints and conclude: the drainage pipes are too small -- well, thanks for that! We knew already! And the BMA has no budget to fix the 20-year-old problem -- really? Their excuse just doesn't hold water.

When, a few years ago, we decided to erect a small canopy over the entrance of our condominium to keep us dry, within a very short time BMA officials arrived and demanded "tea money" as we did not have planning permission! Very efficient indeed.

Re: "River boat speed and weight limits enforced", (BP, Oct 14).

Since I started to live in Thailand, I've been scared to board those boats operated on rivers as listed in this report. Speed and number of passengers on board are exceeded beyond common sense. Of course, strict enforcement of safety rules is needed, but I wonder very much if the basic safety margin of all boats' construction and their operation under existing rules by the Thai Marine Department are too lax in comparison with those of other countries.

In 1983 I was a lieutenant colonel in the Australian Army and I served a year with the a peace-keeping force between Israel and Egypt. While I was there I had the opportunity to visit the Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem and one of the most striking memories that is indelibly seared into my brain are the words inscribed on a huge black marble plinth when you walk into the entrance hall of the museum. It reads: "While the rest of the world stood still".

Now we are seeing another holocaust right on Thailand's doorstep, and like the rest of the world we, and most of the rest of the world, are standing still. And it is ongoing. The Myanmar military, despite their claims to the contrary, continue with a murderous campaign of ethnic cleansing, that so far has seen more than half a million Rohingya flee to neighbouring Bangladesh.

Shame! Shame!David Brown

A BBC online news video reports that Turkey introduced "pink buses" for women passengers only. It reminded me of the pink lady buses that ran some routes in Bangkok many years ago. That service has followed others into forgotten oblivion.

Having waited at a bus stop in Bangkok many years ago during a horrendous downpour late one night, a pink lady bus stopped to discharge a passenger. I quickly got on, much to the driver's protests. I was not going to wait, stranded during that downpour at that hour. Even the women aboard started telling the driver to move on, that one very wet farang was not going to do them much harm.

Two articles, titled "Can you dig it" and "Laos just a bystander to Chinese rail push" in Oct 16's Asia Focus give an extremely good insight into the perils of using another country's capital in massive construction projects.

The former was about US capital used in building the Panama Canal (and control and profiteering for 80 years) at Panama's expense. Panama borrowed money from five different multilateral lenders so Thailand should take that into account with the Kra Canal.

The second article explained the total control, by China, of the Lao component of the high-speed rail link between Kunming to Bangkok as part of the Belt and Road Initiative with Chinese technology, Chinese engineers, Chinese labourers, Chinese massive equipment and use of Chinese language. The article ends with a warning that "Asean, as a whole, risks going down the same path as countries such as Thailand and Indonesia grow more reliant on Chinese money".

Re: "Neglect of rising threat liable to leave toxic legacy", (Opinion, Oct 16).

This article is typical of the ignorance shown by so called "mainstream" academics and commentators. Mr Lloyd provides a long list of unwanted legacies the children of the 50s to the late 70s have left but completely ignores the elephant in the room.

Lungstib in his Oct 17 letter, "Population education", now understands one of the main causes of the continuing exponential population explosion: female education. His comment is noteworthy, and substantial funding would help, but behind it remains a Pandora's box that is apparently too hot to handle, never mind open.

Yes, Paul in Khon Kaen, indeed let's "qualify that". Bangkok Thais are satisfied living in Bangkok, with the rich ones sending their kids to school overseas. Thais living abroad from the Thai North and Northeast as well as the South, do indeed make up a substantial part of the Little Thailand population.

Many have relocated due to marriage, and once a person becomes a citizen in is easier to sponsor members of one's immediate family. The very poor Irish managed to emigrate to the United States, Canada, and elsewhere during the great Irish potato famine. Thais are no different. A person who wishes to improve his/her lot follows the old proverb, "Where there's a will, there's a way". I hope I have "qualified that".