OPINION

Explaining Thainess

As the final farewell observance for the late King Bhumibol takes place, it seems necessary to provide a few explanations about Thailand to foreigners, so they may gain more understanding of the Thai people, as well as our traditions, attitudes and philosophy.

Firstly, the country's Central region is located on land that resembles a large cooking pan, capable of capturing rainwater for a few months each year before it flows down to the Gulf of Thailand, resulting in the land becoming richly fertile, making the country the world's No.1 rice exporter. Hence the nickname: "Golden Land".

Secondly, Thai people regard filial piety -- having respect for one's parents, elders and ancestors -- to be of the highest virtue.

Thais call King Bhumibol "Phor Luang", or the royal father.

Lastly, our late King's "sufficiency economy" philosophy truly means we simply follow his sage advice and practice it.

In our own humble opinion, the true concept of a sufficiency economy is not only to work smartly, but to spend wisely as well.

Re: "Open door policy is needed for foreign universities", (Opinion, Oct 25).

There are many private universities in Thailand with foreign affiliations --Assumption, Stamford, Webster and many others.

Just like state-funded universities, they are also bogged down by red tape imposed upon them by the Office of the Higher Education Commission, the Office for National Education Standards and Quality Assessment, and other government agencies.

Year after year, private and autonomous universities in Australia, Europe and America and Singapore keep dominating the world rankings.

The reasons are obvious. They are able to create cutting-edge curricula, hire the best faculties and can quickly adapt and become stakeholders in new innovations, technologies and economic and social policies.

They also have stringent prerequisites for admission.

They do not waste time and resources following regulations or red tape; they lead the change.

Luring foreign universities and investment in the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) is not enough to mitigate the crisis in Thai education or achieve the desired outcomes.

The so-called feeder system or Thai school education system is in peril.

All sorts of reports, including the Unesco report discussed in the Bangkok Post ("Unesco says schools failing kids", Oct 25), indicates that unless school education goes through major reform, it will be difficult to meet the goals of Thailand 4.0.

Reputed foreign universities are not going to establish their campuses or invest in Thailand's EEC to provide remedial courses, certificates, diplomas and degrees to students with poor skills in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects and poor proficiency in the English language.

The Finance Ministry decided it has the right to seize funds from dormant bank accounts, probably because the government is broke.

Why not hire unemployed college graduates to scour vacant farmland in Isan, turning over rocks in search of lost or hidden coins? All lost or found money should inherently, and by the same rationale, belong to the government, right?

Then, of course, there are unclaimed lottery tickets, unclipped coupons and that ubiquitous motherload of all -- "unusual wealth".

But the government is traversing a slippery slope which will lead to increased financial insecurity for everyone.

I suggest they reverse direction, improve their credit rating and issue bonds instead.

Re: "Anupong counters speed guns deal flak", (BP, Oct 25).

Gen Anupong Paojinda could have done a very simple search on Google to ascertain the average price of a speed detector.

The price on Amazon of a Bushnell Velocity Speed Gun is 2,575.23 baht.

How he could possibly justify the incredible cost of 900,000 baht is beyond his authority.

Either he's been incredibly negligent in doing any research at all into the issue, or things are very much the same in the time-honoured culture of non-transparent public procurement, of which this is the latest example.

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