OPINION

Brutalised and brutal

It appears to me that brutal military training hardens the heart and makes it difficult for military leaders to have empathy.

It makes me think of those fathers who boast about having survived a terrible childhood where they were brutally beaten by their fathers and say "you see, it didn't do me any harm".

But it did, there is a part of them that is emotionally dead, or crippled, unable to feel or empathise with others. Yes, surviving a brutal childhood or training might be something to be proud of, but it made you a survivor, not an emotionally whole person.

It is not until you realise you were emotionally crippled that you have a chance of becoming whole again. I find it alarming that this country is now being run by survivors, but brutalised, emotionally crippled people.

Psychologist

There are two basic ways to generate electricity using the sun's rays.

One is photovoltaic, aka solar panels, which everyone is familiar with. It changes sun's rays to DC electric pulses. In Thailand, it's called "solar cell" (singular).

Another way, which few Thais are aware of, is "concentrated solar". That's where the sun's rays are focused, to create enough heat to boil water. Boiling water is what nearly all electric generators aim at doing, whether powered from from fossil fuels/coal or nuclear. One exception is water pressure from dams which, in a roundabout way, could be attributed to solar, because the sun contributes to rain cycles.

Other exceptions (to heating water) are wind turbines, as well as tide/wave/river power generators. There are several concentrated solar plants currently operational around the world. The largest (110MW) is in Tonopah, California.

Could Thailand join the club? Yes, but only if city fathers can get their heads out of the sand, and become aware of new technology. Currently, concentrated solar uses salt in its molten form -- to transfer the great heat from the sun, to boil water and power generators. Salt (melting point; 1,050C) is good, but using molten tin (1,200C) would be better. Until recently, there was no pump which could handle molten metal.

Recently, researchers at some American universities developed one, made mostly of ceramic, with a tungsten outer shell. Using molten tin instead of salt raises the efficiency of the generator three-fold. Thailand should let go of its plans for nuclear, and instead embrace clean safe solar -- particularly concentrated solar for large projects.

Przemo Kranz, ("Courtesy unreturned", PostBag, Nov 28), is missing the point. Like it or not English is the international language of business and the point most people are making is that if Thais really want to advance themselves as individuals with the opportunity of reaching high positions either at home or indeed overseas then they should learn English.

Most of the letters written on this subject are not criticising Thais for not learning English but are genuine attempts to encourage Thais to learn the language in order to better themselves.

There is a shop in the Bay Area owned by a non-Thai. The shopkeeper put up a sign in his window advertising his products … in Thai. He copied the Thai from a computer translation. You can imagine the amusement this incurred, before a local Thai resident kindly pointed out the mistakes. After the sign was corrected, everyone was happy.

I'm sure some PostBag writers could have politely and courteously done the same. As for Przemo Kranz's suggestion that all Westerners in Thailand learn Thai, it is a valid suggestion, but it is not applicable to all non-Thai speakers who due to age, simply cannot learn another language easily.

Przemo Kranz and Atiya Achakulwisut should be presented "Man" and "Woman" of the year awards!

Contact: Bangkok Post Building 136 Na Ranong Road Klong Toey, Bangkok 10110 fax: +02 6164000 Email: postbag@bangkokpost.co.th

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