Welfare on right track
Re: Nordic social welfare 'doesn't suit Thailand', (BP, Dec 12).
Thailand obviously needs to build a social protection system tailored to its context and one expert, Pichit Likitkijsomboon, argues that "the model is suitable for better-off ones" and instead looks to the US and Japan as a reference point for Thailand.
However, in reality Nordic countries began implementing their social protection systems when they were still relatively poor countries. Even today, of all Scandinavian countries, only Norway has a higher income per capita than the US.
In many ways, the moves Thailand has taken to put in place tax-financed universal social protection policies -- such as affordable healthcare and the old age allowance -- echo the early steps taken by Nordic countries to build their welfare systems. It should also be noted that Nordic pension systems tend to rank as one of the highest in terms of sustainability in the context of population ageing -- something of utmost relevance to Thailand.
Charles Knox-VydmanovSocial Protection Policy Advisor, HelpAge International
The horror of shopping
I wonder how happy John Carpenter would be if he knew that his theme music to his seminal horror movie Halloween is partly being used to introduce the "shopping" slot every day at 12.45pm on Channel 8? Somewhat incongruous to say the least, quite apart from intellectual property rights issues.
Ellis O'Brien
No smoke without fire
Re: "Liberal fascism arrives", (PostBag, Dec 12).
Michael Setter asserts, "There are no verified ethical problems associated directly with President Trump". I won't dispute what counts as "verified" (only Fox News?), but it will all be evident soon enough. We can smell the smoke and feel the heat, so while I can't verify the kitchen is on fire, it's only a matter of time until the house burns down. Just about every close campaign aide and current or previous staffer, significantly including Mr Trump's son and son-in-law, has been implicated in some scandal.
Most recently, two tweets leave little doubt about his own ethical problems. The first was when Mr Trump implicated himself for obstruction of justice in the firing of Michael Flynn related to his connections with Russia. Of course, Mr Trump isn't intelligent enough to realise what he'd done. So, quickly, Mr Trump's lawyer had to cover for him and say that actually he wrote the tweet using the president's official twitter account (what a lawyer!).
The second tweet is regarding his vocal support for US Senate candidate Roy Moore, who had been abandoned by the rest of the Republican Party, due to numerous accusations of sexual misconduct. The accusations include sexual assault and unwanted sexual advances on victims while they were in their teens and Mr Moore was in his thirties. Mr Trump himself is still facing several accusations of groping and sexual misconduct.
Yet, it seems all too easy for conservatives to call any report they disagree with "fake news". We've entered a brave new world where certain people blatantly disregard eyewitness accounts, video and audio evidence as facts because they contradict their talking points and beliefs. This is dangerous rhetoric when only 16% of the president's statements have been scored by PolitiFact as true or mostly true, whereas 69% of his statements are scored as mostly false, false, or pants on fire.
Such a blatant, compulsive liar qualifies as unethical in my book. But, I'm sure PolitiFact, FactCheck, and other fact-checking newspapers are just more corporate fake news.
Facts aren't fake news
Chinese colonialism
As a farang I try to stay out of Thai politics, but as a retired world history teacher I would be wrong not to remind my friends that buying Chinese submarines and letting them build train tracks to more easily exploit your natural resources looks a lot like giving away Laos to the French during colonial times.
Maybe it's a Buddhist thing but China will tear down your temples and ship them back to turn them into tacky hotels. Please don't give away your home to them.
A Farang Reader
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