OPINION

Risky monkey business

Re: "Modern-day Mowgli forges monkey bond" (BP, Dec 23).

The article describes the relationship between a two-year-old Indian child and a band of wild monkeys. The child shares food with the monkeys and he and the monkeys interact socially.

It reminds me of an incident in the US that involved a woman and her beloved chimpanzee some years ago. The woman treated the chimp as a friend, almost as a human. I believe the relationship lasted for several years until, one day, a woman's friend somehow upset the chimp, who thereupon literally tore off her face. She underwent a series of operations, but, to my knowledge, was never right again. I've forgotten what happened to the chimp -- perhaps it was shot, but that was many years ago.

My point is that close interaction between a wild animal and a human is inherently dangerous. Allowing such interaction to occur when a child is involved is totally irresponsible. The article mentions the child shares food with the monkeys. It doesn't mention if the child has ever refused to share, and, if so, how the monkeys reacted.

The article is meant to be a cute story about the relationship between a child and a gang of monkeys. I hope the child survives the relationship intact.

Bangkok is gradually descending underwater and many are concerned it could be submerged by the year 2030. Experts have been critical of the lack of any clear policy to prevent a looming disaster. Much of Bangkok is already below sea level, but not necessarily submerged. However, if the city were to sink completely within the next 15 years, one of the only bulwarks we have so far against such a catastrophe is a flood-resistant, self-sustaining version of Bangkok, or any other city really, called "Wetropolis" proposed by Thai architect Ponlawat Buasri in 2011.

Wetropolis is a city expected to thrive with the ebb and flow of rising tides, allowing the community to live above water. It seems like a good idea at first glance -- a convenient solution to such a tragic event, beating nature with technology at its own game. Bangkok was built on historical flood plains in which the land was traditionally used for agriculture and growing rice, and would have flooded regularly, sometimes intentionally, to improve growing conditions. To this day, Bangkok remains susceptible to such occurrences, perhaps even more severe, as many canals that used to provide storage for flood water has been paved over.

Furthermore, the majority of Bangkok was built only two metres above sea level on marshy lands -- in simpler words, layers of highly compressible soft clay which are currently deteriorating, making Bangkok the prime location for flooding. The ground is currently subsiding at an average of 5cm per year and increases in population, further development of heavy infrastructure and climate change, coupled with its increase in sea levels predicted by experts to rise by almost one metre, and extreme weather patterns, provide additional challenges for survival.

Yet Wetropolis seems to have failed to take any part of the Thai culture under consideration in constructing a new "Bangkok". The focus appears to be merely on the development of a modern, cosmopolitan city, which may end up unintentionally disregarding many components of the Thai culture that gives us our identity.

Wouldn't it be better to focus our attention on preserving what we have now and start taking action to prevent such disaster? Wetropolis can serve as an incentive to encourage people to take action and prevent Bangkok from being engulfed by the ocean.

On Dec 20, Dr Boonruang Triruangworawat of the Department of Health was quoted as saying 800,000 Thais commit suicide each year. with the figure slated to rise to 1.5 million in 2020.

Since then I have waited in vain for a letter to the editor or a correction explaining that these numbers are inaccurate. A quick look at Wikipedia will tell you that in the US which has a population about six times that of Thailand, and where suicide has been increasing steadily too, about 44,000 people commit suicide every year.

I don't want to minimise the problem of suicide in Thailand, which I am sure is going to continue to rise when elderly people realise they are probably going to spend the last years of their lives in a crowded hospital waiting room waiting hours to see harried, overworked doctors because the military government spent money for their health care on military weapons, or if you are young, realise you are never going to have much of anything, except never-ending debts, if all you ever make is 300 baht a day. On the other hand, if so many people are committing suicide here, I guess the 22,000 dying every year in road carnage and the ageing of the population with no one to take care of them are the least of the government's worries -- that is, if the government actually gives any thought to any of these things.

Re: "No peace deal here" (PostBag, Dec 22).

If Guena opened his mind a little, he would see the biggest enemy to the so-called Palestinians are the Palestinians themselves. They have rejected several peace terms offered by Israel over many years.

The UN still has good faith and I thank 128 countries for making a fair judgement. I have doubt about the US policy of stopping aid to several countries if they are not supportive. The US has been a leader of the world over decades, but it is isolating itself from the world day by day.

Re: "Elephant camp operator charged over tourist's death" (BP, Dec 22).

The owner of the elephant camp and its mahout took responsibility for the accident. But I believe the tourists who annoyed the elephant should also be responsible.

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