OPINION

Trump in the swamp

Re: "Ethical dilemmas", (PostBag, Dec 25).

I must disagree with Micheal that two previous US presidents profited egregiously (to the tune of billions). In the case of Mr Trump a dozen women came out to complain about his unethical behaviour. Mr Trump is very well known for milking money by hook or by crook. It is a widely known fact that the tax cut plan passed recently will add a billion or more dollars to his family fortune. Do I need to cite the number of court cases against him? According to USA Today there were at least 3,500 legal actions in federal and state courts during the past three decades. They range from skirmishes with casino patrons to million-dollar real estate suits to personal defamation lawsuits.

All Americans appointed or elected to public office are morally obliged to divulge their income tax returns. If Mr Trump is hesitant to disclose his returns, what does it tell you about the morals and ethics of a man who wants to "Make America Great again"?

In his Dec 25 letter Michael Setter seems to have ignored or missed a couple of relevant points. First that Mr Trump was elected to serve the American people could be considered debatable. Like all presidents for the past 30 years big business, banks, hedge funds and oil interests put them where they are and then go about getting their returns from an indebted president. A thousand lobbyists are there at all times to remind them. The average American citizen has seen little from their representatives for years.

Secondly, despite living in Thailand he has overlooked what I call the "Thaksin phenomenon", whereby many people suggested that an already wealthy man wouldn't need to engage in corruption. The abundantly rich never think they have enough and like all millionaire leaders, Mr Trump will use every advantage to increase his personal wealth. Politics in the modern age has become all about protecting and enlarging wealth and Mr Trump will be no exception.

Re: "Toon tops B1bn goal before time", (BP, Dec 25).

Toon Bodyslam is apparently the Thai choice for most admirable person of 2017.

I recall when Luangta Maha Bua raised money to save the nation from insolvency, and he did not have to run for the money, instead merely sitting quietly in a room in Bangkok was sufficient. I long for the day when another truly great monk will shine brightly for all Thai people to see.

Toon is close to topping a billion baht and the military is spending billions on weapons and watches. It's plain to see the government thinks more about weapons than the health of its citizens.

Re: "Backing big bike ban", (PostBag, Dec 23).

I feel I need to address Robin Leslie's post about the big bike ban in national parks. Mr Leslie is under the impression that the larger the bike, the louder the sound.

An understandable but flawed presumption. In fact most big bike riders do not modify their bikes to make them louder. Compare this with the masses of small bike riders who sound like an express train going though a tunnel as they have removed all the baffles from their bikes.

He should also understand the many cars that are modified to sound like a World War II tiger tank starting up. None of these are banned from national parks. Why is this?

In the end he should also realise that very many big bike riders do not drive through Thailand's national parks for another reason, the 10-fold surcharge imposed by the current government on non-Thais.

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