OPINION

Undoing of the web

Re: "Watch-scandal shenanigans sully decent debate", (Opinion, Feb 15, 2018).

Paritta Wangkiat not only highlighted a critical issue regarding the anonymity of the internet, but may be talking about a point that could even be the internet's eventual undoing. The game of hatred, information warfare, fake news and half-truths has become the bread-and-butter of internet trolls, such as we have seen regarding the false online votes in "Watchgate".

Paritta's article only serves to highlight the enduring value of mainstream media, especially print media, because those of us who pen letters to the Bangkok Post editor do not hide behind anonymity. In short, for better or for worse, you know my name and that means a lot in terms of the veracity of what I say.

Re: "Prayut slams talk of cracks in cabinet", (BP, Feb 14)

Education Minister Dr Teeerakiat Jareonsettasin apologised for referring to Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon flashing 25 ultra-luxury watches he claimed he borrowed from his friends and returned. Thais and others worldwide have been wondering how Gen Prawit obtained the watches, and wondering if the lenders might have had ulterior motives in lending such costly trinkets to a key decision maker on multi-billion-baht arms purchases.

Thus, the education minister said: "This watch saga, if it was I who had been exposed, I would have resigned (from the cabinet) when the first wristwatch came to light." His comment, however appropriate, was a breach of etiquette, and he is to be praised for apologising.

But like Caesar's wife, public servants with purse string powers must be above suspicion -- and with his consistent stonewalling as to the watches' provenance, Gen Prawit certainly is acting like he has lots to hide. On top of that, PM Prayut Chan-o-cha's attempts to protect his handpicked direct report are most unseemly -- especially when this junta grabbed power to cleanse us of corruption.

Thus, I suggest that it's Gen Prawit who crossed a far more significant line than that of Dr Teerakiat. By his dogged refusal to come clean, Gen Prawit has severely and consistently besmirched the reputation of the entire government in the international arena. For his part, Gen Prayut has de facto confirmed suspicions that his junta will not even clean up its own house.

Gen Prayut should hand Gen Prawit his marching papers immediately and apologise to all Thais for not acting promptly to make the matter transparent.

Shame on you Dr Teerakiat Jareonsettasin. You've lost both your credibility and integrity in your kowtowing to the military regime by backtracking on your earlier remarks in London on Feb 9 condemning the "watchgate" deputy prime minister. Why?

1. As a human being, you've severely damaged your "integrity" and will have a difficult life from now on, not to mention relationships with those who know you including your own family and children.

2. Your "credibility" as minister of education is gone, Dr Teerakiat. Don't you know that as the leader in charge of this ministry you're committed to giving an example to the Thai public, taxpayers and, in particular, the younger generation? You've failed miserably in lowering the standard and it will get worse as you continue in this post. Do you feel comfortable when you attend the cabinet meetings now?

Please Dr Teerakiat, you've to be "accountable" for your own actions. To control the damage by resigning (asap) is the best option.

Picked up on the market: Thai businesses cannot increase the minimum wage too much as they have to buy too many watches and prepare too many credits for their "friends".

I like the Thai sense of humour.

Can you re-enact this?

Re: "Man, 83, arrested for raping girl, 4", (BP, Feb 14).

The story says that "Police already had Mr Sonthi re-enact the crime". I am baffled as to exactly how the police had the alleged perpetrator re-enact this sickening crime.

A scenario: Imagine if I moved into your neighbourhood, and then bought a high powered hi-fi system with a large bank of loudspeakers. I placed the speakers around my house facing out. I then played my five favourite songs, as loud as possible. The sound would travel for several kilometres in each direction, affecting thousands of homes. But I didn't do it for just one day. I did it every day for years, and continue doing it. I don't only play the same five songs, but I play them back-to-back like a "tape-loop". If the tape-loop is repeated nine times per day .. in seven years, you hear each of the same songs over 25,000 times each.

I don't think I would endear myself to my neighbours with the above scenario. Indeed, I wouldn't be surprised if my neighbours came to my house with pitchforks during the first or second day of my broadcast.

Yet, a very similar scenario is being played out near Chiang Rai. A large temple complex has been built in a small village called Hoy Plakang -- a short distance northwest of Chiang Rai town. Complaining is not an option, because the temple's head monk is playing his favourite songs, and a Buddhist monk can do no wrong, am I right? Particularly a head monk.

Re: "Time to bridge "real" digital divide", (BP, Feb 13).

It is time to recognise that the "digital divide" is not as harmful as the "attention divide" which is spreading like an epidemic. Increased penetration of internet and extensive use of mobile devices and social media have led to the creation of new psychological disorders. There was a time when the TV set was called as an "idiot box" and a person spending long hours in front of it was called a "couch potato".

Now the new addiction to mobile devices is creating a whole new "look down" generation for which the blue skies and the cosmos above does not exist. It seems like the young generation is now suspended in their virtual world wrapped under the shiny screens of their mobile devices.

Re: "Election buffoonery", (PostBag, Feb 14).

I must thank JC for telling us why democracy, flawed though it be, is preferable to every alternative, certainly to dictatorship that trashes the rule of civil law.

As JC concedes, the current US president seems a poor choice, a "buffoon-in-chief" as I had put it. However, JC's insulting tirade branding the US citizens who elected President Donald Trump as buffoons mirrors all to well the mindset of those colluding with Suthep Thaugsuban's People's Democratic Reform Committee mobs clamouring for a coup to overthrow the central pillar of the Thai nation yet again. They spewed out equally offensive insults at the Thai people who had voted first for Thaksin Shinawatra, then his proxies and finally for Pheu Thai. Those self-righteous arrogantly labelled their fellow citizens ignorant fools.

This is not only insulting to that majority of the Thai people, it is false. I disagree with the US people's choice of president, but that does not mean those who voted for him are buffoons. They are not. Nor does the election of deeply flawed Thai politicians show the Thai people to be so ignorant or foolish as JC and the likes of the arrogant PDRC mobs and allies insist, and doubtless believe, as an excuse to deny them a voice in the form both of their government and of their own society.

JC makes another common mistake of those lauding dictatorship when he claims that it is "squabbling" democracy that has caused 19 coups in Thailand. Wrong. On the contrary, it is when democracy looks like taking healthy root that it is overthrown by those who do not want the Thai people to have a fair voice in the affairs that affect them, their lives, and their nation. The Thai nation is the nation of the Thai people, all of them, not merely those who happen to arrogantly assume that they know better than the low classes what is best for everyone.

The usual oligarchy of rich and powerful certainly known how to run things to keep the rich and powerful in riches and power. They know how best to ensure that there is a sufficiency of luxury watches to lend to close friends, along with spiffy leopard rugs for the mansion and a sufficient number of Ferraris in the garage to speed home in after a night of drunken partying. But they neither know nor care about the concerns, the wishes, the preferences, and lives of others, even if occasionally letting a few miserly crumbs drop from their sufficiently laden tables.

JC asks for an alternative to a coup. That is easy: The Thai army could have done its duty to the Thai nation. It could have served the civil government of the Thai nation. It could have protected and upheld the constitution of the Thai nation. It could have ensured, perhaps with a short period of martial law, that the streets were cleared of the mobs determined to "Shut down Bangkok", and it could have ensured that the February 2014 election went smoothly so that the Thai people could chosen a new civil government of their nation. Much good could have been done.

Neatly as it might fit his false characterisation of the Thai people as "immature juveniles", the "politicians brute" (my actual phrase) are not teachers bringing order to a noisy classroom. However, an inept education system does ruthlessly suppress critical thinking in accord with the prime minister's "12 Values", while harsh censorship does indeed aim to keep the Thai people uninformed on national Thai affairs, as seen in the imprisonment of civil rights activist Jatupat Boonpatararaksa. Much as the coupists do indeed strive to turn the Thai people into "immature children" who they can then boss around like Stalin, Mao or Mugabe, all of whom thought they knew better than the citizens what was best for the citizens, they are wrong.

The Thai people, like the American people, are best qualified to decide what is best for the Thai people. It is this basic respect for each and every citizen as equally persons deciding how to live their lives that is the defining characteristic of democracy. Elections are but a tool of democracy. It is this basic respect for his fellow citizens that JC appears to lack. It is this basic respect for their fellow Thai citizens that the coup politicians and their supporters lack. This lack is a deep moral failure.

I have to respond in agreement to Scottie's PostBag letter of the 14th Feb in regards to the appalling state of the British representation here in Thailand and in particular the British Embassy in Bangkok.

Dear Scottie, at least you have the embassy in Bangkok. Here in Chiang Mai we have absolutely nothing which includes an honorary consul whose contact details are even regarded as "confidential"! The British embassy has cast us adrift so think yourself lucky in Bangkok! I am also a British taxpayer and I see it wasted by jolly trips up here to the North by British embassy officials who refuse to consider, let alone listen to our plight. We Brits would actually be better off by closing the British Embassy altogether and asking the Americans, the Canadians or the Australians to represent us and act on our behalf.

Speed limit joke?

Re: "Speed limit reduced to 50kph on inner Bangkok roads", (Online, Feb 15).

Is this some sort of joke? When in living memory has traffic been able to go faster than 20 to 30kph, aside from its usual crawl? The only time I've seen traffic move close to 50kph is when lanes were cleared for dignitaries and VIPs.