OPINION

Tycoon in crosshairs

The public shouldn't be too highly strung about Premchai Karnasuta's alleged poaching case. Relax and let justice run its course.

It seems to me that we want Premchai to be Jesus, who suffers for all sins in the world. It seems we want to punish Premchai for all the guilt of the rich who "get away with everything". Despite all the physical evidence -- rifles, carcass, bullet ridden pelt, simmering stew pot -- there is no eyewitness who saw Premchai actually shoot and kill the big cat, let alone skin or eat it. The paraffin test is inconclusive for he may have shot tin cans just for fun.

Let's not go berserk if Premchai is slapped with trivial offences such as camping in the wrong place or failing to pay a park entrance fee; or if the judge orders him to pay a 500-baht fine and 20-baht park fee, plus court costs.

Lupus writes in his March 18 letter, "Justice? What justice?" concerning the Premchai Karnasuta case, "He must consider the legal authorities to be either absolutely stupid or corrupt." Khun Lupus, you hit the nail on the head. The answer is -- both.

In the recent scandal concerning welfare corruption it was noted there were 76 provincial protection centres, with cases of graft found at 44 and the other 32 to be investigated. This is obviously not a simple task with so many locations and no doubt numerous personnel in every office, so I was amazed to see a deadline was given for May 31.

In a country where an investigation into watch ownership has taken three months to get an answer from one person, and where four years was needed to decide about the death of a policeman under the wheels of a Ferrari, why is there such a rush in this case? Could it be that someone has a hope of concluding this research before it gets to the very top echelons of the ministries involved, and hence catches only the small fry involved and not the big fish?

Jack Gilead's March 17 letter, "Tip of the iceberg", is barely relevant.

I just wanted to highlight the military closing down elements of the tourist industry of two southern islands and how that is keeping away young backpackers who like hostels and dorm rooms for the price and for the social aspects, and the follow-on effects on the economy. Nothing was mentioned about certain islands' reputations or previous incidents or investigations, nor is that a reason why people are not coming to the islands.

Can't you differentiate between Thai and expat business owners, managers and dive instructors that live on Koh Tao and the Royal Thai Police? Save your vitriol, "just desserts", and "reap what you sow" for the right targets -- there sure are some, but here you are barking up the wrong tree.

Re: "Bangkok-Pattaya special train makes debut", (Online, March 18).

One of the benefits of using the existing bus/coach service from Bangkok to Pattaya is the frequency of the all-day, everyday service, and if you do happen to miss your bus, you don't have to wait too long for the next one.

As the new Bangkok to Pattaya tourist train service is just one train a day (so if you miss your train, it is very inconvenient for the passenger), and for just two days a week, as well as the fact that the early departure from Bangkok at 6.45am would mean having to get up at 4am or 5am to allow time for check-out from your hotel and breakfast and traveling time to Hua Lamphong, I think that the new train service is really not much of a service at all, and poorly planned and thought out.

Why would a tourist here on holiday choose to get up so early still arrive in Pattaya in the late afternoon. Not to mention that most hotels offer a special door-to-door bus service from Bangkok to their hotel in Pattaya, which is a lot more convenient.

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