OPINION

Driving in reverse

Comparatively speaking, the conscripts/servants issue in the Thai armed forces is only adding to the military junta's declining image. Its continued existence only benefits a few thousand "generals", not the majority of the Thai armed forces or the country at large. In short, they are driving a car in reverse gear. It is clearly a conflict of interest, an important principle which should be tackled and utilised in the military junta's "reform policy".

I truly believe that PM Prayut Chan-o-cha should seriously pay attention to this inhuman issue and could, with common sense, erase this negative picture from his military junta's declining image. Yes, to annul this conscripts/servants issue would be a big plus and "genuine reform" of the military establishment and a shining light in Gen Prayut's oft-repeated but not successfully implemented national reform policy.

May I again repeat: The conscripts are drafted to serve the "nation", not the "generals".

Re: "The uncountables", (PostBag, July 27).

Peter Dawson illustrates my point about "Thainess" very clearly. He, along with the government and others, would have the xenophobic term supported by entirely subjective and illusory attributes like friendliness and trust (fortunately the government does not lean on Einstein to do so).

If Thai people were, in reality, so exemplary in the friendly and trustworthy department why do the metrics on corruption, torture and human slavery say otherwise? Why have so many villages in the North turned down money under the Thai Niyom programme? It seems poor people of a different ethnicity prefer to retain their dignity over the government's control money.

This "Thainess" nonsense has real repercussions and they could be alleviated if the government would take a different tack in supporting national interests.

It is now 80 years since British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain flew to Munich to negotiate peace with Adolf Hitler who was threatening to invade Czechoslovakia. It is to the great shame of my country, England, and of the other two guarantors of Czech sovereignty, France and Russia, that this small, peaceful country was abandoned to the Nazis by them.

Winston Churchill at that time famously told Chamberlain, "You were given the choice between war and dishonour. You chose dishonour and you will have war." He was to be proved right a year later when Germany invaded Poland, despite Hitler's promise to Chamberlain that he had no further territorial claims in Europe. World War II thus began.

There has been some discussion about whether President Trump insulted the UK on a recent visit by keeping our 92-year-old Queen stood waiting for six minutes, or by publicly criticising our prime minister and London's mayor. However, for many the worst moment was seeing Mr Trump sitting smugly in Churchill's favourite armchair, the Daily Mirror responding with a front page headline, "How dare you!" But why such outrage?

Russian President Putin's regime has already invaded Georgia and continues to occupy part of it in violation of the 2008 ceasefire agreement. It has illegally annexed Crimea and continues to occupy eastern Ukraine, despite past promises. It has conducted cyber warfare on a regular basis, probably ensuring Mr Trump's own election. Finally, it murders its opponents at home and abroad, even making use of a military-grade nerve agent in Salisbury, UK.

Mr Trump, in his fawning over Mr Putin, shows all the signs of being a Chamberlain, not a Churchill. Tragically, 80 years after the Munich Crisis, it seems nothing much has changed. A gangster regime once again threatens Europe, Chamberlain's spirit lives on in President Trump. Lessons have not been learned, and history is consequently repeating itself. One only wonders what will come next.

Re: "Trump truths", (PostBag, July 25).

Enough of the Russian/Cambridge Analytica "meddling/collusion/interference" conspiracy nonsense. But having said that, if the writer or any of the other conspiracy theorists do actually have any evidence then show it, otherwise give it a rest. The only people who believe this conspiracy nonsense are sore-loser Hillary Clinton supporters unable to accept that she lost and are convinced that the Russians helped Donald Trump steal the presidency, and news media outlets like CNN who are obsessed with it and have been running story after story with allegations, innuendo and winks but no actual proof of anything.

As for the "antiquated" US Electoral College system, it is supposed to guarantee that populous states can't dominate an election, but admittedly it also sets up a disparity in representation. But both Trump and Clinton went into the 2016 election knowing the terms and conditions of the vote, as did the voters, moaning now that your candidate lost the "popular" vote makes you a sore loser. Under the rules and terms and conditions of the Electoral College system, Trump won. Have the grace to accept the result. If the result was the other way round and Clinton had won, would she and her supporters now be arguing about the Electoral College voting system? I doubt it!

And in what way was Trump's promise to build a wall on the US/Mexico border as well as a promise to have Mexico pay for it "totally a lie"? As Trump is still US president with another two-plus years left to run of his term in office, the wall may still be built, and as far as I know he has not backtracked or changed his mind about building the wall, so how can it be a lie? But if Trump has told some lies, is he not doing what all politicians do? Why is he singled out for this? And yes, he has made some mistakes. But everything he does is criticised, if he was to cure cancer tomorrow he would be attacked for throwing doctors out of work and denying cancer sufferers the right to die of cancer.

I am not a US citizen so was not entitled to vote in the 2016 presidential election, but as an observer watching the hysterical reaction to Trump's victory from the so-called "tolerant, inclusive and progressive" Democrats in the US, it truly has been a sight to behold. From the day that Trump won the election they have been in meltdown, and are becoming increasingly unhinged as they do everything they can to undermine his authority and the authority of his office.

Within hours of the announcement of his victory mass hysteria broke out in some parts of the US with people screaming that Trump is "literally Hitler" and "literally Pol Pot" and "literally Stalin" and saying how they had to stop him. Protests were organised in dozens of US cities and protesters marched carrying "HOPE not HATE" banners but despite the message on the banners they rioted, kicked in shop windows and set cars on fire. Others like the "comedian" Kathy Griffin posted a photo of herself on social media holding a prop of Trump's severed head. Madonna said she fantasised about blowing up the White House.

All these people are clearly suffering from TDS (Trump Derangement Syndrome).

Trump and his family including his 12-year old son have been subjected to death threats as well as having all kinds of vulgar abuse hurled at them. There have been physical attacks on Trump supporters, and some have been thrown out of restaurants.

Is Trump divisive? He has been relentlessly mocked, ridiculed, vilified and demonised by a self-righteous and sanctimonious liberal/left media, and also by their readers and viewers who are unable to come to terms with the fact that Hillary lost. I suggest they are the ones causing the divide. By all means criticise him and his policies if you think he is wrong, but threatening violence against him and his supporters is wrong.

But never mind, US voters will have a chance to vote him out of office in 2020, though if he wins again I hate to think how Democrat voters will react, I think there's a strong possibility that they will all literally explode!

Re: "Trump truths", (PostBag, July 25).

Blue Wave, we did not ask for immigrants to come to Australia. They were bought there by people smugglers, who made a lot of money from them. If you want to come here, stand in line like the rest of them. Don't jump the queue. We gave them the option of going back home. But if you look at the people who come to Australia, most only come to get money from the government, and many don't work and form conclaves. Also, they don't mix into Australian society.

Re: "Origin of the cosmos", (PostBag, July 24).

It is clear from the ongoing discussion on faith that we humans are incapable of grasping the enormity of what we are dealing with. Our responses are far too narrow. The ancients understood the cosmos was circulating the Earth and that our existence was only 4,000 years old. The fact is there are more suns in the known universe than there are grains of sand here on Earth. Numbers are so huge they become meaningless to us.

Given the basic chemicals, there were trillions of billions of opportunities every second of every minute of every day for life to come about and progress and diversify. Yes, there are trillions of billions of chances for an ape to key in the complete works of Shakespeare, trillions and billions of times. Questions by us of how it happens are just demonstrating how insignificant we really are.

In Sunday July 22's Loser/Winner column, it was sad to see the Thai Minister of Social Security and Human Development Anataporn Kanjanarat so eager to improve Thailand's ranking in the US State Department Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report. More countries are resisting the TIP and refuse to do the bidding of the United States regarding issues of sex. Those that don't cooperate don't make the news, beyond their own country's borders.

Countries have their own sex culture just as they have unique culture of music or art. For 18 years, since the election of George W Bush, very conservative Christians have had significant influence on the US government. Using the TIP as their tool, these American influences are proselytising very conservative American sexual values throughout the world. When you read widely about trafficking, it quickly becomes clear that stories are often exaggerated and used to attack the sex trade, not the trafficking of people. At the same time, Thailand is undergoing rural to urban migration and sex work is a very portable skill during that transition. All over the world, poor people resort to sex work and all over the world those same people are desperate to move across borders to where the same work earns more money. Not taking guidance from the US State Department is a good first step to treating sexual issues as migration and human rights concerns, and not just criminal concerns for America. America's War on Sex has become their new War on Drugs.

I thought contributors/readers of this forum might be interested to know about the honour and recognition of the Australians involved in the rescuing of the 12 Wild Boars and their coach, as reported by ABC News. Australian Prime Minister Mr Malcolm Turnbull did acknowledge the tragic loss of Petty Officer First Class Saman Gunan in the dangerous but successful rescue, which will go down in the annals of history.

Richard Rees in his July 27 letter said under Obama "the economy was going nowhere". Under Obama the stock market went up about 11,000 points and unemployment dropped from 9.2% to 4.7%.

I'll let the readers decide for themselves if Mr Rees is capable of ever getting his facts straight. Ever!