Rankings no surprise
Re: "Rankings not be-all, end-all for Thai unis", (BP, Oct 3).
While Dr Hayes is correct in observing that endowments beget rankings and rankings beget endowments (everyone wants to bet on a winner), the article glosses over some important reasons for Thailand's consistently low international rankings among universities worldwide, including:
The impossibly heavy teaching loads of Thai university professors, precluding any time to do the research and publication necessary to be considered seriously among the world's top institutions of higher education; and
The unrealistically low pay of Thai university faculties (most K-12 teachers in the myriad international schools in Thailand make substantially more than university professors here; also compare Thai university salaries with those of highly ranked institutions in Hong Kong and Japan).
But most important is a rigidly hierarchical social system and lack of freedom of speech which stifle any intellectual curiosity and critical thinking or discourse. And, by the way, while the author can be excused for placing Harvard in Boston (it's actually across the river in Cambridge), Stanford is about as far away from Los Angeles, both geographically and culturally, as Bangkok is from Udon Thani.
Thom Huebner
UN is out of touch
Re: "Embrace solidarity", (PostBag, Sept 28).
The piece highlights in diplomatic terms what has been common knowledge for many years now: the UN is a money-draining, ineffective and highly politicised dinosaur. Best hope it is certainly not, although alternatives seem far-fetched.
The current General Assembly is a fair example of what the UN is -- a chance for world leaders to get a few minutes of media spotlight with a bit of Trump late-night comedy thrown in -- and more importantly what it is not: a body that should make our world a better place. Dominated by what used to be called third world countries and the Islamic bloc, the UN will not take a stance against the epic-scale tragedies unfolding in the contemporary era: the Syrian and Rohingya genocides, the destruction of Yemen, or indeed global terrorism.
Obsessed with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as if there were no other issues to deal with, the General Assembly churns out countless anti-Israel resolutions. As long as the UN does not change its old habits, which do die hard, it will stay ineffective for the foreseeable future.
Andy Leitner
Too clever by half
Re: "Misconstrued sarcasm", (PostBag, Oct 3).
Somsak Pola, having afterwards to explain his previous words to another writer, Felix Qui, as sarcasm and not to be taken seriously is like saying that "I'm just intelligent beyond your understanding". That is not sarcasm but simply being too clever by half.
Songdej Praditsmanont
Voice of a junta-phile
Thank you Somsak Pola. Your letter was a wonderful opportunity to reply to, so perfectly capturing as it does the voice of a junta-phile. On reading it again, I can see my sarcasm detector does need recalibration for these post-Orwellian times in Thailand. (In fact, your name under it should have alerted me. My apologies for my mistake.)
Felix Qui
Look at me!
Re: "Cops arrest four fugitive Chinese fraud suspects", (BP, Oct 2).
Question: How many police does it take to interview four Chinese fugitives?
Answer: As many as can squeeze into the photo op. (14, if I counted correctly).
David Brown
'Hook-nosed' barbs
In a response to Malaysia's Mahathir calling Jews "hook-nosed" in recent news reports, I would like to say during my travels these past 50-plus years, I've met Chinese ethic Jews in Kaifeng, China; Japanese Jews in Japan, and, yes, ethnic Afghan Jews in Afghanistan. During the reign of the Shah when I was in Iran, I met Iranian Jews. They looked like the rest of the ethnic population.
Nowhere did I see hooked noses that singled out minorities in any population. Everyone did indeed look alike. Dr Mahathir must have either an extraordinary, vivid imagination, or, lets admit it, he is simply anti-Semitic. I defy Dr Mahathir to differentiate visually between an ethnic Malaysian Jew and a Muslim Malaysian.
General Golani
Protect our treasures
Re: "Maya Bay closure draws ire from tour firms", (BP, Oct 3).
Those natural beauties and heritages, including Maya Bay, must be preserved forever as our national treasures. They should not be eaten up as a one-time dinner for tourism operators.
RH Suga
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