OPINION

Lost in Thai space

Having just celebrated International Migrants Day, I thought it may be the right time to ask what category myself and many like me fall into in Thailand.

 I have been here 32 years, first in rented accommodation to work and later in a house with my wife and children that was paid for by me and "owned" by my Thai wife. I have no other house anywhere in the world, I reside in Thailand full time (apart from periods when I had to go outside the country to work) to put my two children through university.

I am obviously not a tourist, my visa tells I am a non-immigrant and yet I am a legal stayer. But what am I, in the official categories that exist everywhere else in the world? My visa extension says I have been granted permission for a temporary stay with my wife. The 29-year temp.

Re: "Always pro-Brexit" (PostBag, Dec 19).

I agree with Reinald Luekes' comment that the UK should never have joined the European Union in the first place, despite his grasp of historical detail being faulty. In fact, Britain never joined the EU. In 1973, Britain joined what was then known as the European Economic Community. Although Edward Heath, the British prime minister at the time, knew that the ultimate aim was for the EEC to grab ever more sovereignty from member states and transform itself into the supranational, at times anti-democratic, swollen and self-serving bureaucracy that the EU has now become, he did not tell the British people. Thus, in 1975, when a new government held a referendum on whether Britain should remain in the EEC, 67% voted in support.

Some years previously, Britain's two applications to join the EEC had been rebuffed by President De Gaulle of France, and he was right. He observed that Britain had worldwide trading and cultural connections which, among other things, meant that the country would not fit comfortably into the ethos of the EEC, and so it has proved. Now a majority of the British people have made it clear that they want their sovereignty back, and as a result there is political chaos in Westminster.

Is that a disaster? No, it's democracy at work, not an edifying sight but far preferable to the alternative. When the Irish people voted against the Lisbon Treaty, designed to centralise more power in Brussels, the EU apparatchiks told them to vote again, and deliver the "right" verdict. They duly complied.

I am hopeful that we Britons are still made of sterner stuff and will remain resolute in the face of attempts to hold a second referendum, which is being touted by those who just cannot bring themselves to accept the democratic will of 17.4 million people.

In "Hatred stirred by leaders blamed for rise in journalist murders", AFP writers once again take a shot at Donald Trump where there is nothing factual in their story to warrant it.

No journalists in the US have been murdered by Trump supporters, in fact the actors employed by CNN and their ilk are making bundles of money for their inept portrayal of journalists on TV. The real story was about the hazards of practising authentic journalism in war-torn countries and the extreme censorship practiced in countries like China, Turkey, Egypt and Thailand.

Mr Trump is a supporter of authentic journalism and transparency in government. Report the news, AFP.

Re: "Navy prepares to receive new ship", (BP, Dec 19).

Hostilities in the Korean War ended in 1953. It's hard to believe that 65 years later, South Korea is one of the leading industrialised nations in the world. They even made a navy ship for us. That is an incredible achievement. Those of us who prefer a dictatorship should note the differences between North and South Korea.

Meanwhile, about the new frigate HTMS Tachin, let me point out a couple of boo-boos.

First, the story said the ship has a "storage displacement of 3,700 tonnes". A ship's displacement is the weight of water that a ship "displaces" when it floats, which is equal to the weight of a ship when it is fully loaded. It has nothing to do with "storage" capacity. It tells you how big a ship is, for example, aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan has a displacement of over 100,000 tonnes.

And, knot is already a unit of speed -- there is no need to say "30 knots/hour". Just 30 knots (55.56kph) will do.

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