OPINION

Who you gonna call?

Re: "Who trusts the NACC?", (Editorial, Dec 27).

I do.

The editorial is unfair to National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC), selectively picking on cases that it failed to investigate or investigated perfunctorily.

The NACC has done a great many jobs in the past. It directly or indirectly brought down four of the last five prime ministers -- namely, Thaksin, Samak, Somchai and Yingluck. And if that wasn't enough, it is still scraping together more corruption charges against Thaksin and Yingluck that would make them live like gypsies for the rest of their lives. Moreover, it put two ministers under Yingluck's government -- former commerce minister Boonsong Teriyapirom and Surapong Tovichakchaikul, former deputy prime minister and foreign affairs minister -- in jail for malfeasance.

That is what I call big fish. It's okay to let the little ones get away, you know, like: GT 200, non-flying blimp, Rajabhakti Park, Rolls Royce scandal, watches scandal.

Questions on "What comes after capitalism?" according to Pankaj Mishra's awakening column on Dec 27, are no longer "ravings of the loony left" but breaking into the mainstream. However, there are seldom answers yet. The present neo-liberal world order and its global economic institutions protect extravagant private property and the accumulation of capital from responsible people's control (undermined by populism), by means of "authoritarian democracy" (if not "dictatorial democracy") and a United Nations governed by nation-states increasingly reverting to capitalist self-interest.

One powerful concept able to positively intervene in this vicious cycle is "Earth Trusteeship" or the realisation that "all global citizens are equal trustees of the Earth". Trusteeship is a mode of legal ownership exercised in the benefit of others, here primarily the interests of future generations. Earth Trusteeship responsibilities and rights are valued by their ecological footprint. The concept of "Earth Trusteeship" was recently launched by a pioneering group at the Peace Palace in The Hague, seat of the International Court of Justice, Dec 10, in support of "70 Years Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)". The UDHR, however, says little on humanity's responsibility to protect the environment; and it upholds property rights (Art. 17) without reference to ecological boundaries.

Earth Trusteeship can provide a powerful foundation towards the revitalisation of the campaign for a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly (UNPA) which aims to mark a shift from voting by nation-states to direct democracy, including the voice of global citizens who are deprived of national citizenship. Without changes at the global constitutional level, as could be addressed under Sustainable Development Goals 16 and 17, there will be little chance that positive alternatives to capitalism, also emerging from grassroots responsible business experimentation, will ever take hold.

Re: Challenging the norms of capitalism, (Opinion, Dec 27).

The writer provides an excellent insight into the vagaries of capitalism. For a long time, the major international bodies, such as UN, IMF, World Bank and ITO have been dominated by Western nations. These international organisations have served their interests for more than a century. In spite of increased globalisation, the new innovations and cutting-edge technologies are still being developed in the West. It is rather difficult to imagine that the rise of China alone will change or make capitalism disappear. In fact, capitalism is spreading like wildfire in developing countries in Asia. As long as there are consumers, commodities and global cash flow, capitalism will survive.

For some economists, it is fashionable to label neoliberalism as a form of regulation -- one that insulates the markets from the vagaries of mass democracy and economic nationalism. But communism or socialism are not very different. They are also saturated with their own flavour of economic nationalism. Who will figure out what comes after neoliberalism? Only time will tell. But I doubt it will be China or Russia.

Democracy is in decay the world over. Just look what respect for democracy ex-UK PM Tony Blair shows when he recently said he would do everything he can to avoid Brexit? And dissatisfied losers aren't shy either when they ask for a second referendum. In the US, the losers are holding a tight and disturbing grip on the democratic process with "Russiagate" by never coming up with any final decisive proof or revelation.

So democracy seems now more and more to be about losers not respecting the majority's win within the political system as it currently exists, instead sabotaging the winner with all means -- even perhaps by (mis)using symphathisers within the state apparatus, the security and surveillance sector alike? Is the lack of acceptance of results now turning democracy into a dysfunctional political system? By a minority elite, who didn't get their way?

The Dec 28 Editorial, "patients deserve better", mentioned prices "sometimes 200-300% higher than those sold in pharmacies. I have experienced overcharging 1,000% and 1,200%: the first for a catheter, the second for high blood pressure pills. If I were only charged double, I would rejoice. In the case of the pills -- 2 baht each in a pharmacy, 24 baht each at a private hospital -- I complained to the customer service. Eventually, two very well-groomed young women of the PR type came out to see me. I said "why do you charge 12 times the normal price for these pills? Answer, we always keep all the necessary medicines in stocks and it is all new stock. so that's why we charge more."

Price control on drugs and medicine should be easily realised if no corruption is involved. But this is the land of corruption after all.

Your Dec 27 article on two ordinary citizens, "heroes that shook the nation", had me reflecting on this social peculiarity that is installed in all Thais from the youngest of ages and which brings nothing but harm. Ms Panida Yotpanya and Mr Wichian Chinnawong did what is, or should be, expected from all good citizens, but in a nation taught to believe that there are people of high social status that you must always revere, their behaviour stood out as exceptional.

Rather than let these "high class" criminals get away with their barbaric behaviour, these two good citizens put their own future in jeopardy to ensure the right thing was done. Right there you have in a nutshell the very reason this country is in a trap of its own making that allows corruption to thrive and theft to be commonplace in your institutions. For as long as you go on teaching this awful, immoral and unjust practice, Thailand will remain stuck in its feudal past.

Re: "Get rid of diesel" (PostBag, Dec 26).

Country leaders around the world are not willing to take steps to reduce climate change, which would reduce their votes in an election. Phasing out diesel has to be done but it would raise the cost of living. Instead of thanking the leader for implementing measures which will mitigate the hardship-causing effects of climate change, people would castigate the government and vote in a party that would not implement the necessary steps.

Indeed, the car companies would deliver so many pastries to ensure diesel isn't phased out. Ultimately, corruption will prevent the necessary measures being taken, such as phasing out diesel.

It isn't easy to speak out against one's own country, but in life, certain principles are more important, I believe; and thus I am writing this letter.

My country's leader (or should I say dictator?), Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, now seems to have been given the green light to attack Syrian Kurds yet again. YPG, the dominant Kurdish group in Syria, has never attacked or even threatened Turkey, but Erdogan insists they are a threat. Erdogan has already led the Turkish invasion of Afrin, a Syrian Kurdish town, and caused hundreds of people to be killed. The West did and said basically nothing I am worried Erdogan's forces will now go deeper into Syrian Kurdistan.

Erdogan has committed massive human rights violations inside Turkey (think of the dozens of politicians, lawyers and activists who are being held in jail there). Again, the West mostly stayed quiet. Are they scared of his 'refugee card' factor? Or do they not want to lose out on military sales to Turkey?

A very interesting news story appeared in The Sun of the UK. It told about a Russian hunter who found a bear cub and raised it and kept it as a pet until the bear was fully grown. It escaped from its cage, killed and ate the hunter, whose skeletal remains were found nearby. The moral of this story is, "You know who your enemies are. Be wary of your friends".

How appropriate that Indonesian President Widodo has now ordered his government to purchase a new, updated tsunami warning system. The present system has not been operational for the past six years. This is a classic illustration of the proverb: closing the barn door after the horses have bolted.

The column, "Time to rethink energy conservation plan," (Opinion, Dec 20) by Suphakit Nanthavorakarn highlights the governance inadequacies for processes to reach consensus on the proposed national energy efficiency goals.

However the bigger picture context of potentially catastrophic human-induced climate change from polluting greenhouse gases has been completely sidestepped. Strangely this seems to be part of an ongoing pattern in media coverage and public policy discourse in Thailand.

Bottom line is that to achieve targets under the Paris Agreement and recent international commitments, to which this nation is a signatory, carbon emissions require a huge shift in power generation to renewable energy.

Energy Efficiency Plan implementation will fall well short of the necessary mitigation of emissions unless already proven, economically cost effective solar energy projects are rolled out throughout Thailand.

This in turn requires energy markets to be opened up by a national government to competition rather than continuing to allow the monopolisation of power generation and supply.

In his Dec 24 letter, Reinald Lueke is correct in stating that countries joined the EEC not realising it would mutate into the EU, the uncontrolled political organisation it now is.

As for De Gaulle, he could never accept that without Britain, where he fled, he would now be one more forgotten name in the long list of defeated French generals. Having been overrun by the Germans twice, he was happy to be alongside them in the EEC, on the basis that if you can't beat them, join them.

Today I went to the beach in Bang Saray. As I began my walk, although it was a lovely day, I could not enjoy it because my eyes were fixed on the sand. The first obstacles were medical waste, including syringes and other rubbish, then Chinese tourists, oblivious to anyone but themselves, being towed on jet skis or playing on huge inflatables anchored to the ocean floor. A speed boat zipped back and forth, towing them on a parasail about four metres offshore.

When I finally reached a safe swimming spot, not four metres from the beach was a longline fishing setup. No doubt a local resident thought it would be to his satisfaction if a tourist came back from holiday in Thailand with a fish hook in the eye for a souvenir.

It appears the same criminals in Pattaya, who call themselves respectable politicians, are in control of Bang Saray. They employ the identical management style: maximise returns from corrupt practices and the hell with everyone else.

I beg the prime minister to use Section 44 to clean up Bang Saray before it is too late. It has the potential to be the premier family-friendly destination in the Eastern Economic Corridor.

Re: "For crimes against the environment" (BP, Dec 26).

One extremely important aspect of the nation's problem with environmental regulation is neglected. While the government is praised for enacting new laws, the actual situation is like the late stages of a bullfight. The red cape no longer scares the bull and a sword must be stuck in his hide. But Thailand's matadors are too busy with human trafficking, murder for hire, extortion and other corrupt business to have time for polluters. Unless there is comprehensive police reform, little will change.

Re: "Mass transit key to cleaner air" (Editorial, Dec 23).

Kudos for highlighting the increasingly dangerous air quality in Bangkok.

I'm offering a suggestion/question re: the AIR4THAI app that you mentioned. I downloaded the app and have been comparing the numbers with the AQI global index.

For some reason, the Thai app numbers are consistently lower than AQI organisations, and early on Dec 25 it was lower by 50%? The AIR4THAI app read 88 or "moderate" while the AQI showed 168 or "unhealthy", for the same region of Bangkok.)

Please consider a follow-up story on why the numbers show such a discrepancy.