OPINION

'Built to burn'

Re: "#Pray for Notre Dame", (BP, April 16). I join the rest of the world in weeping for the disastrous Notre Dame fire -- but The New York Times reported that Vincent Dunn, a fire consultant and former New York City fire chief, said "These cathedrals and houses of worship are built to burn. If they weren't houses of worship, they'd be condemned."

How well protected from fire are Thailand's cultural treasures, such as the Grand Palace, Wat Arun, and the Temple of the Emerald Buddha? Thai homes are notorious for having poor wiring, with short circuits being a frequent cause of fires -- why would our palaces and wats be any safer? A building contractor I talked to said fire safety was entirely up to the homeowner -- there was no municipal inspection to ensure that his work met code standards.

Also, we need to look at other places too (here's looking at you, CentralWorld and others). Our tall buildings are required to have an annual fire drill -- but everybody knows it's not for real, all is prepared in advance, and so there's no panic.

What would happen in a real fire? How long would it take for fire fighters to plough through Bangkok traffic to reach, say, Wat Arun? Does Wat Arun even have a modern sprinkler system?

Let this horrible fire in France be our wake-up call.

Saddened by waste

Radio 107 reports that many reservoirs in the North are at 50% capacity or less. Has anyone conducted a survey on water lost through indiscriminate waste during Songkran? I expect not. When there is a drought, please don't cry wolf.

"Waste not, want not" -- many people will be better off.

Army is in charge

Re: "Electoral colleges", (PostBag, April 15).

Charcoal Ridgeback does not seem to realise that Thailand already has an electoral college. It is called the army, which is appointing 250 senators to ensure that its man becomes prime minister.

Blind to the truth

According to a recent BBC news report, Volkswagen chief executive Herbert Diess says he is "not aware" of reports about detention camps holding thousands of Muslims in China, a country where VW has been operating and producing cars for more than 30 years.

I'd venture to guess Volkswagen's past executives were "not aware" of Nazi concentration camps either.

Forgetfulness and unawareness seem to be a built-in German trait when it comes to making money.

It's all about the music

Re: "Dead music", (PostBag, April 14).

Sounded like old age has taken its toll on you, Fireman Sam.

When I hear "this cacophony of sound" with "the up-tempo deep bass thump" and "the squeak from a squeezed balloon", I nearly cry.

I think of how my parents had to put up with me and the noise I made when I was young.

Now I know how they must have felt when I cranked up Led Zeppelin's Black Dog and Jimi Hendrix's Purple Haze.

Stop throwing stones

The letters column is becoming like playtime in kindergarten.

All this "my president is better than your president" nonsense...

Please give it a rest.