OPINION

No light on 'Big Joke'

Re: "End silence over fall of 'Big Joke'", (Editorial, April 20).

Pol Lt Gen Surachate Hakparn, or Big Joke, is a close protege of Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon and a high-profile media star. Both have been extremely quiet since the story broke. Big Joke was surprisingly taken into custody, removed from his posts and made a civilian. A shocking fall for such a famous junta-appointed figure.

It is unlikely that any light will be shed on the full extent of the actual cause of his rapid demise until the junta are no longer in power, if ever.

Potus

Transparency on tax

Re: "Thai tax evaders", (PostBag, April 20).

I enthusiastically share The Tax Collector's call for greater transparency of the tax returns of senior Thai government officials.

Taxpayers everywhere deserve to know what potential financial conflicts of interest their officials have and how they may be influencing government policies for their own personal benefit -- sometimes at the expense of the welfare of the country.

Unfortunately, as The Tax Collector correctly notes, public disclosure of tax returns of Thai officials anytime soon appears highly unlikely. That is not a reason, however, to stop calling for greater transparency in the US and other countries where it is potentially more likely. We should be demanding greater transparency and accountability from government officials everywhere.

Samanea Saman

Enemy of French?

The worst enemy of French language in Bangkok is the Alliance Francaise association whose raison d'etre is, precisely, to defend and extend the use and the propagation of French language everywhere in the world.

Some students of French language recently discovered that the Alliance Francaise in Bangkok sends its invitations for cultural events to its members in English, not in French! So why learn French language when French speakers in Bangkok use English between themselves to communicate? The French lady presently in charge of the Alliance Francaise in Bangkok should be sent back to France to be dismissed at once!

Michel Muscadier

White diversity

Some people think it's ironic that although the Democrats call themselves the party of diversity, their two front runners for the Democratic nomination for president are white males. But since the last nominee was a woman and the one before her was a black man, nominating a white man would be diversity!

I'm not suggesting Democrats should vote for someone because he is a white man. I'm just saying they shouldn't vote against him for that reason. Will the day come when the politically correct insist that the next Democratic nominee for president be a black, female, Jewish, lesbian with a physical handicap? Don't bet against it!

Eric Bahrt

Drivers laugh at law

Re: "Push for murder charges against drink-drivers divides force", (BP, April 22).

This is precisely the reason for so much road carnage. There are laws, but the will to enforce them is ineffective. All the traffic rules in Thailand, strictest, to the rules with the least punishment are a big, big joke. (No pun intended). Drivers laugh their heads off knowing traffic laws are mostly unenforceable, and the slap on the wrist fines are of no consequence to most. Slip a few baht, palms down, through your window and off you go, business as usual. A traffic policeman friend once told me that stopping vehicles depends on the make, the higher end almost exempt while the lower end brands are stopped the most. Yeah, indeed, business as usual. I always keep a few 100-baht banknotes in the little pull-out cup holder on the driver's side, to contribute to the PBA, the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association.

Prince Albert