Democracy farce
The state of democracy reached in the US and Thailand is miserable, in similar but different ways. The interests of the poor and ordinary wage-workers are diluted in both countries. In the US, this happpens within only two big parties where money and the elite set their agenda over the interests of the majority of the voters who always and everywhere in the world are the wage-workers.
After so many years of practising "democracy" in the US, how come the votes by the majority of the citizens have not brought the fruits of democracy which you can see in much younger democracies? Only a democracy for and by the rich can produce 50 million citizens on food stamps and 18.5 million living in "extreme poverty" and call itself democratic.
In Thailand, the will of the ordinary people is diluted by 80 parties scrambling for power. Both countries are made dysfunctional democracies by the structure of various parties. In the US regulations have to be made to make it easier for new parties to be established and have influence; in Thailand it's the opposite -- the number of parties have to be reduced to avoid chaos and Babylonian confusion.
A Johnsen
Laundering scams
Re: "Buyers beware", (PostBag, May 18).
Kuldeep Nagi is mistaken. Many times, immovable properties are not meant for human habitation. Many foreigners, particularly from a specific country, purchase property as a means for money laundering and to keep their assets away from the most prying government in the world.
This obviously benefits property developers in Thailand and, I for one, will continue to buy their stocks on the market but not their products. Also, the country is not indebted to anyone for their "contribution" to the country since the individuals willingly remit money to Thailand. In fact, the reverse can be claimed by Thais, that it is foreigners who contributed to economic inflation owing to them investing in Thai properties and putting them out of reach to ordinary Thais.
Jeff Chong
Unloved expats
Re: "Documents till death", (PostBag, May 17).
I empathise with Mister Lungstib and his angst at needing to apply yearly for his married visa and the new need to keep 400,000 baht sitting uselessly in a bank account. I, too, am married to a Thai and I, too, support both her and her family. I would like to be able to use that 400,000 baht in emergencies, but I cannot.
Expats are rarely loved either by their country of origin or that in which they live. If foreign consulates are lobbying the Thai government on our behalf, it is invisible in the pages of this newspaper. The truth is, they simply don't care that much about us expats.
There is a pressing need now for an expat's society based in Bangkok to lobby our consuls and the Thai government directly. We cannot trust our own countries to help us. Farang need to take the initiative and help ourselves.
Andy Phillips
Abuse is a disgrace
Re: "Disgusting elephant abuse", (PostBag, May 19).
I share Momzer's disgust about the undernourished baby elephant who was forced to perform, broke both legs and was denied treatment for three days.
Why isn't Thailand's animal welfare law being enforced?
It seems to me that unless we're talking about the abuse of dogs or cats Thailand's "animal rights activists" are just sitting on their butts doing nothing. Tell me one thing that those people have done to help the elephants.
Eric Bahrt
