OPINION

Class system to blame

Perhaps it's a case of being "inside the bowl" that stops Thais from seeing the major obstacle holding them back from a true democracy but as a foreigner it looks obvious. From the time they are born Thais are indoctrinated with the belief that there are classes in society and a child must know where they belong.

My deaf niece's sign language book demonstrates this perfectly with two signs for hello and sorry. One is for "people of higher social position to show respect", the other for younger or lower positions. It is forced on children all the way through school and then continued in their workplaces. No matter how intelligent they are their birth position is likely to determine just where they sit in this regime and only the arrival of large amounts of money can bring about a change. Go to any local village ceremony and you will see the wai-ing and grovelling to those "social betters" who get first-class seating and fans directed to their faces. Only when all men are equal, when the people's constitution is actually written by the people and when uniforms are not seen as signs of social superiority can Thailand start to understand democracy in its correct form.

Until then the divisions, the hatred and the violence will continue.

Why is it, that every time it rains in Bangkok, the city descends into utter chaos?

It is as if people are made from sugar or had never seen rain before.

I have lived in the Middle East for many years, in countries that see about 27 minutes of rain a year and they cope better with the precipitation.

Singing in the rain.

I reread Reborn Carnivore's July 1 letter on poisonous veggies from yesterday's PostBag. I agree with him. I do not spray my durian, plum, mangosteen or avocado fruit trees. This results in a loss of profit because birds and insects do destroy a percentage of growth. However, whatever I sell is 100% pesticide free. Aside from poisoning people, pesticides poison the soil. I also grow some veggies for my personal use. I also doubt the value of hydroponic veggies as chemical nutrients are added to the water. Nothing like good, old-fashioned kee-kwai, trust me.

I would very much appreciate if you can publish the following open letter to Gen Chakthip Chaijinda and Maj Gen Sompong Chindua. I strongly believe that it is of utmost importance for them to be aware of the confusion and dissatisfaction regarding the changed requirements for extending retirement visas imposed by the previous immigration commissioner. Many financially secured retirees have already relocated to other neighbouring countries, while others expressed intention to do so in the near future (See ThaiVisa forum). This will undoubtedly will have an adverse economic effect on the many businesses who rely on foreign retirees for their livelihood. Thank you in advance for your anticipated kind cooperation. Here is the letter:

Open letter to national police chief:

I am an American citizen retired in Thailand for six years. During this time, I extended my retirement visa every year without any difficulty. Like many other retired foreigners, I like Thailand very much and am making a positive contribution to Thailand both economically and socially.

The reason I am writing to you is to inform you of the confusion and frustration many foreigners, including myself, feel about the new requirements for extending our retirement visa. This confusion began when some foreign embassies stopped issuing income verification. We all respect and accept Thailand's requirement of having a minimum income to receive a retirement visa as it is very fair and valid for Thailand to expect retired foreigners to have enough income to be able to live independently and contribute to the economy, and the majority of foreigners (including myself) have more than the required income amount to qualify for the retirement visa. In my case, I have a pension, rental income from a property I own in New York, and dividends from stocks that total more than $5,700 (176,700 baht) a month -- which is much more than the 65,000-baht monthly income required for extending a retirement visa. As indicated on the official immigration website, to receive an extension:

"The alien:

(1) Must have been granted a non-immigrant visa (NON-IM).

(2) Must be 50 years of age or over.

(3) Must have evidence of having income of no less than Baht 65,000 per month;

or

(4) On the filing date, the applicant must have account deposited (saving / fixed account) in a bank in Thailand of no less than Baht 800,000 for the past three months. For the first year only, the applicant must have proof of a deposit account in which said amount of funds has been maintained for no less than 60 days prior to the filing date; or

(5) Must have an annual earning and funds deposited with a bank totaling no less than 800,000 baht as of the filing date.

Documents to be submitted

1. Application form

2. Copy of applicant's passport

3. Evidence of income such as a retirement pension, interest or dividends;" (Seehttps://www.immigration.go.th/content/service_22).

Although the above requirements are very simple and clearly specify that "Evidence of income such as a retirement pension, interest or dividends" is required, each immigration office seems to interpret differently of what is legitimate and valid evidence of income. Foreigners, including myself, who don't hide their income from their own government, deposit their pension, dividends, rental, and other income in their local bank. With the internet, it is very simple and effective for us to print our monthly bank statements as evidence of our income. In fact, if an immigration officer feels that they need further confirmation to make sure that the bank statement is legitimate, the officer can require the foreigner to log into their bank account and display the same bank statements on the computer screen in the presence of the immigration officer.

Many foreigners find it impractical and costly to transfer funds to a Thai bank and then withdraw it as needed. I, like many others, prefer to withdraw money from my foreign bank as I need it by using an ATM machine because I get a very favourable exchange rate, and my bank (as do many foreign banks) reimburses me the 220-baht ATM fee charged by the Thai bank.

I hope you will issue a clarification that will allow us to provide foreign monthly bank statements for an entire year as proper evidence of income to avoid confusion among foreigners and have consistency across all immigration offices.

Many retired foreigners have already left or planning to leave Thailand because of the difficult and confusing requirements immigration offices have now. There is no doubt that many Thai businesses will suffer economically because of the loss of business that will result from foreigners leaving Thailand.

Re: "Vladimir Putin is wrong, but so are liberals", (Opinion, July 3).

Vladimir Putin is wrong, but so is Pankaj Mishra. Yes, excesses of neo-liberalism and stinky politics must be curbed. But Mr Mishra fails to see that neo-liberalism, mass migration and multiculturalism are not separate issues, but come as a package. Unfettered migration and multiculturalism are key tenets of neo-liberalism. Rather than agitating strawmen, he should think harder.

Liberals who value individual freedoms, the common good and the welfare state, particularly in Europe must address multiculturalism. which is the negation of liberal democracy. By definition, it implies the abolition of the common good and results in individuals being assigned to competing groups they just they happen to be born in with their individual freedoms limited by the norms of their community. Its most principled critics are the republican (as in republic, res publica) left, not the hard right. Liberals also must rationally worry about mass inflows of people who do not share liberal values and are not assimilated.

Mathieu Bock-Côté defines multiculturalism as the host country having to adapt to migrants (e.g. Canada), rather than migrants having to adapt to the host country's values as was expected in the past.

Finally, no-border migration is incompatible with maintaining our welfare states. The new prime minister of Denmark wants to strictly control immigration to preserve the country's generous welfare state. Hard right, nationalist, Thatcherite? No, a social-democrat: a liberal!

It infuriates me that every time we read about pesticide poisoning meat-eaters such as Reborn Carnivore (Postbag, July 1) gloat about the "dangers" of being a vegan. He doesn't know that because of the enormous amount of plants fed to farm animals you're generally exposed to far more pesticide poisoning when you eat meat. Let me explain:

Suppose a cow eats ten thousand plants that have pesticide poisoning in its lifetime. If you eat that cow you are being exposed to a tremendously higher level of pesticides than if you directly eat a relatively small number of plants. This also shows the absurdity of meat-eaters arguing that "plants feel pain" when the livestock industry that they support is the number 1 destroyer of plant food in the world.

Can anyone explain in the era of digitisation and the national push for "Thailand 4.0" why the lottery system here remains antiquated and analog?

All the issues plaguing the Government Lottery Office such as "needing" to print more tickets, eliminating corruption and protecting the youth are easily resolved through a simple transition to electronic machines.

Ticket quantity becomes a non-issue since they are printed on demand. Plus it has the added benefit of allowing the consumer to choose their "lucky" numbers every time. This might actually increase sales, which is a sound business model.

Corruption and scalping tickets are eliminated because there is now a digital record of every transaction and automatic transparency. Children are protected by having retailers be required to ask for ID when purchasing tickets.

The transition is easy. The equipment is already used throughout the world and it is no different than installing an ATM at a location.

If the GLO does not transition to a modern method, it means they are OK with corruption and illegal gambling with children. Actions speak louder than words.

As to resistance concerning the charitable aspects of selling tickets for handicapped people, it is resolved by earmarking a percentage to go directly to those groups. The lottery in my state has an automatic set-aside for college scholarship money and every student qualifies as long as they maintain a "B" grade in all subjects. This incentive actually helps the youth because they study harder to remain qualified.

Will Michael Setter kindly tell me what "Thainess" is? Define Englishness, Americaness, Australianess, Laoness, Cambodianess or any other "ness". It is all a crock of you know what. People define themselves within their societies. Thainess is different in each region, each province, here and abroad. Don't put labels on non-definables.