OPINION

Check his credentials

Re: "Thamanat wins PM's backing", (BP, Sept 11). As a reformist, Prime Minister Pra-yut Chan-o-cha should quickly verify Deputy Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Capt Thamanat Prompow's claims that he didn't (a) plead guilty to charges of drug trafficking in Australia and (b) didn't serve a four-year jail sentence for his crime, thus disqualifying him from office.

If he were really innocent, the minister should have filed charges against the Sydney Morning Herald -- but he hasn't. SMH has an excellent reputation and high credibility, with the website, Media Bias/Fact Check saying "[we] rate them high for factual reporting due to proper sourcing and a clean fact-check record". Prime Minister Prayut, give us faith in you. Ask the Australian embassy to check Minister Thamanat's credentials before the opposition does.

Dear Prime Minister, I'm one of your most ardent supporters. During most MCOT English-language news breaks there was a government announcement to remind everyone in the country that "Thais are fed up with corruption and that the government is doing all in its power to eradicate it". I believe the Thai word for hypocrisy is karn sesaeng. Unless you and your government can deal with the former captain who served jail time in Australia for drug related offences and is now deputy minister, then you and your government are hypocrites. It appears that you want everyone to do as you say, but you employ dishonest politicians, so how can you set an example for the rest of the country?

Being a prime minister means being a leader who sets an example for all to follow. If Capt Thamanat can get away with everything, you are in effect telling everyone they should be able to get away with any crime as well. It would be interesting if a person pleaded not guilty in drug related court case, citing Capt Thamanat as a good example.

Heroin smuggling and multi-million baht watch collections are made invisible in Thailand by magic tricks that even a four-year-old can see through. Now you see a PhD, now you don't. I suggest these entertainers move the whole show to "Thailand's Criminals Got Talent" where they can be appreciated for what they truly are.

Somchai Srisutthiyakorn's call for the Thai embassy in Australia to verify media reports on Deputy Agriculture Minister Thamanat Prompow's convictions in Australia is not necessary. Anyone can access the reports by Googling the Sydney Morning Herald, where they can read the original reports plus today's follow-up giving further details of Capt Thamanat's conviction and imprisonment for drug trafficking.

Deputy Agriculture and Cooperative Minister Thamanat Prompow's controversial and shady conviction in Australia should push Prime Minister Gen Prayut to turn a crisis into an opportunity and move Thailand forward into a positive and respectable future. Why?

1. The Foreign Ministry is in a position of the middle man to verify what was going on in Australia in 1993 concerning Khun Thamanat's conviction. If it's proven that he's lying, Gen Prayut must instantly remove him from the cabinet. As a Thai taxpayer, I still can't understand and accept Khun Thamanat's appointment based on his own version of the conviction, if he was thoroughly investigated.

2. I've several times expressed my conviction that if society was more open and accepted the concept of "accountability" while opposing and denying "conflict of interest", Thailand could move forward with confidence for our future generation.

Gen Prayut, please read this letter and give Thais and this great country a new chance and a new road to move forward.

Re: "Who are the real big bad Buddhists?", (Opinion, Sept 13).

Buddhists (as well as Muslims) need to lighten up. I just taught a class at Chulalongkorn University on cultural sensitivity in which I took these zealots to task. I showed the students several appropriated images of the Last Supper such as the South Park Last Supper, The Simpsons' Last Supper, a Lego Last Supper and a Jesus-as-a-DJ Last Supper, pointing out there aren't any rabid Christians demanding reprimand and legal action. Religious belief should be strong enough to weather parody and humour.

The Buddha's Golden Gleam:(for the Thai Ultraman artist)It was in a tiny Buddhist templeAnd on a very quiet day;The monks had done their deeds of meritAnd settled down to pray.The candlelight reflected onThe Buddha's golden gleam;And wafts of incense reached the roofIn one unbroken stream.Above the sky was bathed in twilightAnd temple bells pealed in the breeze;Below the monks in robes of saffronChanted sutras on their knees.The first to see the silent figureThought it odd he'd heard no door;And yet the figure watched intentlyAs no mere man had watched before.Then slowly as if in a dreamThe figure moved and stood besideThe Buddha's calm eternal gazeAnd in mid-verse, the monks' chants died.The stranger moved as if to kissThe idol's lips and ask for grace;Then in a moment as all sounds ceasedHe spat upon the Buddha's face.The monks cried out and rose as oneTo seize the man who dared defileThe glory of their sacred idolBut stopped like babes before his smile.He stared into each monk's wide eyesHis words like holy writ;"Show me where Buddha is not," he said,And there then will I spit."The monks knelt down before the manAnd asked that he forgiveTheir sin of knowing all the ritesBut forgetting how to live.The man reached out his hand and smiledHe bade them pray and as he spokeThey seemed to slip into a dreamThe man was gone when they awoke.I tell this tale because it's trueDon't ask me how I know;Just ask the monks whose teacher spokeIn a tiny temple -- so long ago.

Re: "Supreme Court upholds jail terms for red-shirt invasion of Asian summit", (BP, Sept 11).

The court on Wednesday upheld the ruling of the two lower courts, sentencing Arisman Pongruangrong and 11 other members of the red-shirt movement to four years each in prison -- for unlawfully disrupting the 2009 Asian Summit in Pattaya. This verdict shows no Thai can put themselves above the law.

People who watched the Pattaya summit break-up on television were convinced that was a show of barbarism by a few of Thailand's bad apples, whose aim was to forward their selfish agenda at the expense of the country's integrity and good name.

Among those prosecuted, only one appeared before the court on Wednesday. The movement's leader, Mr Arisman, was among those who failed to show up. This showed these people were audacious only when carrying out their unlawful acts, but were too cowardly to accept the guilty verdict before the court.

Re: "How democracies are dying off, American-style", (Opinion, Sept 11).

It is not only in the USA and Europe but also in Asia that the guardrails of democracy are being torn down. It is becoming clear that all major institutions that are meant to serve the public have become the tools of the ruling party to punish and intimidate the opposition. Many countries in Asean, including Thailand, are proud to declare themselves as democracies on paper, but in practice, they behave like authoritarian regimes. Whether it is the Election Commission, courts, immigration or the police, they are there to serve the ruling class. The current fiasco of using the TM30 form to track foreigners flies in the face of immigration when corrupt Thai officials escape the country without a trace. No TM30, no immigration stamp, no passport, no problems?

You can guess who is playing the game of monopoly in Hong Kong? In the case of Thailand, many governments and politicians in the past, whether elected or self-appointed, have exercised their control over the government machinery to enrich themselves. The fist fighting over the cabinet posts in the current government is indicative of the fact that party politicians in the coalition government have joined the forces to serve themselves, not to serve the Thai people. In a mature democracy, you do not need a cabinet post to serve the people.

The politics of "divide and rule" being practiced by Mr Trump has eroded the stature of US democracy in the eyes of the world. It has also eroded the magnificence of the Statue of Liberty welcoming immigrants to the land of the free.

Your feature on House RCA on Sept 11 quoted co-founder Pornchai Viriyaprapanont that the cinema is promoting remastered classic films, including Akira Kurosawa's 1953 drama Tokyo Story. Please note that Tokyo Story was directed by Yasujiro Ozu,and not by Akira Kurosawa.

This film was the crowning achievement of Ozu, who was regarded as one of the greatest directors in the history of Japanese cinema.

I had to read this poll three times to make sure I wasn't imagining it. And I still think I'm dreaming! The poll had six Democrats, including all front runners, leading Donald Trump in the state of Texas. Even socialist Bernie Sanders had a six-point lead! Mr Trump won Texas by nine points in 2016 and I thought it was "a sure thing" for him.

I was originally going to vote for Joe Biden in the expat primary next March because I thought he had the best chance of being elected.

But now I'm starting to think that other candidates also have a real chance of beating Mr Trump and I'm going to give them a second look. Mr Trump is going down!

Re: "Davis calls gender imbalance 'embarrassment'", (Life, Sept 13).

I was rather baffled that Geena Davis would produce a movie, This Changes Everything, on gender imbalance in Hollywood and select a man, Tom Donahue, to direct it. Interestingly, she has during her career produced a total of two movies, both directed by men. None of the movies she has produced were directed by women.

If the rate of 24% of films being directed by women is not good enough for France and 4% in the US is "an embarrassment", how should she qualify her own 0% record? Catastrophic and hypocritical?