OPINION

Thamanat stretching truth?

Re: "Thamanat shares 'proof' of real PhD degree", (BP, Sept 13).

Deputy Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Thamanat Prompow claims to have earned a PhD degree from California University FCE, in Los Angeles.

But, www.cufce.org notes that: "California University FCE only issues equivalency awards based upon recognised college studies. Any program issuing college degrees under CUFCE name is a fraud. CUFCE never grants any college degrees, but only issue awards in affiliation with recognised college programs."

Whether he knew about it or not, it appears Mr Thamanat's degree is, at least, questionable.

Insulting to monkeys

I don't have any problem with Thamanat Prompow whether he was jailed eight months or four years in Australia, or whether he confessed to the crime, or whether he was a criminal or a bystander. The fact is he has paid his debt to society and the matter should be closed.

What bothers me is when he compared himself to a monkey keeper, then compared MPs from nano-parties to monkeys that he is indulging with bananas to keep them in line.

I think it is a most blatant degrading, demeaning and humiliating insult to all monkey keepers and monkeys in this country.

Insanity of Thai politics

Thai politics are, indeed, more interesting than any goofiness involving American politicians and politics. A Bangkok Post news story, "Thamanat to slap 100 lawsuits on critics", illustrates the colourful, laughable insanity of Thai politics.

When Thai critics laugh and criticise the antics of President Donald Trump, Americans laugh at the antics of Capt Thamanat and the inability of the prime minister do anything about it except to bleat his continuing support. Sure, support the liars, cheats and former drug runners.

That seems to be the Thai way. It's the Thai Horatio Alger story all over again.

Ease off on Grab drivers

Re: "Grab drivers warned of drugs", (BP, Sept 14).

The ludicrous proscription of holding GrabCar drivers legally liable if a passenger is supposedly involved in nefarious actions such as delivering drugs needs to be extended to all forms of public transportation.

Imagine arresting an airline crew member because a passenger is smuggling drugs. How about charging a bus driver because a passenger is carrying an illicit substance? Maybe even detaining a ferry crew member because a passenger is going to buy some drugs.

So now the police want to put the responsibility of policing onto the general public? Will drivers get supplemental police pay since they are now performing two jobs? I always "follow the money" and it seems strange that only GrabCar drivers are singled out and not ordinary taxi drivers. Makes one wonder why GrabCar drivers are being made de facto police officers.

The real dangers of graft

Re: "Media outlets must not ignore culture of kickbacks", (Opinion, Sept 14).

Focusing on political scandals is easy, cheap and not too threatening if done from a distance. Getting to the bottom of corruption cases involving many people from the most powerful agencies in the country can lead to court cases, if you're lucky, violent death if not.

Trump down, but not out

Re: "Trump is going down", (PostBag, Sept 14).

As Eric Bahrt well knows, you don't need a majority of the votes to win the US presidential race.

Mr Trump sees politics exclusively as a TV reality show. As the election nears, he will double down on his racist instincts and scare tactics. Whoever will be the Democratic opponent, he or she will be labelled as a crazy leftist who will promote illegal immigration, destroy family health care and knock down your front door to steal your firearms.

Add to that the sheer gullibility of the public who elected a sociopath. Mr Trump may be down, but he's certainly not out.

Stop polluting the planet

Re: "This climate of doom may be unscientific", (Opinion, Sept 13).

Rather than extort entire populations under the pretext of solving the illusory problem of "climate change", what should be done is to stop the pollution of the earth with plastics, poisons and genetically modified organisms. This is made clear in your recent article about bottlenose dolphins and their extraordinarily high toxic burden.

We can control pollution, it is well understood and man-made. We cannot control climate change. Carbon dioxide is not killing anyone, but mercury is. The climate does not have corporate origins, toxic mercury does? Let's abandon the nonsense of "fighting climate change" and stop polluting the planet, an achievable goal.