OPINION

Land rights peril

Re: "Land rights need to be addressed", (Editorial, Sept 15).

Thanks P-Move for pioneering land rights at the frontline. It is now clear that land and natural resources cannot be entrusted to nation states or big corporations. Whether it be in Brazil, Indonesia or indeed, worldwide, nearly all governance practices prove to be disastrous. Global citizens urgently need to reclaim the land and care for it in a framework which tentatively can be called Earth Trusteeship.

Some pro-government female MP claimed the Ultraman Buddha paintings offended her Buddhist beliefs. Now I am just an unknowing farang but I always understood that Buddhism has nothing to do with beliefs but rather with awareness, mindfulness and understanding. Also I understood that Buddha exhorted his disciples not to believe anything uncritically, not even his own teachings. It occurs to me that the conservatives have offended the intelligence of other people many, many times. Where do they go to apologise?

Re: "Thamanat to slap 100 lawsuits on critics", (Online, Sept 13).

This guy is really unstable, a loose canon. The quicker Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha cuts this character loose the better it will be for all around. The PM should familiarise himself with the old proverb: For want of a nail, the shoe was lost

For want of a rider the message was lost. For want of a message the battle was lost. For want of a battle the kingdom was lost. And all for the want of a horseshoe nail. Take heed, general. Capt Thamanat is the nail that might cost you the government.

Re: "Retailers to stop handing out plastics", (Business, Sept 7).

In addition to retailers cooperating to reduce plastic waste by ceasing to give out single-use plastic bags to consumers at department stores and 24-hour convenience stores starting in early 2020, I would like to see cooperation extended to using biodegradable boxes for food as well.

I'm afraid that when the ban on the use of plastic foam boxes arrives by the start of 2022, the cost of biodegradable boxes will affect food prices.

Nowadays biodegradable boxes are in short supply and their price is two or three times higher than that of foam boxes. A tide of plastic foam boxes hits our streets each day, with the biodegradable alternatives still barely visible. It would be unfortunate if consumers cannot use biodegradable boxes as part of their lifestyle.

Re: "More a sorry scrawl than a signature", (Opinion, Sept 15).

Crutchley's article brings back fond memories of ink bottles, fragile pens with metal nibs. While going to school in India in the 1960s, I was exposed to the travesty of using Camel Ink that came in small bottles with a narrow opening. The problem was the shape and size of the ink bottles. While dipping the pen they easily tipped and toppled resulting in a mess all over.

Another nasty exercise involved changing the metal nib in a pen. Some nibs had grooves and others were defective so we had to scrub them on paper to make the ink flow. Often this exercise resulted in the nibs bursting and ink splashing on our hands, clothing and everything in between. Now we know why they were called fountain pens...