OPINION

Noble no more

An American senator is said to have coined the phrase, "The first casualty when war comes is truth", back in 1918.

However, it seems that truth had already become a casualty when a government minister here in Thailand announced that he was setting up a "war room" to track down those who dare challenge his dubious version of what happened when he got into a spot of bother in Australia back in the 1990s.

This sorry saga raises some disturbing questions about the current state of affairs in Thailand, where "good people" were supposed to replace "bad people" in the country's political system.

Whatever happened to that noble aspiration?

Life's a losing game

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

Does Nature care if humans exist or not? Would it make any difference if Homo sapiens became extinct, due to our own actions? Does the planet need us?

The answer to these questions must be categorically "no". So why do humans seem to think otherwise?

Surely it is illogical to believe that humans are important, or that Nature will maintain an environment suitable for our needs indefinitely.

Does Nature care what we do to the planet while we are here? Even after mass extinction events, Nature simply shrugs and continues on her course, oblivious to the fate of all species.

We will be no different, and our struggle with Nature is the height of futility.

By all means, we should clean up our act while we are here. But why not accept our inevitable destiny too?

Science vs fiction

Michael Setter (Postbag, Sept 15) -- who has a history of stating totally off-the-wall opinions as though they are proven facts -- now tells us that climate change is an illusion, citing "the latest science".

This dangerously misleads readers, since 97% of all scientists that have published on this subject in peer-reviewed scientific journals say that's it real.

Baht rise BoT's fault

The baht is unreasonably strong. Why? The Bank of Thailand painted itself into a corner by first allowing its foreign reserves to soar to over US$220 billion -- an extremely overzealous decision -- resulting in a gigantic stalemate in the Thai economy.

Then, it keeps insisting on strict foreign remittance rules that require proof of reason and paperwork for even small amounts of remittances at banks.

If they instead allowed funds to move more freely, it would take the pressure off the rising baht.

Too proud to consult

Another failure in Thailand's infrastructure planning is imminent, with Don Mueang airport hitting its maximum capacity.

Meanwhile, infrastructure provider AoT continues to release useless statements, such as urging airlines to use bigger aircraft.

It's evident that the agency is too proud to hire expert consultants for its long-term infrastructure planning.