OPINION

Army chief paranoid?

Re: "Apirat says B12bn of US arms 'a necessity'", (BP, Sept 26). Every time I read the army's attempt to justify their need for more extremely violent weapons, I get the feeling that the main qualification necessary for the head of the army is that he needs to be extremely paranoid. Who does he think is going to attack us? The last attack on the army that I remember was some guy who rammed a tank with his taxi at or near the Royal Plaza. Is the army commander afraid that it will be a whole fleet of taxis next time?

As far as I can tell, the army has lost a lot more personnel in the past 10 years or so from being beat up by other soldiers for "disciplinary" reasons than to any enemy action. I think the government should think again about approving a budget for more weapons like this until there is a commander of the army who is not still fighting a war that was over more than 50 years ago.

Immigration is vital

Thailand is facing an unprecedented demographic challenge. Its population is ageing quickly, while the birthrate continues to fall. As a result, the number of college-aged students is expected to keep on declining until 2040. This will have a serious impact on the job market.

The solutions provided by Thitinan Pongsidhirak in his Sept 27 column "Developing by managing demographics" must be taken seriously. Hence a multithrong approach is urgently needed. Reforming the immigration policy should be the first priority.

Foreigners from Western countries with adequate financial assets must be given residency and the right to work. Those who are married to Thai women and take care of their families and livelihood should be given a "Green Card", similar to what Thais and other immigrants get in the US.

Other Asean workers who have been working in the country for five years must be considered for residency. Thailand must do what Japan has already begun doing: hunt for talent and recruit a highly educated and talented workforce.

I am afraid that initiatives such as "Digital Access 2030" or "Bilingual Thailand 2020" cannot be achieved without drastic changes in the Thai educational system. While expensive international schools located in Bangkok provide cutting-edge curriculum, the mainstream Thai educational system remains rooted in wai khru, meaningless rituals and stale curriculum celebrating its past glory. The whole educational system from top to bottom must become bilingual. Thailand cannot become a high-income country without reforming its educational system, immigration, and investment policies. And sadly, its political system will keep it in the same orbit where it has been for the last seven decades -- corruption, cronyism, conflicts, and coups.

Ugly reality of alcohol

Re: "Lunlabelle's death spurs anti-booze drive", (BP, Sept 27).

According to US Centers for Disease Control statistics, over 2,000 people, mainly middle-aged men, die annually from alcohol overdoses in the US. Although it apparently surprised some in Thailand that people can and do overdose on the drug alcohol, with the subsequent death in many cases being an unhappy outcome, it is perhaps a little better known that even moderate users of this drug suffer a wide range of health harm from brain damage, to liver and other organ damage. But despite the very real harm that alcohol causes to drinkers, this is not what makes alcohol such a harmfully toxic drug.

What many in Thailand fail to understand is that alcohol is not only a drug of addiction, like heroin and tobacco, but that it is in fact the worst when it comes to harm caused to society. As reported by the former product presenter, "most customers in bars are under the influence of alcohol and forget themselves", and engage in aggressive, offensive behaviour that harms others. It is not only that alcohol kills on roads, tearing families apart is a well-known drug reality in Thailand, where high road kills are a traditional accompaniment of major Thai celebrations.

Alcohol is also regularly implicated in rape and other sexual assault. Alcohol is a leading driver of domestic abuse. And it is a powerful cause of fights in bars, pubs and other venues where the drug is consumed.

In more refined hi-so gatherings, other drunks, or those merely under the cheerful influence of a couple of glasses of something nice, might find their equally intoxicated friends' loud, insistent ramblings entertaining and deeply profound. Those with clearer heads can see the ugly reality that alcohol rapidly induces in users.

Of all the drugs to choose to use, alcohol is the worst for society and others. And it is only going to further harm society.

Booze ban no answer

Every time something like this headline appears, "Lunlabelle's death spurs anti-booze drive", it is the fringe lunatics that come out of the woodwork. The same can be said for the anti-tobacco groups and others out there.

Rather than educate people on the dangers of excess drinking, partaking in illicit drugs and booze-fuelled parties, these groups want an alcohol ban.

It ain't gonna happen, folks. It didn't work during the prohibition period in the US, it is certainly not going to happen here in Thailand. What it will do is promote making moonshine. To those of you who do not know what it is, moonshine is wonderful, home distilled alcohol, sometimes okay, sometimes causing blindness and death. I sampled some wonderful homemade "screech", a local home distilled rum in Newfoundland in Canada recently, found it utterly eye opening. It left me gasping for breath, but it warmed me up too.

Banning the sale of alcohol during specific times of the day is simple minded. No one bothers with introducing early education about alcohol abuse, drug abuse or excessive tobacco use. The only thing we get to hear is the war cry of pathetic lunatics -- "Ban, ban, ban".

FFP must clear the air

The Future Forward Party (FFP) yesterday admitted that the party has hired a US lobbyist to be the party's "coordinator" in the United States -- during the period between July 1 and Dec 31, 2019.

The mentioned time frame coincides with Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha's visit to the US, in which Gen Prayut was confronted by a group of non-Thai picketers with anti-Thailand placards, protesting against his visit to the US, and his appearance at the UN General Assembly in New York.

Even though the two incidents may not interrelate, the FFP must clear the air and explain the situation as well as its policy clearly.

Earth is too crowded

With all the hoo-ha surrounding the latest "Climate Change Conference" junket in New York, I recalled a BBC HARDtalk interview with Michael Collins in July.

Major General Collins was the command module pilot on the Apollo 11 moon landing mission in 1969, something I remember vividly.

Midway through the programme, Stephen Sackur, the interviewer, asked him: "In the 50 years since you saw our fragile little planet from space, do you think humans have respected and understood the fragility of Earth?"

He answered: "No, when we went to the moon the population of the Earth was about 2 billion [actually about 3.5 billion], now 50 years later it is close to 8 billion."

The world renowned naturalist Sir David Attenborough has spoken out about this several times but it falls on deaf ears. In his documentary How Many People Can Live On Planet Earth (BBC 2010) he examines the evidence, but it is sadly ignored.

It was also reported that Google held a "Climate Change Party" on August 1 in Sicily for A-list celebrities who were flown in from all over the world and entertained at a cost of 20m dollars.

I ask did this achieve anything other than cause more pollution and a free hi-so knees-up?

The consumption, pollution and toxic waste must logically increase with the numbers of Earth's inhabitants, but not even the precocious Asperger's sufferer Ms Thunberg had a word to say on the subject. I wonder if she will be on the next Google guest list?

I do support renewable energy and the responsible use of plastics, however, I contend the unspoken truth is that overpopulation is the major human contribution to the climate change we are experiencing. Modern medicine and farming have increased life expectancy, but whether we are meat eaters or drive and fly I believe is just inconsequential nonsense in the big picture. It seems we are we leaving it to mother nature to curb the population numbers in the long term. Maybe the next big asteroid will wipe us out like the dinosaurs!

Plan is off the rails

Re: "Govt mulls end of fast train plan", (BP, Sept 27).

I do not believe high-speed trains for those routes will pay off. Renovate existing rail lines as double track and operate at 150-200kph.

Size does matter

I read in the paper recently about big bikes and the new laws regarding them. First of all there are bikes and scooters, and what you have in Thailand are bikes and scooters which are not bikes. The new laws when implemented should go by the cc of the engine. I could classify my Honda Phantom as a big bike because of the size, not by the 200cc engine, where as the Yamaha's Scooter with a 250cc engine is much more powerful than mine. That is what the government should be looking at to determine big bikes and scooters.

It's just not rugby

I want to watch the Rugby World Cup. It is not showing on TrueVisions but I was told I could use beIN Sports Connect. I tried to buy the Rugby World Cup 1,600-baht package but found it too difficult. So I asked my hotel's computer engineer to help me and after innumerable "I am not a robot"s I paid the money and was connected for two games. But then it went off and even my hotel's computer engineer could not reconnect. I would advise anybody to steer well clear of beIN Sports Connect.