OPINION

When religion is law

Re: "Concentric Mideast wars and prospects", (Opinion, Jan 10).

Thanks for a very thoughtful and thorough analysis of Middle East politics. Yes indeed, it is a historical fact that the western imperial powers have tried to dominate the Middle East at their peril. It's true that the lines in the sand remain soaked with the blood of innocent people. More people have died in the region than in any other world war. The Middle East has been ruled by tribal militias, autocrats, and extreme fanatic religious groups. Historically, there has been a very fragile balance between the autocratic regimes, military and violent religious zealots. It is time that the USA and European countries leave the Middle East. Mr Thitinan is correct in his analysis that until the conditions of control and a new balance which does not revolve around the religious core, the violence and conflict will likely remain the norm.

The Middle East is a paying a heavy price for cultivating good governance and modernity based on religious fundamentalism, faith and fanaticism.

Re: "Bangkok on high alert as PM2.5 levels forecast to rise", (BP, Jan 9).

I fear you must not be understating the extent of the problem and its dangers. Even in Hua Hin where we live, the official reading is 154.

Also please make air quality improvement a Post campaign with you chasing government departments etc for long-term sustained and permanent strategies to ensure we are not at risk in our daily lives.

Re: "Black magic bags", (PostBag, Jan 9).

I think the point is being missed. The new supermarket bags are made of plastic but are stronger, designed for re-use, and should last for years. The cost to the buyer for that is negligible and the benefits are clear. As stated, once upon a time there were no plastic bags, however, when they did appear, nobody was "forced" to use them. You could have continued to use your own reusable bag, as indeed you can now. Nobody is forcing you to use a supermarket branded bag. They are available for the convenience of shoppers who have somehow managed to miss all the news and announcements about the campaign to ban single-use plastic bags over the past several months and are suddenly surprised and unprepared when faced with the reality.

One thing I was appalled at when I first came here 23 years ago was the sight of Thais just throwing garbage on the ground. Just the other day, I saw a student from the school near me unwrap a candy bar and just throw the wrapper on the ground as he walked on the street. They should be teaching about this in schools. But, apparently, they don't. Even yesterday at Chula, I was looking for a recycling bin to dispose of my plastic salad container but there was only one common use garbage bin available. There are recycling bins at the university but they are not everywhere and it seems that many students and professors just ignore them.

Re: "Plastic bag ban fails to send the right message", (Opinion, Jan 10).

I have a different dilemma. I always have used those plastic single-use grocery bags as garbage bags at home. Now without a steady supply of them, how am I supposed to manage my garbage? Must I now buy the heavy-duty trash bags? We seem to be replacing one plastic item with another, where the new one costs considerably more than the free one I always had. This is progress?

Re: "Black magic bags", (PostBag, Jan 9).

I empathise with Andy Lewis's angst over the ongoing use of plastic bags in Thailand. The other day my wife came home from the supermarket carrying her purchases in a plastic bag labelled in bold letters "SAY NO TO PLASTIC BAGS".

The irony was breathtaking. But hold on! There was a redeeming factor. At the bottom of the bag, in smaller letters, was the proud announcement "Environmentally Degradable Plastic (EDP).

Are we to infer from this that environmentally degradable plastic bags are preferable to ordinary ones?

Yes! With one bold stroke, Thailand has once again demonstrated its commitment to the Middle Way by forging a path midway between the two extremes of plastic bags and no bags at all. Plastic bags are OK just so long as they're degradable.

But I caution manufacturers not to make their plastic bags so degradable that they will disintegrate before my wife gets her purchases home.

How easy it is to lead an organised, orchestrated protest involving thousands. One sees it in Iran, one can see it in North Korea. It used to be the same in China under Mao. I wonder if those being led like a bull by the nose are willing participants or take part because they are required to do so. I'd bet that most participants would rather get on with their daily lives and hope their leaders would just leave them alone or drop dead. My Iranian friends both here, in the USA and Canada are of the latter opinion.

I find it appropriate that the government has set up a display of extinct creatures for children to look at on Children's Day. I hope they didn't forget to add this quotation from Greta Thunberg to their display:

"You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words. And yet I'm one of the lucky ones. People are suffering. People are dying; entire ecosystems are collapsing. We are in the beginning of a mass extinction and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth. How dare you!"

Having lived and worked in the Kingdom of Thailand for some years, being aware that "Aussies" are not always the favourite flavour of the month is well known. Considering this, the spotlight article "AID AUSTRALIA" and cartoon were much appreciated. Together with expressions from Thai friends, the concern is welcome and gratifying.

Thank you.Margaret JamiesonLaksri

Re: "Fiddling as Oz burns", (PostBag, Jan 8).

Blaming Australia's prime minister for bushfires as Mr Bateson accuses, "(his) lack of action on climate change is the biggest contributing factor in unprecedented bushfires" is absurd. No address to climate change by Australia will make a difference.

The most significant cause of climate change is the sun, which so happens to be at a historically (according to two centuries of data collection) deep solar minimum in its cyclical variation of measurable activity. The correlation between solar cycles and extreme weather is far more compelling than the dubious modelling by climate alarmists.

And rather than trying to do something about the sun, addressing preparedness and fire insurance issues in Australia might be a better course of action.

It is a great idea that the education minister has allowed young children to develop their personal interests. This is commonly known as a learner-centred pedagogy. It is a beautiful first step in breaking the intellectual yoke of government schooling that is stifling the intelligence of Thai students!

The problem is that it should not be stopped after Prathom 4. The children should be allowed to exercise intellectual liberty until they complete compulsory education. There is no reason to "let the cat out of the bag" and then try to contain it later. The notion of math and science being "complicated" has more to do with relevance.

I had a teenage student that was fixated on guitar and music. Rather than see this as an obstacle to learning, I used it. Every complicated subject was covered with the guitar as the focal point; Physics: how strings vibrate and make noise. Chemistry: how do you get a finish on the guitar. History: every culture has string instruments so explore them. Math: in every aspect from music composition to the size of the strings. He ended up a happy self-actualised human being and plays in three bands.

Once you allow learner-centred methods, removing them will cause a student to disengage.

In his "Tantrum turns deadly", letter on Jan 9, the "psychologist" seems to have missed the point, not the columnist. Mr Trump, for all his frustrations, and I'm sure he was not frustrated when he ordered the removal of that Iranian general who masterminded murder on such a mass scale, has done the world a big favour. Pruning branches never helped get rid of a tree. Taking out the roots does.

The Jan 10 editorial, "Threats have run course", said: "As the country has returned to democracy, no citizen should face such intimidation". The country has "not returned to democracy". Threats against organisers of running events show the country is still a "dictatorship".

Children's Day is today and I hope the prime minister will use this opportunity not only to tell the children how to succeed in the future, as prime ministers usually do but also to reassure them that he is fighting global warming with all his might so that they will have a future.