OPINION

Foreign hypocrisy

Why would other countries cry foul about the Constitutional Court's decision to dissolve the Future Forward Party (FFP) and ban its executives from politics for 10 years over the loan saga?

The US Federal Election Commission webpage states the following:

"Loans: Loans are considered contributions to the extent of the outstanding balance of the loan. Loans from banks, however, are not considered contributions if made in the ordinary course of business. Endorsements and guarantees of bank loans do count as contributions.

Bank loans: Unlike other loans, a loan or line of credit from a bank is not considered a contribution if the conditions set forth are satisfied. If a loan fails to meet any of these conditions, it is considered a prohibited contribution from the lending institution."

It can be seen that the Thai laws, on which the court ruling was based, are not different from the US laws. So why should any US agency (and the EU) cry foul about the court ruling?

FFP lives on

The biggest threat to the military regime in power was the Future Forward Party, led by Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit. Rather than focusing on the needs of the country, much of the regime's energy went into destroying this party, and finally, the judiciary came through for them. Is this the power base of, to use an old term, the military-industrial complex? They do not have the numbers, they do not have a mandate, but they rule. How can they be challenged without violence? Perhaps they cannot. The regime is bringing this on themselves. Remember Rap Against Dictatorship with 77 million hits for its song Prathet Ku Mee ("My Country's Got ...")? The song is not a call to arms, but it echoes the frustration of a young generation who found a voice in Future Forward, and that voice will not be silenced by dissolving the party.

'Pro-life' is pro-death

Re: "Unfounded beliefs", PostBag, Feb 22.

Now would be a good time to remind readers of the hypocrisy of the "pro-life" people. They tend to be hostile to family planning programmes despite the fact that, according to the UN, family planning can help prevent over 100 million abortions a year!

"Pro-life" people don't give a hoot about women who die from back-alley abortions in countries where abortion is illegal. They also tend to support war and the death penalty while opposing animal rights, because they couldn't care less about the lives of those who have already been born. Pro-life? Give me a break!

Cut THAI to size

Re: "THAI denies sales slump will force pay cuts", (BP, Feb 23).

While it is nice that its richly rewarded management "denies it is cutting staff salaries", Thai Airways International, that white elephant battening on the Thai economy, should be cut down to a respectable size. And tax payers should be freed from the forced burden of feeding this greedy parasite on the nation.