OPINION

Kudos for Uttama

Re: "State banks to offer free meals to needy", (BP, June 27).

I heartily applaud Finance Minister Uttama Savanayana for having state banks fund meal handouts to those hit by Covid-19, which the Bank of Thailand forecasts will hit Thailand harder than even the 1997 Tom Yum Kung financial crisis, and will be with us for many, many years.

The government should build on this superb idea by giving generous tax breaks to any juristic person funding such meal handouts to the needy, provided the meals are prepared by a small or medium sized business, so the funds sustain not only those having the meal but the maximum number of kitchen workers.

Give to public schools serving needy students, such as those in rural areas or BMA schools.

Choose SMEs to prepare the food based not only on costs but the nutrition value of proposed meals, given that 16% of our youth are malnourished.

It could also widen coverage to include not only ready-to-eat meals but ingredients, for example instant noodles.

Excellent start, Mr Uttama. Now let's make your good idea even better.

Re: "Resorts embrace 'Sor Por Kor' rental plan", (BP, June 22).

Of course resort operators are welcoming the proposal that would allow them to rent back the resorts they illegally built on Sor Por Kor land meant only for poor landless farmers. What criminals wouldn't welcome having their illegal activities legitimised? Instead of having their unlawful investments confiscated and potentially being tossed in jail, the proposal would have offenders rewarded for their illicit land grabbing.

One assumes there is a certain degree of literacy among the top officers who run the Royal Thai Police. One also assumes these people are informed about what is going on both in Thailand and abroad. One perhaps assumes too much. It is amazing to read really stupid statements made by some top police telling the public that they cannot locate, or do not know where a fugitive from Thailand is hiding.

It is an open fact that many wanted Thais reside in a neighbouring country. These people are wealthy and probably pay protection money. It is so stupid (I do not use that word lightly), when the police chief says he does not know where fugitive former PMs are, or where the Red Bull scion is. All he has to do is read a newspaper, listen to a newscast, watch the news (if he is not playing games on his mobile device), and he will become enlightened.

It is a small world with all sorts of tracking, both overt and covert, with Interpol, an international locating service. All we do is listen to bull, and I don't mean Red Bull either. The chief of police should follow the old proverb, "Do it, or get off the potty".

Make way for a younger, more progressive chief, one who will find policing and justice a challenge, rather than go after old mushroom pickers in a national park, accusing them of illegal logging. Justice for all? Yes, smells like rotting mushrooms.