OPINION

Listen and learn

This emergency decree issued by the authorities is nothing but an excuse to shut down the peaceful protests that have swept across the country in recent months.

The thousands that have taken to the streets in Bangkok, and nationwide, have done so peacefully and are fully entitled to raise concerns about the state of democracy in Thailand.

Instead of introducing measures to end the protests, and arresting its leaders, the authorities should listen to the concerns those demonstrating are raising.

They might find their suggestions could benefit the entire country, not merely a select few, as Thailand's politics has done for so long.

I was dozing off while watching CNN on Wednesday afternoon when a horrid event occurred.

On the TV screen, Thai police were clashing with a mob of demonstrators.

The dulcet voice of Rosemary Church informed us that the demonstrators wanted a new constitution and reform of the monarchy.

The incident didn't last more than a minute but I was deeply shocked.

It wasn't the incident that bothered me; Thai police beat up demonstrators all the time. It's probably part of their job description. What stunned me was that the incident appeared on TV at all.

Ordinarily the Thai censors are alert to catch such deviations.

I must say I was absolutely horrified to see the train and bus collision at Chachoengsao with so many fatalities.

Apparently this happens frequently on open level-road crossings.

From my experience, road users on level crossings here take risks because the warning systems are non-existent or ineffective. Drivers should be educated a bit more.

I worked in England for the railways. My company upgraded 600km of track for high-speed trains.

To do this we had to eliminate road crossings on railways. We built tunnels and flyovers. It was expensive but justified, and there were no accidents.

I read "Looser quarantine eyed" (BP, Oct 13) and I ask you if the new Alaternative State Quarantine could possibly be any more ill-conceived, inane or idiotic?

Those in charge of devising the policy should read the latest WHO guidelines, look at the worldwide death curves and buy a carton of erasers.

Check carefully the data from countries like Japan and Sweden and stop being paralysed by fear. Forty people died in a bus-train crash a few days ago.

It is far more dangerous to send foreign tourists on "selected routes" anywhere in Thailand than it is to simply open up the country.

Protect the elderly, at-risk segment of the population, ask visitors for a recent test result and declare the country open for business.