OPINION

Shift from tourism

I commend Nareerat Wiriyapong for her April 19 article, "Tourism revival in doubt again" which presented a clear-eyed, factual analysis. My only criticism is that an earnest revival is but probably impossible. As roughly 60% of Thailand's tourists came from the West, Thailand can expect little recovery in Western tourists, because of the rise of unemployment, fear of health safety as well as mounting bankruptcies. Even more, few Western tourists are likely to be interested in travelling in an era of face mask wearing, social distancing, field hospitals, ever-changing policies and draconian penalties related to Covid-19 related measures as well as unpredictable lockdown.

In short, the world which underscored Thailand's tourist economy is now over and unlikely to return in the same way.

Covid-19 is here to stay for the long haul and it is likely there will be other public health challenges after the Covid-19 pandemic. Clutching onto the past will not change the present, so my suggestion is Thailand must shift from a tourism-based economy, improve its tottering educational system and start to learn English and Chinese as secondary languages. It's time to move on and catch up with the rest of the world.

Re: "Court incident leaves anti-govt protesters in lurch," (Opinion, April 17).

Veera Prateepchaikul was right in saying that activist Patiwat Saraiyaem was granted bail by the Criminal Court in the case of lese majeste because his lawyer was looking after his wellbeing as a top priority -- which was getting him out of prison. Mr Patiwat had previously pledged he would stop criticising the monarchy and refrain from joining future political gatherings.

At the same time, 21 activists of the Ratsadon group facing the same lese majeste charge -- among them Parit "Penguin" Chiwarak and Panusaya Sithijirawattanakul -- were not granted bail. The group had rejected the trial process, saying the whole thing is flawed.

In my opinion, Mr Patiwat's lawyer did a smart thing in advising his client to show respect to the court. The rule of law must be abided by no matter where you are.

The court also did the right thing in refusing bail to the activists for their own good -- since giving them freedom without any promise to refrain from a repeat offence would only lead to more charges and jail terms later on.

In his April 18 letter, Ib Ottesen noted the elephant which killed a man who was feeding her, had been chained to a tree and was in obvious discomfort.

Although elephants are generally gentle giants, they can become violent when they are abused. As a result of being treated in barbaric ways, abused elephants in Thailand and throughout attack humans. Therefore, ending elephant abuse isn't just an animal rights issue, but a human safety issue as well.