OPINION

No money for THAI

Re: "State 'not obliged to save THAI'", (BP, May 17).

I fully agree with THAI Acting President Chansin Treenuchagnon that the government is under no obligation to save THAI, such as by putting in more taxpayer funds or guaranteeing more loans or bonds. The airline has been consistently losing money hand over fist when its competitors were consistently profitable. It serves no national purpose other than image -- eg, PM Prayut correctly sent in a chartered private carrier, not THAI -- to evacuate Thais from Wuhan when Covid-19 began.

We're desperately fighting the Covid-19 third wave, with the WHO's director-general forecasting that worse is yet to come. Our government coffers are running dry -- and Thailand has now outpaced China in the total number of Covid-19 cases. Surely we have not a satang to spare for THAI. The Finance Ministry should do all it can to facilitate matters -- but must not throw more taxpayer funds at it.

What will be, will be.

Re: "Prudent aid for THAI", (Editorial, May 17).

Whatever might have been true of the national flag carrier in some mythic past, the Bangkok Post is correct that "taxpayers' money shouldn't be used to bail out the debt-ridden airline yet again without a serious restructuring plan in place". But neither should the taxpayers of Thailand be forced to provide another baht unless they are free to investigate, discover, and speak the truths about the failures.

Re: "Implications of new draft law on NGOs", (Opinion, May 11).

It is always useful to remind that Thailand has a long-held dream to transform its capital into a second Geneva. This community is larger and more diverse than in most countries, because Bangkok is already a major UN diplomatic centre. Diplomats have even nicknamed this city "the Geneva of Asia".

It is common knowledge that Bangkok is a major hub for multilateral diplomacy, hosting a wide range of global and regional organisations. There are all reasons to believe that after the Covid-19 pandemic an already promising connection between the magic of multilateral diplomacy and the City of Angels will be further strengthened by an increasing number of prestigious global and regional conferences.

Re: "Road death toll cries out for a fix", (Opinion, May 17).

With the greatest respect to the ambassador of Sweden and the EFRS, you are whistling in the wind about changing the Thai mindset with regard to road safety and driving discipline.

Although the statistics are deplorable they will never change until there is effective and ethical enforcement on roads by the authorities and equal responsibility among motorists. More whistling in the wind. How the TDRI translates one road accident fatality into 10 million baht cost to the country beats me.

Please bear in mind the rogue Red Bull scion still remains at large after many years. QED.

Oh, dear, whistling in the wind again.