OPINION

Free drug convicts

Re: "Mass parole no solution", (Editorial, May 20).

The Bangkok Post is certainly correct that "The move (to release 50,000 prisoners early) would not win plaudits from the public". That does not, however, mean it is not the just and practical course of action.

Most of the 80% of the people in prison for drug crimes should not be there in the first place. That people are imprisoned merely for using a socially disapproved drug.

It follows that merely getting drunk or taking a few pills that damage the brain and other organs as effectively as alcohol does fails to justify imprisoning people.

As the philosopher John Stuart Mill concluded in 1859 in his introductory chapter of On Liberty, it can only be just to impose criminal punishments on those who have actually harmed or directly threatened to harm others.

Re: "Hanoi mulls airport to assert claim", (BP, May 13).

While some might consider Vietnam's building of an airport on disputed Spratly Islands as an escalation of tensions, I salute the Hanoi government's efforts to stand up against the clearly illegal territorial grabs of China in the South China Sea.

Neutral international courts have definitively ruled that China's claims to vast areas of the South China Sea, based on its ridiculous scrotum-shaped nine-dash line, are "without merit".

Asean and the wider international community should rally behind Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia in resisting China's hegemony.

Re: "B700bn loan gets govt nod", (BP, May 19).

I regret that we have never seen the balance sheet from the government presenting how they spent the 1-trillion-baht loan in tackling the economic woes from the recent pandemic. Now, our government just asked for another 700 billion baht.

We feel hopeless about paying off the debt for the next four generations.

May someone assure us they have spent the loan with good care and thoughtful measures without any dirty embezzlement and that there will be vaccines for all Thais and so on.

The prime minister always claims he has clean hands and loves the nation with all his heart.

Re: "Implication of new draft law on NGOs", (Opinion, May 11) and "A second Geneva", (PostBag, May 19).

Better minds than mine will undoubtedly react to the letter from Ioan Voicu with better history than mine. Be it as it may that Thailand has a long-held dream to be a second Geneva, but is there really any evidence that this is anything more than a dream.

Which diplomats in particular have actually described the kingdom as the "Geneva of Asia"?

Columnist Kavi Chongkittavorn assures us that it is common knowledge among people that Bangkok is a major hub (there's that word again!) for multilateral diplomacy.

Given that Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha's approach to the the recent Asean meeting on Myanmar was that he would go along with whatever the other members decided, such claims sound pretty hollow.

As for Kavi's conclusion that this supposed "magic of multilateral diplomacy" and a connect with the City of Angels...(Los Angeles?) will lead to yet more conferences, seems to suggest that more diplomatic gab fests will somehow solve the very real problems Thailand and the world is facing.

Re: "A second Geneva", (PostBag, May 19).

I fully support the reaction of Ioan Voicu. As a visualisation of where we want to go "Bangkok -- the Geneva of Asia" is right to the point.

An impressive number of UN and international organisations have their headquarters in Bangkok already.

However, how multilateral diplomacy is facilitated and the new law the government plans to press on local civil society organisations as well as on international NGOs need a radical shift of direction.

The recent promise of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha that he "will listen" to UN special envoy for Myanmar Christine Schraner Burgener, echoes painfully the empty words of his Tatmadaw counterpart and fellow coup maker in Myanmar.

A high-level panel discussion on the "Myanmar Crisis" organised by the Saranrom Institute of Foreign Affairs (SIFA) counted 10 male speakers, no female speakers and not a single representative from Myanmar.

Thailand should urgently build upon its progressive cultural capital of past enlightened diplomats and political leaders like Direk Jayanama, Puey Ungpakorn and Surin Pitsuwan, as well as its diverse and regionally connected civil society dynamics initiated by among others Sulak Sivaraksa, and carried on by courageous past and contemporary activists like Kunying Banomyong, Tuenjai Deethes, Angkhana Neelapaijit and Rosana Tositrakul.

The spirit of free debate, collaboration across cultural diversity and social entrepreneurship is essential for the post-Covid 19 revitalisation of our economy, for Thai arts and culture, as well as for a vibrant international education and research environment.

Developing Bangkok as a "second Geneva" in its own right will bring prosperity, progress along with international respect.

Re: "Unequal rights", (BP, May 20).

I'm delighted to reply to Jason Jellison, who disagrees with my stand that "while people have the right to do as they wish with their bodies, they do not have the right to endanger others by so doing".

Khun Jason asks, "whose rights come first?... Do the rights of the 1% who may die of Covid-19 outweigh the rights of the other 99%? Do the rights of a driver outweigh the inherent risks of lethal accidents to vulnerable pedestrians? I believe the needs of the 99% outweigh the needs of the 1%."

My stand could be summarised as "your right to swing your fist stops where my nose begins". In short, you may swing your fist any way you want, drive any which way you want, or go maskless anywhere you like -- so long as you don't endanger others. It's not a question of the 99% losing their rights, but rather one of restricting those rights to respect others.

All rights come with restrictions to facilitate living together; that's what the rule of law is about.

Re: "Anti-treatment bias", (PostBag, May 15).

Lately, Michael Setter was "decapitated" by the many experts on Covid-19 and Ivermectin.

However, a few states in India have opened the gate to "freedom of choice" using Ivermectin as a choice in treating Covid patients; the effect was immediate, infection and death rates have fallen dramatically.

As the saying goes -- "The truth of the pudding is in the eating".

One more therapy with an absolute successful and provable record is Hydroxychloroquine -- ex-President Donald Trump suggested it back in March 2020.

A campaign against Hydroxychloroquine surfaced, with fake "scientific" reports even appearing in the The Lancet. The magazine subsequently had to make a retraction.

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

"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."

This attitude is precisely why there is no change.

As the Swedish ambassador almost suggests, change will only come with a change in mindset.

Almost every country in the west stated out with similar mindsets but they set out to change and have succeeded.

Sweden came up with the "Safe System" -- this is now the model for road safety everywhere and is proven to be effective.

Unfortunately successive government have also ignored the science and concentrated on what they perceive as "bad driving" instead -- total nonsense!

Re: "Rise of robots", (Asia Focus, May 17) and "Boost opportunities, not handouts", (Opinion, May 17).

On Monday, the paper had two articles that were interestingly self contrasting.

One discussed how automation is replacing human labour jobs and the other stated that retraining of workers is needed. These opposing positions expose a real situation that needs to be addressed in an open, dialectic manner.

Not only in Thailand, but globally, automation and AI are taking human jobs, pure and simple. There is no way to retrain or retool a person to be successfully employed in the future when all human labour is poised to be replaced by non-human means.

There is no safe haven in the jobs market that is free from automation. From drivers to doctors, from farm workers to actors and musicians, and everything in between -- the 21st century Digital Age is here and replacing the Industrial Age mentality and methods.

Even journalists at the Bangkok Post are not safe with bots writing news and articles.

Developing nations such as Thailand depend on manufacturing expansion because of cheaper labour than developed nations. Simple math supports such a business model.

With automated factories becoming more affordable than even "cheap labour", how much longer will this delusion hold before there is a socio-economic collapse? Not long really, because the growth in technology is occurring exponentially.

It is time for a more serious look at the reality of technology and to stop deluding ourselves that the situation is rosy.

I am a 74-year-old British expat and I have been based in Thailand for over 26 years, financially supporting several Thai citizens.

When I ceased employment with a Thai registered company in 2013, I elected to continue paying myself for Thai Social Security Medical Cover.

When the Mor Prom app was announced I tried to register for Covid-19 vaccination, but like many I found this failed (despite registering using my pink Thai identification card).

On May 7 I was visiting Mission Hospital Social Security Department for my regular doctor's appointment. In the lobby of the hospital there was a table set up registering people for Covid vaccinations.

I enquired if I could register. After consulting someone more senior, the receptionist indicated that as a Social Security patient of my age I was entitled to register.

I was given a written appointment to return to Mission Hospital of June 18. I was happy. There was hope.

Today I received a text message from Mission Hospital that states:

"Dear Sir Madam; According to announcement from government I need to inform you that we need to cancel all expats in Thailand even you have Thai Social Security for Vaccination Covid-19. Due to the Vaccine is not enough for now, so we will give to Thai citizen first. However our government will announce again in the end of May how expats in Thailand can register to get the vaccine. We apologize for inconvenience./ Mission Hospital"

I have no problem with the service I receive from Mission Hospital. I have a big problem with the government.

This story may be of interest to readers.