Youth can teach us a lot

Re: "PM shows he has political resilience," (OpEd, June 4).

The analytical views of the columnist are appreciated from the vantage point of politics. There is no doubt that Thailand is a political economy, and the truth that eludes us all is that the centre of focus had better be on critical constituents of the Thai body politic. The rise of the military in the political domain has shifted the focus in Thai politics from where it should be:

First, with the farmers and with their markets which for a long time have always been domestic. That is no longer the case.

Farmers need to be encouraged to yield more for the sustainability of Thais themselves and for world markets which are in need of their agricultural products.

The visionary King Rama IX tirelessly campaigned for farmers, saying he and farmers were fighting against a greater enemy than communism -- which was hunger.

His self-sufficiency projects have benefited farming communities and the kingdom at large.

No military weaponry or armaments can sustain us in the face of impending global catastrophes such as land desertification through global warming and rising sea water levels which are already hitting so many countries.

Second, youth have always been the mainstay of innovative and novel approaches to solving problems.

Politicians need to look at the needs of the youth more critically and create avenues for them to progress in their studies and beyond that in the social and political realms so they will learn how to value and cherish their kingdom and their fellow beings.

We cannot trap our youth in cages. Through their forward-looking policies, politicians and governments lead hope for youth.

Do not jail them in prisons for daring to learn, to think and grow.

Glen Chatelier

Empty flights on the way

Re: "Thai Airways tests demand in Europe," (Business, May 27).

Thai Airways say they are going to fly directly into Phuket on or after July 1 and yet the UK government has advised that Thailand is on their "amber" travel list and told people not to travel to Thailand.

So if this is the case, it would be a waste of money for Thai Airways to fly into especially Heathrow or Gatwick airports until the UK government feels it safe for Thailand to be removed from the amber list.

The population of Phuket is nowhere near the 70% vaccinated number expected by TAT and the Thai government.

This advice appears on the UK.GOV.com website.

Eric Williams

Drunks more deadly than bug

An analogy that we often hear is that if you are walking around without a mask, or not socially-distancing or refusing to get vaccinated, it is the equivalent of driving drunk, because besides yourself, you could kill someone.

Similar to having the coronavirus, you could also say that driving drunk is "highly transmissible from person to person" (and that includes adults and children, since road accidents in 2016 were the most common cause of death for Thai children aged 10-14).

In 2018, as reported by the Bangkok Post, 90% of traffic offences were for drink-driving and 40% of road fatalities -- 4,498 -- resulted from people driving while under the influence of alcohol.

Why doesn't that get more press for the other 51 weeks out of the year (aside from those "Seven Deadliest Days" of New Year)?

Why is having one of the world's worst road-fatality rates (32.7 per 100,000 people in 2018) and so many deaths caused by vehicles (22,491 in 2018) not as big a deal as cumulative deaths by Covid-19 (a total of 1,177 as of June 5)?

Everyone on mass transit is checked (to see if they have a high temperature of 37.8ºC or greater).

But we don't check people on the roads as diligently for signs of drink driving.

Why aren't roads that have drink-driving death "clusters" ever locked down?

In other words, why -- when it comes to talking about or dealing with these tragic road deaths -- do we lighten up?

Eddie Delzio
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