OPINION

Pathetic justification

Re: "Time for cops to come clean", (Editorial, Aug 28).

When the policeman charged with torturing and suffocating a drug suspect said, "He regretted the death, but justified his abhorrent treatment of suspects 'as a means to an end' in the war against the illicit drug trade in local communities", there is no reason to think he was not lying.

But the reality he lets slip about the ethos of the police is much worse: even if he was sincere, even if there were grounds for thinking the suspect had knowledge about a tonne of heroin, the use of torture as a matter of course, which the proffered excuse implies is an accepted procedure in the Royal Thai Police, shows the force to be morally abhorrent.

Yet worse, the excuse that the ends justifies the means, however truly vile those means may be, sounds exactly like a Royal Thai Army general giving the usual excuses for committing a coup against Thais to overthrow a popular, democratic government.

Worth noting here is that such repression of democracy using threats of violence is the foundation on which stands decades of corruption in the police force and other famously corrupt Thai institutions.

It would have been naive to ever have expected those who committed a coup against a functioning democracy to allow, let alone initiate, reform of the police or any other institution. That is not how the world works.

Truth is hard to find

Re: "Custody death clip sparks storm", (BP, Aug 25).

The recent video beamed around the world, of a suspect, allegedly being murdered by a high-ranking policeman, has brought calls for an independent body of non-corrupt and honest police and independent witnesses, to monitor and investigate any wrongdoings in the police force.

My question is: How and where do you find these people?

In the present atmosphere of corruption in all spheres of life, it seems like an impossible task.

Vegan article timely

Re: Learn the ways of a vegan lifestyle", (Life, Aug 23).

I wish to commend the Bangkok Post for it's positive article about the vegan lifestyle. At a time when the UN has said the meat industry is the major cause of climate change and the world may soon face massive starvation because of all the plant food wasted on livestock, the article couldn't be more timely.

As someone who has been promoting this cause for decades, I learned the hard way that taking the right path in life is not always the popular path. But I have no regrets.

Aiming high

Re: "U-Tapao projects aim to prop up economy", (Business, Aug 20).

As climate change worsens, passengers will be looking to reduce their carbon footprint including from holiday flights.

Thailand has expertise and capacity in bio-fuel production. Why not build on this knowledge to produce jet bio-fuel at scale? There is bound to be rising demand in future. Let's be really ambitious and aim to make Thai Airways the first carbon neutral airline with bio-fuels produced in Thailand.