Misleading stats?
Re: "Disease law set for change," (BP, Sept 22).
The Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation revealed that Thailand is the second most vaccinated country in Asean against Covid-19 as of Sept 20 as if this is some kind of significant achievement. Is someone spreading fake news?
The Our World in Data website put Thailand in 5th place with 41% of the population having received one or more doses of vaccine. This is behind Singapore (79%), Cambodia (71%), Malaysia (67%) and Brunei (56%).
According to the source, of the population fully vaccinated, Thailand ranks 6th with 22%. This is behind Laos in 5th place with 26% of its population fully vaccinated.
Can someone from the Bangkok Post please ask the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation for the source of their data?
TOM IN PHUKET
Treat expats fairly
Re: "Govt to entice rich expats," (BP, Sept 15).
I applaud the government's initiative to find ways to incentivise a move to Thailand by foreigners who are able to contribute to society and the economy through their special skills or investments. Many countries have schemes to attract the same group of people and Thailand needs to be competitive to attract them.
As a Thai citizen, I am also in favour of allowing such special-category foreigners to buy freehold land under carefully planned conditions that will not adversely affect Thai home buyers, farmers or businesses; the most basic condition should be reciprocity.
South Korea and Turkey have introduced laws that allow foreigners to own land on a reciprocal basis.
This excludes nationals of countries that do not allow private ownership of freehold land, such as China and Vietnam. However, the Thai government should still uphold the principles of reciprocity and fairness on behalf of its citizens.
GEORGE MORGAN
Learning from life
Re: "School setting best," (PostBag, Sept 22). I am sure Paul must have come across the phrase "generation gap". He makes some good observations about the virtues of classroom or F2F interactions and experiences.
Sadly, we are the products of the two-century old industrial era model of bricks-and-mortar system of teaching and learning.
By the way, my best friends are not from my school or college era. I met them during my travels around the world and most of them are from my workplaces. I met my wife, who is also a best friend, and others in airplanes, malls, cafes, and resorts.
We all know that life is all about experiences; they do not necessarily have their origin in schools or classrooms.
The advent of the internet has brought drastic changes in our behaviour, especially in the young generation. A new generation with new expectations will now drive education reforms. Sadly, the "generation gap" will persist.
KULDEEP NAGI
Mixed messages
I love these three sidebar sub-headlines from the Post website on Sept 18 -- they sum up the government well.
"Bangkok's reopening to be postponed," (Sept 16).
"Tourism to reopen despite Covid, minister says," (Sept 14).
"Thailand ordered to prepare for tourists," (Sept 16).
"Country to rejig reopening model," (Sept 14).
"Oct 1 reopening up in air," (Sept 17).
Too many chefs spoil the broth?
FIREMAN SAM
