OPINION

Vaccinations for all

Chiang Mai's vibrant old town is decimated; by one estimate only 2,000 of its previous 10,000 restaurants remain in business.

Lines for free food snake through the narrow streets. The city's only hope is reopening in time for this year's high season, yet Chiang Mai is failing to meet the 70% vaccination rate required by October.

Why are qualified residents being turned away from vaccination centres? "This is common," Noon told me. "As soon as people see that red Myanmar passport, their attitude changes."

Noon and I work at the same place of business, hold similar positions, and arrived in Thailand under the same visa category. Yet Thailand is treating its Asean neighbours as second-class foreigners.

The coronavirus does not discriminate on the basis of race or national origin. It's time to stop turning people away from vaccination centres.

Watery rationale

Re: "Water projects need scrutiny," (Editorial, Sept 21).

The editorial rightly looks at the EIA of the project, that indeed deserves a focus; but what about the overall economic rationale?

What will be the use of this water? Mainly rice cultivation, allowing fields that wait for water in the dry season to be irrigated.

Good for farmers, but at what cost to the public? With even the risk that -- as happens sometimes -- overproduction brings prices down and impacts all rice farmers in the country!

Using 10 baht/m3 as an example (water would have to be pumped and the tunnel/dam to be paid for): * 5,000m3 would cost 50,000 baht; compare this with the value added of five tonne of rice.

It may be said that this water is for the security of Bangkok but this is a fallacy: managers can already keep more water in the dams to enhance security if they want, but they don't because of the political pressure to release water to farmers.

If you add water you will add rice, not security, given that the farming potential in the dry season exceeds possible supply, even with the transfer.

Enforce the laws

Re: "Torture, disappearance bills pass," (Opinion, Sept 17).

Before legislators bruise themselves excessively by patting themselves on the back for passing laws against torture and forced disappearance, perhaps they should consider if and how these laws will ever be enforced. After all, there are plenty of laws on the books in Thailand against hit-and-run driving, manslaughter, murder, and malfeasance, but there is too often a serious breakdown when it comes to enforcement.

Curse of religion

Re: "Care needed in Sajat case", (Editorial, Sept 24).

In the sad case of the wholesome Nur Sajat, we yet again see zealous ideologues preaching love and peace and morality hounding those cursed to live under their despotism, intolerance, and rejection of moral decency. Religion demands subservience to and blind faith. There exists no evidence or reason for those fantastic claims, hence the ruthless suppression of liberty and freedom of peaceful expression that hints at dissent from the dictated orthodoxy.

Whilst respecting the right to religious freedom in private. Whenever religions seek power in the real world, especially political and legal power over the bodies of real, living people, perhaps it is right to be reasonable and to hold the factual and moral claims of such publicly intrusive religions to exactly the same standards applied to claims about Covid, police use of torture, and the sums of the squares of the sides of right-angled triangles. Is there any sound reason not to be so reasonable?

Paths to 'Eco-Peace'

Re: "Indo-Pacific needs 'third way'," (Opinion, Sept 20).

Ambassador of France Thierry Mathou spells out a new strategy, forced by the unexpected Aukus alliance between the US, UK and Australia apparently to counterbalance Chinese progress in building up power.

French ambassadors have been recalled from Washington and Canberra out of unprecedented indignation on the side-lining of France. However, maybe France should be happy that it has been forced out of a billion-dollar nuclear submarine deal with Australia. An "Eco-Peace" approach to the Indo-Pacific (as well as to the Franco-Atlantic) can create more meaningful jobs and human security than investments in military industry.

Ambassador Mathou now intends, in particular, to strengthen collaboration between Thailand and France as well as between Asean and the EU.

If the collaboration would be guided by addressing ecological challenges rather than military competition, the Global Pact for the Environment could be a diplomatic instrument of multiple fruition.

The "Global Pact" was proposed by the Club des Jurists, the French lawyers' association, following the Paris Climate Agreement in 2015.

The next step, crucial for a rules-based world order, is the political statement on the Pact member states plan to release at the occasion of "Stockholm+50" in June 2022.

Moreover, as a historic parallel, also in 1972 but in Versailles, France, the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) was founded, a major independent global network of sustainable food producers, consumers and researchers.

Sustainable food systems are central in eco-system restoration resulting in mitigation of climate change. Both in Thailand and France food is a focal point of culture and food system policies can enable effective pathways to "Eco-Peace".

Perils of e-learning

Re: "Painful e-learning," (PostBag, Sept 21).

I strongly agree with the letter writer Paul's assessment about e-learning and wish to add to it. He is correct to point out that poor Thai students tend to be at a disadvantage. Yet, as a teacher for many years in Thailand, e-learning poses unique problems for affluent Thai high school and university students that have not received enough press.

At wealthy schools, it is not uncommon for entire classes to simply not log in for class, even though they have the latest technology, because they don't like challenging courses, or English class. Convenient internet problems are often cited by students who don't want to answer questions, and I frequently hear and see students watching entertainment/messaging their friends on secondary digital devices in the room.

At the university level, we see the same problems, but also alcohol use, (suspected) illegal drug use, as well as the consumption of adult content on laptops or smartphones.

In sum, e-learning is an excellent auxiliary educational tool, but only works for a small number of motivated learners.

Stop the insults

Re: "Don't bash Bahrt," (PostBag, Sept 22).

Aren't the personal attacks on Postbag contributors that Keith Barlow refers to not just confined to just PostBag? It seems to be the accepted thing nowadays. Some leading politicians in countries who supposedly are the champions of free speech take delight in insulting those they disagree with and encourage their followers to do the same, resulting in deep division in societies which will take some healing. The fundamentals of a democracy are to listen to a point of view whether you agree with it or not. If you disagree, make your point without using the school playground tactics of name calling and insults.

New breed of critics

Re: "Don't bash Bahrt," (PostBag, Sept 22).

Thank-you Keith Barlow for writing that although you sometimes disagree with me you respect my right to offer my opinions. Indeed, I have sometimes dramatically changed my mind on different issues because people gave me intelligent reasons to believe I had been wrong.

But with a few exceptions, today's critics are a different breed. I was shocked when another English news outlet, The Nation, published a letter by someone saying I should be punched in the mouth. Yet if I don't put on the kid gloves when I respond to them, I'm the one who is called intolerant!

Agreed and disagreed

Re: "Don't bash Bahrt," (PostBag, Sept 22).

As an obvious target of the letter of Sept 22, I agree and disagree in equal measure.

The writer berates PostBag for wasting so much space on "immature" views such as mine criticising Eric Bahrt, while I bemoan the exposure he is given for what are widely discredited views.

While some may see other concerns relevant to Thailand as more deserving of PostBag's column inches, the need to combat the Covid vaccine disinformation camp (read lies and distortions) is as important as almost anything other than climate change.

I promise this will be my final letter in response to Mr Bahrt, but I can't sign off without referencing his remarks in his last letter about Covid variants. Apparently most don't realise viruses have been mutating from time immemorial.

QED, vaccines will always be failing to catch up. Yeah, Eric, I "get it". Unfortunately, the majority of the world's virologists (those "pimps" of Big Pharma as you describe them), would disagree.