OPINION

Too many flip-flops

Re: "PM defends delay lifting nightlife ban," (BP, Nov 17).

The PM does it again. The Bangkok Post ought to run a chart recording the number of times General Prayut has announced a new reopening date, only to cancel or postpone it in the light of new information.

I have a friend, now in the US, who used to be a well-known writer in Phuket. Basing his decision on Gen Prayut's earlier announcement, he had planned a grand return to Thailand, featuring a glorious drinking session on Soi Cowboy on Dec 1. Now his plans lie in dust and ashes, and he's already made his bookings.

In view of Gen Prayut's frequent changes of mind, I nominate him for the title of Gen Flip-flop, and suggest that he should be greeted at public events by legions of citizens clapping their flip-flops together.

Re: "The rich world's climate hypocrisy," (Opinion, Nov 17).

Well, blaming rich countries for the past and the present emissions will not solve any problems. Yes, every country, including the US, China, Australia, and India where coal is used and sold as "black gold" will not stop using it. It is quite possible that in a few years, in some cities in these countries people will not be able to see the sun. But who cares about the polluted sky as long as we have our space station and thousands of satellites.

In every major economy, powerful corporate interests are clearly intertwined with political leadership. The rich countries, Asean, or Thailand are no different. Thailand only pays lip service to the environmental crisis. Everything related to environmental degradation is swept under the rug of "sustainable development".

Sadly, the real change in environmental policies will only come when we are face to face with death. Unless governments around the world respond to environmental catastrophe the way they are responding to the Covid-19 pandemic, nothing much will change. Only urgent global action can avert this crisis, not green hypocrisy or dubious policies of sustainable development. To many sceptics, the chants of "net-zero" target mean "do nothing".

Re: "What's going on?," (PostBag, Nov 17).

A Concerned Citizen should perhaps be more concerned about the cold, hard facts of the Covid-19 pandemic, rather than mollifying the feelings of the vaccine doubt-mongers among us. Some 5,140,000 deaths globally that we know of, rising infections, and waning immunity are reality rather than media hype. To focus on one egregious example of infection-control overreach in one Chinese city does not establish that the rest of the world has gone mad. To suggest as much only goes to show how effective the insistent chatter from the anti-vaxxers can be, even for those with the best of intentions.

I think the expat complaint contributors to PostBag should spare a thought for the rules for the resident population. After 35 years of contributions, my wife took retirement with a modest monthly pension of 4,000 baht. Two weeks later she received a demand for 432 baht for one missing payment 11 years ago, plus interest of 1,157 baht. After a visit to the social security office on Wednesday to clear the matter, we learn, the rule is the rule -- "Untouchable".

Coincidentally, the same day, Varawut Silpa-archa is quoted in the news as saying that 16 million people endorsed support for the current constitution in the referendum in 2016. At the general election 18 million people, voted for three parties that supported reform of the current charter. The Constitutional Court has ruled -- "The Law is the Law -- Untouchable".