OPINION

Who Blinks first?

Re: "Implications of Blinken's aborted visit," (Opinion, Dec 17).

I have to question Prof Thitinan's assertion that "the US takes Southeast Asia and Asean seriously and critically as an entrenching battleground in its geostrategic rivalry and competition with China".

In Thailand, at least, China has already won the war.

Look at the abundance of front-page stories the Bangkok Post has published recently on Chinese-Thai cooperation. We see a number of Thai and Chinese faces in the photos as Thai and Chinese phu yai schmooze chummily -- but not a single farang one.

To its credit, China has done more lately to woo Thailand than the US has even thought of. The US seems to have written Thailand off. It hasn't even bothered to appoint an ambassador.

But I hope Thais have noticed that those who cuddle up to dragons eventually get eaten. Thailand did a good job of maintaining its independence during the colonial era. Let's hope it hasn't lost its touch.

Sticks and stones

Re: "Nobel winner Ressa decries 'toxic sludge' of social media," (BP, Dec 10).

Nobel Peace Prize recipient Maria Ressa of the Philippines is correct that much, but certainly not all, of Facebook and like social media are "toxic sludge" that spreads lies, hate, and the like. But it also connects people, and can spread truth, concern and community. But that one-sidedness is Ressa's small mistake in the exuberance of her rhetoric.

Far more serious is her attack on democratic principles under the guise of opposing violence. It sounds cool to boldly assert that "Online violence is real world violence". But calling someone whatever vile name online, or in a newspaper, or on the phone, or over the back fence with your neighbour, or on the schoolyard playground, is not in fact "real world violence". It might be disgusting, base and a lie, but it's not remotely in the same league as breaking someone's arms, chopping an outspoken critic into pieces in a convenient embassy, or locking a young protester up in prison for years on end. The latter are real world acts of violence. Name calling is not violence. Even deliberate, outright lying is not actual violence.

The Nobel Peace Prize recipient has proved her courage in the face of real world violence and certainly means well, but is nonetheless wrong. Speech that incites real world violence is about the limit of what may justly be banned by law. In equating a much wider range of merely vile, offensive, hateful, false or otherwise repugnant speech acts with actual real world violence, it is a dangerous weapon Ressa would hand such enemies of human rights and democracy as the Philippines' Rodrigo Duterte, one they will be only too happy to take up from her hands and use to justify very real violence against their people.

Army of harassment

Re: "Army refutes sexual harassment claims," (BP, Dec 11).

Of course the army top brass will refute the claims that soldiers were forced to perform masturbation at a military base, as they immediately refute and reject every adverse allegation made against the military before even properly investigating the claims.

I have acted in loco parentis for a young Thai man since he was 13 years old, and regard him as my son.

We watched the televised report of this news and listened to the army refute these allegations. He scoffed at the denials by the generals, and said that when he was in recruit training during his national service, it was a regular occurrence at reveille for the senior to order the recruits to do so.

He was philosophical about it, accepting it as part of the harassment that is unfortunately all too common in recruit training in armies around the world.

Putting out fires

Every week there seems to be a major fire at a factory or warehouse, and more often than not these are located in or near residential areas. Isn't it time to carry out comprehensive fire safety checks at all industrial plants and make sure they have an evacuation plan and up-to-date fire fighting tools? Also, rezoning and relocating hazardous operations seems long overdue. What's holding the authorities back from making Bangkok and other densely populated areas safer?

Silencing the critics

Re: "Bahrt overdose," (PostBag, Dec 14).

Many highly reputable doctors and scientists have provided alternative views about the Covid vaccine including thousands of physicians such as Dr Robert Malone who invented the mRNA technology. They either smeared or censored Eric Bahrt who seems be the latest victim of this effort to silence the critics.

Hopefully, the Bangkok Post will not give in to this outrageous manipulation of the truth and will instead be a forum for those who have the guts to challenge the establishment.

Painting by numbers

Re: ''Mutation dangers," (PostBag, Dec 1) and "Jabs not the answer," (PostBag, Dec 6).

Here we go again! Mr Bahrt is doing what a professor in a course I took called "How To Lie With Statistics". What you do is cherry pick any statistic that supports your point of view, despite the fact it might not be a valid measure of what you are trying to prove.

When a country has a high level of persons vaccinated, of course the number of deaths will be high for vaccinated persons. The proper statistic is deaths per 1,000 before vaccinations were widespread and after two jabs of the vaccine were reached my most people. If Mr Bahrt would check this figure he will find that the death toll per thousand dropped dramatically.

I suggest, since he says he has two degrees, that he read How to Lie With Statistics.

Stomach for change

Thai street food vendors don't need to go, but they need to change.

Don't get me wrong, I grew up half-Thai. To locals and tourists alike, street-food vendors make up a significant proportion of the diet of residents in Thailand. But what does the everyday consumer see when they come to a street-food vendor in Southeast Asia?

Sinks? Food coverings? Disinfectants?

Litter. Open-air food displays. Sticky gloves.

Sure, one may overlook street food vendors and trust that their experience in food handling will enable them to keep their stalls and food clean. But when our hot soups are carried in plastic bags, litter is scattered around the streets, and public bathrooms are often absent of soap dispensers -- we may never know if our food is safe.

If it isn't a secret that street food is risky, then why do Thai consumers continue to come back for more?

The reality is that street food is convenient, cheap and delicious. Myself, as an individual born half-Thai, I have become fond of the bustling nature of street-food vendors in Thailand, and the lively energy it paints on the streets. As much as tourists and locals are aware of the dangers and lack of food safety principles in the preparation of street food, consumers are undeniably attracted to the characteristic abundance of busy stalls carrying their favourite Thai dishes.

Although food is being improperly handled, Thailand is not in lack of sufficient food safety regulations. In fact, the Thai Food Act of BE 2522 has been in effect since 1979, which mandates the control and monitoring of all categories of food products. However, not all street-food vendors implement such regulations and are often associated with informal nature and trade. So what can we do?

Addressing the hygienic shortcomings of street-food vendors must be viewed as the obligation of being a consumer of Thai street-food. We as Thai consumers should have conversations within communities about today's state of street food, seeking information on food safety management, and promote the importance of food safety management in order to end the cycle of risky consumption in Thailand.

Elvish answers

Re: "Gardening best left to green fingers," (PostScript, Dec 12).

Readers of Roger Crutchley's "PostScript" column will be pleased to know that the gnomes missing from England have migrated to the North Pole. We have welcomed a variety of refugees from southern climes and integrated them into our vast contingent of elves. They include gnomes, leprechauns, trolls, and dwarves, known collectively as the Little People.

Asked why he relocated to the North Pole, one English elf replied, "Too bloody much rain down there, mate." A refugee from Thailand answered, "Rawn maak, khrap!" One from the United States asked, "Have you looked at our politics lately?"

Mr Crutchley's readers should rest assured that all our little immigrants are perfectly happy here. They don't mind the cold, although some have expressed dissatisfaction with the abundance of faecal matter produced by our reindeer, not to mention the smell.