OPINION

Thai-style diplomacy?

Re: "Can Europe avert a war between US and China?," (Opinion, Jan 6). The article illustrates the enormous opportunities calling for Thailand to play a decisive role in conflict resolution and peacebuilding.

If Thailand, as Asean co-founder, would align with Europe (and my country of birth the Netherlands) to develop a security concept for Indo-Pacific and South China Sea strategies simply articulated as "Eco-Peace", policies could be prioritised to establish common ground beyond rising military and economic competition. The "Eco-Peace" concept would not only apply to the sea but also to the challenges identified by the UN Food System Summit in New York, September 2021, as well as the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration 2021-2030. In particular, two windows of opportunities occur for Thailand's exceptional expertise in international law (Thais leaving their mark in the law, Vitit Muntarbhorn, BP, Dec 20, 2021) to support "Eco-Peace": the request of small island countries in the Pacific and the Caribbean for an Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice in The Hague on climate justice; and the recommendation to member-states of UN Secretary-General Guterres to "re-purpose" the UN Trusteeship Council.

All about leadership

Re: "Thai politics' dark tunnel to nowhere," (Opinion, Jan 7).

Khun Thitinan is right that Thailand will remain a good place where unrivaled food, beckoning mountains, and beaches and bars will continue to exist. Needless to say that in 2022 and beyond, the inert, selfish, and corrupt leaders in the region will continue to lower the status or relevance of their respective countries on the global stage.

We know well that good leadership is what makes a country thrive. In the Asean region, the combination of military coups and authoritarianism has turned governance into a business for personal riches and gains. The corrupt regimes of Ferdinand Marcos, Najib Razak and many others are responsible for the malaise in the region. Sadly, in Thailand, governance has become a game of musical chairs.

We are also seeing leaders like Donald Trump in the US and a new crop of extremists in the EU, Africa and Southeast Asia dividing people and escalating conflicts for personal gain. Vote-bank politics based on ideologies, conspiracies, corruption, caste, creed, and religions is on the rise.

Leaders with vision and courage can transform a country and make it relevant globally. Lee Kuan Yew will be remembered for turning a primitive port city into an influential and prosperous nation. It is quite clear that a country cannot reach the heights of its potential and achieve what it is capable of without good leadership. Kenneth A Blanchard, an American author, put it well: "The key to successful leadership is influence, not authority".

Abortion answer

Re: "Mum tells cops she killed son," (BP, Jan 6).

Why, oh why, is abortion not encouraged when pregnant women clearly have no means, and often no interest, in giving a child a decent home and upbringing? Whether the murdered child's mother's claim that she brutally killed her own son is true, or whether she is merely actively complicit in a vile murder committed by her current heterosexual partner, every person concerned, certainly the viciously tortured child, would have been better off had the victim not been born, a curse he never asked for and certainly had done nothing to deserve, unsubstantiated karmic and like fantasies notwithstanding.

There being no good reason to the contrary, only faith-based dogma propagating false claims and preaching bad morals, just law allows abortion on request for at least the first six months of a normal pregnancy.

Credit to Mor Prom

Re: "Booster plans in disarray," (Editorial, Jan 6).

The dissatisfaction in the authorities' administration was well deservedly rendered.

However, from our recent experience, there is a bright side. Given our concerns over the ministry's performance for the first and second shots, a few months ago our family diverted our attention towards offers from many private hospitals for purchases of Moderna. We have been massively disappointed with their availability and still await their SMS.

Fortunately and surprisingly, many government hospitals recently have been offering third jabs if one is able to book on the app. All my immediate family members and employees were already given third jabs with one of the three well-known Western brands. They were at no cost. I had to go to Bang Sue, but feared the crowds and officialdom. The reality was otherwise. Currently, walk-in offers are getting common.

Finally, though disparaging Mor Prom was well justified during the period of early disappointment when vaccine supply was short, this was because of the health ministry's slow ordering. However, Mor Prom is now only an app for monitoring and recording vaccine jabs of each individual. So far, it has been immensely successful in monitoring and communicating with the whole population of 67 million via ID numbers. I never thought that Thailand could have reached the stage that Singapore did ages ago. My third jab was recorded on the Mor Prom app the next day.

Not that I disagree with you on the body of criticisms on the health ministry but on the bright side I like to give credit where it is due -- something great about the government IT which has nothing to do with the health ministry.

mRNA for elderly

Is it expedient to mandate three Covid PCR tests (first in the country of departure) within 10 days under the late Test & Go programme if asymptomatic? As hinted before foreign tourists and expats living in Thailand are not the same. Expats and most readers of the Bangkok Post have normally some understanding of Thai culture and their way of life and contribute to the Thai economy in good and bad times. To contain the spread of the Omicron virus and to maintain a good level of protection against Covid infection, I would like to suggest the promotion of mRNA booster-type vaccinations like Moderna or Pfizer for people over 60, three months after their second dose. For expats the booster vaccination cost should be covered by their Thai outpatient health insurance or else by direct payment.

A booster bonus?

I believe the cost of a single Moderna vaccine is in the vicinity of 700 to 800 baht (and its actual manufacturing cost is only a fraction of that). Yesterday, I received my long-awaited Moderna booster shot at Chularat Rayong Hospital at a total cost of 1,650 baht, almost double the real price. I have no objection to Chularat and other private hospitals making a hefty profit on these jabs, but might I suggest that some of the profits be used to pay a bonus to the gallant medical, nursing and other hospital staff who have been battling around the clock to combat and contain the Covid pandemic?

Give it a break

Re: "Vaccine fatigue," (PostBag, Jan 6). and "Medical tyrants", (PostBag, Jan 6).

I'm with David Brown. Enough of trying to instil any rationality into the warped minds of PostBag's trio of regular anti-vaxxers. I'm off the air on that futile exercise from now on, even as the third leg of the trio Michael Setter peddles more of the same tired old lines. Let's agree, gentlemen, that time will tell, resume in six months' time, at which point one or all of us will admit we were wrong.

They started it!

Re: "Vaccine fatigue," (PostBag, Jan 6).

I understand David Brown saying he's tired of the endless PostBag debate about the Covid vaccines. But David I'm not the one who started this war. They did! The media, the medical establishment and the politicians have slandered and libeled the unvaccinated and even want to prevent them from working, going to school or eating in a restaurant. In France, where 90% of the population is fully vaccinated, you had over three hundred thousand new Covid infections the other day. (in a population smaller than Thailand's). Yet to cover up his own incompetence the French president blamed the surge on the unvaccinated.

I agree with David that we are old enough to make our own decisions. In fact, as a 71-year-old vegan who is never sick, I'm the world's greatest expert on how to take care of myself. So just let me make my decisions and I'll totally respect your right to make yours, vaccinated or unvaccinated.

Fries' size matters

Re: "Burger economies," (PostBag, Jan 5).

Mike Newman says I argued that economists should use the price of a nation's French fries to determine its economic status. No, no, Khun Mike! I argued that it was the size of the fries that should determine economic status. Big fries, roaring economy. Tiny fries, economy in shambles.

On a related matter, I am bothered by the absence of Bangkok in the list of cities that have foods named after them. Frankfurt has frankfurters and Hamburg has hamburgers. What does Bangkok have? Nada, zilch, maimee arai. I propose the invention of somtam in a bun to be the eponymous food of Bangkok. If calling it a bangkokker doesn't fly, you could call it a krungthepper. It could become wildly popular among discriminating gastronomes. and might even attain supremacy among the food stalls on Khao San Road.