Online sales the key
Re: "Panel set to probe high ticket prices", (BP, Jan 15).
The most effective way to control lottery ticket pricing is to move sales online, as in the United States. Thousands of e-commerce transactions are performed in Thailand every day. Online ticket sales will be much simpler, more transparent and easier to control. In these countries, tickets could be purchased at any ATM or convenience store.
What about the vendors, many of whom are handicapped?
They are talented in other ways; for example, the finalist in last year's Plaeng Ake singing contest was blind but has a beautiful voice. The government should help them discover their potential so they can live to their fullest.
Last but not least, the Lottery Office has no business being a government-run agency. Let the private sector run it, with government supervision.
Re: "Haze cannot be ignored", (Editorial, Jan 12).
It's laudable that the Bangkok Post editorial team continues to keep alive the concern over the choking air pollution in Bangkok. Although the editorial pleads that the "haze cannot be ignored," of course we can expect that it will be ignored. By now, we know the pattern very well.
According to the State of Global Air 2020 Report, around 32,000 premature deaths in Thailand are attributed to air pollution each year. Thus, in the past two years, foul air has caused more than twice the number of premature deaths than Covid-19 during the pandemic. Many of these deaths could be averted if reasonable actions were taken to reduce air pollution. Where is the outrage over these deaths? While we're kept in a state of near-panic and endless mitigating gyrations over Covid-19, no apparent action is taken to avert the air-quality health threat that is killing more people than the coronavirus.
Re: "Sandbox runs out of toys", (BP, Jan 16).
The Sandbox programme could benefit from further thought. The notion that residents or visitors must arrive at their final quarantine location, Phuket for example, on a direct flight from outside Thailand is simply not well-considered.
Why is a resident forced to fly directly into Phuket from a different country, Singapore or Dubai for example, rather than fly into Bangkok and immediately transfer to a Phuket flight?
Phuket is an international airport and has all the necessary personnel and equipment to process international arrivals. Coming from the USA for example, why is it better to change planes in Singapore than in Bangkok? Upon arrival in Bangkok, why can't AoT immediately segregate the Phuket transfer passengers and move them safely to the departure gate? These international travellers have already shown evidence of a negative Covid PCR immediately prior to travel, which is more than we can say for people currently travelling within Thailand. If transfer flight timing is inconvenient, the traveller could stay at a local and pre-approved hotel overnight.
We recently flew Singapore Airlines and upon arrival in Singapore we were easily transferred to the final flight to Phuket. No drama, an easy transfer.
A better model would allow visitors to fly directly into Suvarnabhumi airport on whatever airline they prefer and make the transfer at time of arrival.
The current system forces people to use airlines they may not particularly like, pay higher transport costs, and in many cases put up with terrible customer service.
We already have plenty of Covid in Thailand, forcing residents to travel through foreign airports to arrive in Phuket is a silly and out-of-date policy. Furthermore, it harms the economics of Thailand's tourism industry.