Clear as air

Re: "Fighting to breathe," (BP, Jan 23). The Bangkok Post should be commended for starting the City Speak series. Sadly, the issue of air pollution in Bangkok does not seem to sink or bother the people driving cars, trucks, and motorcycles. Drastic measures are needed to stop the slow death of people living in this megapolis.

1. Stop manufacturing and assembly of cars in Thailand;

2. Tax car manufacturers and sellers to pay additional pollution tax to clean up the air;

3. Stop bank loans for buying cars or charge high-interest rates (15%-20%);

4. Impose a fine of 1,000 baht for driving a 4-6 seater car or truck alone;

5. Public and private sector employers should provide incentives for carpooling;

6. Public and private sector employers should provide free monthly passes for using MRT and trains;

If none of the above is possible, stop wasting time on running your City Speak series. Covid has taught us one lesson -- we either take necessary actions or be ready to die. There is no time to waste.

KULDEEP NAGI
Bright lights, big city

Re: "Kansas no more, Dot," (PostBag, Jan 17).

"A Foreign Observer" opines that "rather than too many Thais living in big cities … the problem is that too many Thais still live in the country." This is undoubtedly a very provocative statement, but I tend to agree.

There are sound reasons why the world is rapidly urbanising and more than half of the world's population now lives in cities.

Greater concentrations of people translate into more efficiencies in providing services, distributing food, and concentrating employment and production -- not to mention the obvious attraction of the "bright lights" and social and cultural opportunities afforded by cities.

Rural living is definitely attractive for many people, myself included, but the reality is that employment opportunities are severely limited in most countryside areas and many rural livelihoods are environmentally destructive.

Sociologists and development workers tend to lament the loss of bucolic living, but in doing so they largely glorify a lifestyle and images that no longer exist in the real world.

With increasing mechanisation and productivity, we need many, many fewer farmers. As long as the population of farmers remains high, most will remain poor.

While farmers rarely go hungry, in today's world they often have little money for other needs and aspirations.

SAMANEA SAMAN
THC troubles

Re: "Plans afoot to legalise high time," (BP, Jan 25) and "Cannabis delisting meet postponed," (BP, Jan 20).

Regarding government-induced confusion about cannabis, there is another dimension to the regulatory problem which the government has created yet fails to address. The requirement to limit THC content to 0.2% by weight of product is impossible for growers or processors to abide by until their product is produced.

One cannot know the THC content of a plant or extract until it is analysed, an expense no household grower can afford and no commercial processor wants to take a random chance that his product will have to be destroyed or remediated at great expense.

And then what must be done with the excess THC while it is on the way to being destroyed. A paid police escort perhaps?

The government is hopeless when it comes to practical planning.

MICHAEL SETTER
25 Jan 2022 25 Jan 2022
27 Jan 2022 27 Jan 2022

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