OPINION

Soldiers can raise pigs

Re: "Govt mulls pork imports to reduce inflation," (BP, Jan 18) and "How high will the cost of pork soar?,"(BP, Jan 25).

Considering the prime minister had already instructed the military to increase the supply of coriander in the country, by now the armed forces must have gained some competence in the agricultural arena.

So it shouldn't be too difficult to add pig farming to their list of tasks.

This would hopefully avoid the need for costly pork imports and redirect the military and its vast land holdings towards endeavours beneficial to citizens.

Shared safety concept

Re: "Stricter traffic rules expected in July," (BP, Jan 28).

There is an answer, and it has been staring Thailand in the face for over 20 years. Successive governments have ignored it because of their blinkered and arrogant attitude that they know best.

Blaming drivers and seeking revenge is basically going back to the Middle Ages.

The answer is the "Safe System" that addresses all aspects of road safety.

Traditionally, the responsibility for staying safe on the road fell on individual road users.

However, under the Safe System approach, road safety is a shared responsibility among everyone, including those that design, build, operate and use the road system. Everyone has a part to play in staying safe on the roads.

Until Thailand drops its archaic attitude to road safety and adopts the Safe System there will be no big change in the situation in Thailand.

Trading in merit

Re: "Policeman who killed doctor enters monkhood," (BP, Jan 25).

The young police officer who killed a pedestrian with his large motorbike appears sincerely remorseful, and his decision to enter the monkhood seems genuinely selfless and in accord with tradition.

He has not denied the facts or his guilt, nor sought to excuse them with amazing tales of pure righteousness leading to an honest mistake.

There are some points that could usefully be clarified regarding the creation and disposal of merit in Buddhist monasteries.

First, how does entering the monkhood "make merit for his victim"? Is merit a tradeable product like pork or gold, both of which can be transferred to others?

A similar historical sacred trade that comes to mind is that of indulgences. The Christian church traditionally found the creation and sale of indulgences to wipe away the lingering taint of sin a most lucrative business until that radical monk Martin Luther set off serious reforms in 1517.

Luther's reform were condemned by that high-level committee, the Diet of Worms, in 1521, and the rest is history.

Perhaps Thailand's Buddhist experts could publish some elucidation of these matters, citing research on the business of creating, quantifying and trading in merit.

Cheaper travel

Re: "Tourism disaster," (PostBag, Jan 22).

According to Jason A Jellison, there is no need for people to visit tourist sites any more, since they can view photos of them online.

So, until a cure for Covid-19 is found, people from abroad won't be travelling much to the kingdom, no matter what policies the government puts in place, Mr Jellison believes.

But what he forgets is that even before the internet came onto the scene, people could still look at photos of tourist sites in books or watch television shows about tourism.

I myself would sometimes tell people that it was unnecessary to go to such and such a country to visit tourist sites, since one could look at photos in a book. But did this stop people from travelling to other nations?

So, rather than it being the case that the presence of the coronavirus is at fault for the decline in tourists going abroad, I think it has more to do with the fact that governments around the world have imposed such stringent requirements for entry to a country.

They have made it so much more expensive to go anywhere, that people have decided to stay home.

If the government makes it less costly and easier to enter the kingdom, far more than the .5% of the pre-pandemic tourists total will come here.