OPINION

Appraising the PM

Re: "PM pressured over defence role", (BP, Aug 26).

Many of us who have lived in this country for many years have long ago learned that a sophisticated appreciation of irony is not a characteristic to be found commonly in Thai society. But, even by the standards of our low expectations, the sycophantic blustering of army chief Gen Narongphan Jitkaewthae, heaping praise on Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha for simply obeying the constitution, the law and a court suspension order, as we are all expected to do, is beyond parody.

The object of Gen Narongphan's admiration is a man who perpetrated the military overthrow of a democratically elected government, engineered the abrogation of the then constitution, ruled by dictatorial fiat for many years, presided over the suppression and silencing of legitimate dissent and has failed to honour almost all the promises he made in his preposterous attempts to justify Thailand's umpteenth military coup d'etat back in 2014.

"A gentleman and role model," says Gen Narongphan. Role model for a banana republic maybe.

Re: "Kanokwan suspended over land", (BP, Aug 27).

I have no problem with Deputy Education Minister Kanokwan Vilawan's being suspended from office pending investigation of alleged encroachment on a forest reserve. All are equal under the law.

But I recall a similar case, that of Pareena Kraikupt, who was permanently banned from politics in March 2022 for using forest reserve land. Isn't she also criminally liable for her acts?

Also, Pareena vowed to expose dozens of other politicians who encroached on forest reserves. Has she carried out her threat? She should turn state's evidence against them in return for a shorter sentence.

Let justice not only be done but be seen to be done.

Re: "Troubled economies", (PostBag, Aug 23).

While Jason A Jellison does have a point that most of the world's economies are still struggling when comparing their performances to pre-pandemic times, the fact is that tourism has almost returned to normal in many parts of the world.

Based on various publications that I have read, tourism has bounced back by up to 90% of pre-pandemic times in Western European countries and even many African countries, such as Egypt and South Africa.

The lone exception is Asia. With the exception of Bali and the Maldives, most Asian countries have struggled to get tourism back to even half of what it previously was before the pandemic.

And what is the reason for this? Well, most Asian countries still have various rules for inbound tourists in place, such as the necessity of taking antigen or PCR Covid tests for unvaccinated people, and even quarantine in some cases, among others.

In contrast, most of the rest of the world has opened up to everybody, regardless of whether they are vaccinated or not.

So, while I am in agreement with Mr Jellison that lengthening the amount of time which tourists will be able to stay in the country once they arrive is a good first step, it quite clearly is not enough. I don't think that getting 45% of the number of tourists back from before the pandemic hit is much of an accomplishment, as the above implies.

More is needed to be done to strengthen both Thailand s tourist sector and economy. Thailand needs to open itself up more to the rest of the world.