OPINION

Regal exemplar

Re: “Crowds brave the night to pay respects,” (BP, Sept 14).

Whether you believe in a monarchy or not, no one can deny what an amazing example of a monarch Queen Elizabeth was.

Seventy years of tireless devotion to her duties through times of thick and thin, war and peace.

She was there as a figurehead and never shrank from her oath to serve, until her death. She will be sadly missed.

Ron Martin

Of days gone by

Re: “Crowds brave the night to pay respects,” (BP, Sept 14).

Cannot help but think of days gone by and the passing of King Rama IX and now Her Majesty the Queen of England.

Currently, the TV coverage of her mourning is considerable and the pageantry impressive.

Going back to the incredible display of mourning by everyday Thai citizens from Ubon, Tak, Yala, Lampang and the rest of Thailand, when King Rama IX died, I still remember the daily lines at Sanam Luang of those who wished to pay their respects.

Over 11 million passed through the very small room where His Majesty lay in transition for one year.

Al Eberhardt

Chadchart’s OK

Re: “Chadchart’s first real test,” (Editorial, Sept 14).

After only three months in office, and unfortunate election timing, what is Khun Chadchart expected to achieve at the moment considering his predecessors’ lethargy?

Command the waters, Canute-like, to recede? If he reaches out to residents with his shirtsleeves rolled up he is accused of grandstanding on social media; if he doesn’t he will be accused of indifference. He is not in a position to be envied.

Ellis O’Brien

Drug reservations

Re “DMS defends use of favipiravir pills,” (BP, Sept 13).

The Department of Medical Sciences (DMS) has rejected the results of a trial of favipiravir done in the United States, Mexico and Brazil that concluded the drug lacked efficacy in treating Covid.

In defence of its widespread use of favipiravir — as a first-line treatment for Covid in Thailand — the DMS cites a local trial done with 93 patients in three hospitals, which apparently yielded satisfactory results in favour of favipiravir’s efficacy, in spite of the small sample size and apparent lack of an international peer review.

On Feb 18, 2021, Reuters reported concerns had been raised based on animal studies that favipiravir could cause birth defects, although no evidence was cited for this claim.

George Morgan

Law in slow motion

Re: “Bay marred by movie ordered to be fixed,” (BP, Sept 14) and “Saxena’s last appeal thrown out,” (BP, Sept 13).

Two stories in today’s news tell us all we need to know about delays in the judicial system. Both originated in the late 1990s, one being the Rakesh Saxena embezzlement scandal in which he fled to Canada before the Thais got him back and tried him, the other being the deforestation at Maya Bay for the filming of The Beach. Amazingly there appears to be no embarrassment about such lengthy court cases and one can only assume the lawyers and judges enjoyed knowing they had paid work to do. Good work if you can get it.

Lungstib