OPINION

Rape no minor issue

Re: "Boarding school told to punish suspected rapists", (BP, Sept 27).

I read with disbelief that Education Minister Trinuch Thienthong has instructed a boarding school to punish students involved in the sexual assault of female pupils in its dormitory.

It is not the place of schools to act as criminal courts of law, and any punishment within the powers of a school would be totally inappropriate and inadequate for the alleged crimes.

This matter is properly the jurisdiction of the police, and if there is sufficient evidence of the alleged crimes, including those who assisted the alleged rapists, they should be dealt with by a criminal court of law, and if they are minors, by a juvenile court of law.

Nothing else will provide justice for the girls who were allegedly raped.

Don't fix pot prices

Re: "Cannabis farmers ask for help as prices drop", (BP, Sept 26).

With the liberalisation of cannabis, prices have dropped dramatically, and farmers want the government to fix prices.

Farmers or marketing co-ops boosting their bargaining power is fine but the government should not fix prices. Anybody could have forecasted that when supply rises to a greater extent than demand, prices will drop, and prepare accordingly.

What the government should do, though, is make market information readily available on the internet. For instance, coverage should include current prices, supply and demand; forecasts, and ways that farmers can add value to their output. Thailand has a very high rate of internet penetration and we should use it to benefit farmers more.

Exercise or excise?

Re: "The high price of sodium", (BP, Sept 27).

I must commend Suwitcha Chaiyong for a very thorough and well-authored article on the efforts of the Thai Health Promotion Foundation to lower the average national sodium intake which is still rather high. I agree with all of their ideas, except for levelling an excise tax on either salt or high salt foods because that somewhat allows a government to all but dictate what we eat and, once that starts, where does it stop?

A better option is always education, as well as genuinely making healthier food choices as affordable as possible without the arm of taxation.

Yet, that all said, I think all of the physicians cited in this article missed what may prove to be one of the biggest health problems facing much of the Thai public today -- many people now spend most of their time at home and have become so sedentary that I can visually see the weight increases, and I can also see a marked increase in depression and alcohol consumption.

In the long run, I don't think lowering sodium levels to WHO guidelines really will be very effective if the issues stemming from excessive time spent at home are not confronted.

Alcoholism, depression and high weight probably really are the greatest common health threats that the Thai public has been contending with ever since the lockdowns and lifestyle changes arrived in the Covid years. I think our medical establishment's immediate attention really should be on restoring a largely pre-Covid lifestyle, thus emphasising the joys of exercise rather than the depressing restrictions of excise.