Thais lead the way
Re: "Elective abortion rule to be eased," (BP, Sept 28).
The government is to be commended for moving to further expand access to safe, legal abortion on request.
It is a welcome change to see Thailand set a good example to the US, which under the recent baneful influence of faith-driven theocrats is moving morally backwards on this issue.
There is no good reason why a woman should not be able to have a safe, legal abortion on request.
While the human foetus is certainly a human being, it is no more a human person than is the foetus of any other mammal.
Does it possess the defining characteristics that make a human person valued: self-awareness, plans, social bonds, preferences, dislikes, and moral sentiments?
To think that there is anything morally special about having a beating heart or a clearly formed set of limbs would make every other mammal, if not every other animal, deserving of the same moral consideration as any human being.
Such is the logical outcome of taking seriously the arguments put forward by anti-abortion proponents in the US, who must logically also treat any killing of animals for meat as murder in the same way they deceitfully label abortion.
Felix Qui
Dollar safety
Re: "Dollar's Dominance," (PostBag, Sept 27).
Kuldeep Nagi in his comments on the dollar's dominance as a safe currency overlooked the key reason for this condition, the US gross domestic product (GDP).
Number two in GDP is China, although it has many, many times the number of workers.
American workers out-preform Chinese by great margins. So it is the American worker and his tools that indirectly makes the US dollar so strong.
David Bravender
Money better spent
Re: "More expats please," (PostBag, Sept 21).
Although Burin made some good suggestions on how to get more long-term expats to come to Thailand, he didn't mention the outrageous requirements for retirement visa holders to have 800,000 baht in a Thai bank for at least five months.
My money is just sleeping in a Thai bank doing nothing.
Rather than renew the visa I think it would make more sense to use that money to travel to other SE Asian countries, stay in five-star hotels and when I want to come back to Thailand get a VOA (I was astounded to learn how relatively inexpensive top hotels are in some surrounding countries, especially outside capital cities).
The only reason I ever agreed to waste so much money in a Thai bank account was because the Covid crisis disrupted my travel plans.
Now, unless you have millions of dollars, you're a fool to have over a million baht (you need that to maintain the 800,000 baht balance for five months) in such an account when that money could be put to better use.
Eric Bahrt
