OPINION

Gorilla in Alcatraz

Re: "Pata Zoo denies gorilla 'Bua Noi' is for sale," (BP, Oct 22).

Nowadays, most zoos provide spacious environments, diets and medical services to best accommodate their inmates. I don't think the scant population of gorillas in the African wilderness is acquainted with large rubber tires or iron bars on the 5th floor of an urban department store.

Given the grossly unfortunate Bua Noi's circumstances that are essentially akin to life in Alcatraz, I suggest the alleged 30 million baht bounty on her head should be spent making her future as dignified and comfortable as possible in an open-air environment up-country, to avoid Bangkok smog, with proper amenities for her remaining years, with no rubber-necking tourists.

Re: "Heavy Ukraine price," (PostBag, Oct 18).

The caption was encouraging for one hoping learn something new. But the suggestion to "stop trading in dollars" to bring an end to the Ukraine war shattered one's hopes.

The US dollar replaced sterling after the end of the Second World War as the dominant trading currency. It remains as such despite the increasing threat from the Chinese yuan. Now, a person hopes to stop the war in Ukraine by stopping trading in dollars. Unbelievable!

Re: "Better future beckons," (PostBag, Oct 18).

I agree with Khun Felix Qui's letter on the MFP's proposals to help us advance. I note that we need not wait for the next elections to protect our dearly beloved monarchy.

As Grossman and Faulder put it in their palace-approved book: "Thailand's law of lèse-majesté has one very prominent critic: King Bhumibol.… In 2005... King Bhumibol used his annual televised birthday address to convey three concerns: (a) 'The king,' he said, 'is a human being and as such should be subject to criticism (b) Charges against those accused of lèse-majesté should be dropped, and those held in jail for lèse-majesté should be released, and (c) The use of the lèse-majesté law ultimately damages the monarchy.'"

We should immediately carry out the wishes of our national father by dropping LM charges and releasing those jailed for LM.

Re: "Director gets 385-year term for shoddy school lunches," (BP, Oct 22).

So, the Thai judiciary thinks that a 385-year jail term is an appropriate sentence? Obviously no one would condone what this school director did; the act of depriving children of their food and stealing on such a grand scale is quite abhorrent but Thailand is really scraping the barrel of decency with this barbaric sentence as the country continues to slip back into a full totalitarian dictatorship.

After having worked in Thailand for around seven years, I believe I can see the issue which relates to a total lack of safeguards and appropriate whistleblowing procedures at all levels of society and within all institutions.

This school director would never have got away with what he did if his subordinates had reported him to a higher authority. Yet this is regrettably not the Thai way where it appears best just to ignore issues of corruption and child protection and keep one's nose clean rather than do the decent thing.

Change is way overdue; let us hope the new generation has the enthusiasm to do the right thing.