Crisis beckons

Re: "World faces prospect of financial tumult", (Opinion, March 23, by Chartchai Parasuk).

I agree with the article by Chartchai Parasuk warning that that the world is facing a Lehman style 2008 financial crisis, since the Silicon Valley Bank in the US collapsed, along with a couple of smaller ones.

Further, a major European Bank, Credit Suisse, was on the verge of bankruptcy after its stock fell by more than 30%, but was fortunately rescued by the UBS (Union Bank of Switzerland).

But perhaps surprisingly, Chartchai suggests that rather than this year, the global financial meltdown will happen in 2024.

The main reason, he says, is by this time many Chinese loans will have defaulted. Here, the non-financial sector debt-to-GDP ratio is 295.9%, whereas the standard G20 ratio is about 239%.

So by the time the loans are due, many Chinese will not be able to pay up due to a global recession and slowing world economy. The world will be in a state of chaos, with a Lehman-style 2008 economic crisis, or even worse, according to the author.

Paul

Roger or Jarmila?

Re: "Testosterone levels", (BP, PostBag, March 28).

I could not agree more with the World Athletic Council banning transgender athletes from competing against women. The swimmers did it a few years ago!

Forget about sex inclusivity in top sports.

Nobody is stopping people from declaring themselves transgender, but it is their biological difference which gives them an unfair advantage over women. If you want to be different, go ahead, but do not claim to be the same just because you wear a woman's clothes.

Thus I also agree that the council is considering stripping my fellow Czech, Jarmila Kratochvilova, of the world record in 800 metres won in 1983.

Forty years on, the 1:53.28 second record still stands. It is the longest athletic record in history.

How come?

Many women athletes say that it is an unbeatable time by a normal female athlete. Not even Caster Semenya, another problematic, sexually challenged athlete could beat it.

I urge you to look at the picture of Kratochvilova in running attire and consider whether you are looking at a man or a woman.

As the girls in Pattaya declare on their T-shirts, "Same, same, but different!"

Many people say that it could also be a Roger Daltrey impersonator! I would not argue with that one.

Miro King, male athlete and fan of Roger Daltrey

Hold the horses

Re: "Beware of boredom", (PostBag, March 30).

I dare say Eric Bahrt, Burin Kantabutra, and myself share a common purpose -- we strive to relieve suffering. We have been contributing to Postbag for decades with this same purpose at heart.

Eric often warns about the dangers of poor diet and processed foods, Khun Burin frequently reminds us about widespread corruption in Thailand and the injustices of the lese majeste law, and, although I have covered many subjects, since the pandemic the focus has been on helping people understand the risks of poor public health policy, the science pertaining to Covid-19, and vaccines.

Recently David Brown proposed a way to "tell PostBag readers that these writers are still on their hobbyhorses without the boredom of us having to read the letter again".

Mr Brown, I do apologise. You see, it is because I just can't help myself. Whether it is an elephant tortured by human cruelty, an impoverished couple enduring endless years of imprisonment for harvesting mushrooms, or millions dying from fraudulently authorised experimental vaccines, my heart cries out in sympathetic identification with the suffering of all creatures.

Michael Setter

More help needed

Re: "Smog lingers across North", (BP, March 28) and "Agro-troops needed", (PostBag, March 11).

I felt like a lonely voice when I advocated for a state of emergency and the deployment of the 3rd Army It is encouraging to see that these "outlier" ideas have now become part of the public discourse.

Among other things, it details a post-hoc attempt to put out 55,000 fires with a limited number of army troops and helicopters.

The government should consider this to be a war: a battle against a man-made environmental catastrophe that is sickening and killing its citizens. Thailand needs a massive mobilisation of troops sanctioned by an official state of emergency declaration.

Jonathan Nash
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