OPINION

Sardines squirm

Re: "Pink Line service to open in November", (BP, Oct 26).

I happened to be travelling along Chaeng Wattana Rd and saw one of the Pink Line trains in operation. I couldn't believe my eyes. Is that what they call a train (monorail style)?

It is so small that it can probably accommodate only 100 passengers. Model trains (Lionel) are almost the same size.

I am willing to bet that if I got on the train at Chaeng Wattana station and wanted to travel to Fashion Island I would find it hard to get a seat. Do they expect people to travel long distances on this train and enjoy being crammed together? It should be renamed the Sardine Can Line.

Re: "PM pleads for return of talented Thais", (Nov 19).

Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin should perhaps consider that the smartest, most talented Thais would be more tempted to live and work in Thailand if they were not subject to arrest and imprisonment for peacefully expressing a healthy range of opinion.

Contrary to myth, many Thais do in fact support justice, democracy, and national progress. Many even favour the reform of bad old traditions too long institutionalised, a fact the May 14 vote demonstrated again.

Move Forward might have better success in persuading Thailand's best and brightest to return to contribute to a flourishing new era for their nation than those complicit in making Srettha their prime minister, including their eager pardon for Thaksin Shinawatra that former PM Prayut Chan-o-cha himself signed off on along with others.

And speaking of those who drank deeply of his intoxicating brew, how is that poisoned chalice these days? Is Thaksin still as gravely ill as ever in the comfort of the Police General Hospital?

Re: "Kids to get survival swimming courses", (BP, Nov 16).

Just get Deputy Public Health Minister Santi Promphat to visit Buri Ram province. We have just lost a children's play area, a safe exercise park, and our swimming pool that has been closed for four years for renovations. How can you teach "Survival Swimming Skills" without a pool?

Re: "PM courts foreign cash as he hobnobs with elite at Apec meet", (BP, Nov 18).

I was surprised when no picture of PM Srettha Thavisin appeared on the front page of Friday's Post. How reassuring it was when he reappeared on Saturday, alongside none other than Joe Biden. It was also good to see the line-up avoiding the cross-body handshake so beloved of Asean leaders, which is only effectual when the participants are arranged in a circle.

Re: "Chinese warship's sonar pulses 'likely' injured Australian divers", (World, Nov 19).

The report of Chinese ships allegedly using sonar pulses that injured Australian divers helps explain why whales and other marine life that navigate and communicate by sonar pulses end up stranded on beaches around the world.

If the divers suffer pain and dizziness as claimed, the effect on whales must be pure torture. Man's desire to wage war and devise ways of doing it know no bounds and the devil take the hindmost.