Upholding faith
Re: "Why an alcohol ban?", (PostBag, May 25).
"Cheers Grumpy" declares that Thailand is secular, and questions why alcohol is banned on Visakha Bucha Day.
Yes, in theory Thailand is secular and there is freedom of religion. Buddhism represents 93% of the population, Islam 5%, Christianity 1.2% and Brahminism, Hinduism, Sikhism and other minor religions and atheism make up the rest.
The constitution requires that the head of state, His Majesty the King, be Buddhist (in a similar way that the King of England must be Church of England). So putting ideas of secularism aside, by sheer weight of numbers the reality is that Thailand is a Buddhist state. In short, Buddha Rules. OKAY!
So, "Cheers Grumpy": Stock up on a few bottles of beer or wine before the next Buddhist holy day rolls around and enjoy them at your leisure.
David Brown
No socio-democrats
Re: "Power dynamics", (PostBag, May 22).
In a PostBag letter, Hans calls for European socialists and Greens to unite and revitalise the socio-democratic model for a new world order.
He omits the fact that these socio-democrats betrayed and alienated themselves from their followers and are at the root cause of the current problems in Europe. They religiously embraced the over-emphasis on individual benefit and neo-liberal capitalism.
Hence, in the Netherlands, the Right recently won the elections with a huge majority. Socio-democrats in this country are still in hibernation and in denial of their loss, licking their wounds, in tandem with journalists who are biased and refuse to do any self-examination/reflection. This powerful elite are poor losers, controlling many layers of society and trying to do all they can to prevent handing over the reins.
S de Jong
Fear tactic
Re: "War is at the heart of the UK's summer election", (Opinion, May 25).
Soon-to-depart UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has repeated a now familiar laundry list of potential doomsday threats to civilisation, embellished with a few innovative tweaks such as solar flares and earthquakes (in the UK?)
His fear-inducing alarmism included, "the threats we face have been proliferating. Geopolitical tensions have risen to heights not seen for decades, climate change has compounded the risk from natural disasters… and -- as became all-too-real with Covid -- biosecurity hazards pose potentially existential threats to our lives and livelihoods.
"All the while we become increasingly dependent on digital technology which brings extraordinary opportunities but also creates new vulnerabilities and threats. In particular, generative AI has lowered the barrier to entry for malign on-line actors…" blah, blah, blah. Most Western governments are using this type of fear porn as a default propaganda strategy combined with malign man-made "pandemics" to enlarge their presence in our lives, seize more power and steal a lot more of our GDP.
Their blatant theft is conveniently justified through increased defence spending, gifting appeasement money to the losers in Gaza and Ukraine, and funding the main actors at Nato, the UN and the WHO.
Michael Setter
Treaty can help
Re: "Gates' mRNA plans", (PostBag, May 22).
The WHO Pandemic Treaty, which seems to scare S De Jong so much, is designed to accelerate the global response to future pandemics through rapid, honest information sharing (something we lacked when Covid first appeared in China) and the waiving of exclusive rights to allow poorer countries access to vaccines or vaccine manufacturing technology.
It's no surprise that the internet is now awash with ridiculous stories about countries "conceding their sovereignty to the WHO" when our resident conspiracy theorists are so quick to believe such nonsense and the pharmaceutical companies that want to keep their profits are bitterly opposed to it as well. One can only hope the next pandemic wipes out the anti-vaxers and the profiteers in one heavenly swoop so we don't have to keep listening to this laughable rot.
Tarquin Chufflebottom
