OPINION

A form of madness

John Wells in his April 30 letter, "90-day form frenzy", suggests immigration officials invite ridicule on the country because of a recent form.

In my opinion, they invited ridicule 25 years ago, when I first applied for a work permit in a sweltering room in Soi Suan Phlu, stacked to the ceiling with papers obviously destined for the shredder, whilst being forced to provide yet another stack.

They invited ridicule when their requirements for an alien work permit were easily circumvented with equally alien qualifications, produced on an alien printer.

They invited ridicule when they moved to an alien space station in Chaeng Wattana, but things remained the same. Obviously, they wanted to learn from aliens.

For the next 10 years, they invited ridicule when every year, 5,000 baht was required to speed up the antediluvian process.

Now as a retiree, they invite ridicule when I pay someone to ensure my bankbook contains 800,000 baht, or when I pay 300 baht for residence address certification for a service that is posted as free.

They invite ridicule when they all pack up for lunch, and tell everyone to come back an hour later.

I would personally vouch for the immigration service as a sure source of ridicule, even though, in my old age, I now regard it as hilarity!

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) has announced its intention to clean up the polluted Khlong Saen Saep Canal within two years.

A proposal to purge the BMA itself would also be timely, courageous and for the public good.

After 28 years of reading and writing to the Bangkok Post, I'm afraid the time has arrived for me to turn in my resignation. I'm 81 years old, and don't need my attitude adjusted, but I'm afraid the time is coming.

What I don't understand though, is how a government can call someone in for "attitude adjustment" when the government leaders don't seem to know what the true meaning, or subsequent definition of what "attitude" really is.

Anyway, farewell to all my friends.

In the past week I saw CCTV video online from Chicago in which a man was leaving a 7-Eleven and was punched for no reason by another man. The assault left him unconscious and in the street near the curb.

People walked by him and around him but did not offer to help, and about a minute or two later a taxi turned a corner and ran over him. He died in hospital.

There is no excuse for unprovoked brutality anywhere, especially if it results in death.

No one who has watched the recent assaults in Thailand that were caught on CCTV could possibly excuse those types of behaviour. It seems to me it does not happen often in Thailand, at least to tourists, but that is no excuse either.

It should not happen at all, anywhere.

Re: "Battered family will never return" (BP, April 30).

Anyone who saw the video of the sickening attack on the elderly British family in Hua Hin will not be surprised at their statement. The video has gone viral and the British press headlined the story.

The incident will cause untold damage to Thailand's tourism industry. Sadly, the brutality against tourists is not an isolated case. Not a day goes by without stories of tourists being murdered, robbed, stabbed, beaten and ripped off in Thai resorts.

The president of Thai Travel Agents Association is quoted as saying the government should intensify security measures at tourist spots nationwide, adding the latest attack resulted from insufficient personnel.

I beg to differ. These attacks reflect the psyche of some people who think farang are fair game. These thugs don't know or care that 10% of the nation's workforce are employed in the tourist sector which also massively contributes to Thailand's GDP.

Let us hope those responsible for these attacks are taken off the streets without delay and that Thailand can once again regain its reputation as a safe destination.