Re: "Inmate 'choked to death'", (BP, April 21)
The facts already known and admitted by the responsible Thai officials, as reported in this story, reveal deep moral failures in traditional Thai morals, at least in the morals of civil servants and the Thai military, but perhaps more widely shared by the Thai society excessively influenced by such institutions.
First, there is the seeming acceptance that it might indeed be acceptable for officials to engage in sadistic acts of abuse against those under their care. This is apparent in the admission that "10 prison officials ordered a military-like disciplinary session," a brutal period of abuse lasting a full morning, and involving the sadists beating the man with batons, forcing him to roll bare-skinned on concrete, forcing him to sit in the sun, all the while with his hands tied -- until he finally died. These are the actions of psychopaths.
But if asked, one suspects that they would describe themselves as Buddhists. They probably also think themselves decent citizens. Possibly their family and work colleagues share the same mistaken beliefs about what constitutes morally acceptable behaviour towards those over whom you are in a position of power.
Second, the very fact that this brutal assault is described as "a military-like disciplinary session" tells us much about the moral state of the Thai military, where it is implied that such abuse is standard practice. But perhaps the Thai military will rebut this sullying of its reputation.
Finally, there is, as expected, the lame excuses of those apparently responsible for the death, albeit probably not intended since it has caused much inconvenient publicity, seeking to avoid the justice that they deserve. Even if official Thai regulations do not have in place strict procedures to screen out psychopathic sadists from employment, there can be no excuse for such brutal physical abuse as has already been admitted: those responsible, from the person or persons in charge who allowed or ordered it to those who carried it out, are guilty of heinous criminal offences and should be under arrest while the evidence is gathered for their trial.
The crimes leading to a man's death after torture demand a stiff prison sentence, though perhaps not the sick abuse they inflicted on a petty criminal.
Felix Qui
Real help for disabled
Government Lottery Office spokesman Thanawat Pholvichai has noted that we're the only developed country that still sells lottery tickets in printed form, and that putting the system online would put 200,000 lottery sellers, most of whom are disabled and live in poverty, out of work -- even though going online would be much more efficient, effective, and enable the government to control prices.
I suggest that the disabled would much prefer to earn their own way than to live only because the public pities them. The disabled are, in the vast majority of cases, still able to be financially self-sufficient, but need training in order to discover what they're best at, and employers may need to adapt their work environment to fit. For example, the blind or crippled can still be perfectly proficient call centre operators or receptionists for the police or companies -- and society is failing them by just making token efforts to help them, for example, sidewalks where no wheelchairs can navigate, special sidewalk tiles to guide the blind that go nowhere, or public buses that no wheelchair can enter.
Move lottery sales online in one year, raise the training budget for the disabled tenfold, increase tax incentives for firms to hire the handicapped, and give them the pride of being able to help themselves.
Burin Kantabutra
Death toll disgrace
The media dubbed Songkran holiday "seven dangerous days", during which 418 were killed by road accidents this year, or about 60 per day.
Nonetheless, not a single media mention about the average road deaths on a typical day in Thailand as a baseline to compare with Songkran's deaths. You'll be surprised that an average of 24,000 people -- conservative estimate -- die by road accidents each year, or about 66 per day, compared to 60 during the past Songkran.
Somsak Pola
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