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Bangkok Post
Bangkok Post
Comment

How the 'mighty' fall

Re: "Bandits with 'high status'", (Editorial, May 11). The story about someone of "high status" bullying a low-ranking police officer is not rare in our society. This is because our culture pays respect to phu yai -- our elders. In doing his duty, Lance Corporal Ekapol Juisongkaeo was reprimanded and demoted by his boss for "failing to use judgement" by demanding a man of high status show his driving licence.

The matter could have ended for good for that demotion. Likely, he would wonder what has he done wrong except to blame, as a Buddhist, fate.

But we must give thanks to the video clip seen and circulated by netizens who felt disgusted by the unfairness. That has caused our premier to intervene.

Who should the lance corporal say "thank you" to? No, not the prime minister but the video clip! Without that clip, that junior police officer could still remain demoted as a driver for his boss.

It is high time for those delinquent "high status" types to know that irrefutable evidence can be captured through cameras of all sorts, affordable by all and that one's true self can be shown to the world quickly.

Songdej Praditsmanont


Cure for meds rip-offs

Private hospitals have been ordered to display medicine prices: bravo, bravo, and again bravo. My 1,075-baht, two-ounce bottle of skin lotion in the pharmacy of Silom's leading private hospital costs 35 baht at the Boots shop just up the street. Best of all, I don't need my 70-million-dollar jet to get to Boots; I can walk.

Prudent Patient


Some Jews muzzled

I presume the reason that Jayanta Kurukulasuriya did not use the word Jew instead of American Israeli is the simple fact that many Jews are not Zionists and are outspoken critics of Israel.

The two most famous American Jews to fit that description are Noam Chomsky and Norman Finkelstein.

Both have expert, on-the-ground insights into the situation having written extensively on the subject for decades.

Both offer a strong critique of Israel while supporting the Palestinian cause yet they are rarely, if ever, invited on to mainstream media to give their views.

I hope that is a help to you, Baffled reader.

Brendan O'Donnell


Not wrong to be 'right'

I think Mr Lindsey ("Crackpot theories", PostBag, May 11) is suffering from the very same problem he accuses others of.

He concludes from his own minor "research" among friends (at the most 50 people or so) that only the "left" are informed while the "right" are ignorant and misinformed. Is this reliable information?

The "science" of statistics done with a computer study by professors from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University is not some definitive truth.

Its conclusion will depend entirely upon how the algorithm was programmed.

Almost all computer news and social media these days is set up to send you the same type of news and information as you have read before or liked, along with the targeted advertising.

Broadcast news and print are equally as biased. However, by looking at the owners of the corporations you can usually glean an insight into whether they are they driven by moral responsibility or just in pursuit of the almighty RMB.

Like Trump or hate him, he is the US democratically-elected president and the world is stuck with him until the electorate decide otherwise.

Mr Lindsey should also consider the world's most populated country is now dominating world manufacturing and finance, to say nothing of the internet hardware/software, and it is run by a radically left and undemocratic regime without fear of public dissent or removal.

Lastly I will say: either you want democracy or you don't.

Democracy upholds free speech, but you must respect the decisions it comes up with until the next time you have a chance to vote; something the MPs in the UK House of Commons should heed over Brexit.

Fireman Sam


CONTACT: BANGKOK POST BUILDING
136 Na Ranong Road Klong Toey, Bangkok 10110
Fax: +02 6164000 email: postbag@bangkokpost.co.th

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All published correspondence is subject to editing at our discretion.

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