A friend of mine was cheated out of her savings by a well-known insurance company.
She bought the policy in 1997 insured for 300,000 baht for 21 years which pays back every three years. She was looking forward to the 22nd year when she would receive the final lump sum. But to her disappointment after all these years of waiting, the cheque issued to her plus the amount that she already received every three years is still much less than the total amount she had paid for the full 21 years.
Her insurance agent told her that she can make a complaint but he cannot do it on her behalf. Another friend offered to help (whose friend is an insurance agent). In the end this agent managed to get another additional amount for her. But the problem is even with this additional amount, it is still less than what she had paid all these years. And she was told that the company said that they can only pay this much.
She felt cheated. When she first bought the insurance, the agent assured her with their tabulation or chart that she would be assured of a profit when the policy matured. Everybody who was persuaded to buy insurance by the agent is firstly presented with a chart to show how much profit they would get after the policy matured. Then they pay for it before the official document is issued to them. I think out of 10 people only one or two will read the policy.
After all these years, they say that you did not read the documents. This is an open scam.
Millie Tan
Height of hypocrisy
Re: "Beware of nanny state", (Editorial, Aug 17).
Is it not the height of hypocrisy to lay down the law to students about their morals when these law makers most probably have half a dozen mia noi on the go?
Ron Martin
Politicians like mafia
Having a great dislike for Donald Trump before, during and after his rise to US president, I never expected to have anything good to say about him but it has occurred to me we owe him a great favour.
I have long suspected honesty, decency, morality and integrity were disappearing qualities in a large percentage of American politicians. Corruption appeared to be rampant and worst of all the two party political system had inspired an absurd conviction that "we are right and they are wrong" obviously nonsense in a country run by corporations and banks.
But Trump has succeeded where even the mainstream media failed by dragging to the surface all the despicable qualities now inherent in the US political system. Lying lawyers and sleazy senators doing dodgy deals, covering up illicit dealings with call girls and foreign agents whilst chasing fabulous fortunes from anything they can get their hands on. It looks like the political mafia is outdoing the original Sicilian one in every department and it's stunning to see so many Republican senators silently complicit as long as their party stays in power.
That it has needed retired military men like Wilkerson, McRaven and McCaffery to speak the obvious says very little for the politicians who should be shouting from the rooftops that this is no way to conduct world and domestic affairs. Thank you Don, now get gone.
Lungstib
Khan set for big test
Re: "New Pakistan faces big challenges", (Opinion, Aug 21).
As long as the new government of Imran Khan is under the grip of the military it will not be able to do anything. The Pakistan military has been at helm of affairs from the very inception of the country in 1947. There is a strange contradiction between Pakistan and Thailand. In Thailand, military coups have been used to oust the duly elected governments but in Pakistan the politicians need to have a close alliance, or surrender to the military to remain in power. No matter, how smart Imran Khan plays his game, he will not be able to do much in a country bogged down by sectarian strife and terrorist organisations covering every stretch of the land from the South to the North.
Kuldeep Nagi
Contact: Bangkok Post Building
136 Na Ranong Road Klong Toey, Bangkok 10110
fax: +02 6164000 Email: postbag@bangkokpost.co.th
All letter writers must provide full name and address.
All published correspondence is subject to editing at our discretion.
