Kudos to Kong Rithdee and his highly perceptive comment, "Taking an axe to 'Land of Smiles'," on Feb 23.
There is not much more to add except for the personal reflection that I have lived here permanently for more than 36 years, for better or worse, and have witnessed to my ongoing dismay a gradual deterioration in societal values, environmental rape and lip-service to spirituality, especially in the younger generation, and so forth. Moreover this appears to have worsened in the last two years.
Maybe I am a "Colonel Blimp" but the facts speak for themselves and those who view the country through rose-tinted glasses now, however briefly, have no idea how depressing things have now become. Of course there were problems in days gone by, sometimes very serious, but Thailand always recovered for a very obvious reason, and tried to address the issues, successfully or not. Now there seems to be a downward spiral as evidenced by the exasperated public taking personal action as the only recourse to solving problems because law enforcement is highly selective, particularly in the context of those who can opt out of legal summons or arrest because they are wealthy and are otherwise occupied, forsooth.
There are many good people here but they are dwarfed by the magnitude of the other issues cited. It is very sad.
Ellis O'Brien
Just sack them
Re: "Prayut shifts two top bureaucrats amid graft probe", (Online, Feb 24).
Why "shift" them? Simply fire them and be done with it while they are being investigated.
And, don't forget to get hold of their passports, or, by shifting them to "inactive" posts, is this signalling the alleged perpetrators in advance to pack their bags just in case?
David James Wong
Pay cops honestly
I love Thailand and as a expat I am grateful to live in this wonderful country. The biggest problem I find is the reluctance of police to enforce road rules. I believe that a police officer should be offered 20% of any fine collected and any cases of corruption should result in a mandatory serious jail term not a transfer.
This would be a serious attempt to improve road deaths and the extra revenue generated could be spent on red light cameras, radar units and highway patrol cars. I'm sure the police would have plenty of incentive to catch the perpetrators.
The use of hand held data capture when issuing the fine would make it transparent.
Paul Burnell
Cold turkey awaits...
Can anyone give me the real reason why boxed wine, especially white wine has all but disappeared here? You can't get any boxed wine anywhere, there is none in my town, and a friend tells me that his favourite wine has disappeared in Bangkok.
I have heard a variety of reasons from various shops and supermarkets, but I am wondering if when i drink my last box I will have to go cold turkey.
Andy Lewis
Hua Hin
Carnage culture
America's fascination with guns is part of American culture and America's apparent, astonishing acceptance that people will continue to die if gun ownership remains a part of the culture. The culture stems from decades of violence forming part of American life including the glorification of gun violence in 100 years of films and more recently violence-based video games.
Every day 150 Americans are shot and 83 (including eight children) are killed by firearms. Every year an average of 30,000 Americans die from firearms. Over 2,000 have died so far in 2018. These statistics should shame everyone in America with a conscience. And they should shame anyone who brings up the outdated Second Amendment.
The question about "gun control" should not be about whether an 18-year-old or 21-one-year-old should have access to military-style weaponry; or whether greater in-depth mental health checks are needed; or whether bump stocks should be banned; or whether teachers should be armed; or whether schools should be fortified like prisons and other, cynical diversionary solutions put forward by both sides of the gun control argument.
It should simply be a question of whether Americans want civilians to have guns at all. What would the great American public say to a referendum: "Should guns be available to American civilians?"
Answer yes or no. If it's "yes" then go on killing one another. If it's "no" then change the culture and ban guns altogether for civilians.
Sir Frank N Stein
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