Let’s see now. First there was watchgate, then we had copgate and now we have poachgate. Will the gates ever stop? No. Because this is amazing Thailand and we all know the elites don’t do jail time.
MR P
Park chief’s heroism
Re: “Lazy Thai attitudes”, (PostBag, Feb 9). Somsak Pola is complaining and wondering why the park chief is being praised for just doing his job in arresting someone so rich and famous for alleged poaching. Well, Somsak, the answer is simple: It has become so rare that people of great influence are actually brought to justice without having managed to “persuade” the people responsible
for law enforcement to look the other way. Don’t be such a killjoy, Somsak; give praise where it is due.
MARTIN R
Wild pigs might fly
I wonder if the alleged wildlife poacher, if found guilty, would receive a long prison sentence like that of humble mushroom pickers? When a cow jumps over the moon!
AN OBSERVER
Beasts with attitude
If it was up to me, I would take all the sport and trophy hunters, stick them in the woods and force them to hunt each other. Let’s see what big, brave men they are when they’re shooting at something that can shoot back. John F Kennedy once said he would never consider hunting a sport until the animals are given a rifle!
ERIC BAHRT
Two sides to a coin
I agree with Veera Prateepchaikul when he reminds us of the saying that “there are always two sides of a human being – one side that is open and can be seen and the other side which is concealed like two sides of a coin”. There are, as noted, “always” two sides, so no matter how wonderful someone might appear on the surface publicly, it must always be acknowledged that the publicly managed persona, however laden with luxury watches, gaudy ribbons or other accolades, is not the full story, being but half the human being. This is another reason why free speech is so essential: The unknown dark side might well be doing far more harm in the shadows than any bright and shiny public side, with only strong legal protection for critical truth-seeking and speaking able to afford some measure of confidence that the public mask reflects the full reality. Also instructive was Veera’s thoughtful retelling of a bloody piece of Thai history from 1973 that bears similarities to the recent arrest of a wealthy man of high social standing who carelessly forgot to take a proper collection of luxury watches on his leisure trip to nature to lend to any new close friends in uniform who might stumble upon him amidst the remains of suicidal animals intent on blackening his good name. That tale of past sparks leads to a related historical reflection of more recent vintage; namely, that the one good thing about Thaksin Shinawatra was that he betrayed his own cosy clique of traditional ruling oligarchs who had eagerly supported his rise to populist power while they thought him “one of the boys” who would play along. Will the alleged animal hunter and industrial oligarch be protected by his cronies wielding unaccountable power with impunity, or will he be treated to justice, unlike the conspicuously exempted rich brat Vorayuth Yoovidhya, who doubtless also had plenty of nice watches to lend to eager close friends in uniform? If justice threatens, will the Italian-Thai Development chief keep faith with his cronies in the ruling group, or will he do a Thaksin?
FELIX QUI
Media meddling
Re: “Listen to both sides” and “Seeking the truth”, (PostBag, Feb 8). Both A Johnsen and Guena are seekers of the truth, and indeed it is sometimes difficult to understand what is really going on in the world as all media outlets tend to put their own interpretation on current events.
However, we know where the mainstream media organisations are based, we can usually find out who owns them, and the identity of their journalists and contributors is revealed. Whatever their political outlook, the Western mainstream media in particular advocate press freedom, democracy and respect for human rights. By contrast, “Landdestroyer” is secretive, it publishes no details of its ownership, its content is relentlessly anti-Western and anti-democracy, and although claiming to be based in Thailand, its masthead displays the logo of New Eastern Outlook, an online journal based in Moscow. That may, or may not, be a clue as to the source of its funding. Does it matter? Well, I think so. I am intrigued by Mr Johnsen’s passing reference to the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand, which has come under frequent criticism from Landdestroyer and its related websites, no doubt because the club is an advocate of press freedom and holds, or tries to hold, discussions and seminars where views on matters of topical interest can be discussed openly. If Mr Johnsen and Guena are so keen on understanding what’s really going on in the world they should be supporters of the club and other similar institutions. A final thought: In recent years, dozens of journalists in Russia who have been openly critical of the Kremlin and President Putin have met untimely ends. Any media organisation based in, or linked to, Russia will always be looking over its shoulder, and hardly likely to publish reports and articles which deviate from Kremlin doctrine.
ROBIN GRANT
Stations for rent
Re: “Japan rejects calls to invest in bullet train”, (BP, Feb 8). The idea to reduce number of stations is totally wrong. One big advantage over LCC’s and existing highway buses is that users can ride and disembark at intermediate points. If you want to cut initial investment costs, you should look for a way of constructing the stations that allows local and commercial establishments to rent them from the SRT.
R H SUGA
Special Forces hero
It is with a heavy heart I write to thank the Bangkok Post for publishing an obituary concerning the passing of my Special Forces colleague and friend, Col Chaicharn Harnavee. Perhaps someone who walked the meandering roads of life and death with him these past decades should attempt to address his true meaning to the much-misunderstood relationship between the Thai and American militaries. After all, if not for the demands of his fellow American-released prisoners, Chaicharn and other Thais might well still be languishing in the gulags. Thankfully the American Returned Prisoners of War (RPW) could not and would not forget their brave Thai colleague, even though they had no way of knowing he had been shipped from Hanoi to the far north of Vietnam, to very possibly never be released. Finally in September 1974 the Thai soldier known to the Americans as “Chip” was at last released to resume his life. In his always stoic, professional fashion he faced and conquered all those personal and professional obstacles accumulated during his decade of being missing and presumed by most to have perished in combat or the cruel prisons.
From 1981-84 I led the first United States Special Forces team to return to Thailand after a long absence and reunited with my fellow RPW, then-captain/major Chaicharn.
At that point, as with today, terrorism and how to deal with not only the external threats but what remained of the internal threats were forefront in our training and planning. Chaicharn wrote a book in Thai about his terrible experiences in the communist gulag and about the friendship and loyalty of his American prisoner colleagues, making in many cases their and his very survival possible. There were days when he would not have made it without them, but many more days when many of them would not have made it without him.
The stoic Special Forces sergeant became an accomplished messenger but mostly he became an astute thief of not only things they needed but the secrets the enemy kept from them. As the days and years went by the Special Forces soldier proved brilliant at absorbing and perfecting the Vietnamese language while never letting on he understood much at all. In other words he beat them in their own camp. For this he received the Silver Star, America’s third-highest combat award for gallantry in action. Further, he was awarded the American Legion of Merit, an award rarely bestowed on a soldier of his rank at the time.
Down through the ensuing decades Col Chaicharn and I remained close as only combat soldiers and those of shared experiences can be. He read the English-language press as I did daily and often we would speak of those who wrote in professing great knowledge of those issues of terrorism and communism, subjects we knew well. He always opened in the same manner: “Did you see what this so-called expert said on things he only has read about and we actually lived through?” Then he would become quiet and say “Thank God, they have the freedom to just be stupid.” This did not surprise me because my dear friend had a far-reaching intelligence in dealing with such things few men will ever know.
In his waning days, others would report things they claimed Col Chaicharn had said, but the next time he called I simply asked if he had said it and he simply said “No!” We both understood that as some attempt to stand in the reflected glory of conspicuous gallantry and, though unworthy, an attempt to assume that mantle themselves without merit. A retired Special Forces soldier Ray Caron (and his wife Dr Natcha Caron) and myself were charged by Col Chaicharn to have his book and thoughts translated into English and provided to his American Special Forces and RPW brethren, so that they and all others would know the terrible truths of his experiences. This will be done. Thank you, Bangkok Post, for recognising the passing of my valiant professional colleague and friend. I am at a time in my life when colleagues, friends and family seem to be dying almost weekly aznd many were truly great and did great things in their lives. Yet,I have not been truly left with the longing for a simple phone call like I have been since the passing of Col Chaicharn Harnavee, a hero to Thais and Americans alike.
MAJOR MARK A SMITH
US Retired Returned American Prisoner of War Vietnam/Cambodia
Transport tragedy
As a regular visitor to Bangkok it is increasingly evident that the already existing infrastructure is creaking with the numbers using the airport, MRT, BTS, etc. It is great to be extending the Skytrain, for example, but what about increasing the number of ticket machines at existing key stations. Queues at Asoke, Siam, etc, are becoming ridiculous. Invariably, too many machines are out of service. At some point I fear danger, maybe a crush or the like. Crowds are now too big within the available space. This winter I have several times had the “pleasure” of dealing with immigration at Suvarnabhumi airport. In December the wait was in excess of 1 hour 30 minutes. This last Sunday it took almost two hours to pass through immigration.
Clearly understaffed, many booths empty. No staff on hand to assist. Herded in cramped, hot conditions. For visitors coming to Thailand for the first time this would be really off-putting. The number of inbound flights and passengers is known so surely it is possible to staff accordingly. As a supposedly leading world city this is unacceptable. First impressions are important. This is a very poor first impression.
JAMES
Tagging all ‘aliens’
Thai Immigration has informed me that if I leave my accommodation for even 24 hours, that is a change of address and must be reported by myself and landlord. Any failure to do so will result in fines for both parties. The onus is being placed upon me to ensure my landlord complies. Why don’t they just fit all us aliens with electronic tagging devices?
ON PAROLE
