Re: "Virachai's death loss to the nation", (Editorial, March 17).
The selflessness of diplomat Virachai Plasai in delivering public service will be greatly missed especially during this dynamic period of international trade. Your eulogy on his achievements which were plenty is touching and also highlight the capriciousness of Noppadon Pattama in using his ministerial authority to bully this senior and well-respected public servant, known for his expertise in treaties, for not toeing the line. It is interesting to note that both are top scholars in law, one from Sorbonne and another from Oxford. Sometimes, one wonders whether education helps.
Songdej Praditsmanont
Right call on duty-free
PM Prayut's right to put Airport of Thailand's plan to auction the right to run duty-free shops at Thailand's four international airports on hold, for fear the result will be a monopoly (BP, March 16). Given that there will be just one concession country-wide, a monopoly is exactly what it would be, with giant profits over the 10-year contract.
As a state enterprise, AoT's objective should not be to maximise AoT profit from duty-free shopping -- but to maximise benefits to Thailand as a whole. Thus, what would bring the most long-term tourist and investor revenue to the country, and what would AOT's role, including duty-free shopping, be in that strategy? For example, we might give low rental rates to promote OTOP products or hidden attractions in each region for tourists, or have a Board of Investment one-stop centre open 24/7.
We should ask the Thailand Development Research Institute or a major consulting firm for ideas on maximising benefits to Thailand as a whole, and design our terms of reference accordingly. It seems that any large and experienced real estate management firm, eg, the Central or Mall groups, could run the duty-free shops equally as well as, say, King Power. TDRI or the consultants should study outstanding duty-free shopping sites elsewhere for ideas, eg, Heathrow, Dubai/Abu Dhabi (which are open 24/7), Seoul's Incheon, or Zurich (which has online ordering).
Opportunities for corrupting the entire committee evaluating bids abound, and to prevent scandals such as in the General Watchman case, PM Prayut should invite the Anti-Corruption Organisation of Thailand to help monitor the selection process, giving it veto power. Get the state enterprise AoT to serve all Thais, not just its shareholders.
Burin Kantabutra
A political bonfire
Re: "Army backed regime pull poll disguises", (Opinion, March 15).
As has been discussed many times in Opinion pages of this paper, the post-coup elections in Thailand are always like cosmetic surgery, designed to look good as part of a progressive society. Sadly, this periodic political bonfire seems like a mere respite from the suffocation that has been caused by authoritarian regimes.
Democracy in Thailand will remain a pipe dream for the simple reason that the elite, the military, the police, and so on remain above the law. In all major democracies, taxpayers pay for the salary of the presidents, the prime ministers and their cabinets. All are working for their governments. But in Thailand, the person who leads the government and draws a salary from the state coffers is not a state employee?
Kuldeep Nagi
Booze ban wrong
The bars in Thailand are closed on March 16-17, and also on March 23. Tourists are not citizens of Thailand. Why can they not be served?
So, if tourists arrive on March 16-17 and stay until March 23, they cannot go out for three nights with friends? The bars lose money and so do other venues. Do you really believe that both Thais and tourists shop the day before and stock up for the nights ahead? The real crackdown should be between April 13-16.
Froggie
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