Re: “Hunters must face justice”, (Editorial, Feb 8).
The Prayut government should realise that the case is being watched closely by the Thai public. Fair-minded Thais will be greatly disappointed if the suspect escapes punishment simply because he is very rich and has close connections with the highest echelons in the Thai government.
On the other side of the coin, if the arresting officer in this case, chief of the Western Thungyai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary Wichien Chinnawong, is demoted, transferred or treated to any form of punishment - the Thai public will completely lose their trust in this government. The Prayut government’s treatment of this case will prove whether the ongoing popular Thai saying, “Thai prisons are there for locking up the poor only” - is true or otherwise.
Chava lit Wannaw ijitr
Lazy Thai attitudes
Re: “Park chief praised for tycoon bust”, (BP, Feb 8).
We now praise a man for doing his job! Why? Is the guy not supposed to work? Is he supposed to get paid for doing nothing?
This is the Thai attitude. If you are civil servants you don’t have to work, just show up. If you work you are a hero. This culture has been ingrained in Thailand for so long. We Thais are beholden to public workers every time we get services from them. And we are expected to tip them, too.
How come we never praise street sweepers, or construction workers, or farmers for busting their rear ends in the scorching sun every day doing services for us?
Somsak Pola
Animal therapy
If the construction tycoon is found guilty of poaching, I can think of at least one punishment that would fit the crime: Let him open, equip and work in an animal hospital for a period of time. In fact, he might start doing that right now in order to gain at least a little favour in people’s eyes which is sorely lacking at the moment.
A Reader
Waiting for justice
The Thungyai arrest has drawn much media attention. As the Bard said: “Tis a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing”. Is there a reader who could cite the last time a “high person of interest” was prosecuted for a crime in Thailand?
449900
Double standards?
David Brown in his Feb 5 letter asks if the junta is so repressive, why is the Bangkok Post allowed to criticise it? I speculate that since the Bangkok Post has an international reputation the junta might prefer to not crack down on its writers, editors and, may I add, its PostBag contributors.
But clearly the junta has cracked down on people for what they have posted on Facebook or for engaging in peaceful protests. And what about all the people being prosecuted for lese majeste despite the fact that people should not have to go to jail for that?
Eric Ba hrt
Prawit’s chutzpah
So Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon said if people do not want him he is ready to leave office, only for the public (by way of numerous opinion polls) to call his bluff and say he should go (BP, Feb 1).
Game over for the general, surely? No, now his position is that despite the opinion polls overwhelmingly saying he should go, the general, according to his spokesman Kongcheep Tantrawanit, is “determined to continue working in the interests of national security and public safety”, and that the general is “healthy and of good morale, and he would continue to devote himself to his role as the key figure in ensuring national security and the safety of society”.
This of course begs the question, why bother to ask the country if they think he should go only for then to completely ignore them when they tell him yes he should go. Gen Prawit may have his faults but you have to admire the chutzpah!
Peter Atkinson
Watch this space
Anyone who wants a little more perspective on Thai watch collectors should head down to Gaysorn Mall and walk around. There you will find a nice storage device that keeps the automatic watches wound up for you. All for the low special price of 13 million baht!
Watch Watcher
