Re: "Yingluck's flight is no win-win deal", (Opinion, Aug 30).
Soonruth Bunyamanee ably pinpoints the reality that fleeing a jail sentence dooms political hopes. In contrast, being locked up is absolutely no barrier to promotion.
Ho Chi Minh, Hitler, Mandela, Stalin, Lenin, Gandhi, etc were all examples of leaders who had been in prison earlier in their careers.
Another incidental bonus of prison is that you might do something useful. William Addis invented the toothbrush whilst in his cell and Cervantes managed to write the immortal novel Don Quixote.
Barry Kenyon
'Stupid' Sorrayuth
Re: "Sorrayuth jailed after losing appeal", (BP, Aug 30).
To run, or not to run, that is the question. Sorrayuth Suthassanachinda has a personal fortune of millions, if not billions. Yet he chose to stay and face a 13-year jail sentence when he could have, like two former fugitive from justice prime ministers, fled.
Sorrayuth is rather stupid, for all his acumen. Anyone with real money, the list in Thailand is quite extensive, and we all know who these people are, could live their lives quite well off in other countries, as is demonstrated time and again.
Worried about a red notice from Interpol? They don't exactly seem to be doing a sterling job of locating people on their list of most wanted Thais, are they.
Miz Rachi
Latin linguistics
I read so often in your paper that colleagues of yours write of "English" letters when referring to the alphabet with Latin letters (a,b,c, etc.).
In Tuesday's "Running on Empty", the writer does this again.
I guess you know an alphabet with English letters doesn't even exist!?
Guenter M Fetter
Plastic apocalypse
Re: "Plastic not fantastic", (PostBag, Aug 30).
I was so pleased to read David Brown's letter about Kenya's ban on plastic bags. Absolutely everything he wrote was true, especially the last sentence expressing hope that the same attitude would prevail in Thailand.
I keep asking around to find if there is a group already trying to encourage the public to reduce their use of plastic bags, as well as to show them how the use and thoughtless discarding of them is affecting our environment. So far, I have not had any luck.
At least there is some progress already under way towards collecting the plastic in the world's oceans, thanks to a 23-year-old Dutch inventor. Try Googling "Boyan Slat: How we will rid the oceans of plastic" for more details. Plastic bottles have for some time been collected for recycling. If only there was some incentive to do the same with plastic bags, until the production of plastic bags is seen by everyone as the environmental disaster it is.
Ewan
BTS to the rescue
The Bangkok BTS takes a lot of hits for breakdowns, maintenance and service but my recent experience with the people of the BTS was nothing less than outstanding.
As our train pulled into Nana station at 10pm last Wednesday my friend Dean had a fainting episode and collapsed. BTS security was immediately at the scene and was summoning medical help when Dean came to and tried to get up. He fainted again so we carried him out of the train where he received first aid from security and some very kind Thai fellow passengers. Dean gained consciousness and was placed by security and other BTS employees into a wheelchair. The escalators were immediately reversed so employees could get us to street level for the trip to the hospital.
Each and every security officer, supervisor and employee of the BTS acted professionally. I am thankful for their service and proud of their actions during this medical emergency. No one could have done it better in this case. They should all be commended for their professionalism and calm demeanour during this unpleasant incident.
David Barkdull
CONTACT: BANGKOK POST BUILDING
136 Na Ranong Road Klong Toey, Bangkok 10110
Fax: +02 6164000 email:
All letter writers must provide full name and address.
All published correspondence is subject to editing at our discretion.
