Re: "Meth madness", (PostBag, June 4).
Martin R seems to have gotten upset over my letter about legalising metamphetamines. Was there anything in my letter that suggested that they might be good for you? No. I am not advocating their use. We have warned people of the dangers of smoking and drinking for years and yet people continue to smoke and drink even though it is more and more expensive to do so and kills more and more people every day.
I am only saying that since tens of millions of these pills are being smuggled into the country every month (500 million this month, the head of the 4th Army expects), we might as well be making the money instead of the traffickers. And while we are at it, we might as well nationalise the liquor industry. Why should only a few people be making billions off this too? And no, Martin R, I am not advocating drinking alcohol either.
Observer
Where's the decency?
Michael Setter in his June 4 letter, "Trump's popularity," described my condemnation of Trump's support of legislation to make it easier to slaughter baby bears as "hilarious" and that makes me wonder if he has any human decency at all. Finally, as someone who follows the polls closely, Trump's popularity has remained stable (and low!) with occasional minor fluctuations in both directions. But his poll numbers have actually gone down since he became president.
Eric Bahrt
Satellite frivolity
So what I read is that the government doesn't have the money for the free healthcare system that most of us want and which might keep us alive and healthy for a few years longer, but apparently we do have several billion baht for a new satellite system which will enable the military to see who we are calling on our cellphones in case they want to spy on us.
Since this government seems not to care about spending money on programmes that actually help us with our basic living needs, I guess blowing 90 billon baht on a satellite system is as good a way of wasting our money as buying submarines, so why not go ahead?
Once our money becomes worthless after we declare bankruptcy after all this irresponsible spending on military equipment, maybe then the people will finally get so fed up with this heartless military that they will finally rise up against them.
Taxpayer
German farce
First we had the Shinawatras, going abroad to evade the law, now we have the disappearing monk doing the same thing. It seems the Thai police expected a quick turnaround in this case as they had booked return tickets leaving only a few days to tie things up. But it was not to be. The Germans need at least two months to investigate the monk's case.
Wouldn't it have been a good idea for the Thai police to check the monk's status first -- Germany doesn't have an extradition process with Thailand -- before booking the flights or am I being a little naive? Asylum, anyone?
Brian Corrigan
Planning at fault
The picture in Spectrum of June 3 showing two women trying to cross a six-lane city road tells all. Little thought has been given to pedestrians and road safety. Planning -- or lack of it -- is substantially to blame. Road crossing places are poorly indicated and often ignored. They are also seldom monitored by police. Urban roads are still being constructed without footpaths. Signage is often absent, inconsistent, contradictory, hidden by advertisements, foliage, other signs -- or simply farcical (10kph?)
The theory that building more roads will ease congestion is wrong. More roads fill with more vehicles. Bangkok should never have been allowed to grow so large -- in preference to developing areas such as Khon Kaen, which has everything: motorway, airport, railway, plenty of flat infertile land. But please plan public transport first, not retro-fit.
It is distressing to learn that 80% of speeding fines remain unpaid. Proper control and control of the controllers is required. Let's make Thailand safe again!
George Layton
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