OPINION

Marina madness

Re: "Samui cruise terminal gets govt support", (BP, April 8).

As Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin is paying a visit to Koh Samui this week, he has given government support for a cruise ship marina. The last time this was raised I wrote to point out that the island has virtually no state-supplied water as it can't cope with demand. Houses and hotels must have water tanked in.

Power cuts and outages are very common, and the island has been swamped with garbage for years, some of which gets sent to the mainland, but too much finds itself in the sea.

There is also what is effectively a traffic-clogged single-track road running around the island. The island needs money spent on infrastructure, not marinas.

Many places, like Venice, Mallorca, etc, have also realised that cruise ships are more of a curse than a money-spinner and are restricting them. Remember that old song, We take paradise and put up a parking lot?

Local firestarters

Re: "3 more areas on disaster list", (BP, April 8).

Living in the very far north of Chiang Mai province, where at this time of the year, our air quality is much worse than in the city, I feel it's time the blame was laid on the correct place. Government officials could possibly be responsible for some of our mountain and forest fires, but without doubt, most fires are purposely lit by citizens from amongst the local population.

Certain individuals from the local community are removing weeds, extending their cropland into forest areas and destroying the bamboo wastelands that are the result of previous logging to create new fields.

The effort to halt this burning and the harm it causes to people's health has to take place in the local community. Schools need to teach the young that their parents' decision to burn is destroying their health, and neighbours need to approach their farming brothers and ask just why they are creating this polluted atmosphere.

The 50,000 individuals need to be brought to task by their fellow citizens and made to understand the dangers they are creating. Enforcement within your own society is the answer, and if you must, report the errant farmer to the headman or the government office if the fires continue. Blaming officials sitting at desks in the far city is nothing but a waste of time. The problem is in your own community, and that's where it needs to be tackled.

False China stories

Much of the Western press, for some time, has been filled with stories about the Chinese economy and how it's faltering. There, we are told regularly that China's fast growth is over, that China's economic data is often manipulated, that a Chinese financial crisis may be looming, and that China will suffer the same stagnation as Japan starting in the early 1990s. This is mostly US propaganda, not reality. Surely, the Chinese economy faces headwinds -- but mainly created by the United States with multiple sanctions, which could even be illegal under WTO rules. Yet many, like me, believe China can overcome US-EU-created headwinds and continue on its path of rapid economic development.