OPINION

Scenarios galore

Re: "Rigging claim hits Senate poll", (BP, June 4 ).

Scenario artists are bubbling over at the endless possibilities for political turmoil. The scenarios and their permutations would be fascinating were it not for the fact that nothing less than the country's future is at stake.

What if the anti-coup broadside from Pheu Thai marking the 10th anniversary of the 2014 coup was just an opening gambit? Already since the Section 112 charge was announced, a Pheu Thai MP working on the amnesty bill has intimated that lese majeste suspects will be included, a 180-degree shift in Pheu Thai's stance and unacceptable to all the other coalition partners.

Thaksin could escape any significant punishment from the Section 112 charge and promise to be a good boy.

Prime Minister Srettha could be found guilty and replaced by the Big Boss' daughter. Very upsetting for the powers-that-be.

Thaksin could flee a guilty verdict, but through a combination of coercion and financial inducements, Pheu Thai is persuaded to stay in the coalition.

Another Section 112 guilty verdict sees the Move Forward Party (MFP) dissolved, drawing the most important components of the powers-that-be ever deeper into a perfect storm.

Thaksin triggers his nuclear option after fleeing the country, and withdraws Pheu Thai from the coalition. Recognising there is no possibility of reconciliation with the powers-that-be, Thaksin attempts to forge a new coalition with the MFP by submitting to all MFP's policies, including reform of the military and Section 112.

One of the many rearguard actions of the powers-that-be to maintain control succeeds. The Senate "election" fiasco results in the current handpicked Senate remaining in office, indefinitely.

If I were a voice in the ear of the powers-that-be, I might suggest it's time to allow change, quickly and peacefully, otherwise the situation might easily spiral out of their control.

Shortage woes

Despite the high number of people who died during the Covid pandemic, there are more people on the planet now than then. Why can't I get a builder to fix my roof? Why does it take longer to get my coffee from the remaining baristas? Why do I have to wait longer to see my doctor, and why is there such a shortage of teachers? Saying that, from what my ex-colleagues have told me about the current teaching environment, this one might be obvious.

It is, admittedly, a "first world" problem, but now the shortage of workers is hitting the medical, teaching and police professions, it might be time to start worrying and look for solutions at a societal level.

Think of the poor

Re: "Global investors", (PostBag, June 4).

Khun Burin's letter gives the answer in itself. [If non-Thais could own land here, they'd drive up prices, benefiting the Thai owners … and … raising the prices of the neighbourhood in the process.]

Higher land prices would benefit the Thai owners, and the subsequent foreign owners. What about the common Thai people who do not own land or houses? Property prices are barely affordable as they are. Higher prices would push them further from their reach.

I have limited knowledge about foreign matters. But I vaguely remember some Londoner who wrote to the Bangkok Post a long time ago about foreign property owners jacking up prices far above the purchasing power of poor Britons.