OPINION

They'll be back

Re: "The pigeon menace", (PostBag, June 29).

Pigeons are indeed a health menace, but Kaito Yamamoto's suggestion they be humanely "captured and relocated to forested areas across the country", simply will not work.

Has Khun Kaito not heard the expression "homing pigeons"? Forests are not a natural habitat of pigeons, and within 24 hours of their release in the forests they will be back in their old haunts at the Grand Palace, Saman Luang, Klong Toey, Chatuchak and Bangna intersections.

And the long flights will have made them hungry, and all the more eager to peck up the offerings of misguided bird lovers.

Biden won't drop out

Re: "US President Joe Biden must bow out of the race", (Opinion, June 26).

President Joe Biden won't "bow out of the race" because the choice for voters in this year's Rocky II rematch is the same as four years ago: It's not Donald Trump or Mr Biden, it's Mr Trump or No Mr Trump. Perhaps Mr Biden will announce that if he wins the election, he and Vice President Kamala Harris will step down.

That would sweeten the deal making the choice either Mr Trump or "No Trump AND No Biden" so the country can more quickly turn the page on the Trump-Biden Era (which despite all the chatter about the US being divided, is something all Americans agreed on).

Quest for tax clarity

Re: "Unjust tithes", (PostBag, June 29).

That was a wonderful treatise on the worldwide tax system from Michel Barre. But does that help him understand his concerns on the possibility of Thailand taxing worldwide income?

One doubts it. I meant to help on this subject because of my admiration for him and his spouse, who have lived in Thailand for 35 years.

The pent-up dislikes have now exploded as ignited by the latest Revenue's proposal. However, allow me again to try to help.

First, together with a Thai friend, he can approach the Revenue Department for clarification.

Second, in response to the requests of many expatriate readers, the Bangkok Post has responded with a concise treatise on the matter published on June 27, written by the Post's reporter Wichit Chantanusornsiri.

That should eliminate many doubts instead of reading fellow expatriates' whining.

Thirdly, for the high-income group like Michel Barre, he deserves to seek advice from many international tax advisers in town that may allay his anger and allow him to sleep well instead of having to uproot himself at this late stage.

Finally, some embassy may help but not hopeful.

Listen to Abhisit

Re: "Outdated laws hinder growth", (BP, June 24).

I agree with former PM Abhisit Vejjajiva that our policies need to be reviewed to promote long-term growth. For example, we want non-Thais to invest here -- but ban them from owning land and exercising majority control of their investments.

If they owned land, that would drive up prices so much that many Thais wouldn't be able to own their home. But land taxes would rise sharply also, and we could use a part of that increase to subsidise mortgage rates for landless Thais.

Further, allowing foreign land ownership would greatly help farmers, who are about a third of our labour force but contributed only 8.81% to our GDP in 2022. Their average annual income per household was only 57,032 baht last year -- but each household had an average of 420,000 baht of debt -- equal to 7.36 years' income.

Farmers are old -- averaging 58 years old in 2018, farming the way their ancestors did, with no funds to modernise. Their land can and should be used to get them out of debt and empower productivity improvements.

Why do we ban foreigners from controlling how their funds are used? If we fear that they'll abruptly move their funds overseas, we could set limits on fund repatriation.

And since massive money movements would harm our economy regardless of whose money it was, the same laws would apply to Thai-owned funds. Attack problems at their roots, and don't let emotions cloud decisions.