OPINION

Wallet fraud?

Re: "10K wallet still 'to proceed'", (BP, Aug 22).

If an item is promised to be provided and something of value is received in exchange for the promised item, but the promised item subsequently is not provided, the person who provided the item of value is usually entitled to a refund.

If the promiser does not return the item of value, a refund, the promiser has arguably obtained a benefit by deception. This is commonly known as "fraud", a criminal offence.

Morally and ethically, Pheu Thai should either provide the 10,000-baht handout as promised to its voters or it should refund the 10,962,522 votes it received and every Pheu Thai MP should then be disqualified.

Alternatively, the Electoral Commission should refer the Pheu Thai Party to the Constitutional Court for electoral fraud. The law applies equally to all, does it not?

Honourable Pita

Re: "Pita to head back to Harvard Uni", (BP, Aug 22).

The contrast between not only domestic but global respect for Pita Limjaroenrat and those who have used unjust laws created for such anti-democratic purposes could not be more stark.

Pita Limjaroenrat, the former leader of the Move Forward Party, brings international honour to Thailand.

Could anyone imagine Prayut Chan-o-cha, Prawit Wongsuwon, Thaksin Shinawatra, or the latter's Paetongtarn, or their like, being invited to be a fellow at Harvard or at any other top-tier university in the world?

Thailand's institutions opposing democracy have handed Harvard University a great opportunity. It is a shame they robbed Thai voters of justice under democracy to do so.

Time for an 'old man'

Re: "Time to move on", (PostBag, Aug 23).

With all due respect to Khun Chavalit Van, one begs to differ that it is "no time for old men!" On the contrary, many believe that part of the present scenario is orchestrated by one "old" man with a young heart -- Khun Thaksin Shinawatra.

After the judicial fall of Khun Srettha's government, his audacity in calling for a meeting at his home of all coalition leaders that evening was oddly enough helpful to the nation so it did not have a vacuum of uncertainty.

It was his foresight and statesmanship in previously naming his daughter and Khun Chaikasem as eligible for Thailand's premiership that paved the way for his daughter.

That evening, Khun Chaikasem was named as the proposed prime minister. The turnaround the next morning was inevitable with the Hobson's choice of having to instead name his daughter, Khun Paetongtan, as the next prime minister for parliament's approval.

That was the doing of an "old" man who turned out to be the real prime minister, with his daughter being so in name if only one had listened to his CEO speech on Thursday night. His vision is timely when the economy is in the doldrums.

Hopefully, this man will do it again but with less greed. His previous downfall was because he cared for his personal wealth too much and, therefore, had to go into self-exile for 15 years.

His return with a brief period of pretended imprisonment was so anti-climactic that it was almost comparable to Eva Peron's return to Argentina, except no song was sung. But he was welcomed openly by all of his faithful with the enthusiasm of self-indulgence.

The failure of the former Move Forward Party, now branded as the People's Party, with a perfect ideology and economic and social plan from the textbooks, is an example of youngsters being too rash and careless.

Now, in isolation as the main opposition party, it reminds me of the song "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?"

Beware, Thamanat

Re: "Thamanat vows to quit", (BP, Aug 21).

It is palpable that Capt Thamanat Prompow, the secretary-general of the Palang Pracharath Party, is upset with Gen Prawit Wongsuwon, known as the "Watch King", for not handing him a ministry, but he would be wise not to create too much fuss.

As a convicted heroin smuggler, he is not entitled to hold such office. Under the same law that removed Srettha from office, he could possibly bring down the Shinawatra government if the Constitutional Court chose to enforce the law as strictly.

No bogus pandemics

Re: "FDA hastens approval for mpox kits", (BP, Aug 23).

The Medical Device Control Division of the Thai FDA had this to say about the monkeypox test kits, "test kits and reagents related to the diagnosis of monkeypox infection still have academic limitations".

Readily apparent here is the disingenuous use of the word "academic" when the correct word is "scientific".

According to the WHO, "Laboratory confirmation of mpox is done by testing skin lesion material by PCR". However, this is also disingenuous at best. Using PCR tests to identify monkeypox or other illnesses is not accurate or reliable.

The PCR test was not designed to be a diagnostic method because it does not and cannot provide a definitive answer. A PCR test merely detects pieces of genetic components that could be related to many different origins.

When Dr Darinda Rosa, acting director of the Office of Disease Prevention and Control of Nakhon Si Thammarat, says, "142 people were diagnosed with the new mpox strain from Jan 1 to Aug 17.

Three people in the kingdom have died from the viral disease", it seems he was also being disingenuous.

How exactly were the diagnoses performed, one might ask? By using unavailable PCR testing?

Were chicken pox or any of the many other viruses which cause pustules or blisters on the skin ruled out?

How exactly was this done? Or was it?

It is time for the "experts" to stop creating fraudulent pandemics, to cease spinning the truth into hysteria, and to start simply telling it like it is!

DNC boredom

The media, especially the normally factual and professional BBC, has been inundated, nay suffocated by biased coverage of the Democratic convention in Chicago. It is worse than the preceding Republican convention. It is solid proof that Britain is the 51st state of the United States of America.

The BBC just does not cover any other news. The presenters are hauling absolute wannabes in front of the microphone whilst salivating about the wannabes on the stage behind them. The euphoric American razzmatazz is so un-British as to be absolutely nauseating.

As all American presidents, former, present and aspiring have always spouted: "God bless America!" Churchill would probably indignantly say: "Never have so many been so bored by so few".

Stop unfair dumping

Re: "Flood of cheap Chinese goods 'coming by train'", (BP, Aug 15).

The influx of cheap Chinese goods into Thailand presents the full gamut of globalisation's challenges and benefits. On one hand, consumers benefit significantly from lower costs -- and sometimes higher-quality products.

For example, as reported by many, Chinese fruits and vegetables "look better than local varieties and are also substantially cheaper". Not to mention the availability of far greater variety in the market.

On the other hand, it may be increasingly difficult for Thai producers to compete successfully in many product categories.

In cases where China or other countries have a clear comparative advantage, rather than fruitlessly trying to contest market share, Thai producers would be well advised to shift to other products or differentiate goods based on higher quality.

That said, there's strong evidence that China is currently "dumping" excess production (ie, selling goods at prices below production costs) throughout Southeast Asia and beyond.

Where there is evidence of such unfair dumping, Thailand should press anti-dumping claims through the World Trade Organization and impose anti-dumping duties to level the playing field.

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