OPINION

Isan farmer's tale

Re: "Bangkok's Chula Uni relocates launch of book critical of military off-campus", (Online, Sept 23).

The latest case of academic censorship at Chulalongkorn prompts me to create an allegory about the importance of freedom of expression. Once upon a time, a wise old farmer lived in a small, peaceful village in the northeastern Isan. One day, as the sun slowly set and bathed the fields in golden light, he gathered the village children around him. With a gentle voice, he began his story:

"Imagine," he said, "there is a great, mighty dragon who rules over our land. This dragon only allows things to be said that he likes. If anyone says something different, he roars loudly and forbids it. The owl, who writes wise books, cannot tell her stories because the dragon fears that the animals will learn the truth.

"The dragon has many helpers, little dragons, and other creatures who run around everywhere to ensure that no one breaks his rules. They fly over the land, listen at doors, and watch the animals to make sure no one says anything the dragon doesn't like.

"But the animals at the edge of the field, the chipmunks, the frogs, and the birds, know that they can only be free and happy if they have the courage to tell their own stories and not be intimidated by the dragon. They whisper their stories into the night, share them secretly among themselves, and dream of a day when they can speak without fear.

"The old farmer looked into the children's eyes and said, 'Remember, children, true freedom comes from the truth and the courage to tell it. Never let a dragon or his helpers silence you.'"

Going dairy-free

Re: "Boncafe introduced alternative milk at the 'Today's Milk Is The Alternative' event", (Online PR news, Sept 20).

Kudos for the move in Thailand to promote alternative (non-dairy) milk. Since lactose intolerance is common among Asians, this comes as welcome news.

In a related matter, the US presidential candidate and current Vice President Kamala Harris drinks almond milk instead of dairy milk. Does this mean that her bones will soon start breaking? Because even adult cows don't drink dairy milk, I am confident that Ms Harris doesn't need to drink it either.

BoT unpacked

Re: "Who's in charge?", (PostBag, Sept 23) & "Central bank legacy", (PostBag, Sept 19).

In the PostBag column dated Sept 23, Michael Setter asks what or who constitutes the juristic person status of the Bank of Thailand (BoT).

In Thailand, there are two types of juristic persons: one being juristic persons under public governance or public law (as in the case of BoT, the Bank of Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives, the Government Savings Bank, the Airport Authority of Thailand). The other is juristic persons under private governance (as in the cases of partnerships, companies, public companies, foundations and associations).

However, Section 5 of the BoT Act states that the BoT is a juristic person but is neither a government agency nor state enterprise under the law on budgetary procedure. This implies that the BoT is not supervised by any ministry of the government, and its budget/funding is not subject to the government's budgetary procedures like other government agencies. To maintain its independence, which is critical in performing central banking tasks, the BoT has four independent boards as its top policymakers: the Bank of Thailand Board, the Monetary Policy Board, the Financial Institutions Policy Board, and the Payment System Board.