OPINION

Frigates beat subs

Re: "Sub deal 'complete in six months'", (BP, Dec 31, 2024) and "China agrees to supply ship instead of sub to navy", (BP, March 28, 2024).

We should buy a frigate or two patrol vessels from China instead of a sub whose engine doesn't meet our original specs.

The reasons are:

(a) China's already agreed to apply the 8 billion baht we've paid towards the sub to the 17 billion baht cost of a frigate, leaving a 9-billion-baht balance.

(b) A new frigate would be used immediately to replace the sunk HMTS Sukhothai.

(c) Frigates/patrol vessels are far more versatile than subs. We've used the former for decades during peacetime, whereas subs would be mainly for wartime service. If we got involved in a China vs Taiwan/Philippines conflict, a frigate would be more valuable than a sub in, say, breaking a blockade.

Let's swap the sub.

Act on toxic produce

Re: "Tests show high levels of pesticide", (BP, Dec 28, 2024).

Thai Pesticide Alert Network reports hazardous residues on fruits exceeding safety standards, including domestically grown fruits containing the hazardous agricultural chemical chlorpyrifos, which Thailand banned on June 1, 2020. One may assume the same applies to vegetables.

The government obviously hasn't taken any action on this matter for years, so it's time to name and shame these fruit (and vegetable) producers and sellers to protect consumers.

Subsequently, ask the authorities to require all producers to label their produce with their traceable names and locations. And close these producers, ban their products if they are found not adhering to safety standards. If not, it's useless to publish such reports for consumers (and tourists).

Black hole fears

Re: "Data paints economy as black hole", (Opinion, Dec 12, 2024).

According to the economist/columnist Chartchai Parasuk, an economy enters a black hole when "no policy stimulus -- either fiscal or monetary -- can spur economic growth".

Two examples of this occurring in modern times are the stock market crash of 1929 and the 2008 sub-prime mortgage crisis. While Ben Bernanke's quantitative easing policy may have successfully dealt with the problem, US President Franklin Roosevelt's "New Deal" certainly did not, resulting in the greatest depression that the world has ever known in 1929.

The Thai government implemented a cash handout scheme in September of last year under the premise that it would spur great economic growth in the country. But the economic data from October paint a different picture, as it has been found that absolutely no economic growth occurred in the Thai economy for the month, Mr Chartchai insists.

This leads the above-mentioned man to wonder whether the Thai economy has now entered a "black hole". If it has, let's hope that someone such as Ben Bernanke comes along and successfully limits the damage caused to the country by an economy which refuses to grow.

Flat tax threat

Re: "Discordant note", (PostBag, Dec 30, 2024), "Thailand's proposed tax to be tiered system", (Business, Dec 27, 2024) & "Decree to ring in top-up tax in 2025", (Business, Dec 24, 2024).

MP Foscolos hit the "nail right on the head" with his two solid recent letters regarding Thailand evidently wanting to join the OECD -- along with all the broad stipulations this membership requires. Not least, with seemingly no public debate around that.

For sure, if there is a new flat tax imposed on new capital entering Thailand, it will have a considerable negative impact on present and future retirees' decisions along with most ex-pats here, which contribute solidly to the now, for some time, sluggish Thai economy. As well, on most foreign investments, any uncertainty that keeps percolating around this, as has been for some time, simply makes most money and capital shy away.

I agree such a policy misstep could be quite catastrophic.

Halt OECD push

Re: "Discordant note", (PostBag, Dec 30, 2024).

MP Foscolos has written a valuable critique of Thailand's intention to join the OECD. Of the 38 OECD member nations, only one is located in Asia -- Japan. The OECD is headquartered in Paris and reflects the seed strategy employed to create the UN in 1945. Per UN.org, "Four years of planning and the hope of many years materialized in an international organization designed to end war and promote peace, justice, and better living for all humankind." This statement epitomizes the prevailing Western idealism which is revealing itself to be more unsuitable for global governance with each passing year.

At the root of this failure is the preeminence of the separate self-idea in Western culture. Almost universally, we are witnessing greed, corruption, the craven worship of personal power, and an absence of true compassion undermining the purportedly righteous goals of idealistic philosophy in government, conventional religion, education, and now even science and medicine.

Thailand is one of the least Westernised of all countries and, with a poorly functioning government, is not poised to benefit from a stronger dose of globalist policy controls, which membership in the OECD effectively requires. MP Foscolos is right; a salt tax brought down colonial India. Furthermore, salt is an essential nutrient; taxing it is an absurdity of Western globalist idealism.

The present government should withdraw from the OECD's Roadmap for the Accession of Thailand and establish order in its own house before making such drastic, far-reaching decisions.

Legal oddities

Re: "Govt pushes for alcohol control laws that match 'global norms'", (PostBag, Dec 16, 2024).

People in or coming to Thailand may want to know what recreational drugs are illegal. Thai officialdom follows the dictates of the the USA's DEA (Drug Enforcement Agency), so here's how the DEA officially categorises drugs, from worst on down:

Schedule 1 (worst): heroin, LSD pot, ganga, ecstasy, quaaludes, peyote.

Schedule 2 (very bad): Vicodin, cocaine, speed, methadone, Dilaudid, Demerol, OxyContin, fentanyl, Dexedrine, Adderall, Ritalin.

Schedule 3 (bad): Tylenol with codeine, ketamine, anabolic steroids, testosterone.

Schedules 4: All pharma drugs.

Schedule 5: Cough syrup and some more pharma.

Interesting that the world's most harmful drug, alcoholic drinks, is not anywhere on the list. According to the DEA, liquor is less harmful than cough syrup.

And pot and ganga are more harmful than fentanyl, even though just holding a fentanyl pill in your hand can cause death because its chemicals can seep through one's skin.

Speed is considered not as bad as pot or ecstasy, yet there are tens of thousands of hill tribers doing decades in Thai prisons for getting caught with a few pills.

What drugs are the people doing? Who categorises drugs? Answer: probably Johnny Walker or beer. Middle Easterners' speed, Captagon.

Note: the world's strongest hallucinogen, Ayawasca, is not on the list. I guess it's legal to openly buy and sell Captagon and Ayawasca in Thailand and in the USA. But don't try selling cough syrup.

Unchecked chaos

Re: "Safer roads or just talk?", (Editorial, Dec 31, 2024).

I am writing to express my growing concern about the deteriorating conditions on Bangkok's roads and the declining standards of public conduct in the city.

Firstly, I have noticed an alarming increase in public urination, particularly on the walls of private residences and townhouses. Motorcyclists, taxi drivers, and pedestrians frequently use private property to relieve themselves, creating an unpleasant sight and posing serious hygiene issues. This behaviour reflects poorly on our city and highlights a lack of public facilities and enforcement of basic civic norms.

Secondly, the behaviour of delivery riders on our roads has become a significant safety hazard. Many blatantly disregard traffic rules, including running red lights, weaving recklessly between vehicles, and assuming the right of way without considering other road users. This not only endangers their lives but also puts the safety of pedestrians, passengers, and law-abiding motorists at risk.

What's most troubling is the apparent absence of traffic enforcement. It has been a long time since I've seen traffic police officers actively monitoring the roads or conducting checkpoints. This lack of enforcement has created a sense of lawlessness, turning our roads into a dangerous free-for-all.

I urge the authorities to address these issues promptly by increasing police presence on the roads, setting up traffic checkpoints, and investing in more public amenities to discourage inappropriate behaviour. Bangkok deserves a cleaner, safer, and more orderly environment for all its residents.

In search of decency

Re: "FBI probes 'terror' links in street carnage", (World, Jan 3).

We humans are like leopards; we are not able to change our feline spots. Car rampages in Magdeburg and New Orleans to end a horrific 2024 and herald in an inauspicious start to 2025.

My 86-year-old fiercely independent father died peacefully from an inoperable heart valve infection. At his burial, I thought Dad was blessed to leave a heated cauldron of a world rife with war, tyranny and despotism.

Let us hope the metronome of yearly renewal swings towards the eternal struggle for humanity's decency to "Trump" over the malignant self-absorption and hateful "othering" that has fiercely besmirched the year just past.

Unfit for humans

Re: "PM2.5 dust crisis drains city economy", (BP, Dec 17, 2024).

Breathe in. Breathe out. It is the most fundamental need in life. But in Bangkok, if you breathe in, you are more than likely breathing in a poisonous cocktail of highly damaging and harmful ingredients for humans. And yes, the burning season is the main cause of the air pollution, but in Bangkok, vehicle emissions are the multiplier. Multiplying the danger, the poison, the impact.

Every year, it gets worse.

More vehicles on the road and so on. But what is being done? Stand by a busy road any day of the week, and you will see all kinds of vehicles with smoke billowing out the back. I watched three red buses in a row go by, belching out smoke, followed by pickup trucks and all kinds of vehicles doing the same.

Where is the enforcement?

Bangkok is a great city, but for about a third of the year or more, it's becoming unfit for humans. The time for a serious crackdown on vehicle emissions is now.

Someone needs to be responsible and properly resourced. It doesn't need a bunch of meetings. It needs someone to take these vehicles off the road until they are fixed. It takes real penalties and real commitment. Or maybe it needs a sign at the airport. Welcome to Bangkok. But please don't breathe the air.

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