OPINION

Iran ties go way back

Re: "Iran and Thailand: 400 years of historical ties", (Opinion, Feb 11).

I wish to inform your readers that it is not known when contact between Thailand and Iran was first established, but it must have been well before the 16th century of the Christian Era. When my ancestor, Sheikh Ahmad, arrived in Ayutthaya in around 1600, there was already an Iranian community there. His profession was not known. He was called Sheikh Ahmad, and there was no Gumi after his name. He was not from the city of Qom but from a small town in the Astarabad-Mazandaran region south of the Caspian Sea called Guni. An earlier Ambassador of Iran kindly obtained photographs of Guni for me. Sheikh Ahmad's descendants did hold various key political posts in the 17th century and thereafter. They did not hold the key religious post of Chularatchamontri until the end of 18th century until 1932.

The science of diplomacy

Re: "Pundits tout Globalisation 3.0 strategies", (Business, Feb 25).

Science diplomacy must be seen as a global imperative, not only as a tool for one country's geopolitical positioning. In the current era of shifting supply chains, trade tensions, and technological competition, science diplomacy should serve as a real bridge between nations, fostering collaboration in AI, clean energy and climate change. Countries worldwide are expected to integrate scientific cooperation into their foreign policy strategies in order to successfully navigate the complexities of economic decoupling and emerging markets.

Science diplomacy should not be confined by limited national or regional interests.

Up to their old tricks

Re: "Stop the smoke", (PostBag, Feb 25) & "Alarm sounds over haze", (BP, Jan 25).

CNX Jon has some well-intentioned recommendations about how to address crop-burning issues. Sorry Jon, they won't work here. Declaring a national emergency would be tantamount to the government's admittance of culpability in this context, which is obviously not the case (let's not discuss floods). Sending in raw army recruits for damage control would be futile. They are far too busy polishing the boots and doing other household chores for their superior officers. Moreover, if somehow they could be deployed, other hardworking authorities would then be relieved from the onerous and unrewarding duty of prosecuting these potentially life-threatening law infringements.

Suffering till the end

Re: "The euthanasia debate", (Life, Feb 25).

The Post is brave to give prominence to an article on assisted dying. In Thailand, because the provision of palliative care is inadequate and euthanasia is illegal, the result is that the medical industry often prolongs suffering at the end of life. It is worth noting that Quebec, in Canada, has approved the right to choose a medically assisted death in advance, ie, when a person still has the cognitive ability to make a rational decision. It is time for health professionals in Thailand to implement more humane treatment of persons nearing the end of their lives.