OPINION

Milking Moo Deng

Re: "Minister rejects criticism over hippo's welfare", (BP, Feb 26).

Visitors are lining up to see the pygmy hippo Moo Deng at the Khao Kheow Open Zoo. While visitors find her adorable, Moo Deng is also miserable.

Pygmy hippos are shy and avoid contact with humans. They are also nocturnal animals, so being kept on display all day long is not only unnatural but stressful and harmful to her well-being. The frightened animal even bit her handler, who seems more focused on getting content for the zoo's social media page than on Moo Deng's care.

Moo Deng will never return to her natural habitat, yet her captivity does nothing to increase the dwindling hippo population. Keeping animals captive in zoos distracts from addressing the real causes of their decline: habitat loss, poaching, and the cruel wildlife trade.

Our nation's name means "Land of the Free", and that freedom should extend to all living beings. Exploiting Moo Deng isn't good for her, and it isn't good for us. We must advocate for the protection of these animals and focus on preserving their natural habitats.

Win for students

Re: "Court annuls 50-year-old regulation on student hairstyles", (BP, March 5).

The Supreme Administrative Court's verdict is a good response to a lawsuit filed in July 2020 by "Education for Liberation of Siam" -- a group of high-school students who demand reform of the Thai education system.

From 2014, the group actively opposed the Thai junta and its "12 Core Values of Thai People", which the junta leader Prayut Chan-o-cha penned.

Their legal victory over decades of law imposed by the junta is no small thing. The peaceful advocacy for what is right demonstrates better morals than decades of Thai law created by military juntas. Keep up the good work.

Fix home first

Re: "Making the case for foreign aid", (Opinion, March 7).

In this UN-centric whine, Nilima Gulrajani claims Donald Trump has "little understanding of the value of the soft power that USAID spent decades trying to cultivate" and only seeks to "eliminate America's role as global benefactor".

No, that is simply wrong. The UN, its related NGOs, and recipient countries aligned with USAID have been accused of corruption.

And let's be realistic, the UN is not going to clean house. Creating another UN programme or a new NGO-centric auditing system will solve nothing.

At least the US can address its own corruption at USAID and throughout the government bureaucracy, which it is now in the process of doing.

Bear in mind that the US is not a global parent, despite what Ms Gulrajani presumes to be the case. The nations of the world and their citizens need to accept full responsibility for their own circumstances. Only then can there be fruitful cooperation on a global basis.

On US trade radar

Re: "US firms demand crackdown on tariff-evading Chinese importers", "Gravy train is over" and "Trump tariffs put tourism on edge", (BP Online March 6, Feb 22 and Feb 20).

For those who are regular readers, remember on Feb 22 when I publicly cautioned some prominent Thai businessmen that Thailand's trade activities -- especially if we benefit from other tariffs -- would not go unnoticed (or likely unaddressed) as they publicly hoped?

Well, fast-forward to March 6 and the quote: "Those [tariff-evading] imports [come from countries like] Oman, Thailand, Vietnam and the UAE," said Tom Muth, executive VP of Zeckelman Industries (USA).

So, as I predicted and multiple US businessmen and congressmen inadvertently confirm, Thailand is now on America's radar screen very prominently, and the US Congress is openly discussing what to do about this.

I suspect in a short while, do something about it they will, and this article is just confirmation of what I already knew as a 50-year-old American -- Thailand will be addressed on trade, and times are about to change dramatically.

Ways to end wars

Re: "What happens after Trump, Zelensky spat", (Opinion, March 6).

There are many ways to finish a war, with the best being to stop it from starting, but that rarely happens despite the obvious horrible consequences of wars.

The causes of conflict and then wars are many and varied, often based on centuries of memories that should have faded away.

Most of the world is concerned about the two main current wars, in Ukraine and the Gaza Strip, both of which were to be solved by US President Donald Trump on the first day on the job, but then reality struck.

Initial negotiations have led to some positive outcomes, but there are still people being killed and houses being destroyed.

The AI video of a Trump Gaza implied surrender, the destruction and rebuilding of Gaza and Netanyahu being there. Abject surrender.

The latest approach is a simple one: give up or get destroyed immediately. With Mr Trump's "I am sending Israel everything it needs to finish the job", a negotiated solution may be off the board.

The solution is difficult to find given the number of people with the best of intentions and an actual understanding of the history of this conflict who have tried and failed.

The first step should now be to remove the US, their president, their weapons and all of their negotiations based on the US's priorities of surrender so that Mr Trump can claim success.

The next step would be to rebuild Gaza in its own image, not the farcical one in the Trump video.

Find a real solution, not a Trump publicity stunt.

Diplomatic disarray

Re: "What happens after Trump, Zelensky spat", (Opinion, March 6).

Columnist John J Metzler's opinion on the fallout between the US and Ukraine subsumes several factors that need to be considered in the "what after" prospects for peace between Russia and Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin chose to victimise Ukraine for its efforts to align itself with Nato, thereby affronting the security concerns of Russia and Belarus.

US President Donald, in his craze to "Make America Great Again" in his whinings and groanings about the US aid to Ukraine, was clearly intending to arm-twist President Volodymyr Zelensky into a rare earth minerals deal.

This, at best, is a shamefaced act, given that the US stood with its other Nato allies and equipped Ukraine, which was facing the brunt of Russia's brazen killings of civilians.

Mr Putin is a dictator and, thereby, a role model to Mr Trump, who sounds entertainingly crazy about America's expansionist manoeuvres in the North American continent while putting the Panama Canal into a bind.

US Vice President JD Vance's sycophantic rants that Mr Zelensky should thank Mr Trump and be grateful to America at best is a farcical pantomime in the "Hail to Cesar Trump" gimmick.

That interjection by Mr Vance and Mr Trump's approval of his vice president's school-boy role, made for the lowest point of American diplomacy.

Furthermore, it clearly proved the unenlightenment of the Trump team and, therefore, their vulnerability in international and global politics.

Most importantly, has Mr Putin not just caused pain to Ukraine but also drawn out the fatal flaw of greed in Mr Trump and thus pushed America into a faint whimper of disgrace?

Still on top

Re: "The empire wobbles", (PostBag, March 4).

In his latest letter, Khun David Brown indicated that the Trump-Zelensky trainwreck conference was actually a good thing -- President Volodymyr Zelensky would spurn America and turn to other allies.

Since America had abandoned Ukraine and UN organisations, new coalitions would form, leading to the end of the US-led world order.

However, Khun David did not read the entire article.

In the last paragraph, Mr Zelensky backpedalled and stated that he wanted to keep America "onside" and did want to finalise the metals agreement with the US. In the same Post issue that day, the US and the Philippines reaffirmed their alliance; an American nuclear-powered aircraft carrier sailed into Seoul, South Korea; the American Academy Awards, saluting American movies, were watched by millions worldwide. The US-led world order is still pre-eminent on the world stage.

New global shift

Re: "Russia to profit", (PostBag, March 7).

Nato was formed in 1949 to defend Western Europe against the Soviets. It has been relatively successful.

Ironically, it was the desire of Ukraine, formerly part of the USSR, to join Nato that has prompted Russia under Vladimir Putin to invade Ukraine to discourage that desire from other former Eastern satellite countries and Western countries bordering Russia.

Understandably, Mr Putin's action was a defence of Russia's security, which was at stake. Suggesting Western Europe to let go of Nato and for Europe to frame a new defence structure is somewhat ungrateful and short-sighted.

The security of the Western world in the past can never be taken away from the US as a policeman of the world, and possibly others have taken advantage of the US for taking that role.

With dramatic support from US voters, Mr Trump's super-victory has given him a broad mandate to proceed as a near-bully leader to realise his America First policy and informally declare himself imperially as an isolationist to the world.

Worst action yet

Re: "Deporting 40 Uyghurs 'best option'", (BP, March 7).

The deal with the Chinese to return the Uyghurs has just removed the return of Thaksin as the worst action of the present Thai government and shows the ugliest possible face to the rest of the world. No compassion, humanity, empathy or decency. Resignation from the UNHRC is in order.

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