Grand Prix flagged
Re: "Cabinet gives nod to F1 race bid", (PostBag, June 18).
If our nation was rich, politically peaceful, and 100% ready, I would back staging a F-1 race in our capital with pride.
But while we are facing mounting problems domestically, plus disputes over transparency in government ventures, spending another 40 billion baht in one go has to be thought through.
The event could bring good profit and boost tourism in the capital and elsewhere if we exclude the safety concerns, pollution control, or logistical problems in proceeding with the programme.
Somwut S
No thanks to DEI
Re: "Srettha: Pride events show equality not here yet", (BP, June 18).
It never ceases to amaze me how misguided people's priorities can be. In the same interview where former prime minister Srettha Thavisin talks about a declining birth rate and the possibility of Thailand's population falling from 66 million people to "just 37 million within 50 years", he also talks about making Thailand a global leader for LGBTQ+ people; a "global beacon for diversity and equality".
Finally, I would point out that "diversity and equality" [DEI initiatives] are finally being scrapped in America because the results of defining a person's career qualifications based upon skin colour -- or what gender a person has sexual intercourse with -- arguably led to unqualified American air traffic controllers, a slew of recent American plane crashes, and an uncountable myriad of disastrous workplace outcomes which now simply have to be undone by returning to a merit-based system which selects the most qualified person and ignores DEI.
I politely wonder why would the results be any different in Thailand?
Jason A. Jellison
Forget the Ferris
Re: "Backing sought for water-based initiatives", (BP, May 13).
While plans to support and "elevate the Fire Boat Festival in Nakhon Phanom to a global event" seem well-intentioned, although a bit grandiose, other ideas put forth in the article are rather objectionable. Regional tourism poohbah, Chanyut U-papong said that in October, Nakhon Phanom plans to introduce "a 54-metre Ferris wheel by the Mekong River."
Just because London's River Thames has been a sewer surrounded by man-made blight since the 18th century does not mean copying the idea is appropriate for the Mekong in the 21st. Why do these short-sighted political types get to do such things? They seem hell bent upon destroying the very natural resources they should be protecting at all costs. As a top priority, the government must establish better guidelines and enforce them without compromise to protect Thailand's natural treasures.
Baan Bandit
