Not so clever
Re: "'Just a negotiation tactic'", (InQuote, June 19).
The leaked phone conversation between Thai PM Paetongtarn Shinawatra and former Cambodian PM Hun Sen revealed one cardinal rule in management that one should never have broken -- ridiculing key personnel of a national security organisation to anyone, and worse, to the country's nemesis presently in hot border issues with. Even worse, the ridiculed figure is currently the key person in defending our country's border.
What Ms Paetongtarn might perceive as a clever negotiation tactic -- having Hun Sen open up and talk more -- is what the English call being too clever by half. The result will have immediate political repercussions for her family and their relationship with Hun Sen, which will never remain the same. That is also a lesson in avoiding nepotism when electing our leader, especially when a father is in the shadow.
Songdej Praditsmanont
Up in smoke
Re: "Weed policy shift gets thumbs-down", (BP, June 17).
It is alarming to read a report like this when it seems evident that the public forum on "weed use" appears to have been arranged with the outcome already determined -- a return to the criminalisation of recreational marijuana use in Thailand.
Recreational drug use is a fact of life. The biggest problem has always been that only some of those drugs are legal, whilst others are deemed illegal. In the case of the former, people and companies make millions of dollars from their production, sale and use, whilst the government, individuals and communities pay the price in terms of health and other costs. In the case of the latter, the people who use are subjected to abuse, extortion, corruption, legal penalties including gaol and having their futures put in jeopardy whilst being unable to access the necessary health services some of them may need.
There is another side to this story -- the cost of the criminalisation of recreational marijuana use. A cost borne by individuals, families, communities and government.
I would not be surprised to hear that there are issues and lessons to be learnt three years into a significant change in public policy such as this. I would therefore encourage the Ministry of Public Health to convene a public forum where a comprehensive review and assessment of the evidence for and against the legal availability of recreational drugs can be conducted, along with an examination of the necessary legislative framework to protect public health, individual health, and well-being. One that examines all aspects of this complex issue, with a focus on where the most benefit will derive for the citizens of this great country.
Dr Richard Hamilton
Fighting for the pie
Re: "Rift in coalition deepens", (BP, June 18).
As the Pheu Thai and Bhumjaithai parties feud over control of the Ministry of Interior, neither of them is putting the country's interests first. If they were, they should show us what they would do if they held this key cabinet seat: what, specifically, would they achieve, when, and at what cost? Why should voters believe them? Then put the matter to a vote in parliament. Instead, voters and parliament are completely out of the picture. We're a pie to be divided, not people to be guarded from wolves.
Burin Kantabutra
