OPINION

Up to the voters

Re: "Call leak leaves PM on brink", (BP, June 21).

PM Paetongtarn's political future should be up to us voters, not a court, as we aspire to be a democracy.

She has been exceedingly naive and incompetent as PM -- but that's no crime, so justice will not be served if a court finds her guilty.

Rather, parliament should debate the People's Party motion for a vote of no confidence on her ability to lead us out.

If she wins, she stays in office; if she loses, then she may resign, dissolve the House, or try to press on.

Given that her policies were really those of her coalition and not hers personally, she should call for new elections, but that's not a given.

Put our confidence in her (and her coalition) to the vote.

Shared enterprise

Re: "Cambodians flood Thai border to buy fuel", (BP, June 21).

Why not reverse what seems deadlocked? Instead of clinging to territorial claims and interpretive sovereignty, Thailand and Cambodia could set an example, by jointly developing disputed border regions.

Not by neutralising them, but by sharing them functionally: as spaces of economic, cultural, and ecological cooperation.

The key lies in a shift of perspective from "who owns the land," to "what can we make of it together."

A cross-border special zone could link markets, education, and tourism, under multilateral observation but with shared benefits.

It wouldn't erase the border, but it would soften it.

What's needed: institutional courage, clear legal frameworks, safeguards against power asymmetries, and a communication strategy that mediates rather than provokes.

Where once fault lines ran, spaces of encounter could emerge as a model for a region defined more by what connects than what divides.

It could become an Asian example of how cross-border cooperation not only defuses conflict, but inspires both sides.

Merit comes first

Re: "Benefits of DEI,": (PostBag, June 21).

I read Ray Ban's letter complaining about my opposition to DEI, even though I'm gay, and if I might set the record straight, I would like to share a short experience from my past which illustrates why I support merit-based hiring.

Before obtaining a university education here, I worked as a humble "bag boy" bagging groceries at a grocery store; a job I actually really enjoyed.

I am white, and all the cashiers happened to be black or Latino as the store was in an immigrant community in Florida, yet cashiering paid more.

One day, I was asked why I kept turning down every opportunity to be a cashier when I could make more money?

The answer is because I have a rare form of dyslexia which alters how I see numbers and symbols, but not English letters.

If the time is 6.15, on a digital clock I might erroneously see 6.51.

I knew the African American and Latino cashiers happened to be far more qualified, but if I used Mr Ban's logic and pulled "the gay card," a financial disaster would have happened. Race, gender and sexuality should never figure into hiring decisions.

Asean can do good

Re: "Asean+3's role in a rapidly fragmenting world," (Opinion, June 20).

Technical co-operation and coordination among Asean members is needed for the economic development of the group.

But institutional frameworks are still not adequate for it to go ahead.