Tackling the basics
Re: "Thais revise trade offer with US", (Business, July 8).
Our labour force's main problem is its low productivity, yet our governments have consistently ignored boosting effectiveness and efficiency. Almost two-thirds (64.7%) of Thais aged 15-65 can barely understand short texts like "Take 1 tablet after dinner daily until the medicine is gone". Three-quarters (74.1%) of them cannot perform simple tasks, such as finding the correct online price of a product. In particular, our farmers made up 30.11% of our 2023 labour force, yet contributed only 8.7% of 2023/24 GDP.
Finance Minister Pichai Chunhavajira correctly said that "(Trump's tariffs give us) a chance to enhance production efficiency. They will benefit us in the long run." Yet Mr Pichai's help in seeking new export markets, easing export red tape, and giving low-interest credit access does little to kickstart our productivity.
We need to tackle basic issues in literacy, digital skills, and motivation. These include adult literacy and digital skills programmes focused on practical reading, math, and how to navigate websites and read product labels, as well as partnering with wats, mosques, schools, and community centres.
We should link vocational courses to industry needs, co-designing curricula with employers. Give digital credits to spend on approved training programs, modelled after Singapore's SkillsFuture Credit. We should offer free SME clinics to help firms adapt to Trump's tariffs, for example, by shifting sales to other markets or enhancing their e-commerce presence.
Burin Kantabutra
Apathetic on Iran
Re: "More missiles, memes, and the new resistance", (Opinion, July 19).
In his misguided analysis of the absence of "rattled nerves" following US strikes on Iranian nuclear bunkers, Imran Khalid speaks of apathy, or adaptation.
He implies that this crossing of "a carefully drawn red line" is just another adaptation to "catastrophe".
Perhaps Mr Khalid really believes Iran spent hundreds of billions of dollars on a peaceful nuclear programme, which provides one per cent of the country's energy needs.
Tehran's Palestine Square has a Countdown Clock to the destruction of the state of Israel. I saw a newsreader on Iranian state television declare that Israelis are "demonic" and that the children and babies should also be killed.
If the "younger generation" is apathetic, it is for not celebrating the removal of this genocidal threat.
Frank Scimone
Nuclear power peril
Re: "Safety key to nuclear goal", (Editorial, July 16) & 'Thailand set to finally embrace nuclear power", (Business, July 9).
Having read several articles about Thailand's pursuit of small modular [nuclear] reactors (SMR's), I was reminded of an excellent 1979 movie which explicitly outlines just how dangerous nuclear power really is. For younger readers, it is called The China Syndrome. Starring Jane Fonda, Jack Lemmon, and Michael Douglas, the fictional movie (which soon turned out to be not so fictional) explores the real-world financial pressures which pressure employees to cut corners, and it also explores what could happen if corruption stifles safety concerns.
...until, that is, my country nearly blew up the Three Mile Island nuclear reactor -- melting about half the core -- while The China Syndrome was still playing in theatres.
To conclude, in a country whose culture is not safety based, and also well-known to be high on the corruption index, I do not feel nuclear power is a good idea, and you need to look no further than the Chernobyl nuclear plant (and watch The China Syndrome) to get a very good idea of what the consequences are should a nuclear reaction spin out of control.
Jason A Jellison
