Narcotic nightmare
Re: "Drug policy fails", (PostBag, Oct 8) & "PM hails successful drug suppression campaign", (BP, Oct 4).
PostBag column's regular contributor Felix Qui raised an often asked question about whether there is progress and evidence of drug suppression by the authorities. Unfortunately, as always, there aren't any except photo ops that appear from time to time on news reports when the politician or top cops need them for publicity.
Just last week, in Udon Thani, a father shot dead his drug-addicted son. I wish I were wrong, illicit drugs are so commonly used among the young people in the province that it is disturbing and is no longer a secret to hide.
The only time I can remember when the authorities had taken drug suppression seriously was when Thaksin Shinawatra was prime minister. Perhaps this is the only good thing that he did that the Isan villagers still remember him for.
Yingwai Suchaovanich
Selective logic
Re: "Weed ruins lives", (PostBag, Oct 2).
In his unqualified, unequivocal pronouncement that "Weed ruins young lives, period", Jason A Jellison has yet again jumped from one or two personal anecdotes to a universal claim about cannabis.
Consider a different anecdote: Samuel Taylor Coleridge wrote Kubla Khan under the influence of opium. Similarly, Mick Jagger and other highly successful musicians might also offer themselves as examples that "prove" (in Mr Jellison's sense) the absolute efficacy of cannabis for musical excellence over many decades, period.
And of course, we likely all know one or two people whose lives have been ruined by alcohol. Therefore, alcohol ruins young lives, period.
Certainly, it is a fact that cannabis use can and does harm lives. It is equally a fact that alcohol use can and does, far more often than cannabis, ruin lives. Ask any member of Alcoholics Anonymous for pertinent personal anecdotes, or simply review the literature. Unlike Mr Jellison, I do not think it therefore follows that the addictive drug alcohol "ruins young lives, period", and must therefore be criminalised, period.
Felix Qui
Shoddy Thai service
Re: "Confidence declines as foreigners avoid Thailand", (Business, Sept 29).
Thailand overcomplicates everything. It prides itself on 98% employment, but how many actually work? People in A/C offices give the appearance of work without actually doing very much. From banking to immigration, there's so much unnecessary garbage.
I am just back from 90-day reporting because I had the temerity to go on holiday and, therefore, could not do it online despite having a multi-entry permit AND a TDAC certificate! I had to hand in copies of the same passport pages I have done so many times before for the past 20+ years. The data has not changed in decades! I know all this information is on a computer, yet more trees have to be felled for the appearance of work.
I have waited over one hour in a bank whilst three assistants managed to serve ONE customer before I walked out, angrily denouncing the poor service.
Both examples are of how badly Thai workers lord it over the customers who pay their wages. Perhaps this attitude to service across the country may explain why Vietnam's tourism is booming, whilst here it is in decline.
Michael Bell
