OPINION

A casualty of war

Re: "The aggressor vs the victim", (BP, Dec 14).

Contrary to the old saying that "truth is the first casualty of war", who could have prophesied that the Royal Thai Army and others would last week become famous for their commitment to transparency and honesty?

Best not look too closely at all those coups against the nation.

In fact, it's perhaps best not to look at any of the regular scandals.

But this can be no reason to think the Cambodian military is more trustworthy than the Thai.

Dark Phuket tunnels

Re: "Businesses want safe, neat island", (BP, Dec 13).

I applaud Phuket Chamber of Commerce president, Kongsak Khoopongsakorn, for voicing his concerns about poor lighting in Phuket's five tunnels.

I estimate that, on one of the island's busiest thoroughfares (the road from Phuket Airport to Chalong circle), up to 25% of the road lights are not working.

Light poles are installed along the entire 30 km length of this road, but many stretches, varying in distance from 0.5km to 1km, have fittings that have not worked for more than a year.

The entrances and exits of the island's underpasses have light poles installed, but these lights have not been on for many years.

Underpasses are particularly poorly lit in daylight hours to the extent that it is difficult to see the edge and middle of the carriageway, especially at the Chalong circle underpass.

Earlier this year, on a 0.5km stretch of road 4010 south of Prince of Songkla University, functioning street lights on both sides of the road were removed and replaced by high‑intensity lights mounted on tall poles in the median strip.

These lights have never been switched on since they were installed about six months ago, leaving the road in total darkness.

Governor Nirat Pongsitthaworn, why spend millions of baht on new road lighting and then leave the road dangerously dark and unsafe at night?

I sincerely hope the Phuket governor can intervene to improve the appalling standard of road lighting maintenance on Phuket island before it leads to a fatal accident.

It's political theatre

Re: "The aggressor vs the victim", (BP, Dec 14).

War is political theatre writ large.

It is the global military‑industrial complex's turn at the trough.

And a massive propaganda diversion from the gut‑wrenching horrors of what is surely coming.

The great hegemonic reset is now well underway.

Individual liberties are vanishing in a cloud of widespread but entirely unnecessary fear.

Meanwhile, the egregious global theft of personal wealth is the central banker's game, played almost exclusively during the forthcoming holidays.

All the while, "experts" opine about Cambodia's legal transgressions and Asean's virtues, as if such worthless thoughts were their own.

Travel uncertainty

As far as I am aware, people have been told that at present they should not travel to Koh Chang or Koh Kood.

Please correct me if I am wrong on this.

Obviously, during such times as these, things change quickly.