Klatham left out
Re: "BJT gains Klatham backing", (BP, Feb 17). The headline was somewhat at variance with Pai Lik, its secretary-general's words that his party had no bargaining power to join the coalition, but it implied a dislike of being in the opposition for the next four years.
BJT does not need Klatham's backing with its clever manoeuvre of having multiple small parties to join forces in backing BJT, which has already made Klatham's or even the Democrat Party redundant. Klatham is now quietly screaming against the prospect of four years in opposition.
Songdej Praditsmanont
Rot runs deep
Re: "Corruption keeps getting worse", (Editorial, Feb 15).
The Post is correct that "Corruption is not just stealing money, but destroying the country's future". It has already destroyed Thailand's future for five or more decades.
It is a bread-and-butter issue for ordinary Thais, who suffer the consequences on a daily basis as they struggle with low incomes and rising prices while trying to care for and educate their children, not to mention facing double standards in law and abuse from powerful figures with impunity.
Given that the flashy new Thai government has forsworn any meaningful reform of the pillars of the traditional status quo, my prediction is that corruption will continue to flourish for at least another four years.
I can only hope, but not believe, that I'm completely wrong.
Felix Qui
Conserve, don't cull
Re: "10 species flagged as birdstrike threat to flights in Thailand", (Online, Feb 17).
The photograph in the above report was of a painted crane flying which was at one time an endangered bird species that came under the special care of King Bhumibol Adulyadej The Great who I am aware had several core projects, among his many, at Doi Ang Kang (Chiang Mai) and Chang Hua Mun (Phetchaburi), flood-mitigation projects such as Kaem Ling Nong Yai in Chumporn and the well-known experimental wastewater treatment project at Laem Pak Bia (Phetchaburi) which most birders in Thailand will have visited.
I remember attending His Majesty King Bhumibol The Great's birthday eve address at Chitralada Palace and seeing the cranes on the palace grounds. In his address, His Majesty spoke about the painted cranes being threatened with extinction in Thailand and said he had taken up the project to rehabilitate the species.
While not explicitly naming the painted crane as one of the "birdstrike threats", one wonders about the choice of the photograph and the accompanying report to bring home the point of the need for aircraft safety and the control of birds flying in the environs of the airport.
I do hope that better discernment will prevail and that the cranes are not harmed, even as I applaud the initiative to curb, not cull, the birds that visit the wetlands around the airport and are purportedly a threat to aircraft flight safety.
Glen Chatelier
