Poll paranoia
Re: "Doubts mount over EC's poll handling", (Opinion, Feb 21).
I thought the People's Party accepted its defeat in the recent general election with dignity and good grace on election night. That was before some of their supporters turned full Trump circa November 2020, seemingly implying that the "deep state" had rigged the election. No explanation, of course, has been offered as to why this same "deep state" apparently forgot to rig the results in Bangkok and Chiang Mai.
Now, conspiracy enthusiasts (many of them farangs) have moved onto the ballot papers themselves. We are told they have been numbered for the express purpose of identifying voters, to whose benefit we are left in the dark.
I have voted in every UK election since 1983. All ballot papers carry a unique number printed on both the ballot paper and the counterfoil retained by election officials. Each ballot paper is also officially stamped, and a voter's electoral number is written on the counterfoil. No one alleges sinister motives, and no one disputes the result. It is accepted, as it always has been, that sometimes you win and sometimes you lose.
Meanwhile, that paragon of democratic virtue, Hun Manet, is swanning around the world, no doubt bemused, while Thailand's image is tarnished by sore losers.
T Turveydrop
Platform addiction
Re: "Meta CEO testifies in landmark trial", (World, Feb 20).
Mark Zuckerberg is in court, apparently for the first time, defending his products from the accusation that they are addictive, and deliberately so.
As a retired, grumpy senior, I try to avoid the world of influencers, the latest challenge that may injure me, and online medical advice that could kill me. Of course, much of it is right, but how can I tell? I get my medical advice from my local, living doctor.
The only service I regularly use is YouTube. I use it as a learning tool, such as how to use my new coffee machine or how to turn off all of the beeps on our new car. This sort of information is reliable and accurate, but I am still getting videos about coffee grinding a month later. It keeps feeding me suggestions that I might be interested in, and usually am, and it's hard to stop. I worry that YouTube knows more about me than many of my friends do.
Dennis Fitzgerald
Royal reckoning
Re: "Andrew crisis haunts monarchy", (Opinion, Feb 21).
It is good to see the Post publish another piece by Professor Pavin Chachavalpongpun. His comments on the role of the British monarchy and its members in the wake of the UK's Epstein moment are spot on. Britain and its institution at least have a clue as to how Britons in 2026 feel about its institution, so they can respond appropriately. Whilst romantically haunting on Netflix and in Shakespeare, has ignorance serving myth ever proved a friendly ghost in reality?
Felix Qui
