OPINION

Power has limits

Re: "Isle of discord", (PostBag, May 14).

According to PostBag contributor Yingwai Suchaovanich: "The war with Iran started two months ago by Mr Trump has exposed the outdated arsenal and capabilities of the US military."

I beg to differ. The war has shown the US military's superiority over all others. The Americans decimated the main sites producing enriched uranium in Iran in a mere matter of minutes, as the US does not want Iran to have nuclear weapons. And if we are to believe Mr Trump, the US can destroy the rest of Iran in just a few more minutes if it wants to. Not one country, not even China, has sought to militarily stand up to the Americans, since they know it would be futile.

What the war demonstrates is that military weapons cannot solve all conflicts. As soon as the Iranians saw firsthand the wrought of destruction that US weapons imposed on their country, they fought back by closing the Strait of Hormuz. Now Iran is more powerful than before, while the US and the rest of the world's leaders don't know what hit them, as the price of oil has skyrocketed, putting many countries near economic collapse. Dialogue and compromise are what are needed to end wars, qualities which the US seems reluctant to engage in with its sworn enemies.

Smarter relief plan

Re: "Loan decree 'must pass'", (May 15).

I fully support Bank of Thailand's Governor Vitai Ratanakorn in emphasising that the government's economic aid spending must: (a) be tightly focused on low-income groups and households and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and (b) carefully weighed between short-term relief and long-term investment. I thus agree with Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul's announced targeting goals.

But as things stand now, for instance, low-income households and SMEs will inadvertently gain the least -- not the most -- from electricity rate drops, simply because their bills, in absolute terms, are already low.

Why not leave all electricity bills as is, but give just low-income households and SMEs 4x-5x the value of their May bills as an immediate direct reduction on, say, solar panel costs? This will kill two birds with one stone, as the solar cell benefits will last for decades.

Likewise, we should boost productivity to raise income both now and into decades to come. Thai productivity has slowed down sharply recently: from 2015 to 2023, labour productivity grew by only 2.1% on average, a sharp decline from 4.8% between 2010 and 2015.

Almost two-thirds (64.7%) of Thais aged 15-65 can barely read and understand short texts to solve a simple problem, such as following medical instructions.

Thus, working hand in glove with local chambers of commerce, each province should have a local "work and skills" centre to match workers with jobs, with wages linked to skill levels and intensive upskill training available.

Cheap, reliable public transport and low-cost daycare should be available for all low-income Thais to increase job search possibilities and labour force participation. There should be conditional scholarships for poor students -- especially in rural areas.

There should be a one-stop shop in each province to register micro-SMEs, with any applications still pending 30 days after all documents have been submitted to be considered approved. All of these steps are relatively low-cost, and the benefits are not only immediate but lasting.