No laughing matter, Prawit
Re: "Prawit's joke in bad taste", (Editorial, Jan 18). Responsible Thais were shocked to hear Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon say the reason the al-Shabaab terrorists attacked the DusitD2 Hotel in Kenya was because the hotel "has delicious Thai food"; and that it was "good enough" that Thais were not among the 21 dead.
It is such an unfortunate thing for a Thai deputy prime minister to publicly refer to the horrific terrorist attack in Kenya in such a playful and "hilarious" manner.
As one with a high position in the Thai government, Gen Prawit should differentiate between serious international issues and the funny jokes he often cracks among his subordinates.
Vint Chavala
Kasit probably gets the joke
Gen Prawit's "tasteless" joke about "delicious food" reminded me of a joke cracked by Kasit Piromya, a former diplomat when he and the yellow-shirted protesters seized Suvarnabhumi airport for 10 days in 2008.
Mr Kasit joked that the airport seizure was packed with "delicious food and good music" when tens of thousands of travellers were left stranded for days at the airport. He's probably the only one who appreciates Gen Prawit's off-colour joke and is still laughing. After the airport seizure which led to the collapse of Somchai's government, Mr Kasit was rewarded the sinecure of foreign affairs minister in Abhisit's government. (Note that Gen Prawit was also defence minister in Mr Abhisit's government).
It makes you wonder how these two simpletons could make it to ministerial positions. But then again this is Thailand.
Somsak Pola
Address the real problem
Re: "Toxic haze to make return this weekend", (BP, Jan 18).
Where did Transport Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith obtain the information that changing engine oil will lessen the black smoke emitted from BMTA buses? This is nonsense and unnecessary expenditure to say the least. Black smoke emitted from any diesel engine is caused by worn out engines and poor regular maintenance which should include the cleaning of the diesel injection system and the change of fuel filters and engine air intake filters. Black smoke is caused by unburnt fuel and therefore also contributes considerably to the vehicle running costs.
The real problem is the poor state of the majority of BMTA buses. I have resided in Thailand for 14 years and apart from a lot of talk, the aborted purchase and rejection of some buses of doubtful origin and the recent addition of a few new buses, nothing has changed in that time! Wake up BMTA, and address the real problem.
DC Syms
Let's expose the scammers
It would be in the interest of the retired expats, and apparently more local victims, to write a Sunday crime special report regarding life insurance scams perpetrated by bank staff at managerial levels. Bank customers tend to trust managerial staff, so it is not surprising that those managers resort to deceptive tactics to tempt their customers to subscribe to those insurance policies from which they could claim as much as 40% commission.
Unfortunately the courts only look at the documents and have no regard for the manner in which the policies have been sold. This blatant injustice compels managers to become even more daring in their deceptive ways.
A proper story in the Bangkok Post might save a lot of potential victims.
Clara Holzer
Trump's 'vicious personality'
We often hear the dubious claim that the reason the media hates Donald Trump is because he's not a liberal. If that's true why didn't they hate Ronald Reagan who was a staunch conservative? I didn't like Reagan politically or personally. But at least he understood that a president has to work with people he disagrees with and he can't be effective if he humiliates everyone -- even his own attorney-general -- who doesn't do what he wants. One reason Mr Trump is a horrible president is because he doesn't care about anyone beyond his own political base.
Mr Trump's vicious personality which is severely dividing the country is the reason for the intense hatred that most Americans feel for him. It's not about ideology.
Eric Bahrt
Insurance a healthy idea
Re: "Insurance? Sick idea", (PostBag, Jan 19).
So Daniel and Snow Reid enjoy good health, and long may they continue to do so. But there is one glaring gap in Mr Reid's arguments against the need for health insurance.
He seems to think that he has it covered by the idea that if he or his wife need medical care they can hop on a plane back to Australia. But what if you are hit by a truck while driving up the highway and end up in a Thai hospital with multiple injuries? No airline is going to allow you aboard, even if you could make it to the airport.
Like Mr and Mrs Reid, I am Australian, and have the added benefit that as a Vietnam veteran, I am accorded the full range of free medical, hospital, pharmaceutical, optical and dental care and treatment.
But only while I am resident in Australia. So I bought "accident" only insurance for 13,000 baht per annum which, at 73, I consider a reasonable premium.
David Brown
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