Hair of the dog
Re: "BoT needs to communicate," and "Govt wallet plan needs 'monitors' ", (BP, April 29).
In defending its decision to keep its reference lending rate as is rather than drop it as Prime Minister Srettha insists, the Bank of Thailand must win over not just the economically sophisticated but those in the paddies. If BoT fails in this, Srettha will have lessened public trust in a major guardian of our country's long-term economic interests.
For example, while campaigning, Pheu Thai vowed the funds would be free, which would be like a doctor telling a patient that blood needed for his survival would all come from outside donors. Now, however, "doctor" Srettha tells us that the "blood" will come from us, the "patient" -- which would definitely harm the patient. That analogy is accurate, clear, and easily understandable to all. BoT, hold your ground -- let's all wait and see why your decision is in Thailand's best interests.
Burin Kantabutra
Droning on
Re: "Reality check", (PostBag, April 27).
In his latest parrot's squawk in support of the orthodox narrative, Ray Ban once again employs personal attacks and irony to suggest I have invented "a whole new system of warfare from a single thunderstorm".
The use of geoengineering for a myriad of purposes including warfare is ongoing and very real. There are countless examples of those who would play God with planet Earth, imagining they will fix the sky and control the weather. They would place us in the confinement of their laboratories and force us to eat the risk they create. The humanitarian complexity of future outcomes is at best poorly understood and when it comes to military applications, fundamentally ignored.
Ray Ban also derisively describes my reference to high-energy discharge devices deployed in military satellites as "50s comic book" fiction. Quantic Capacitors (quanticnow.com) and General Atomics (ga.com) are two companies that make ultra-high-energy density capacitors at the heart of such devices.
Their websites confirm their use in military applications such as drones, satellites, and space weapons systems. Videos are widely available of the destruction they have caused; satellite views of wildfires geometrically dotting the plains of Canada are well-documented. It is incomprehensible why Ray Ban has failed to recognise that Peter Seller's portrayal of Dr Strangelove was political satire. Perhaps a drone has taken up residence in the sky of his mind?
Michael Setter
Thai rights apathy
Re: "Parnpree stuns govt with move to quit", (BP, April 29) & "Rights, freedoms hang in balance", (Opinion, Dec 30, 2023).
I refer to the resignation of the Minister for Foreign Affairs Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara. How sad. Mr Parnpree was a supporter of Thailand applying to join the UN Human Rights Council (UNHR) for 2025-2027. I had to time travel back to December 2023 to find anything substantive in your publication relating to Thailand's hopes to be admitted to this organisation: an opinion piece titled "Rights, freedoms, hang in the balance" by Prof Emeritus Vitit Muntarbhorn, a human rights law expert.
Surely a successful application to the UNHR would be a source of pride. There is, however, a sour note; the effective leader of Pheu Thai, Thaksin is on record as saying that "The UN is not my uncle". I guess that means we can kiss goodbye to joining the real world, since it is beyond the imagination of one man.
Don McMahon
