I commend Red Bull heir Vorayuth Yoovidhaya and his clan for agreeing to pay 3 million baht in an out-of-court settlement to the family of Pol Snr Sgt Maj Wichian Klanprasert.
Khun Vorayuth drove his Ferrari at high speed, hitting and killing the policeman on a motorbike.
However, time and again, we Thais have proven that our "written laws [are] like spiders' webs, and would catch the weak and the poor, but easily be broken by the mighty and rich" (Anacharsis). That must not happen this time.
I hope that the Red Bull clan takes His Majesty's words to heart: "To make the country function well, seniors in the country should set good examples for other people in the country to follow."
The purpose of a judicial system is to punish and deter wrongdoing.
To such a wealthy clan as the Red Bull's, the amount paid to the victim's family is not likely to be much of a punishment or deterrent _ especially when we consider that the killer and/or his family tried in every way they could to obstruct justice.
Khun Vorayuth fled the scene of the killing, running home to mommy and daddy. His clan then deliberately put the welfare of one family member above the common good by blocking police access to the lethal weapon until a search warrant was obtained, and apparently had a family driver try to be the scapegoat.
The Red Bull clan should heed His Majesty's words, and insist that justice not only be done but be seen to be done _ which would involve much more than paying money if the purpose is to punish and deter.
BURIN KANTABUTRA
A car by any other name
Why is it your reporters insist on having to identify a car by its model and nickname (Honda Jazz, blah blah, blah)? A car is a car.
To me, it has four wheels, a windshield, motor, etc. Isn't it good enough to report that a car driven by so-and-so crashed?
KENNETH KOFINK
Chon Buri
Cops without leadership
A friend jokingly asked, "What's the difference between the police and the boy scouts?" After reading, this morning's letter, "Riot police ineffective", I believe I can give the answer. The difference is that the boy scouts have mature, adult leadership.
MATURE MANGO
Scrap ridiculous airship
RE: "Army in new bid to get its airship flying", (BP, Sept 27).
Whatever they do, I'm quite sure it will not do any good. This ridiculous airship strategy was impractical from the beginning and has been a shameful episode in the Royal Thai Army's history.
Everything should be scrapped immediately and a special investigation committee should be organised to review this programme from its very beginning. Officials responsible for procuring faulty equipment must be held responsible, but I believe the programme drafters bear more responsibility.
R. H. SUGA
Lamphun
Killers in Israel, US too
The other night I was watching a BBC report about religious extremists in the Middle East.
When the reporter interviewed these lunatics they said they were not terrorists but "freedom fighters" and claimed that their violent acts were the will of god.
Dear readers, the people being interviewed were not Islamic extremists: they were Jewish settlers in Israel.
The reason we think only Muslims are terrorists is because when America and Israel kill people it's called "freedom fighting" , "self-defence" (even when America attacks a country thousands of miles away which posed no threat to the US) or, in the case of one of America's wars , "Operation Just Cause".
But these lovely euphemisms only diminish the value of the lives of the people America and Israel kill, especially when those people are Muslims.
ERIC BAHRT
Thai gets just desserts
Reading about Khun Pichaya Svasti's trip to Myanmar I was amused to learn that she had been double-priced for an item by a vendor, something that farang here experience commonly and which is also endorsed by the government. It must have come as a bit of a shock to her, and it was certainly a first for me to read that it has happened to a Thai.
RON MARTIN
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