OPINION

PromptPay hackable

Re "PromptPay sows doubts", (Editorial, Aug 24).

People should be sceptical about PromptPay, and the banks' willingness to take responsibility in case of fraud or hacking.

As suggested in "PromptPay warning to mobile users," (BP, July 13) the banks have plenty of "wiggle room" to deny responsibility for this.

Many rural Thais, who have very little knowledge of mobile digital commerce or the risks, would like to enrol in PromptPay to receive government subsistence payments. They are easy targets (though small ones) for phishing attacks, or a large-scale hack on the SS7 network.

Banks should configure their PromptPay software so that clients can designate an account as either: a) use PromptPay only to receive funds (cannot transfer out), or b) send and receive funds via PromptPay.

This is a pretty easy software change for the banks (I used to teach software engineering at Kasetsart University.)

People would trust the system more if they know it cannot be used to withdraw funds from their account, thereby increasing enrolment, which the Finance Ministry wants.

Over time, if the system is secure and useful, bank customers may eventually switch to "send and receive" mode.

By the way, SMS is known to be hackable, due to a long-standing lack of security in the SS7 signaling protocol that is used by all telephone networks.

The National Institute of Standards & Tech (NIST) has deprecated the use of SMS for 2-factor authentication because of this.

There's even a YouTube video demonstrating how to hack into someone's Facebook or WhatsApp account using the flaw. I think the same hack could be used with PromptPay.

I write in response to the Aug 24 editorial, "PromptPay sows doubt". I would like to clarify that PromptPay is a new product among several electronic banking services already operated by financial institutions. Should errors arise due, not to customer faults, but the operations of financial institutions, customers will not be liable for such an error.

In this regard, the content of the article stating that customers will be the sole party liable for transaction errors is incorrect.

Moreover, I would also like to emphasise that financial institutions offering electronic banking services including PromptPay have adopted sound practice to safeguard against potential cyber fraud/crimes.

However, it is important that customers study fully and take due care in undertaking transactions in accordance with recommended practices, especially safeguarding their identification details such as usernames and passwords.

On a separate note, I would like to express concern that the last paragraph of the article quoted the Bank of Thailand official as a news source.

I was informed that the quote was out of context and drawn from the relatively distant past, while the information reported was also incorrect factually.

The case in which a former Information and Communication Technology (ICT) minister of the Thaksin Shinawatra government was sentenced to one year in jail for causing the country to lose billions of baht as well as engendering national security risks makes one think Thailand's law on corruption is too lenient.

Here in this country, a citizen can be sentenced to 15 years in jail for stealing 100 baht (or US$2.90).

But if you are a politician who has caused billions to be stolen through corruption, you get one year.

Hence, it should be that bigger -- or white-collar -- criminals in our country get a stiffer punishment than the smaller ones – not the other way around.

Re: "Rethink the tax on sugary drinks", (Opinion, Aug 24).

I agree with Khun Adis's argument on freedom of choice and people's right to eat or drink whatever they want. Obesity and associated health risks affect all of us, whether we are responsible with our beverage choices or whether we simply bear the burden of caring for those who drink the sugar-sweetened time bombs. When it comes to sugary drinks, it is not a victimless crime, and the consequences of allowing the present state of affairs should not continue to be pushed onto society at large.

Khun Adis suggests that a tax at the refinery would be preferable, but this is short sighted. Doing so would simply raise the price of sugar everywhere, and with limited choices for substitution nothing would change.

Again, his statement "Coke Zero and Pepsi Max would enjoy the benefits of the Thai sugary drinks tax scheme as their prices would be relatively lower and people would simply switch from sugary carbonated drinks to artificially sweetened carbonated drinks" works against his position. Taxes designed to change behaviour are most optimally targeted to situations where a close substitute is easily available. The whole point of the sugary drinks tax would be to get people to switch to non-sweetened drinks.

Imagine the new economy in such a situation. Instead of automatically coming with several hundred milliliters of sugar-sweetened Coke, ordering a value meal at McDonalds might automatically come with a comparatively less expensive Coke Zero. It even gives the company a new avenue to upsell. "Would you like to purchase an enhanced diabetes drink for only 10 baht more?"

The sugary drinks tax is a great opportunity to apply a very selective economic adjustment specifically to an industry that has consistently placed profits above concern for the public good. I can think of no better point in the distribution chain to place this much needed reform.

Re: "Don't hold your breath", (PostBag, Aug 23).

Patient Mango is probably correct when he says that a list of the things and people waiting for justice to be done would be too long for the Bangkok Post to print.

Two important cases that he does not mention are Pvt Songtham Mudman, tortured and beaten to death by a junior officer and NCOs, and Cpl Panya Ngeonrienas, who died after being subjected to cruel and unnatural punishment by a junior officer. In both these cases the perpetrators received nothing more than a slap on the wrist with a feather duster.

But, Patient Mango, I still like the idea of a list. How about I give the Bangkok Post permission to provide you with my email address and you and I work together to maintain a list that we will submit annually to the Bangkok Post? You never know, it might just publish a special bumper edition to accommodate it.

The "Women in Business" (BP, Aug 22) makes for an interesting read, but I suggest there are yet more reasons why women do better in Thailand than their counterparts in the West.

Over 20 years in Chiang Mai, I have noticed that most private property, and almost all small businesses and many medium-sized ones, are managed by women and in many cases appear to be owned by women. I also notice the self-confident way young girls go about their affairs, ride their motorbikes and interact with other people: all with total self assurance.

Having lived for several years in a village and having also observed our neighbours and our maid's extended family, my wife has observed that young male children are given more care and attention than their sisters. From an early age, female children are encouraged and allowed to help with work around the house, which includes cooking, cleaning and the like, to a greater extent than their brothers. This results in the girls gaining experience and learning about domestic affairs and taking responsibility more quickly than their brothers, thereby better equipping them to handle life's myriad challenges. I suggest that is the cause of their self-confidence. A Western friend once commented to me: "Compared with Thai women, Thai men are a waste of space." I have shared this observation with some Thai men. They have agreed!

I am also surprised that Western advocates of feminism never make reference to the Mosu ethnic minority group in Yunnan province in South China, which is surely the world leader in female emancipation. Mosu families are led/managed/controlled by their eldest woman. Her family consists of her brothers and sisters, her children and her daughters' children. Marriage is unknown in Mosu culture. The important male influence on a developing child is provided by their mother's brothers.

I have met a Mosu man who confirmed what I had read about his culture and who added that he was moving away because he didn't want the rest of his life to be controlled by his mother and grandmother. This leads me to wonder whether the status of women in Western society is not to some extent adversely influenced by the religions which many Western societies have adopted, which are defiantly male dominated.

The tired myth about "equal pay for equal work" is nonsense; no two people are equal and do "equal work". What is meant is "equal pay for equal job titles", which is a very different matter. In the large construction company I worked for, no two people received the same salary, except by chance. Each person's salary was individually assessed by their manager at the year's end. The manager considered the person's effectiveness, potential, attitude and a host of other factors before deciding on that person's salary for the coming year. No distinction was made between males and females.

Finally, the "Promised Land" will never be reached by introducing a few more laws and rules and regulations. This only plays into the hands of life's control freaks, who abound in the West. What is needed is a change in attitudes, towards oneself and towards other people, both male and female, and an increase in trust.

Re: "Governor ordered to halt duties", (BP, Aug 26).

Whatever criticisms there may be of the prime minister, I think he deserves acknowledgement for ethical decisions to suspend without pay a mayor and the Bangkok governor, and to ask the Bangkok authorities to halt the eviction of people from Mahakan Fort. I hope these decisions indicate that people without political/social/economic influence can be heard at the highest level and their concerns will be addressed even when their interests clash with those of the more powerful.

Re: "A man for the times," (BP, Aug 26).

May I point out that in the eyes of a majority of Thai people, PM Prayut Chan-o-cha is also an unelected, successful prime minister, soldier and patriot. Your sarcastic caption on the online photo is misplaced.

While most people around the world are more than tired of the circus-like spectacle that the current US presidential race has become, the political system of selecting the American leader has one clear advantage. By conducting the campaign over a protracted period of several months, candidates are subjected to sustained scrutiny and stress that provides very useful insights into how they might perform as president.

In the current US presidential campaign, voters are every day seeing new images of Donald Trump that might have been effectively concealed in a shorter contest. As the lunacy, ignorance, bigotry and incompetence of Donald Trump are revealed with each passing day, voters are slowly but steadily migrating toward the only sensible choice in the upcoming US election, despite a lack of enthusiasm for the alternative candidate, Hillary Clinton.

May I humbly suggest Bangkok employs someone with inner city transportation expertise to look at connections between proposed rail lines, bus terminals and services, river boat piers, etc, with a view to amending current plans to integrate services. It's a shame everything appears to be done ad hoc and in separation.