OPINION

Not you too

Re: "Don't dress sexy, dept tells women", (BP, March 22).

What kind of medieval thinking is behind the Department of Local Administration's admonishment of women to "avoid dressing in sexy outfits" for Songkran? This kind of "blame-the-woman-for-being-so-provocative-that-poor-men-can't-control-themselves" thinking has no place in modern society.

Where are the warnings to would-be predators that sexual harassment and assault are serious crimes that will be dealt with harshly and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law?

Re: "Death penalty ineffective", (Editorial, March 21).

Even if the death penalty were effective, its use would remain indefensible as a remedy to the social harms caused by drug use. Singapore, for example, wrongly treats its citizens, not as free persons deciding their own lives, but as tools of the state, in the name of which it terrorises decent citizens who would use, without harm to others, drugs not approved by the politicians making up this unreasoning law. Thaksin's wildly popular "war on drugs" was an equally ugly crime against Thai citizens.

There is as much reason to execute the dealers of the addictive drug alcohol as there is the dealers of other popular drugs. In fact, not only do exactly the same arguments apply, but since alcohol is generally more harmful to others, with such harm being the only reason justifying any punishment, both reason and moral consistency demand that the dealers and users of alcohol be punished more harshly than those whose preferred drug is one of the many drugs typically less harmful to others, such as marijuana, ya ba, even opiates.

Foolishly suicidal as their drug use might be for them personally, junkies do not tend to commit the rape, domestic abuse, pub fights and other violence that is so common with alcohol use. And then there are the families torn apart by those killers who drink and drive.

But does Trump care either for reason or for moral consistency? Rather than copying the violence of Duterte's, Singapore's and Thaksin's failures, the US president would do better in every sense to follow the lead of the Portuguese success story in reducing drug-related harm to society.

The Ocean Cleanup Foundation has just reported that the so-called "Great Pacific Garbage Patch", is now three times the size of France and is growing exponentially. It estimates that there are 79,000 tonnes, or 1.8 trillion pieces of garbage in the patch, which lies between California and Hawaii.

Yet still Thailand continues to hand out plastic bags and polystyrene containers willy nilly. I've even seen a shop assistant put a packet of cigarettes into a plastic bag before handing them to the customer, who immediately took the cigarettes out, put them in his pocket, and threw the plastic bag on the street.

When are we going to wake up to the disaster we are perpetrating?

Re: "Shopping points to offer VAT refund", (Business, March 23).

Whilst I'm in favour of encouraging tourist spending in our shops, I believe the Revenue Department's plan to allow five department stores to offer value-added tax (VAT) refund services for foreign tourists may not have been properly thought through.

At present all international airports have VAT refund facilities. If my experience is anything to go by, departing passengers should first show they are in fact taking out of the country the goods for which tax refunds are being sought. The question remains: Who are tourists and who are local foreign residents? Are the goods actually being taken out of Thailand or merely being passed to locals? And, finally, who gave this sweetheart deal for a pilot scheme to only Central department stores, and why?

Re: "General BMA officials blamed for negligence in market drama", (Online, March 23).

Well, and so what? Yet another "probe" to probe the previous probes. Nothing, of course, will happen to these so-called negligent officials, as probes take forever, resulting in nothing, like a lot of hot air. But the graft changing hands to keep these markets operating will go on forever, because the Thai prime minister talks constantly about ending corruption and improving efficiency, but in reality, all he does is palaver, instead of act. He is all bark and no bite.

My Thai friends here in San Francisco say, bok bok.

"We're going to have an election but his comments are confusing people." This is apparently what the prime minister said on his sacking of an election commissioner.

How many dates has the prime minister given for an election? Who is confusing the people?

I loved Khun Gary's letter, "A quiet word on dogs", (PostBag, March 22). Perhaps Khun Gary could vent his spleen on cleaning up "Soi Hungnam" where people from illegal bars "do it" in buckets, pee into funnels, and anywhere else on the street. I guarantee you, that area smells worse than dog poop.

Re: "Pictures don't lie", (PostBag, March 22).

I agree with Mr Wong but he doesn't explain why the owner of the dog didn't put it under the seat. Showing the dog to the cabin crew, all she had to do was open her mouth. You have a pet that you love, and you let it be placed in a dangerous situation. It doesn't make sense. The bottom line to me was the US$50 or $100 fees. End of the story for me.

Re: "PM tightens bus inspections after tragic crash", (BP, March 23).

According to news reports, many road accidents have been blamed on brake failure, and poor inspection and maintenance practices have been concluded as causes.

It is partly true. However, through my experience riding on vehicles driven by Thai drivers, their driving manner and skills to control speed or negotiate curves by applying their brake are generally very poor.

I suspect many accidents may be caused by a failure or breakdown of the system during the trip due to the inadequate braking practices of Thai drivers.

Beer is a personal taste and not one size fits all. Lifelong Beer Lover, in his letter "Follow the beer trail" (Postbag, March 22) states that Belgium is one of his favourite countries for their local brews, but I would advise some caution for anyone booking a trip.

There are basic differences in what we all lovingly call "beer". There is lager, ale and now "craft beer". All distinctly have their own domain.

Anyone who likes "craft beers" that taste of pretty much anything other than beer -- chocolate, flowers, fruit, liquorice, aniseed, etc -- would like many Belgian beers. People who like light-bodied yellow fizzy beer (lager) would enjoy German, Czech and a few other mainland European brews, while those who prefer a strong distinctly brown and fuller-bodied beer with a small natural head (not gassed) should take a trip to the UK with a Camra (Campaign for Real Ale) and Good Pub Guide.

I've been drinking the stuff for 50 years so I guess that I, too, qualify as a lifelong beer lover.

Never a day goes by when one does not read a news report about another large-scale scandal involving corruption. But never a day goes by when we read that something has been done about it.

Actions, dear Prime Minister, do speak louder than words. I have never read about anyone being punished for corruption, aside of course from being moved to the proverbial inactive post, while waiting for the results of never-ending investigations that take so much time we see investigators dying or retiring in the interim.

President Xi Jinping announced that China is "ready to fight the bloody battle" to regain its rightful place in the world. There is no doubt that the Han Chinese view their civilisation to be the centre of the universe and supreme on earth.

Mr Xi's anointing as potential president for life and the new idolatrous regard for his pronouncements does not bode well for freedom and human rights in China.

The thousands-year-long history of human rights abuses coupled with a love of dictators is not going to evolve into an embrace of democracy anytime soon. That suggests a period of violent turmoil may be coming.

Zhongguo, the civilised country surrounded by barbarians seeking its "rightful place" in the world, is likely to experience profound change as the culture and values of the West are increasingly assimilated. No amount of internet censorship and trade ascendancy will protect Mr Xi from billions of Chinese craving the freedoms of the West.

The aggressive nationalism he espouses and the stringent control of free expression will only accelerate a revolution looming on the horizon.

Chon Buri

I wish to thank True Visions for showing such concern for this poor American expat that they adjusted their entire viewing schedule to make sure I get enough sleep at night. You see with the 11- to 12-hour time difference, I often had to either stay up late or get up early to watch US sporting events live.

I first noticed their concern when I was unable to watch the College Bowl Championship football (US) game. No getting up at 6am for this old guy! We won't even discuss the Olympics not being televised.

Recently I was able to sleep late as the NCAA March Madness, usually beginning around 6am Bangkok time, was left off the schedule so I could get my beauty rest. And now I see NASCAR racing, broadcast in the US on Fox Sports, is not on the schedule here.

Another beauty sleep opportunity arose as the races are usually run around 3am or 8am Bangkok time. Now I see that Major League baseball and NBA games are televised live early in the morning, but I can skip the live broadcasts knowing they will rerun the games at least three or four times on two or three different sports channels over the next day or so.

The same with tennis. So as long as I don't check the sports sections on my US news feeds I can watch the games without knowing the outcome.

So, thank you, Mr Leader of Sports Programming, for worrying about us farang who really aren't into football (soccer), snooker, F1 or darts.

Re: "SDGs" (Opinion, March 19).

This article by Prof Vitit Muntarbhorn has the obvious educational merit of contributing to making the 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) contained in the 2030 Agenda a persuasive instrument of attraction for the younger generation.

Without the active participation of youth at the national, regional and global levels in the implementation of the SDGs and their 169 targets, success is doubtful.

The 2030 Agenda is defined by its authors as a charter for people and planet in the 21st century.

The younger generation is the most critical agent of radical change and is expected to use this programmatic document as a mobilising platform to channel its energies and unique capacities for innovation in promoting genuine progress.

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