OPINION

Dear 'golden oldies'

Re: "Masks minus helmets", (PostBag, May 15).

There is, of course, empirical evidence that old people are more susceptible to Covid-19 than the young, but where are the statistics to state that they are suffering from obesity, diabetes or heart problems? Nowhere, for they do not exist.

And how dare Pete the Swede declare old people, even if they have the aforementioned ailments, unproductive, with the underlying suggestion that they are as disposable as an infant's diapers.

I am a very fit 75-year-old. I bring more than 2 million baht into Thailand each year, which is spent on the local economy. I help support a needy Isan family and I do fun runs to raise money for specialised equipment for Rayong Hospital. I would do far more if it were not for Thailand's restrictive labour laws. Many of my peer group make similar contributions.

And what about the many, many geriatric Thais still active in politics, in the arts, business, and in their local communities? Let us not forget the tens of thousands of grandparents who raise their grandchildren while their parents seek to eke out a living elsewhere.

I could go on and on citing examples of highly productive "Golden Oldies". It is to be hoped that Pete the Swede's fellow Swedes do not think the same as him or Sweden's 2010 Passive Euthanasia Laws might well be amended to make euthanasia mandatory on retirement.

Concerning the shady past in Australia of Deputy Agriculture Minister Thamanat Prompow, I truly believe that the Thai Foreign Ministry could play an impartial role in providing the facts -- accusation and legal verdict -- which are still very much doubtful and show the public whether this crime was "a minor matter" as claimed by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha. Why?

The Thai Consulate-General in Sydney was directly responsible for the well-being of Thai nationals under its jurisdiction. They would have been contacted by Australian authorities when the arrest was made in 1993. The consulate's Thai staff would have visited Mr Thamanat while in custody, during court hearings and in prison. The Consulate-General must have a complete file of this man up until his departure from Australia. There was no doubt that the Consulate-General reported every detail of this case to the Royal Thai Embassy in Canberra and the Foreign Ministry in Bangkok.

Thai ambassadors and consul-generals who served in Australia during that period (1993-1998) should be in a position to recall this case. Can they make a contribution to their motherland by revealing the truth to the Thai public? Can they be invited to testify at the relevant legislative committee?

I sincerely hope my above analysis and proposals will receive fair attention from the Government, the Foreign Ministry and the Legislative Assembly. The truth about this blatant case will mean a lot to Thailand's image and politics.

Re: "Exploiting good will", (PostBag, May 14).

In reality, Jason, every country is a planned economy to some extent and also has some closed markets -- look at the subsidies offered, and tariffs imposed by the US to protect its farmers and steel producers, not to mention the common external tariff of the EU.

You really do need to understand and accept the fact that free market economies do not exist, never have and cannot in reality -- they are a theoretical abstraction. All economic systems in the world are mixed economies, with varying degrees of central government planning and more market-based forms of production and consumption, which are themselves subject to government intervention, with firms paying tax, receiving grants, soft loans and subsidies, and government incentives and sanctions to reduce spillover effects, such as pollution and other market failures, etc.

To say that, "the history of heavily socialist states clearly warns that abuses will only increase as people's resources deteriorate" might rightly upset the citizens of most Scandinavian countries -- which are heavily socialist states, but who come out at the top in happiness indices and are very well-run economies.

Inequity in the distribution of income and wealth -- a hallmark of the type of capitalist system we currently adopt -- creates desperation for the poor, and hoarding and crime by the rich in predominantly free-market economies. The rich hoard homes in different countries, hoard a collection of cars as a hobby, hoard art treasures and diamonds, etc, and still can afford to seek ways to avoid (legal) and evade (illegal) paying their fair share in taxes on their obscene amounts of income and wealth, by making use of offshore accounts and banks that will willingly launder their cash.

So, Jason, if like me, you want to complain about the raiding of community pantries in Thailand please realise it has more to with corruption than because it is a state-run initiative per se, and that it is the rich who are the biggest beneficiaries of corruption, whether they be in the government or private enterprise. It is also the result of persistent poverty and massive inequality of income and wealth -- the by-products of government inaction to modify the workings of your beloved, mythical free market!

I applied for a master's degree course at a reputable Thai university prior to this lockdown. Due to the Covid-19 situation, a spanner has been thrown in the works.

I was supposed to leave the country and go back to my country to apply for a student visa at the local Royal Thai Consulate. But since there has been a ban on international travel for the last few months and for the immediate future, this is not possible. My semester starts in July, and I don't expect governments worldwide to let international travel return to normal before that because the curve hasn't been flattened in most countries.

My visa had expired a few weeks back as I was advised by the immigration authorities to not come to the immigration office for my safety and not worry as they were going to let all foreigners who have had their visas expired stay until July 31. But now the university has said that they can't do anything in regards to changing my visa to a student visa because officially I don't have a visa and I am staying on special permission from the immigration authorities. They have said that my only options now are to withdraw my application or defer my term of study.

I have paid a significant amount of tuition fees in the expectations that I will be able to change my visa to a student visa and start my education at the university when they commence the new semester. But now, since I won't be able to travel back to my country of origin can to change my visa, my tuition fees will go down the drain. Is there anything the Thai government can do to approve the visa, in light of these special circumstances? I am sure there are many people stuck here in the same situation as me.

I don't know what weird imaginary world Mathman lives in but his story about the CDC having been forced to admit their number for US Covid-19 deaths was faked and they then had to correct it drastically downwards is just a story. The CDC Covid-19 web page provides data for Covid-19 infection numbers and deaths for every country in the world and there has been no downward reduction to the numbers for the US.

Truly a pleasure to read in the Bangkok Post this week that the Department of National Parks has announced that it will temporarily close national parks, including some marine parks, to the public for two months every year. Nice work. I can almost hear the wildlife rejoicing!

Frank Bruno ridicules Dr Mikiviti for saying that wearing face masks can spread the coronavirus (Opinion, May 14). Well the doctor is right! If you have the virus on your fingers then touch the inside of your mask and put it on your face, you're more likely to get infected than if you're walking down the street without a mask. The average citizen is not a health worker who is trained to use the mask properly.

Re: "Failed and foolhardy predictions", (Opinion, May 15).

Yes, indeed. Making foolhardy predictions are an integral part of the behaviour of politicians around the world. It is quite obvious that the people in the current Thai government are subservient to sacred institutions that control the policies and finances. If Thai politicians and a hoard of civil servants can't resolve the major crisis facing Thai Airways, how they can resolve bigger economic issues in the post-Covid era? Governance by trial and error is indicative of poor leadership and will eventually lead to its demise. It is happening in the US, it is also happening in parts of Asia.

Learning from the picture showing Thonburi Healthcare Group THG's operation plans to address the Covid-19 pandemic, (Life's Social Scene, May 14), it strikes me that the plans are making a mockery of the seriousness of the pandemic. None of the management nor the medical team wore protective masks nor did they practise social-distancing.

Re: "Trump celebrates Flynn's acquittal", (BP, May 10).

The headline for this article is inaccurate with respect to the actual events related to Michael Flynn. The former national security adviser to President Trump was not "acquitted" -- a legal term that means found "not guilty" by a jury or judge.

In the case of Mr Flynn, Trump's lapdog Attorney General William Barr simply dropped the charges against Flynn -- despite the fact that Flynn has twice pleaded guilty to the charges of lying under oath to the FBI. It is a travesty of justice that a person who has already admitted committing a serious crime would have charges against them dismissed. Unfortunately, this is only the latest example of the Trump administration's efforts to destroy the institutions of American democracy.

I am allowed to carry two friends on the back of my motorcycle or in my car to a street restaurant, but once there we are forced to sit at separate tables!

Is there any logic in this?