OPINION

Case for lese majeste

I agree with Burin Kantabutra in his March 25 letter "Show some respect", that in order to minimise the damage from the excessive and unreasonable use of Section 112 of the Criminal Code (lese majeste), the approval of the Privy Council should be obtained before the government charges anybody with it.

I have an observation: Khun Burin, both you and I have in the past often spoken about our country's monarchy. Why is it that we haven't been arrested or thrown in jail as a result?

My opinion is that in every country -- be it a democracy or not -- there exists at least one law to protect its head of state from defamation.

Even common citizens in these countries have, and use, a law to protect them from unfair defamation and slander, so why not their heads of state?

Hence, criticism and defamation are two different things. Don't confuse them as being the same.

As always, I'm in total agreement with Burin (Postbag, March 25) in his criticism of the lese majeste law. And I'd like to ask the following question: If lese majeste means you can't criticise the King and the King is opposed to putting people in jail for disagreeing with him, then isn't enforcing lese majeste an act of lese majeste in itself? Think about it.

Re: "Arkhom: 40m arrivals by 2024", (BP, March 25).

Finance Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith forecasts that Thailand will again reach almost 40 million foreign arrivals in five years. Over a year after Covid-19 burst out on an unsuspecting world, our government has yet to realise that the pandemic has turned the world upside down and "new normal" is not the "old normal".

We must diversify: (a) having 12% of our GDP resting on tourism, the second highest in Southeast Asia, is far too much, and (b) we rely far too much on a single market (the PRC, accounting for 10.5 million arrivals, or 27.5% of the 2018 total arrivals).

The Movenpick Na Jomtien Pattaya hotel is an excellent example of changing crisis into opportunity. It's used the lockdown to adjust to the changed environment, while retaining staff. The Movenpick, where my family stayed at, has changed to focus on the domestic family market. Its kids' club now offers activities day-long, rather than just two or three hours a day. It has a very large playground. Its swimming pool is also large, with two water slides. My granddaughter is allergic to many foods, and the breakfast chef was well-prepared to offer custom-made dishes for her, greatly enhancing the hotel's desirability to my family. Coupled with a 40% discount, the property enjoyed a 100% occupancy rate over the weekend, and we found the hotel parking lot filled with family vans.

The world has changed; we must wake up.

Re "Holding those behind the haze to account," published on March 21, is the third opinion piece (at least) on the haze pollution in the past week. Please keep them coming. All articles point to an agro giant, which was recently rated highly on international platforms for its corporate social responsibility, as a major contributor to transborder haze. The company is clearly irresponsible. It is entirely negligent in contributing adversely to the health of the nation, and the wealth of the nation through the North's vanishing worth as a tourist destination. The farmers have often taken the blame while it is corporations and governments that are more responsible. The articles explain this but they are not uniformly focusing on the solution of dealing with corporate greed.

Re: "Time to call on India", (PostBag, March 26).

The answer to violence isn't more violence. The call for an invasion of Myanmar by India would not work, as China would come to the aid of Myanmar and result in a wider conflagration.

Do I have a better idea? Yes, as a first step, targeted sanctions.

The UK has sanctioned military conglomerate Myanmar Economic Holdings Limited (MEHL). The USA has sanctioned MEHL and the other big military conglomerate, Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC). It is essential that the UK now moves swiftly to also sanction MEC.

The military are paying for the guns and bullets they are using against peaceful protesters.

Last Monday European Union foreign ministers met and decided that instead of sanctioning military companies, they would ban 11 members of the military from taking holidays in EU member states.

It's a pathetically weak response to the coup. There is a need for people to lobby the EU to take a stronger response.

Spartacus in his March 26 letter made a strong case for calling on India to destroy the military junta that's violently oppressing the Myanmar people. Unfortunately, he neglected to mention the displaced Rohingya, now languishing in the world's largest refugee camp. They should be allowed back to Myanmar and their property returned.

Re: "Food for army thought", (Editorial, March 24).

The explanations of the Thai army regarding the supplying of rice to Myanmar army units don't pass the smell test of credibility. People are well aware of the cosy fraternal relationships between the generals on both sides of the border, making denials of cooperation, including providing food supplies, difficult to readily accept.

Could there be a more despicable group of beings than the Myanmar army: the Tatmadaw. I use the word beings because men they are not. They strut around in body armour carrying their battle weapons and trying to look tough. Cowardly thugs pretending to be men.

Having already shown the limits of their machismo in raping and slaughtering unharmed Rohingya, they now continue their depravity by shooting their own fellow citizens, including bewildered children, and taking pleasure in beating them senseless with rifle butts. Meanwhile the rest of the world looks on as if it were some kind of entertainment.

When senseless brutality is at work, the decent, the humane reaction is to try and stop it. The United Nations is useless in these situations because China and Russia can always be guaranteed to give their implicit support to every tinpot dictator. But what about sanctions against the Myanmar junta that really hurt, including confiscation of their assets outside Myanmar? Then, the whole of this army of psychopaths should surely be charged with war crimes by the ICC. It's a disgrace that this didn't happen at the time of the Rohingya persecution.

I really don't know what to suggest, but I believe something could and should be done. To misquote Iron Maiden, too many eyes are red with the slaughter of innocence. What a world!

Recently, I contacted the call centre of a major retailer regarding my membership. A call operator asked for my name and surname, membership number, birth date, mobile phone, then my ID number. With that I was too annoyed, refusing to give such personal information. Why was this information required or relevant? I wasn't sure what else she might have asked if I hadn't ended it there and then. I didn't become a member of the 7/11 convenience store as I was astounded when I saw a patron's ID card inserted into a device and I didn't know what kind of data and how much could have been extracted from the card. I also refused to subscribe to Joox or Tik Tox as I felt both had asked to intrude into our privacy to enjoy their platforms. I'm more comfortable with Spotify. To me, Lazada and Alibaba also seem to try to take hold of too much of our private information. During his administration, Trump also targeted Tik Tok and WeChat.

Likewise, if a country leader uses a personal computer equipped with the Microsoft operating system and Microsoft Office, please be advised not to go online as Microsoft could tamper with their notebook. Of course, users are also tracked by Google and Facebook. Now that we have the new Minister of Digital Economy and Society, could he help find an appropriate level of protection for our personal privacy?

Business operators should not exploit information technology to take too much advantage of their customers/patrons. If these business operators fail to grasp and practise adequate good business etiquette, the Thai government as well as world leaders are requested to come up with suitable responses and measures to help protect us, consumers.

As a regular visitor to Thailand, I am disappointed at the Thai authorities' lack of ambition in their Covid vaccination programme. Many countries are aiming for full population vaccination by the end of the year. I read with surprise that Thailand is aiming for just half the population by that time. Given the ability and innovation of the Thai people, I believe full population vaccination could be achieved with greater effort

Australia

Like many vaccinated foreigners eager to resume holidaying in Thailand, my ears pricked up at the Post's March 19 report which said "Arrivals with VCs and CFCs would be quarantined for seven days and tested once". However, when the CCSA published their version on their Facebook page on March 22, this statement had vanished without a trace.

Were minds changed over the weekend or did someone make an error in transcription?

Bahrain

The government may think it can ban water play during the forthcoming Songkran season, but commerce has other ideas.

My local Tesco-Lotus (and I assume other department stores) has already installed large displays of water pistols at the bargain price of 99 baht each. And these are not the little water pistols I used to play with as a kid. Some of them are capable of holding several litres of water and shooting it many metres at unsuspecting foes.

Happy Songkran.

Rayong

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