OPINION

Inspired Thai diplomacy?

Re: "Thailand must take stand on Ukraine", (Opinion, March 11).

I was so happy to see two former ambassadors saving the honour of Thai diplomacy, which as a Dutch citizen living in Thailand I admire so much. Indeed, neutrality, a status the Netherlands observed during WWI, is often merely based on opportunism and lack of courage, unless it produces initiatives like the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) based in Switzerland.

What I would understand is if Thailand wanted to be independent. This does not only allow a country to take sides with the vulnerable and support international law, as Thailand has done already in the UN General Assembly.

An independent position would go much further than neutrality. Independence needs inner strength and free, mutual collaboration. The latter, although difficult in the domestic arena, Thai diplomacy excels in.

But since Dr Puey Ungphakorn's vision of the "Cradle to Grave" welfare state and Dr Surin Pitsuwan's pioneering advocacy of human security, it seems there has been little civic inspiration toward common purpose but "security" and "stability" in defence of the status quo.

Could Thailand propose the concept of "Eco-Peace" in the framework of Asean and its Indo-Pacific strategy, as a counterforce to rivalling dominant powers? "Eco-Peace", based on global citizenship and common care for ecology (and in line with the UN secretary-general's Our Common Agenda, a possible rationale for re-purposing the Trusteeship Council) could equally become a leading security concept for an emerging Eastern European coalition, forming a buffer zone between Russia and Western-Europe-cum-US-driven Nato.

Booze bans are bananas

Re: "Regulate in moderation", (Life, March 14).

A personal devotion to the teachings of a religion is an excellent reason for those so devoted to follow when making personal decisions as to how they live their own lives. Devout Buddhists might, for example, choose to abstain from drinking alcohol on the holy days of Buddhism, just as they similarly abstain from paying others to kill sentient beings on their orders merely to enjoy some tasty animal flesh.

However, neither the personal religious beliefs of some, not even of a majority, nor the teachings of any religion, are relevant to forming public policy and law.

For the state to be persuaded by some group to force their personal religious doctrines on all is to expose that religion as an authoritarian despotism, something I do not think that the Buddha set out to create. The ban on alcohol sales on Buddhist holy days is every bit as rationally defensible as a universal ban on the sale and consumption of meat on those days.

The retailers and restaurant owners petitioning for reform of the laws regarding the sale and also advertising of alcohol are doubtless acting from the capitalist profit motive, but that does not reduce the cogency of their call for law reform.

Hazing steeped in hatred

Re: "End student hazing rituals", (Editorial, March 16).

I could not agree more that student hazing involving violence at universities must stop.

As your editorial says: "While many events end happily, there have been hazing ceremonies that get out of hand with senior students taking it upon themselves to inflict cruel and unusual punishments on their young charges, with one such incident being exposed this week with the death of 19-year-old Padyos Chonpakdi."

This student was not only forced to drink lots of alcohol, but also punched and kicked until he became unconscious and died. And this is not just an isolated incident, as four other University students also have died during the last two years as a result of being hazed. Better ways exist, such as sports, charity projects or entertainment events, to initiate freshman students into post-secondary institutions, as the editorial argues.

What is particularly noteworthy for me is that Padyos Chonpakdi was a native of Nakhon Thammarat who came all the way to Korat to study. I have worked in both Isan and southern Thailand, so I know full well the dislike which exists between the people of these two areas of the country.

If any evidence can be found that Padyos was singled out due to him being a southern Thai, this should serve as a warning call to parents thinking of sending their children to study anywhere in the country which is different from their child's home province.