OPINION

Left the station

Re: "Powered by Passion", (Life, April 6).

Loved the extensive article on "Bangkok Model Railway 2022" followed by the note: "[The event] is running at TCDC's Gallery Room ... and ends today." In case no one's thought of it: how about doing an interesting write-up a few days BEFORE the event is scheduled to end? Better luck next year.

Slash-and-learn

Re: "Treat Karen-style farming with respect", (Opinion, April 2).

I fully support Prasarn Marukpitak's call for recognition of the ecological soundness and sustainability of the Karen traditional rotational agricultural system. However, Khun Prasarn attempts to draw a false distinction between "slash-and-burn farming" and "rotational farming". In reality, there is no difference between these systems; they are the same.

Slash-and-burn farming, also known as swidden agriculture, shifting cultivation, and jhum (in South Asia), has been practised sustainably by farmers for thousands of years, without long-term destruction of forests. Under the system, farmers cut ("slash") trees and other vegetation, and burn the biomass to provide a quick release of nutrients to the soil. Crops are grown on the site for a few years, until soil fertility wanes, after which farmers shift to another field and repeat the process. The first area is left fallow for several years, allowing trees and other vegetation to quickly regrow from stump and root sprouts and restore fertility to the site. Thus, traditional slash-and-burn is precisely what Karen farmers practise.

Over the years, slash-and-burn agriculture has been much maligned by some individuals, especially foresters who viewed the periodic cutting of trees as destructive. From a narrow timber management perspective, this is correct as trees are often cut before they grow to prime timber size. But from a holistic ecological perspective, swidden agriculture has proven to be highly sustainable and actually enhances biodiversity in many areas. The system breaks down, however, when increasing pressure on the land causes farmers to shorten the fallow periods to unsustainable levels and fields are not given enough time to regenerate and restore fertility.

Clear felling of trees and conversion of forests to permanent agricultural production -- as has been done across huge swaths of Thailand for maize and cassava farming -- is an entirely different practice from rotational farming and is highly destructive and unsustainable when applied on steep slopes. This activity has no connection with Karen rotational farming systems or other traditional slash-and-burn systems that are ecologically sound if practised according to time-honoured schedules and methods.

Plane truth

Re: "Leased 777-300ERs to join THAI's fleet", (BP, April 8).

The more I read about THAI's leasing of three Boeing 777-300ERs for its fleet, the more questions arise. THAI is in bankruptcy: if your friend had no money to pay his bills, would you lease him major assets without a guarantee that he could meet obligations when due? I would hope not. So who's the sugar daddy backing THAI so that they could find a lessor? Are you and I, as taxpayers, guaranteeing THAI -- without our knowledge, let alone approval?

Our MPs should vigilantly look after our interests, as they're sworn to do -- and examine THAI's 777-300ER lease with a fine-tooth comb.

Unenlightened spending

Re: "Men of Cloth, Not Paper", (Opinion, April 9).

Up here in the far north we seem to have a temple about every 2km along the highway. There is a big complex at Tha Ton with a list of nine buildings to visit, built probably at a cost of millions of dollars. Another complex is still under construction nearby, Seng Rung, where a large stupa and huge elevated platform have been worked on since I arrived here 11 years ago.

In contrast the village nearby is poor; low-quality buildings proliferate and kids, chickens and dogs scratch around in the dirt. Every small village has its temple and most are in a state of addition or repair, it's sometimes hard to know which, but money appears to keep rolling in.

As a man with an 11-year-old girl whom we look after as a daughter and a four-year-old from across the street who thinks she has found a sister, I can never find things to do with two children who are constantly home since Covid closed the schools. Millions of dollars have been poured into the creation of temples, and yet we have no playground, park or swimming pool for the kids. The place is teeming with kids all with nowhere to go and nothing to do. Why is it that funds can always be found for religious frivolities but children are completely ignored?