OPINION

5-golden-star review

Re: "A new era of BRICS cooperation", (Opinion, June 30).

Chinese ambassador Han Zhiqiang is to be congratulated for producing a masterpiece of Marxist boilerplate rhetoric that will certainly win the praise of his communist overlords. It begins with Chinese president Xi Jinping "standing at the height of the well-being of mankind" and soars and swoops without coming back to earth until its concluding paean to Thailand for being a "good neighbour, good partner, and good relative" of the omni-benevolent Great China.

Well written, Mr Han! But it would be more comprehensive if it included a mention of the suffering of the Uighurs and the Tibetans.

Walled off

Re: "Beach panel must listen", (Editorial, June 24).

Living in Cha-am I read with interest your editorial on seawalls.

As a local of 12 years I watched in horror as they "fortified" the beach with huge boulders on a large part of the middle to south end of the beach. Unless you are a mountain goat, well over half of the beach is now inaccessible; not to mention the livelihoods of deck chair, food and other assorted vendors being deprived of significant portions of their income as many Bangkok tourists will now need to find another more accessible beach on which to spend their holidays and weekends.

I'm not sure if any consultation with local business and other interested parties ever took place though it would appear not.

I'm all for protecting the beach and local environment, but there are ways and there are ways.

Blunt assessment

Re: "Why anti-cannabis?" (PostBag, June 25).

Phra Alan James Cooper's pre-ordination experiences as a "Youth of the 1960s" obviously did not equip him with an understanding of the role of the media in a western-style democracy (putting aside for the moment whether the Bangkok Post is operating in a "western-style democracy").

And it seems his reading of the Bangkok Post and PostBag in particular has been highly selective and dismissive when it comes to words in support of the recent legalisation of marijuana use in Thailand.

You only have to go to my PostBag letter of June 19 which opens: "First off, let me say I support the decriminalisation of marijuana use in Thailand." Several other PostBag correspondents welcomed the decriminalisation and were far from being "extremely negative and strongly in opposition to the government's liberalisation of this plant ...".

So back to the mainstream news reporting of this issue. The Bangkok Post reported the government's decision to decriminalise marijuana with a front-page headline. Positive!

Then political, medical, social and other opposition groups began to express their opposition to the legalisation, which the Bangkok Post duly reported. Negative!

The Bangkok Post would have been totally remiss and irresponsible if it had not reported these alternative opinions and viewpoints.

It is not the Bangkok Post's role to censor community opinions, but to report them so that readers can make their own judgements.

Phra Alan says: "Wake up Bangkok Post and do some unbiased research!" Sorry Alan, that is not the Bangkok Post's remit.

May I suggest you retire to your cell and have a quiet toke. I promise that none of us will hold it against you.