OPINION

Dubious contrast

Re: "China mate", (PostBag, Aug 13). I think ML Saksiri Kridakorn has a biased point of view on world affairs.

Far from being "iron-fisted" towards Hong Kong, through its adherence to democratic principles, the British enabled this small colony to blossom into one of the wealthiest places in the world. If anything, it has been Chinese rule towards the island nation which has been oppressive, rather than that of the British. Further, ML Kridakorn states that, while America is becoming more insular and focused on building military bases around the world, China is "building world-class infrastructures, developing its own technology, opening up free trade, and extending it helping hands to third world countries".

Sir, with all due respect, I think that it's obvious that the US is doing all of these things also. Thus, I do not think that it's clear that the developing countries of the world will follow the Chinese way, rather than the Western one, as the writer insists.

Re: "6 get jail terms in loan scandal", (BP, Aug 20); "Mushroom-picking couple's jail terms cut to 5 years", (BP, May 2, 2017); "87 years in jail for lese majeste sets new record", (BP, Jan 19, 2021).

I fully agree with the Central Criminal Court that the defendants who laundered money in connection with the Krungthai Bank B10.4bn loan scandal should be jailed. But I don't understand why Wichai, guilty of 133 offences and sentenced to 860 years in jail -- and five others, guilty of five to 52 counts each and sentenced from 38 to 416 years -- all had sentences reduced to 20 years each. That, in effect, means that once one has reached a threshold, one can offend at will without additional jail time which will neither punish nor deter.

Also, to be just, more severe cases should carry more severe verdicts: the principle of proportionality. But in 2017, an impoverished couple was originally sentenced to 30 years for picking mushrooms in a forest preserve and last year, a woman was originally sentenced to 87 years for lese majeste. I have trouble reconciling the 20 years for stealing 10.4 billion baht with these other cases. Have our courts rendered justice?

Re: "Visas extended to boost tourism", (BP, Aug 20).

I certainly do agree that the government's extensions on tourist visas is a simple and surefire way to increase tourism.

However, when Dr Taweesilp Visanuyothin went on a lecture about "[boosting] tourist spending, [reviving] the economy and [reducing] the impact of the pandemic," his logic not only demonstrated a lack of basic education on the global economy, but also that many members of the Thai government still tend to think of Thailand as the biggest thing on the map, yet the rest of the world as but an eternally smaller flag.

The doctor and his board members clearly do not understand that virtually every major world economy is in (often) historic trouble now.

We spent the last two years destroying our economies and businesses in the name of social control and social control always sparks poverty.

So, for decades to come, debts must be paid for with both monetary and human capital, and while that plays out, I would not plan on relying on tourism too much, for even if we get 45% of our tourists back in the next year, who will really have the money once major economies around the world collapse as a consequence of what we did last summer?