OPINION

Flood let-down

Re: "Flood risk with dam to up discharge", (BP, Sept 14).

I have been in Thailand for over two weeks now, my first visit after the pandemic restrictions. As usual I savour your Thai cuisine, have travelled to Chiang Mai and Pai, had four massages, went up 78 floors to the observation deck and been on the Chao Phraya River cruise at least thrice.

What is hard for me to understand is why the government keeps dragging its feet in solving the flood problem. The Chao Phraya is the River of Kings for good reason and is the lifeblood of Bangkok, even Thailand itself. It's such a disgrace and shame to see Bangkok at the mercy of the floodwaters.

A good friend of almost 40 years who's been a resident of Bangkok all his adult life won't even commit himself to meet me. His lack of will and sincerity reflect his government's position. They said they would do the best they can, but it's been like that since time began.

A high note?

Re: "Curtain falling for old power cliques", (BP, Sept 10).

No matter what people say, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has had an unusually long run in politics.

And, as I have previously written, as the world looks to a collapsed Sri Lanka, a collapsing Europe which could even freeze this winter, a China in severe economic downturn and misery, and an America, Canada, Australia and Japan which all have major economic/social problems, it is a tribute to Gen Prayut that Thailand still has fuel, food, running trains, great hospitals, (kind of) reopened schools, as well as a very weak (but very important) start to the recovery of tourism.

Yet having said all of those nice things which I feel our PM deserves from anyone who is even-handed in their assessment of a world which is in virtually unprecedented trouble, I must say that it will soon be time for our prime minister to move on to new opportunities.

The world is constantly changing, and a changing world requires new ideas. With not so much as an iota of disrespect to Gen Prayut, new ideas ultimately require new leaders; and after eight years, that is simply no longer him, despite some very notable successes.

It's up to the courts and the people to decide what to do and, as a guest of this kingdom, I accept whatever verdict the Thais reach.

But Thailand is now bleeding foreign reserves much like an antiquated furnace and is besot with spectacular problems. I know the PM loves his country and actually cares about foreign residents, too (even if he often articulates it poorly).

Yet sometimes the most loving thing a leader can do is to let someone new lead. He could step aside to become an esteemed elder statesman helping a new leader avoid bad choices.

No man can be prime minister forever, no matter how much he cares about his country.

Thailand has bright new leaders like Bangkok's new governor (among many others in their 30s to 50s), along with digital natives who have new ways of seeing the world. Despite all of Gen Prayut's successes, my advice is to move on. Gen Prayut did well. Now, I suggest leaving on a high note.

Green champion

Re: "Zero is circular too", (PostBag, Sept 12) and "Apec business chiefs back SMEs", (BP, Sept 11).

I happily admit to having not the slightest idea what the bio-circular green economy means in practical terms for SMEs, be they a bicycle shop, a bakery or a picture framing business, and to be honest, the article on the Apec meeting in Phuket did not cast any light on the matter.

It seems Jason Jellison is in the same boat, but he wasn't going to let that get in the way of a scatter-gun attack on green energy, with the word "green" being about the only connection with the original article.

Greta Thunberg was in there (twice), as well as "lunatic leftist politicians", the green "scam", "global elites", the humble British pub, affirmative action for women and Sri Lanka's organic farming disaster. It's all green to Jason and therefore bad.

Energy from renewable sources has not been a failure or "scam". Countries such as Norway, New Zealand, Brazil, Scotland, Costa Rica and Uruguay are producing well above 75% of their electricity from renewables.

Sweden, Denmark and even Germany (which finds itself in such a bind since Russia shut off gas supplies) are generating about 50% of their electricity from "green" sources.

The current energy crisis is not due to liberals having wiped out traditional power, as Mr Jellison would have it, but rather that the move away from fossil fuels should have started much earlier.

It is in fact the dogged political support of oil, coal and gas by conservative vested interests that leaves us where we are today.

And while it's true there will be short-term pain for many countries from the present geo-political shakeout, nobody should swallow the notion that the world economy is at a standstill or that a BCG economy (whatever that is) or any other green initiatives are going to take us there. It is precisely "green power" that will save the day in the long run.

Let's debate LM

Re: "Woman gets 2 years for mock frock", (BP, Sept 13) and "87 years in jail sets new record", (BP, Jan 19).

Last year, we condemned a woman to 87 years in jail for sharing clips deemed insulting to the monarchy, setting a new record, and making negative headlines worldwide. Now, we've sentenced a woman to three years for dressing in a way we deemed poked fun at the monarchy.

The lèse-majesté law has one very prominent critic: His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej The Great, who said the King should not be above criticism.

We harshly punish those whom we deem guilty of lese majeste, believing that harshness shows our deep love. Yet our beloved national father noted that the defendants should not even have been accused -- for doing so ultimately damages the monarchy.

HM was far wiser about the monarchy than we are -- are we unwittingly damaging the monarchy? Let's have discussion on what HM means. In the meantime, let's honour his clear wishes by dropping LM charges and freeing those convicted of LM.

Safer is better

Re: "Effective road rules?" (PostBag, Sept 13).

One of your correspondents writes: "The biggest issues for Thai road safety are (1) public awareness/concern for this issue and (2) the major cause of accidents/deaths on our roads: motorcyclists."

Although there is some truth in what he says, his comments are fundamental to the failure of road safety in Thailand. People try to pick out individual issues and try to claim that their pick is the solution.

The biggest issue in Thailand is the failure to adopt the holistic "safe system" approach to road safety.

Public awareness is one of many factors here. However, motorcyclists are not the "major cause" of road accidents (they are the victims). Road safety is a public health issue and it is the authorities' responsibility to protect the public.

Motorcyclists are part of the "vulnerable" groups of road users who make up 80% of all road deaths; the percentage of serious injuries and minor injuries which they make up was not available.

The main factor in road crashes is human error. This is quite different from bad driving. The safe road system takes this into account and seeks to mitigate its effect on all road users.

Authorities must deal with every aspect of road safety and until this happens there will be no significant improvement in the road toll.