OPINION

Financial injustice

Re: "Drunk doctor avoids jail time for fatal road crash", (BP, Nov 8).

Are Thai jails only for the poor?

Police Capt Panurak Rattanapaisorn, MD, driving while drunk, killed two and seriously injured one after he sped into a Honda Civic. He denied all charges until the trial began.

Offering total compensation of less than half the price of his Porsche to the dead and injured, he said that the accident was due to wet roads.

Despite Pol Maj Gen Piya Tawichai's repeated reassurances that the doctor would receive no special favours, the court halved its initial sentence of six years in prison and a 202,000-baht fine because the defendant pled guilty, albeit only on the day of the trial, and "gave useful testimony".

Not only that, the court suspended the sentence for two years.

In a 2010 high-profile case, then-underage Praewa Thephasadin Na Ayudhya of the extremely wealthy Thephasadin clan rear-ended a passenger van, killing nine. She, too, never had to spend a night in jail.

Compare that with the 30 years' jail, with no suspension, that an impoverished couple initially were sentenced to for allegedly engaging in illegal logging in a forest reserve.

The couple claimed to be seeking mushrooms for their own consumption, and their lawyer advised them to plead guilty in a bid to escape jail time.

Are Thai jails only for the poor?

Re: "Drunk doctor avoids jail time for fatal road crash", (BP, Nov 8).

The facts as reported in the case of the doctor, who happens collaterally to hold the rank of captain in that gloriously uniformed institution the Royal Thai Police, getting off with zero prison time after killing two people and injuring another whilst driving under the influence of his preferred drug of addiction might appear to reasonable people to confirm what observant people have suspected for many decades.

Which is to say, that those deemed "good people" by bad people are not to be treated like common people.

Re: "World Cup TV in limbo as funds short", (BP, Nov 10).

Before deciding whether or not to help with the purchase of viewing rights for the World Cup, I think that the government should take a long hard look at the Thai start times of matches.

I am English living in Thailand and love watching the beautiful game. However, when looking at the start times for England in the group stages, I see that one is at 8pm, which is fine, but the other two are at 2am, which I doubt I would view live.

Throughout the tournament many matches are due to start at 2am, which I feel would have a limited audience. In the later stages, both semi-finals start at that time. So, who will be watching all of these matches? My guess is insomniacs.

Re: "A modest proposal", (PostBag, Nov 8).

In his letter, "Khun Bill" proposes that the sports section be slashed by a page to be replaced by one page of comics.

If his proposal were followed, the Bangkok Post might be able to retain Khun Bill as a subscriber but would certainly lose at least one. That's me.