OPINION

Attractive investments

Re: "Concentrate on big cap stocks in January," (Business, Jan 7).

If you get beyond the noise and speculative excess in the Thai stock market, there are some high-dividend paying, reputable companies to be found. Often paying 10 times or more compared to interest earned in local banks.

Some mid-cap and smaller-cap choices yielding 5-7% annually in tax-favoured dividends, or double the big cap averages. Dividends here are usually announced in March, just a few weeks away.

Thai banks pay about 0.25% in savings accounts -- and around 1% on fixed 6-month lock-ups.

A mighty big difference if you can live with some price volatility but also then with the chance on some Thai tax-free capital gains in time -- which is attractive due to present still 5-6% inflation, eating away at "plain vanilla" savings.

Re: "SRT defends logo rework costs," (BP, Jan 7) "Rail station name shame", (Editorial, Jan 7) and "Renaming due", (PostBag, Jan 7).

First, thank you for highlighting this outrageous cost to the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) of 33 million baht (averaging of 500,000 baht per letter) for logo design of the name of a railway terminal and its installations, and special thanks to all social-minded netizens and the National Anti-Corruption Commission for highlighting this scandal.

But no thanks to SRT's flimsy explanations in justifying this high cost especially when no competitive bid was invited. It is now trying to hide under one inapplicable clause of the procurement regulations for having no bid.

One would be disappointed if the eventual outcome is without imposition of civil and criminal penalty. Nike's billionaire founder (Phil Knight) paid a graphic design student only US$35 for the swoosh logo.

Incidentally, Bob Kneale in your Jan 7 PostBag suggested renaming PostBag to "Windbags", and that pleased me immensely. PostBag was previously much like the Letters to the Editor column of the Times of London.

It could be so again if one can make do without a few narcissists. Opinion is not based on quantity but more on quality. If there are not enough letters, then so be it.

Re: "Arms open for Chinese return," (BP, Jan 7).

Let us hope hospitals stay open also, to cope with the aftermath.

Since the former senior country economist at the World Bank, Sawai Boonma, wrote his column about fighting corruption in 2010, nothing in Thailand has really changed. Survey after survey shows the majority of Thais do not mind corruption as long as they get something out of it.

Re: "Pass cannabis controls now," (Editorial, Jan 7).

Amid the epidemic of cannabis shops appearing in Bangkok, many with catchy names, I came across an establishment in the neighbourhood called "Holy Smokes". Imagine my surprise when I discovered it does not sell cannabis products (it deals in smoked meats). Can they be sued for misrepresentation?