OPINION

Telling it like it is

Re: "Thailand's political charade exposed," (Opinion, Jan 27).

It is encouraging to see the Post publish Thitinan Pongsudhirak bluntly stating the open secrets of the collusion that culminated in Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha's ascent to power in an overthrow of Thailand's democratic government back in May 2014.

It is incredible that anyone even then could have swallowed the absurd fiction of authoritarian Prayut's commitment to democratic principle, being "some high and mighty soldier taking power and sacrificing for the country."

He sacrificed nothing but the Thais' aspiration that their nation move forward. Perhaps the wave of "attitude adjustment" vacations following that meticulously hatched coup was enough to intimidate some into the required credulity.

For those who believe in it, karma justly doles out only what is deserved.

This suggests a natural explanation for the nation's traditionally high levels of corruption and general malaise reflected in Thailand's conspicuously poor performance politically, socially and economically when compared to countries such as Taiwan and South Korea since the 1980s. Karma is impartially doing its job.

Trying out ChatGPT

Re: "Roll with change," (PostBag, Jan 23) and "The problem(s) with China's drop in population," (Opinion, Jan 20).

I read both Noble laureate Paul Krugman saying China routinely lies about economic and population data as well as Khun Bill's letter saying ChatGPT is a "disruptive force," an AI search-engine free from its "tech overlords," providing an overdue "overhauling" of education.

As a dyslexic idea connector, I decided to test Mr Bill's thesis by actually comparing ChatGPT results vs Google's on the subject, "China lies". On the first go, Chat proclaimed ignorance, "I do not understand".

So I tried, "Does China lie?" Chat scolded me, "such blanket statements" are not politically correct. Next try, "What subjects does China lie about?" More ChatGPT wokeness and answer avoidance.

Finally, "What specific subjects does China lie about?" Chat's stingy and reluctant answer included: Origin and spread of Covid, Uyghurs, Tiananmen Sq, their economy, and territorial disputes.

In comparison, mindless Google poured forth pages and pages of "China lies" references.

Mr Bill's "overdue education AI overhaul" did not appear to me to be "overlord" free.

Instead, I sensed hints of Big Brother Tech programming ChatGPT to potentially provide politically correct, right thoughts and facts.

Important, interesting, promising, concerning, too early to say.

Suu Kyi gets bitten

Re: "Cut both ways," (PostBag, Jan 22).

Just for once, I agree with Eric Bahrt.

Like many others, I once held Aung San Suu Kyi in the highest regard and considered her a valiant champion of democracy against the most appalling odds, namely the brutal Tatmadaw and its thug of a leader.

But when push came to shove, she showed herself to be a grubby politician, rather than the international stateswoman worthy of a Nobel prize.

When the Tatmadaw, under the command of the self-promoted Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, launched its genocide on the Rohingya, the so-called "Lady" stood on the world stage and defended these criminals. She not only defended them but openly said that the Rohingya were not citizens, and had no place in the country.

She said this as nearly 800,000 thousand Rohingya were fleeing to neighbouring Bangladesh, and unknown countless more died in their attempts to flee the brutality of the Tatmadaw.

Many burned to death in their own houses or drowned in the rickety boats in which they fled.

I have no doubt that Aung San Suu Kyi is now in prison on trumped-up charges. But what did she expect? When you cuddle up to snakes, you get bitten.

Hail the tourist

Re: "Chinese nabbed for running eatery," (BP, Jan 25).

Income from tourism is important, so why do some countries "like to share" this income with foreign nationals -- who later transfer their profit to their home country -- while other countries ensure that incomes from tourism stay in-country?

In the first group, you find typically Spain, Portugal, and Thailand. In the other group Greece, Turkey, Croatia, Cambodia, Vietnam and the Philippines.

When you walk the street from the cruise ship terminal in Spanish Las Palmas straight up to the city, you are surrounded by Indian-run electronic, perfume, and souvenir shops and in the beach towns, you have to deal with Indians and Arabs (Chinese coming,) selling mainly imported goods, made in Asia or North Africa.

You find this in all major "Sun and Beach" places in Spain and Portugal. And even worse, some foreign shop owners bring in cheap labour from their home country who have to work under unregulated conditions, making it hard for locals with families and living by local customs to compete.

In Thailand, the same happens; in Hua Hin, especially before Covid, it felt like being in India (or former Great India) when walking along the seaside streets with all the tailor shops and restaurants, and in Pattaya, parts of which are full of Indian restaurants.

During the waves of Indian tourists, especially before Covid, some Indians on tourist planes decided that tourist rupees should not remain in Thailand but go back to India via restaurants and the like.

Walking around Pattaya -- it looks like most Indian tourists have come to Thailand to eat Indian food, often organised by their tour operators who sluice them to Indian restaurants and Indian food courts.

I think most "normal" tourists want to meet and deal with natives and their culture when on vacation abroad, like you will experience in popular tourist places on the Greek islands, the Turkish south coast, the Adriatic coast and the islands of Croatia and the Philippine islands.

It is nice to meet Indians, Chinese and Arabs in their homeland, but how fun is it as a tourist to deal with the same nationals everywhere you go on vacation? (I do not now talk about the people from old diasporas.)

When letting foreign business people into the tourism sector, will they later transfer their profits out of the country?

Does this happen because of corrupt officials high up in Thailand, Spain and Portugal?

And why do Greeks, Croats, Turks and Vietnamese ensure that money which their tourists spend stays in the country; are they less corrupt? Or is it about caring for your own country, a sense of healthy nationalism?

Tyrants never sleep

After committing a series of mass atrocity crimes (genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity), Myanmar's junta intends to hold elections in August 2023.

In preparation for the election, the junta has been conducting raids on households and asking them to show their household registration, requesting a personal appearance by family members.

Many young people migrated to neighbouring countries for work and study prior to the coup.

The junta, however, has accused those missing young people of joining the people's defence force (PDF) and has threatened their family members.

Further, if the civilian has fled or relocated to avoid the household registration check, troops raid the house and delete the household registration from the immigration office, which can affect the holder's citizenship.

So, many young people from Myanmar are migrating to neighbouring countries through irregular channels with the backing of human smugglers.

Most, however, are detained in different countries, and some have been deported despite the life of danger that awaits. Governments of Asean countries must place a high priority on protecting these Myanmar civilians.

The deportation of Myanmar refugees or asylum seekers back to Myanmar would amount to sentencing them to death.

Asean member governments must reject the military's election in Myanmar. Myanmar's people elected a civilian government on Nov 8, 2020; one of the most transparent elections in Myanmar's recent history.

The military alleged voter fraud and staged the coup without any evidence of vote fraud, even by a military-appointed Union Election Committee.

Asean countries and the rest of the world must immediately revoke the visas of the military-appointed diplomats in their respective countries and engage with the National Unity Government to halt the humanitarian crisis in Myanmar.

It is essential the UN, the world community, and Asean countries recognise the voice of the Myanmar people, rather than displaying emotional regret and offering sympathy.

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