OPINION

Actions speak louder

Re: "Cabbie lauded on violin's return," (BP, Sept 1).

World-famous Chinese violinist Xue Wei should thank the honest cabbie who returned Xue's lost 18-million-baht violin with a generous cheque. Xue had forgotten his 200-year-old violin in Uthen Denkhunhod's taxi. The driver heard about the loss on JS100 radio station, and could have easily sold it for a fortune instead of calling back. What he got for thanks was purely verbal.

But Thai households now have average debts of 501,711 baht ($13,637) -- a 16-year high, the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce says. Given that taxi drivers live from hand to mouth, Mr Uthen almost certainly owes more than the average. Surely a world-famous violinist who can afford a B18m baht instrument would want to show Mr Uthen that honesty is the best policy with, say, a $13,637 cheque.

Xue Wei, do you agree?

Re: "Disgraceful banking",(PostBag, Aug 26) & "'Stingray' scammers cuffed in capital", (BP, May 27).

Peter Jeffreys might wish to compare my experience of trying to enable face recognition on my SCB phone app.

My SCB branch told me that foreign account holders are ineligible for face recognition on their app. They handed me a form to sign which they explained allows me to continue to withdraw amounts exceeding 50,000 baht but waives SCB from any responsibility in the event of fraud.

I also bank with one of Thailand's smaller banks, LH Bank, and its local branch assisted me with enabling face recognition on the LH Bank mobile app.

Maybe a representative from SCB might wish to comment on why one of Thailand's biggest banks is unable to do what one of the country's smaller banks is able to do.

Re: "Dealing with deities", (PostBag, Aug, 31) & "All deities equal", (PostBag, Sept 1).

I think PostBag contributors Michael Setter and Felix Qui who commented on my article "Demon or deity" (Postbag, Aug 29) have misunderstood my point.

Gods for all regions on this planet are difficult, if not impossible, to prove and it is not less for deities. There are over 3 million deities for Hinduism alone and only their worshippers can tell you where they originated, whether it be a tradition, a culture, a custom or a declaration from self-proclaimed prophets.

But once someone introduces a deity to the public for commercial purposes, the duty to prove that there is a history behind the deity rests on the owner.

Let us take a simple analogy. One day a dog owner put a putty sculpture of his deceased dog in front of his house to worship. He claims dreamed of the dog barking three times and won a bet on 03 in the lottery.

When neighbours started to flock to the pet's owner house, the owner decided to build a shrine next to the Town Hall for the public to worship, taking the opportunity to sell garlands and jerky to the worshippers.

Another case is that another pet owner followed suit and put a cat at another corner for worshippers. The trend prompted Bangkok governor Chadchart Sittipunt to intervene, as he was worried that more cat and dog statues would sprout up under his supervision. The question he asks is, tell us more about your dog and cat.