OPINION

Target for cuts

Re: "Agencies ordered to cut waste", (BP, March 8).

One speculates, jaws agape, if these very expensive improvements to the Government House, such as specially woven carpets (Persian?), are crucial investments in the context of orders given to agencies to cut waste.

Moreover, I can't imagine any significant efforts to reduce electricity consumption there during the ongoing sweltering weather because toiling ministers would suffer sweaty imposition and running hair dye to the detriment of their strenuous work.

Must-have frigate

Re: "We are willing to eat Mama instant noodles (to help save budget)", (InQuote, March 5).

Just to acquire the coveted frigate, the Royal Thai Navy goes into desperate mode. Yet, we should focus on the RTN's noble mission: to defend the kingdom from enemies using seaborne means. The RTN needs 17 billion baht for a new frigate -- just 1 billion baht more than the original submarine procurement plan.

The RTN should first identify the dangers most likely to threaten us, where our foes will come from, and how. Then, propose the most cost-efficient way to counter these dangers. I suggest that there's no threat of seaborne invasion requiring a submarine to counter.

But, in contrast, there's definite need for a frigate, which have been historically known for their speed and agility in scouting, reconnaissance, Seal/special operations support, etc. Also, the RTN lost the frigate HTMS Sukhothai a year plus ago and should have a replacement.

So, to pay for the frigate, shift budget from the unneeded subs. To get the missing 1 billion baht, consider that the HTMS Chakri Narubet has very, very seldom been combat-ready during the 27 years it has been in service.

The region's hotspot over the coming decade should be the Taiwan Straits, but we'd shouldn't be fighting there -- so let's sell the Chakri for the "must-have" frigate.

We need answers

Re: "Nominee search turns up 400 firms: Hospitality sector under govt scrutiny", (BP, March 7).

Am I the only reader who gets confused by today's article on March 7? Is Urs "David" Fehr, 45 -- a Swiss man who stirred controversy for allegedly kicking a doctor whom he accused of trespassing on his rented resort last month an MD of the Elephant Sanctuary Park in Phuket? Is the Elephant Park a company or foundation?

Does he not work? If he does, he is violating the conditions of his retirement visa. If he doesn't work, it would be interesting to assess what income is shown on the couple's tax returns. Enough income to afford to live in a multi-million-baht beachfront? Add to the list of "known unknowns" is the thought that the elephant shelter advertises "tours". Is that not restricted to Thai nationals? "More questions than answers."

THAI excellence

Re: "THAI reports B28.1bn net profit", (BP, Feb 24).

As a regular, though not very frequent, traveller with THAI on its routes to Europe, I attribute THAI's turnaround to one simple fact: In contrast to the past, they are now offering an excellent product at competitive prices.

This, in my opinion, is particularly true of their long-haul business class flights, where they have been given an 8/10 rating by business.com, and, unlike many other airlines nowadays, do not charge an exorbitant extra cost for seat reservations.

What about policy?

Reading Michael Setter's remarks and other reports on the race for the United States presidency leaves me somewhat perplexed. Does no one mention policy?

Let there be light

Lately I have noticed an increasing number of motorcycles being ridden at night without displaying any lights whatsoever making them almost impossible to see, especially on side roads with limited street lighting.

With over 50 road deaths every day in Thailand, it would be worth considering free or heavily subsidised lighting for all motorcycles.

These accidents cost massive amounts of money, and perhaps if insurance companies and or local authorities covered the motorcycle lighting costs, it would be a win/win situation for all involved.

Fair coverage for all

This email opinion is not about whether rape occurred or not in the Oct 7 Hamas attack on Israel's kibbutzim. It begs the question of the credibility of the Western news sources and their intentions.

One example is The New York Times, which is facing questions about a sweeping investigative story it published on the Israel-Hamas war back in December. The article was "Screams Without Words: How Hamas Weaponized Sexual Violence on October 7", written by a team of three reporters led by Jeffrey Gettleman, a Pulitzer Prize winner.

The second reporter on the byline was freelancer Anat Schwartz, found to also be an employee of Israel's state-run Intelligence Service, The Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation. The third is the nephew of Anat's husband, Adam Sella. Adam also has no major newspaper writing experience.

The question directed at The New York Times comes after The Intercept -- an online American non-profit news organisation that publishes articles and podcasts -- published an approximately 7,000-word article scrutinizing how the Times' piece was reported, questioning elements of the story.

Pulitzer Prize notwithstanding, Gettleman is accused of running fact-checking and ignoring counter-evidence. Gettleman admitted later in a reporter's forum recorded on a widely available video that he had no evidence.

Schwartz has also been exposed for her social media "likes" of Palestinian hate messages, and The New York Times spokesperson Danielle Rhodes reportedly admits that those "likes" are an unacceptable violation of the company's policy and have the matter reviewed.

While the New York Times fired staff photojournalist Hosam Salam for being pro-Palestinian, three Jewish reporters were allowed to team up and write an article about Hamas.

Western news outlets are viewed as the ultimate source of information by practically all Western readers and much of the world. But in fact, every one of them is echoing each other to form a chorus that ultimately becomes alternative facts to be believed as facts.

And now, once again, the truth is coming out and shedding light on the intention of these Western media. They are designed not to give fair coverage of news but to influence the world's thinking with misinformation and half-truths.

The question that we now have to ask is what other harms have they done in the past?

The last Chinese weather balloon article was published one week before the Pentagon stated that it held no spying equipment. No apologies followed. And no retractions were made by these Western news outlets. The incident will now be forever known as the Chinese Spy Balloon incident. The intended damage had already been done before the truth was revealed.

Similar damage was done in the Tiananmen Square incident, where the BBC reported that 10,000 people were massacred. No evidence was presented. The number used in the article was just based on "British Embassy sources".

Perhaps the biggest lie of all being perpetrated on the readers is the Xinjiang genocide story. The same circular repetition campaign was used by Western news media for a single paper by Adrian Zens to try to establish that genocide was being committed in China.

No evidence for the use of forced labour in the era of mechanised cotton pickers was ever established. There were no pictures from the millions of cameras that are ubiquitous in China. Still, the news article did its job in trying to slow down China's progress.

Now that a real genocide is being perpetrated in Palestine, we can all see and understand what genocide is really like. No need to look for obscured evidence.

As shown in many of the opinions from PostBag's contributors, these Western news sources are taken to be the Gospel truth. But they are biased toward the interest that they serve, the Western bloc against the Global South.

Of course, those top-tier Western mainstream news organisations' reporters are acknowledged to have the best writing skills.

Their articles leave lasting impressions and sway opinions. When they are allowed to make up facts or interpret facts with a bias, it becomes an even more powerful tool that the Western bloc uses in trying to maintain its world dominance.

Don't worry. There are many non-Western and alternative news sources available on the internet that are willing to tell the truth.