OPINION

Clutching at straws

Re: "Thaksin to fight royal insult case: Lawyers raise doctored video concerns", (BP, May 30).

I can't help feeling that Thaksin Shinawatra's legal team is clutching at straws by claiming to suspect "the video clip the police are using as evidence in this criminal case isn't the original copy but a doctored one".

If this is what they truly believe, all his legal team needs to do is provide a version of the interview that they know is indisputably undoctored to enable the attorney general to compare the two versions.

Otherwise, questions will persist as to what specifically makes them believe the video clip provided as evidence has been doctored.

I find it interesting that Thaksin Shinawatra's legal team appears to be challenging only the reliability of the video clip and that there is no denial of the words he used in the interview with South Korea's Chosun Ilba newspaper in 2015.

It seems to me that the ball is in Khun Thaksin's court to prove that the video clip has been doctored.

Cycle of empires

Re: "Why the US can't win trade war with China", (Opinion, May 22).

During the 18th century, China was the preeminent global power, with an economy that dwarfed those of other nations.

Confident in its self-sufficiency, China felt no need to engage extensively with Western countries.

To safeguard its economy and shield against Western influence, the Qing Dynasty (1644–1911) implemented restrictive trade policies, notably the Canton System (beginning in 1757), which confined foreign trade to licensed Chinese merchants and imposed heavy import duties on foreign goods.

Despite these measures, Western nations persisted in their efforts to penetrate Chinese markets. This culminated in the Opium Wars (1839-1842 and 1856-1860), which marked the beginning of China's decline.

The aftermath saw Western technology and influence leave China in ruin and poverty for the next century.

There is a growing concern that history might repeat itself, with America potentially following the same path of decline that befell Qing China.

One of America's past strengths, whether perceived or real, has always been the trust the rest of the world placed in its fairness, superior technology, and industrial strength.

But since the war in Ukraine started in February 2022, the world has seen a different America.

The critical question we now face is whether, once it hits its lowest point, America will rise again as China did or if it will succumb to the same fate as past empires.

We should not count America out, and in a world where power -- economic or military -- is balanced, the global community thrives.

Roos on the loose

Re: "Kangaroo flees Chiang Mai Zoo", (Online, May 29).

While I was driving past Chiang Mai Zoo after the escape, I wondered whether the fugitive kangaroo was influenced by the two 'Hop and Go' tourist buses parked outside the zoo entrance.

Tick of approval

Re: "City needs to do more", (BP, May 30).

I'm happy with Bangkok governor Chadchart Sittipunt, for he's cleaned up Khlong Kled near my house that previous BMA chiefs left overflowing with weeds and plastic waste in the 26 years that I've been living in Bang Na -- and, wonder of wonders, he's kept it clean. Water can now flow freely to the sea, helping keep my locality dry. The squatters lining the khlong banks (and using the khlong as their toilet) have all been moved out.

Could Mr Chadchart have done better? Of course, and hopefully he will. But in my book, he's beaten all his predecessors, and for that, he's earned my vote.

Anand's bold vision

Re: "Anand urges education equality", (BP, May 25).

It's really refreshing to see the Post has given importance to publishing the speech of a statesman who was an educator once and former prime minister Anand Panyarachun on the flaws of Thailand's education system and what should be done. I thank the Post.

The messages that Mr Anand expressed were nothing new, but at the same time, the same messages were reflections of common Thais who are in lower and middle-class categories. He mentioned basic issues to be addressed by the Thai government but did not elaborate on how to address them.

To reform a nation needs a statesman or stateswoman who is a trained educator, patriotic, selfless, uncorrupt, and brave, who serves alongside an equally motivated group of cabinet ministers who respect recommendations from scholars and equally carry the same sense of duty towards the nation.

They should be able to chalk up plans for the next 50 years, minimum, in order to bring the nation to the top 5 in the world in terms of education.

Mr Anand mentioned the importance of imbibing a sense of democratic rights and values in society. So, is Mr Anand talking of the same "democracy" that Singaporeans enjoy under autocratic rule, yet the education level is world-class?

In many of my letters in PostBag, I had recommended how and what should be done without touching sensitive issues of reforming the Thai education system, starting from kindergarten level to teaching standard and how teachers should be trained and selected.

However, the bottom line is that the so-called "men in olive" uniform in the Thai political and justice system must realise that they need to lower their defence expenses and divert the funds to the education ministry or the education system.

The perfect example is our close neighbour, India. It took them 75 years since they snatched freedom from British colonial rule of 200 years to become what India is today.

Even the children of tuk-tuk drivers or construction workers there can dream of becoming space scientists, doctors, engineers, or the prime minister of the nation.

The current prime minister, Narendra Modi, used to sell tea on the railway platform to help his father. So anything is possible if the leader and his team of a nation are right.

Stark comparisons

Re: "Israel defies ICJ order on Rafah", (World, May 26).

The International Court of Justices' ruling is a gross perversion of the truth. Israel is a paragon of virtue in a neighbourhood where crimes against humanity are common. Israel is a liberal democracy -- 72% of Israelis, including 63% of Arabs, voted in the last elections. Canada and the US had 62% participation rates in theirs. It is considered the tenth most powerful state.

Its GDP beats that of Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and the UK. It is sixth on the World Happiness Index, first in digital quality, and fifth in education. Tel Aviv is one of the best LGBTQ vacation destinations and is a safe haven for regional gays. Israel's hospitals include Jewish and Arab doctors, staff and patients. Few Israeli Arabs would give this up.

On the contrary, there are massive human rights abuses in the Palestinian Authority. Minorities live precariously. Gays are thrown off buildings. Honour killings are common, as is female genital mutilation.

Redefining progress

Re: "We haven't hit peak populism quite just yet", (Opinion, May 26) and "No socio-democrats" (PostBag, May 26).

I don't buy the logic that puts all the blame on the socio-democratic losers in their efforts to work fairly together with the neo-liberals and were eaten with skin and hair.

It resulted in a neo-liberal world economy that even penetrated China.

I rather believe in a "Third Way" between neo-liberalism and communism, which is not determined by naively conceived compromise but by a new global consensus.

This consensus may bear the characteristics of an "emancipatory vision for development -- where every individual can live a life of dignity, agency and fulfilment", as proposed by Renaud Meyer, who refers to the UNDP Report "Breaking the Gridlock: Reimagining Cooperation in a Polarized World".

This new middle path can catalyse the reconstitution of authentic liberalism and socialism, not as polarised extremes but as worldviews representing benign diversity.

Curb road deaths

In 2003, I moved from Bangkok to the Hua Hin area. My wife came from near Korat, and we used to drive between Hua Hin and Korat frequently. For the first few years average speeds on Routes 4, 1 and the Mitraparp were high, well over 120 km/h. Then, the odd speed camera appeared, usually wielded by a policeman behind a tree at the side of the road or in the central reservation.

These were often followed by a police check a km or two down the road where you were duly fined -- or not, as the case may have been. Gradually, more overhead cameras appeared and fewer police checkpoints.

But what was noticeable to a frequent driver on the same route was the fact that average speeds were dropping. It was a case of a traffic regulation being enforced, and (some of) those who violated it were punished.

I still travel this route often, albeit the other way, as we now live in Isan, and once again, speeds are high, especially for the lorries.

Perhaps if traffic police were to patrol and stop offenders instead of simply sitting at checkpoints, it would help lower average speeds once again as the introduction of speed cameras did for a while, and Thailand's appalling 18,000-odd road deaths per annum might be reduced.