OPINION

Think of long stayers

Re: "Ministry prioritises upgrade of tourism", (Business, May 31).

So once again, the PM Srettha Thavisin wants to cater to foreigners who would be here for a short time only -- 10 year visa, multiple re-entries, report only once a year, tax reductions, etc. What about those who have been here ten years or longer? Isn't it about time (yes, it is) that some kind of consideration be given to us? Haven't we invested in this county by spending our money here over all of these years? Haven't we improved the lives of our Thai family members by supporting them (paying for education expenses, medical bills, housing costs?)

I, for one, am tired of the 90-day report, when each and every time I have reported the same address for the past 20 years. It is about time that the government grants permanent residency to those who have been here that long and have remained at the same address. What about those who have a pink ID card and yellow house registration? Doesn't that prove where we live? And, for those who have been here for more than ten years, why not offer us the same 10-year visa with unlimited re-entry permits? No more 90-day reports.

Another point. What about our age factor? There are those of us who are up in years and find it's getting more and more difficult to go to Chaeng Watthana and report. Soon, we will reach the point where it will be virtually painful to do so. Not long ago, my wife and I personally witnessed someone being brought in on a gurney to report. That is no lie. If the government is thinking about revising immigration laws, then they should take everyone into account -- short-timers and us permanent long-stayers. When you really think about it, we are being treated worse than criminals.

American Robin Hood

Re: "Trump that!", (PostBag, June 3).

I wish to take exception to the above letter of Tarquin Chufflebottom rejoicing in the verdict -- unique in American history -- against the 45th President of America by citing the comments below by objective columnist James Howard Kunstler, a household name by the standards of truly informed people. Here it is:

The ninnies of Bidenworld seem not to understand that by subjecting Mr Trump to a kangaroo court, they've made him the kind of outlaw that Americans revere above every other archetypal hero. He's the new American Robin Hood, the people's outlaw -- with "Joe Biden" relegated as the wicked Sir Guy of Gisbourne, master of foul play and servant of the evil regent Prince John (Barack Obama). The galvanising moment in this melodrama was not the verdict in Judge Juan Merchan's kangaroo corral of a court, but the next day in the White House when "Joe Biden" was asked to comment on it as he shuffled away from the podium, halted, turned, and smirked silently at the cameras, a gesture that is sure to live in infamy.

'National security'

Re: "Global investors", (PostBag, June 4).

Having read so many opinions of that prolific PostBag's writer, Khun Burin Kantabutra, sometimes one wishes him to be Thailand's prime minister but also wonders how long he would last.

His latest lament of how one should liberalise business activities and landownership of the non-Thais is most laudable but dead right from the beginning. Those who make rules always use the favourite two words of "national security". Unfortunately, they are most prevalent and seem unchangeable with those elites.