OPINION

Whimper of woe

Re: "Job reminder for the 'permanent five'", (Opinion, June 26). Kasit Piromya commendably outlines the deep crisis of a polarised world today.

He aptly calls for an urgent job review of the performances of the five permanent security council members. By whom? The United Nations? I doubt the UN's capacity or capability, as its current role is that of an aged corporate-style bureaucrat with grandstanding speeches and little else to show in crisis situations.

On the other hand, angst seems to be gripping the world when the rich can do whatever they fancy and the oppressed slouch in silence in multitudes of scenarios where the "might is right" ethos thrives.

Humanity owes it to itself to discover a new moral voice to speak up and speak loud against the plagues of injustices and misdeeds, or else in the seemingly never-ending wars, deterioration of nature and with death and depravation rampant, we might find ourselves ending in a whimper of woe.

Fear of 'ghosts'

Re: "Thai tourists to continue shunning South Korea", (BP, June 19) and "S Korean govt advised to heed threat of Thai boycott", (BP, June 24).

While recognising the right of South Korea to protect its borders, and acknowledging the problem of Thai "little ghosts", the South Korean immigration department needs to examine its visa application protocols.

A Thai friend and I recently were interested in a small group tour of South Korea, and we duly applied for what is known as K-ETA , an online authorisation to enter South Korea.

In the Thai application, we provided details of previous travels, in which we had been to Australia together three times, to China twice, countless times to Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar, to Indonesia, the Philippines, Taiwan, India, Sri Lanka, and even Bangladesh, without any transgression of visa rules or overstaying in those countries.

We also provided details of his employment and financial status, including the fact that he owns a house (without a mortgage) and a new car and has parents and siblings who depend on him for support.

The application was rejected without any explanation, and the US$100 (3,680 baht) application fee went down the drain.

Instead, we took a two-week holiday to Japan, spending all the money that would have been spent in South Korea there instead.

And we returned to Thailand on time.

Cry of the natives

Re: "PM allays foreign lease fears", (BP, June 24).

The report covers well, in brief but comprehensively, the controversial issue of the rights of non-Thai ownership of land and condominium units. Immediately, the words of former prime minister Chartchai Choonhavan, a proponent of foreigners' right of ownership in 1988, that the land once sold still remains in Thailand; so, why object?

That logic seems to hold true, but it survived only a few years. Words of traitors and a large portion of poor Thais still without landownership have returned with full force.

PM Srettha Thavisin is courageous enough to welcome non-Thai long-term lease ownership to boost the real estate sector. Long-term leases are also offered in some Asean countries.

However, his proposal of increasing the proportion of non-Thais buying condominium units from 49% to 75% is the least objectionable since the land situated thereon is relatively insignificant.

But the objectionable part is the increased portion of 26% who shall not have voting rights -- that is not democracy in a community. It is somewhat distasteful, similar to the two-tiered pricing of entrance fees for Thais and non-Thais, or the cry of the settlers in America when taxed by King George III in "being taxed but without representation".