OPINION

Guarding the guards

Re: "Agencies probe causes of building's collapse", (BP, April 9).

'Unfortunately, the problem of who supervises the supervisors has been with us for a long time. As Juvenal, the Roman satirist, wrote in about 115 AD, "Quis custodiet ipsos custodes", which means "Who will guard the guards themselves?" or "Who will watch the watchmen?" Apparently, the problem has only grown worse over the past 1,900 years, with the State Audit Office being the latest example of the many in Thailand.

Something rotten

Re: "Commanders in firing line over abuses", (BP, April 9) & "Free speech key for uni students", (Editorial, March 9).

Thailand certainly needs a lot more skilled and better educated people to take the country forward, thus improving its citizens' livelihoods. It is, therefore, a great pity that some selfish, small-minded people are allowed to freely deny the ordinary Thai people and foreign visitors, and basic human rights, including free speech and safety on the roads and in their own homes, only with the purpose of clinging to the past in order to preserve their power and ill-gotten gains.

The killing field

Re: "UN chief says Gaza Strip has become 'killing field'", (World, April 10).

I want to send this letter through one more time. Are you aware that what is happening now in Gaza is blatant genocide. Maybe you're tired of my letters on Israel. I don't care. Thousands of children are on the verge of starvation, and their limbs are being amputated at a level unequal anywhere in the world. How can you remain silent, especially when journalists are being slaughtered wholesale?

Unsweet surprise

Re: 'Final phase of sugar tax gets underway', (Business, April 10).

All societies are unique, but reading about Thailand's escalating sugar taxes reminded me of when America started aggressively taxing cigarettes when I was growing up. The memory itself is 'taxing', and here is the story:

America's attempts at taxing tobacco ("for your own good") actually dated back to the 18th century and failed for about 200 years. Then, in the 1970s through the 1990s, draconian excise taxes were introduced principally on cigarettes. Cigarette smokers like me were also banished outdoors & became very socially unpopular; a source of social blame.

Today, these taxes are a massive, irrational burden -- about 400 baht (US$12) per pack of cigarettes in Wisconsin today, or twice that in New York City, nearly 1,000 baht. That easily totals 12,000 to 24,000 baht per month, or more than many Thai full-time workers make in a month, effectively bankrupting smokers.

Underground tobacco runners now illegally sell cigarettes obtained from Native American Reservations, which have no such taxes, resulting in a bloody, fatal clash involving New York City police officers a few years ago.

Thus, in America, the idea of regulating human behaviour via tax was bad across the board and the American cigarette taxes went to fund lavish pension plans for anyone else but the poor.

Perhaps the outcome of excise taxes will be better in Thailand, but I simply politely suggest that a better idea is to subsidise healthy beverages and foods, increase the public's education, and let consumers make informed, "untaxing" choices.

CONTACT: