OPINION

Border control is vital

I fully agree with Nigel Pike's sentiments, "Be wary of invaders", (BP Aug 29). I too have learned to greatly respect Thailand's immigration control, protecting its borders. A nation without borders has no sovereignty as we witness in Europe. All 28 European Union member states have lost their sovereignty because they joined the EU.

Mikhail Gorbachev declared: "The most puzzling development in politics in the last decade is the apparent determination of western European leaders to re-create the Soviet Union (USSR) in western Europe."

The main difference between the defunct USSR and the EUSSR is border control. The EUSSR has not only destroyed the nation state and democracy itself, but left its borders open.

The EU Schengen Agreement allows the freedom of movement of people between the member countries assigned to the agreement. Having removed national borders, it has a duty to its member states to control the entire European Union border. It stretches from Scandinavia to Greece in the east and the coastline from Greece round to the Baltic Sea. The EU does not fulfil this obligation. There is no EU border control. Why?

Rights under the Schengen Agreement do not extend to people from countries beyond the borders of Europe and yet the whole of Europe is suffering the greatest unimpeded invasion in human history. Member states have not only lost their sovereignty and democracy, but their cultures and religions are being submerged by those which are completely alien. National heritage is being eroded by the sheer weight of the massive illegal invasion from the Middle East and Africa. Health and education services are being seriously compromised and economies weakened with the euro currency. Seventy-five per cent of laws in member countries are imposed by the EU.

The destruction of a nation state is effected by removing its borders and destroying its culture and its economy. With its nation status and the roots of its civilisation gone, a country is easily manipulated. The country becomes submissive and its peoples stateless. The EU will then have achieved its goal of a federal Europe, the EUSSR.

As Margaret Thatcher asserted: "Modern liberty rests on three pillars; representative democracy, economic freedom and the rule of law." These no longer exists in Europe.

While painfully watching the degradation of the UK and Europe, I shall never again complain about having to make my 90-day presentation.

JC Wilcox

Re: "Perils of corruption", BP Aug 29.

I usually agree with Khun Vint Chavala, but this time, with all due respect, I must take strong exception. He thinks that democracy favours corruption, for in commenting on the ex-KTB president being jailed for malfeasance, he says "how easy it is for a 'democratically-elected government' to turn into an 'administrative body of fraudsters'." He also says "Corruption is the biggest problem Thailand must ... resolve before she returns to democracy."

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines corruption as: "Impairment of integrity, virtue, or moral principle, depravity; decay, decomposition; inducement to wrong by improper or unlawful means (as bribery)."

The most corrupt countries worldwide (according to Transparency International's Transparency (TI) Index, 2014) are Afghanistan (172nd), North Korea (174th), and Somalia (also 174th) — which are hardly known for their democratic practices. At the other extreme, the least corrupt countries are Denmark (1st), New Zealand (2nd) and Finland (3rd); in Asia, Singapore is 7th. Elsewhere, Germany is 12th, the UK 14th, and the US 17th.

The TI Index list above shows a loose positive correlation between a robust democracy and a lack of corruption — the reverse of what Khun Vint appears to think. This positive relationship perhaps is because a thriving democracy demands accountability and transparency.

Perhaps we all should be demanding a full-fledged democracy — including accountability, transparency, rule of law, civil society, freedom of expression and political tolerance — as a means to fight corruption.

Burin Kantabutra

Tony Ash (Postbag, Aug 28) argues that in a democracy you have corruption and people who have a disproportionate amount of power, and that tyranny is "the lesser of the two evils". I suppose in Thailand you have no corruption and everyone is treated equally!

When I was growing up in America black people in many areas of the country couldn't even vote. I would never have believed that I would live to see the day when a black man would become president of the United States.

As a boy I laughed when I heard people talk about women's rights and gay marriage and it wasn't that long ago when the media put the term animal rights in quotation marks. Throughout American history enormous changes have occurred because millions of "little people" did get involved in the democratic process and worked hard for justice.

Many of these letter writers come from countries where they enjoy enormous freedom yet would deny it to the Thais. While they mean well, they come across as being ungrateful, spoiled brats.

Eric Bahrt

Robin Grant may be tired of Thaksin jibes (BP, Aug 29), but I’m certainly not.

Khun Robin sites the village loan scheme as a good example of what I call Thaksinism. It might be revived at the moment, but hopefully it will be under strict financial monitoring.

The previous money handouts to villages left people and villages in greater debt than ever, because without supervising the spending, people ran amok and spent, spent, spent, thinking the money flow was endless. When it dried up, so did many villages and families.

I for one will continue to jibe Thaksin, for I’ve seen and been part of the village loan debacle.

The villages around mine, as well as many villager’s lives, are as dry and bleak as drought-affected rice fields.

Charcoal Ridgeback

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