OPINION

Blame THAI execs

Re: "THAI faces record losses", (BP, Nov 12).

The mismanagement of Thai Airways and stories of their ongoing losses are rife in the media. The company has said eight senior executives will suffer a 10% salary cut in any month that shows a loss. But what about “bonuses”?

One definition of the term bonus is: Additional compensation given to an employee above his/her normal wage.

A bonus can be used as a reward for achieving specific goals set by the company, or for dedication to the company. In Thailand, there are always huge bonuses paid in addition to normal salary, even in times of losses incurred by the companies.

In contrast, just a few weeks ago Airports of Thailand (AoT) reported massive profits and were planning to give bonuses up to seven months of salary. Can this possibly be true? How can the two largest airline industries have such a disparity of earnings? Also, when earnings are short-lived (due for example, to an increase in monthly turnover or sudden cash boon) such figures do not reflect a solid reliable win for a company, and they certainly do not reflect a managerial efforts.

If air traffic in Thailand boosted AoT earnings, and THAI is not getting the lion’s share of those flights, maybe a 10% reduction of high level management is the answer.

Maybe the top-level management of AoT and THAI should swap places.

Bob Neylon

Re: “Early days in Myanmar”, (Editorial, Nov 11).

Just like in Myanmar, the Thai military remains the biggest hurdle to cultivating democracy.

Prime Minister Prayut’s reform agenda is guided by his idea that “democracy is a trap” and if things do not go the NCPO way, the country may be shut down. But of course — being a mighty military man — he is entitled to his gaffes.

With successful elections having taken place in Myanmar, it remains to be seen on how the five rivers of the Thai regime will play out.

I hope it does not lead to the flooding of Bangkok's streets with new armour.

It is not a surprise that no one in the current government has said anything about historic elections next door leading to the ouster of a brutal military regime.

Can anyone read the handwriting on the wall?

Kuldeep Nagi

It is pointless in the present political climate to seek to amend or abolish Section 112 on lese majeste. But we should try to correct the iniquitous refusal of bail in lese majeste arrests. Bail is often granted for other charges that could be considered more serious, so why is lese majeste any different?

I often see grounds presented that the accused might flee the country. An obvious solution to this conundrum is to demand the accused surrender his passport. Equally, if the accused truly thinks so little of the monarch, why does Thailand want to keep him here? Best let him flee. To allow bail in such cases would greatly ease up the widespread public criticism of lese majeste laws and their implementation.

Roger Haslock

Re: “Debt is a lesson teachers need to learn from”, (ThaiPulse, Nov 10). Debt is not the only problem teachers in Thailand face. They also need to improve the basic arithmetic skills of the public. If 1.2 trillion baht were laid out on the table in 100 baht notes, that would result in 1.2 billion (1 plus 9 zeroes). Given that one kilometre equals 100 thousand centimetres (1 plus 5 zeroes) that would result in 19 with 5 zeroes kilometres, or 190,000 km (not 1.9 million as claimed) — which is almost 5 times the length of the Equator.

MatWizz

CONTACT: BANGKOK POST BUILDING 136 Na Ranong Road Klong Toey, Bangkok 10110 Fax: +02 6164000 email:

All letter writers must provide full name and address.

All published correspondence is subject to editing at our discretion.