OPINION

Skytrain eyesore

It was interesting to read “B2bn tram in the works for Phuket”, (BP, Jan 18).

This is similar to inner-city transit systems elsewhere such as San Francisco and Toronto.

Subways also make up a good portion of public transit and interconnect with the light-rail transit systems.

It is a pity that an LRT was not considered in Bangkok instead of those ugly concrete skytrain stations, blocking out sunlight and trapping polluted air, and forever changing the face of Bangkok.

Jack Gilead

So, Tsai Ying-wen is elected first female president of Taiwan, beating her opponent Eric Chu by 56 to 31% of the popular vote.

What impressed me was not the winning margin, nor the fact she is the first female president, but how the defeated Eric Chu conducted himself after his loss. Did he accuse Tsai of buying votes?

Did he insult people voting for Tsai? Did he mislead the public, saying Tsai’s 6.9 million votes were not a majority because Taiwan population is 23.46 million? No!

Chu said, “We failed. The Nationalist Party lost the elections. We didn’t work hard enough.” He followed his concession speech by making a long bow.

A concession speech is unheard of in Thai politics.

I wish Thai politicians, especially the Democrats, would accept defeat as gracefully as Eric Chu did.

Somsak PolaSamut Prakan

Re: “Govt sets rubber price limit at B45/kg”, (BP, Jan 14).

Surely I’m not the only one who detects more than a hint of irony in the fact that a former prime minister is being prosecuted for dereliction of duty in overseeing a programme that paid farmers 50% over market price for rice and running up huge losses for taxpayers, while the current government is advancing a programme that will pay farmers 50% over market price for rubber and will run up huge losses for taxpayers to cover.

Samanea Saman

Re: "Conflicts brewing over Buddhist park in South", (BP, Jan 18)

Waedueramae Mamingji, chairman of the Pattani Islamic Committee said, “Construction of a Buddha image in the park surrounded by areas largely dominated by Muslims was not acceptable to locals.”

Mr Waedueramae and his “local people” must learn tolerance. It is as simple as that. Forcing one’s religious and cultural views upon others is a point of view wholly lacking in compassion and therefore thoroughly unacceptable. However, one does wonder why the government is in the business of building religious monuments, and this is a question that merits proper investigation.

Michael SetterBang Saray

I live in Isan and two days ago a neighbour set light to the straw in his rice fields when the wind was set fair for local homes (including mine) and Mitraparp Road. Very soon, his blaze had set my own rice field alight and shortly afterwards, mine duly set my other neighbour’s fields on fire.

Thick smoke enveloped houses and Mitraparp Road over about 800 metres for nearly an hour. Fortunately, there were no accidents, but then the police didn’t seem interested anyway.

My wife’s 90-year-old mother had to be taken to hospital with breathing difficulties as did other members of the community. The subsequent black "snow" will continue for weeks!

At the Paris Accord recently, the prime minister undertook to reduce carbon emissions in Thailand by some 30%. Given the habit in the country of the annual uncontrolled burning of crop residue and the fact that Egat is about to build two new coal-fired power stations, it is hard to see how the government is going to achieve this goal in the foreseeable future — or ever.

As an afterthought, the money spent by the Bangkok governor recently on his "light show" would have provided nearly 100 straw balers or chippers for up-country villages, where at this time of year many of them don’t see much "light" due to burning!

Johnny ThoytsKorat

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